"Twice" ?!

Actually, the saying is "vote early, vote often". And yes, that applies to dead people too.

(Yes, I am a Chicago resident) (And yes, Ventra could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch)

Did anybody who RTFA read this WITHOUT the elipsis?

Nitpick - The torque on an electric motor vs RPM varies significantly based on winding type. For some motors, like a DC series-wound, you have an incredible amount of torque at 0 RPM (which is why they are used for starter motors). There are others - such as AC synchronous motors- that have nearly any torque at startup, and are usually built with a second motor on the same shaft to try to get the unit turning under load. Given a constant power source (i.e. voltage) the internal resistance (and hence current draw, and hence, by definition, power) will vary over RPM.

That said, on average, I think we all agree the torque curve is WAY more impressive than either a diesel or a gasoline engine (both of which have different torque curves).

Former locksmith here. The Primus (and nearly all of the other high security keys) are simply relying on patent protection to keep people from duplicating the keys. Any locksmith worth his/her salt already has key machines that could reproduce them onto a chunk of brass (worst case) or just onto a normal key blank.

If you want to see something that would impress me, look at a German company - DOM - that has a design that includes a floating ball bearing in the key, which is integral to making the lock work. If they could make THAT with a printer, I'd be impressed.

One model:
http://www.dom-sicherheitstechnik.com/DOM-ix-Saturn.667.0.html

It is called "Gang Leader for a Day". Good read.

http://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=014311493X

In defense of UPS and FedEx (and I don't work for either), their surcharges are based on the published cost of diesel fuel... so yes, it changes month to month, but they don't get to dial it up when the donut fund is running low. It is fixed to something outside their control.

Lets clear this one up, too. (ObDisclaimer: I work in this industry...) There are three bands of services for US commercial carriers: Air (get it there ASAP), Ground (get it there in less than a week) and Budget (get it there whenever, but do it cheaply).

Only the last one usually relies on the USPS. The person sending the package gets to pick what price they are paying for shipping... and since we demand free shipping nowdays, most of it goes to the budget option. When you are sending your mortgage documents over a six figure sale, the $20 to get a stack of papers the other side of the country before 10 the next morning is negligible.

If you don't like the way this works, just choose air shipping at your next purchase...

I think you are looking for Ghostery...

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/ghostery/

With apologies to Southpark: "They put the trackers on their webpages over there, and... they're gone."

Here in Chicago, we have a lot of lights that do not have left turn arrows... just red, yellow, green. Most of the urban intersections don' t even have dedicated turn lanes. If you DON'T get in the intersection during most of the day, you aren't turning. Period.

Not that I'm defending them- I hate them- but the red light cameras don't care and won't get you for this... if any part of your car is past the white line when the light goes from yellow to red, the ticket will not be issued. However, if you are trying to cheat and sneak out, then you get the $100 love note from the city in the mail.

Wow... you must not be from the Red Light Camera capital of the world, Chicago! Here, everyone* knows the valid legal defenses against a red light ticket:

1. Defendant issued ticket by another means for the same issue (double jeopardy, like if an officer gives you a ticket for blowing the light, the camera won't make another one stick)
2. Had to go through light to yield to emergency vehicle, or was part of a funeral procession.
3. Vehicle was reported stolen during time of citation**
4. Defendant was not owner of vehicle during time of citation**
5. Facts alleged in violation are inconsistent or do not support a finding that the Chicago municipal code was violated, which "may" include "weather related" defenses.

* Everyone that fights them, that is... I guess the sheep don't.
** This doesn't often work, the city picks on the poor and defenseless for all kinds of things***
*** Like a person parked racked up over $100K of tickets... despite not actually owning the car: http://theexpiredmeter.com/2012/11/fox-chicago-covers-100000-parking-ticket-story/

You, sir, owe me one monitor cleaning. How dare you interfere with my miserable day!

Because Rich Daley is not on the Chicago ballot anymore for mayor.

In the contemporary world, however, you use Twitter for that.

There's really only one way to counter that: Samuel L. Ipsum

http://slipsum.com/

Now the Government can track you, by your cell phone, wherever you are, and can monitor what you do much easier by running a single tap. Those pesky Linux users are a lot harder to install the Govt spyware on; the telecoms and their networks are completely pwn3d and now you've given them wireless access 24/7 to anything.