"The unfortunate thing is that this Nintendo game called Wii had what looks like a solid black, basically automatic-looking type mechanism that operates the game," [the Sheriff] said. (from the article)

What? That's the unfortunate thing? What about the stupidity of leaving a gun out? Or having a gun in the same house as a toddler? Am I the only one who thinks that once again someone tries to pin a death to a game rather than than weapons or people?

Does this mean, we might possibly see a version of Android that does not build on Google services? I was wondering for quite a time now, why handset-makers do not partner up with competitors of Google and make their own version of Android; or even better: let the consumer choose the services they activate for apps like maps, calendar, or e-mail. Or is there a technical obstacle I do not see here?

Can someone please translate? Does that mean that an open client could be forked that works with skype but is not skype? Like, say, gizmo or ekiga? Thanks for enlightening a non-techie Linux enthusiast (yes, we exist :-) ).

Without yelling "Godwin": Yeah? So, American presidents need armed forces standing at parliament doors to intimidate MIPs to get to power, too? If you do historical comparisons, do them right. In the election only Hitler's party was elected, not himself; and they did not even get more than 50 per cent of the vote. Only later were MIPs intimidated by SA soldiers in front of the parliament to vote for (or rather not vote against) laws that made Hitler a de facto dictator (though he was chancellor before, however, checked by democratic institutions).

As a German I am appalled by how often you people get these things wrong. Didn't you have history lessons? Or don't you at least have the ability to google or the decency to shut up when you don't know better?

Forget it. You won't get funny-score for quoting everybody's darling xkcd.

Further down in the article they write about some code contributed by Volkswagen and some GPS-company.
In other words: RTFA

Interesting indeed: Why does Canonical not show up on the lists of contributing firms?

Yep, that was the most important omitted option in slashdot surveys yet.
You know, there actually might be some interested end users (as opposed to programmers) reading slashdot.

What about "finding excuses for drinking heavily" in Scotland is surprising to you?

I might be totally off message here, but are alleged health effects the only reason for a circumcision?
Couldn't it have been, that the GP is simply a Jew? Or did this circumcision for religious reason suddenly become out of fashion?

Especially if you have to walk around the city to be able to play. A bit of exercise would not hurt industrial nations' citizens!

Well, I guess the discussion also applies to all other mobiles with similar capabilites, e.g. the G1, most new blackberries, etc.
Howver, the iPhone was made a proxy for a new kind of mobile because it was one of the first and certainly the most popular of them. Unless we come up with a snazzy term for these kinds of mobiles, I guess we have to live with that...

I doubt that! There will always be an opportunist in office. Always!

You have never read Nature before, have you?!? It's attention-whoring with peer-review. (Not to say articles are not worth the attention they get.)

Besides: In a billion years mankind probably has evolved to something different. I don't think a species has ever made it that long with only slight alteration, save for some microbes maybe. So, technically, "mankind" cannot be wiped out in a billion years, because it does not exist anymore anyway.