I was going to say that the thrusters/x-wing functionality were next on the list... But YOURS is next on the upgrade list!!!

Technically, that's a "visual effect" if it wasn't done on-set with gadgetry...

Right. The kids playing pokemon and Angry Birds are much better off than those doing a hands on project, likely learning about electronics and construction in the process.
(My fully functional R2-D2 is sitting right behind me as I type this. I learned a lot about wiring things properly, painting, and a little about wheels and mechanics in the process. But hey, I guess I'm biased.)

Are they the best damn buggy whips ever made?

I honestly don't know HOW to complain to these companies. Their surveys and scripted responses make it impossible to talk to someone that can answer a question or respond intelligently. Exactly how they want it, I'm sure.
I tried to get people up in arms about the Lightning connectors for the new iphones and the authentication needed merely to charge... Several months ago. But slashdot, nor reddit would bother to help get the word out.

I'll trade the turn-by-turn for an app that can find a restaurant I'm 100 yards from. I didn't capitalize Ruby or Tuesday, so only the other ones in town showed up... Nice job, Team Map.

While I'm at it, I still want an app that will display the other networks and the signal strength in db... Like Mac OS X can do.. built-in if you know where to look. NO, it's a HACKING TOOL. Thanks, Steve. (and Tim)

loudly and often.

Says who? Why? Because you WANT it to be true? If you go to a friend's house, if they're a private person, what are you going to say when they say stop photographing my home?

Haven't seen much mention of it but you might wear out the radio by running it at full power. You can also damage it by running something with too hot a signal. So for example if you are running it in the same room as your laptop, and it doesn't reduce its power level for transmitting, a -30 or even -45 dbm signal can cause problems even if there are no other radios around. The same goes in reverse. If you run the AP at maximum power, and the laptop is right next to it, you can damage the radio within. I worked at an ISP recently doing WISP stuff, and it became quite clear we damaged some of the point to point link radios by running them 4-6 times "hotter" than we should have. If you're on a mac, hold down the option key and click on the airport signal meter. Your target power should be around -55 to -75. Not sure where to look for that on a windows box.

That's horrible. Most new iPhones are worth $600 minimum. Most states would consider that grand theft, since it's over $500, right?

I WAS going to comment how the carriers are FINALLY enabling blacklists for IMEI's on their networks and planning to coordinate them amongst each other... Unfortunately, the point about other countries is probably right, and worse yet, Verizon iPhones are now GSM unlocked out of the box, so the theft will probably sky-rocket.

Can you explain that, please?
I didn't call them evil. I will call them greedy as hell and fleecing the users for an expensive cable that they have made a particular way to charge far more.

We should have paid more attention to the articles 3-4 months ago about those damn cables and their authenticator chips.
Maybe they're keeping a lower profile so people don't point out the new ipods have the same proprietary, border-line uncopy-able cables?

Class of '93 for high school... We learned darn near nothing. I recall some VERY light Word Perfect use for one class I can't remember...
Also a teacher that let us set up Scorched Earth (before school started in the morning) on a classroom computer with all computer players playing at full speed during class with no monitor/sound turned on. We'd save the "saved game" file and take it home to have lots of money to splurge.

Can we PLEASE call it a Heisenberg Compensator?