In Europe, when a consumer buys something over the internet he has an ABSOLUTE right to change his mind about the purchase within 14 days.

That right cannot be taken away by any contractual bullshit. If she is within this period, she can just write them an email and that's it.

I have, but I didn't publish it or anything. Read this though:

http://www.geocities.com/altbinariessoundsmusicclassical/mp3test.html

128 BIT AAC encoded in iTunes. Detection rate there was about 10% in SOME of pieces music, but mostly it was a roll of dice.

At 256 kbps (tracks bought through iTunes plus vs. the CD) - forget it.

The headphones were in-ear Etymotics ER 6. Unfortunately, I can't back this up with an article published in Nature or anything :-) It was just me and a few friends who attend the local conservatory. Convinced me, though.

Try it for yourself at home with some friends, it's not that hard to set up. A laptop, good headphones and a few CDs are all you need.

I live in Austria, and I don't have to carry ID. In princible, I do not even have to own any kind of ID. In Germany, IIRC, you have to get acquire (but carry) some kind of ID when you're 16, but in may other countries not even that much is the case.

Please... We've done blind tests with orchestra and studio musicians, and the detection rate of MP3 vs. CD on $500 studio headphones was not statistically significant. Get over it already.

Look, it's simple.

It's like a guy that delivers donuts to your office and simply leaves a tip jar, saying you can pay as much as you think the donuts are worth. If you take a donut, like it, plan to take one again tomorrow, and DON'T leave some money, you're a flaming asshole.

The same logic applies to looking/not looking at online advertising, especially when it's done as well as Google's text ads.

First of all: You are freeloading, which is kind of cheap. Secondly, advertising != mindless consumerism. Advertising is a (heavily biased, which can be useful) source of information that fulfills a useful function in many cases,

You know what the thing is about Google's ads? They are very, very smart - which is pretty much the only reason why they can make billions of dollars with tiny text ads. Sometimes I'm looking for something out of the ordinary that has to be bought at a store, not fashioned from the intestines of my domesticated animals. (I'm sure you hardly ever experience that predicament). Google's ads usually take me to a reputable place immediately.

Unless you absolutely always know exactly what you are looking for at any given time, you are sure to learn something by looking at their ads.

I have a paid Google Apps email account, but keep ads turned on because they often deliver interesting tidbits of information (mostly on competitors and other stuff that my work-mail is about) that I wouldn't actively have gone looking for.

And dude, sorry to break it to you, but you are a fucking consumer as well.

I agree. Grandparent is a fucking lying asshole, no matter how you look at it.

You aren't around young people a lot, are you? You must be an "industry analyst" or something.

EOM.

I actually prefer it the way it is. Keeps the WINE developers on their toes - and that's way more important than having native WoW.

OK, so you don't want to pay for TextMate...

How about just using XCode, Textwrangler, jEdit, Eclipse or Smultron?

Or how about using ANY FUCKING UNIX/LINUX EDITOR EVER WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, either straight in an X11 window, or via the special OS X build that is available for most?

Believe me. If you make the locks too obnoxious, somebody will make you look stupid.

Unless you have a very well-versed and well-paid IT-staff, the computer-literate students in any given high school class outnumber you in available man hours by a factor of about 10.

If you mess up, they'll make sure all the turned-on clients in your school display a rotating technicolor Goatse on a set date and time (been there, done that). Treat them like the kids they are, not like mind-criminals.