I'll put your grandfather's dozen friends up against anyone else's thousands when the chips are down.

I guess I'm in the minority here, too, since I didn't like Cryptonomicum at all. It was OK but at this point I don't even remember what the plot was, never mind the characters.

Also not cracked: DTCP which, for a good number of years, protected (and still does) the Firewire output of cable set top boxes. Firewire is falling out of favor fast, but DTCP still hasn't been cracked, and I'm pretty sure that goes for newer non-firewire implementations such as DTCP-IP.

And don't forget HDCP which protects HDMI connections between A/V devices. The master key was leaked, not cracked. There's a huge difference there.

Interesting. I always thought it was short for Metrosexual.

Microsoft is calling others out on inflated numbers? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. In 2009 people viewed BSA's $53 Billion Lost to Piracy claim with a healthy dose of skepticism. So which companies are in BSA? Oh look! Microsoft, Symantec and McAffee (among others).

Maybe McAfee, which TFA credits with the Trillion Dollar figure, is just applying what they've learned from their dealings with Microsoft and BSA.

Evidence of life on Mars is the kind of thing you find by accident. Serendipity. It's the kind of thing you find when you least expect it.

These missions should be about finding gold, or oil. Yeah, yeah.... I know, I'm not stupid. But most people are and support for these programs among the taxpayer citizens would increase dramatically.

Then maybe we'd really have a chance of finding something cool up there.

I also enjoyed that article tremendously. I wouldn't say Microsoft's rise and possible fall exactly parallel what happened at Westinghouse, but there are similarities.

It was truly an excellent article. After I read it I crawled wikipedia for a while and learned a few other unrelated things I never knew.

I have no mod points today, but that's OK because if I did I'd be raging right now at the lack of a "+5 Offtopic" rating.

Please elaborate because, on an unrelated note, there's a vile outfit that advertises on radio where I am that proudly proclaim their status as a 501(c)(3) charity. Technically they are. Morally they should be shut down and put in jail.

I don't think the word "comprised" means what you think it means.

Too lazy to do any research on it right now, but if this was an online advertiser whose ads I blocked with Adblock Plus and said ad blocking hurt them.... Good! Glad I could help.

I'd like to documentate a response to this. I think "currency performant" works. I can commentate further if you'd like.

The coolest app ever would be one where you hum, whistle or sing a few bars of a song you know, or almost remember, and it identifies the song for you. Of course said app would have to know all the songs in advance in order to find a match. Yeah, that would go over big with the RIAA.

In one of the new stories up the front page a bit, there's a posted comment by someone who claims hearing aids are so very expensive because of all those damn pesky and unreasonable regulations his company has to follow.

$DEITY forbid the drug industry in the US ever gets deregulated. It's bad enough already with all the ads on television and radio for new pills everyone should "ask your doctor" about.

Microsoft is constantly telling people that they won't sign their drivers unless they pass strict quality and certification standards. MS should just deny that to drivers as buggy as these are reported to be.

Oh wait... that would mean MS Is actually committed to quality as opposed to just needing an excuse to deny the little guy who wants to write some driver-level code.

I know the damage is minor, but it's just sad to see a symbol of our great space achievements be subject to so much indignity. Involved in a fender bender while riding on a garbage scow headed for New Jersey. Oh, Enterprise! I weep for thee.