Congratulations on deciding to commit to learning a new language - it's a fairly exciting achievement, actually.

Learning a new spoken language is not dissimilar to learning a new programming language: the first time is hard - you need to learn the constructs - ie learn how to learn a language. Conjugation, grammar, etc - these are all notions that are difficult the first time around.

Once you've got a grasp on that, you'll realise that you can communicate with about 20 verbs and 50 adjectives.

I would, however, underline that your motivations to learn a specific language should probably stem from an inherent interest in the country/ies / cultures where it is spoken.

If you're attempting to learn a language for conducting business, unless you're incredibly motivated, you're going to probably fail.

The language of business / commerce is difficult - heck, you go to university to learn how to talk the talk. It's such a domain-specific use of language that it will take literally years of immersion (2 at an inside minimum) to get a handle on it.

(References: Australian living in France working in IT)

With a Mifare 1k card to store just timestamps, I guess they had space to burn ;)

I've got a current project of trying to do some data analysis on RFID data dumps. I've made some progress, but have been getting stuck on trying to pull out the timestamp. 'Obvious' things, like days of the year, epoch stamps etc don't seem to appear. From research, there should be a defined start date / time, and an ending date / time - and the gap should be no more than 84 hours. The dump I have is from around Sept 2012. If anyone feels like helping out or can see something obvious...

03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
aa 07 00 00 21 02 08 00 00 6e 07 06 07 00 66 83
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 6e 07 06 08 37 00 00

[NB: the 07 AA is understood, the 21 02 08 I am unsure about, and the rest with it the obvious data repetition / incrementation, i can't help but feel the timestamp is staring at me!]

How about the virginian government then?
http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cgi-bin/Vdacs_search.cgi?link_select=facility&form=fac_select&access=0&fac_num=157&year=2011

http://i.materialise.com/

Hey there.
You're wrong (but this is not a bad thing - you're about to learn something cool!) - 3D printing extends to metals (powders that are laser fused) - from alumide to titanium - or combinding 3D printing in wax with the Lost Wax molding techniques, brass, bronze, gold and silver.

Check it out! http://i.materialise.com/materials

http://i.materialise.com/

Same poster, second point.

There is at least one 3D printing company that I know of that offers 'printing' in brass, bronze and titanium.

They're using a very old and well known technique, the lost wax - but the wax is printed with the 3D printer, and then the metal poured into the mold.

This is not only an amazing evolution on an existing technology, but because the final products aren't built up layer by layer, they're structually equivalent to anything coming out of a foundry.

The ability to print custom tools, gears and moving parts in titanium is incredible.

My company makes figurines and toys (primarily) for gaming companies.

With the advent of 3D printing, we can get the 3D resources from the client, print out the model in 3D within a day, with accurate dimensions, colours and precision, make changes, before we send it off to our factories to produce the molds for production.

Previously, each mold would cost around $5k to make, with each change costing hundreds of dollars - significant changes resulting in another $5k to restart the mold.

Cost savings aside, we also save about 6 months development time. The clients love it, because they can see a physical version of their model / figurine instantly; we love it because we can work easily with the client to make changes, and the factories love it because they have a final product and order without months of delays.

It might not help you, but it sure helps us.

It's a trademark, not a patent.

they're actually ukranian women.

I found and use http://hidemyass.com/vpn/ (no affiliation) - on a yearly plan it's 6.50 per month.

Multiple locations, openssh

You're using the 3G version - this is different from the Kindle Non Touch version. The 3G version has different build quality and backing. ..incidentally, I guess we've had different luck - I'm not exaggerating any of my claims in regards to my kindle.

Honestly, you must not travel much, or not very light, or - you've never tried travelling with an e-reader.

Books take up huge amounts of space, space that most travellers have optimised with tiny tents, compact stoves and minimized clothing.

They're heavy, they're akward, and when you're finished with them, you're stuck with them.

The kindle (and its ilk) - are tiny, non-flashy looking, slip into any pocket, have months of battery life, can be pulled out at a moment's notice, and can even act as a web surfing / email checking device when you need.

I travel extensively, and the kindle is a must-have device.

The Kindle Non-Touch could be your device.

Background
The shell is metal (titanium? aluminium?) - and can withstand serious knocks.
The device itself is very slim, so easier to slide into the back of backpacks, pockets, etc.
The e-ink display seems to take substantial abuse before it cracks - and if it does crack,amazon replaces the device for free.

Jusitifications
You're asking for something rugged - most people don't abuse their devices.
I've just got back from a 12,400KM trip on motocycle from France to Kazakhstan - my kindle was in the top of the tank case for the entire trip.
It endured being dropped on concrete multiple times ( the shell has chunks missing, but the device marches on ) - and also a small accident when I put the bike down - the tank case ripped off, flew through the air, had a solid impact - and the Kindle marches on. There's a tiny black dot (e-ink equivalent of 'dead pixels', I guess) - where there was significant pressure, but works perfectly.

You can telnet / SSH to the device without modification, you can replace the screensavers, you can download / pirate books if it's your fancy.
It's a pretty damned amazing device, especially for the price of $99.