Alas, no. I hate M$ as much as the next geek, but I have to admit there is nothing like that. There are all sorts of open source mail clients and some calendar tools and IM clients, and some will connect to an Exchange server, but sadly, nothing open source can touch MS Outlook + Lync. Individual products have some of the functionality, but nothing has it all, and nothing has it integrated like MS. Doesn't seem like an itch that the open source devs want to scratch.

The one word answer is "Yes". Betteridge's law of headlines is finally broken.

All broadcast TV in North America must be captioned. Pre-recorded shows can be captioned in advance. Anything live, news, sports, award shows, current events shows etc are all captioned live and in real-time using steno. While you are watching the show, someone with a steno machine is watching the same broadcast and transcribing it live. The steno goes to a computer that translates it to English, and then by modem or vpn to the studio's caption encoder and on to the tv. A small but thriving industry.

Rent control? No wonder there is a shortage of affordable housing.

Do what my friends did. (not SF but another city where single family homes can cost over $1 mil). Three of them pooled their savings, put 10% down on an older larger house. It's at the fringes of a gentrifying area, not far from downtown. They live in the basement, and rent out the upstairs. The rent pays over half the mortgage. In a year or two they will have enough equity to put a down payment on another house. Moral of the story - pay yourself rent, not a landlord.

Liquid Metal --- Cyanide.
 
One of these things is not like the other.

Are programmers willing to work for $45/hr? Then that is what they are worth. Did you think the laws of supply and demand don't apply to you (you precious thing)?

Or, you could just go to the store and buy some.
 
Guy from Seattle

Nasa 2014 - about $18 billion
Iraq + Afghanistan - $4 to $6 trillion
 
So about 200 to 300 times more for the war than what NASA gets this year.

What Taxi owners enjoy is a system of "Supply Management". It artificially creates scarcity, eliminates competition and keeps prices high. The owners of the medallions make a fortune, the taxi drivers make less than minimum wage, and the consumer gets a bunch of problems including waiting far too long for cabs at peak times (bars close or cruise ships arrive). As with many things done with good intentions and counter to market forces it has the opposite effect of what you claim is intended.

No. Wrong.
 
Not believing in a deity (because perhaps you see no convincing evidence of one) means that one possible explanation - "God made everything" is rejected. There are any number of other possible explanations of how the universe came into existence, and you might choose one based on observation and evidence rather than faith. Or do you think that belief and faith are the same thing?

Anthropocentric global warming is being forced down our throats. But not in the way you meant.

How is it not a kids toy?

1. "bitcoin has too much fluctuation for them to hold it" - correct
 
2. Do you want to show up at the hotel and be told you have to pay more to make up the short fall - What shortfall? See #1.

Mod the hell up and close the thread. Not much left to say.