The Google Trends comparison is interesting.

Is this a preview of what might happen to Linux distros at some point in the future? Android has had a bigger impact than anyone expected. I wouldn't be surprised if it leads to Linux becoming more marginalised (servers only) and fewer people adopting it on the desktop.

The government already knows everything about you, and doesn't care if you get drunk on weekends with your friends. It's prospective employers that you want to keep away from your facebook profile.

This is not something that many users care about. I copy files between computers on my home network by dragging them into the remote share folder. Is it secure? Who cares, it works well enough.

Is the CEO of Google going to say "it's a bad film"? Even if he knows it's terrible, it doesn't look good to publicly trash something as trivial as a movie.

Mac OS X also has modal dialogs. Try printing a document.

One of the more interesting aspects about this device is that the keyboard-dock can be connected to an external monitor and used as a PC at the same time that tablet part is being used. It's essentially two independent computers that can be linked together to share peripherals and storage. I think that's quite an engineering feat.

They are not looking to be paid for their work in sequencing the virus, but to get a cut of any treatment that may be developed by controlling who is allowed to develop a treatment. Why, because they received a sample first?

No, because they put the resources into sequencing it. If you want to use their sequence data, you have to sign their MTA. Otherwise you're free to sequence it yourself and use your own data. The Dutch lab isn't preventing you from doing that.

I agree. If they were serious about providing disaster relief, rather than wanting to play with cool toys, they'd use full-size helicopter drones capable of delivering hundreds of kilograms and travel the whole distance without needing to refuel. That would be a genuinely useful service.

How well are their little solar-charging quadrocopters going to fare in stormy weather?

It's only fucked if you want to stay independent of a social network. Everyone I know is on facebook, so I use their XMPP system.

I think it's pretty clear that this isn't going to go well for Brown. They'll get nothing but bad publicity from this, so why on earth was this lawyer allowed to write a C&D letter? He should have at least checked first with Brown's marketing department - or any department - if it's okay to threaten a small business that's popular with students for no gain to the the university.

But the lenses in your eyes will still be focusing an image from the TV screen. The image is generated by the flat plane of the screen, therefore you need to focus on a flat plane even when the 3D effect makes you think there's a variety of distances in front of you. It's no different to a cinema screen.

This sensor would be fantastic for microscopy. The current range of "scientific" cameras are woefully under-specced even compared to consumer DSLRs (tiny sensors, small pixels, high noise level even with peltier cooling). Canon can eliminate Leica from that market with a product like this.

Yes, but then you would need special lenses. This sensor works with 35mm (full-frame) lenses.

I can see you're a master debater.