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Firstly, mo42, I think your analogy to the computer is right on the money. Indeed when you enter "2+2" in to a computer, it may think it is exercising free will by returning "4", but the programmer knows otherwise. Likewise, when someone calls our name, we may think we turn our head of our own free will, but the "insanely powerful computer" you mention would know otherwise.
Secondly, as a side note, the First Noble Truth is that there is suffering in life. The Second Noble Truth is that suffrering has causes. The Third Noble Truth is that there is a way to address the causes. The Fourth Noble Truth is the way. To say that Buddshists believe that life is suffering is a perversion of what Buddshism is really all about. Buddshists do not dwell on suffering. They acknowledge their suffering so that they can look at it and figure out how to alleviate it in themselves and others.
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"If I cannot smoke cigars in heaven, I shall not go!"
- Mark Twain
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