To further compound the problem, SSNs are increasingly being used as both an identifier AND an authenticater!

I should note that I assume the site's instructions are for regular users who don't know how to re-image a drive and that doing so would be enough to remove it. Just googling "removing eblaster" appears to give some rudimentary instructions. I doubt it hides itself that well.

The agent shouldn't have needed to take it to a repair shop in the first place. SpectorSoft's own FAQ section states "eBLASTER ... cannot be uninstalled without the eBLASTER password YOU specify..." Sounds like the guy forgot the password AND the shop didn't do its job.

The concept that giving the middle-class more money to buy things seems to not be well known in either party, as both of their plans to start the economy make bad assumptions.

Democrats: Keynesian stimulus designed to jump start the economy assuming it will be enough for the public to start buying things and hiring workers.

Republicans: Tax cuts so business can hire more people.

The Democrats' stimulus won't work because the middle class has less income than before meaning they can't/shouldn't be buying things to stimulate the economy. The Republicans' tax cuts won't work because businesses won't hire people unless sales go up. Sales won't go up because the middle class has less income than before.

The Supreme Court already defined cable Internet as an "information service", which cannot be regulated, rather than a "telecommunications service" which can be regulated.

Avoid technologies that don't easily transfer to other technologies; VB is hellishly rough for being a bit of a dead end, albeit terrifically useful at what it does. Leverage the .NET part of your resume, and spend a few months learning C#. It's not terrible, and will make you a better VB developer at the very least. At the most, you can pivot out, and do a wider variety of tasks - for better pay - in C# than in VB.

What makes you think he will be safer in a crowded prison?

I think some of the blame should fall on the willful ignorance of so many apathetic voters.

The name comes from Sandia Base where the first labs were located which happened to be next to the Sandia Mountains, which, according to popular belief, got its name due to the reddish color of the mountains at sunset.

Sure they could get cheaper, but they'll also be larger and of better quality. The difference would be that your spouse would now demand the diamond that X amount of dollars would buy.

At the age of 17 I received a license from Pennsylvania. My test had me go through a residential neighborhood no faster than 25 mph. At no point did I go through a stoplight, go on a major freeway, or encounter other traffic.

German requirements to obtain a license are orders of magnitude more strict than in the States. Safe drivers make safe roads.

There's nothing anyone can legally do with that information. Weak attempts at breaking in and port scanning are just background noise.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I moved here three years ago looking at staying 10-20 years. So far, so good. We have a thriving tech community, a low cost of living, and low crime. Due to this being the steel making capital of the world 100 years ago, we have a lot of old and awesome cultural institutions much larger than would be expected of a city of this size, but houses cost next to nothing compared to larger cities. We're in the middle of a natural resources boom; we export quite a bit of energy. We sit at the junction of three rivers, and west of a mountain range; we rarely have droughts. Winters are reasonably mild. Summers are reasonably mild. There's an enormous education center here. Healthcare is great. And we certainly have jobs, as well. Take a look at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Software Engineering Institute, and the National Robotics Engineering Consortium; pghtech.org lists quite a bit more. Education, medicine, finance and software tend to be the dominant industries here, which are (not coincidentally) more recession-proof than most. Best small city I know.