I have both looked at and tried a few different systems, and what makes Zoom stand out is that it is fairly reliable, easy to use, allows inviting people without an account - and works equally well for everything from just two people chatting up to large enterprises integrating it with video conferencing rooms. Skype starts to choke on groups larger than a few people, Teams is designed for companies with their AD in Azure cloud, WebEx was way too buggy last I tried it - and so on. But with the disregard for privacy that Zoom has shown lately, I wish there were some good alternatives.

I remember watching this movie early 2012 on a plane from Hong Kong. With someone coughing two rows behind me. And they say cinemas are more immersive... HAH!

I agree with you that their actions in most cases has a busines decision behind them. I still believe Microsoft has changed during the last few years though - embracing open source in the way they have is only one of many possible ways they could have moved forward after Ballmer. Even though their open source commitment might look like a few token projects to consumers, when you start looking at their enterprise poducts you realise it goes a lot deeper than that. Like that they use git for the Windows source code, their container strategy is based on Docker, you can run SQL server on Docker and the official images are based on Linux - even when they could have chosen Windows! And seeing Microsoft employees - even in management positions - with an Apple computer is not uncommon anymore. So yes, they are only following what is best for their busines - but I think we should be happy that they have decided on the path where Open Source is seen as a good thing instead of continuing on the path that Ballmer set up.

All those who are sceptical towards Microsoft's Open Source commitment appears to fail to realise that Microsoft under Nadella leadership is a very different company than during the Ballmer era (or the Gates era before that). Today the focus is all about subscription services and the cloud. They are making sure everything works fine with their cloud and subscription services, so they can rake in money that way. Want to move your Linux services to the cloud? Microsoft wants you to choose them instead of Amazon or Google so you realise how good all their other services are and start paying for them as well. Are you a developer? Well, then Microsoft want you to know that they have all the Open Source tools you need to run your applications in their cloud. Need a database? Move your MySQL database to Microsoft's cloud and take advantage of all their other database solutions while you are there. And so on. The software you can install yourself (like Windows) are nowdays just stepping stones to push you into their cloud, where you pay a few bucks a month instead of a bit more every few years.

The Wolbachia bacteria already exists naturally in insects all over the world, including several species of mosquitoes. The bacteria inhibits reproduction of viruses like Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya in the mosquito, significantly reducing the risk of spreading the virus. This without using any kind of chemicals or genetic engineering. The World Mosquito Program has more information about Wolbachia: http://www.eliminatedengue.com...

My LG TV got a firmware update that - after the upgrade was installed - prompted me to accept a new agreement that would allow them to monitor everything I do and send it to a third party. I declined, and in return most of the SMART features were disabled. LG's support only refers me to an email address they claim should be displayed on the agreement page (which of course does not contain any contact information at all), and when pushing them they told me to email an address that is more or less a black hole (they never reply).

I can see a few possible problems with this.

1) Lag/delay in statistics. If the feature is abused as described in some of the posts above, an area considered safe can be unsafe for a while before the statistics catches up with reality. The opposite is also true; an area that has been "cleaned up" may be considered unsafe for a while.

2) Different types of violent crime. Not all violent crimes occur in the streets; domnestic violence is (at least where I live) considered a violent crime, and it is also a lot more common than unprovoked violence on the streets. At least that is what the police says - in the statistics they are bundled.

3) Seasonal / time of day differences. I live in a city that is flooded by tourists in the summer. Violent crimes increases significantly during those few months, and most of those crimes occur late evenings / nights when people at clubs/bars/pubs are drunk. Still, statistics for specific areas are compiled on a yearly basis.

4) In sparse areas, a single crime can have a huge impact in the statistics. Looking at statistics compiled "per capita", the area where I grew up had a 200% increase in violent crimes one year. It went from one case of domnestic violence to three - or 20/1000 per capita.

It depends on if you would like to take good photos or store memories? My experience after owning and using various cameras ranging from cheap phone cameras up to a professional DSLR during the last 12 years, is that I use mobile cameras and pocket cameras for memories. But their small sensor makes them difficult to use in some situations, like low light or high contrast. DSLR's makes it easier to take stunning pictures, but their size/weight increases the risk that the camera is left at home and not used. In your situation, I would probably aim for something in between, like a Micro four thirds camera or a Sony NEX. Small enough to keep in a large pocket, large sensor that makes it easier to get shallow focus, and not as expensive as a pro DSLR. From there, you will probably notice how/when you are using it, and either be happy with it, or switch to a smaller or larger camera.

After Z we can go Swedish, as suggested, since we have three more letters in our alphabet:
Ålande Åsna (Crawling Donkey)
Älskande Älg (Loving Moose)
Överraskad Örn (Surprised Eagle)

It is coming already tomorrow (Wednesday) in some parts of the world. IMDB has a list.

I have ticket reservations for it tomorrow evening (I'm Swedish).

I find it easier to relax if I know I can quickly find whatever I'm looking for, like bringing up google maps when I get lost, or search for the address of whatever I intend to visit - instead of planing everything ahead in detail and bringing tons of maps, printouts and so on. My last visit to London, I spent an hour trying to find a theater using a regular map and street signs, so I had to run to make it in time. Using a phone with GPS and google maps, it would probably have taken 15 minutes, giving me plenty of time to relax.

I can only agree. Using the same hardware since 7.04, I've seen improvements up to about 8.04. After that, it has gone downhill. Audio has gone from "good" to "horrible" in three versions (I'm going to wait and see if 10.04 improves things, or I will install OSS 4 instead). Things like Notify OSD was rushed/pushed out before it was ready. Changing monitor settings in Gnome requires the applet to be launched with root privileges from run/console instead from the menu to be able to apply the changes, at least on the various 8.10/9.04 laptops I have seen/used. Last time i tried KUbuntu (I don't remember if it was 9.04 or 9.10) multi-monitor support was not working at all.

The answers from Matt gives me the feeling they aim for "quantity" instead of "quality". I don't care if Ubuntu supports some rare hardware if I have major problems listening to music using a default Ubuntu install on some really common desktop hardware. I don't care if the new and shiny feature that replaced the old and proven feature has some nice touches, if this new feature is so incomplete/unfinished that it breaks things (like Notify OSD placing notifications outside the visible areas in some configurations, and no options whatsoever to move them back inside).

The problem with google is that it is both time-consuming and difficult to filter out the crap. The good thing about conferences and lectures (at least those I have attended) is that most of the crap has already been filtered by someone who knows about the subject. A good lecture usually get me thinking in new directions, talking about best practices and giving good advice - usually things that drowns in a flood of useless/amateur advice when using google.