To tell you the truth, I'm using Ubuntu daily and I don't remember ever having the kernel itself crash, which I assume would produce the Linux equivalent of a BSOD. Usually it's just user-space programs that crash.

So if the kernel not crashing is the main selling point of Hurd, I don't see much reason why I personally would use it, because it fixes a nonexistent problem (at least for me).

Well, the government's budget is way higher it was in 1971, so maybe that's where all the difference that should have been went.

Are there enough heavy-computing tasks that will keep this computer occupied? Is there a shortage of computing power currently?

I've already removed it in favor of Chrome.

How much percentage points of GDP growth do they have more than if they didn't do this cyber espionage, I'm wondering?

For example, does hacking into a high-tech factory's servers allow them to immediately create a duplicate factory with trained staff that functions just as well?

Is this like the Harrier, where the motor switches from vertical to horizontal?

May be their iPad was bought by their parents for their own use, and then the kid installs the jailbreak.

If they didn't know what people wanted I'm assuming they wouldn't be selling so well.

Stop using email.

And if you fight off-shoring, firms outside of america will eventually become more competitive than american companies and undercut them on pricing. You could ban imports then, but you can't ban them from competing with your exports to, say, Saudi Arabia, and if the Saudis start buying from them instead of us because they are cheaper, then why would the Saudi need to send oil our way?

If this really hurts the company productivity, eventually it will become uncompetitive, and companies that do that will disappear. That, or it does not in fact hurt the company-wide productivity.

That is the only real way to be secure, unfortunately. It would require an overwrite of the OS to be more locked down, like iOS.

Doing everything over https would be nice, too, but there is too much inertia, a lot of software would need to be overwritten, and probably hardware devices to be replaced, too.

What makes you think robots cost less than Chinese labor?

Leonardo DiCaprio couldn't have explained it better.

That goes for hybrid cars also. The pollution while producing the batteries for those cars offsets the fact that you burn less fuel.