We got a PS4! Right before PS5 came out. Lots of games available on the cheap. We really like Diablo 3, such as it is. Sadly, the box says it comes with the expansion but the game didn't. It's a pity as it looks good. The PS4 has never connected to the internet so I may never play it.

It's a real shame that the PS4 won't backup to an external drive. Looks like it wants internet access first.

Perhaps this was for the best. Game comes out, people finish it, cheaters wreck it, expansion packs get added, and then maybe it's on sale for cheap and playable :)

I quite like the RSS view...

Pipedot source is available for anyone who wants to fork it to make their own version.
Download links are at the bottom of https://pipedot.org/source

Taking into account human nature? Certain.

Having had someone try to run me over with a car, and having driven through a few things in a car, I completely agree with this statement.
Cars are weapons. Shields. Armour. All in one!

I was thinking of how the Roomba works with its cleaning schedule and auto-docking for recharge just with flying drones with cameras.... thanks for the tip, adding The Peripheral to my reading list :)

The Peripheral is an emphatic return to the science fiction he ceased to write after the turn of this century, set in not one but two futures... The Peripheral is basically a noirish murder mystery wearing a cyberpunk leather jacket

Next up, open source flight path control for multiple devices to form a flying security sentry for home and business? Auto dock when low on power. Send video back using wireless networking. Can patrol at night. Beware of humans bearing butterfly nets, and cats.

Agreed!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction

"Bond" not "bomb"

The amount of profit a corporation claims in tax benefits?

It is getting to the point where users need a "do not track" flag for Windows. One flag: no tracking, spying, reporting home, telemetry.. or anything else.

Let the great auction and land grab selloffs begin! ... while we wait for laws to be changed to disperse unused blocks of IPs.

Disallow automated notices. Require all notices to be sent by snail mail. On the bright side this may keep postoffices around the world propped up.

You don't. Get a degree which gives you a solid foundation in the theory of your chosen paths. Always have an escape plan. Keep up with the latest advances. Self learning and reading to keep abreast of developments can help. Try something new. Have a plan for one year, two years, five years, ten years and update as needed even if the plan is vague.

Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers

So, what I am hearing is that the chances of picking up a Galaxy 4 Active (physical buttons!!!) clone, say as a Galaxy 8 Active, are zero to none and that I should buy a spare Active 4 now.

I would love to see Firefox forked into an Opera v12 clone. I agree, money corrupts... lots of money..

It was a good ride. You got us out and away from the hell that was IE6. The war was won. At least, escalated to the next level. Edge hasn't a hope in hell. Chrome is okay but not a worthy successor. Palemoon, your bright daughter, is growing up fast. More browsers will come, inspired by the light of hope you lit. Goodbye. So long. You will be missed. We await the day they turn your life support off. Once our shining hope for the future, we will remember you fondly for all you stood for and achieved. Farewell.

Not a problem. Time to start looking elsewhere. Shame, really. Considering the cost of hiring and training a replacement they should consider a salary adjustment. On the other hand, perhaps this person likes seeing new faces every couple of years.

Then they will build a device to detect drones and scan for chips. Fail x times and the drone is reported. Or tracked back Home probably. Just like today with licence plate scanning.

I can see this getting to the point where drones will require registration like cars. Maybe even to the point where a licence is required to fly a drone in built up areas. A transponder system perhaps.. no respose equals dead flying machine.

It is a worthy idea. How many highrise buildings could benefit from this...just imagine if a city could sustain its own energy grid or at least greatly offset energy use

Nokia 5110 FTW. Had one for 10 years. If I ever need to seriously use a phone in the future I'll be looking for one like it. Just works. Charge lasts for days. Good interface. Robust. No GPS etc...

What is your choice of live cd boot distro for this scenario? Ubuntu?

The web without adblock (plus/edge/varient), ghostery, HTTPS everywhere is terrible. How do people survive using just IE...

Yet there is still a market for nokia 5110 phones.

File it under Games? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing

What constitutes minimum price in your locale? Around here it is $40 for DSL although $50 is more realistic. $60 a month for "unlimited". For mobile $30 a month can get a decent plan with 1.5 GB data.

The price paid for being on the bleeding edge. They expect the pain and in some cases probably enjoy it

Will they ever learn? By now we could all have had a Content Box (tm) paying $10 a month to watch any TV show or movie ever made. Instead, we have the content industry investing billions into making better shackles and electronic jails.

The sad part is that right now, even with the broken permissions system and lack of default root access, Samsung Android phones beat everything on the market; YMMV. It does look like the PC evolution all over again this time with Cyanogenmod in place of Linux.

In 50 years we have not gone that far. Not even to sending manned missions to Mars. Only recently did we start reaching for the stars again. This planet is our only egg basket

Thanks, just checked. My laptop has it, and yes it was enabled. Good to know it is there.

I moved telco a few years back for mobile phone only. New telco was all good and there were no issues. Old telco kept sending bills. A year after disconnecting I gathered up notes from several phone calls and emails pointing out that the account had been *disconnected*, typed up a letter threatening legal action for wasting my time with a cease and desist demand for them to stop billing me for mobile charges on a closed account. It worked. Eventually. I have no idea what was wrong with their system other than it was capable of adding charges to a closed account.

Anyone else wondering if scientists look to video games for inspiration for new technology?

I would like to see if Windows source is as bad as rumour says

Corporate like it as the feature controls are extensive and easy to enforce. IE11 is another level of terrible over IE10.

I agree. It is worse. Having had to wrangle with it for the last two months I am ready to quit rather than have to work with it. Absolute nightmare.

I will second that, noting that when past UI changes caused a problem with mobile display Brian fixed it within a day. If you see a bug in Pipedot then report it: http://bugs.pipedot.org/

It is good to see articles like this, discussing recent developments of the web browser. In other news, Internet Explorer being killed off is the happiest news I have heard this year.

A good indicator to determine your physical age..

Have a look at the permissions granted to default apps preloaded with the phone that can not be uninstalled.

App name: S Memo
App function: Notepad for android
App Permissions:

• read phone status and identity
• edit your text messages
• read your text messages
• record audio
• precise location
• modify your contacts
• read your contacts
• add or modify calendar events and send emails to guests without host's knowledge
• read calendar events plus confidential information
• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
• add or remove accounts
• create accounts and set passwords
• find accounts on the device
• use accounts on the device
• modify secure system settings
• control near field communication
• full network access
• view network connections
• view wi-fi connections
• close other apps
• reorder running apps
• retrieve running apps
• run at startup
• prevent phone from sleeping
• read sync settings
• read sync statistics
• toggle sync on and off
• modify system settings
• test access to protected storage

Seriously, WTF? This is an application to write notes and save the results as a file. Why would hackers bother trying to crack the operating system when they just need to find a flaw in S Memo?
Why does a note taking application require all of these permissions?
Why can't I, as the device owner, disable this application from using these permissions?

Yes. I feel like others have rooted my phone before I even used it. Perhaps a law should be passed compelling hardware and software manufactures to give users root access to all hardware and software when purchased.

Reminds me of what they have done to prevent users from accessing the computers in their car.

That is the problem. My hardware. My device. Regardless of ease of rooting these days I prefer root access when it is handed over. Throw in the beefed up security and these guys meet a personal and business need. If they can provide excellent enterprise level device controls the money will roll in.

On the bright side, Slashdot has killed Beta.
http://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=15/02/27/1010241

I will be on this bandwagon as soon as Apple finishes laying down enough roads such that I can drive to work. On the bright side, at least having to stop the car; roll the windows down; roll the windows back up again at random intervals won't be required.

Ohreallyhow interestingnotas farasIcanseeusingSleipnir

The little site that could. Congrats Brian. Your news site is awesome and just keeps getting better.
Any chance of having the plain text editor convert LF to < BR > automatically?

People buy what they are used to. We are creatures of habit.

My family went full on powdered milk for years. I avoided milk for years. Skipped breakfast for years. Avoided hot drinks. Only drank flavoured milk from the school canteen sometimes. I hate powdered milk.

Wouldn't freezing cause the water and milk solids to separate? Could also change the taste. Also, would frozen items be more costly and difficult to transport than chilled items?