I would guess that it is part of a system survey. About this mac takes a snapshot of OS version / point release / software installed / modules active etc. Or it certainly does when you press More Info, but I guess it does it when you trigger the dialog. The cookie sounds like a GUID. Firing off both would allow them to build up a distribution of platforms that Yosemite is running on, similar to the Steam hardware survey. Can be useful for finding out how and where the code is used (i.e. in combination with which hardware / software). Would work better than a periodic push of the data from every machine, and it would bias the sample towards people having problems with their configuration (because that is when most people hit that menu item).

If you want to make the serious money, look into frozen concentrated orange juice futures.

Yep. I'm 6/6 so far - all of them turned out as well or better than I expected. I dunno why anyone would think there's much "luck" involved with picking Kickstarter projects.

I am mixed on this announcement. While I hope it is true, I have a hard time understanding how anyone can promise commercially available reactors on such a short time frame and at such small scales.

ITER will take about a dozen years from site prep to construction assuming no more slips in schedule with operations occurring about a decade after that. Yet somehow, Lockheed will be (presumably) manufacturing these things in ten years? Hard to believe. But if it is true, the scientists involved in ITER will have a lot of egg on their face.

Contempt of court is a whole different animal, but I get your point. I'm surprised it went that long; guy must have had some shit lawyers. I'd have to read up on his case before commenting further.

No, that's not how it works. Indefinite detention is a violation of human rights. No civilized nation will "hold you forever"; they still have to charge you with something. In most cases key disclosure laws allow charging you under existing obstruction statues, or provide for a specific jail term (eg. 2 years in the UK). And that charge still has to go through the courts, where you get due process and the chance to plead your case.

Ok, if you want to be a pedant:

Use soap and hand sanitizer, and don't touch dead people or bodily fluids which have contaminated your protective equipment.

Key disclosure laws, huh? Ok, my key is ABC123.

What do you mean it didn't work. Shit. Ok, try QWERTY1234567890.

Still nothing? Dammit. Sorry guys. Ok, I'll need access to a writing pad and a random number generator ....

If you're a famous movie star? Yeah, that might not be a bad idea. Or maybe get some extra security, the way pretty much all of them already do.

Uploading naked pictures of yourself to the cloud is dumb even if you're a fat and ugly nobody. It's completely idiotic when you're a celebrity who already has paparazi constantly trying to snap a nip-slip or crotch-shot.

It's not mayo, but it's also not her. Just because you got a whackload of pics all at once doesn't mean they're all legit. It's been pretty much conclusively shown that the "facial" pics are of some other chick, and were being circulated well before the fappening.

You should have a slashbox on the right hand side with your user details and recent messages. I believe it's the default although it is possible that I turned it on long ago and forgot. Every reply to something that you have posted will appear as a message in the box. In particular old messages and new messages are distinguished by your browser colouring in visited links. The messages are in chronological order so you do not need to skim a whole story to check for replies in different branches. Makes things a bit easier.

I did, but amazingly enough they get kinda touchy about it. Just like the scientists in Project Alpha. Silly buggers. Universities really need to make skepticism and critical thinking mandatory subjects.

Obviously a cheaper car is going to be cheaper; you didn't have to go through the trouble of doing math to figure that out. What I was pointing out is that after the savings inherent in having a purely electric vehicle it's not AS BAD as it seems at first glance.

I'm not exactly rich, but I've been seriously thinking about buying one. I've run the numbers and I can EASILY afford it. Then again, I'm single, and have enough in savings to buy it outright, so I'm not your typical "middle class family". But I can see it being a decent buy even in those circumstances, as long as the buyer makes good choices about financing. That's going to be your biggest problem.

This very much depends on other cost factors.

The average American right now spends over $2,000 per year on fuel. In Canada it's more like $3,000. Europe is even higher. Electric drastically lowers that cost, making it easier to justify a large initial investment.

Vehicle maintenance is another consideration. Electric in general is supposed to require far less maintenance. On oil changes alone you should save $200+ per year. Reduced break wear thanks to regenerative breaking means you breaks and rotors last longer. And so on.

So say an electric vehicle reduces your annual costs by $1,500, and you keep it for 10 years. That's a saving of $15,000. That makes it much easier to justify "a car that costs more than a years salary", especially it it's amortized over a few years. And with fuel costs constantly increasing, the amount saved is likely to be higher over the long term.

That's interesting. Any idea why they're not using G-Suits yet? Seems like it would provide a significant advantage, assuming this is really as much of a problem as you say ...