I keep hearing this phrase repeated in almost every article about tablets. So people have stopped doing work on computers? Technology journalism has really confused the computing industry with glitzy consumer trends. So long as people need to actually produce something there will always been a need for general-purpose computers. Tablets are, in every sense, devices for consuming, not creating. They are damned good at delivering content in a compelling way, and are a great way to store a technical library if you actually want to reference it while you are at work. But that work is being done on a computer. I would argue that those who say that a tablet can give them as much or more functionality than a tradition laptop or desktop were never really making use of the computer in the first place. You might add that you can just get a keyboard for your tablet. I would not disagree. I am just curious why you would buy an underpowered laptop that cannot even be used on your lap when there are conventional PC models that are a better value.

Mine has gone Fedora... then more Fedora... then more Fedora. I am young enough for this to have been possible. I tried Ubuntu from the Live CD at first to see what all the noise was about, but they put the close window button on the wrong side... if I wanted a Mac, I would have just stuck with it. Never looked back.

If by "enemy" you mean that the U.S. entertainment industry produces the vast majority of all the content that Kim Dotcom pilfered for his own pecuniary gain, then yes, the U.S. is the enemy when it comes to copyright laws. Most movies are not released under a GPL-style, if you would like some that are, I can direct you to an awesome CGI movie about a bunny. Alternatively, I could suggest that those who take issue with current media distribution methods try to create something worthwhile themselves to share under such a license, or that they propose an alternative distribution method that respects the rights of those who generate content. Free as in free software and free media are about the rights of the end user... they are not about "free"-loaders.

Who did they bribe? The judge himself? If a judge in a criminal case (which this is) for any other crime calls the prosecutor "the enemy" in public speech, he or she will have to step down. To do otherwise would make a mockery of the judicial system they allegedly represent. The judiciary might have encouraged this, but only to avoid embarrassing themselves. It was his call essentially to announce public that he had already made up his mind about the case. The judge often makes this sort of decision publicly, but it tends to be called a verdict.

and they young and the educated aren't it.

No, I like Windows 7 and still have an unwrapped copy of XP in case the world ends. Perhaps I should have said I use Linux and Windows. And yes, I think you will find that many people here believe that Windows 8 "basically sucks".

yo anonymous coward, troll much?

With corporate backers of CISPA including Facebook, there is room for tech giants to secure some quick PR gains in the tech community with this. I think many people found the Windows 8 developer/consumer preview underwhelming, if not annoying. Seriously, Windows without a Start menu? I'm starting to believe the Mayans about what's supposed to happen in December. What was more alarming about this Windows 8 business, is how closed Microsoft was to popular opinion. The Windows 7 RC generated massive contributions. (It actually did... I am not just citing the "Windows 7 wsa my idea" ad campaign.) It seems that Windows 8 was entirely Microsoft's idea. If they want to be numb to the complaints of their own fanbase and turn Windows 8 into the bastard child of a currently non-existent Windows tablet and a Windows 7 PC, that is cool... I run Linux anyway. I was only responding to the developer preview to help them out. I do not think political PR stunts like this can change the fact that Microsoft is turning into a corporation more and more out of touch with their own customer base. Seriously, try to explain to corporate America why a clusterfuck start screen of different apps helps productivity. Windows 8 may be the greatest giveaway to RHEL ever, and not even appealing to populist disgust with CISPA is going to change that.

Completely agree. The overclocking community is somewhat overrepresented in reviews of computer hardware. Overclockers are, in general, very knowledgable, so I am not saying that their voices as part of the reception are a problem--it is, after all, often overclockers who push the limits of current generation architectures and empower consumers. It is important to note, however, that thermal issues when overclocked are secondary to efficiency and power consumption for well over 99% of all computing applications. I work in HPC and obviously care about eeking out performance from my platforms, but I have never overclocked a CPU. A modest performance increase is completely secondary to jeopardizing the reliability of a computer system. As far as I am concerned, this particular critique is irrelevant, and I think that many other lay people and professionals would feel the same way. I am much more interested in knowing if the logevity of the new chips is commensurate with that of the previous generation.

Uncle Owen?!

This could yield something amazing. Even if this round will comply with Richard Stallman's increasingly delusional understanding of free software, the results should be interesting to watch. This competition is unbiased enough also to merit the interest of the conventional video games industry and may be a way for new talent to make itself known. I think more importantly, though, this will again demonstrate the truly open source gaming is a very viable concept.

I didgerididn't and still didgeridon't.

The difference is this: a rocket engine not only uses the oxygen/hyrdrogen mixture as the propellant (the steam that is being expelled from the rear) but also as a "fuel" i.e. that from which the whole process derives its energy. The ion engine is using an imposed electric field gradient to accelerate the charge particles (ions) of its propellant out into the vacuum of space and to move the probe foward. The energy for this is coming from a combination of solar panels and a battery. One other weird thing about these engines: the reason it takes six months is because it takes forever for these things to reach speed. 0 to 60 is something like a few days. If you leave them on for years (liike Deep Space 1), it will reach many tens of thousands of mph because these little particles have been contributing their momentum so consistently for such a long time. If Picard were at the helm of an ion-engine-powered vehicle there would be an awkward decade-long pause after he ordered the Enterprise to go to warp factor two...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Space_1 This is not exactly new... at all. NASA's ion engines have been in service for several years now. Also a tenth liter of fuel is also willfully misleading: the engines expell a liter of propellant but that is not fuel. It is just the expelled material whose momentum generates the forward thrust.

then Google users would unwittingly create said traffic conditions. It actually presents an interesting problem in optimization. Suppose that car GPS installations begin to feature the Google Maps traffic estimation. Not only would people unfamiliar with an environment be compelled to use the new feature but even those who are regular auto commuters. Those who wish to save time getting home would all be directed along the same main roads which at the time would report lower traffic. These users would, however, in turn create traffic on those same roads that originally looked so appealing. Unless the units could communicate with eachother to distribute drivers evenly along roots with approximately equal favorable traffic conditions, a system like this would present problems if it were to become sufficiently ubiquitous. It is related to the problem with automated trading systems on the stock market. Many systems at holding companies would observe that a stock has crossed some critical threshold and would begin to buy or sell in vast quantities automatically. The resulting change in value does not contribute to the market's ability to allocate capital, but instead is just a fluke resulting from a Boolean algorithm. All I'm saying is... this traffic business may cause unforeseen issues.