My Nexus S (also a Galaxy S variant) got the "official" JB push from Google. Besides battery life getting worse and worse, I haven't seen any performance problems related to Android updates. Perhaps they are overclocking.

Microsoft should not copy Apple, it should sue Apple for copy right infringement.

That's almost a paradox. Did you mean "maybe Microsoft should copy Apple and sue for copyright infringement." ?

This is probably very obvious, but the market is ultimately going to decide what is and what isn't a good idea. If the "walled garden" will be generating more profit for Microsoft than the (relatively) unrestricted status quo, then it flourishes and continues. If enough people reject the approach and go looking elsewhere for an OS, then perhaps Microsoft learn their lesson and revert.

I doubt that enough people are going to be annoyed by the restrictions and move to another platform. "It really isn't worth the hassle."

Nevertheless, if the gamer crowd can provide enough support for commercial linux game deveopment, my selfish self will be more than satisfied with the freedoms (or lack thereof) granted by Windows 8.

The original Kindle Fire OS is an abomination. Out of the box it has possibly the worst UI in the mobile space and it is quickly apparent that a concerted effort was made to restrict what you can (consume Amazon content) and can't (everything else) do with the the hardware.

Anyone who reads this site, owns a Kindle and has not modified the default configuration in some way is doing themselves an enormous disservice. From side-loading a new launcher and few of quality-of-life apps, to rooting, to a flashing a whole new ROM, there is a variety of ways to make the best of your (bad) situation.

Despite the best efforts of devs, last year's kindle fire is ultimately a very flawed device. It has absolutely nothing to recommend it over the alternatives and if the new crop of kindles is anything like the last generation, take your $200 and spent it on a Nexus 7.

The default OS on a KF is a wretched, miserable mess with so much customization and lockdown that you would hardly recognize an Android OS in there at all. I could not recommend using FK in this fashion - before any consideration is made of Amazon's sneaky remote access issues.

At the same time, for those with the ability and/or nerve to do so, rooting and installing an ICS Android ROM gives you a fantastic Android device that can do *just about* everything the stock KF can do... and a whole lot more. The process is well documented and relatively easy.

Although I would nonchalantly agree with you, many people including my wife, would vehemently disagree. From her perspective, an automatic transmission is an obvious upgrade over a manual in so far as you don't have to know how and when to shift the gears yourself and don't have to worry about rolling back into the car behind you on "tricky" incline starts.

I recently tried to sell a 2001 vehicle with a manual transmission. For every interested buyer I probably encountered three or four who were no longer interested as soon as I mentioned that it had a manual transmission.

Any suggestions on how a business model would work? Modern games are very, very expensive to make.

Unfortunately for your position, you are completely unable to put your money where your mouth is.

Its good money after bad but heck, the fancy new Nokia guy has to look like he's doing something.

He says, "not the cleanest comparison but..." and this is definitely a fact. Nevertheless, if he was trying to be more accurate, he might have said, "This is probably the worst and most deceptive comparison you'll read all week but..."

Right. FISA warrants are are unnecessary now. There are a few restrictions on warrantless wiretaps that haven't been eliminated... yet. They need a few more years to work on that.

I'll see your FISA warrant and raise you a Patriot Act: Warrantless Wiretapping at the turn, "aw crap, just spy on everybody" a few years down the river.

It's been a long time since I last ran down to the worldstone chamber, but IIRC the poison/bone necro tree is ARGUABLY the necro's strongest.

You cite some damage numbers, but the error you're making is that you assume are using skills data that relates to skill level 20. In advanced game, you SHOULD be looking at the numbers for skill level 35 or even 40 (depending on itemization...)

Which leads me to my next point, specifically, that FOR ALL D2 character builds, itemization is the only relevant consideration.

"Boner" necros are extremely powerful PvP characters. Since there is no *significant* resistance to "magic" damage there is little your opponents can do to mitigate the damage done by your bone spells. The dominant boner strategy is to stack FCR and +skills, wear an enigma, and if you're ranged elemental damage then some sort of resistance gear and they've got an EXTREMELY good chance of beating almost any other build (of any class) in PvP. They tele around, casting auto-targetting bone spirits and never let you get near enough to engage in melee.

Further, well geared poison necros are very viable for soloing the endgame. Sure, they are not the fastest killers, but they are extremely hardy. There are very few things that the game can throw at them that they won't be able to handle with relative ease.

In my opinion, the curse tree is one of the weakest, requiring AT MOST a single point in each skill.