Nice use of violence to drive your point that these are supposedly only good for violence...

Your logic is also flawed. You claim these are useless for hunting or self defense, but they are useful for terrorism? A "terrorist" would use these to (possibly) kill someone, yet a "normal person" can't use this for self defense (e.g., possibly killing someone)?

Also, this is a prototype. The technology will get better in time, then we'll be able to use it for hunting, self defense, and everything else.

Justin who?? O.o

How much power does Windows 8 use compared to other operating systems? Perhaps you'll save enough money to make 2 cups of tea per week, but is that savings negated by running Windows 8 with both the Metro UI and the "desktop" mode with a separate version of IE in both modes? Compare that to Safari on OS X or Firefox/Chromium on Linux (gnome 3 vs fluxbox vs xmonad vs KDE...)

I mean if we're just looking at power consumption here...

To the average user, should it even matter what is under the hood as long as it just works? How often does Ford advertise what kernel (or other utilities) is running in the onboard computer of their vehicles? When John Doe goes to Home Depot to buy a refrigerator with a Wi-Fi connected display panel on the front of it, does he know or even care what the software is called that runs that display? To him, it just allows him to run some apps, maybe get on Facebook, track refrigerator contents, or whatever else it supports.

The end user doesn't necessarily need to know the inner workings of the system, as long as they know that it will do what they need it to do. I don't think I've ever heard a "regular" user call their smartphone an "Android smartphone". They have a "Droid 4" or "Samsung Galaxy II" or "iPhone" maybe.

Not worth making my wife and kids move, change schools, much higher taxes, etc... just so I can bike instead of doing Insanity, P90X, etc at home.

I Am? Since when? if I drove my own car, I could take my bike. I can't fit it in a 6 passenger van with 6 passengers and no roof rack. It is also not cost effective for me to move to a closer, much more expensive area and make my children change schools just so I can bike part way to work.

I am fine doing Insanity and similar workouts in my home. :)

All good points. However, I'm on a van pool, with no room in the van to store my bike. Moving closer results in fairly significantly higher costs in property taxes, school taxes, state sales taxes, and housing costs. I guess I could try to find a job closer to home... in this economy?

That's a great idea, unless your commute is 60+ miles one way like mine...

My work does have a gym, but it requires a vehicle to drive there. I carpool, so I usually don't have a mode of transportation to get there. Even if I did, I'd have to do it during my 30 minute lunch break. No time to fit a round trip drive, plus a workout, in that time. Sometimes during nice weather I'll go for a jog outside, but most days, I just do a workout routine at home.

I get home at 6 PM, eat dinner, get the kids to bed by 7. Work out until about 8, then go to sleep by around 8:30. Wake up at 4, go to work, repeat.

I started out doing light cardio or jogging runs outside in the evenings, but now I do a program called Insanity. I just have no time for a social life, or TV, or any kind of entertainment really, except on weekends.

I don't think that has anything to do with Facebook's privacy controls. Even if Facebook was entirely 100% open, no privacy controls at all, I could still photoshop a bong into your picture, post it on Facebook, and share it with your boss. The end result may very well be the same.

Notice I said "like" Clippy in the subject. Guess I should have put it in the text as well. ;)

Please... not Clippy...

Just to be safe, I think I may just let my contract expire and continue on with my unlimited data... Well, that is until my phone dies and I need a new one. Even then, I might be better off buying a new device at retail.

Couldn't you just configure a new kernel that doesn't have USB mass storage support? Host a local Ubuntu repository, put your modified non-USB kernel in the repository, and set all the desktops to update to the new kernel.

I couldn't agree more. Why is it ok for Microsoft to release hardcore violence in games for our kids to play, but not ok for them to release games involving a pair of boobs, or some sexual act?

Maybe the whole sex = bad, violence = good thing is a population control thing.