A player is expected to have a finite life as an active user, probably less than two years. The price of the game is set based on assumptions about the attrition rate. Giving the game to another user extends the length of time the server load exists for that copy of the software.

Honest question, I'm wondering what you feel the upcoming gingerbread tablets are lacking that makes the iPad that much better? I'm still not convinced i need.. or even want.. either, but right now if i did it would be android simply so i'm not locked into iTunes again. Hated that with my iPhone, don't want to go back.

No it shouldn't be taxed. People should only be taxed for what they use, when I buy an online good for physical money what service of the government am I using? I use paypal which is a private company to use my private credit card on a private site to get something online which go through the privately owned internet lines which I pay for out of my own pocket, to another privately owned server where I play my game. Pay for what you use, the government doesn't even enter into the equation except for a very, very, very, small amount. Such exchanges should never be taxed. The government should be a service provider, nothing more. If you don't use the service for a transaction you don't have to pay. Taxing such things is like adding shipping and handling to them, they don't need it so it shouldn't be paid.

Explain how stock trading liquidity is a benefit in and of itself - to human society and the Earth's biosphere - rather than as a benefit only to those wanting to extract wealth from the markets due to volatility.

With both engadget and Gizmodo getting their hands on the "next iPhone" in different bars in different cities, it is difficult to believe that somebody actually lost the phones. Either both engadget and Gizmodo got fooled or this is more a marketing campaign than lost phones. I would bet on latter.

I still don't understand why the Stock Market can't run 24/7.

Wrong. Freedom of speech is freedom from responsibility - it protects not only the act of speaking, but from being punished for it.

The thing is, freedom of speech is selective; it's purpose is to protect political (or artistic) speech, but it is limited in other cases, like libel or in this case, it might be protected by Personality Rights.

Al la carte, please.

You want to know why your cable bill is so high? This is why. Cable stations (and now network stations) charge cable companies to carry their channels. So they get paid whether you watch their content or not!

That had people spewing up blood after one toke over the line. DEA, Uncle Sam, and some guy named Bill are but a few to blame.

to press their finger against a piece of sellotape.

Assuming your last comment wasn't a rhetorical question, you already know the answer to this: Because the perceived value-add of selling an encrypted drive allows them to charge more than simply bundling TrueCrypt with a bog-standard USB drive. The public justification would be that their software is easier to use (and, if they're feeling particularly full of themselves, more secure).

I haven't bought a new machine from BestBuy in years, but even then it was a machine to install Linux on. They tried a variety of upsells on me, and couldn't quite grasp my answer. "No, I'm wiping out everything and putting Linux on".

At another store, they were very insistent on selling me an antivirus suite. I asked "So, does it run under Linux". Their answer was "Oh, I'm sure it does." I had them spinning for about 10 minutes and finally broke the bad news to them. Come on, you're selling computers. You should have a clue what Linux is, even if it's just enough to know, a Linux person wouldn't want anything packaged for Windows.

Cigarettes are the currency of choice in most prisons... in a non-smoking system, what do they use? Or do I not want to know...