I'm typing this on a ThinkPad I bought in 2010. I really hate messing around with hardware, and I just wanted a laptop where I could use Ubuntu and not have to think so hard. Within 6 months the speakers on the laptop were broken, and it was overheating and shutting off frequently even though I was keeping it clean and using it on a glass table. It used to have trouble with the backlight to the screen not going on, but when I took it apart to show it to a friend it started working again (figures). I've never had problems like this with a laptop before, and even though I really like the keyboard and design I couldn't recommend a ThinkPad to someone else after this experience.

Don't forget bathroom breaks. Just knock out the smoke detector and you can get *triple* breaks!

The milk I buy in the supermarket in the US is also rbgh-free. It's required to come with a legal blurb saying that the FDA has not approved any benefit to hormone-free milk. Despite this, it's been years since I've seen a container of milk that doesn't claim to be free of synthetic hormones. (I live in the northeastern US)

What about the doctor's other patients? In 2008 three babies got measles from being in a doctor's waiting room with an infectious child, a similar incident also happened in San Diego. Any money made by treating the sick children would probably be lost once the other parents sued. (Usually the anti-vaccine parent has to sign a waver not to sue, but if they don't then even they could also sue.) Also if the doctor participates in an HMO plan, part of how they get paid is by measuring statistics such as how many children are vaccinated. Finally, even if the doctor makes more money, the people who really end up paying for a child hospitalized with measles is everyone else (either through higher insurance rates, or through taxes if the child is uninsured or covered by state insurance).

You can buy cushions that go between you and the seatbelt in order to position it properly and keep it from sliding up your neck. I sometimes see them at yard sales that have pregnancy/baby items, because an improperly positioned seatbelt could kill a fetus in a crash.

Cost of groceries and cost of housing don't always relate that way. Example: My friend and I both live around Boston, I live in a wealthy area near a university, while he lives a few miles away in a much poorer area. The closest grocery to me is an organic grocery, where milk is $4.50 a gallon, but I do most my shopping there because it's only a 10 minute walk. My friend's closest grocery is a discount store where milk is $2.50 a gallon, but it's a 30 minute walk each way and involves crossing a highway. So instead he buys most groceries at the bodega around the block, where milk is $5.50 a gallon, and there aren't any fresh vegetables or meat. This is especially true during the winter, when it majorly sucks for him to haul groceries around in the snow.

No, this is the market behaving rationally to the fact that it's no longer worth it to be the "low cost" provider. At least in the USA, the percent of total consumer spending by the richest households has risen ([link] [link]), because the "low cost" consumers just don't have the money to spend. So the "low cost" provider has to raise their prices in order to compete for a smaller number of consumers.

I don't personally know anyone who has an iPad, but I know plenty of people who bought netbooks in 2008 and wouldn't be able to afford one now. And while I'm not saying at all that having an iPad or even a netbook should be a human right, I think it's misleading to say "consumers want tablets instead of netbooks" when the number of tablets sold are only 50-60% of what netbook sales were and still are (note the headline: "Sales of Tablet computers such as iPad outshine netbooks").

Most people don't take criticism well. But a lot of men I've known won't take any criticism personally, and just externalize it as a problem that I'm having with them. I'd rather someone took my constructive criticism personally than flat out ignore it.

So true... it's strange to see migrant farm workers counted as the "unskilled immigrants" that we supposedly don't want, when it actually takes experience and skill to make a wage from farm work.

>> If you live in a state that actually taxes food and clothing, you need to fix it in the state.

You should also include vehicle taxes and fees (such as tolls, state gas tax, DMV fees, excise taxes on cars, sales tax on cars, etc.) since in most parts of the country it's impossible to hold a job without having a car. Even then, there are still federal taxes on essentials, such as the federal gas tax and taxes on utilities.

>> Oh, and rent is not taxed anywhere.

But landlords do pay property taxes, and when property taxes go up, so does rent. People who rent also don't benefit from tax rebates or "homestead" exemptions.

Back in the 1960s programming viewed more like secretarial work. [thesocietypages.org] So I think it's equally likely that more men would have entered the field earlier, but didn't because programming was still seen as a "women's" job. Also I don't really buy the argument that women aren't interested in complex systems (or not interested in math, etc), when the gender disparity in other fields such as biology and statistics is much smaller or even more heavily weighted towards women.

The DSi will have a web browser built in, so it shouldn't matter whether the old opera browser works or doesn't.