John Gruber made the same mistake earlier -- but you can still register for a free developer account and download Xcode without paying the $4.99.

Take your reason elsewhere, we're trying to spread some FUD here!

Yet.

Quite. You bought a PS3, but you only subscribed to PSN. It's an entirely reasonable distinction -- who honestly mods or chips a console and expects to use it for online multiplayer?

Think about it from Sony's perspective. Think about the costs they laid out to bring the entire Playstation to market. Don't they have a right to try and control what happens to their product

Sony's perspective on whether they do or do not have a right to control their product post-sale is irrelevant -- they can believe that they have that right all they want, but it doesn't make it so. What they do have a right to control is the service they provide; banning devices and/or users from PSN and the like is entirely legit. Who would possibly expect them to do otherwise?

People can argue that once a system is bought, it no longer belongs to Sony, but they do have controlling right to the technology that continues to exist in the system.

Indeed, people do make that argument. Some of them even sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The entire idea that Sony is out to get it's customers strikes me a spurious and unsupported argument. If a retailer of any product was "out to get their customer," what would it do to their business in the long run?

Definitely -- no legitimate business can hassle its customers and get away with it. On an unrelated note, bought any good CDs lately?

The only flaw in your reasoning? Claiming that you own a PS3. You paid a one-time leasing fee, at best; the device still belongs to Sony.

Technically speaking, the president doesn't have the authority to declare war -- only congress has that power. Consequently the US hasn't been at war since February 10, 1947. Peace is nice, ain't it?

Can I use pgp in Apple's Mail client? Can I install anyone else's mail client? Oh, right.

I was already aghast at Gizmodo for running a story with the poor engineer's name -- there was absolutely no journalistic reason to give his name other than to give Gawker's editors a bit of titillation. He's a human being; human beings make mistakes. I'm more than slightly disappointed that Slashdot, a community that should be sympathetic to the guy, is having a laugh at his expense. Seriously -- who hasn't ever lost their phone or their wallet?

If, mind you, it was even legitimately lost in the first place -- which I still don't believe.

Why did you choose McCain's maverick status (or lack thereof) to illustrate his being worse than Obama? I'd have gone with one of his more obvious promises myself, like not closing Guantanamo, beefing up troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, or pushing through legislation written by massive corporations...