Actually, this one uses very little power, or so my electric bill informed me (and it runs 24/7), and doesn't make much heat. It's a lowly P4-1.8GHz, and unlikely to be replaced any time soon. Conversely the P4-3GHz uses enough that it's powered off when not in use (it has a specialty job and is not readily replaceable), and it runs a lot hotter.

And that's one reason I was never a fan of AMD -- I know someone who actually used an AMD box to heat her bedroom!!

When I spend money on new stuff, my method is to invest in the best motherboard for the job, max RAM, high quality PSU (I have cases coming out my ears). Then I buy last year's CPU and vidcard, a big savings for not much less horsepower, and easy to upgrade. Tho unless something comes along I gotta do, I'm not real motivated to buy new anymore... salvage falls on my head that's overkill for most stuff. (Other than browsers going for the title of worst slugs ever.)

Not only that, but there are enough examples of the person who brought something to police attention being the one who is suddenly under the hot light, that reporting a possible crime is not a personally safe action. (And IMO anonymous reporting is questionable; it's too often abused.)

As to clients' data -- the GP has a good point. If you're still interested in snooping, you're not mature enough to behave professionally.

Somewhat OT, why does the 2nd link (BTC) in your sig redirect to "https://coinurl.com/index.php" ??

I've seen this a lot with venture-capital startups -- apparently the idea is not to accomplish the goal, but rather to spend all the venture capital, make a few headlines, then sell the "growing" company to the highest bidder. Competence or actually getting work done doesn't seem to be part of the equation.

Someone explain to me how this is more cost-effective than drilling several smaller paths using smaller, more-proven equipment that costs a whole lot less both to buy and to repair? Seriously, I'd like to see the numbers.

I last built one (currently my everyday machine) about 2 years ago, but there's not a part in it that's less than 10 years old, and everything in it is salvage, except the wireless card which was a gift. It works well enough for what I use it for.

I last built one mostly from new parts back around 1998.

Now I'm going out to pull weeds... what is this "lawn" of which thou speaks??

Maybe online sources should be cited via an archive.org link rather than a direct link; that way sources won't disappear (at least not nearly so often).

How expensive it really is? or how much they've decided each procedure can net?

The list of charges if you pay cash-in-advance on the wall at the Los Angeles County clinic in Lancaster CA. The most expensive item is:

Any surgery: $400.

Yep, four hundred dollars. Someone else the counter asked the desk nurse how they could do surgery for that price, and she said that's what it actually costs the clinic, and that pay-later get billed at a rate 3x higher, to make up for the large number of deadbeats and the difficulty collecting at all.

Considering that wild mice who live in proximity to humans markedly prefer to eat stuff humans have touched ... I imagine you'd have to find wilderness mice to study!

Zoo primates could be 'contaminated' as well.

Looks like some future researcher is in for a long tramp through the back of beyond. :)

Obviously the time is right for someone to invent a little portable keyboard (possibly with its own battery) that plugs into the phone's USB port and lets you type like a normal person, instead of like a demented monkey chasing termites.

(Which is what I feel like when I use a stylus, but it's still better than fat-finger syndrome.)

Have you looked at animal samples too? Seems to me it would be easier to get those upper gut samples...

Is it human-host only, or opportunistic wherever its favored bacteria thrive?

Has any of this virus been incorporated in our DNA?

Completely OT, having been preconditioned by the crAss cracks, my brain decided to parse your username as "robed wards" which made no sense. :)

No need; I'll just park out in this handy Montana hailstorm. Free dimples!

Actually, that happened to my old truck -- got hailed on pretty good and had small dimples pretty uniformly over its entire upper surface. Didn't do shit for its MPG. And after a few years the dimples went away (let's hear it for Ford steel!) and you couldn't tell it had ever happened.