Gah!! I submitted before I finished, but you get the idea.

...

After that absurd level of equivocation,

Having a monopoly is one thing, banding together multiple monopolies to squeeze out competition is another.

You know if intelectual "property" were physical proptery, this sounds like something ripe for an anti-trust case. (I'm not sure if the details work out, but it smells that way.)

Haskell also comes to mind. Errors are so well handled in that language, you probably won't notice that they are so well handled. Because of the way things are structured, errors are rare (so no need to check them). When they are present, there are a number of techniques from "Maybe" types to "Error" monads to throwing "IO" monad errors. The "Maybe" type is particularly interesting as it ensures that the user will check the error, and provides convenient notations and combinators for doing that checking.

The ACLU has a good summary of why this violates due process and in particular constitutes "prior restraint" (a big no-no).

You mean the ones that were seized without regard for due process? That is evil because it sets a precedent for abuse.

Oh, wait ... they've already abused it.

Not if you are on an ARM instead of Intel. Microsoft's behavior makes it pretty clear they would like to do the same on Intel even if they can't right now.

Which means that it prevents your mom from running alternative operating systems unless that system (1) pays $99 to Microsoft or (2) requires her to fiddle with keys and hashes.

Wait, what? How much computational effort does it take to spend a bitcoin? Would I have to worry about accepting bitcoins with weak transaction histories? Who's responsibility (buyer or seller) is it to ensure the transaction is recorded with enough effort? This sounds like a scary and dangerous way to do things. How is this not a problem? (Just to be clear, I'm asking from honest ignorance.)

Unrelated question:

Could you expound on why it would collapse?

That experiment was tried years ago in the form of coins minted from precious metals. Yes, it does work. It does, however, bring certain disadvantages (e.g. uncontrolled fluctuations in the monetary supply, people trying to corner the market, etc.).

I can't find the quote at the moment, but I think Feynman once said that the problem was like trying to use a flash light to track and hit a running person that is holding a small mirror ... from a football field away ... in the dark (i.e., only way to track them is by the reflection when you hit).

(Disclaimer: IIRC, the original quote was in reference to the Star Wars program where the distances involved made things like radar less precise/effective and the use of lazers required a prolonged "hit".)

Phone minutes are often been rounded up to the nearest minute. AT&T may be doing something similar to that. (It's still scummy of course.)

In England, truth is not an absolute defense against defamation like it is in the USA. Maybe the same is true in Australia?

Commercial airliners (e.g., 737, 747, A320, A330, etc.). I would have also thought that the presurization was enough to not matter, but my emperical experience is that it (unfortuntely) does.

Yes, please!