The reason the electric vehicles aren't taking of has a lot to do with price (although there is also a legitimate concern about range between charges). But the price is a major factor, especially in an economy where the middle class (the lion's share of all car purchases) continues to get squeezed every time we look the wrong way. Seriously, let's look at price -- even the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt (plug-in hybrid) are $40,000 vehicles. And electric vehicles go up from there -- up to the Tesla Roadster in the six figure range. The average American doesn't even spent $30,000 on a car, so the price range of these new vehicles is still in the realm of the rich for toys and games. And to be honest, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are going to be priced in that same $40,000 and up range as well, so we won't be seeing those in the mainstream anytime soon. Henry Ford had it right back in the early 20th century. If you want your product to be adopted in the mainstream, you need to pay your workers enough to afford the product to be worth owning. They haven't done that yet, and until they do, we won't be seeing electric of hydrogen fuel cells in mainstream life anytime soon.

I predict that 3D printers in the home will be out at about the same time that we start to see Linux as a mainstream OS on most home desktop computers. In other words, not everyone needs to print 3D objects often enough to really warrant their own personal 3D printer. The same reason most home users don't need all the functionality of unix. It will be a novelty by many for awhile, and you'll probably see 3D printing being an option at Walmart and FedEx Kinko's for some things. But it's still a very niche product, and won't be mainstream for a very long time. Maybe one day, if they get to the point of having a 3D printer with almost the same functionality as a Star Trek Replicator, then it will become an appliance in the kitchen.

Many US universities also offer free public transportation passes as well. But this typically only works well for urban campuses and in areas with good public transportation, which does not describe most of the united states. The oil companies made sure of that several decades ago.

Publishers have American students basically by the balls. The cost of textbooks has doubled and even quadrupled in the 20 years since I was an undergraduate. They'll charge you through the nose for a required textbook, then make a few minor changes to the questions at the back of the chapter, pump out a new edition, and use that next semester, so the buyback/used value drops to practically nothing. And if they don't get you that way, it's the extra fee for "online access" and "online homework". I also see more and more students opting for the "international version", which is basically the exact same textbook but not in hardcover -- it's a paperback. Basically, they know that the USA is the wealthiest nation on earth, and companies intended on milking us for every dime they can get.

BTW; Professors don't buy the textbooks. Publishers give professors free complimentary copies of the "instructor's copy". They also like to wine and dine them to make sure their textbook gets selected,. . .

Majoring in biology is one of the most popular majors for students interested in medical school (if not, the most popular major). And, of course, the process of getting into medical school these days is super hypercompetitive, so many of these students don't get in. Many of the students that don't get accepted after a BS, go on to either pre-health certificate programs (essentially a masters degree without the research component) or a full masters degree, in the hopes that they'll get a good enough GPA and other experience that medical schools will look for so they can get in. And even with a masters degree (yes, the certificate programs are a complete waste of time and only serve as cash cows for the universities offering them), the prospects of getting into medical school are still hypercompetitive. So many masters recipients go on to get their PhD. In the biomedical sciences. So part of this issue is a direct result of the hypercompetitiveness of medical school admissions.

Sorry, but the GOP will never allow this to happen. They're voter base still hasn't figured out how to use the coffee cup holder on computers yet!

You've apparently never been in a city after their team wins the Superbowl / NBA Finals / World Series / Stanley Cup / etc.

Is it just me, or did I really see AOL related to "quality premium content"?

Actually, the Intel-based Macs can run any version of Windows, either natively or virtually. The problem is, no Mac user wants to touch Windows 8.x with a 30 foot pole, either. Heck, even MacOS 1.0 was better than Windows 8.x by a mile!

I don't schedule myself around television at all, since I don't get cable TV or any local stations (I live about 1 1/2 hours east of Nashville, so we just have a local PBS station). All of my TV comes in via the internet, so I watch what I want on my schedule, not the schedule set by some TV exec. I will adjust my schedule based on sports, but that's not really set as much by the television networks as much as it is set by the sports leagues and teams. As more and more people start cutting the cable, the television industry is going to have less and less influence on our lives.

Umm, actually, yes, they do.

It more than likely will not mean faster Internet speeds for customers, but they will have mow bandwidth so more customers can get online. Most free wi-fi hotspots cap bandwidth at 1 MBPS. That gives enough for basic web surfing and email, and maybe the occasional short YouTube clip. But it's not enough for heavy use, like watching Netflix or BitTorrent. Places like Starbucks probably want to keep it that way, too -- more customer turnover = more money. More happy customers that can access wi-fi easier = mow returning customers.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking!

Actually, I disagree with your assertions about nobody listening to music from two decades ago. Recent history has shown that music seems to be rediscovered after about two decades. It happened in the 80s when people rediscovered 60s music. And it's happening today as people are rediscovering 80s music. It certainly has worked well for Rick Astley, among others,...

Why the quick assumption that students' data is stored overseas? Six of Google's data centers are in the USA, one is in South America (not exactly "overseas", but still out of the country), three are in Europe and three are in Asia. I would think that most data in North America is stored on North American servers, which is probably best for speed and access.

Yeah,. . . I just committed a Palin,. . . Oops! ;-)