Yes, the very one.

IBM has not defined what a PC is for decades now; they even abandoned it for a while back in the PS/2 days, with the whole MCA and OS/2 debacle. Not to mention they sold their PC division to Lenovo.

"IBM compatible" these days is something running System z.

It's not surprising that a veteran iPhone hacker was able to root the iPad right away. After all, they have very similar hardware.

Maybe we should switch to hand controls for the gas and brake.
Or get rid of steering wheels entirely and use a motorcycle type steering/gas/brake system.

If the problem is "user error," we should change the user interface.

Goddess, this has been up for minutes and nobody's made the obvious comment...Chii!!!!

And if you don't get the ref...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEvyHXNhHAc

So this is an argument that because most of the people on the Titanic were White, they behaved one way, and because most of the people in Haiti are Black, they behaved another? Just an observation...

I have to admit that I don't know how far the modern car depends on electronics when in motion. I'd like to see a study on what happens to cars if their electrics and electronics die (or get fried) suddenly at speed, till then I'll assume that there is potential for disaster.

BTW, it is an electromagnetic device by definition; it induces current in a distant conductor. If it is adequately directed, that is one thing, but then the question was what else could be in that direction. I've no idea about the camera of course, maybe it was an old style hand cranked roll film camera immune to all EMP!

(ps. not only is universal health care a good thing, it is socialist also.)

FAIL. I've been a 'professional radio operator', and you are confusing skill with procedure. We worked with numerous volunteer HAM operators with years of experience who basically showed us how it's done in the field. Yes, there are tons of agency-specific rules and procedures that you have to practice 40+ hours a week to have down. But when technology (inevitably) went sour, the HAM operators were the ones able to keep working.

For games with a beginning, middle and end - I'm grateful if they're short. 8 hours or so is good. So dollars/hour is not a good metric for me. I'd rather quality than quantity.

Replay value is always welcome, of course - but it depends on the type of game. I'm all for something I can buy, *really* enjoy for 8 hours, then trade in.

For me $10/hour of actual fun, is better than $1/hour of tedious grinding. Of course some people enjoy grinding... weirdos.

Exactly. More like 13GB at NTSC specs.

That's why I opted for 10-100GB.

The idea was that memory is not to be trusted in the world of Blade Runner.

They aren't going to increase the Japanese population talking to women like that. One of the reasons why Japan is in the population fix it's in is because women have decided "Screw it, I'm having too much fun being single, and being a married woman is akin to a season in Hell anyway, especially if you are married to a First Son, so I'm going to live with my parents and spend my money on fashion and Host Clubs and Yaoi doujinshi."

The reason why women make the choice to become a "parasite single" is not just a rebellion against society's expectations of being a "good wife and good mother," but it has a lot to do also with the economic situation that pretty much started with the end of the Showa era and the beginning of the Heisei era. When the bubble economy burst in 1990, the earning power of the Japanese male burst as well. The old assumptions collapsed. You didn't graduate a prestigious university and get a job for life. Much of the excesses of Sarariman life was forgiven because, well, he would bring home the salary. Now, after the burst of the bubble economy, employment was scarce and tenuous.

Marriage had long ago evolved from a business arrangement between families to a partnership arrangement between a man and a woman -- love usually was way down the list even during the go-go '70s and '80s -- so the economic viability of the potential husband determined his marriageability. With so many young men graduating from university without the guarantees their fathers and grandfathers have, you wind up with with lots of single men and single women.

There is a huge stigma against birth out of wedlock in Japan, way more than in the West. So the economic and social situation means birth rates have plummeted.

You cannot simply wish away the current situation, or sloganize it away. This is the result of a social collapse unprecedented in Japanese society.

Of course not, but it's an excellent reason not to worry when you get on a plane. Or to further increase aircraft maintenance requirements until they make flying too expensive for ordinary people.

When you're trying to decide what to worry about (and pass laws and make policy about), it's worth keeping a bit of perspective. Terrorism is a VERY minor threat to the average person.

The GGP implied that, were terrorists to explode a nuke, the danger of dying from terrorism would exceed that of dying in a car crash. I guess it would, for that day, even that year. But you'd have to have a very successful nuclear terrorist attack every four years to equal the car crash risk, long term.

Incidentally, you'd need about 10 September 11ths per year to bring your terrorism-death risk up to your car crash death risk.

"Passengers originating at or transiting through airports with a poor screening record would be denied entry to the US."

Well - there's a little bit isolationist in me. I say we don't NEED all that shit the world has. A bit of self sufficiency would do the states a lot of good.

But - if your reasons for closing the border involves fear of the bad guys, then the terrorists have won. Since the terrorists have beaten you, you might as well stop at the hardware store, buy some plywood, and nail it over your windows. Get some iron bars for the outside. Get some metal fireproof doors for your home, and just weld the damned things shut. Build a faraday cage around your home to keep out the NSA, FBI, CIA, and the Martians. Build a fallout shelter under your home. Stock up on survival gear - 50 years supply of water, crackers, etc. You're just not SAFE out in today's world. Oh, don't forget the tinfoil. With discipline, I guess a tinfoil hat might last a month, so get lots of it.

The neuromancer tagline is pretty apropros. It is a shame that stuff like this has to spring up. I feel bad for the economic victims.