I don't know how much information it actually uploads, nor have I seen any reports of what it does submit back. I also haven't looked, though. I think that Microsoft is probably not too bad about collecting user data when the user opts out these days; but I could be very, very wrong. If I were them, I would want to correct that perception, but they're also a huge giant corporation. Shrug.

In those cases, check out Avira, Avast!, AVG, Kaspersky, ClamAV, et cetera...

I'm a big fan of Microsoft Security Essentials. I know it's cool to dislike Microsoft products, but MSE does its job pretty well without being annoying.

I've used AVG in the past, but it has a history of deciding things like iTunes or Windows dlls are viruses and screwing things up, so I avoid it. I used Avira in the past as well, but I think it had ads suggesting I upgrade often.

In the end, I settled on MSE and have had a perfectly cromulent experience with it; no complaints.

*hands himself the correct version of the word "piece"*

Oh man, wifi syncing of data is the missing peace on my pre2. I don't use it for too much data these days, but it'd be nice.

As much as I love the Touchstone, I'm all for Standards. So hearing about this new "Qi" charging standard makes me happy. I just hope that it gains a lot of acceptance.

I've been using a Palm pre+ and pre2 for the last few years. It has a wireless charging coil integrated into the phone's back cover and a desktop 'puck' called the Touchstone that uses induction to charge the phone. The phone gets a little warm while charging, but has never been a problem.

Aside from the cool factor is the "clean" factor: My night stand where I keep the Touchstone is all the cleaner in that there's just this little black disk on it. The cable is easy to hide since it just plugs into the puck and can be routed elsewhere. All I have to do is set my phone on it and blammo, charging. In the morning I pick it up and go -- I'm never worrying about constant plugging into a jack, wearing either it or the cable out over time. It's simple and elegant. I don't think I would be as happy if I had to return to a cabled charge system again.

I'm not a fan of PowerMat, since it uses covers. I much prefer the "integrated-into-the-phone-case" solution. As such, I'm excited for the new Lumia phones.

Windows 7 uses less resources than Vista, no?

I really like Linux Mint. The times that I've used it, I've found it pleasant and easy to use. I even like the greens. The one thing that I need from it, though, is a PXE installation. My Linux machine is an old laptop that can't boot off USB and whose CD-ROM doesn't work. So: PXE installs. I've been using Ubuntu on the machine for a while and it makes the machine functional, but I really am not a fan of Unity.

Mint is great, though; everyone should try it. You might even say it's... refreshing.

Maybe we could set up two separate populations for further testing... each at opposite ends of the galaxy...

It's not bleh at all. The short version of the story goes like this:

Phil McKinney: "Hey WebOS Internals Group, if there's anything we can do for you, shout."
WOSIG: "Cool. Actually, we could really use a donated server."
PM: "Lemme look into this."
HP: "Cool, bros. Here you go."

So, rather than a big cash reward, the homebrew developer group got exactly what they needed... which is a pretty good result, if you ask me.

I am employee number 03666. I am the nega-employee.

I have a Hori Xbox 360 USB pad: http://www.buy.com/prod/hori-xbox-360-fighting-stick-ex2-uhx3-07/q/loc/108/205483240.html -- $50, and any Windows XP+ machine can run it just fine. I imagine it's doable in linux, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, it's perfect for MAME. Digital joystick and enough buttons for most arcade games.

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram is also available on XBLA. Maybe not the same one as the DC game, but pretty awesome.

Ikaruga is already available on XBLA. I think it's a port of the arcade version, but it's close enough.