One of the remaining systems not ready for prime time is vehicle communication systems for autonomous cars. Usually examples cited are vehicle-to-vehicle: turn signals, brake lights, etc. and infrastructure-to-vehicle: signs, traffic lights. Detecting the robot car was being pulled over by the cops would be in the former category, I suppose. Or maybe it would just be an auto-debit on the owners bank account.

That is awfully reminiscent of:

-(attributed to) Richelieu

That was just too easy. I figured it would be a lot harder to get The Man to admit that traffic enforcement is at least as much a moneymaker as it is a public safety function. Everybody knew it, but it is refreshing to see it in black and white.

Obviously there are exceptions. "Quality and Safety" is one of the top level links on GM's website. And "Ignition Recall" is right there on the front page.

All you know from TFA is that GM has a list. What you don't know is whether other automakers -- or manufacturers in general -- have similar lists. Given that all companies of any size have lawyers whose job it is to reduce potential legal liability, I'd have to assume that GM is not alone in having such a policy.

[Mr. Burns Voice]Excellent.[/Mr Burns Voice] You've made at least two guys' day with that piece of info. Heh heh heh.

Can you hammer a six-inch spike through a board with your penis?

Having tried some, I'm willing to state that there is no tutorial in the world that would enable me to solve it, either. The cube is filed in the same folder as juggling, having a baby, and curling up my tongue -- under "stuff I just can't ever do". I tried 13 moves on the google doodle before just angrily clicking all over in frustration to see how high I could drive the counter.

I can't solve it either, so this is pretty much PIDOOMA, but I believe that you -- WELL, not you or me, but someone -- can rotate any arbitrary piece in any arbitrary direction. So doing this does not prevent the cube from being solved. Would love to see this confirmed or denied for someone who actually knows for sure . . .

Also, if the thing is 40 years old, that means that having mine for only 34-ish years, I will never set the "longest time to solve a cube" record.

Holy mojibake, Batman! I don't know how :SÃf£o Paulo renders in your browser -- maybe it looks ok to you -- but at least I have a chance of figuring it out as "Sao Paolo" in the summary rather than the character salad Slashdot makes of your "correction".

So, if you accidentally try to bring more than your personal quota into the country, is it a sin tax error?

Since you've already heard about getting alarms, insurance, making backups and inventorying your electronics, computers or priceless antique cans, you might want to think about upgrading your door locks - assuming you're not renting, of course. Did you get them re-keyed when you moved in? If you're like most people, you didn't get around to it. Why not have the locksmith come out and do that and install new locks at the same time. Maybe reinforce the door jam if necessary around the deadbolt, and see if he's got other advice.

Do your windows all lock? Go outside and pretend you lost your key. Try to figure out how to get back inside.

If you make your house a little harder to break into than your neighbors', it probably won't be you that gets robbed.

Remember that old Barbara Stanwyck movie where she's a streetwise singer on the lam hiding out with a bunch of nerdy lexicographers who are just coincidentally trying to add modern slang to their encyclopedia?

I don't know why I just thought of that now. Oh well. Please carry on with the lesson.

Given this info you've given us:

you need to do the simplest possible solution. And by simple, I mean one flat file you can backup and restore and one application that needs to be (re)installed would not be overkill (or is that underkill for this situation?)*. The more you have to add to that in terms of re-creating the system after a failure, the more you've set up a "dead-man" system -- where the "dead man" is you. One out-of-control cement mixer with your name on it and your system is one dead hard drive from gone. You'll know you're successful if you feel you can quit the volunteer gig without feeling guilty that the system won't be running in six months.

*That specific case may be too simple, I don't know. What I really mean is: as simple as possible without sacrificing essential features.

You know what's better than insane profits? More insane profits. And unlike data, there's no profit cap.