You don't travel much, do you?

Because with a coal mine you've got none of those costs, right?

How exactly would this be different from the rest of their programming?

How would they keep track of who has subscribed if they're not tracking people?

This objection comes up in every discussion of cheques/checks with Americans. Let's make this clear - the issue you're discussing is a solved problem. All over the rest of the world, you can just transfer money between bank accounts for free.

Here in Australia, when I need to pay my housemate my share of the rent, I log in to my online banking, select 'pay anyone' from the menu, select her name from the list of people I've paid recently (the site autofills her BSB and account numbers), I enter how much I want to give her and it's in her account the next morning. This service is free, works between all banks, credit unions, and building societies, and bounces money back to your account in the event of number and account name mismatch. It is essentially the same as wire transfers, but less complex and without the insane fees for shovelling some bits from one account to another. There is a system of checks (not cheques) and daily limits that keeps fraud from being any more of an issue than in the US.

Many small businesses and eBay sellers prefer this method of payment to any other for obvious reasons - it's free, it's reliable, and minimises effort for all parties.

I'd never used or considered using cheques until I lived in the States. I'm really, really glad that I don't have to keep using them.

In news just to hand, it seems that Microsoft might have ever had any open source credibility whatsoever.

"Oh yeah, Microsoft are totally all over that open source shit," according to Richard M Stallman, the open source movement's supreme leader by virtue of prime beardiness and epic ninja skills. "If they let Novell die, then I'll have no choice but to see them as money-grubbing organisation who simply try to wring every last cent from their customers, rather than the benevolent and inspiring open source leaders that they are today."

Mr Stallman was later spotted sharpening his katana.

Stay tuned for more updates, unfounded speculation and general craziness masquerading as 'analysis' as it comes to hand.

What happens when someone breaks the security on your keyring? A thief who stole your keys would be able to get into your house and rob everything, and make an escape in your car.

If they steal your wallet while they're about it, they can empty your bank account too.

While it's good to think about security, you've gotta actually compare the hypothetical worst case scenario of the new technology with a similar worst case scenario with the old technology (providing they require similar amounts effort/skill).

It's worth remembering that most consumer grade locks can be opened by a moderately skilled locksmith in seconds while leaving no trace - and opened in a similar amount of time by anyone provided they don't mind doing some damage.

And did you know that even a child with a small rock can gain access to your house using windows?!? ... Well, a window. Glass doesn't stand up well to brute force attacks.

...And releasing the accelerator will mean the engine car slows down. I've personally done that.

Since the car's electronics are malfunctioning, I think that assuming that the various systems controlled by the electronics would work as usual is making a rather large assumption.

Wow! They found differences between individualist and collectivist cultures in their acceptance of nanotechnology!

Someone could write a really cool piece of scifi based on this idea.

Oh wait...

Ah yes... because that campaign was completely successful.

I can barely remember the last time I came across a site that uses GIF images...

But the point of 'at will' employment is that they don't have to give a reason for firing you. Or they can give any other reason, such as that they don't like the colour of the shirt you're wearing.

As long as they don't say that you're being fired for exercising your workplace rights, my understanding is that it's not illegal. When I headed to the States to work, at will employment just blew me away with how open to abuse it was.

Cough.

Sorry, but there's plenty of other options out there that are extremely affordable and will happily play h.264.