You can only kill the malware that is behind these DDoS's by completely eliminating security flaws in software

How do you stop users from double-clicking miley_cyrus_nude.jpg.exe?

The ability to run an executable is not a security flaw.

Nice try Microsoft.

For god's sake, give it a rest already Go play with your Linux Franken-"boxen" and leave us adults alone to do some actual work.

Modern Engines are designed to ingest tremendous amounts of water and still run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

I'm not anything close to an expert, but wouldn't a stall be easily recoverable at 32,000+ feet?

Depends what caused the stall. If the engines ingested a tremendous amount of hail and water and flamed out then the crew may not have been able to start them again. They could still have gotten out of the stall into a glide, but with no power there would have been nowhere to go...

What is wrong with a 4 year old smartphone that still works?

I have a 3+ year old iPhone 4s running iOS 7.1. It still works well enough, but it's starting to show its age. More and more apps are crashy, the touchscreen is less responsive & laggy and functions in the camera don't work very well anymore. In my region its only 3G and the battery life isn't too good. I could reset it back to out-of-box, but then Apple would try to update it to iOS 8, which I don't want.

So will the UI makers retreat on their strategy of forcing PCs to use touch-inspired interfaces? We can only hope.

In my case I can certainly hope *not*.

At home and at work my Surface Pro works perfectly as a day-to-day PC with an external screen, keyboard, mouse and wired network connectivity.

On the bus, an airplane or wherever it works great as a touch tablet. It's the only gadget I carry and need (other than my little iPhone 4s).

Why would this ever be cheaper?

Imagine you're flying from Portland to Orlando. The fare for that journey is determined by market forces (competition).

So United would fly you Portland -> Houston -> Orlando and American might fly you Portland -> Dallas -> Orlando.

However, the fares for Portland -> Houston and Portland -> Dallas might be different, because different market forces set those fares, e.g. there might be more business travellers on those routes, less competition etc.

Which is why it's always been cheaper to fly one-way

Certainly not 'always' - As recently as a decade ago, a one way ticket might have cost double what a return ticket did.

they're actually really incompetent at running airlines?

They're *all* incompetent? United? American? Virgin America? Delta? Southwest? JetBlue? Alaska? Spirit? Frontier? Hawaiian? Allegiant? Every single one of them, moving millions of people every week, they're all incompetent at running airlines?

Sorry, I don't buy it.

Here in the USA it's all about screwing the traveller.

If this was true, why are the airlines constantly teetering on the edge of bankruptcy with razor-thin margins? They should be rolling in cash, and they're not. Why? Because air travel is hugely competitive and a great deal for the flying public.

Gate check your large bag, you'll get it back at the arriving gate.

This is incorrect - When you gate-check a bag it's "checked through to your final destination" - You pick it up on the baggage carousel.

The exception is regional-jet and turboprop flights where you "leave your bag in the jetway." In these situations your bag is returned to the jetway.

Except that Sailing and Curling are both current olympic sports

Ever watched Olympics-level curling? The curlers are generaly in great shape.

So Kirk didn't have to steal the Enterprise in... whatever movie that was.. he could just have replicated it?

Kirk needed to steal a warship so he could fly into prohibited space.

Why do criminals steal cars / boats / planes today?

To get somewhere: No money in Gene-world, so just beam yourself or walk onto a starship going where you need to go.

To part it out our sell it stolen: No money in Gene-world, so what good is that - No customers to fence them too, and no means for them to pay you.

Same reason I never understood the "Gold Pressed Latinum" nonsense. Even if you couldn't replicate it, what would you buy with it? Everything is free.

there must be bad guys or genetic manipulation.

But in the Star Trek world, what would human bad guys do? Steal stuff? Why? Just replicate whatever you want - There's no money. Smuggle? How? Just beam it. Murder people? OK, maybe, but presumably if you murder someone in Gene-world you're immediately diagnosed with a mental illness and treated.