Should be interesting to see it performing on next-gen Smartphones/Tablets/Netbooks. No information on the power consumption though.

I dispute that getting off Earth will solve our problems. Our problems go a whole lot deeper than that. In fact we seem far more likely to destroy ourselves than a meteor crashing anytime soon.

Here is my summary:

Apple got to the top fairly because it has great products. That is good.
Apple is trying to stay at the top by killing its competitors unfairly. That is bad.

... this like a battle of the stupidest trick. Each side is pulling out it's tricks and trying to beat the other with a trick more obvious than the last.

I distinctly remember the previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declaring loudly that he was going to push through a Supertax of about 30% on mining. Next thing we knew there were rumbles and he was ousted very quickly. I personally suspected it was the big mining corporations that lent on the government. Just my two cents.

If we can ignore the silliness for a moment, it seems exciting that we are getting better at exploring material science at the atomic level.

Sounds like a tagline to a new movie:
He was just a man looking for education in all the wrong places.

Everyone is different. Perhaps this style of programming will work better for some people. We should be willing to accept others can approach programming from a different angle.

You missed the "soulless" AKA Gingers.

I seem to remember that the hardware needed for multitasking and graphics were prohibitively expensive for the average computer user.

It may not be anywhere near Linux, but I find it interesting that HURD development continues.

I have a preference for results instead of "this might actually work."

Good question. Perhaps we could start a Wikipedia style website for people to contribute educational material. This information could be organised textbook style and printed cheaply and easily for use in schools.

Before signing a contract, it's a good idea to hire a lawyer to look at the document. It may save you some heartache.

Software patents are essentially patenting a thought process. One thing the internet has taught me is that the world is VAST. Nearly anything I can think of, has been thought of by someone else. I think you can see the problem with patenting a thought process.