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I wouldn't bet on it. Its entirely possible to make the kernel limit what a user can do above and beyond a chroot jail - SELinux does it already.

So recompile the kernel without the restrictions. I think some people are forgetting that MacOS X's core is all open source. Don't conflate iOS's locked-down nature with MacOS X's extremely open nature.

If apple does only allow app installations from the App Store, rather than allowing you to install whatever you want on your computer. What does this mean for anti-trust precedents set against Microsoft?

MS has no anti-trust precedents in the context of an app store.

I do really wish I could use a different browser than Safari once in a while

Try Opera

specially since Safari crashes on my iPad at least 3-4 times a day.

Based on precedent set by your thoughts contained in your post, I am going to attribute this to user error.

(c) Siri. If your iOS Device supports Siri, which includes the dictation feature, these features allow you to make requests, give commands and dictate text to your device using your voice. When you use Siri, the things you say will be recorded and sent to Apple to process your requests. Your device will also send Apple other information, such as your first name and nickname; the names, nicknames, and relationship with you (e.g., “my dad”) of your address book contacts; and song names in your collection (collectively, your “User Data”). All of this data is used to help Siri understand you better and recognize what you say. It is not linked to other data that Apple may have from your use of other Apple services. By using Siri, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information, including your voice input and User Data, to provide and improve Siri and other Apple products and services. If you have Location Services turned on, the location of your iOS Device at the time you make a request will also be sent to Apple to help Siri improve the accuracy of its response to your location-based requests. You may disable the location-based functionality of Siri by going to the Location Services setting on your iOS Device and turning off the individual location setting for Siri. You can also turn off Siri altogether at any time. To do so, open Settings, tap General, tap Siri, and slide the Siri switch to “off”. You may also restrict the ability to use Siri under the Restrictions Setting.

Nah, I don't even think they posted it ANYWHERE.

The problem with iTunes is that Apple have designed it to work on a consumer level. For example, if I buy my employee an iPhone or iPad, I then probably need to buy him some apps so he can do work, i.e. an app to work with MS Office files, and probably one or two other apps. The apps have to be purchased under an iTunes account so we put it under his corporate e-mail, now what happens when he leaves? How do I transfer those licenses to his replacement? With just about EVERY other company out there that produces commercial software intended for business use, a license is not tied to an individual. I.E. Adobe, Microsoft, Cisco, etc. You puchase XX number of licenses and can reassign them at will, a license is never tied to a specific person, you only need to make sure you have sufficient licenses to cover the number of people using the software.
 

Or you can sign up for the enterprise program, then use the Volume Purchase Program to bulk-purchase apps that you can then deploy to enterprise-connected iOS devices.

You see, you purchase the Enterprise deployment solutions from Apple, which gets you a provisioning certificate that you install on every iOS device you want to attach. You can also deploy configuration information - so connected iOS devices already have Exchange, apps, VPN, etc auto configured and set up. The apps can be inhouse developed and maintained (but deployed through Apple so all connected devices can see the update - the app will not require approval nor be seen by unattached devices), or 3rd party apps bought in bulk.

The license on those apps is attached to the provisioning certificate

First, accessibility, Siri is a utter joke to anyone that is blind... when it displays the result it's useless.

Perhaps you should turn on Accessibility on the iPhone -- from Siri FAQ:

Is Siri accessible to blind and visually impaired users?

Yes. VoiceOver, the screen reader built into iOS, can speak any text that’s displayed in responses from Siri. You can navigate through the responses and have each one read to you. This includes the days of a weather forecast, the body of an email, the details of an answer from Wolfram|Alpha, and more.

Second, Honestly voice control over something that returns the result on a screen is an Epic Fail.

I think you have the wrong idea of what Siri is. It is not voice control: "Siri is the intelligent personal assistant that helps you get things done just by asking."

...and it seems that it doesn't loose signal strength

And you know this because the nice software told you so? Handset vendors have been 'fixing' signal strength problems for years by simply redefining the scale of bars to signal. Apple included,

The other problem I have heard in the past is the lack of ability to provision the phones and apps in bulk instead of having to setup 100 different iTunes account for 100 devices -this is one of the things that probably gives IT departments (and procurement) nightmares.

Sorry, this is just wrong. There is no such "lack of ability to provision phones and apps in bulk". The solutions are cross-platform as well, so no "but you have to buy a Mac" argument either.

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/

if you buy a $299 Enterprise Developer license then you can publish your apps directly to your organization's idevices. Apple even has detailed instructions how to do it

There, FTFY. iOS Developer Enterprise Program

Are you reading from an old data sheet?

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/FA_Exchange_ActiveSync_and_iOS4_Devices/Introduction/Introduction.html

Actually, ActiveSync isn't the issue. iPhone encryption is the issue. If you can bypass the screen lock, IOS will transparently decrypt any encrypted data on your iPhone, including your ActiveSync/Exchange email.

I see your link and raise you this one

Really troll much? No it's about being able to do with my phone what I want not what SJ wants including saving and moving files, FTP /SSH access, access to other video players (formats)... etc etc.

Prompt is a pretty good SSH client, available on the App Store. Unless of course you're talking about running an SSH server on your phone. To what practical end? So you can SMS someone through CLI?

I don't see a need for an FTP client on my iPhone, but a quick google brings up http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ftp-on-the-go/id286479936?mt=8. Are you actively using your iPhone as an FTP server? Is that a workaround for using it as file storage or what? If you need to FTP in to transfer files, why not host an FTP server at home and just login to that instead?

AirVideoServer will transcode and stream pretty much every video format to the iPhone, if it's needed. Are you having trouble ripping your DVDs/BluRay's to a video format iTunes/iPhone can play?

I thought it was $299... http://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/

Are you reading from an old data sheet?

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#featuredarticles/FA_Exchange_ActiveSync_and_iOS4_Devices/Introduction/Introduction.html

The Apple Enterprise Dev program is $300, not $3000
It includes code-level support too.

Apple now supports Mobile Device Management platforms (Air-Watch is my favorite, MobileIron is also popular, but more expensive) that allow easy end-user provisioning, think of something along the lines of Enterprise Activation using Blackberry Enterprise Server. It also allows a significant amount of control over the device, like what apps can be installed, password requirements, remote lock/wipe, etc.

As far as bulk purchasing apps, Apple now has the "Volume Purchasing Program" that makes it easy to buy multiple copies of each App. Basically you go buy X copies of the app, you're given X download codes, you distribute those to your iOS device users and they use them to purchase the app.

Regarding encryption, iOS devices are also encrypted with 256bit AES hardware encryption (warning, that's a PDF - see page 3). To be honest with the tools available today it's not very difficult to manage Android and especially iOS devices.

Apple now supports Mobile Device Management platforms (Air-Watch is my favorite, MobileIron is also popular, but more expensive) that allow easy end-user provisioning, think of something along the lines of Enterprise Activation using Blackberry Enterprise Server. It also allows a significant amount of control over the device, like what apps can be installed, password requirements, remote lock/wipe, etc.

As far as bulk purchasing apps, Apple now has the "Volume Purchasing Program" that makes it easy to buy multiple copies of each App. Basically you go buy X copies of the app, you're given X download codes, you distribute those to your iOS device users and they use them to purchase the app.

Regarding encryption, iOS devices are also encrypted with 256bit AES hardware encryption (warning, that's a PDF - see page 3). To be honest with the tools available today it's not very difficult to manage Android and especially iOS devices.

Apple now supports Mobile Device Management platforms (Air-Watch is my favorite, MobileIron is also popular, but more expensive) that allow easy end-user provisioning, think of something along the lines of Enterprise Activation using Blackberry Enterprise Server. It also allows a significant amount of control over the device, like what apps can be installed, password requirements, remote lock/wipe, etc.

As far as bulk purchasing apps, Apple now has the "Volume Purchasing Program" that makes it easy to buy multiple copies of each App. Basically you go buy X copies of the app, you're given X download codes, you distribute those to your iOS device users and they use them to purchase the app.

Regarding encryption, iOS devices are also encrypted with 256bit AES hardware encryption (warning, that's a PDF - see page 3). To be honest with the tools available today it's not very difficult to manage Android and especially iOS devices.

You also cannot install any App from the App Store without an iTunes account (that includes FREE apps). Not that it matters because it's easy enough to sign-up for a free itunes account (even without a credit card) but I just wanted to mention it for completeness sake.

So, you're just jumping into this development thing with no planning, no foresight?

Ok, buy a $500 MacMini. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Wow, that's a stretch. In an article about developing for iOS, you complain about needing hardware to develop for iOS. Because it comes from one specific company? Or because it's only being bought by 15 million people a year? (~4M per quarter: http://images.apple.com/pr/pdf/q411datasum.pdf )

Good thing you wouldn't need to buy hardware running Windows when developing for Windows!

There is another way, an iTunes allowance which prevents over spending be creating a separate bucket of funds automatically incremented each month with $10 - $50.

Is there a way to have it add $10 every two months or every three months?

At very least, there should be some requirement for parents to authorize the in-game purchases and limit spending on them on a per-game basis.

There is. Under Settings>General>Restrictions. You can turn off In-App Purchases or require a password immediately or every 15 minutes. Silly is the parent that gives up their password (basically their CC info to their kid to purchase as wanted). There is also an iTunes allowance that can be setup for kids. Allowance

or that people have run out of valid things to complain and now they are complaining of free games with OPTIONAL in game items which cost money.

While spending real money is optional to simply play the game, it's not always optional if you want to actually finish the game. I've played some games like Pumpkins vs Monsters where you'd have to play hundreds of hours to beat the game unless you pay real $$$ because a level will only give you ~100-300 gold but a single upgrade is 10,000+ gold.

It's not impossible to win but almost. Imagine playing Half Life but health, additional lives and weapons cost real money, you're left to run around with whatever health you start with and a crowbar. Could you win? Highly unlikely.

Then you have games like Smurfs' Village and Order & Chaos who have $99 in app purchases (here's another example)

I agree something should be done since these games don't really fall in the "free" category.

or that people have run out of valid things to complain and now they are complaining of free games with OPTIONAL in game items which cost money.

While spending real money is optional to simply play the game, it's not always optional if you want to actually finish the game. I've played some games like Pumpkins vs Monsters where you'd have to play hundreds of hours to beat the game unless you pay real $$$ because a level will only give you ~100-300 gold but a single upgrade is 10,000+ gold.

It's not impossible to win but almost. Imagine playing Half Life but health, additional lives and weapons cost real money, you're left to run around with whatever health you start with and a crowbar. Could you win? Highly unlikely.

Then you have games like Smurfs' Village and Order & Chaos who have $99 in app purchases (here's another example)

I agree something should be done since these games don't really fall in the "free" category.

or that people have run out of valid things to complain and now they are complaining of free games with OPTIONAL in game items which cost money.

While spending real money is optional to simply play the game, it's not always optional if you want to actually finish the game. I've played some games like Pumpkins vs Monsters where you'd have to play hundreds of hours to beat the game unless you pay real $$$ because a level will only give you ~100-300 gold but a single upgrade is 10,000+ gold.

It's not impossible to win but almost. Imagine playing Half Life but health, additional lives and weapons cost real money, you're left to run around with whatever health you start with and a crowbar. Could you win? Highly unlikely.

Then you have games like Smurfs' Village and Order & Chaos who have $99 in app purchases (here's another example)

I agree something should be done since these games don't really fall in the "free" category.

99% of "computer" users are dumb when it comes to IT, it's a sad fact.

No, it's not a fact. It's an urban legend perpetrated by geeks so they can feel superior to others. I've seen people with no computer knowledge whatsoever get their first PC and get familiar with it, and while they aren't IT experts, "dumb" doesn't describe it correctly. What they have is a different attitude - to them the machine has a purpose, it's not a toy by itself, they care about learning its fine details as much as most average geeks care about the difference between buckshot and birdshot and how to clean a shotgun blindfolded.

Additionally it might be an idea for Apple and other resellers to create the concept of "sub accounts" for the kids, where they either can't make purchases at all, or can have a pre-paid account which can only be replenished from the "master account". Oddly enough, everybody's favourite whipping-boy, Sony PSN, already have this, more or less...

As does Apple: http://www.apple.com/itunes/inside-itunes/2010/11/using-itunes-allowances-with-your-kids.html

At very least, there should be some requirement for parents to authorize the in-game purchases and limit spending on them on a per-game basis.

There is another way, an iTunes allowance which prevents over spending be creating a separate bucket of funds automatically incremented each month with $10 - $50.

The thing is, those particular file systems also use a different notion of what a file is than what Unix folks are used to. One major example of this is that on these systems, a file can contain multiple streams of data, which both NTFS and HFS+ call forks.

(...and UFS and ZFS on newer versions of Solaris call "extended attributes", even though they are arbitrary-sized named streams.)

Files-11 and HFS+ also support a notion of files as being containers of discrete data records, rather than streams of bytes.

Files-11, or, at least, RMS (no, not that RMS :-)), was probably inspired by OS/360 and successors in that regard. However, at the lowest layer of Files-11 (QIO), a file could be accessed as an array of fixed-length blocks; the record-oriented stuff ran atop that (in userland in RSX-11; in, as I remember, executive mode in VMS). It sounds as if you're talking about the Resource Manager in Mac OS; I don't know whether that was implemented atop "resource fork as seekable byte stream" in classic Mac OS, but it's definitely implemented that way in Mac OS X.

FYI, the unlocked version is GSM-only. (Fine print at the bottom of http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/iphone4s )

Next we just need a Grocery Store Map program

Tesco already has one.
I don't know how accurate it is, since it's rare for me to physically visit a grocery store.

jobs: you will pry my source code out of my cold dead hand.
god: ok.

satan: both of you forgot about darwin and the stuff other than alac at mac os forge and stuff such as clang and lldb at llvm.org....

That must be an iPad-only version or something. Their other app for iOS (Dolphin Browser) has not been updated since September.

They describe the webzine feature as something like the Reader functionality that was added in iOS 5:

Webzine. Fast loading, without ads; Webzine simplifies the way you read your favorite news, blogs and websites.
Effortless Browsing. Dolphin Webzine displays web articles in an elegant format without distractions. Scroll through thumbnail images to open one of 120+ channel subscriptions and = tap on any thumbnail image open to the article. From Elle to Wired, Webzine brings the elegance back to reading on the web.

Seriously, I'm a huge Android fan but... I'd take an iPod Nano wristwatch over these any day: cheaper, better battery life, and easy to use

Their app for iOS (Dolphin HD) got updated today with the following changelog "some bug fixing.", that is not transparency.

Regardless of the whole webzine thing, I'm concerned this developer was sending URL date of any site visited (banking, corporate, email etc ) in plain text to a server in China. There is a lot of data mining that can be done with URL data, specially older websites that stuff private date into URL.

Dolphin is available for iOS and offers the same WebZines "feature" ;-)

Given that Apple sells an unlocked iPhone 3GS to consumers without a contract for $375, Which of those 2 figures is supposed to represent the iPhone 3GS? Why do you imagine Apple would charge a carrier more than an individual consumer?

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC637

So much for your made up numbers.

Yes it is common, there are plenty of brands of players that support the format, the number brands that support alac is a lot smaller.
some that support flac are on this list there are plenty of others, plus all OSes - including OSX.
Apple even support it for their iPhone and iPad with an app, why not support it on their MUSIC PLAYER? Please don't say they didn't write it, they approve everything that goes through their store, if it's good enough for the iPhone and iPad.....

If it really hurts your butt that much, you could buy one of these, or go on eBay and buy a cheap Chinese one for half the price.

Yeah, it sucks that Apple's stuff uses a different cable than any other device, but that's the way it's going to be until the industry comes up with a standard connector that does everything that the Apple connector does.

Apple does make the USB drivers for iPods available for download except with iTunes.

Try taking a fresh PC with iTunes never loaded and plug in your iPod/iPad/iPhone. Your PC will look for the driver and never find it.

Then search for a USB driver on Google.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538

Once you get that driver, I agree there are many bits of software you can use, but I don't believe there are open source drivers for Apple devices.

http://opensource.apple.com/

You have the sources, have the go at porting it.

I know you're an AC and most likely a troll. But regardless, just in case someone else out there truly believes that Apple would never in any way deal with open source software. Never mind their contributions to LLVM and other projects.

No, Apple are evil and for the sheeple. And if we're going the "XBox-fan route" we might as well claim Microsoft are much more open and the Good Guys(tm) because they're so open and only use established industry standards like SMB, BMP, MSNP and OOXML while Apple uses horrible proprietary Apple-only technology like NFS, PNG, XMPP and PDF...

Here : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2328

Could you point to a device on this page which has any variety of a standard USB port on it : Mini, Micro, Full Size?

This year I'm likely to rear-project their lightning loop near my front door, and run 2 LCD TVs with the eyeball loop in the windows of two separate rooms facing the street. (yes, the house is alive!)

Audio is important too, and once again I'll be running this track through speakers and extra subwoofers (real ones, not home ones) hidden on my property: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/halloween/id289650473 There is no better sound effects package than one made by Hollywood Foley Effects artists. It's fun to watch the parents freaking out even more than their kids are.

But.... Crucial does show the right memory for that machine.

From the link you provided:
http://store.apple.com/us/memorymodel/ME_MACPRO_S10_RAM

Apple Memory Module 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM - 1x4GB

From Crucial:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Mac%20Pro%206-Core%20Mid%202010&Cat=RAM

DDR3 PC3-10600 - CL=9 - Unbuffered - ECC - DDR3-1333 - 1.5V - 256Meg x 72 - Part #: CT1431613

4GB = 4GB
1333Mhz = DDR3-1333 = 1333Mhz
DDR3 = DDR3
ECC = ECC

Why are you trying so hard to be right, but your works are consistently wrong? If you can't even get this right, why should I listen to anything else you have to say? You can't even work a simple menu guided tool to purchase memory, even for the wrong machine. I provided the spec on the machine early on in this conversation.

Exactly the same would be true if you bought a cheap third party component for the engine of your car.

Well, you're close, but so far off. I guess the closest thing I can think of is if I bought fuel injectors directly from Bosch, rather than buying them for a substantial markup from the dealer. As was already discussed, Crucial isn't cheap, nor are they crap. I'm picky about the parts I put in my car too, which frequently are better aftermarket parts.

Since you brought this up, we can make a very fair comparison. My girlfriend has a Mini also. She needed an oil change. She wanted both the filter and oil purchased from the dealership. It has a weird filter, but no impossible to find. It was a lot cheaper to buy a better spec filter at a parts store. As for the oil, they recommend Castrol synthetic oil, so getting the BMW brand on the bottle would have just been an extra expense.

After changing her oil, she got a flat tire. Sure, they both involved the same car, but the cause/effect relationship simply is not there.

A few years back, I did change the oil in my car, using a different brand oil and filter. Like, a brand I didn't normally use. A couple days later, the car overheated. Before jumping to the conclusion that the oil caused the overheating, and replacing the car, I diagnosed the problem. A paper towel had blown up on the radiator and was blocking the airflow. While I was diagnosing it (at a gas station at midnight, of course), a "helpful" person such as yourself came over. He diagnosed it a blown head gasket, without any supporting facts other than "overheating".

Both for my cars, and for my computer, I am picky about what I put into them. I use good parts. Those parts may not be (and likely aren't) OEM parts, but with a bit of experience, we can select the best parts to do the job, without going broke doing it.

You want some drugs, so you hunt down the concierge, pass him a tip, and discretely ask him where to get <insert favorite narcotic slag>. The concierge points you to some dealer working out of a van down by the river, and you get your fix. The concierge hasn't sold any drugs, and let's say hes not getting a kickback from the dealer. According to the law, he has still willfully aided in a felony.

Why don't you replace "concierge" with Siri and ask that same question.

I call your bluff, sir.

You're not "calling my bluff." I specifically commented on the memory that was on the Apple store and Crucial's store TODAY. Since you didn't specify a particular model of Mac Pro it was only ever demonstrative of that the memory specs don't necessarily match.

http://store.apple.com/us/memorymodel/ME_MACPRO_S10_RAM

Crucial not offering the same spec of memory for this computer.

Since Apple doesn't even sell that memory any more, what would be your suggestion?

I never, at any point, suggested not buying from third parties. When I myself upgraded my RAM I bought from a third party. My point was that when you do you have to beware, and be sure what you get is the right memory. And if things start to go wrong after you fitted it, then it's the first suspect.

Exactly the same would be true if you bought a cheap third party component for the engine of your car.

Since you (or those who participated on the fanboy side of this conversation) said to only buy first-party parts

a) No I didn't. Which leads me to doubt your diagnostic skills. and
b) The use of the word "fanboy" to someone who did no more than offer advice is alerting me that there's a good chance you never really wanted to fix the Mac in the first place.

I call your bluff, sir.

Apple Store listing

Mac Pro (2006 - 2008)
One or two Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 Series 800MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM
No memory currently available for that model

Apple Technical Specification

Standard Configuration:
2GB (two 1GB) of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM

Build To Order Options:
4GB (four 1GB)
8GB (four 2GB)
16GB (four 4GB)
16GB (eight 2GB)
32GB (eight 4GB)

From my order with Crucial

(CT2KIT25672AP80E)
2-2GB 240-PIN 256MX72 DDR2 PC2-6400 FULLY BUFF
Item subtotal: $159.99
Total w/ tax+shipping: $162.06

Crucial's current part:

4GB kit (2GBx2)
DDR2 PC2-6400 â CL=5 â Fully Buffered â ECC â DDR2-800 â 1.8V â 256Meg x 72 â â Part #: CT774458

Comparison with Apple listing.

2GB (two 1GB) of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM

800Mhz = PC2-6400 = DDR2-800 = 800Mhz
ECC = ECC
fully buffered = Fully Buffered
DIMM = DIMM

Wow, you're absolutely right. How could I be so wrong? Oh... Because I wasn't.

Since Apple doesn't even sell that memory any more, what would be your suggestion? I can't exactly go and buy new memory from Apple. I could buy from eBay, but that leaves me open to the possibility of buying something that's broken. If it fixes the problem, then that's it. If it doesn't, that doesn't mean that the problem doesn't still exist with the memory. Or as I did when I worked in a computer store, we only ever tested with known good parts. If the known good part fixed the problem, we could then replace it with new parts from the store room. No, customers don't get known good, but used, parts.

Since you (or those who participated on the fanboy side of this conversation) said to only buy first-party parts, it will be impossible to get those parts. So the new option is no longer to repair, but to replace it with a newer machine. Planned obsolescence at its best. Who'd want an old machine like this. Only 8 2.8Ghz cores, 8GB RAM, and a 1GB video card (purchased as an option when the machine was purchased).

I call your bluff, sir.

Apple Store listing

Mac Pro (2006 - 2008)
One or two Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 Series 800MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM
No memory currently available for that model

Apple Technical Specification

Standard Configuration:
2GB (two 1GB) of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM

Build To Order Options:
4GB (four 1GB)
8GB (four 2GB)
16GB (four 4GB)
16GB (eight 2GB)
32GB (eight 4GB)

From my order with Crucial

(CT2KIT25672AP80E)
2-2GB 240-PIN 256MX72 DDR2 PC2-6400 FULLY BUFF
Item subtotal: $159.99
Total w/ tax+shipping: $162.06

Crucial's current part:

4GB kit (2GBx2)
DDR2 PC2-6400 â CL=5 â Fully Buffered â ECC â DDR2-800 â 1.8V â 256Meg x 72 â â Part #: CT774458

Comparison with Apple listing.

2GB (two 1GB) of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM

800Mhz = PC2-6400 = DDR2-800 = 800Mhz
ECC = ECC
fully buffered = Fully Buffered
DIMM = DIMM

Wow, you're absolutely right. How could I be so wrong? Oh... Because I wasn't.

Since Apple doesn't even sell that memory any more, what would be your suggestion? I can't exactly go and buy new memory from Apple. I could buy from eBay, but that leaves me open to the possibility of buying something that's broken. If it fixes the problem, then that's it. If it doesn't, that doesn't mean that the problem doesn't still exist with the memory. Or as I did when I worked in a computer store, we only ever tested with known good parts. If the known good part fixed the problem, we could then replace it with new parts from the store room. No, customers don't get known good, but used, parts.

Since you (or those who participated on the fanboy side of this conversation) said to only buy first-party parts, it will be impossible to get those parts. So the new option is no longer to repair, but to replace it with a newer machine. Planned obsolescence at its best. Who'd want an old machine like this. Only 8 2.8Ghz cores, 8GB RAM, and a 1GB video card (purchased as an option when the machine was purchased).

even the entry-level MBP is what, 1200 or so ? It costs as much as two similar-spec PC laptops

Here are the specs of that $1200 13" MBP.
Take a look. Now... show us all this $600 laptop with similar specs.

This notion that Apple's hardware is outrageously overpriced has been shown to be false time and again. Yes, there are $600 laptops, and they may match proc and RAM of Apple's hw, maybe even more RAM or more HD... but the specifications will not even be close. As with other hw manufacturers, so it is even with Apple: the margins are pretty thin. Once you actually match the specifications (and not just ignore the ones you don't like as though they were worthless), the difference in price will be less than $100.

You also may want to factor in resell value, as Apple laptops are famous (notorious) for retaining obscene value many years later. You want to tell me why a 12" 1-1.5Ghz PowerPC Powerbook Apple stopped making in 2006 still sees average sales around $200? In this case, you can match the specs and maybe get 3 or 4 used PC laptops from 2003-6 for $200. You can... but you know as well as I they're going to be junk (unless they're a tank of a Thinkpad).

First, Apple has sued Microsoft in the past, and Microsoft sued Apple earlier this year over the "App Store" trademark

Microsoft has filed a complaint against Apple with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, claiming that the iPhone maker's attempt to claim exclusive rights to the "App Store" moniker should be voided.

In its filing with the USPTO, Microsoft says "App Store" is too much an everyday term to be trademarked.

So they definitely still do mix it up ...

Apple couldn't care less about what happens to anyone else using BSD. They have their own branches already, the original writers and code can go to heck for all they care.

Additionally, Apple has ~200 opensource projects that they do code commits to, including stuff included in *gasp* bsd and even linux. They employed FreeBSD coders to get their stuff off the ground, btw.

as for TFA whomever came up with a camera dock so you can work your iPod from across the room? A little too much time on their hands methinks.

I think the prize for 'gratuitous use of an iPod when there's more appropriate technology' must go the Ion Torrent DNA sequencer, a $50,000 piece of lab equipment that incorporates a dock for an iPod Touch (which supposedly runs a status monitoring app, though the machine itself has a perfectly good screen for this):

http://www.slashgear.com/ion-torrent-personal-genome-machine-has-an-ipod-dock-23120950/

But from a 2011 perspective, maybe the most curious artefact in iPod history is the HP-branded version, which it's very hard to imagine Apple allowing now:

http://www.onedigitallife.com/2004/08/31/hp-introduces-re-branded-ipod/

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2345