minor quibble

First, there actually is a contract, just on the phone instead of the service. So saying "no contract" is a bit disingenuous.

Second, if you cancel the service, the remainder of the outstanding balance on the phone is due in one lump sum. Many people had (arguably logically) expected that they would be able to keep paying off the phone at $20/month even if they cancelled the service.

missing the point

If you cancel the service you need to pay for the phone *immediately*.

Ideally, the service and phone should be totally separate, so that if you cancel the service you just keep paying the (much smaller) monthly payment for the phone hardware. Of course, at that point they'll need to charge interest on the outstanding phone hardware balance or else cover their costs some other way.

What's more likely, that _all_ my friends (including the ones scared of heights) are idiots, or maybe they noticed something that I missed?

want it for computer monitor

I would LOVE a decent-sized 4K TV for use as a computer monitor.

this is standard north american housing construction

I live up in Canada and typically we have exterior walls framed with 2x6 lumber, interior walls framed with 2x4. Interior walls are generally covered with drywall (aka plasterboard or gypsum board).

My parents' 2-storey house is framed this way and is over 100yrs old. Shows no signs of falling down any time soon.

Note: in construction, a "timber frame" actually means something different, where you use large (8 inches square or even bigger) timbers spaced quite far apart as the load-bearing structure. This is typically not used as much any more except when explicitly chosen as a design statement.

high res text

The high res devices make a huge difference for web browsing...the text looks beautifully sharp.

Re: Nah.

I've got a Power Mac G5, the precursor to the Mac Pro...we installed Linux on it ages ago because even then it was cheaper than buying a Power4 workstation from IBM.

It's a gorgeous machine, love the transparent side panel below the aluminum panel (so you can take off the aluminum panel and show off the interior without disrupting air flow. I always thought it was kind of cool that when you remove the transparent panel all the fans sped up.

how is it worse than talking to your neighbour?

I have no problems with people talking on their phone on the bus/train. I have a problem with people talking *loudly* on their phone.

Get a decent headset and a noise-cancelling mic and you can talk at a reasonable level and still understand each other.

phones should definitely have multi-user accounts

My wife and I share a phone since I work from home. Whoever is out takes the phone. I'd *love* to have multi-user on a smartphone.

gps not useless

You can download standalone apps with maps that get stored on the device, turning it into a decent GPS for use when, say, driving a car.

there are some

A significant number of the core Linux developers (including Linus) run Linux on Apple laptops because they like the hardware.

Re: I believe the MS is getting a unusually bad rap here on this one.....

It doesn't stop you from doing those things _yet_.

Why do you think they required that ARM-based systems *must* have Secure Boot enabled? You don't think they'd like to eventually do that to x86 as well?

what makes you think they pay retail?

If they're a big enough account they may be able to get OEM pricing on cpus later as well...

you need to ask why?

To get a modern tablet running Android for $100. Duh!

pure clones not okay

If you "distribute" GPL-licensed binaries, you must meet the criteria for making the source code available.

If you install a standard Linux distro on a PC, then sell the PC, that would normally count as noncommercial distribution so you can just include information on where to find the source code. That option is not available to commercial distributors--they must either include the source or else a written offer to provide the source to anyone that asks.