I generally agree with most of your post right up to this part . . . Unless it's a very trivial problem, and I'm too lazy to RTFM (which I happily admit MS has done quite a nice of supplying online), most of the "solutions" I see contributed to the MS "support" site (answers/social.whatever.microsofft.com) are worthless dribble -- ranging from the overly simplistic ("Read this generic troubleshooting guide" -- yay more points for the responder!) to anecdotal rubbish ("I was eating a jelly donut when I rebooted my computer and now it works, so go get a jelly donut and reboot" -- yay! more points for the responder!) to completely unfeasable ("Disable all your macros", reply "But the whole point of using Word is because the application NEEDS those macros", followup: "But your document will open then" - yay! more points for the responder!)

My most memorable example: About 2 years ago, I was chasing down a problem with Excel 2010 on an HP laptop running Win 7. The exact details escape me at the moment, but basically what was happening was Excel would get into a state where it unable to select certain worksheets (like clicking on a certain worksheet tab and a different one opening as though the user had misclicked). I can't count how many suggestions I got to replace the mouse, install new drivers, upgrade system bios and even reinstall Windows! (all marked as "solutions" - yay! more points for the responders!). Never mind the fact that the mouse worked flawlessly in every other application and had all the latest drivers. Every suggestion worthless but was obviously the "solution" according to the responder and their little fan clubs. Turns out HP's "Wireless Assistant" utility (a utility of dubious merit to begin with) had a bug that was causing it to specifically conflict with Excel 2010 (and a patch for it from HP)

That's not uncommon. Most drive manufacturers encode vendor info into the serial numbers and/or part numbers of drives sold to system manufacturers (Dell, HP, etc.) and makers of external drive systems (including themselves). That way they can send you back to your system manufacturer instead of dealing with your warranty issues directly. And when they used to offer 3+ year warranties on bare drives, then your drive warranty would effectively be reduced to whatever length the warranty on your system was -- typically 1 year for systems. Presumably (I have no direct knowledge of this) to protect the systems manufacturer's sales of those extended service contracts.

If Mr. Schechter really wants us to believe the patent system isn't broken, then why doesn't he step aside from IBM and maybe handle a few pro bono cases for small inventors. Then he can come back here and tell us all what a wonderful patent system we enjoy!

And if you really want save some bucks on an antenna, just google "single bay gray hoverman" for plans and instructions to a sweet attic antenna you can build for about $10-$15 (assuming you have to purchase everything). Or an outdoor version that'll cost a few bucks more (pvc frame, lightning suppression etc.)

I paid Al Gore to invent the internet, I damn well better have the right to use it!

But seriously . . . I believe access to information is (or should be) a right. By whatever means is the accepted norm for the times. For example, in colonial (US) days that might mean via public assembly, printed pamphlets or newspapers. As technology progressed so did the accepted norms -- from magazines to radio and television broadcasts to the internet and beyond. And I believe the government has some responsibility to ensure that all citizens have access to information.

Am I saying every citizen should be issued a shiny new smartphone with the latest and greatest 4G plan? Of course not. But every single person should have at least some sort of internet access available to them - whether it's at a local library, school, town hall or some other public facility. Or even publicly funded private access for special cases such as a low income person who is an invalid/shut-in.

I'm afraid if we treat access to information as a privilege or luxury rather than a right, we're going to start a slippery slope we'll never get back up. And we may have already started down it . . .

It's quick, painless (or at least a very minimal time to suffer), and no messy remains to dispose of.

. . . for when he finds himself up shit's creek!

. . . and probably will get conjugal visits from his cosmetically enhanced girlriend!

Yeah, but after the Flash player is gone in a few billion years, should an alien try to telepathically view our Flash videos, his brain(s) will overheat and shutdown.

P.S. I knew I shouldn't have played hookie on the day they covered "proofreading" in my grade school grammar class . . . but I figured "When am I ever going to use THAT?" (apparently not today)

. . . let's put some Flash videos up there. At the right we're going, it's still gonna be around in a few billion years.

As an added bonus: It should act as a warning sign to any visiting aliens - there is no intelligent life here, now move along.

Or present it as what is: a document management system where the significant majority of the "documents" are source files. You shouldn't have any trouble finding resources describing doc mgmt systems.

That practice started 15-20 years ago . . . almost all the traditional cardboard/paper boxed bacon has been 12 ozs for a long time now.

That's assuming your PHB is like my PHB and refuses to consider any alternative to an available MS product . . . Bitlocker in this case.

Don't forget to add in the cost of redeploying Win 7 Enterprise to all those laptops your predecessor let get into users hands with Win 7 Pro preloaded by the manufacturer.

. . . from the coffee pot conveniently located between the 3 day old hot dogs and the nacho cheese pump.