How exactly would there be waste heat? The process magically circumvents the laws of energy preservation? No, the energy stored in the fuel is the energy taken from sunlight, just like the CO2 stored in it is the one taken from the atmosphere. The whole process is just a way to store solar energy in high concentration and have it usable at a convenient time.

Well fine, but that still means you are basically PAYING interest for the privilege of owning gold, when yo really could be EARNING interest with other forms of investment.

If you replaced the screws they'll see that as evidence that you have tampered with the device, and therefore you have voided warranty. Good luck arguing otherwise in court.

Installing an app from the Apple app store counts as installing software. As far as I am concerned, they should burn the OS into ROM, and have an MMU that physically prevents code execution outside that memory region. If you really want apps, they can run in a Java sandbox, rather than native assembly code, which has access to all the hardware.

Let's assume I actually install apps written in native assembly, which I don't. Even then, it is unlikely that the phone would get cracked within its normal lifetime (3 year contract). After all, there are many phones from many vendors, they would require different binaries, presumably signed with different keys. It is not like the game console market, where there are only 2 or 3 high-value targets for a crack.

Haha. Never heard that joke before. </sarcasm>

If you can't install software then you can't install malware.

Actually, it is good for power consumption. By being programmable, the FPGA can be smaller than an ASIC - since it doesn't have to implement all protocols at the same time, just the ones that are used on the current network.

I don't know specifically about the Motorola phones, but in many phones the "modem" is really just an FPGA that can be reprogrammed for different protocols on the fly. If you can change the OS, you can make it upload FPGA code that CAN wreak havoc with the network.

Really now? Because I do want my phone to be locked down, actually. I want a mobile device that allows me to read email, but doesn't force me into regular OS upgrades, patches, or software upgrades of any other form. I am willing to give up the ability to install software in exchange for never having to worry about the darn thing not working or having a virus. So there.

Yeah, you can keep telling yourself this - everybody who doesn't want exactly what you want clearly doesn't have a clue.

Here is a reference point: I am a computer scientist, I've been using Linux both professionally and privately on the desktop for almost exactly a decade now. But the very last thing I want of a phone is yet another device to upgrade or configure a kernel for, or worry about malware and viruses. Locked down sounds pretty good to me. I just want to have access to email wherever I go, I don't buy a lot of apps (I have 4 total), and I am not going to start developing for the darn thing. There is only so much time in a day, and the phone is one device that I don't want to have to fiddle with to have it work.

You selectively chose countries with high population densities. Canada, Mongolia, Russia are all have much lower densities.

You might want to have a look at the world map of countries redistributed by population:

http://bigthink.com/ideas/25109

Note how the US is one of the four countries that doesn't move. That means its population density is approximately the average across the world.

What's the point of having a 'busa when you are always riding at legal speed? I'd rather pay the ticket.

Well, then either they can't operate in both jurisdictions, or they have to find a way to structure the company so that all EU customer data only resides in the EU and is therefore not subject to US subponeas.

The European subsidiaries of twitter will be fined?

If literally every piece of of the infrastructure resides in the US, then sure, the EU has no jurisdiction. But if they are operating servers or networking infrastructure in the EU, they are still subject to EU laws.