Well you could try a more efficient OS... ;)

You are correct it is quite possible and even easy to put a large amount of data into a small amount of data, but my point really goes towards the usefulness of transfer that raw information with random people. Besides Twitter already does that...
Though on the plus side. This solution does allow you to casually plug your computer into a brick while hanging out in a random alley with people either looking to mug you or simply waiting their turn for the brick.
Also it doesn't exactly sound fun trying to support the netbook/laptop with one hand while trying to operate it with the other.

Yeah I actually have a 64GB and a 128GB Patriot xporter. But that is not my point. In the article there are linked pictures, where it actually shows the devices, prior to them being just a connector sticking from the wall and based on their small size they could not be any bigger than 4-8GB.

However my point is that there is no real functionality to be gained from sharing small form factor information (read:text) with people you do not know. I am assuming text because you really aren't sharing if the next guy is just going to overwrite your stuff with his stuff, so you have to be able to upload and download freely without having to worry about deleting others files first. But I digress, the point being that without a targeted purpose the usefulness of this thing is nearly non-existent. And yes there are the obvious security issues with this.

Seriously I think it'd be great if the RIAA started messing with this guys "Dead Drops" I mean it is seriously labor intensive, not only that but the base idea is useless to begin with so what real functionality are they robbing from us?

Seriously, when I first read this I thought, hey that is a pretty good idea. But then it occurred to me, what possible usefulness could come out of this? I guess I just pictured something a little more grandiose (some sort of actual storage instead of the 4-8GB that could be in that thumb drive max). And don't even get me started on the fact that some laptops would require a cord to connect up to those (ones with recessed usb, I even have one which has usb in the back vertically).

I was like you Chris but recently I made the jump from 1px to 4px and I don't think I could ever go back everything is so crisp and fluid now...

Only on slashdot would you find people with "stay-at-home girlfriends". Thank God slashdot readers don't have real girlfriends.

I have a really hard time feeling sympathy for students who are unable to adapt to simple calculators. I think providing simple calculators is a fair compromise, though I do think it is sad that the professor's only real option is to self-fund this endeavor.

To be honest, Columbus' limitation was not so much the lack of internet access; it was the under-developed state that the Global Positioning System was in at the time (which of course rendered Google Earth nearly worthless). That said you are quite right that a cursory check of Wikipedia would have proven quite helpful in the whole Indian != Indian situation. Imagine the sheepish look on Columbus' face when he asked his hosts for Curry and he was instead offered Corn.

I am just imagining how fun random fire would be. Although it is not truly random if there is no possibility that you face can light you a$$ on fire.

We will of course implement the same mildly retarded AI that is currently used. So if they cannot see you then you are not there. Even if the box you are crouching behind is shooting them.

-matt

I think you are missing a minor but very important detail. Fanboys don't contribute, people who actually contribute to Open Source (not just download the latest copy of Ubuntu) really don't care if you use their code. A contributor has to have the realistic expectation that you cannot write software that will do everything for everyone, and if you try, you will fail (either that or you just created skynet and we are all going to die). Nobody likes fanboys, but we are talking about contributors here, not fanboys.

-matt

Reason number 1,456,930 why not to use UPnP.
The whole idea behind UPnP is that you can have any program dynamically change configuration on your router/firewall (read: open/close ports, create NAT entries). Do you see any problem with this? If not perhaps searching for "Problems with UPnP" will make things more clear.

-matt