having just moved to an early version of Ubuntu 9.10 on my main testing-stuff laptop; it's frustrating especially that while many seemingly more esoteric things work perfectly, sound now works only in part, and even that partial success took some fiddling.

Seeing as 9.10 is an extremely early alpha release, you're basically saying Ubuntu is bad because it's being developed in the open.

Is such a device illegal in the U.S. I've always been under the impression that it was legal to cheat in Las Vegas casinos, but that they have the right to decide which people they wish to let in. I don't think you can be legally punished for counting cards in blackjack.