We also have to accept that everything like the fossil record could be faked (or at least just evolved once and then put in place billions of times from backup copies

Have you read Terry Pratchetts' strata?

It describes a universe with "planet builders", who build in anachronisms "as a joke" (like dino's with rolexes) and design planets.

I wont give you further spoilers, but it's a really fascinating read and describes part of what you are suggesting.

We get nerd-ons thinking about intergalactic travel and want so desperatly to contact other civilizations but many have trouble interacting with "other races" on their own planet.

All clichés and cultural differences aside; if you meet up with a civilization on another solarsystem, the cultural differences you might like or not will be a massive magnitude greater.

In short: Why would you think to be able to interact with an alien race while you cannot properly interact with the wide array of cultural differences on this planet?

To me it seemsit's often fantasized about as superiour in intelligence and peaceful thus able to teach us things, or massively inferiour and able to be dominated or controlled. But what if they are a bunch of weirdo's alot of people are avoiding in real life and are unable to interact with, even when the cultural or behavioural differences are marginal and limited to one planet? Are we mature enough in that regard to go out and deal with cultures unknown with unknown (to us) origins and behavioural patterns?

Can someone please elaborate on this?

And you have a bright career ahead of you as a beta-tester for companies that write spell-checking software.

I have copywriters, websales, marketting and a legal department for that.
And most certainly for content in my 4th language.

Now, you can judge me on my code as it's my field of expertise ;)

What's he going to do when they come to fire him ? Throw an entire office set ?

He'll cash in his layoff-bonus he surely has somewhere on contract, and start up something of his own.

Microsoft will flourish again with all the young idealistic minds working hard and get slowly more solid and standard-comliant, but wont get so much back into the front-game.

Balminator, on the other hand, will be very loud with his "next new best thing" and go after Apple's marketshare. Ultimately, he'll end up as a lonely old but relatively rich man and being moderatly successful in the furtniture durability testing-industry.

They promise to delete your account within 14 days without active use. (if you login, you reactivate your account.)

See delete account

This should still be impossible if The user pays attention

Well, you cannot expect the user to take this responsibility of "checking for a specific digit", they'll go to the competition if the procedure is too "complex". Why is Apple booming? Not because of feature-gallore.

You cannot imagine how many emails I get of "regular users" who entered their login details on some random webpage resulting in a email to all contacts in a format "follow this link to see [facebook-style test results]" to be prompted to login with your credentials and continue the chain.
(I've given up on educating and sending a reply explaining how their credentials have been comprimised").

And why wouldn't those people?

It is simular as Microsofts' passport or the facebook implementation on webpages which is pushed everywhere as a "ease of use" and "seemlessly integration everywhere". (which, if with malicious intent, could hijack your accounts as well and get to your emails, banking details or get creative and infect someone)

It seems alot are averaging around 1990s - 2000s, as for me so I nostalgia hard.

Until I realized "that's almost 20 years ago! I'm now like those people who used to be proud to talk about "in my time, the 70s" or even the late 60s or other misc "get off my lawn" jokes, "in my time...".

Seems those are still around too, but now I've reached that level to the kids on my lawn. Will always stand in the shade of the ones of those who "used to walk 5 miles with a punchcard", while I "biked to the library with a floppy to download ONE picture."

I'm getting too old, where are the newlings inhere?

Glad to see it's still around for those who hate needles.

A needle sortof awares you if some foreign agent is introduced in your body.

Imagine this scenario: you create patches of some sort, or bandaids or somehow "inject" people unknowingly to themselves and repeat a the story at Pont-Saint-Esprit, but very subtle?

I'm not a "oh noes the mercury in vaccins"-nut, but I sortof like the fact that there's a bit of a barriere before introducing chemicals or organic compounds directly into my bloodstream of which I have little to know knowledge about content and result.p>

It's now clear where M$ is headed to

Yes, trolling slashdot nerds to install silverlight to view the image out of uncontrollable curiousity.

Someone at M$ is now chuckling while you sell your soul clicking "install silverlight plugin": trolled hard.

I do not often visit The Times web site, I prefer the paper version. I do mainly if I want to share an article with a friend or few, some item of common interest. Something that has the side effect of introducing non Times readers to The Times.

I notice that I can no longer do that, it will cost me & my friends to be able to share such things. As a result, after 35 years, I will change newspaper; I will no longer buy your paper copy - probably going for the Guardian or Independent.

This paywall is a bad idea, the only way that I can adapt to it is to change which newspaper I read. Your foolish action will cost you. I give you permission to email me (once) when you reverse this policy; however I expect that, by then, I will be happy with my new newspaper.

Regards

Best sir,

We are crying here at HQ, as you were one of these loyal long lasting clients we were boasting about. Irma overhere, is devistated; she used to ask every week to handmail out your paper personally but now feels rejected and just was going around with a card to contratulate you on your 35th year of subscription with us. She cancelled the cake-order with your name on it.

We hope your new meaningful relationship with another paper will bring your more satisfaction, while we try to calm Irma down and try to fix our strategy with the purpose to remain profitable in a digital age. Please accept our sincere appologies of the actions of executive management, and accept these scissors to share your news articles with us.

Your friends,
The Times

Who would have thought people would object to paying for information (or the closest Murdoch equivalent thereof; this guy owns Fox News) that is also provided for free?

I don't think that's the only problem: internet news tends to be very flaky to push out "interesting" articles and it allows "on the fly editting" compared to a paper for example: unnecessary sensationalists "breaking news!" banners, reedits and a general lower quality of written content.

So, people don't want to pay for sensationalist articles but would if the content would be, as you say, unique, solid and giving a decent added value: If I take the train and read the free Metro paper, log online and keep an eye on the newsfeeds from different RSS-feeds or different newspapers there's very cleary just some channels distributing the same "news" but depending on the papers "target crowd", reworded, restyled and reprioritized.

The "online news" seems often just like a gossip magazine.

I have smacked one hard between two flat palms right in front of my face, pulled my hands apart...and it flies away.

Two words: Depth perception...

Maybe now ATI will lower the prices

Ofcourse, just after pushing news or release of the "next generation" card.
Then, Nvidia will be like "oh no way! you mofferuckers!"
And release their own shiny new nextgeneration DirectHDSuperplus vision in 4D XL video card, they have been making in a secret monkey lab and has been animal tested by suicidal Japanese childlabourers, to cut costs to give you a "bargain";

'we really want you to play with our hardware, man. I'll give you a cheap price, because I have a good heart", and once you fork out, they smile at you "this one goes faster ;) But, man, I know you want to play with our stuff and make things look shiny... I'll cut you in.. Just 10% off man.. you can get the money, it's a bargain.. ".

.
"Woah! Woah!", will ATI scream, "no way! you are busting our balls here Nvidia!"

ATI will relabel or redesign their architecture, while they're secretly working on their n-D SuperFantastic alternative reality renderer, trying to divert attention away from it by coming out with the dud-kindof refurbished graphic card.

Nvidia will think "ha!ha!ha! Your puny card! Our 5D, handcrank accellerated M-based probability engine makes your piece of hardware look Mexican...

Until ATI releases and Nvidia is all like "ok, that's pretty awesome.. but we are now using dolphins and sharks for our assembly, how much cooler can you get?"

Then Matrox sends out some PR, and people wont care:
"Oh hai, who are you?"
""it're those guys for professionals stuff I cannot afford."
"oh, don't care. Give me the card assembled by SHARKS!"

(I think Matrox has to rework PR, really.)

tl:dr; it's been that game for decades and you're buying it as an industrial or corporate opera show.

As a US tourist

I've been to White Russia last month, with a English teacher overthere as a "guide" (a girl I've been communicating with.)

"The current sentiment here is that they hate Americans, they've been conditioned by propaganda, the same way Russians have been conditioned by their media to hate Russians. They don't care about Europeans", while I noted how friendly and accomodating they are overthere.

So, you couldn't. He'll do everything to humiliate you, being a "US tourist".