In the UK it's become not uncommon for cyclists to mount go-pro HD cams on their helmets, so they can claim on their opponent's car insurance when they're hit by a vehicle. And to generally make hilarious youtube videos etc.

leading on from this

Using earplugs AND ear-defenders can work. Sounds a bit crazy but... I worked in an office where an insanely loud demolition was taking place next door (in a built up area, it took months). Using both was the only way of working.

One thing - be careful that you don't buy very expensive gun/industrial earplugs that block loud sounds but let quiet ones through. Because these will let through the quiet conversation in your dorm.

During the cold war, NASA made sense as an ICBM/anti-russki R&D department that had the beneficial side-effect of space exploration. Now, despite $1.5 Tn being available to invade a single country, there's no military fiscal connection.

You shoot the wrong thing. LIke a Wedding Party

There's a subtle but definite trend by governments to paint cash as the currency of criminals.

Like the 'war on terror', the 'war on cash' always cites some form of morality as its justification. In the UK we recently had a political storm about cash payments to tradespeople being 'morally wrong'.

It's clear to my mind that this position goes beyond tax-collection benefits, and moves into the realm of ensuring all financial transactions fall into the uniquely-identifiable big-data indexable kind for just-in-case future use by law-enforecement. (Along with telecoms data, and all the other interesting information governments like to collect.)

Should be pointed out that human eyes automatically white balance anyway. It's the reason white always looks white to the naked eye, whether under tungsten or halogen light, but look different in photographs.

The British have a way round this:

Alice, in the UK, makes sure all her passwords are too long to remember. So she stores them with Trent, in the USA.

Trent has been told only to reveal Alice's passwords if she has phoned him with her daily dead man's handle.

Plod, also in the UK, asks Alice for her passwords citing RIPA 2000. Alice is held at Plod's luxurious police station for a day, then tells Plod that she hasn't stored them in the UK because they're too long to remember and that Trent has them. Plod calls Trent, who not having received yesterday's dead man's handle, pleads the 5th.

Not if our spiffy rapier missiles have anything to do with it!

Which nowadays effectively means she can't bring her phone into school. Try telling that to a British kid nowadays!

Surely the XKCD reference should be google velociraptors

Not trying to defend the use of these weapons...

Just pointing out that the 150dB figure is at one meter rather than the recipient's position (and obviously the sound falls off according to inverse square law).

The 120dB quoted rock concert figure would be the amplitude at the listener's position.

One is a free, voluntary service that you can sign up to, at the expense of your privacy.

The other is a law, that applies to everyone, whether you like it or not.

Slight difference.

Ah, I understand your confusion.

I'm British.

The difference is that most military decorations are for bravery, valour and honour. For helping others rather than putting yourself first.

Whereas competitive awards within a workplace award the individual triumphing over others.

They moved to newzbin2, which is now also blocked in the UK. (Not that it's hard to circumvent.)