What do you do for these 'medium sized businesses', desktop support? I can't even conceive of using a tablet exclusively with as much typing, etc. I have to do on a daily basis, let alone one that's as software crippled as Windows tablets.

Those different OSes were all the same OS with different role based licensing. They did it so they could get clients out there without 'server' functionality, while still making a profit on the Server releases.

Do you really want to pay $1500 (or whatever it costs for a Windows Server license now) for a Desktop OS? I'll stick to the crippleware (or I would, if I still used Windows).

I've been waiting for this type of device to surface for some time now (pun not intended) - about 7 or 8 years, I imagine. It's a device long past its due.

The difficulty is in the modal UI. I've seen some Android devices /projects attempt it, and it could be done fairly easily, it just hasn't seen terribly wide-scale utilization yet.

My bet is that if we do see it, it'll either be through Apple or Google Nexus devices. You'll get a phone, and for $50-100 more, you can get a 'tablet' dock, which provides a battery and larger screen. For another $100, you can dock it into a keyboard with a battery pack, similar to how the Transformer tablets work today. The biggest downside to this approach is that you still have 3 'devices', but can only use one at a time (eg. I can't easily watch a movie on my tablet while typing something up on the keyboard like I can with 3 discreet devices available today).

I don't know if there's necessarily a market for it. Cloud services kind of negate it's desirability - or they would, if they integrated more heavily with people's entire device ecosystem.

That was a couple years ago.

The later, Android 4.1+ tablets are pretty damn awesome. THe hardware specs are on par with a phone from a year ago, more or less, and they're typically pretty damn close to AOSP or Cyanogenmod in terms of Android. Build quality? Not the best but not horrid, either. Certainly passable for something likely to be dropped and manhandled by kids with filthy hands.

They are really missing the bus. A couple points stand out:

What, and 8.1 won't stand on its own? There has typically been two, maybe three primary reasons to upgrade Windows to a newer version (or replace the old) for 99% of everyone:

1) A new device is acquired and hardware support is lacking for the version you've already got
2) Planned obsolescence of software - you need the newer version of some program, which isn't available on the older version.
3) Corporate management benefits

Sorry, MS has never benefited from the "new shiney" Apple benefits from with every release of hardware. Their products have had to stand on their own merit. If a tablet comes out running Windows and is a success, it will be due to the benefit of any features of the OS more so than the tablet hardware itself.

There is user interest in Windows 8.1? This is news to me. Presumably this interest comes from the 5 people who bought Windows 8 laptops or desktops? Everyone, from corporations to home users, is trying brazenly to stay on Windows 7 or migrate from XP to Windows 7 (still, sadly), not to mention avoid Windows Server 2012 and the parasitic changes made to other Server 2012 products (Exchange 2012, here's lookin' at you, kid) which have overwhelmingly gimped their capabilities, management, and general functionality (though all reports of performance seem positive).

Regardless of why there isn't interest in 8.x, there simply isn't (just like Vista was/is hated, regardless of the merit of said hatred).

Companies will not be replacing their plain-jane XP desktops and laptops with Surface tablets, sorry. They're going to be buying plain-jane desktops and upgrading them to Windows 7, and sinking their teeth in for the long term (or simply upgrading the assets they have today). The software ecology is entirely too disruptive in 8 to allow for a clean "enterprise" migration - and the reliance on old versions of IE for corporate sites is still significant here.

I don't see Surface tablets succeeding if they a) ship with hard drives, or b) come with a price point more than 20% lower than capable but not-name-brand Android tablets: in terms of desirability, that's roughly where Surface sits. People have gmail, they use google for searching, and mostly watch youtube videos with their time. Surface isn't going there, in any regards - and most people don't have a Live account.

And, if what's happened to the "Osama" Seal Team 6 and various other people who might be privy to high-profile operational information is any indication, they'd probably be Disappeared anyway, regardless of their alliances. Things are getting bad.

"What you're not seeing is people actually abusing these programs."

So, aside from ignoring the fact that on a weekly if not daily basis there is a news report of these programs resulting in an abuse of liberty, we're just supposed to ignore the fact that the programs' very existence is an abuse?

There is absolutely zero reason to believe anything Obama says; on the contrary, there is good evidence to support believing the opposite of what he says is true, based entirely on his own record of honesty.

More precisely, is there anything Obama has said since he gained the public eye in 2007 which hasn't been 180 degrees from the actual truth?

I think the only thing he's been honest about at this point is his intention of making gas/diesel/etc. more expensive and a couple slip-ups about healthcare not being available for everyone.

Previous access?

Let's think about this. You're a sysadmin for the NSA; you're not actually all that fond of what's going on there at this point. You catch wind that there's a 90% likelihood you will lose your job, and if you don't lose your job, you will have 10 times as much work hoisted onto your shoulders - so you're looking for a new job regardless.

This is true for every one of your coworkers as well, many of which will likely be pre-emptively disgruntled about their firings, and many will have at least marginally anti-government sentiments (as appears to be the case for pretty much everyone in our society at this point, barring a handful of idiots in NYC and San Francisco).

What do you think is going to happen? They still have access to everything and more or less know they're going to be sacked "just because" in what amounts to a pogrom. More data WILL be leaked - some through the media, some directly. It will be a massive shitstorm.

The irony of this epically foolish announcement is so incredibly thick. You operate a publicly funded secret organization which has been abusing the trust of the American people for decades, and you think the people you hire to perform devious, illegal work are going to be "trustworthy"? What a fucko.

When you're trying to do x (develop), and people keep asking you to do y (aka make a political/legal change), it's highly frustrating and disillusioning because you've got no time for x anymore. "You don't want me to develop? Fine, fuck you, do it yourself."

More an ideological statement than a political one, but yes, the guy who started this current "3D printed gun" craze the media is in by releasing working 3D printed gun blueprints on the Internet for free about a year? back - it was an ideological move for him.

On the other hand, weapons tend to push technological capabilities pretty quickly, they're fun, and a natural target for the engineering-oriented (and often male) mind. "How fast/hard/strong/etc. can we make it?"

I highly doubt a replicator is anywhere in our lifetimes. We're struggling with laying down layers of plastic at a slow rate and making it cost effective. I highly doubt we'll be anywhere near a cup and Earl Grey, hot.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when using this device, a bullet, from a loaded cartridge, gets propelled down a barrel by action of the explosive powders in the cartridge.

That's an incredibly silly claim.

So what, China and the US, or the US and Pakistan, are very similar because we're bickering all the time?

You're talking about traditions and customs, I'm talking about values and moors.

What criteria does it not meet for being a firearm?

That's from USC 921. There are many similar definitions in US law; some are even so as restrictive to be inclusive of propelled air or mechanically propelled weapons (eg. BB guns and slingshots).

"3D printed guns" is just a bunch of media gathering hype and bullshit.

With the most rudimentary tools, people have been able to produce firearms much more serviceable than these dangerous plastic devices. People have been making AKs using not much more than a hot fire and a couple smooth stones for almost 50 years. Simple blowback operated machine guns similar to the WWII Sten can be made in a garage with scrap metal, a dremel, and a piece of rusty pipe, or 'bangsticks'.

It's not difficult and requires very little skill or resources; blueprints are easily found online for those who can't figure it out on their own. This arguably easier than the 13-shots-before-blowing-up 3D printed guns which cost thousands in resources and require a great deal of knowledge.

If people are scared of 3D printed guns, it's because they either don't understand the limited implications, or they're just reactionary idiots. 3D printed plastic guns were never meant as anything more than a political statement.