Does Playboy still have any good articles? I know they used to (some of the interviews were really interesting), but last time I picked up one (couple of years now), it had turned into a FHM/Maxim wannabe. Still the playmates pictures, of course, but the articles had become fluff pieces.

I'm sure there are enough that I feel fairly confident in my advice to just not install Java unless you really, really need it. Which, unless you're a developer or a Minecraft addict, you really don't.

Depends on where you're from. All the banks in Norway (and I think the Nordic countries, don't know about the rest of Europe) have a common login functionality that is java applet based. Meaning if you want to do online banking (or financial transactions, since I think brokerage firms also use it for login) in Norway, you need java installed.

So, what happens when you need to travel out of the country during your contract time? Do they give you the unlock code, or are you forced to be roaming costs?

But, but, according to conservative pundits, he's too "effeminate" to be right

*sarcasm* this is what happens when you have a Socialist president. It would never have happened under a True Conservative President. Remember this in November, people. If Jesus or Paul didn't want bat-shit crazy people to hate the socialists, why did they never speak up against it? *sarcasm*

"Who is your favorite author,"

Questions like that (or favorite book) might sound easy, but is actually hard because of the "there should only be one correct answer". There were a site where the security question was that, and I forgot what I had answered because my favorite author and book had changed in the meantime (and I don't remember who I had at the time when I signed up for the site).

The other devices have better hardware

Considering how inane Youtube comments are, I'm hoping more people will follow your example. In the meantime, I just block all comments

Oh, please. Read the comments for those articles. Read how iPod is a useless mp3 player because it doesn't have wireless, and nobody would buy one (except for the iSheeps) when they could get a nomad. How the iPhone is a useless phone because it doesn't have physical keys, and nobody would buy one (except for the iSheeps) when they could get a Blackberry. How iPad are a useless device because you can't do all the stuff you can do on a laptop, and nobody would buy one (except for the iSheeps) when they could get an Asus EEE.

The point is, when it comes to prediction of successful products, Slashdot group think usually knows Jack Shit.

Some quotes for ya:
About iPods

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=22940&cid=2467504

About iPhones

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=215930&cid=17528796

About iPads

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1527002&cid=30921390

Note how all these comments got either +4 or +5 insightful?

As a non-American, I hope the rest of the States follow suit. Today Theory of Evolution; tomorrow, Theory of Gravity :-D

Everybody on Slashdot also knew that iPod, iPhone and iPad were failures.

Then they turn 18, go out on their own, and receive the shock of their lives when they are suddenly confronted with decisions they were never prepared to face. It's not a surprise that as young adults, they would engage in risky behavior like casual unprotected sex.

Plus, they have been told all their life that condoms and other contraceptions have no effect, which lead to the poor bugger asking why bother using them rather than "do not have sex", which I gather was the original intent.

Riight. Like making Symbian Open Source made it thrive. Or Maemo. Or Meego...

It's -12 C (about 10 F) in Oslo today

I would wait until there is a second device running Tizen before I would consider it a viable solution. Given the history of the people behind Tizen, I suspect they will announce a reorganization of the project around the time a phone is first released with the OS. Maybe a rename while they're at it.