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Facebook is a good idea taken way too far and a userbase that refuses to acknowledge that fact. If we've learned anything from history, people are more than willing to go along with anything that even includes physical assault for the sake of recognition. A little violation of privacy is no sweat.

Sorry dude, but this is not physical assault unless the person is taking the photo of you in a private place (e.g. dressing room, shower) or from a place where he doesn't have the right to be (e.g. trespassing). At least in the States, it is well within photographers' First Amendment rights to take and disseminate photos, including by attaching meta-data such as face-tagging and publishing them online.

See, e.g. Lambert v. Polk County (1989)

From such a finding it would also follow that the taking was a taking of Lambert's property without due process of law and that it also clearly violated his First Amendment right to display the tape and disseminate it in any way he wishes. (It is not just news organizations, such as WHO-TV, who have First Amendment rights to make and display videotapes of eventsâ"all of us, including Lambert, have that right.)

there is some special artillery shells fitted with guidance fins that can do minimal mid-flight course corrections. heck here is a patent for one from the 80's

it would be even easier to put such as system on a ballistic missile due to its larger size so i must assume they have them too

I just wanted to point out some really obvious things

There is an wide chasm between "Non compos mentis" and "mental health issues". Note that the 2nd term isn't "mental health disorder" it's "mental health issues".

How will "mental health issue" be defined for this purpose? Is a prescription for antidepressants sufficient for gun confiscation, or does it require a diagnosis of an actual disorder.

Great question.

As an example, my wife takes Trazadone, an anti-depressant, as a sleep aid. Would she (and myself, since we co-habitate) be barred from owning a gun because she's "on an anti-depressant," even though mental health isn't the reason she takes it?

The slope is slippery indeed.

Last I checked, the president's armed guards (or Rosie O'Donnell's, or anyone else for that matter) aren't carrying military style assault rifles or hand guns with extended clips.

Then obviously you never actually checked, and are talking purely from your anus.

Here's a short list of some of the weapons that are commonly carried by Secret Service agents:

FN P90 - fully automatic 5.7x28mm submachine gun (aka machine pistol); 50-rnd magazine standard, 900 RPM firing rate; this gun is the replacement for the old standard-issue SMG -

The Uzi - carried by SS agents from 1960 to the mid 1990's; fully automatic, 9mm or .45 caliber SMG; 16-50 rnd standard magazines, 600 RPM firing rate.

Then there's the ubiquitious H&K MP5 - 9mm or .40 caliber SMG, 15-100 rnd capacity, 800 RPM.

And of course, the Presidential SUV has a M134 minicannon in the back - 7.62mm, 2000-6000 RPM, belt-fed, capacity limited by storage space for ammo.

In other words, you're full of shit, and demonstrably so.

stop spouting off about things you don't know enough about.

Yea, you do that.

here.

Must resist urge to post it as a LMGTFY link.

Since transporting building materials to space is a challenge, the team is considering using on-site 3D printing as a solution."

How does using an on-site 3D printer solve this problem? Last time I checked, you need input materials. Unless you're harvesting those materials in outer space, they're going to be sourced from earth. In my opinion, you're trading manufacturing quality on earth for the cargo volume difference between a more spacious pre-asssembled part and some amorphous bag of resin

Also, if this thing is never going to be used by humans, let's just make a monument for humanity. My best suggestion is Daft Punk's set from their Alive 2007 Tour http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&safe=off&sa=G&tbo=d&biw=1364&bih=683&tbm=isch&tbnid=YQxV3ckNYEiclM:&imgrefurl=http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/daft-punk-signed-columbia-records-daft-punk-photographic-history&docid=ePpe3tP66xYfyM&imgurl=http://www.vibe.com/sites/vibe.com/files/photo_gallery_images/2007%252520%25252522Alive%252520Tour%25252522.jpg&w=650&h=365&ei=kQsMUf6iEJO-9QTZv4GYBg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:2,s:0,i:91&iact=rc&dur=2097&sig=112557253512712023348&page=1&tbnh=168&tbnw=300&start=0&ndsp=18&tx=117&ty=10

I just wanted to point out some really obvious things

There is an wide chasm between "Non compos mentis" and "mental health issues". Note that the 2nd term isn't "mental health disorder" it's "mental health issues".

How will "mental health issue" be defined for this purpose? Is a prescription for antidepressants sufficient for gun confiscation, or does it require a diagnosis of an actual disorder. Will a judge be involved in the ruling, or will the police make the determination? Will it be "confiscate first, check later"?

Will a doctor's word - patient "X" is on antidepressants - be sufficient for the police to come and confiscate arms? Will the confiscation last forever, or can a person be deemed "cured" and get their guns back? Will this cause people to hide real mental health issues for fear of having their property confiscated?

Many people with "mental health issues" have broken no law. This means the government will be taking away the rights of a group of people based on a warm-fuzzy "it seems like the right thing to do" attitude. We could just as easily restrict blacks from having firearms because blacks commit more crimes than whites in this country.

People make a lot of hay over the "social contract". It turns out that our ancestors made a social contract which was explicitly put down on paper and said that you could have your centralized government so long as the people can keep guns.

You cannot break that contract directly, you have to change the constitution to do it - that's the rules, and everyone has to abide by them. If you don't believe in the constitution, then the social contract is null and void, and we might as well do away with the federal government.

And where is state governance in all this? What if some states (Texas comes to mind) simply don't want to restrict gun control in this manner? The constitution explicitly states that the federal government can't take this right away.

And finally, you know that this will be abused by law enforcement to extreme levels. Cops will be grabbing guns off of everyone they see claiming "well, he looked like he had mental health issues". Prosecutors will dig up any thin hint of a mental health issue to justify keeping the guns, and no one will be able to get their property back - ever.

This whole issue is a train wreck waiting to happen. Especially since, given the statistics, it will cause more children to be hurt (on average) than relaxing restrictions.

Probably for the same reason they don't simply hold the camera and chopper in place and rotate the world. It takes more effort to rotate the chopper, or even the camera. And even if you went to the effort, it would be incredibly difficult to rotate the chopper around the camera while moving in any direction, and harder still (because you are, after all, subject to air movement) to keep the image steady. And finally, even if you did all of the above, there are limits to how fast you can rotate a chopper.

Instead, a common solution is to have a lens that provides a 360 degree view, with various degrees of distortion. (Panomorphic lenses) Note that in many cases it is 360 degrees around a single axis, with only a limited field of view along the other axes. Some variations use mirrors, others appear to be extreme versions of the fish-eye lens. (Example.)

Another solution appears to be having either a reflector or the camera itself rotate, stitching the continuous stream of images into a series of 360 degree images. ( Android phone example, mirror rotation example)

And yet a third solution is to simply have cameras pointed in every direction at once. (Example)

The performance hit is small enough for Chrome, Qt and other projects to use ANGLE to translate Direct3D to OpenGL:

https://code.google.com/p/angleproject/

As well as gaining you superior speed, security, reliability, & even "anonymity" to an extent (vs. DNS request logs, & yes, the ability to bypass DNSBL's (dns block lists) you may not agree with too):

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APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++ 32/64-bit:

http://start64.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5851:apk-hosts-file-engine-64bit-version&catid=26:64bit-security-software&Itemid=74

Which, if you read the list of what it can do for you as an end user of the resulting output it produces listed in the link above, you'll understand how/why...

"It's as strong as steel, & a 3rd of the weight" - Howard Stark from the film "Captain America"

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Vs. even DNS servers too (which hosts files can supplement to overcome THEIR shortcomings, as follows):

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A.) Running another program (sometimes in usermode no less, far, Far, FAR slower than kernelmode by many orders of magnitude & easily attacked) vs. the single hosts file (tightly integrated into the IP stack itself as part of it). ADDING COMPLEXITY & MORE "moving parts" room for error & breakdown!

B.) Wasting CPU cycles, RAM memory, & other forms of I/O to do what a single file can do

C.) Wasting ELECTRICITY (especially if the DNS server is setup as a separate machine) even if run as a service/daemon on a single system as user has

D.) DNS has NUMEROUS faults, & should anyone request a sampling of them? Ask & "ye shall receive" (see my 'p.s.' below...).

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Resulting in security AND in saving your bandwidth & giving you FASTER host-domain name resolution locally vs. remote DNS servers, especially if a NXDOMAIN results!

Since you do it LOCALLY via verified hardcoded hosts file entries of your favorites, which also gets you speed too as noted), simply to overcome that flaw & others!

Hosts files hardcodes are not only faster, but safer too, simply since my program uses reverse DNS hardcoded entries tests, to the in arpa addr 'tld' that houses that information from the DNSSEC root 13 servers - which are secured vs. that flaw noted above in redirect poisonings (& others)

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AND, especially vs. competing alternate 'solutions', noted below in AdBlock/Ghostery & yes even DNS servers, next, as 'examples thereof'...

Solutions that used to be good & I even recommended them in security guides I wrote up over the decades now -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=ka3yUKzxB-6_0QHLroCQCA

That did extremely well for myself (and users of them), for Windows users, for "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth" purposes - the BEST THING WE HAVE GOING vs. threats of all kinds, currently!

(Not anymore though, & certainly NOT far as AdBlock's concerned especially, not after this):

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Adblock Plus To Offer 'Acceptable Ads' Option:

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/12/2213233/adblock-plus-to-offer-acceptable-ads-option

(Meaning by default, which MOST USERS WON'T CHANGE, it doesn't block ALL ads - they "souled-out"... talk about "foxes guarding the henhouse")!

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Plus, Adblock CAN'T DO AS MUCH & not from a single file solution that runs in Ring 0/RPL 0/kernelmode via tcpip.sys, a driver (since it's part of the IP stack & tightly integrated into it) which is far, Far, FAR FASTER than ring 3/rpl 3/usermo

Well, Microsoft's own implementation of OpenGL is not kept up to date any longer, in spite of it still running OK for fixed pipeline code, and it runs on Direct3D of course. Yet, long live OpenGL, as the ANGLE open source implementation of OpenGL ES is good enough to be used by default by Qt 5. It runs on top of Direct 3D using IIRC DirectX 9.0 APIs. Qt 5 on Windows uses OpenGL ES for rendering, but I haven't checked yet if it includes Qt Widgets or is it for Qt Declarative only.

APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++ 32/64-bit:

http://start64.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5851:apk-hosts-file-engine-64bit-version&catid=26:64bit-security-software&Itemid=74

Which, if you read the list of what it can do for you as an end user of the resulting output it produces listed in the link above, you'll understand how/why...

"It's as strong as steel, & a 3rd of the weight" - Howard Stark from the film "Captain America"

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Especially vs. competing alternate 'solutions', noted below in AdBlock/Ghostery & yes even DNS servers, next, as 'examples thereof'...

Solutions that used to be good & I even recommended them in security guides I wrote up over the decades now -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=ka3yUKzxB-6_0QHLroCQCA

That did extremely well for myself (and users of them), for Windows users, for "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth" purposes - the BEST THING WE HAVE GOING vs. threats of all kinds, currently!

(Not anymore though, & certainly NOT far as AdBlock's concerned especially, not after this):

---

Adblock Plus To Offer 'Acceptable Ads' Option:

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/12/2213233/adblock-plus-to-offer-acceptable-ads-option

(Meaning by default, which MOST USERS WON'T CHANGE, it doesn't block ALL ads - they "souled-out"... talk about "foxes guarding the henhouse")!

---

Plus, Adblock CAN'T DO AS MUCH & not from a single file solution that runs in Ring 0/RPL 0/kernelmode via tcpip.sys, a driver (since it's part of the IP stack & tightly integrated into it) which is far, Far, FAR FASTER than ring 3/rpl 3/usermode apps like browsers, & addons slow them down (known issue in FireFox).

To wit, 10++ things AdBlock can't do, hosts can:

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1.) Blocking rogue DNS servers malware makers use

2.) Blocking known sites/servers that serve up malware... like known sites/servers/hosts-domains that serve up malicious scripts

3.) Speeding up your FAVORITE SITES that hosts can speed up via hardcoded line item entries properly resolved by a reverse DNS ping

4.) AdBlock works on Mozilla products (browser & email), hosts work on ANY webbound app AND are multiplatform.

5.) AdBlock can't protect external to FireFox email programs, hosts can (think OUTLOOK, Eudora, & others)

6.) AdBlock can't help you blow past DNSBL's (DNS block lists)

7.) AdBlock can't help you avoid DNS request logs (hosts can via hardcoded favorites)

8.) AdBlock can't protect you vs. TRACKERS (hosts can)

9.) AdBlock can't protect you vs. DOWNED or "DNS-poisoned" redirected DNS servers (hosts can by hardcodes)

10.) Hosts are EASIER to manage, they're just a text file (adblock means you had BEST know your javascript, perl, & python (iirc as to what languages are used to make it from source)).

& more... as a tiny 'sampling' & proofs thereof!

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Same with Ghostery:

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Evidon, which makes Ghostery, is an advertising company.

They were originally named Better Advertising, Inc., but changed their name for obvious PR reasons.

Despite the name change, let's be clear on one thing: their goal still is building better advertising, not protecting consumer privacy.

Evidon bought Ghostery, an independent

Did you check out Google's information on government/police/court requests for info and takedowns in the UK? Around 4,000 incidents in total, and over 2,000 of them were regarding AdWords. Not Youtube, or Blogger, or G+ or Google Pages, but AdWords. Looks like they're well aware of the problems, to the point of government agencies taking regular action over it. Thing is, this is the thing that makes them an enormous amount of money...

Full breakdowns by country here

Yes if only there was some sort of policy regarding privacy that sites like Google would make public... Something that was easy to find, perhaps right on the bottom of every page. Something that said something like Privacy & Terms that you could simply click on to get information.

Is the link to that page also on every webpage that Google uses it's third-party cookies on?

The robocallers costs have already been driven down. That is why the issue exists. It isn't going to drive down their cost more since they are already using it.

And yes, you can block calls to your IP based phone just fine depending on the service you have.

http://www.google.com/googlevoice/whatsnew.html

http://www.youtube.com/googlevoice

All of the claims in the Micron patent refer to the user "drawing" the geometric pattern. The term "drawing" is not defined in the patent, so a court would likely give the term its ordinary and customary meaning given to the term by those of ordinary skill in the art. Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc). But I don't think "drawing" has a particular technical meaning in this context. The Oxford American Dictionary defines it as to "produce (a picture or diagram) by making lines and marks; produce an image of (someone or something) in such a way."

The Apple unlock mechanism doesn't produce a picture or image or make a line or mark on the screen. The user causes the slider to move, but it doesn't draw a line. Technically the "slide to unlock" text fades out and it could be argued that the user is "drawing" over "slide to unlock" in black, but that's a pretty strained way to look at it. A somewhat firmer interpretation would be that "drawing" can sometimes be used in a metaphorical sense. For example, someone can be said to draw a shape in the air with their finger.

If Micron sued Apple over this patent (or assigned the patent to someone who sued Apple), it's quite possible that the case would hinge on the meaning of that word.

According to http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/ (for google):
13 million requests received in the last month to remove links from Google. That equates to over 430,000 in one day or roughly 150 requests every 30 seconds.

Youtube may not be on quite the same scale, but I would still be surprised if it took more than an hour to reach 150 requests.

Create me an unwalled garden that accomplishes the same thing and I'll embrace it.

It isn't 2009 anymore, dude.

https://play.google.com/store

I wanted Adobe Flash Player on my Galaxy Tab. But the Play Store didn't have it. I went to Adobe's website, downloaded the .APK file, went into the Settings on the Galaxy Tab and temporarily enabled 'install from third parties' and installed the APK.

You're fucked if they don't have it at the Apple store and you're stuck with some iDevice.

I have long been an advocate of teaching computing at school — hell, I'm sure I'm not the only one in this forum that started off with programming over 25 years ago, in what seemed a trivial thing back then but definitively changed my life!

But the main reason to teach computing is IMO *not* to create more, better programmers, graduated earlier. It should be a core subject of study, just as algebra, philosophy, natural sciences or language.

Programming teaches kids a different way to think, to look at a problem, to form and to transmit the solution — Thinking algorithmically. Programming will also greatly help a kid be more profficient at math, physics or chemistry. Programming can also help kids understand language (i.e. grammar — I understood better many concepts after learning the basics of compilers!)

Some months ago, I published a short article on the subject, you might be interested in reading it if you understand Spanish (Programación en la escuela: Para qué?), or if you trust enough Google Translate (Programming at school: What for?)

Not much, did THAT long ago (hence my favorites) - I figured out long ago WHERE I SPEND MY TIME ONLINE & put them in as favorites!

Favorites which also avoid DNS, & this issue in them (point-blank)...

Which is also why I use this news aggregator sites - it consolidates the news for me into 1 spot instead of 100's... get it?

I also don't do many DNS queries partially because long ago again - I figured out where I spend my time online for 99.999 % of it, & from what I've seen per your very test no less (great minds think alike & all that)??

Perhaps 1 in 100 journeys online in fact...

HOWEVER:

When I DO? I use secured filtered DNS servers vs. online exploits that I listed in my initial post too!

On javascript & other potentially exploitable online "things":

Would you like to see what I personally recommended in the VERY 1st WIDELY RECOGNIZED & DONE VERY WELL ONLINE SECURITY GUIDE FOR WINDOWS I AUTHORED, 1st of its kind too since 1997 online-> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=3KsJUaP6Kqfy0QG3m4HIBg

As to what it says on that?

I block it out!

That's right - & how do I do it?

Via Opera's "By Site" preferences...

E.G.-> I set a GLOBAL policy as default, for ALL DOMAINS in fact, of no cookies, no javascript, no java (I don't use it & don't use it on the job for development anymore thank goodness, I prefer Delphi &/or C++), no frames/iframes, & no plugins active (only on demand when I set an "ok" on certain sites only for that).

Get that too? GOOD... because personally unless you DO do that & other layered security measures online? You're "a hit WAITING TO HAPPEN" for malware makers.

Sorry but... YOU FAIL, again... sorry, but you do!

APK

P.S.=> At least YOU had some potential points, but you nuke yourself in the end & on this very point: Funny, it's also the one that makes you AVOID these 1/2 decade long unpatched DNS serviers too, acting as a fix... lol!

... apk

The Google Nexus 4 phone has had broken wifi and bluetooth since Android 4.2.1 was pushed out mid-November last year.

See this Google code forum bug report: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40065

and these blog posts http://things-linux.blogspot.com/2013/01/has-google-become-institution-bound.html and this

http://things-linux.blogspot.com/2013/01/time-frame-of-nexus-4-wifi-bug-issues.html

for more info. It's enough to me make me reconsider a BlackBerry.

You don't disprove or dispute them -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3417867&cid=42736287 fully or even EFFECTIVELY (this may not be YOUR fault due to less know-how, since guys like me DO build what you merely 'use', user)... but then again: YOU limited yourself, not I!

PLUS:

Do the math on 2++ million records in a hosts with my fav sites I only keep 20 favorites in a custom hosts file cached in RAM for speed with those favs @ the top, beating DNS indexing or even btree seeks too... do the math!

(Plus the VERY thing that cures this is hardcoding in hosts files, as to the issue in this article, by BYPASSING THE NEED TO CALL OUT TO THESE UNPATCHED MAJORITY OF VULNERABLE DNS SERVERS OUT THERE! Period!)

Plus, again a fact per that math I outlined:

I resolve FASTER locally from disk than remote DNS servers do, especially if NXDOMAIN happens!

(Especially how I load it from a TRUE SSD based on DDR2 ram, the gigabyte IRAM by redirecting my hosts file sort of like how *NIX etc shadow passwords work in fact), once loaded thus (faster, zero seek access almost) & cached into RAM (1 of 2 ways I noted, 1 of which I use to overcome the limited faulty DNS clientside cache service in Windows with no less)).

I merely state facts that mathematics prove & yes, again, computers DO use that type of math in code and hardware too...

Yes, and? Yes:

Due to my 'tricks' as you called them?

Yes, know-how you clearly do NOT possess as a 'techie' or even "mighty admin" type Lol...

Honestly?

I shit on guys like you, everyday, because you LIMITED YOURSELVES, not I, by only being that - I've been brought into corporate Fortune 100/500 for consultation or on the job vs. contractors trying to take payroll away from my staff to SHOOT YOU DOWN on grounds like these (I am VERY good @ it & this post shows it also)... & by the way?

I'm a VERY proficient security pro & admin myself - I wrote THE VERY FIRST SECURITY GUIDE FOR WINDOWS:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=1VoJUbXKMbCC0QHKg4GQAg

To "immunize" a Windows system, I effectively use the principles in "layered security" possibles!

http://www.bing.com/search?q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000%2FXP%22&go=&form=QBRE

I.E./E.G.-> I have done so since 1997-1998 with the most viewed, highly rated guide online for Windows security there really is which came from the fact I also created the 1st guide for securing Windows, highly rated @ NEOWIN (as far back as 1998-2001) here:

http://www.neowin.net/news/apk-a-to-z-internet-speedup--security-text

& from as far back as 1997 -> http://web.archive.org/web/20020205091023/www.ntcompatible.com/article1.shtml which Neowin above picked up on & rated very highly.

That has evolved more currently, into the MOST viewed & highly rated one there is for years now since 2008 online in the 1st URL link above...

Which has well over 500,000++ views online (actually MORE, but 1 site with 75,000 views of it went offline/out-of-business) & it's been made either:

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1.) An Essential Guide
2.) 5-5 star rated
3.) A "sticky-pinned" thread
4.) Most viewed in the category it's in (usually security)
5.) Got me PAID by winning a con

It's because Microsoft BYPASSES the host file for THEIR sites to work (ala Windows Update etc./et al) -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22Microsoft+bypasses+the+hosts+file%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=lkUJUcnFEejg0gHgq4DoBg

* ALBEIT, for GOOD REASONS, noted above for example/instance...

APK

P.S.=> Get it? Good...

.. apk

Post-web people may like to read what was all the rage in the early 1990's: the deep philosophy of software development. Doug Lea has a concise summary, so you don't have to read several hundred pages. And here's a quick direct quote from Christopher Alexander I just now Googled:

...it is not possible to make something beautiful, merely by combining fixed components.

2. The core of EVE online was written in the late 90's. Multicores were not really on the radar back then. They became practical and affordable only years later.

Everyone paying attention has known that multiprocessing was the future since, at the latest, the early 90s. Here's a quote from a 1993 research paper:

Resizing will continue to draw applications off mainframes onto networked PCs, workstations, and small servers; simple multiprocessors; large
scalable multiprocessors; and massively parallel processing multicomputers. This trend will accelerate as network cost, performance, and maintainability improve.

Simple multiprocessors will be the mainline of computing throughout this decade, to be replaced eventually by various forms of highly parallel processing computers.

This was a typical conclusion of the (many) discussions of the era. Yes, multicore was a bit of a surprise, but servers with slots for multiple single-core processors were commonplace when EVE launched. It was practically a standard feature of most high-end server systems, so writing their servers not to take advantage of such systems was short-sighted. Also several RISC processor designs had emerged that used multiple threads to offset the delay between an instruction being executed and its results being available for a subsequent instruction to use, and to minimize latency due to branches. Everyone knew the future of high performance computing was in multiprocessing and multithreading.

Granted, the inability of CPython to run truly concurrent threads would deter me from using it for applications requiring high performance. But 10 years ago I simply wouldn't have lost a single thought about concurrent threads. Would you?

Yes. I stopped using python circa 2002 (dated by the fact that I evaluated a new-at-the-time system called 'psyco' for improving python performance just before giving up on it, and the earliest-dated reference I can find to this system is from october 2002) when I realised that this problem was not going to be fixed and would become critically important for any large-scale application with non-trivial interactions between users. I'm pretty sure from discussions I saw on message boards and mailing lists at the time that I'm far from the only one who gave up on it.

Really, where's all this inflation you speak of? This quantitative easing has been going on for years now and I'm not seeing the inflation. The inflation rate is actually quite low: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi. And here's a link for how all that "high inflation" is helping the economy: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CD0QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hlntv.com%2Farticle%2F2012%2F08%2F09%2Flow-inflation-pushing-us-toward-recovery&ei=EIQIUeKTD4ePrgH23IGQDQ&usg=AFQjCNGRXXnPWulOGPkxyd_0yEvcOCrWPg&sig2=hM2C_h2ubx3eXdzoqXAPzQ&bvm=bv.41642243,d.aWM

And seriously, what fucking exchange pressures? You mean like the dow and s&p being at near record highs?

http://www.wgal.com/news/money/Dow-S-P-500-nearing-all-time-highs/-/9360224/18318560/-/115r051/-/index.html

..that haven't been working since at least RC2.

This annoys me because the interface is such a f*ck*rse to operate with the mouse.

Man, sounds like you're paying for their product I hope you're donating something at least. The remote was fixed long time ago. Just install one of the nightlies apk's from their website trying doing some goggling next time

this is why he shortened it, gramps

Read Dianne Hackborn's comments in the G+ thread linked from the article you posted. Her first comment is pretty high level, later on she goes into deeper detail about exactly how it breaks the CDD/CTS.

https://plus.google.com/100275307499530023476/posts/ViCME1bb8F6 for the lazy (can't directly link to a comment though...)

You'll also see a comment from Steve that says what I said above but in a different way: "CM does pass the CTS, but not in any official context. For that, you need to have hardware to go with your software." - In short, CM can pass the tests, but to actually get certified, a complete system (hardware/software) must go through official/formal testing with Google's cooperation.

The most relevant part, eventually, is:
"Ultimately here is what we would probably tell anyone wanting to ship this modification with Market (which would need a compatibility exception because as we both agree it is not entirely compatible with the CDD/CTS): all existing apps must run on a screen that never changes in size, which is compatible with the sizes specified by the CDD. This means for you probably all existing apps running full-screen (you could probably have your panels slide out on top of them as long as they don't impact the display size seen by the app). You can have a custom API for applications to opt in to your experience (for example a meta-data tag in their manifest), but they must explicitly opt in to any such changes in behavior, and not by you assuming they might work because they support both landscape and portrait."
This is what Samsung did - except instead of by using a custom API for apps to opt-in, Samsung hardcoded a whitelist into the framework.

As "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth" is the BEST thing we have going vs. online threats... get a GOOD filtering vs. online threats DNS server, & a good hosts file (as well as the usual 'security hardening' for various OS, such as this guide of mine outlines for years now -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=I08IUdP6A-f90gHZpYC4Bg )

In fact, I outlined some good filtering vs. online threats type DNS servers for that here in my initial posts on hosts -> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3417867&cid=42729809

Which, yes, hosts files can & do overcome this DNS issue, via hardcoded favorite sites in them,!

Thus, relieving webbound clients of having to even query DNS at all, bonus since it's generally FASTER than remote queries, especially how I do it off a TRUE SSD (based on DDR-2 RAM, the Gigabyte IRAM & with my favs @ the top of the hosts file, cached into the local kernelmode diskcaching subsystem, rather than the faulty Windows DNS clientside cache).

Nice part is, IF you run a DNS server? Hosts can "lighten your load" by lessening queries routed to them - BONUS!

APK

P.S.=> I also listed some GOOD filtering vs. online threats DNS servers there too, but again - DNS has problems (see the termination of my initial post on just a partial list of them over time)...

However - those I listed? For home machines, or stand-alone single machine users only...

E.G.-> I wouldn't use them on an AD network (won't work, I've tried it - it messes up mailserver MX records stuff & clients like outlook etc.)

... apk

Does iOS have reviews? Google does, and I think this place looks better than a lot of the places the Lonely Planet recommends in that neighborhood...

available and the industry (albeit largely manual) to manufacturer firearms/weapons of all sorts.

In Iraq, for example, Sadam Hussein had so many munitions (rockets, firearms, grenades, explosives, etc.) that the US Army was unable to cordon off and destroy more than a fraction of them. All can be used to build IEDs.

Inside the continental USA great effort has been made to ensure that such munitions are not easily available. It would take major chaos (e.g., a nuclear war, a pandemic) for military munitions to be left unguarded as was the case in Iraq.

Afghanistan is different: munitions leak in from all other nations' borders - it is impossible to police the borders. And while the continental USA has huge borders, much of it is policed (Canada, Mexico to a lesser degree) or difficult to access (the East and West coasts).

Do you know what a "plethora" is?

As they help you avoid making DNS requests, if you use 'hardcoded' entries of your favorites, properly resolved against the in-arpa addr "TLD" that houses that information!

I do so, via this application I wrote up:

---

APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++ 32/64-bit:

http://start64.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5851:apk-hosts-file-engine-64bit-version&catid=26:64bit-security-software&Itemid=74

Which, if you read the list of what it can do for you as an end user of the resulting output it produces listed in the link above, you'll understand how/why...

"It's as strong as steel, & a 3rd of the weight" - Howard Stark from the film "Captain America"

---

Especially vs. competing alternate 'solutions', noted below in AdBlock/Ghostery & yes even DNS servers, next, as 'examples thereof'...

(Solutions that used to be good & I even recommended them in security guides I wrote up over the decades now -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=ka3yUKzxB-6_0QHLroCQCA

(Security guides of mine that did extremely well for myself and users of them) for Windows users, for "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth" purposes - the BEST THING WE HAVE GOING vs. threats of all kinds, currently!

(Not anymore though, & certainly NOT far as AdBlock's concerned especially, not after this):

---

Adblock Plus To Offer 'Acceptable Ads' Option:

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/12/2213233/adblock-plus-to-offer-acceptable-ads-option

(Meaning by default, which MOST USERS WON'T CHANGE, it doesn't block ALL ads - they "souled-out"... talk about "foxes guarding the henhouse")!

---

Plus, Adblock CAN'T DO AS MUCH & not from a single file solution that runs in Ring 0/RPL 0/kernelmode via tcpip.sys, a driver (since it's part of the IP stack & tightly integrated into it) which is far, Far, FAR FASTER than ring 3/rpl 3/usermode apps like browsers, & addons slow them down (known issue in FireFox).

To wit, 10++ things AdBlock can't do, hosts can:

---

1.) Blocking rogue DNS servers malware makers use

2.) Blocking known sites/servers that serve up malware... like known sites/servers/hosts-domains that serve up malicious scripts

3.) Speeding up your FAVORITE SITES that hosts can speed up via hardcoded line item entries properly resolved by a reverse DNS ping

4.) AdBlock works on Mozilla products (browser & email), hosts work on ANY webbound app AND are multiplatform.

5.) AdBlock can't protect external to FireFox email programs, hosts can (think OUTLOOK, Eudora, & others)

6.) AdBlock can't help you blow past DNSBL's (DNS block lists)

7.) AdBlock can't help you avoid DNS request logs (hosts can via hardcoded favorites)

8.) AdBlock can't protect you vs. TRACKERS (hosts can)

9.) AdBlock can't protect you vs. DOWNED or "DNS-poisoned" redirected DNS servers (hosts can by hardcodes)

10.) Hosts are EASIER to manage, they're just a text file (adblock means you had BEST know your javascript, perl, & python (iirc as to what languages are used to make it from source)).

& more... as a tiny 'sampling' & proofs thereof!

---

Same with Ghostery:

---

Evidon, which makes Ghostery, is an advertising company.

They were originally named Better Adver

As custom hosts files do a lot more, & are loaded by the IP stack when you startup your OS (as well as when you make requests via any webbound client): That makes AdBlock redundant (i.e.-> why do the job TWICE & not as well, in other words!).

PLUS, sadly, AdBlock doesn't BLOCK ALL ADS anymore by default & it can't do as much as custom hosts files do for you on more grounds! See below for a list...

I build mine, using this (after I built it, of course):

---

APK Hosts File Engine 5.0++ 32/64-bit:

http://start64.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5851:apk-hosts-file-engine-64bit-version&catid=26:64bit-security-software&Itemid=74

---

Which, if you read the list of what it can do for you as an end user of the resulting output it produces listed in the link above, you'll understand how/why...

"It's as strong as steel, & a 3rd of the weight" - Howard Stark from the film "Captain America"

---

Especially vs. competing alternate 'solutions', noted below in AdBlock/Ghostery & yes even DNS servers, next, as 'examples thereof'...

(Solutions that used to be good & I even recommended them in security guides I wrote up over the decades now -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=ka3yUKzxB-6_0QHLroCQCA

(Security guides of mine that did extremely well for myself and users of them) for Windows users, for "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth" purposes - the BEST THING WE HAVE GOING vs. threats of all kinds, currently!

(Not anymore though, & certainly NOT far as AdBlock's concerned especially, not after this):

---

Adblock Plus To Offer 'Acceptable Ads' Option:

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/12/12/2213233/adblock-plus-to-offer-acceptable-ads-option

(Meaning by default, which MOST USERS WON'T CHANGE, it doesn't block ALL ads - they "souled-out"... talk about "foxes guarding the henhouse")!

---

Plus, Adblock CAN'T DO AS MUCH & not from a single file solution that runs in Ring 0/RPL 0/kernelmode via tcpip.sys, a driver (since it's part of the IP stack & tightly integrated into it) which is far, Far, FAR FASTER than ring 3/rpl 3/usermode apps like browsers, & addons slow them down (known issue in FireFox).

To wit, 10++ things AdBlock can't do, hosts can:

---

1.) Blocking rogue DNS servers malware makers use

2.) Blocking known sites/servers that serve up malware... like known sites/servers/hosts-domains that serve up malicious scripts

3.) Speeding up your FAVORITE SITES that hosts can speed up via hardcoded line item entries properly resolved by a reverse DNS ping

4.) AdBlock works on Mozilla products (browser & email), hosts work on ANY webbound app AND are multiplatform.

5.) AdBlock can't protect external to FireFox email programs, hosts can (think OUTLOOK, Eudora, & others)

6.) AdBlock can't help you blow past DNSBL's (DNS block lists)

7.) AdBlock can't help you avoid DNS request logs (hosts can via hardcoded favorites)

8.) AdBlock can't protect you vs. TRACKERS (hosts can)

9.) AdBlock can't protect you vs. DOWNED or "DNS-poisoned" redirected DNS servers (hosts can by hardcodes)

10.) Hosts are EASIER to manage, they're just a text file (adblock means you had BEST know your javascript, perl, & python (iirc

Also of note - the server runs only on Linux/Unix, however as asked in the original post, NX Server will allow you to run just a single application at once, and with careful setup (ie: virtualGL), you can even run very graphics-card intensive applications on the server, accessing the server's graphics hardware for GL, and send that rendered application to the client. It's free for limited personal/educational use, and requires a license for large-scale access.

It supports awesome features like restoring sessions - since the session runs on the server, if you are disconnected by a network hiccup, you can re-connect, and your program will still be running uninterrupted.

There are also several projects in progress to attempt to make an open source version, since the protocols themselves are open sourced and freely available. Sadly, I haven't seen any of them that are actually fully completed and working for all of the aspects that my work uses NX for, so we haven't been able to use any of them. Several of those projects look like they were abandoned years ago, though.

Google's NeatX project is one of the most complete that I've seen, and I don't see any development on it since 2009...

Those radio personalities were, in some part, responsible for the actions of the nurse for it was they who made the final push.

I don't think they made the final push. One of the nurses three suicide letters criticized senior hospital staff - while I haven't read any of the letters (I don't think they've been made public), I read that as her being violently reamed by administration for what is really a tiny issue.

That being said, according to MailOnline she did blame them for it.

Personally, I don't think the radio hosts were responsible for the final push - what they did was to set off an avalanche of undue criticism, particularly undue, as she didn't do anything other than patch the hosts through to another nurse.

And really, if you read the news after the prank call on December 4th but before the suicide on December 7th, you'd have read about it. Google gives 400+ hits on that search.

ABC News. The Mirror. The Telegraph. The Star. USA Today. Fox News. The list goes on. That's not just a silly joke playing out on some radio show with a limited audience - that's world wide. For fuck's sake, it was covered as basically breaking news that the world HAD to know and be outraged about.

Personally, I can't say if it something that'd make me try suicide again, but I highly doubt I would lay all the blame at the pranksters' feet. Being the victim of a joke isn't always funny even afterwards - but then being subjected to that amount of quite frankly ludicrous public scrutiny of an honest mistake, I wouldn't put it past me to break at that.

So no - even if the nurse laid the blame squarely at the hosts' feet, I will go on record as saying that that is a very unfair and unreasonable claim to make.

I did a load of background reading on this yesterday so here's some interesting related material. One interesting source is the NASA guidelines for li-ion use in space :
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090023862_2009023573.pdf

Now NASA I think have a pretty good track record of thinking technologies through carefully... (By the by, did you know that GS Yuasa also have a contract to supply their li-ion batteries to NASA for use in the ISS?)

Also, did you know that prior to the 787 the Cessna CJ4 was the first civili aircraft to utilise li-ion batteries (supplied by a123). In 2011 there was a fire onboard one whilst it was connected to a ground power unit. As a result the FAA ordered all 42 in operation to be changed to conventional ni-cd or lead acid.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-11-01/html/2011-27596.htm

This is interesting as it's similar i.e. on the ground. This of course *could* be coincidental.

Next up are lots of interesting pictures from the NTSB investigation. Much as I HATE to link to the Daily Mail (normally a pretty retarded publication) I couldn't find any other pic sources. Bizarre :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2268152/Boeing-787-Dreamliners-burnt-battery-spewed-molten-electrolytes-reveal-investigators.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

And some great source material from the NTSB themselves :
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/2013/boeing_787/boeing_787.html

And the NTSB update on the investigation (including some samples of their cell CT scans) :
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/2013/boeing_787/JAL_B-787_1-24-13.pdf

NTSB Primer on li-ion battery tech :
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/2013/boeing_787/Primer_LIB_Technology.pdf

One of the theories being talked about are the fact that the li-ion batteries that Boieng (via Thales) decided on are based on a lithium cobalt oxide cathode which is old tech and regarded as not exactly the safest variant of li-ion technology out there :
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=257987
and via a translation :
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tu.no%2Findustri%2F2013%2F01%2F17%2Fher-er-dreamliner-problemet

This EEtimes article has some interesting comments :
http://cdn.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4405441/787-Dreamliner-investigation-probes-battery-charging-electronic

And some info from GS Yuasa :
http://www.s399157097.onlinehome.us/SpecSheets/LVP10-65.pdf

All interesting stuff. Personally I think they shouldn't have been allowed to 'trial' li-ion on such a big aircraft especially after the cessna incident. Trying so many new tricks at once isn't wise - as engineers always say, just change one thing at a time...

APK has ~ 250 up modded posts vs. your opinion. You made the same mistake 3 times Sardaukar86 and are clearly outnumbered since he was upward moderated. You do exemplify the Dunning Krueger effect of making the same mistake repeatedly http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3406867&cid=42721345 and you also exemplify a saying regarding insanity of "insanity is making the same mistake over and over again, expecting different results" http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22insanity+is+making+the+same+mistake+over+and+over+again+expecting+different+results%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=774HUfnjAtCH0QH574G4DA

BST (Brad's Spin Tool) - GTK Editor, separate executables for program loader and compiler. Free as in free beer, not open source, though. http://www.fnarfbargle.com/bst.html PZST (Propeller Zone Spin Tool) - Qt Editor, uses Brad's loader and compiler. Free as in free beer, is open source (not sure which license) http://code.google.com/p/pzst/ There is also an open source SPIN compiler now, if you don't want to use BST http://code.google.com/p/open-source-spin-compiler/ SIDE (Simple IDE) - Qt IDE. I think this is mostly focused on C. http://code.google.com/p/propside GCC is WIP, with the Propeller and upcoming Propeller 2 as targets. Cheers

BST (Brad's Spin Tool) - GTK Editor, separate executables for program loader and compiler. Free as in free beer, not open source, though. http://www.fnarfbargle.com/bst.html PZST (Propeller Zone Spin Tool) - Qt Editor, uses Brad's loader and compiler. Free as in free beer, is open source (not sure which license) http://code.google.com/p/pzst/ There is also an open source SPIN compiler now, if you don't want to use BST http://code.google.com/p/open-source-spin-compiler/ SIDE (Simple IDE) - Qt IDE. I think this is mostly focused on C. http://code.google.com/p/propside GCC is WIP, with the Propeller and upcoming Propeller 2 as targets. Cheers

BST (Brad's Spin Tool) - GTK Editor, separate executables for program loader and compiler. Free as in free beer, not open source, though. http://www.fnarfbargle.com/bst.html PZST (Propeller Zone Spin Tool) - Qt Editor, uses Brad's loader and compiler. Free as in free beer, is open source (not sure which license) http://code.google.com/p/pzst/ There is also an open source SPIN compiler now, if you don't want to use BST http://code.google.com/p/open-source-spin-compiler/ SIDE (Simple IDE) - Qt IDE. I think this is mostly focused on C. http://code.google.com/p/propside GCC is WIP, with the Propeller and upcoming Propeller 2 as targets. Cheers

1. Quote Martin Luther King as saying disidents should be proud to go to jail.

Not everyone is heralded like Mandella with a large base of supporters and international attention. Most are swallowed up by the penal system never to be heard from again. Only their family remembers. Look what happened to John Kiriakou who blew the whistle on illegal torture. He's gone away for 30 months. http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/01/28/convicted-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-confronts-government-talking-points-on-nbcs-today-show/


Whistleblower John Kiriakou said "I am proud that I stood up to our government. I am not a criminal. I am a whistleblower. Torture is illegal and it’s officially abandoned in our country and I’m proud to have had a role in that." Sounds a bit like Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death". A hero right? And yet...

Don't expect the media to save you. NBC's Savannah Guthrie began her interview of him: "Some people say you betrayed your former colleagues in order to raise your media profile in order to sell books and get a consulting business going." Are *you* going to be holding a candlelight vigil for a cad of a man who betrayed his country to sell books?

Don't expect the judge to save you: The US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema said on Friday that Kiriakou had damaged the CIA. She called the sentence, the result of a plea arrangement with prosecutors, "way too light". Before issuing the sentence, the judge asked Kiriakou if he had anything to say. When he declined, she said: ''Perhaps you have already spoken too much.''
This book tells how once you're jailed the public think you deserve it and quickly forget about you. http://books.google.com/books?id=Tu5RB6YHf10C&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=51Ya4U8XFt&dq=lynch+in+the+name+of+justice (Go to page 43 of this Google Books preview).


2. Swartz broke the law and should do the time.

These posts are usually accompanied by an anal exploration of the relevant statute by watched too many courtroom dramas and thinks they are real life, but was there ever an Episode of Law & Order when McCoy said "Let's fuck this college kid over! I want a promotion! "

People who post these overlook the whole point that these are unfair laws. Volokh showed how unfair they are when he wrote a TOS that could be used to send anyone to jail named "Ralph".
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20120803gw.html
http://www.amazon.com/Arrest-Proof-Yourself-Ex-Cop-Reveals-Arrested/dp/1556526377
http://www.volokh.com/posts/1227896387.shtml

So how is Iraq these days, what with the lack of genocide, torture chambers and oppressed populace?

https://www.google.com/m/search?q=iraq+news&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=u&source=univ&tbm=nws&sa=X&ei=wz4HUatiyOesAYy8gMAP&ved=0CEQQqAI

Top headlines suggest political turmoil, economic progress, airways being opened to promote trade and cultural commentary.

Looks pretty good.

And you were saying?

After years of lurking on Slashdot, I finally was compelled to make a log in. Dear Mr Bennett, what you describe has been done before, by me, in my master thesis, and i even implemented such network as part of the master. I am stopping short of accusing you of plagiarism, but the similarities are striking, all the way down to the different length of chains occurring at different statistical probabilities. I unfortunately only have the thesis in Russian (in which it was written), but here is the link for those with Google translate skills: https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1wRgj1VChUsbcdkQJcrEweW6ZsYtZJZVLelhejBhEL9Y# I probably still have the prototype implementation laying around somewhere. I posted this comment as anonymous, but i guess being at 0 with a link to a non english page doesn't help get people's notice. The similarities of this idea to my thesis are so striking, that it sounds more like an executive summary.

They only have 7300 Likes on Facebook. Don't you find it a little odd that they have over 136x more of them on G+? I see only a few possibilities:

1) Bots are responsible for artificially inflating scores.
2) Facebook really is on the downhill and people are leaving in droves.
3) There's a tactic in play that actively encourages liking on G+ (e.g. discounts on products, a tie-in with Google Wallet, etc.).
4) A niche community has settled on G+ to the exclusion of Facebook.
5) The site is receiving extra attention thanks to its founder's celebrity status in the open source hardware community.

Based on one of the other responses I've already received, I'm inclined to think #4 and #5 are what's happening here (though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Google had tied Wallet to G+ somehow). Limor Fried, who founded Adafruit, has even more plusses than her company, but that comes as no surprise simply because she has attained a level of celebrity in the community. Just because we can cite celebrities (and things they're directly tied to) as having lots and lots of attention does not mean that they are representative of the whole. Rather, I'd suggest that she and her company are an outlier.

I'm more than willing to concede that some niche communities have found a home for active discussion on G+. Linux has already been pointed out, and now you've pointed out the open source hardware community, which likely has quite a bit of overlap with the former (and is also demonstrated by the fact that Fried seems to be largely inactive on Facebook, suggesting she's on G+ to Facebook's exclusion, thus affirming #4 above). That doesn't change my argument that the general population is largely unaware of G+ and are either using it unintentionally or not at all.

Some Google services work only with what Google's help page calls the "default account", not the account that you have selected from the control you describe. To change the "default account", you have to log out of all Google services on a machine and then log back in with the account that you wish to use as the "default account". Open this page and find the phrase "Sign out of all your Google Accounts".

..."Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated revenues of $8.64 billion, or 67% of total Google revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2012" http://investor.google.com/earnings/2012/Q4_google_earnings.html

If one niche hobby electronics company has over a million followers, I can believe that there are 343 million users.

https://plus.google.com/+adafruit

Hardly a ghost town.

Even if the author abandoned an FOSS program, he can keep a copy of the apk and install it on whatever devices he wants to. If the author pulls an app from play.google.com, he is out of luck.

For this reason I only use programs for which I can download an apk file for any device.

This is one reason you should have at least one rooted device.

With a rooted device, you have access to the apk you downloaded, and with an app like Titanium Backup (on a rooted device), you can maintain backups of your apps, so if you don't like an App update for some reason, you can always revert back to its previous version.

To the few of you with Google TVs, having a rooted phone in your case also means you can send your Google TVs apks that were not officially released on Google TV, but that work just fine on it (or that work just fine on Google TV with rotation control)

There is AutoCAD WS for Android.