To discourage such shenanigans, many states require that creditors allow a certain minimum amount of time - typically 14 days - between actual receipt of your bill and the payment due date. You might want to look into this.

I am an avid reader who just received my first Kindle as a Christmas present. A couple of books later, I have noticed that my reading speed on the Kindle is a fraction of what it is for the same text on paper. I decided to re-read a novel before starting its sequel, and after a few chapters switched back to my old paperback. I found myself reading about 3 times faster on the physical book.

This is at least partly because there is so little text per page on the Kindle, a function of both display size and line- and letter-spacing. But beyond that there is also an issue with readability or legibility. The font used on these devices is remarkably ugly.

These are not permanent, unchangeable characteristics of E-readers, so I hope things will get better as the products evolve.

But they do sell millions. How many old people live in Europe, Japan, and the USA?

Unlike you, I do automatically respect people with nice hair.

The rudeness quite obviously lies in the 'F' of RTFA. We are so used to the acronym that perhaps we forget exactly what it stands for.

This design appears to be identical to one I learned to make from a Klutz Press book. It is called the Nakamura Lock, after its designer, and it is definitely the best paper airplane I have flown indoors. It seems kind of tacky to rename it - the designer should get some credit for his work.

Except there were a number of British accents in that movie, including Wesley's.

And yet, there are many, many people who have used amphetamines every day for years without running into these problems that you claim to be inevitable. Front line troops and military pilots, for example, are routinely expected to self-medicate to optimize their performance. ADHD patients get Adderall from their doctors (when supplies permit). And I have personally known many ordinary people who have used speed recreationally while maintaining their jobs, health, and relationships. Demonizing it is just not helpful.

I'm genuinely surprised, and faintly horrified, to find someone using Best Buy as an example of good retail practice. In the past few years they have been caught misrepresenting products, selling used products as new, setting up a fake website with inflated prices, and otherwise behaving like dishonest scum.

The phrase is 'blind-sided.'

'Help' is not even remotely the same as 'give money to.'

My bad - I posted after reading the existing comments. and I guess I lost track of that important detail.

However, my piano is a digital Roland, hooked up to all sorts of MIDI stuff and to my computer, so it may still qualify.

I'd much rather it were a 1920's Steinway, but I have neither the space nor the budget for a really nice piano.

I touch two: my computer keyboard, and my piano. Surely there are other musicians on Slashdot?

The NYT allows me 20 free articles a month, so your numbers are suspect.

However, that limit does not include articles linked from, for example, Google News or any Google search. Which makes it fairly easy to get around.

What's interesting to me is that, up until these two PR blunders, Netflix was highly respected - certainly here on Slashdot - both for its efficient operation and for an unusually enlightened attitude towards customer service and satisfaction. How did the same people go so wrong so fast?