And CEO salaries? Why, when we can just laugh (other than at the cost of unscheduled landings and takeoffs) at people who can't afford business class?

What did you think steerage was? Are you *so* last century that you rembember free checked luggage, and free food (since you'd paid so much for the flight)? What, just because Americans have been growing larger for the last century (men going into the US Army, in WWI: 5'6, WWII, 5'8", 'Nam: 5'10") why should we make enough room for the majority of the population?

You don't like it, take the train (but we won't fund it, the way we do planes, with tax-paid airports, and transportation to the airports....)

                    mark "how many airline CEOs can fit in steerage with the rest of us?"

Ok, someone has to mention lisp.

Item from 15 or so years ago: a guy posted online that he'd broken into the Pentagon's computers, and found the code for SDI, and it was written in lisp. He didn't want to break US security, but he did post the last five lines of the code.... (stupid slashdot edit filter - 5 lines of ) was not junk... at least, not in lisp....)

                  mark

Just about exactly the same size....

                      mark

Keep cutting back on all that basic science, most of which is done by universities and the government. "Oh,", the Libertarians reply, "But companies will do the basic research, because it will lead to new things to monetize!"

Let's ignore that most companies are forward-looking... to *maybe* the next quarter. Let's ignore the fact that basic research may not pay off for years, or decades, or may not directly ever pay off in something that you can sell, the Sacred Free Market will take care of it all, and if it doesn't, it wasn't needed anyway.

                  mark, watching folks leave due to US fed gov't budget cuts....

The alter command in COBOL.

Lo, these many years ago, when I'd just read it in a manual, and discussed it with my boss (who would have given Dilbert's a run for his money, but...) and asked him if he'd defenestrate anyone using it before or after firing them, and he told me before.....

                    mark

Depends on the board. I'm not a huge 4-channer, but I know /fit/ posts can last 12 hours, and glancing at a slower board, /cgl/ posts last for a few days.

I was too busy reading, easily a book a day.

                    mark

It's that cheap/easy in the US too, just people whine about it. I get the cheapest and it's 1 gig for $30/month, and after that it throttles down, it doesn't charge extra.

And realistically, I can't see people using more than a couple megs of data on low-quality Facebook videos.

Am I missing something? Reno is a ten hour drive from Mexico.

Excerpt:
That is not that case, authorities tell the L.A. Times.

"It didn't start with the books and it didn't end with the books," State's Attorney for Wicomico County Matt Maciarello told The Times. "It's not even a factor in what law enforcement is doing now."

In fact, McLaw has not been arrested. No warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Concerns about McLaw were raised after he sent a four-page letter to officials in Dorchester County. Those concerns brought together authorities from multiple jurisdictions, including health authorities.

McLaw's attorney, David Moore, tells The Times that his client was taken in for a mental health evaluation. "He is receiving treatment," Moore said.

Because of federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations mandating privacy around healthcare issues, he was unable to say whether McLaw has been released.

McLaw's letter was of primary concern to healthcare officials, Maciarello says. It, combined with complaints of alleged harassment and an alleged possible crime from various jurisdictions led to his suspension. Maciarello cautions that these allegations are still being investigated; authorities, he says, "proceeded with great restraint."
--- end excerpt ---

http : // www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/la-et-jc-teacher-was-not-placed-on-leave-over-books-authorities-say-20140902,0,1577239.story

                  mark

Like everybody else says, this article is stupid. BUT THERE'S MORE!

T-Mobile sells a number of Android phones for less than the deductible of $90. $50 Alcatels, for instance, or the Nokia Windowphone. The LG L90 is a half-decent phone, better than the LG F3 he broke, for $100. Or he could even use the money to get a better phone. People use their cell phones a lot, presumably Bennett Hasselton is gainfully employed, it would have been worth the $1/day.

Why would a person who is pinching pennies by getting a crappy phone also spend money on a high-deductible insurance policy, on a phone that probably cost him $200 new in the first place?

Of course the idea is that some areas don't have libraries (and likely don't have bookstores). My current city is fairly large, 225,000 people, and basically only has one library.

Reading on computers and phones and e-readers is indeed an alternative for people who live in such areas. I love my e-reader, but just because it's easier I read on my cell phone almost as much. It may seem ridiculous, but you quickly adapt and honestly I don't really mind it. It works for fiction, not so much for a cookbook or programming book or something where you'd want to flip back and look over pages.

If you get one that's been out for 3-6 months, and is popular, it's got a really good chance of everything being supported. 9 months, and it's most likely got pretty much full support. If it's from a major manufacturer, and isn't targeted at a specific market, it's likely supported.

I bought a Gigabyte Series 7 m/b late last year. Back in Jan, my 6-yr-old m/b died, and I rebuilt my system. I run CentOS, same as RHEL, which is *not* "cutting" (or bleeding) edge like fedora, and *everything* was supported. Just watch out for FUD, and try to get some feel whether there's a *lot* of screaming out there about Linux not supporting something, or it's just one or two idiots making a lot of noise that's getting propagated.

                    mark

Were they eating *exactly* the same foods, bar the differnce in fat and carbs, AND NOTHING ELSE?

Even more, which group was getting more high fructose corn syrup?

              mark