Also Slashdot's mobile beta thoroughly sucks. This was supposed to be a reply to the GP. I have no idea how it landed here. Hopefully this lands as a reply to my original mislocated message!

I used Dvorak for 6 or 8 years. I may have been slightly faster with it, but it wasn't worth the hassles. I gave up on it a decade or so ago.

Heck, I'm still using a WRT54G (1.1 I think) for my home network that I bought in 2001ish. A couple years back, I updated the firmware to support WPA encryption and it still works perfectly - I never have any problems with it, I don't need to reboot it, it just works. (I should note I use it only as a wireless access point, not a router.) I'm watching prices on a dual-band N with gigabit ethernet router to replace it, but so far I haven't gotten around to it, in part because I hear so much that newer routers aren't as reliable.

They started it.

If there's impending doom, why does it matter that there's panic?

Why would he? He's in favor of them.

Then I pay a lot less in rent than I would actually renting, so I'm still coming out ahead. And I have an asset I can sell. And if the gov't decides they want to rezone my neighborhood, they have to pay me fair market value for it. But go ahead and keep claiming owning land is just like paying rent. It's not, but you can claim that.

Meanwhile, I can fill the 37 gallon fuel tank on my truck from empty to full in far less than 15 minutes. Unless recharge times become near competitive with that (they can be a bit slower, but 30 minutes is a non-starter) it's going to be a huge problem. So the other option is to swap the entire battery pack, but as has been pointed out there are issues with that, too.

The 360 app did a nice job using an iPad, and from what I've seen in the iPhone 5 commercials, it's as easy if not easier than the built-in app.

There are people working on this idea. The issues are that it requires a standard battery pack, which is easily and quickly changeable - within a few minutes at most.

Yep. Since I would have had to replace all of my cables anyway, I investigated switching to an Android phone, and in the end I went with a Samsung S3 (from an iPhone 3GS). Some things are better on the iPhone, other things are better on the Android. I'm happy with my purchase, though - I don't think I would've been as happy with the iPhone 5.

In Maryland, it's 12 mph over when you get a ticket. It's worth noting that the cameras are only in school zones and construction zones "for safety." I'm all for safety, but with the school zones especially, "safety" apparently means people doing 50 mph in a 30 mph zone until they get right next to the camera, then slamming on their brakes to get to 20 mph, then flooring it a few seconds later once they're out of the reach of the camera. Or weaving in and out of traffic that is following the 30 mph rule. Somehow, this is SAFER. I would love to ask our city council for the before-and-after statistics on accidents - how much safer are we, really? How much would you bet that there is no information?

If it's really about safety as they claim, then they should donate all of the profit to some third-party cause...fallen police officers fund or something like that.

First, rental vehicles almost universally suck. I've driven perhaps 25 of them, from probably every major rental brand in the US, and they're almost always missing useful features like cruise control - I don't use it much when commuting, but on longer trips it's very nice to have (and, yes, I've done plenty of longer trips - as much as 600 miles - in cars without it). Second, most rental companies here will not let you tow your own trailer with their truck, and the trucks are usually not equipped with brake controllers to tow trailers with electric brakes - it's frustrating, actually; if you call and ask U-Haul, they'll say yes, but when you show up to pick up the truck the story changes. Third, I know I've used our truck to tow quite a few times in the last few months; the costs of those rentals probably would be far more than it'd be to just own the truck - remember, I need to get to my destination, get around at the destination, then get home again, so I need a vehicle for the entire time. Fourth, if you rent a pickup, you don't generally get a cap, which you may want (we have one on our pickup, and I'm glad we do - it provides some security and protection from rain for the tools, bike, chairs, etc. I carry back there). Fifth, I don't know if they even have 3/4 or full ton pickups available to rent (my towing needs require at least a 3/4 ton) - the pickups I've seen as rentals are half ton models.

All of that said, we usually carpool in a fairly efficient car to work, and I usually drive my second "fun" car to work when we have to drive separately. We don't normally use the truck for commuting because it's expensive to run and much harder to park compared to the cars - we've done it in a couple limited situations, but it's pretty rare.

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with flying cars, though. I can say that it'll never happen here in DC because most of the city is in a no-fly zone, with exceptions for College Park Airport, National, and the bases (mainly Andrews); there's an odd cutout in the no-fly zone for Freeway Airport in Bowie. College Park requires an extra preapproved security process to use.

Read what he said. It's not the voltage, it's the current.

My experience with Cox in Northern Virginia (Alexandria area for me) was also very good. I moved, though, and now have a choice between Comcast and Verizon FiOS. I use FiOS and I've been pretty happy with them. They're more reliable than the electrical service at my house, which is an interesting situation.