Get with the news. Celebrities have been importing water this year. In this report dated August 26, 2014:

It doesn't say where the water is coming from, though.

That's probably not what he means. It's been hypothesized and rumored that Apple will eventually move all their laptops and desktops away from Intel and use ARM as the CPU. Intel has been behind schedule delivering next-generation chips, which leads to the conclusion that Apple would want to control its own destiny with its own CPUs.

I bought an iPhone 3G back in 2008 with the AT&T unlimited data plan along and a dirt cheap voice plan. I don't have to worry about going over my data limit, and voice calling time is a non-issue. I am NEVER going to give up this combination. With a corporate discount, I pay $65 with tax each month.

I don't know about Verizon, but AT&T takes care of its long-term customers. There has not been any indication that they will end the grandfathered plans.

I graduated with a CS PhD degree about 10 years ago and also had a hard time finding a first job. After several months I had to take an industry postdoc position for only $95K. The climate is totally different now in 2014, but here are some thoughts.

If you have a PhD, you can play that off in one of two ways: (1) either you are generally very smart, or (2) you have expertise in a specific and valuable field.

For (2), if your field is in high demand, e.g. machine learning, computer vision, numerical optimization, etc., then just look for a job for this specific area. Big or small companies will want your talent if their business revolves around that field. Interviewers will drill you on that topic.

For (1), this is more difficult particularly if your PhD topic is general, e.g. programming language semantics or operating systems. Interviewers will drill you on hardcore programming questions because they think the number of years doing your PhD equates to professional software programming experience. I fell into this category and was drilled mercilessly by Google, Microsoft, and the like when I graduated. I also got the feeling that the interviewers were especially hard because they wanted to prove they were smarter than a PhD. Don't let that get you down, though. You worked hard for your PhD, and there is no reason you can't work as hard preparing for software engineering positions. Later in my career I landed such a job, and I owe it to focused preparation. Study the algorithms books (e.g. Cormen, et al.), master at least one programming language inside out (C++ or Java), read interview programming books (I recommend the one by Mongan, et al. as a starter), and know how to think on your feet at a whiteboard.

Oklahoma has recently had a spate of earthquakes. From the LA Times:

There is controversy in that the quakes have occurred after the start of fracking (and the disposal of wastewater), and the oil companies refuse to acknowledge the connection. However, I find this stance akin to the cigarette companies refusing to acknowledge a direction connection between smoking and lung cancer.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was such a good game! I remember playing that back in 2002-2003 when I was in grad school. I can still visualize the Omaha Beach multiplayer level in my mind, like it was an actual physical layout. Land on the beach from the landing craft, use the sniper rifle to take out the machine gunners in the high turrets, storm the base, and make your way to plant the dynamite on the big guns at the back of the map. Good times.

From the NY Times article:

I actually do have almost 200 hours in community service, but almost all between high school and grad school. I volunteered at hospitals, homeless shelters, and habitat for humanity. Since becoming a professional, though, I have little time for that now. What's most disturbing is that I've now become more libertarian, i.e. disgusted that I have to pay so much tax for socialist services after having spent the entirety of my 20s in CS degree programs.

I finished my CS PhD about 10 years ago at a top-20 US university. My first year I was not paid, but after I hooked onto an advisor later, I received an RA or TA position for $23k/year, and in my last few years, I received a fellowship for about $40k/year.

That first year was horrible. I recall eating spaghetti and ketchup, and I distinctly remember having to ask one of my rich friends for a $500 loan just to pay my rent one month. That was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life, and it really shaped my financial planning. Now, 10 years later, although I'm making well over $150k/year, I keep my expenses very low like I'm still a grad student, and I always have at least 6 months' expenses in short-term accounts.

The Merciless Pepper of Quetzalacatenango, also known as the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper, is a very hot type of pepper that Chief Wiggum serves in his chili at Springfield's Annual Chili Cook-Off.