As a person who actually USED Yahoo's original search engine, I think this is a wonderful idea, the law permitting, as you so wisely stated. And that it could actually be PROFITABLE as well is intriguing. BTW, you sig is both awesome and sadly totally correct.

According to most AV reviews I have read (including CNET), MSE is dead last in effectiveness. As for Avast, I installed it when AVG 2013 refused to install. Haven't looked back since. I am not understanding "bloats and adverts". There are one or two signature updates a day. I see no "adverts". As for "bloat", I see by Task Manager Avast is using only 7 MB of memory. It has caught several viruses, including some real nasty ones. I really like the "boot scan" part. I had not had an AV program with that. The first time I ran it it found 3 Trojans. I think Avast is a good choice. Above AVG in reliability. I use it in conjunction with Threatfire. Seems to be a good harmony. Just my opinion.

I agree totally. I worked for the NSA in their Army military arm (ASA) way back in the 1970s. The Motto on the wall, no lie, was "In God We Trust, All Others We Monitor." One cannot "secure" the internet unless it is taken "offline". Iran is doing just this in wake of their "worm" attacks on the nuclear facilities.

Not sure I am reading your right. But I don't believe "asking for handouts" that lobbyists to is tantamount to "free speech" for "redress of grievances", as you say. I could be wrong. Did not major in Poli Sci.

Rule 34?

You know the mantra: one good MS release, the next sucks balls, the next good, ad infinitum. So it goes .... Microsoft messed up trying to copy Apples success, but then went beyond that and tried to make Win 8 a "one size fits all" OS. Business users won't be buying, although, from what I hear it is far safer, runs on less resources, and has some improvements over Windows 7. But the whole tile thing (apps) and no "start menu" with no EASY way to start to desktop has pissed off a GREAT many people. Almost universally panned by review writers and consumers alike.

Good Point. As should I. Impressed with the Samsung brand of late. They are getting a LOT of things right.

I prefer desktop/laptop too. Speed of response is important. I have not tried AbiWord/Gnumeric. Linux family? Have tried LibreOffice and while it is decent, do prefer OpenOffice more. Even used it when I had access to MS Office. More intuitive and even had a couple of tricks MS Office did not have. Granted, at extremes it might not be usable, but for most people and small businesses, it works well.

I would tend to agree. Many of the stories I have read, like the Iranian nuke plants getting infected with Stuxnet, were due to human engineering. Getting to stupid people inside to get access or keywords or geting them to insert an infected thumb drive into the wrong computer. Hard to work against that. People are lazy much of the time.

I had looked into the Chromebook, as it is a good price. But once I saw it was a "cloud machine" with limited memory, I found many better deals elsewhere, including Google's only Nexus (if one can find one - they seem to be continually "sold out"). But I am confused why Google would do this. They already have Google Docs. Guess I am not up on it. This is "cloud only"? The new Pixel is just ridiculous. Sure the screen is good. I don't even LIKE Apple products. But the Airbook still seems to be a better deal at that price point.

Not trying to speak to Britain, as I have no right. I know little about it. I understood my responsibilities. Just saying it is possible to have all under surveillance.

I can understand what you mean. I do keep a journal. But only if a significant event happens - not every day and everything that ; happens; no matter how trivial. And the reason? I am 60 and the memory is not doing so good.

Rule 34???