I just wish Microsoft would listen to consumer complaints that quickly regarding their other big turd, Windows 8...

In my experience, if you were to put the Windows 7 task bar on the left side of the screen, color everything purple and orange, and replace the Start Menu with a script that sends all of your search results to Amazon.com, it would look an awful lot like Ubuntu Unity.

Wow... perhaps there is some hope for Doom 2600 after all...

I'm hearing this a lot from a lot of the people about my age (early 30's) who graduated high school in the mid-90s. In elementary school in the 80's there was a lot more interest in teaching programming (BASIC, LOGO, HyperCard, etc.), but then as the 90's went on "computer classes" became dumbed down to the point where they were just teaching typing and office software, and programming was an elective if it was even offered at all. This was my experience in school. Why do you think this was? Was it because schools wanted to churn out secretaries, because Microsoft and Apple stopped bundling free programming software (GW-BASIC, HyperCard, etc.) with their operating systems, because the computer market was heading more towards "information appliances" than "general-purpose computers", or because there just weren't enough teachers or enough demand for programming classes?

I don't know; on my Droid X I have silk-screened logos for Motorola, Verizon (twice!) and Google(TM). Intel's "Intel Inside" logo would not be too out of place.

Larger screens, more legible text, better wifi features... perhaps Nintendo is trying to break into the e-book reader market with this device. After all, e-book readers are popular in the DS homebrew scene, which Nintendo is not totally unaware of, and a company with Nintendo's clout could arrange a deal with Amazon for a Kindle app. I have limited pocket space, and when I'm on the go, I know I'd rather carry around a sightly larger DS than a DS and a Kindle...

Actually, when Mac OS X was first released with its dock, there was quite a bit of uproar from fans of Mac OS 9 because they were used to hunting around the sides of the Menu Bar, launching apps from the Apple Menu and switching apps with the Application Menu. A number of third-party hacks came along to restore the "lost functionality." They were also upset that application windows rolled into the Dock when minimized instead of into their own title bars, so they came up with a third-party windowshading hack. A few of these hacks are described on Low End Mac's website. However, users eventually got used to the Dock, and personally, when I go back to Mac OS 9 I use a third-party hack that replicates the Mac OS X Dock, unsurprisingly called A-Dock, to make the app switching experience more consistent. The Dock was a good UI decision, and has lasted the test of time. As for this new Firefox ribbon thing, if they do it right, we'll grumble for a bit but eventually it will become as natural as using the traditional menu bar. If they don't do it right, they'll switch it back in the next release.

That might also void the warranty too, for those who worry about such things. But that is a legitimate point: why does a MP3 player need a video camera? I can somewhat see the use for a camera on a cellphone, as a means of visual communication (I'm still waiting for Dick Tracy-esque video chat on my phone) but my iPod nano is stuffed in my pocket pretty much all the time, and I only use it when I am exercising or on the bus. I don't take it places I want to record video of. For the price of an iPod, you can get a digital camera that takes much better pictures and video (and these days, probably plays MP3s too.)

I downloaded Lotus Symphony for free off of their website. I had to give them my email address, but it didn't cost me money. It is definitely proprietary, however, and in my experience it really doesn't do anything that OpenOffice.org doesn't already do. But it does support open formats, and if enough big companies like IBM promote ODF and things like that, it might make it easier for non-Microsoft office suites to compete in the market and share data with each other.

The only thing on AM radio these days is conservative talk--hmmmmmmm....

I really hope they aren't being charged at the $0.10 to $0.20 per message rate that US carriers usually charge for SMS. If that is the case, I'd really hate to be the one who has to pay that kid's phone bill.

Yes, I did RTFA. Here is what it says about Netflix's desire to cut out their DVD service:

In an interview with Bloomberg.com, Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, is siding firmly with the latter camp and it would even appear that Netflix is gearing up to move all of its eggs from the mail-distribution basket to the online streaming basket. Hastings indicated that perhaps as soon as later this year or sometime in 2010, Netflix might start offering online-streaming-only subscription plans (beyond just its current Starz plan--see below). The Bloomberg report states:

"The company's success hinges on its ability to transition to online video from DVDs, Hastings said yesterday in an interview in San Francisco. Netflix faces a challenge similar to the one AOL had as it lost subscribers who shifted from Internet service via a telephone connection to high-speed access, he said." (emphasis mine)

It sure sounds to me like they will eventually phase out DVD mailing entirely. I wonder if any other service (besides Blockbuster) will be able to fill in the gap.