We are born with an innate sense of fairness and justice. Young children, e.g., can readily make judgements about what is right and wrong long before they've been indoctrinated with religion or ethical training. So can my dog, for that matter.

Judging that slavery was "right" wasn't as arbitrary or as easily done as you assume. Society didn't decide that "certain people don't deserve certain rights" so much as it refused to recognize slaves as "people". They were considered property, more akin to draft animals than humans, and thus the moral standards we apply to human relationships didn't apply. Dehumanization is the key. You see much the same thing with the "illegal immigrant" issue in the U.S. today. In order to justify the level of brutality that many conservatives believe is warranted, it is necessary to demonize them all as dangerous criminals, when the truth is that most are hard-working people who are contributing far more to society more than they are able to claim in return. So innocent children are not to be educated, the sick are not to be treated, and labor is not to be fairly compensated. And Jesus is entirely OK with this, because they are all (even the children) "criminals".

The relationship between religion and morality/ethics is by no means straightforward. While it may be true that some people are constrained in their behavior by their understanding of their God's demands and threats of punishment, it's also true that God can be used just as easily to *override* our innate sense of morality and justice. We are allowed to deny basic humane treatment to heathens who don't worship as we do, just as we're allowed to deny it to slaves and others who we've dehumanized.

My imaginary conservative friend, who always displays perfect consistency in all of his opinions, is outraged that his tax dollars are being spent to defend private trademarks and IP. Trademarks belonging, moreover, to corporations that pay very little in taxes themselves. "What has happened to individual responsibility in this country?" he might be heard to exclaim. "Surely these firms could defend their IP monopolies themselves, without public assistance. I mean, this is the NFL! You mean to tell me they can't find a few hired thugs to show these pirates how not to do business?"

So... A good return on investment is an entitlement now in capitalist economies? Would you care to buy my house?

These predictions look more like a corporate wish list than anything we peeps are looking for.

What I like even less about biometrics replacing passwords is that the emphasis shifts from something you know (and, of course, can change or use selectively) to who you are. Because your biometrics identify you, you're traceable wherever you go, forever.

I look at it like training wheels on 2-wheel bicycles. They definitely make it easier for a beginner to make it down the driveway and back, but at some point they become a hindrance and you'll want them off.

This isn't about old geezers pining for the UI they used back in the day; they're used to changing UIs and have been through many. This is about not being able to remove the training wheels, or to get a bike without them.

And there will always be touchy, defensive people of all ages who perceive criticism behind every simple observation.

You never see anything like this from Linux repositories simply because Linux users would never stand for it. Many (maybe most) of the Windows users I know accept malware and crapware as just the unavoidable cost of getting what they need or want in a convenient way.

So it's a cultural thing, and it will take a lot of user education to create a higher level of expectation. The trouble is that I don't see from where the incentive to provide that education is going to come, interests in the MS ecosystem being vested as they are.

Whenever I say "the cloud", I have to wave my arms around and look at the ceiling. I just can't help myself.

Because as we well know, no proprietary operating system would ever make a change without giving you the choice of adopting it or not...