The technology in my Subaru works great, but even though it works reliably, there is a problem with those bits that require the touch screen. First, as you mentioned, you do need to take your eyes off the road. Secondly, even on a relatively smooth road, hitting the correct spot on a touch screen is difficult. OTOH, if you had buttons for everything you wanted to do, there would be too many buttons. The best compromise is to have a unit similar to the screens on the F/A-18 Hornet. The screen shows the information, while the programmable, physical buttons which surround the screen serve different functions depending on the screen. In other words, they are function keys.

I can already interact with things in the room. When I want the lamp to come on, I walk over and turn a little knob. When I want the TV to come on, I press a button on a remote. Behold! The future is now!

Perhaps they should call it :D. At least it would seem more friendly.

I suppose this might be interesting to some people, but when it says, "it only works on jailbroken devices and attackers somehow need to be able to intercept the modified Siri traffic", well, that's a lot of "ifs" in there. It's sort of like walking up to someone and saying, "Can you make elephant soup?" And they reply, "Sure I can. First, I need an elephant. Then I need to chop the elephant into small pieces..." I mean, I guess, technically, someone can make elephant soup, but not that easily.

You're right. Tablets do age well. They're not constantly in use, and aren't getting dropped, and whatnot, as often, like phones are. They just don't need to be replaced as quickly.

Wow! I guess the Soviet Union really is back. This is the kind of flamboyant nonsense they used to put out in Pravda.

I'll throw my two cents worth into the noise. I am an Orthodox Christian clergyman, and I think Neil DeGrasse Tyson's tweet is humorous, as well as objectively true. I am at a complete loss why anyone would be angered by it. People are so quick to hate these days, for no reason whatsoever. Truly we are in the end times.

I enjoy the Kindle app on my iPad and read in bed every night before I go to sleep. Occasionally, I fall asleep while reading. Sometimes I read paper books too. I have noticed no difference in my sleep patterns, and I sleep quite satisfactorily.

A couple of things come to mind. First, even when I read with my tablet, I still have the lamp on, just like I would with a paper book. That may make a difference. Second, is it possible that the content is different when using a tablet for most people. That is to say, if you're reading the news, or facebook on your tablet before you sleep, perhaps it is the CONTENT that is bothering you and keeping you awake.

They argue that a "patchwork of state and local pro-drug policies and licensed distribution schemes" are in conflict with federal law. Yet the very same patchwork exists with regards to alcohol, firearms, and a whole host of other things.

It's like some sort of Jules Verne, 19th century idea of space exploration. It makes a lot of sense though. At least the unmanned mission looks like a real possibility.

I'm sure the large and powerful Danish Navy will have no trouble enforcing that claim...

It's easy to make a fat burning pill. First, you make the pill large and of sufficiently heavy metal so that it weighs anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds. Then you hold the pill over your head and do squat thrusts. Alternatively, you can also hold the pill at your waist and repeatedly curl it up to your chin. Using such a pill in this manner every day or so will eventually cause your fat to burn away.

The author is a dumbass. He thinks his computer is a big smartphone that only runs one application at a time.

I'm curious why my local Agriculture Department needs a bunch of M-16s.

I know that the "5.56mm rifle" is an M-16, and the ".45 cal pistol" would be a 1911, but what is the "7.62mm rifle"? I'm hoping it's an old M-14 rifle. I'm hoping these are not M-60s!

Earlier this year I upgraded my iPod. Of course, in order to move the music from one to the other I had to sync with my iTunes library. Everything seemed to go smoothly and I was happy. Then, a few weeks later, I went to play some music that I used to have on my iPod, and it wasn't there. I have since noticed that quite a bit of my music has gone missing. My daughter said the same thing happened to her when she upgraded her iPod last year. I just chalked it up to buggy programming and that was that.

Now I read this story and I'm wondering if that is why my music is missing. Is it because those were songs that I ripped from CDs. Yet, iTunes did not get rid of ALL such music, that I know for certain. I still have the old library backed up, so I'm going to take a closer look at this mess.