No. It doesn't I can also mean a Firewire or Thunderbolt bus-powered device. Wow. You'd think that this being /. that anyone posting here would know about hardware and not post stuff like that.

He didn't say what hardware he ripped it with. He simply said he was ripping a DVD. Since I know the MacBook Air hardware, I know that it is not "suspect" as the guy I replied to suggested.

The point behind cubicle dwellers drooling over tablets is because they don't want to be sitting in the little cubes any more. And while that is just a wishful dream for many, there are many others who could be more productive by being able to move about and still have their computing resources in their hands. Not everyone is a code banger that has to be hunched over a keyboard with 2-3 27" screens and a PBX handset within reach at all times.

Why do you find it suspect? Ah, because you do not know much about them and didn't realize that you can have an attached DVD via wire or wifi?

Using the Kindle Fire as your example of an Android device doesn't work. Amazon forked Android and the Fire's OS is nearly unrecognizable as an Android device. However, I do understand your point and appreciate it.

And thank you for taking the parent to task on the BS of what is legal on iOS.

...the reality is that the vast majority of people only use Android devices for texting or calling. Just like they did with their feature phones. They were simply upgraded to an Android handset because the salesperson got a bonus for doing so and it was probably a free p.o.s. that fit the budget of the buyer perfectly.

So, while it is "possible", it is very unlikely that the mass user base even know what can be done much less how to do it. Nor do they care.

And your opinion about the malware problem "seem"ing to be overblown is meaningless. The facts are that Android devices are being compromised all over the world and real damage is being done to millions of owners.

"Ease of installation and integration,"? Please turn in your /. number and move on. There is no room for that or good appearances here. That shit might cost money and has no place on /.

Seriously? There is someone on /. that didn't know that OS X was a certified UNIX?

...everyone knows that the extermination of a species is only caused by human generated global warming – typically from the activities of people residing on the North American continent. So the story is obviously false.

I have no problem with shortcuts to reduce typing keystrokes. I was responding to what I thought was a vote for cryptic symbolic languages that are not easily readable. To me, those types of setups are just a waste of time.

Not true, at all. I started out with an Altair 8080 that I built. It was programmed by stepping through the memory location one at a a time and setting the byte stored there with paddle switches. When I got a TRS-80, I could type just fine and really liked creating code that I could show anyone how to read. Yes, you could substitute symbols, but why do it. If you knew how to type, then it was better for readable code.

Best fits *your* experience. Please do not assume that you know anyone else's experience.

Completely agree. Only use Access if it is the ONLY solution available to you – including not having access to paper and pencil. I've seen nothing but problems from systems that started out as just small solutions. They tend to grow over time and Access is a real pain in the back-side.

Wow. The "full experience" requires the use of Google apps? So much for open source and choice.

Yes, if you have the technical ability that /.'era are supposed to have, then you can root your phone, fork your own version of Android, yada, yada, yada. But Google would go broke if the only people using Android phones are /.'ers. So as more organizations move to fork Android for their own purposes, it will be interesting to see just how long it takes before Google pulls out of supporting it.

Consensus is not scientific fact. Period.

If I say that based on all available data that all geese are white and everyone agrees with me, but one black goose if found, my theory is bullshit. All your attempts to justify consensus is significant. Yes, there are supporting data points that support your point(s). Soyou've found a bunch of white geese. There are other scientists (including the ones that actually support your seeming perspective) that have data that conflicts with those points (black geese). The climate has too many variables and it is too wound up with politics for me believe either your perspective or the opposing one. Yes, either side since I've not concluded one way or the other based on the facts that I've been able to discern.

Just because someone is an "expert" and says something I do not check my brain at the door - that is a great way to be scammed. No thank you. So I also use my own evidence to weigh what I've heard. For example, with all the talk about melting ice caps and glaciers and the resulting rising sea levels, I should be able to see evidence in my own home, on the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, I see nothing. Unless there is a geologic rise on my beach that is exactly the same as the ocean level rise over the past forty years of my residence, there is no sea level rise. If all that ice is melting but the seas are not rising, then where is the water? Evian bottles? No. I conclude that either the ice melting is bullshit or it is being refrozen somewhere else. Either way, that seems to indicate that global warming is bullshit - consensus notwithstanding.