This computer has a lot of fond memories for me. Having grown up very poor, we couldn't afford something like this. My uncle gave us his old one so my mother could do word processing from home. I used it to play games all the time until the floppy drive died. After that, the only thing I could do on it was load up the BASIC cartridge. If I wanted to do anything on the computer, I'd have to program it first, and the moment the computer turned off lose it forever. I would get the computer magazines that had BASIC code all ready to enter in, just so I could play a game. Of course, the code always contained errors, so I learned how to code by fixing them. I was 10 at the time.

Now, I'm in my mid thirties, and shockingly a programmer. I didn't go to college, and barely graduated high school. To this day, I thank that computer for all the success I achieved in life. I'm wholly unemployable otherwise. People say that computer was a dud, but I'll always remember it fondly.

Besides, how cool is it that a computer in the 80s had a wireless (albeit IR) keyboard?

Hypothetical: You are an activist, and the government wants to silence you. They create an investigation into anything, and the investigators demand the password to an account you haven't used in years. You tell them you don't remember the password, and that becomes enough to convict you.

Taken to the extreme, anyone can be put into prison for any reason, we all have something we don't remember and refusal to disclose would be a criminal offence. Do you remember every password to every account you had? Even if there are other avenues to get the information (your example, they could brute force hack, albeit at great expense), simply not providing the evidence is enough to convict someone.

Clearly, you are not nor ever have been a civil libertarian, or you think civil libertarianism is about legalizing pot. It is about the rights of an individual being absolute up until the point that it affects the rights of others.

If you have trouble figuring out what is ironic and what isn't: This is ironic.

In order to handle the multi-racial children, they will weigh out the percentage of each race to determine your personalized passing grade. Better get a pure asian to do the math.

I could not support a candidate who believes that DPS stands for "deaths per second". Obviously she does live in her own little word.

Our cellular service deserves a damning indictment. I keep a SIM card for when I travel to Sweden, and all I have to do is drop $15 and I get plenty of credit for making phone calls, texts, and even get unlimited internet. They have a maximum charge of something like $1 a day for internet and after that it is free. All of this with no contract, so the SIM stays dormant in my wallet until my next trip. Competition doesn't always provide the best service.

Agreed. After a perusal of their site, I wouldn't be an early adopter of this. They specifically tell you in their demonstration video not to try it at home, so it sounds like a modern version of the Emperor's new clothes.

Afterwards, you will forever be marked in the suicidal demographic, and you'll start seeing ads for anti-depressants and Dido mp3s

At least a decade ago you didn't have it, and I doubt it has changed. All you need is to change your caller id to that of the phone (easy to do), then the voicemail system doesn't ask for your password. It is why you can always check your voicemail from your own phone without entering the password.

...Until you get pulled over on your way back from buying a new HDTV, and you can't pull out your license. "Sorry officer, my wallet won't let me comply with your orders" will not be a valid excuse.

Scientists have captured antimatter before. I recall an interview with a physicist (I believe Colbert Report) who mentioned they had antimatter captured before. Doing a quick Google search, I found references to captured antimatter going back to 2002: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1957-antimatter-atoms-captured-for-the-first-time.html

I agree, I'd be one of those volunteers. I have minimal emotional connection to Earth, and would relish the adventurous opportunities that would await. I would never be accepted though, since I would also demand a painless suicide pill to be used at my own discretion if things turned out poorly. And no, stepping outside to the horrible death that would await from the martian atmosphere is not acceptable.

I would have been happy if it used ethernet over power. The GuruPlug has WiFi built is, but it is only given an aside mention in the last page of the article. A shame too, because at the same price it has much better hardware.

They really are full fledged computers, with big possibilities. I have spent the last couple of days in the planning stage of a home automation / personal assistant project, and plan to use several guruplug computers to pull it off. Connect a mic and webcam to it, and I should be able to pull off voice and facial recognition in a system that can always be on. I'm glad the guruplug was eventually mentioned, it is the same price as the sheevaplug, but has 2 USB ports instead of 1, an eSATA port, and wifi builtin. The SheevaPlug is grossly underpowered in comparison, but it was the first.