That sound, it's not thunder, or a train. That's Steve rolling around in his grave. If he wanted the device to have a keyboard he would have included it at some point in the design. But he really wanted to eliminate all the other "accessory" pieces on computers. I highly doubt he would appreciate a former MS guy mucking with that. That being said, will I get one? Yes I probably would because I can appreciate a novel idea to a slightly bothersome issue. But the price point has to be pretty low. I wouldn't spend more than $10 on something like this. Then I can throw in in a bag and forget about it until I have a longer trip and I don't want to carry a full laptop due to size, stress, or fear of damage/theft. (Just to note it's much easier to conceal an ipad, but if someone is determined enough they could still take it.)

I think this ruling will be overturned as soon as its used against a celebrity or government agent to prove or disprove their whereabouts. People with money and power have influence and I see them being primary targets. I'm sure it's under their radar now but it only takes one high profile case to get things moving. Anyone else think this is kinda like a pre-Mcarthy wet dream?

In addition to all of the above the game could be used as cover to map out and plan tactical assaults on the prison personnel. If you really think about it, it's really the perfect cover. You could have 3d maps, equipment lists, personnel strengths and weaknesses all out in the open. The game format helps people conceptualize all of those things without actually having to be in every part of the jail. Inmates or guards with access could provide intimate details in a game format which would be harder to detect. That being said I don't think there should be an outright ban. They could institute a rule saying only events approved or planned by someone vetted by the staff can DM a game. That would allow the inmates an opportunity to play without the fear of not know exactly what the possible outcomes will be for any game session(s).

If you have the spare hardware, racks to mount it in, and the juice to run it, why not build a test environment? Just replicate work and scale it out. Do the things you wish you could do at work. Then when the time comes you already have the future expansion plan ready to go. It may suck to even think about "work" after you get home from your day job. But if you like taking on big projects, why not?

This issue seems split between two camps, the "I can wonder around and film/take pictures of anything as long as you dont suffer any undue harm", and the absolute "get off my lawn!" folks. I think there's validity to both, but I'm siding with the home owners.
1. The property is marked private.
2. Street view drivers may not have seen anything posted, but being reasonably smart individuals (to operate the equipment and drive at the same time), they should have known not to enter an unmarked driveway because usually those lead to private residences.
3. Yes satellite imagery does take away a level of privacy, but those were and mostly still are government run installations who sub license to private industry. There is still a zoom cap in place. Street view breeches that distance limitation.
And the twist, "who owns the images". If the drive is marked private and Google illegally entered, and the took the intellectual property of the home owners, they can and should pay damages. Think of paparazzi and famous people. If the papz get a zoom lens at take pictures of that actor/actress in their private homes, they get the bejesus sued out of them. They regularly lose. But the funding from the images negates the cost of litigation. So they keep doing it. Google may make the same strategic decision, but they still should pay.
And, why fight this? Are they trying to tarnish the Google do "no" evil/Don't be evil image. They should admit to this being a mistake, compensate the home owners in the same range as images of non-celeb/z-listers, and call it a day. The images were already removed so the home owners cant claim they are still being harmed.