Another here who loves the AwesomeBar!

I don't have mod-points, so I'll just follow the trend and make this thread an ad-hoc poll.

According to this page, the last patents for h264 may not expire until 2028:

http://lists.whatwg.org/htdig.cgi/whatwg-whatwg.org/2009-July/020737.html

While 100Mb/s may be excessive give usage patterns based on slower network speeds, the vastly higher speed opens up completely new usage paradigms. For example, I currently keep my all of my photos and and many videos on my laptop's hard drive so that I can use them at home, a friend's house, or elsewhere. Were 100Mb/s to be the norm, I'd just keep everything on a massive home NAS and just stream it as needed to my laptop or other computing device.

Given a fast enough connection, one wouldn't even have to bother with making a local copy of a high-def video owned by a friend, just stream it as you watch it.

Amen. Living in Vermont I often take the "Montrealer" down the NY side of Lake Champlain to NYC. The freight-track is slow, bumpy, and generally in terrible condition. One trip a few years ago took 12 hours to get from Port Henry NY to NYC (about a 5-hour drive).

This past summer I took the TGV from Lyon to Paris and had my GPS running for the trip. We topped out at 195mph for a few sections and with several stops averaged 150mph for the 2.5 hour trip. It was quite a blast (especially at 110 euros) and I wish I could do that kind of trip around New England and the mid-Atlantic.

My last Amtrak trip from Vermont to NYC (a 5-hour drive) took 12 hours because of two break-downs of trains ahead of us. I love the train and not having to deal with parking in NYC, but that trip was exhausting.

Note that the policy allows for exceptions to be made by submitting a waver request to the provost.

If I remember correctly, one of the other articles on this policy mentioned that requests would likely be automatically approved. The waver request submission was simply added to make open-access the default rather than something faculty would have to opt-in to.

No billboards here in Vermont either.

As well, all business signs must be less than 1-story tall. No gas station signs or golden arches on giant towers here.

To make up for the lack of billboards all businesses can get standardized road-sign-sized directional markers just before their turn off the main road. These have the same font as road signs, an arrow, and an optional miniature business logo. I personally find these directional markers very useful for finding and discovering businesses. Its wonderful to have timely and consistent directional information without being constantly bludgeoned with it.