My son is 13 years old and has been training to be a pilot since he was 11. He has taken off and landed a small airplane (with the PIC in the airplane with him, of course) quite a few times. It just goes to show that landing an airplane isn't as difficult as some people think it is ... it just requires focus and passion. Both of which my son has in spades when he's flying an airplane.

This news story struck me as wonderful news. My son has wanted to be a pilot since he was three years old. If you are one of the lucky few (I am not) who knew what he wanted to be for his whole life, then I envy you as much as I envy my son for having a singular great dream. The notion of drones and computerized pilots scares me because it threatens that dream. Stories in which autopilots and drones are slandered make me happy.

Spoken like a true non-parent.

There are NO parents who watch their children "at all times". How long does it take for a child to pick something up, put it in their mouth, and swallow it? About a second, perhaps. If you really "need" to watch a toddler "at all times", think about all the things that are difficult to do because you have to be hawk-like hovering over the child like a neurotic poltergeist without even one second of inattentiveness. Things like: cooking, watching the road (instead of the child) while driving, sex, and probably most importantly, watching your other children.

Monopolies are bad, government or otherwise.

End it.

I jailbreak my IOS device for one very important reason: /etc/hosts. This is VERY important to me. If I access an internet resource, there's nothing stopping it from telling my device, "Hey, also get this other resource without asking the user for permission!" In other words, it speaks on my behalf. My right to free speech also means freedom from compulsory speech. /etc/hosts means that I can control which resources are accessed on my behalf.

Apple (and all other money-making enterprises) hate this notion because it interferes with their potential profit. This is why we have to rely on jailbreaking to restore these free speech rights. My IOS5 device is jailbroken, but I cannot get an untethered jailbreak for IOS6.

IANAL. Doesn't matter. This is a philosophical issue.

Does anyone want Facebook? How is it that Facebook is free?

When users want "privacy", they want to make sure that their location isn't tracked ... until they want to be able to share that with their friends and know where there is an available parking space. To say that by sacrificing our privacy we will have a much richer lifestyle is a tautology by this point. For example, it's happened more than once that I found someone on the Internet using a service that they didn't expressly consent to, and they were delighted that I found them because they had been looking for me and were unable to find me. What was more important -- that I respected their privacy, or that we have a newly-kindled friendship?

When RMS talks about "privacy", keep in mind the monk-like lifestyle he leads. http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html

I'd be willing to accept an "apples and oranges" rejoinder.

Can't give you a citation. I don't recall the tech, but the digitizer always misread finger touches. Worked fine with a stylus. And no, it was not a Wacom digitizer. I know those (used to have Motion Computing tablet), and besides which they add too much cost to be used with a cheap tablet..

I've seen the site. Believe it or not, I know how to use Google.

Show me where it says why the distro exists.

Jesus Hieronymous Christ on a Pumpkin! Are you arguing with me or your imaginary friends? Because nothing you're saying has anything to do with my post. Which was about the fact that distro announcements never bother to explain why the distro exists. What are its goals? What are its special features? Why should I take the time to evaluate it?

Again, arguing with something I didn't say. I did not say that Linux Mint was a sucky distro. I said that if people want people to try it, they should explain why it's so hot.

Speaking of old people with outdated vocabularies, can anybody explain to me why "suck" and "screw" no longer have any sexual connotation? It's just weird.

It's funny how trolls (and aren't racists a kind of troll?) always get all mad about their freedom of speech being violated, just because somebody points out that they're trolling. As if the 1st amendment covers saying things that are offensive, but it doesn't cover telling people that they're saying offensive things.

So you're saying all racists are assholes? If I were a racist, I'd be offended by your stereotyping!

almost ALL black people are racist.

LOL. I mean jeez, the irony! You obviously have no idea how racist that statement is.

Can you read? I didn't ask why we should care about Linux, I asked why, out of all the gazillion Linux distros, we should care about this one?

Yeah, nothing wrong with your writing.