I would argue that social standing and that of your parents is a better predictor of your future success.

http://www.npr.org/2012/10/16/162936707/movin-on-up-that-may-depend-on-your-last-name

The logic is flawed right out of the gate even before you consider any of the logistical issues with a shooter = owner confirmation scheme.

Here's the deal. A parent who lets their kid get hold of their gun or a gun owner who doesn't lock up their weapons and they are stolen and used in a crime have at least one thing in common: neither of them thought they had a problem to begin with.

My question then is: why does this company think anyone is going to buy one of these if their intended customer already doesn't think they are at risk?

I'll stick with my Glocks with NO safety. One of the primary reasons I chose them was because of that. I've read that many police officers have been shot because they forgot to switch off the safety on their duty pistol. Many other people have been shot accidentally because they relied on the safety which either wasn't activated or failed. Either way - it's misplaced trust in an imperfect safety device. The proposed system will obviously be many times more complex and subsequently even less reliable.

Maybe people will choose these guns because if given the choice between one that might not function in the wrong hands and one that will fire every time they feel better with the extra measure of control. I fear, however, that it will just be another cause of people getting complacent and lazy about proper training and handling. They will assume that the gun will not go off so they let their six year old play with it. Trust me...it will happen.

Alternate tools:
12ga slug .308 .223 .44 Magnum .40 S&W .45 ACP

There...fixed that for you.

There is something to be said for old technology.

I work in an electronics lab that has many tools that are windows based. Agilent oscilloscopes, Keithley semiconductor analyzers, etc. The control PCs are embedded in the instrument so you can't upgrade the hardware. The vendor wants you to buy the latest version but when you are talking about a tool that costs $70k there's significant pushback from management. However, if you want to run tests remotely the system has to be on the network...but often antivirus software slows down system performance and changes test results or causes hangs/crashes. Subsequently we have a pile of NT based tools that are off the network and have to be run through other interfaces (ie: GPIB) with a host machine of some kind.

The problem I find is that with a laptop of any kind you often can't control the environment where you are using it and the glare can become a real issue. If I'm wearing a light colored shirt in a bright area the reflection in a glossy screen is horribly distracting. If I am using my work laptop instead with a matte screen I never even give it a thought.

The US and the USSR were allies during WW2 and as such we didn't really have a right to claim control of all of Europe. The US did everything it could short of war with the Stalinist government to get better treatment of Eastern Europe. It was a constant pissing match for either democracy or communism. Eventually we prevailed but, yes, it took a long time without waging war.

If I may bring up another WW2 example where the US did a great thing, Japan who attacked us directly and was conquered by us had to submit to our post-war dictates about how the country was to be run. Those in power in Japan were terrified of what we would impose but Douglas MacArthur with a committee of military officials with law degrees drafted a constitution and set up a system that is still in place and working well. The Japanese expected to be punished ruthlessly after the war but instead MacArthur is considered a hero in Japan...how often does that happen?

The big difference between that and the US interventions throughout the world today is that our wars are now run by politicians trying to get votes and since we are just trying to keep or put a friendly government in power we don't have any real say in how the government eventually forms. What we end up with is a fractured, chaotic and weak government that isn't particularly popular with the people or neighboring countries.

The frustrating part is that if we do something...we look like a bully...if we don't then we are still vilified for standing by and letting bad things happen. Personally...I think we should just pull back and be isolationist. Let the rest of the world sort out their problems on their own.

Maybe the girl directly between him and the camera has it...her arm is in the same position...wait, no...it's the guy next to her because his arm is in the same position too...wait...Hang on...this could take a while...

I can give you a few reasons why the slow uptake.

1. As noted before by many here...XP works.
2. Unless you buy a new machine you are going to have to buy a retail copy of Win7 which the last time I looked was more than I wanted to spend to replace something that wasn't broken.
3. Oh...you still want to get some work done? Well you will have to buy this abomination we have called Office 2007 or newer. Never mind that it's usability is crippled by the ribbon interface. Get over it. Thank you for your money...again replacing something that was working just fine.
4. And if you do happen to be running an older machine that handles XP just fine...we recommend you get a new one that meets the requirements of Win7. Thank you for supporting our channel partners.

And for me...last but not least...they are just going to pull this again in another 4 or 5 years and soak all the poor saps who faithfully followed their upgrade path.

Me, I'll just keep running *nix and keep a VM of XP as needed (rarely). It simply isn't worth the money to upgrade since I don't use Windows for anything online anyway.

Even more significant than mental illness is the fact that more than 50% of the murders in the US are committed by less than 13% of the population (http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2221). Nobody will touch this issue because it is racially charged and is political suicide. Because the reaction to the slaughter of children with an AR-15 causes such a visceral response, our politicians jump at any idea that the polls seem to indicate is popular. Background checks, magazine limits, "assault weapons" etc. All of these ideas fail to address the real problem and will have no effect on murder rates. That's because psycho school/mall/theater shootings are a miniscule portion of the total number of murders in this country - but they look real good on the news. Never mind that psychos will always find a way to kill their victims.

Of course, politicians are not interested in reducing murder rates. They are interested in getting reelected. If they have to leverage the deaths of children to look like they are doing something to get the votes, so be it.

problem is...soon they will be coming for our arms and our free state will perish.

On the other hand, a family I know that goes to seemingly every movie that comes to the theatre feeds on this kind of drivel. In fact, unless a movie is an overproduced special effects or CGI extravaganza then they say it isn't any good. Face it...our ADD society wants movies like this so the studios are just giving people what they are paying for.

3M / Peltor 90561 ear muffs. 30dbNRR. I use them at work to drown out the noisy voices. They work far better than anything else I have found. You might also check out Chuck Wild aka Liquid Mind. Very soothing ambient no-beat mood music. Beautiful and relaxing without being distracting. Pandora has a lot in their library so you can try before you buy. I know that music really helped me get through my EE studies. Good luck!

I wonder how many college kids will feel like this once they learn that their autonomous vehicle designs used in the DARPA competitions have been used in this manner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26YLehuMydo

The Blackberry devices have been a favorite among lawyers and government workers for a long time because they were inherently more secure than similar portable email/telephony devices. Considering the Chinese government's position on encrypted devices and communications I seriously doubt the Blackberry as we know it would continue to exist. And even if it did...would you trust it?