Oh, this is getting interesting then. I wish I'd had more time to check deeper than I did, but I do think it's interesting that what now looks like a troll made the front page of /. ...

What could be the point?

Of all people, Cory Doctorow would know if he had violated the CC ...

I notice nothing is mentioned about simply rooting your android.

I haven't been able to find a definitive declaration, but I've been told and have read reports that rooting my DInc will result in a voided warranty.

IMO, this is like buying a Windows machine, but not having the right to administrative access.

What if I want to continue getting updates on the OS, but I also want to uninstall the crapware? I know there's very little on the DInc, but from what I hear and read, the X is choked with it. And these 'crapps' are using phone and network resources. What if you have a limited data plan (and regardless of what Verizon says, it will happen sooner or later), and your phone passively uses more than twice the data bandwidth you use actively? $$$$ out the window and into your carrier's pocket.

So, the real question (for me, anyhow), is does this apply to Android?

Before everyone gets their panties in a twist, wait for Motorola to comment. This is just rumor, after all.

Motorola has admitted that they are locking down the firmware, and gone so far as to say that if you want to mod your Android phone, buy a Nexus One. They have not acknowledged any kind of bricking booby-trap so far as I can find.

That said, I'm most definitely not a Motorola user anyway. I despised their stupid bloody Krazr phone the instant I pulled it out of the box, and when it completely shattered, 2 months later after a 20 inch drop to a wood floor, I didn't improve my opinion of their phones. I don't think this is going to help them much, but I also don't think it's going to hurt them much. As another poster mentioned, it's just not on that many users' radar. Nobody cares except the modding community.

Now, in the interest of Full Disclosure, I expect my shiny new HTC Incredible to be shipped today. This will be my first smartphone (I know, I'm a Luddite), and I don't know what to expect. I don't expect to muck with the boot loader, though I may opt to gain root access after I've studied the pros and cons better.

Oh, yes. HTML5 is the "next big thing" and I've been mostly ignoring it (I'm a back-end C/C++/Perl dev, not a web dev).

I saw that memory test result. I think the big problem there was that it was a stripped down FF install - no extensions. I don't use that many - maybe 6 or 8, but in my experience FF would tend to suck epic quantities of memory into oblivion along with the CPU any time it went pear shaped. I never was able to isolate that problem to a single plugin, page, or combination thereof. Now that FF4 is isolating plugins and tabs better, maybe I'll be able to.

I was under the impression that's what 4.0 is doing. On MacOS, I get an extra FF icon in the Dock when I run into sites with Flash ...

Did I miss something?

And yeah, 3.6.x was so bad I upgraded my primary browser to the beta. Since then, no CPU drain at random, no out of control heat issue until I force kill it, and no framework lockup when I'm editing a long response on FB. It still freezes the edit box momentarily, but only rarely, and never crashes out or kills performance on the whole machine. To be honest, if the handful of extensions I use in FF had been ported to Safari, I'd already have jumped ship.

Agreed. The JS engine is probably the only area FF is trailing the rest of the market by a wide margin. It's not like they're announcing they're getting further out in front of the pack. Announcing they're finally coming up to par in this area is the best thing I've heard about FF since ... well ever.

This might give me reason to hold out for FF4 rather than switching to Safari or Opera.

The AES128 algorithm in Perl?

Of course, you might need a special government permit to cross borders ...

The Mormons were right?

Holy Crap!

Does it help if you don't have a life?

Shouldn't be a problem for most geeks.

Great, there'll be no living with those folks out in Utah now.

For those of you not following the PvP webcomic, the Emissary was featured in the last week or so, starting here. This was my favorite story line yet.

You can, but make sure you find something suitable to grease it up - or just pull a small line through that you *know* is strong enough to pull the less pliant wire. Make sure you attache the ends securely and wrap tight (but not too thick) with electrical tape to reduce the risk of catching on an elbow joint.

And I'd be doubly careful pulling, too.

Another alternative to using a wire of questionable integrity (or if said wire does break) can be used if the pipe is known to be airtight except at the accessible openings. You can use a vacuum to pull a line through if you tie a small but strong, pliant cord to a small cloth and feed it in - make sure the cloth isn't too tight a fit. If you can plug all other openings, there are no other cords to tangle your little cloth, and your shop vac is powerful enough, you should be able to feed it right through. It will be easier if you're feeding from the top of a horizontally arranged pipe, but vertical pulls are possible with a good setup.

Then use the cord and always remember to pull a backup along with any wires you want to leave behind.

Yeah, my dad is a retired electrician, so I've done this stuff before. It's tricky sometimes, but it works.

Second that suggestion.

However, pull gently, and coax it the whole way (pun not intended). If the coaxial runs through pipes, you'll probably run much less risk of stripping or breaking the Cat5/6. Almost none if you find a gallon or so of wire lube at Home Depot or Lowes and grease the hell out of the new cable as it enters the pipe. Just be sure to trail a strong cord along with it so you have another pull if you want to pull another line in later. If you test it and it doesn't work because a wire stretched too much, you can just pull another (trailing in another pull string).

Also, test the wires directly by twisting them all together at one end and connecting a bell/battery gadget to pairs at the other. When you ring the bell, both wires are good. If it doesn't, one or both are bad.

And if it were me, I would absolutely work on getting an updated Cat5/6 line in the house. Barring that, go wireless. The coaxial solutions are more expensive and in my experience, rarely come close the current wireless options. Good luck!