Well, I guess that it's a good thing that hardly anybody has signed up!

To date, they have been open about it. Startlingly open, to the point that they have working groups like the Data Liberation Front and clear documents that state that you can delete your data, but they can't wash your meta and abstracted data from their summarized data, only your identity, if you delete it.

They are in a business where the SOP is not to explain what they do and push the boundaries of what they can get away with without getting caught. Google, on the other hand seem to be honest, to the point of penalizing internal divisions that have made ethical missteps using the same rules they hold outside groups accountable to.

Have no illusions: they do collect data, and are a commercially motivated company, and no amount of good behavior should result in a lax approach to watching them carefully, especially given their scope. But to date they are the best option out there, allowing and encouraging people to give informed consent (having two versions of all legalese, one legal, one plain language to communicate) and giving people the ability to opt entirely out of their constellation of services, even after having been a user in the past.

I once got asked a question which I found hurtful and offensive, and felt tempted to 'blow up' the interview at that point. Fortunately, I resisted the temptation. As it turns out, the question was his way of introducing the next thing, which was telling me that he was offering me the job.

As the linked article points out, that $15 billion is a simple correlation based on diabetes alone.

When cost savings are almost erased by one disease, maybe someone hasn't thought through the unintended consequences.

Here's my report on the actual ruling which is being reviewed: 2nd Circuit affirms denial of plaintiffs' preliminary injunction motion in WNET v Aereo

I guess it would take a litigator to notice this, but it's quite unusual that a preliminary injunction denial would be getting this kind of appellate attention.

In the first place, it was unusual for an interlocutory appeal to be granted from the denial of the preliminary injunction motion. In federal court usually you can only appeal from a final judgment.

Similarly, apart from the fact that it's always rare for a certiorari petition to be granted, it's especially tough where the appeal is not from a final judgment, but just from a preliminary injunction denial which does not dispose of the whole case.

Yes. I agree.

But I suspect you've moved beyond anything related to the cost of personal time invested in building your own router versus the cost of a prebuilt router.

How much do they pay per square foot for your office? For your furniture? For your break room? Do you have any equipment? A computer? A laptop and/or tablet? A phone? Business bandwidth and phone lines/accounts for them? As a business owner, I can tell you that full time employees in an office are danged expensive.

Even still, it seems like the OP was being a bit over zealous. While I do think you're low-balling the overhead of your employment, their figure seems like they were likely exaggerating (unless they are in an exceptionally expensive city, which I wouldn't have experience with).

Heh. I'm one of those notebook enthusiasts. I use fountain pens on notebooks in a customized zippered case, plus an index book. My wife is a research scientist and uses lab notebooks. We both enjoy sniffing around office supply stores and both carry small notebooks on us at all times.

I was looking for a brand name to see if there was something new to poke at. Thanks for the lineup, and I'll agree with pretty much most of what you said (I could get into hyper details, but not in a casual thread like this).

Just in case somebody else is reading this thread, you left off the Leuchtturm1917 series of notebooks, which are similar, but a touch nicer than the Moleskine brand moleskines.

Now as for pens... *that's* a crazy group of enthusiasts. They buy the really expensive stuff. Seldom do we notebook hounds go after anything over $100.

Galaxy Note is a series of devices, all of which use stylus input. You linked to the phone, which is the smallest device in the line (barring the Gear watch, which is often marketed as a companion device to the Galaxy line). Devices in the Note line are also available as 8 inch and 10 inch tablets (Wikipedia, Samsung).

I'm interested mostly because I used to use a Palm, and I like stylus devices. Incidentally, the Note 3 phone has a screen almost identical to an index card, which is nice (if you use 3x5 cards for notes). I asked about your size preference because I would like a roughly A4/US Letter sized tablet, but they don't seem to be readily available currently. If you're like me and looking for even larger than 10 inches, I will also point out that Samsung is rumored to be announcing a 12.3 inch Galaxy Note within days (article).

Thanks. I was hoping you would turn me on to a specific brand to watch out for. I already use them, as does my wife (she's a research chemist). Years ago I used to use composition books, and between the two I have a shelf of them that I've filled over the years. Plus boxes and expanding folders full of index cards for projects where they work as tools.

Alas, most tablets don't come with screens larger than ten inches, so topping out with a 10.1 inch screen, it's pretty standard. Exactly how much larger are you looking for?

You know, if you've found something great, a bit of specific information would help share that. Brand? Supplier? Buler?

If I were building this rig, I would have used the $40 Model A+camera bundle for a cost-per-node of ~$50 including a USB Ethernet adapter and an SD card per node and a decent PSU shared between four nodes.

A bigger issue looking at the videos is the need to equalize the AGC setup (easy) and color temperature correction (harder) across the modules. Perhaps shoot RAW and then fix it with post-processing? This is where the CHDK alternative, with it's better optics and lower sensor variability, really wins out. Plus you'll have Christmas gifts for all your friends and family once you take the rig apart :)

Or else...?

I'm pretty damn sure there's a fairly wide history of casual conversation not requiring footnotes. You know, among human beings. Also, primary research, opinions and soapbox ranting is perfectly fine in the real world. We're not living la vida Wikipedia and trying to write an encyclopedia here. We're nattering on about interesting, ephemeral topics.

I'll bet you're a blast at parties. "Hey, this is a pretty good beer." "Not NPOV! Citation needed!" Actually, having one guy become apoplectic in that manner at a party would be kind of fun to watch.

You're absolutely correct in the right context: my wife publishing a journal article has to provide citations. But Slashdot is not a academic journal, and is much closer to a bunch of people on a porch with a six pack. Social context: important!