Isn't Magic Lantern the name of an FBI spyware program designed to snarf passwords from suspects?

Actually, I think the people that are "talking down to people" are those that give incorrect explanations of things because they think they're simpler. Pointing out the problem with the molasses analogy is not fussing about a picky little detail, it is pointing out the analogy is wrong on a very fundamental level. It paints a picture of the pre-Michelson-Morley days of a stationary ether that permeates all space and defines a preferred frame of reference. As Einstein said, you should make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Yes! Absolutely. Let me second that recommendation. Best explanation of the Higgs I've ever come across as well. It is rather long (about an hour), but if you at all interested in what the Higgs is really all about, it more than repays your investment in time.

This explanation and comic are very good, but it makes the same fundamental mistake that so many physicists have made in trying to explain the Higgs field. It compares the field to molasses, slowing down particles by "sticking" to them, or providing some sort of friction to slow them down to sub-light speeds. This is fundamentally incorrect as molasses, or any other frictional medium, opposes the motion of particles, slowing them down until they eventually come to rest with respect to the frictional medium (molasses in this analogy). This is not at all how the Higgs field works. It doesn't oppose the motion of particles at all. In fact, Newton's law of inertia states that a body in motion will continue in motion at the same velocity until acted upon by an external force, and this is still true even in the presence of the Higgs field. There's nothing molasses-like about it at all. In fact, as a relativistic field the Higgs field has no rest frame. Put in other words, the Higgs field has no velocity of its own, zero or otherwise. If it did, it would break a fundamental symmetry law of special relativity: namely that all inertial frames of reference are equivalent. No field that behaves anything like molasses would be consistent with that principle.

But does the flushdns actually ERASE the contents of the cache or merely delete it? (By erase, I mean overwrite with zeros or something else so snooping software can't reconstruct the original cache contents.)

Tire chains are illegal in Wisconsin?!?!?!!! Wouldn't that be like outlawing air conditioners in Texas or umbrellas in Seattle? What is the rationale for that?

Very few countries have double jeopardy rules that work the same way as in the U.S. In most countries, both defense and prosecution can appeal a decision. It is not at all uncommon in these countries for acquittals to be appealed and overturned. This isn't just in Europe. It works that way in Canada, too.

Not only that, but he didn't merely download the files, but republished some of the material on his own website. Even in the U.S. that can lead to big fines or lawsuits for copyright infringement. Had he merely kept the files to himself, he probably wouldn't be in any trouble at all.

How is Wikipedia supposed to determine where the payments came from? If people donate using PayPal, is their home address always given? Is there anything to stop Finnish people from opening US PayPal accounts?

Ummm, none of these tips help you if you're boxed in on all four sides by cars that have been abandoned by their drivers.

The phrase "black ice" refers not to a special type of ice, but generally to ice that is invisible on the road at night time, catching drivers by surprise. It is no different than the "solid sheet of ice" that you describe. Ice is ice. Although it isn't much fun, I have driven on ice, that hadn't yet been salted or gravelled, and it is treacherous, but by driving slowly and understanding how to control your vehicle, it can be done. People in Canada and the northern states do it all the time. I won't say I've never seen cars in ditches here in Canada during such conditions, but I've never seen the kind of 24 hour traffic jams that occurred in Atlanta.

I think he said that young people shouldn't be put in management positions. They can work other positions in a company, particularly in groups where they can develop people skills, and by working for a manager, observe what works and what doesn't. An aspiring manager could meet with an actual manager in the company and ask questions like "Why don't you check employee's Facebook pages? I heard in school that it can really help." And the actual manager can reply "We've found that in the real world, Facebook profiles don't correlate with worker performance." Then when they actually do get a management position, they will have benefited from their own experience working with others, and from the managers' experience as a manager.

The magnetic north pole does move around.

I do the same, and I have a special rotating toilet in my house for that purpose.

Including the first ever Easter Egg that I'd heard of, probably the first Easter Egg in any console game. To this day, I still remember the name Warren Robinett.