Thanks for making me feel really old.

You didn't list anything that would indicate the "PC gaming" situation is any different than that of console gaming. Given your lead-in, you should've pointed out how PC game prices are better, capricious manufacturers aren't a problem, resale works flawlessly, etc. - but since you didn't say any of that, I'm left to conclude PC gaming has the exact same issues as console gaming.

If you don't like the policies Microsoft (or anyone, really) puts in place for their products... don't buy the product. Don't pirate it either, since that just a) shows them there's demand for it and b) reinforces their self-justification for the onerous practices. Buy something else, or nothing at all - but don't buy into their system.

Unless, of course, the Ecuadorean satellite's mission was to collect and sterilize soil samples from other planets.

I can't imagine it's bandwidth, because no matter how many projects are there the bandwidth needs are going to be miniscule compared to another of their free services - YouTube.

The Experience Music Project? Yeah, people definitely notice - that building is pretty darn weird...

I think the author has control over that, but I may be mistaken.

This is one that bit me just a few weeks ago. I'd purchased a recent Jonathan Kellerman Kindle book, but wasn't in the mood to read it yet - so I was going to lend it to my wife. Guess what? It wasn't allowed.

This is why, even though it's inconvenient, I strip the DRM from every Kindle book I buy. Because of that, I was able to "lend" the book to my wife without having to go without my own (physical) Kindle for the duration. Yeah, I know - I'm a hardened criminal and should be in the slammer. But I have access to my purchased ebooks and will be able to use them as common sense dictates, with or without Amazon's blessing.

If Amazon ever makes removing DRM impossible, I won't be buying from them.

I know Tom Magliozzi used to wax rhapsodical about his old Dodge Dart from the 1960s; and recently Dodge resurrected the brand.

So yeah - there are people that care deeply about Dart.

Google seems to keep making bone-headed moves it thinks will drive people to actually start using its moribund Google+ network; and, like all the past moves, it almost certainly will not work.

I say this somewhat - but not completely - tongue in cheek: Will we see a day when Google decides Android phones can no longer do SMS, because "our new GMS (Google Messaging Service) provides a superior messaging platform through integration with your Google+ circles"?

At first glance, I thought it said "Mice, Nerds Retrieved After a Month Orbiting Earth"...

Or a Series 4000 mechanoid.

Anytime you use Visual Basic, you are incrementing the counter keeping track of exactly which Circle of Hell you'll eventually be deposited into.

Not to mention a mean developer age of 73...

That would make a lot of sense - a more or less Stock Android TV box.

Heck, I've been wondering why Apple hasn't opened the Apple TV up to developers, given its already running iOS.

Roku boxes and Apple TVs can already do this AND offer access to external services like Netflix and Hulu - for under a hundred bucks. Heck, my LG television has a Plex client built in - no extra box is even needed to get at my own stuff.

So I'm not sure why most people would be interested in a box that only handles local content - but maybe you mean "local" differently than I'm interpreting it.

That thing died faster than the Kin - can we really refer to it as "discontinued" when it was pretty much stillborn?

On the plus side, its successor has a very, very low bar to clear...