'Everyone' hates the car dealership, and I do too. But, in my recent, personal experience, they have provided me the benefit of price competition. I needed to lease a car and found the lowest price I could find. I then simply called the 'Internet Department' at each of the local dealerships for this particular model, and just asked if they could beat that price. One guy said he could, and I went to him. I don't know if this is possible with purchasing a Tesla. Can different dealerships set their own prices, or, since the dealership is the manufacturer, is the price the same across any 'dealership' within a given geographical area?

If Google is considered 'external communications' and an 'overseas' company, then why is Google paying UK taxes?

Or use http://duckduckgo.com/ and stop using Google?

'Back in the day', I was in a similar situation as you are. I was working in tech support for a software company but knew I really wanted to write code. I took the plunge and got a CS degree, and it was the single best decision I've ever made from both a personal and career perspective. However, I also realize that many talented people can't take this path, so the next logical step for those individuals is to at least show some effort. I'm in a position now where I have influence within the hiring process. If a candidate doesn't have a computer related degree, the next things to look at are past work history in programming, sample 'pet projects', certs, programming community involvement, etc. You don't seem to have any of these, so, that is where I would start. The degree will absolutely get you in the door but it isn't a guarantee for a job (by a long shot). I highly recommend the school route, but if you can't do that for whatever reason, take the time to invest in yourself (heavily) over the next 6 to 12 months and start building things on your own, participating in any open source projects (so you can show/describe the work you have done), join local programming clubs (for networking alone), etc. If you don't invest in yourself, why would an employer invest in you?

FTA:

"Indeed, I have little doubt that the author of our Constitution, James Madison, who cautioned us to beware 'the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power,' would be aghast."

Finally. A judge actually considering the intent of the founding fathers. This is too rare these days.

Nissan has a long way to go to catch up in truck sales. http://wap.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html

If they convince reddit to endorse it, the format will take off. That place probably links to more .gif files than any other site out there.

I drive a 2013 Ram 1500, and it has a relatively large LCD screen with an 'infotainment' system. I see no reason why it would ever need to be updated. It basically serves the following functions: Radio, Media (usb, aux, etc.), Phone, Navigation, Climate Control, and Settings. There is an 'app store' but it is useless to me and there really isn't much there anyway. Since all of the existing functionality already works, and they provide all of the features I need, where is the need for an upgrade? If there was a bug in the system, I could see where an upgrade would help. But from a pure functionality perspective, it isn't necessary.

Because marriage suggests stability, and the government likes stability so they grant benefits to those who are in marriage. It's the same reason why getting a divorce can impact your score with creditors. Granting tax benefits to someone just because they have a roommate is ridiculous.

Snowden himself disagrees with your assessment.

Charles Barkley doesn't think he's a role model either, but guess what... he is. When people do extraordinary things, there is a significant chance that millions of people will hold such actions in high regard and elevate said person to 'role model' or 'hero' status. Snowden is a hero for the simple fact that he ousted illegal activity by a government organization. If the actions weren't illegal, but were just 'super secret', Snowden would be a traitor and should hang. But no, all he did was risk his own life to expose quite possibly the worst betrayal of trust the U.S. government has ever bestowed upon its citizens.

Really? I just renewed my DirecTV 2 year contract. I tried really, really hard to 'cut the cord' (or in this case 'ditch the dish') but after careful study, I found with a family of four, including two children, this just won't work. I thought some combination of XBox, Hulu, Netflix, and OTA HDTV would suffice but there is one glaring flaw with this: Ease of Use. See, my wife isn't a techie. She wants to turn on the TV from a remote with one button (which then turns on the stereo, selects the proper input, etc.) and then have a GUIDE for everything she might want to watch right now or record in the future. We have 2 DirecTV HD-DVR's that are on the network, so we can record 4 shows at once (we never do) and watch these shows from any of the other non-DVR's in our house. It is simple. It works. And there isn't a solution available (that I could find) that would aggregate all of the available shows into one, easy to use guide for selections. I do watch sports, and losing those would be the only reason I would potentially not switch if I were single because I wouldn't mind using different systems for different things.

Is it really that hard to put a scale on images? It kind of helps and typically makes the science more interesting.

Spirit and Opportunity had the Rock Abrasion Tool back in 2004. That grinded the surface of rocks to expose the interior.

I tried sending an email to anonymouscoward@timewarner.com to get evidence of this but didn't get a response.

I had an iPhone for two years, an Android (HTC Evo) for two years, and I recently got a Nokia 920 with Windows 8. All vey different experiences, but from an overall polish and usability standpoint, Windows 8 is the clear winner. The UI is wonderful. Apple still has the upper hand on hardware (not screens though), and Android has the upper hand in apps and 'openness' (if you even care about that). But when I got this device I felt like I did when I first got the iPhone. Maybe that feeling is what he is referring to.