Ah, I see, thanks :)

Under Android, can you selectively grant an app rights, or is it an all-or-nothing kind of thing?

For example, suppose an app wants permission to send texts, as well as access to your GPS location. Can you grant it rights to send texts, but not to access your GPS?

I am not very familiar with Android, but does it really just let any app you install to send texts to your contact list? If this is true, I don't like Android's security model.

In iOS, an app cannot send a text message, and I like it that way. When an app tries to do certain operations, such as access your current location, you are prompted to grant the app permission, which you can choose to deny in many cases. I like this also.

I like my apps properly sandboxed.

UPDATE: PDF Patch is now available directly on Cydia.

For jailbreakers who want to be safe and keep their jailbreak, search for "PDF Loading Warner" in the Cydia store. It's a pop-up that will warn you if Safari is attempting to load a PDF, so you can cancel it if you're not expecting to be viewing a PDF.

For iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1G users, there's no Apple-approved solution to the PDF exploit.

The jailbreak community is working on an actual PDF patch to fix the exploit. This could be the only solution for iPhone 2G/iPod Touch 1G users, to jailbreak their device and install the patch.

It's in test phase now, but you can get a copy: http://twitter.com/saurik/status/20958834996

Google actually has permission from Namco, the owners of Pac-man, for a permanent Google/Pac-man logo/diversion :)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20005577-52.html

You can play that here:
http://www.google.com/pacman/

Fun extra: It actually works on mobile devices, including iPhones and Android :)

I found a "replacement nib" pack for Lenovo Thinkpads for a dollar. There's actually 3 different shapes that you can get, maybe one's more comfortable for you?

I have no opinion on these sellers, but they have a picture of the 3 different types:
http://www.6store.net/other-accessories/328/
http://www.machinaelectronics.com/store/buypart/Lenovo_Thinkpad_R61_E/91P8421

(PS. What the heck are you doing that you give yourself a blister on your trackpoint? I personally have never had a problem, nor has anyone I know who uses a Thinkpad. They're standard issue at work, so I actually do know quite a few people who use them.)

I have multiple sets of keys, and I only take one, depending on what transportation I use when I leave my house. For example, when I bike to work I have one set of keys that have my bike lock and my office keys. If I'm taking the car, I've got another set of keys - I have keys to a friend's house who I only visit when I drive, and I don't need the front door house key because I'm coming back in through the garage. When I go running, I take just the front door and the mail key.

Sounds like that might be something that would work for you :) I bet you don't visit the same places when you've got your bicycle, your motorbike or your car :)

I've never claimed that OnLive doesn't have any drawbacks or limitations. That would be silly. What it gives you is a different set of advantages and disadvantages from building your own gaming rig.

As for your example, it's difficult to give it any weight, because all the numbers are made up. You could just as easily have said, "But what if in 4 years, Crysis $n+1 comes out and brings up some crazy new concepts that make me have to play it with a 50 foot draw distance?" That would suck no matter what resolution or framerate you get.

As for the console example, yes, that's always been understood that consoles provide good gaming value compared to building a dedicated gaming PC. That's one of the reasons I have a PS3 and no PC Gaming machine. But! Don't forget in your xbox 360 example, if you want to play over the Internet, that'll be an extra $50/year.

But, like I said, there's advantages to the OnLive setup over traditional console or PC gaming. I'm not saying it's better, or it's for everyone. It's up to you to make that decision given your personal circumstances. All I'm saying is that $15/mo is not an unreasonable price to pay for the service.

Well, my main point was the flexibility and security of the solution, but okay, let's look at your example.

Let's assume your $600 PC is good for 4 years. Per month, that's only $2.50 cheaper than OnLive. And at the end of 4 years, I'm not completely convinced it will be able to keep up with the modern games. To use your example, when Crysis came out, new-ish gaming rigs were struggling to keep up, forget about base 4-year-old gaming rigs. OnLive (if they do it right) will make sure they have hardware capable of keeping up whatever game you want.

Now, like anything new kind of system, there's advantages and disadvantages. I'm noticing that most people on Slashdot seem to be focusing on the negatives. All I'm saying is that $15/mo is not an unreasonable price to pay for the service.

You're missing the biggest point of onlive - they maintain the gaming machines for you. Instead of you having to upgrade your computer every few years, and having to live with a sub-par gaming machine towards the end of its effective life cycle, onlive's servers will be continually upgraded to keep up with the games.

So now you can game on your netbook, your Mac, your TV or even your cellphone.

There's inherent advantages to this approach - you don't have to worry about downloading/installing games, hardware specs are always properly matched, you can play the same game, pause and restart from different terminals, you can share replays with your friends, etc.

But one of the biggest things is that since all the gaming code runs at the server end, this will almost eliminate cheating. No more aimbots, wallhacks, network hacks, etc. It's all just mouseclicks and video.

You'll have to decide if $15/mo is worth it for you, but I think the charge is reasonable given what they have to support. You definitely get more for your money than a subscription to XBox Live.

According to this CBC article last year, Canadians have among the most cellphone rates, and home broadband rates.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/11/canada-cellphone-rates-expensive-oecd.html

I don't have any data to back this up, but I do believe that most European nations have better coverage *and* cheaper rates than in the US. I believe this is doubly true in developed asian nations, such as Japan.

I have a 2 year contract, I pay $64 for 450 anytime with rollover, 5000 minutes (3.5 days!) nights and weekends, 200 text, unlimited data, free nationwide long distance.

I don't know about you, but the biggest thing for me is the no long distance charges. I move around a lot, and it's hugely liberating to not have to wonder if you're in your calling area before you pick up the phone, or where your contacts are.

In the US, most people don't even bother to change their cell numbers when they move because everyone's got free long distance anyways.

Is there a tutorial or something available for how to use this?

The ones I've read are very long and involved, and involve jailbreaking:
http://www.redmondpie.com/fix-iphone-3.1.2-tethering-and-visual-voicemail-vvm-ows754/
http://www.redmondpie.com/enable-tethering-on-iphone-3g-3gs-3.1.2-firmware-eqw846/

I like this "move to Canada" idea of yours, but I'm not a big fan of "Sign a contract with Rogers". 3 year contract AND no free nationwide long distance calling AND relatively small data AND not as many minutes AND no rollover.

Canadians really get screwed on their wireless bills :(

Are you sure about this? I believe that to enable tethering on an AT&T iPhone, you either had to:
  1) Jailbreak and install some stuff
  -or-
  2) Use a .mobileconfig file to change your settings, which would only work on OS3.0. Since Apple stopped signing OS3.0, you can no longer downgrade your OS to 3.0 if you have a 3GS iPhone. The only way to downgrade to 3.0 is if you had SHSH on file somewhere, which you had to do before Apple stopped signing OS3.0.

If you know how to "easy tether" your iPhone without jailbreaking, please post instructions, I'm curious.