If your usage stays below a certain threshold, and Amazon T2 Micro is actually free for a year (and then it's as little as ten bucks a month or even a little less). I'm using one to test out Wiki and project management software as a test server that will eventually be installed on our company servers once approved by IT.

You mean, 'one hectodollar'.

Come on, guys, he's allowed to not like it (and say so), even if we have different opinions.

Addition:

I have no idea what happens if you're recording a phone call from a state that DOES allow only one party being notified to a state that does NOT.

This one line from the summary shouldn't be ignored: "(Local laws, however, could still come into play in certain situations, as several states require the consent of two parties in order for a conversation to be recorded legally.)"

Here's a map of 'eavesdropping' (recording) laws by state:

http://www.vegress.com/can-i-r...

Washington, California, Nevada, Montana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Florida all seem to require two-party notification before recording conversations, otherwise it's deemed as 'eavesdropping' and illegal.

Wouldn't a mini-tank style design (with treads) work just fine for most applications? Make it semi-autonomous so it can follow soldiers around or be sent to destinations, could probably manage a heavier payload (because it doesn't need to balance) which means more fuel (greater range) and more applications. Could be used to carry wounded soldiers, etc. Also probably much quieter. The whole thing could be roughly snowmobile-sized.

Seems like having legs provides limited advantages when combined with the disadvantages.

It's not a virtual machine, it's a tool that would hypothetically allow developers to compile their native Android code to a Windows app and keep all functionality intact. Basically a super easy way to port their apps to Windows phone.

Not really. From what I understand, the plan was to make it easy for developers to port over apps they wrote for Android without having to re-write it for Windows (an automated conversion), not to provide a compatibility layer. Basically to re-compile the code in such a way that it becomes a native Windows app.

Yep. Artificial life is the future. It's only the sentimental notion that humans are 'special' that causes people to undergo severe mental gymnastics in order to justify the thought of humans colonizing the stars.

One day, we will create artificial life that will be as intelligent as we are (moreso, likely). It will not need to breathe or eat food and it will not grow old. It doesn't have to carry an entire environment along with it. It doesn't need gravity. It could soar through space for a thousand years, stopping to collect resources along the way - energy and raw materials. It could change itself to adapt to all conditions. It could replicate itself 'asexually' and terraform and colonize entire planets by itself.

And the first alien life it meets will almost certainly be another artificial being from another world not unlike itself.

This is the only thing that really makes sense, long-term.

People will object to this because they hold onto the notion that humans are special and the end-all, be-all pinnacle of what Earth has to offer to the universe. But there is no shame in the notion of humans staying put on Earth while ushering in the development of our successors.

These artificial beings will be our children. And while they won't be 'human', they will be *Earthlings*, and they will be our creation. They will carry on our legacy to the stars.

Some may argue that humans could change themselves through genetic engineering, cyberization, etc enough to be able to survive the journey, but why bother? Why is it important that an actual human brain makes the trip? Sending intelligent life throughout the universe in any form that can actually make the journey and thrive is preferable than shooting hairless monkeys into space.

Like Australopithecus, Homo Erectus, or the Neanderthal, I believe Homo Sapiens is just another intermediate stage on the path of progression toward a more perfect life form, whether it's part of a genetic lineage or a creation.

A drop down terminal is super helpful when switching back and forth between the terminal and documentation in a browser window.

Guake is the first thing I install on a new distro. Terminal drop-down is only a keypress away.

Radar will be tricky because of, you know, birds. You'd have to be able to distinguish.

Perhaps radar combined with wide-band frequency sniffers to see if any 'birds' are putting out radio signals. Then you could triangulate the drone's operator using sniffers placed in a network covering a few miles around the prison, and send the police after him quickly. Assuming the drone isn't autonomous of course. But I think you could identify a drone, what frequencies it's operating on, and find the pilot hanging out in his van nearby pretty quickly if you set it up right.

Won't you be a dear and tell us what provider that was?

I *assume* that means that it allowed files to be written to the normally read-only system partition.

It means someone meant to say 'positivity' and used the wrong word. Perhaps it's because Chrome's spell checker seems to think 'positivity' isn't a word (it's underlined in red as I type this post).