Considering that even the Slashdot summaries (and many comments) refer to anonymous as a group, you can't really blame the mainstream media for doing so. I think we all have the urge to personify everything. We're not much interested in anonymous doing something. But if it's that headless dude in the suite, you know: Anonymous, it's much more interesting.

Not really. The war in Afghanistan drove large numbers of Taliban into Pakistan (they already had a presence there before). Pakistan military has been fighting them over territory for the last few years. They even signed a peace agreement that introduced sharia law in Pakistan at some point. So while the Taliban is not al Qaeda, they are not bound by Afghanistan's borders.

Do you actually own a smartphone? I doubt it very much. I have, for example, the nytimes app on my Android phone. Why? Because their mobile website is a pos. It loads slower, has a horrible layout and a cumbersome navigation. Why on earth would i want to use it? Just out of principle, because it is platform independent? Give me a break.

The term open beta has been watered down over the past couple of years. It used to mean that anybody could join as long as they can run the application. But these days it really doesn't mean anything specific anymore. In the MMORPG scene where this development has been observable, the NDA is typically lifted a few weeks before the end of the closed beta, so defining it that way would make no sense either. Then when the "open beta" stars, it can have any arbitrary restriction: Only the first x applicants, only if you have a subscription at gaming site y, only if you preorder the game, only if you bought our previous game z, etc.

here, let me give you some money so you can go buy grey color and don't have to be restricted to that black and white.

actually falsifiability as a criterion of demarcation is for people stuck in the first half of the 20th century. philosophy of science has progressed after popper, you know.

headbutts. it apparently works on ladies and gents.

there is a very simple solution to this: don't wear giant noise canceling headphones and if you already don't, adjust the volume so that you don't turn deaf from it. i have been listening to music pretty much everywhere for the better part of 5 years and i have never not heard a car or any other source of danger.

this would be very interesting if it had a touch screen and the screen was invertible. why make such a thin netbook if you can't use it as a tablet? it's just meh this way.

Interesting. I have never looked for movie soundtracks but can see how there is a problem with previews there. My experience with Japanese music has also only been one of a few months which was indeed mostly based on downloads. I guess the availability of good previews does really depend heavily on what exactly you're looking for.

You have a very good point. From my experience as a predominantly indie folk (music genres are odd and everybody interprets them differently, but i don't want to be vague here) listener, you will find the music of new artists first on their own page (normally MySpace) then on YouTube and once they become more popular as a torrent. Let me give an example: Haruko is an indie folk artist from Germany (no association) who released her first record about a year ago. You can find 3 songs on her MySpace page and multiple videos on YouTube where you have to search for 'haruko folk' because of the ubiquity of the name. You will however have a hard time finding her album (wild geese) as a torrent or .rar (there might be places, but searching MySpace and YouTube will be far faster).

So for me the sequence for new artists normally is: (1.) Hear it on the radio (example - no association). (2.) Google it and find a MySpace page. (3.) If they haven't released a record yet, capture the songs and check back regularly for a release. (4.) Order the record, i prefer physical ones but i take digital as well.

I am sorry you had those experiences but you are generalizing a bit too much here. I am finishing up my masters in computer science right now and have also had very bad experiences with Indians. I've done projects where half our group was Indian and not one of them did anything. Often we didn't even get an answer to e-mails and then later very odd ones about a status check a week before the turn in. One year later i was in another group with an Indian (this time a girl, the others were all guys) and it was nothing at all like before. We were all working hard for it and if anything she did more than i did. That semester-long project was fun, we learned quite a bit and the group interaction was great. I've also been teamed up with Chinese people and they didn't stick out at all. They weren't lazy and they weren't superman, they were just like everybody else. The only issue i consistently had so far with people from South Asia is the smell of their meals (their spice mix i guess). I just can't stand it, especially in the morning (why do you cook at 9 am, why?). But hey, that's my problem.

you might as well, it certainly won't change its chance of being answered.