And then the access control system fails when the mechanism that moves the nozzle to eye height fails.

I've been voting against the incumbent since I've been allowed to vote. How should I step up my opposing?

Clean, but not lean. This article claims that Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) requires more RAM than Firefox OS, and I guess that's why 256 MB devices are stuck on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

Since when are subsidized phones actually leased? I thought they were purchased on the condition that the owner would pay the remainder of the subsidy when terminating service early. I'd like to see a copy of the contract that declares it a lease.

Slashdot is a Dice Holdings, Inc. service, and Dice is inside of the USA. Not everybody has the ability to leave the USA just for better phone service.

You can still use it with an antenna to receive over-the-air signals. And unlike your 24" monitor, a TV probably came with 1. composite inputs, 2. YPbPr analog component inputs, and 3. an audio output. Composite and YPbPr component inputs are useful for legacy SDTV picture sources, such as VHS decks and any video game console older than Xbox 360 S, PlayStation 3, or Wii U. An audio output is helpful because HDMI devices transmit audio in the blanking intervals of the video instead of sending it on a separate cable.

They're sold in different sections of the electronics store because the big manufacturers that make mass-market consumer products don't feel like confusing the user. If a monitor has no speakers but is used as a TV, a manufacturer would have to deal with expensive support calls asking why the user can't plug in his Nintendo and can't hear what the people on TV are saying.

Consider a device that allows the person who owns it to control what computing is done on it without having to ask the operating system publisher "mother may I". Do you have a clear, concise term for such a device?

I agree with you. But the claim of the post-PC crowd is that outside of businesses, people who want to "solve original problems" form a tiny, commercially insignificant niche.

Not necessarily. h4rr4r just happens to be an intelligent Slashdot user. Still, in a way, every logged-in user who writes intelligent comments that get moderated up to Score:5 works for Dice, as do the randomly selected moderators who perform this filtering.

I agree, so long as the person who owns a device gets to control what computing is done on it. An Android or Windows 8 tablet is a personal computer; iPad and Surface RT, not so much. If you have to ask the OS publisher "mother may I" before installing anything, it's not really your personal computer.

Since 2007, the programmable GPU has become commonplace. Watch some smart guy implement some of the processing passes of VP9 and H.265 as shaders.

Facts 1 and 2 are consistent with my use of a 10" laptop to code on hobby projects while riding the bus to and from work. Programming is one thing that tablets have historically been bad at, especially Apple tablets. Once this 10" laptop finally dies, I worry about what I'll use next.

So am I the "out", or am I the "liar"?

Would you rather have a screenshot that's compressed to hell with JPEG? It's hard to get a 1920x1080 pixel screenshot through a mail system that requires an entire message to fit in 60 KiB including all attachments. Yes, I've had to work with such mail systems; at one time, Juno was this way.

CDMA2000 carriers have been known to refuse to activate Android phones on voice-only plans, and GSM carriers have been known to "cram" expensive data plans onto a voice-only SIM inserted into a smartphone. This is just speculation, but perhaps a carrier might find some reason to charge less per month for a Firefox OS device than for an Android device. If the billing department of the wireless carrier with the best coverage in your area had a policy of treating Firefox OS phones as "feature phones" and Android phones as "smartphones", and you were on a budget, what would you choose?

I code in Python on my netbook. If a tablet with a keyboard can't do this, and devices capable of software development become no longer affordable to the general public, then on what machine should high school kids be exposed to programming?

Hairy, meet Crono. I know console fans have some points, and I know PC fans have some points, and I just want to make sure I have the complete picture.

But you'll need the right case in order to get a spouse to agree.

Does Steam support buying in Big Picture mode? And a few weeks ago, I tried going to Big Picture mode on Steam on my aunt's PC running Windows 8 (with Classic Shell) and either Steam crashed or the video driver crashed.

PlayStation 4 has eight cores. Eight is greater than four.

For one thing, you don't serve my area. For another, a PlayStation 4 allows one to walk in and walk out 15 minutes later with a console.

Someone in another thread claims that any gaming PC under $500 will lack most or all of these:

• An 8-core CPU. It's a Jaguar; do the ma+h.
• 8 GB of unified memory at least as fast as GDDR5.
• Ease of use: downloadable games for the platform can be installed through a one-step, controller-operated game installer, as opposed to clicking through EULA, what components to install and where, etc. I'm told GOG installers are traditional mouse-driven Windows installers.
• Ease of use: not having to troubleshoot Windows administration problems or Wine incompatibilities.
• A wide selection of AAA games in genres historically under-represented on PCs, including "3D platformers, singing games (and music games in general), light gun games, kart racers," and Eastern-style role-playing games.
• A consumer electronics-style case as a standard feature.
• Availability in a brick-and-mortar store in under an hour.

What answer should I give?