Intel, thank you for your continued strong support of Linux. Already, if 3D performance wasn't an issue on one of my machines, having an embedded Intel video controller was a plus. As your GPU performance continues to grow, and I see you continuing to support Linux, there are less use cases where I feel I need a discreet video card. The release of this documentation indicates to me that you intend to continue your support of Linux, and I appreciate it.

i haven't fanatically followed their forums, but they are shipping *some* units, and they did get their CE and FCC certifications: http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-43262/l/updated-29-march-frequently-asked-questions-about-raspberry-pi. There are people who've received their orders, how many, I don't know.

I may have misstated when I said they actually sold 100k units as opposed to those who expressed interest in purchasing them - 100k was the number being thrown around for "expressed interest" or "orders".

As far as shipping? I know there's a huge backlog and I've no idea how long it'll take to fulfill it regardless if the person actually placed an order or merely expressed interest in it, but there are *some* people getting their orders, and the regulatory stuff is no longer in the way. Now it's just getting the things actually manufactured and shipped, far as I know.

A lot of compromised on the Raspberry Pi were because of pricing concerns. There's a whole thread about how MPEG2 license prices were insane compared to the MP4 licensing, so, alas, a no go on that.

I'm pretty sure the same thing could be said for the poster below and the VGA out. Adding another connector and the drivers for it to an already crowded board probably wasn't in the cards because of price.

While there are people getting excited about it for embedded uses, the stated goal for the Raspberry Pi is for educational and programming uses. So it really is aimed at being more of a really cheap desktop than an embedded device.

Doesn't mean that you can't use it in embedded applications. Things like the Gertboard should help on that front.

The regulatory stuff was cleaned up within a couple weeks of them saying they needed to do it, I believe. They needed to do the regulatory stuff because they ended up selling 100k units, not their anticipated close to 10k developer units - which wouldn't have needed the certs.

The regulatory stuff passed and people who ordered are receiving their boards.

I think they had to have the vaccinations to attend public schools, not that they absolutely had to have them. So, either home schooling or maybe some private schools would be a way to "opt out" of this requirement.

That, and we pretty much dammed up all the good "big hydro" spots already. . .

There may very well be a God, or Gods - interesting how anybody wanting a Christian bent in the classroom really, really doesn't want Native American Gods taught, or Buddhism, or what have you.

That's not the point. So far as we've been able to determine the presence of a Goddess, God, Gods, or even Spirits is not provable, so outside the realm of science. There is no evidence we've been able to measure one way or the other. There is plenty of evidence supporting evolution. The existence of a being or beings we have no empirical evidence for doesn't belong in a science class room. Noting how religion(s) have affected a particular scientific subject might be worth noting, but anything much more detailed would probably be better off in a history class.

Heck, most Christian sects, including the stodgy old Catholics, have agreed that evolution and creation may coexist and that the Bible's 6 days of creation is not necessarily a literal 6 days starting at whatever date you'd like to choose. It's the minority Christian view of the "literal creationism" that seems to be butting heads with evolution.

Then there are devices like the iControlPad. Have your phone when you want it to be just a phone, strap on gaming controls when you want something more than Angry Birds or driving games.

Even in XP, you've installed several commercial games, each with it's own DRM stuff. You get tired of Norton or just choose not to upgrade it - the one that came pre-installed on your computer. You install a browser, and for some obscure reason it had "Install toolbar X or anti-virus Y" pre-clicked on it. You or one of your friends or kids hits a few iffy websites. Often the trouble to "clean" all that cruft is more time consuming that putting your data on a USB stick - scanning the documents on that on a clean computer - and re-installing your OS of choice on the "bad" computer.

One of the sad bits of computing in the modern age is the sheer amount of malicious software out there. Leave your computer unpatched for a couple weeks while you're on vacation or otherwise busy, have some critical 0 day flaw, get on the web, and some bot infected computer / website / whatever infects your computer. And that's a fairly experienced guy just neglecting to download that security patch onto a USB thumb drive and apply it to his computer before exposing it to the world. It's a worst case scenario, and MOST faults come from browsing sights and downloading stuff that's clearly marginal, but the sophistication and vector of attacks are on the rise, the virus scanning and malware software isn't keeping up, and one ill-considered click can install some nasty cruft on one's computer.

It's Google. Think search - much the way Gmail works now.

Aaaaannnndddd, what, not accept cell service, phone service, cable service, not go to any live shows of any sort, not have power, or any other service because we don't like the contract, the company won't change it for you - though they'll happily change it on a regular basis to make it more restrictive and/or more difficult to read?

I don't think there's a single EULA out there that I agree with, and I'd argue they shouldn't be binding as a rule since you can't even read them in many cases until AFTER you've opened the product you purchased. (At least where computers, phones, consoles, etc. are concerned. Good luck with returning the thing if you don't like the terms of service after you've opened it.)

Even in the cases where you can read the contract before you get the service, you're in a position where "bargaining" won't do you any good. It's either service their way, or no service at all for many things - power, broadband, cable, etc. If you don't want it, one customer protesting on principles is no skin off of their nose. Heck, I'd argue the sheer number of times the legalese changes is abusive. Who actually has the time / money to go through and see how line item 5 in paragraph 15 of page 20 in their service agreement is reaming them?

A LITTLE bit of leverage in the way of class action law suits, and a government that tells companies they CAN'T put certain things in these "one way" contracts isn't unwarranted. Way back when, when book publishers tried to put in EULAs in physical books to prevent the used book market, we ruled that they couldn't Now we seem to be sliding back to the "you've bought it, but we own it and get to tell you what you can do with it." model.

And, maybe, because it's not our country?

I mean a lot of the world hates the way we bully them into accepting laws that are favorable to us - ACTA for instance - woe be it for us to enforce our ideas of sexuality on countries with entirely different backgrounds and social norms.

As a reference guide to newer and fast changing languages, maybe.

For more in depth studies on theory, language fundamentals, algorithms, and more complex topics and / or well written primers? Not so much.

I also find that it's still easier to browse a reference tome - much the way one browses a dictionary - than it is an electronic reference. It's not quicker to get to a specific topic, but it's easier to find new topics.