gNewSense is actually the "GNU/Linux" distribution: http://www.gnewsense.org/

The laptop is the Lemote Yeeloong -- which I'll grant isn't much better to English ears.

"gNewSense" sounds like a play on the word "nuisance."

Has anyone read The Great Train Robbery by Crichton? It talks about all sorts of stuff like this, except in Victorian era England. Great book.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Train-Robbery-Michael-Crichton/d...

Yes, it reads like a Victorian Era Oceans 11. One of the biggest things I remember about it was that they didn't even consider doing anything but stealing the keys to the safe. It wasn't "pickable" given their technology level, explosives weren't powerful enough to open it and it was massive enough to make brute force measures infeasible.

The idea of a train moving from London to Dover at a speed high enough to make a robbery difficult was ,until recently, almost unimaginable!

I might be wrong, but doesn't Microsoft have a patent on the corner-screen touchpad keyboard?

Yes, I remember they prototyped (or maybe even released?) a tablet type device with circular keyboards in the corners.

The "3rd world country" line wasn't the point - I think you missed it altogether.

Smoking has a bit of a culture - when you're smoking somewhere, and someone else is smoking, that's something you can physically talk to them about. You can saunter up to them and say "Virginia blend, eh? Never tried that" and you immediately have a conversation, provided they're not an asshole. It can be something that brings a group together: "Hey lets stop watching this movie and go outside and smoke." And it is very social: it's tough to NOT talk if you're just sitting around with some guys smoking. It can also just be something to do with your hands - for me, at least, it gets rid of the anxious foot-tapping or knuckle cracking and lets me just sit back and smoke and enjoy someone else's company.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that today we are caught up by "interactive distractions" rather than actual human interaction. Smoking socially changes that. </rant>

>> " when you're smoking somewhere, and someone else is smoking, that's something you can physically talk to them about."

Agreed. Just like if you've both had a leg amputated, you have something in common and can also strike up a conversation. But it's not a good reason to purposely cut your leg off. That's probably why you believe smokers to be some of the most friendly people you know - because they have something in common with you.

Personally, most smokers I see around are pretty unfriendly.

Drinking is better for lowering the barriers to social interaction IMHO without making everyone smell horrible and choke. Also a bit healthier.

Also I'm sure it depends on where you live. In the UK the culture is very much anti smoking.

1. Improve my piano, harmonica, and musical ear. 2. Release my social networking app that I've been slacking on for a year. 3. Quit smoking. 4. Finish college (not graduate, finish).