@Arggh! there goes a...snake a snake!: My guess would be how long you could own it before replacing it (because newer software won't run on it well enough), and what you could sell it for at that time.

@iamnomad: I think they're doing a season-long interpretation of the Buffalo Bills. It's actually brilliant art, as you can tell by the fact that it isn't entertaining.

@NixonsGhost: I didn't know that - I was just going by the article, which said she wouldn't have been able to call 911 using a VoIP app.

That's actually a ringing endorsement for not using a VoIP app, especially since her tactic involved claiming to dial 911, which you can't do with VoIP.

Actually, most if not all of the people he spoke to on the telephone are, in fact, dead.

@Bucky Rodgers (4:19 . . . close enough): "My problem is that I can't look at a roast chicken, piece of steak, or whatever else without picturing that animal alive, ideally enjoying it's blissful life. "

@minibeardeath: Then... they could have submitted it almost three years ago? Or Microsoft might be able to get faster turnaround on patents, or perhaps a little bit of both?

I'm not really concerned that they patented it - they're making a d-pad that can transform between a good d-pad and a bad d-pad.

@Michael Sena: Six beers if you're going by 12oz cans of 4% beer, like a "lite" beer.

@okolowicz: That is completely not my point.

@Jason Flindall: Well, the full instant MRI bit was sandwiched between ray guns and a mood detector. It may have been a joke.

And why don't the airlines figure out how to make their planes safe to fly while using our electronic handheld devices?

The extensive list of security checks are absolutely not worth doing. They make it take longer to get through the checkpoint, they require too much staffing (and we all pay that additional cost) and they are entirely ineffective, except to create the illusion of security.

@envador: Don't stop them! I think these responses are hilarious!

@ITCC: Once a capitalized Fiscal Quarter, eh?

@iacubbulelec: negative space is not always a bad thing. The point (and I'm guessing since I don't really know much about it) might be to make it easier to look at and understand quickly.

@wagedomain: My understanding is that the "closed system" is so that users don't HAVE to get deep into the system to do things - not to protect users from themselves, but to leave the micromanaging to the system, such as letting a music application manage a library instead of making the user deal with files and…

@Jack Musick: Yeah, the new funny stereotype is the "role playing nerd who insists that not all role playing nerds fit that stereotype."

To be fair, the "closed system" problem is the same as the "system" problem to normal people. We know how to dig around under the hood if something is broken, but for most people, the level of self-service tech support is the same whether they're using an iPad or a linux desktop.