Why do they trump Sublime Text 2? Apart from the inability to count words, I'm really happy with it (and its licensing model).

I should check how much an upgrade to 3 costs. That has a word count plugin.

For me it's TextMate's language-agnostic plugin system. For some reason I really hate writing in Python and that's required for Sublime.

I just discovered Swype does handwriting recognition, and it's AWFUL. I'm not sure how they think letter-by-letter is compatible with at least the other two keyboards I've seen out there. Their suggestions are top notch, which is the only reason I'm still experimenting with settings, but SHIT.

They unlocked the phone I deliberately bought unlocked (Germany, if memory serves) and now my sister is on Android. She pays through the nose for data minutes--do you guys have any recommendations about firewall apps, or other ways to keep it under control.

My Mom is thinking of getting this for very light web browsing and listening to Democracy Now. [link] . Any minuses for this? Is this a good deal. She has a $100 Amazon gift card, I'll put in $50, and she will put in $50.

Another possibility. Instead of the Chromebook for 200, there is this no-name android 10 inch for 150. Worse screen, but apparently fast intenet connection.

Tim just got a Chromebox, and assuming the Chromebook differs only in the fact that it's a laptop and therefore portable, I can tell you his Chromebox is fast and great for browsing and whatnot.

(He got the Chromebox because his dad's computer is plagued with spyware, malware, viruses, and possibly the actual Black Death, because he CLICKS ON EVERYTHING. And so Tim gets a call once a week asking for computer help. The idea was, if the Chromebox seemed decent, he would get his dad a Chromebox so that [1] there would be drastically fewer problems and [2] if there were problems, Tim could just look at his own box and [ideally] talk him through the fix over the phone. We'll see how that pans out.)

t edit (Well, the *alleged* reason for getting a Chromebox was so that if his dad ALSO had a Chromebox and then had problems, Tim could talk him through a fix over the phone. But I suspect the REAL reason was "Shiny! New!" [He did actually say "I've never been an early adopter before! This is so cool!"])

One of the Microsoft FUD ads says that you don't need to be connected to the internet to be able to get their shit done.

Is it the Chrome* they're slagging there?

Adobe Creative Cloud had an outage this weekend. People couldn't use the software that they paid for, that was on their hard drives, because they couldn't check the license online.

I think I'm going to suggest the Chromebook. Her intent is to use it for listening to Democracy Now, but I think given that all she does on her computer is email, light browsing and the occasional one to three page speech, she might find herself using it for everything.

Talked to my aunt, my gift of a Kindle is a BIG hit with her and my uncle. At least a piece of technology that doesn't intimidate my aunt, especially because with her eyesight, being able to make the letters larger lets her read more easily.