I can't get my new remote to work with the satellite box, and am filled with rage. Rage.

Wired News: Foiling the Would-Be Hijacker

The essence of it: A research project aims to introduce a host of integrated monitoring systems into airplanes to foil hijackers. Elaborate, extensive, omnipresent monitoring. Monitoring which could easily sound ominous and invasive if not handled with careful spin. Luckily, they've got someone on the job.

"We have to show it's not Big Brother watching you, it's Big Brother looking after you," [researcher James] Ferryman said.

Wired: The Infinite Arcade

About how digital distribution is the future of video games. "I’d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive," says Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment. OK, fair enough, but let's be cynical.

Companies that are banking on -online distribution will first have to solve the problem of online billing. Customers may be willing to pay 25 cents for a virtual machine gun, but what if it costs the seller a buck to process the purchase? Microsoft’s solution is to sell points in large increments. Players can buy 1,200 Microsoft Points for about $15, then hit Xbox Live Marketplace to buy games like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved or accessorize games they already have: 60 points to test-drive a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti in Project Gotham Racing 3; 200 points to upgrade your cute female avatar’s wardrobe in Kameo: Elements of Power; 400 points to add new battlefields to the WW II shooter Call of Duty 2.

So what used to be components of the games themselves can now be turned into add-ons and monetized. Wouldn't it be so much more fun if, instead of being filled with equipment you could find in the game, Diablo 2 was filled with exciting opportunities to purchase upgrades which include new equipment? Or, from another angle, now every game can have a near infinite tail of must-have expansion packs.