While we are addressing details, I'd correct that to:

Actively giving and address to a shop that sells the chemicals (selling the chemicals) to do so along with a name and a phone number for a guy who will give you and instruction book (an instruction book) detailing how to make meth and advertising yourself as the place to go for all your meth making needs is another.

(originals in parenthesis).

I repeat myself, but: piratebay DOES NOT (nor did ever) host the actual "material", just a means to get it. It's not exactly like "links on Google" (because -torrent files contain much more than just a hyperlink), but it IS far less than actually hosting the material.

I don't say he didn't advocate piracy (he probably did), but he did not, in fact, actually host any of the actual data.

Mod parent up! This is something people (also here) seem to overlook/forget. Like someone compared an "anonymous posting" on Slashdot to a "piece of art" on Piratebay as data, it does NOT hold water. Piratebay does NOT and NEVER did host the actual "data", just a "link" to it. Slashdot actually holds MORE "copyrightable data" (yeah, I know) than piratebay ever did. Like the parent said, torrent files ONLY contain metadata, NOT the actual "data" that is being downloaded.

It's now exactly the same, but Piratebay is WAY closer to Google than Slashdot when compared to what data it hosts.

Thanks for the daily laugh :D :D

That's exactly that :D

And it will. Trust me on this :)

A *long* time ago (BBS-time, before the 'net), I went by the name 'Nightwing' (and I still like that song) that came from an old D&D (pen & paper) monster's translation. As soon as "online" became more common and I frequented things like IRC, that very, VERY shortly became "night" on "nw". Therefore I shortened it to "Nite", which seemed to go ok and was very rarely shortened to anything. Once or twice with "N". I use that occasionally even today, but mostly after sometime I hit 20s I somehow figured nicknames are not THAT great. I thought that, well I do have a "real" name, why not just use that...

And yes, even that gets shortened usually. Even in real life.

This is generally true (probably, I haven't done any scientific testing) and because of that any analysts and/or analytic program assume as much - which is why almost 95% of the time those instances define me as a female based on social behaviour in games/chats and texts that I write (stories, etc).

So while it is fairly simple to do it that way, it is also assuming too much as people are rarely, if ever, so one-sided that any clinical analysis could determine their age or sex short of looking into their pants. (which doesn't always work either, so what the heck :)

That's all fine and well and I don't have any problems with that... provided that system is ONLY activated for multi-player games. If I - or anyone else - wants to cheat in a single-player game (even if the game itself has multi-player, but the cheating happens in a single-player campaign) that's my - or their - own business and nobody SHOULD be able to prevent anyone from doing that, let alone BAN based on that.

I hate, hate, HATE cheating in multi-player games. I don't usually do it in a single-player game either, but there have been occasions when I've played a particular game n+1 times through and I just want to have some fun and see what is possible with cheats. This SHOULD BE allowed in all instances, as it does NOT, in any way, shape or form harm - or indeed affect - anyone else's gameplay.

I sincerely hope that system does not flag anyone based on cheats used while playing single-player. At MOST what a system like that should do, is disable on-line functionality while the cheat is in use. Nothing else. At LEAST not BAN anyone based on that, that just insane.

Please, can you dispose of all the Nazis living there currently and try to disrupts their plans to work with the Aliens?

Can we please have a "+100 Sarcasm" mod choice? This needs it.

Amen to that. The funny (or sad) thing is, this is too common, even in this age. One of the largest ISPs/Carrier Networks here in Finland has a hilariously stupid password rule set. Note: As much as I'd like it to be, this is not a joke.

1) 8-16 characters.
2) a-z, A-Z, 0-9 ONLY (Note: Although this is a Nordic country, this still excludes our normal day-to-day use letters ä, ö and å.
3) No three same characters in the entire password. NOT sequential or one after the other. In the *whole* password. (So "2rv8b23r09vnbn2" would not do, because "2" is there three times).

4) NO rule for sequential numbers/characters.

What this all comes to, is that the system gladly accepts "12345678" and "abcdefg" as perfectly viable and good passwords, but doesn't allow "j243508vubj234gj", "#a&%B3bv#sdf#" or "correct horse battery staple" to be used.

The parent was just wondering WHY it is still "difficult to understand and difficult to use", if done so as the parent described, the user wouldn't even have to KNOW it was encrypted. If the email software did it automatically, it would not be any more difficult to use than "send a carbon copy", probably even easier because it would only require one checkbox.

There was, once, a program that did exactly that. It integrated PGP encryption/key-exchange very well, so the user was only required to initially input her public key. Probably. I don't remember that much, it was years and years ago. (the app in question was PMMail for OS/2, if anyone was interested.)

Why is parent not modded up? This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the summary. They do say exactly that. Saying that you don't have "ownership" of something means *nothing* if you simultaneously claim perpetual and unlimited rights to said something.

But it would work perfectly for surfing porn, because "wow nice tits" is exactly what you'd want...

Why? How does that magically alter the device? Assuming by "PC" you mean "desktop", because tablet's literally ARE PCs (personal computers) already...

If you connect a Bluetooth keyboard and a mouse to a Galaxy Tab, why is it suddenly a desktop? Is a laptop computer a desktop if you attach a wireless mouse to it? Where is the line?

If you have a desktop computer, use it to connect and control (via WiFi) the tablet, does the tablet become a desktop? Because at that moment, you are using the tablet with keyboard, mouse and an external monitor? (You can setup this so that the tablet need not be in the same room, or - heck - even same country at all.)

Is it the monitor? If you connect your phone to a TV via HDMI, does the phone become a desktop? Is a laptop computer connected to a secondary monitor a desktop? Where do we draw the line?

What is the iMac? It's only "a monitor" that you use via two wireless (probably) devices.

Personally, I draw the line in that point where you can or can not pick up the actual computer (and use it on the go). (iMac is a desktop because you can't use it anywhere you want.)

For many, many people a tablet that connects to an external monitor (via any means) and has a wireless mouse and a wireless keyboard is enough of a computer that they can use it as their daily driver. They read emails and surf facebook. Perfectly doable with a tablet. If you need to be somewhere else, you just pick up the small slate and go. Does it change from desktop to tablet when you pick it up from the table?

If a Tablet with a keyboard, mouse and monitor is a desktop computer, where is the line between these devices? At which point does the tablet become a desktop?

While I'm in general agreeing with you, I must say your numbers/specs are still *way* off. X3/X4 Phenoms with 4Gb RAM and 500Gb was not *nearly* "low-end" five years ago. Vista was released five years ago. Requirements for that was 1GHz 32bit CPU, 1Gb RAM, 40Gb HDD and a 128Mb video card. "Low-end" was machines that did NOT meet those requirements (I was selling systems at that point. Sold many that didn't meet those). 4Gb RAM isn't "low-end" even NOW. (Or then we have entirely different meaning for "low-end".)

Also, "even the gamers will be looking at only swapping every 6 or 7 years" will probably never be true. 6 or 7 years is forever in computer terms and gamers (no matter how casual you are, if you classify yourself as a "gamer") WILL replace their systems far, FAR more frequently. Even I - that myself consider not being a high-end gamer and only replace my graphics card only once per 4-5 generations - replace my system far more frequently. Remember that last "4 generations" of graphics card was about 2-3 years (about). I just replaced my GTX285 few weeks ago and it was only a tad older than 2 years. My Q9650 CPU is pushing four years and it probably has less than a year life in it in my use. (I play quite a lot, but I don't necessarily play the newest games and play only for fun.) I have yet to meet a person that consider himself a "gamer" that DOESN'T replace their desktops once in 5 years. (At least parts of it.)

I'd agree that if one buys a top-end machine NOW, it will only "need" replacement in, perhaps, five years. But after 6-7? It won't be in "gamer-hands" anymore. Perhaps as a "backup" machine, or a machine that is capable of running most games/reduced settings that you've setup somewhere else (other room, summer house, neighbor's, etc..)

Now, "normal users".. THAT I agree 100%. Those girl-next-door, grannies and uncles, cousins and co-workers who do not play. They don't need to replace their machines until those literally don't start up anymore. I know people who use (daily) computers that came with XP (10 years ago) or even Win98. Heck, a friend of mine used a Mac LC II (that's about 20 years ago) up until 2011 (when the PSU died) as her work-computer (she writes).

I don't think "desktop" is going away anytime soon. Augmented, perhaps. Changed, probably. But gone? No. I'd believe the death of laptops sooner than desktops (tablets/other mobile devices are replacing laptops more than desktops).

It's quite simple, really, when you think about it. "The Desktop" will live exactly as long as companies are producing games for it. After that, it'll take a few declining years for it to fade out, but that's basically it. It is (and always have been) games - and thus companies who create games and gamers who play them - that make or break a success of any computing product.

That's partly quite lousy comparison, because Huawei's smartphones are actually quite good. Their other 3G products are also good. In fact their 3G/4G gateways are amongst the best.

If you factor in value, Huawei's smartphones are essentially there at the top. They are not the best there are, but certainly not the worst. I actually wouldn't mind having a Huawei phone as my primary smartphone. I have used (for awhile, haven't owned) several of their products and they are very, VERY good for their price.