While that is good to know, I'm more interested in the rumor that xbox 360 games may run on Windows 8. Unfortunately, it may include a monthly fee like XBL.

http://www.insideris.com/more-xbox-360-games-on-windows-8-details/

I grew up in a heavily conservative environment. Each new piece of technology was seen as a new way for the devil to attack, signaling the arrival of the anti-christ. This included...
Credit cards: Banks want you to use credit cards because it assigns you a number, and numbering the people was something that the anti-christ did.
ATM Machines: Something about not carrying cash was evil. Not sure what that was about.
RFID: They want to implant them into your body. The resulting scar was the mark of the beast.

If they couldn't find a rational reason to explain their fear of a new technology, they blamed it on the anti-christ.

Have you ever gotten a copyright infringement letter? If not, then this probably won't apply to you.

Read the last two paragraphs of the article.

Essentially, after 6 notifications where they contact you about your infringing activities, they will throttle your internet, and possibly disconnect you until you contact them and have a chat about copyright laws.

While I don't like the thought of being disconnected, I really don't like the thought of the government getting involved. (Protect IP Act, anyone?)

This does look promising.

If they truly allow group video conferencing using a browser, I will certainly use it.
If they truly implement voice chat, I would gladly replace Skype, possibly even Vent. (Depends on how it gets implemented)
If they implement group chat that works across cell platforms, I will certainly use it. I would love to use something like this to organize weekly spontaneous events instead of massive text messages. (Email is too slow and unreliable for the last-minute changes, phone calls takes too long.)

However...
This must be painfully easy to use, no special invites and 10 day waiting lists. If this thing gets rolled out using small groups, it will die.

I truly hate this statement. We DO NOT understand outer space more than our oceans.

We don't understand outer space enough to ask the proper questions. People are making assumptions that planets outside of our solar system are composed of 118 elements, and that is all. (Just another hunk of rock/gas)... This is a dumb assumption to make.

Our oceans are finite, so there are a finite number of questions to ask. Space, to our understanding, is infinite. Therefore, we will never understand outer space as well as we can know our own oceans.

I HATE ads. HATE.

I am willing to pay more for ad-free TV. Hulu seemed like the perfect platform, but they wouldn't shut up and take my money. Cable companies offer DVR's for an extra $5 to $10 a month, which seems equivalent to paying for TV without ads.Why can't Hulu do the same? I never did Hulu+ because it still contained ads.

Businesses are so focused on selling ads that they forget about just using paid subscriptions. Sure, ads provide income above and beyond the subscription, but if you are trying to grow, you need to offer something better than what everyone else does.

Life is too short to spend it watching ads. That is why I love watching old shows using Netflix.

You forgot all of the extra safety equipment that must be included to compensate for the full wattage range. That will increase the cost.

While I fully support a standard connector, I hope they realize that this will increase the electricity consumption of these devices, along with increasing the price of each charger.

With that being said, I significantly prefer convenience over efficiency, so I am looking forward to what they come up with.

They will get asked for money on a yearly basis.

I'm not going to say this is the start of the end, but it certainly shows that people are no longer "excited" about the social network world.

People are noticing real-world consequences to the privacy issues, reducing the amount of interesting stuff that people will post. I've run into employer issues, I've had relatives with relationship issues, and I've read enough about legal issues to be wary about what I post. Add in the number of businesses embracing Facebook, and you start to see why "social networks" have reached a saturation point.

It still has its uses. It is more personal than email (great for keeping your family updated on life events). It is easier to control reoccurring events, such as birthday parties and pick-up games in the park. It is also easier to ignore people on Facebook than through email. I will continue to use it about as regularly as I use my email, but that doesn't mean I like it.