"They also don't think there's any chance the NFL will move its games to pay-per-view."

ROTFLMAO.

What are they smoking? The NFL will go PPV, ASAP.

Book it.

"Germany's Energy Poverty: How Electricity Became a Luxury Good" By SPIEGEL Staff on 09/04/2013:

Germany's agressive and reckless expansion of wind and solar power has come with a hefty pricetag for consumers, and the costs often fall disproportionately on the poor. Government advisors are calling for a completely new start.

Groan

rimshot

They still do in San Francisco.

From the lead article:

"In May, China banned government use of Windows 8, Microsoft's latest operating system"

It seems to be a needless gesture. Even in the US, no one uses Windows 8.

Information Warfare: Running For Linux January 9, 2011

For a decade now, China has been trying to get business and government users to adopt Unix (and later Linux) as their operating system. Yet most Chinese businesses, and many government departments, continue to use Microsoft operating systems. They do this because Microsoft Windows is widely pirated in China, and there's a large amount of pirated software you can use only on Windows systems. Another critical reason is that more games run on Windows machines, and that is important, even in China. Finally, the Chinese government is more resistant to complaints from Microsoft than Russia.

* * *

China has tried to get around this by subsidizing Linux training for Chinese engineers and computer technicians. The government also subsidized the development of the Kylin Unix based server software. Kylin is shareware, and anyone can download it. Kylin is also designed to be very secure, much more secure than Microsoft server software, and most other similar products. China has had more success in getting users to adopt non-Microsoft server software, but the real battleground is PCs.

I can see from reading this thread that there is a lot of righteous anger about this issue. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Just mouthing off on slashdot is not doing something. You need to let your elected representatives know that this issue is important to you and that they should not toe the party line on immigration just because Green and Zuckerberg, and their ilk are laying down big bucks to the the parties and campaign funds.

Writing your congressman and calling his office are just baby steps. What you need to do is vote incumbents out of a job. Eric Cantor, then the House Majority Leader lost his primary to a guy who campaigned on a mere $50,000 because of Cantor's support for immigration "reform" (i.e., letting loose the flood gates). That sobered the House Republican leadership up real fast.

Tech people have for too long wasted their votes on trivial social issues, or have not voted at all. You need to find candidates, support them, and get out the vote to oppose Zuckerberg, et. al. That is the only thing that can save your hides.

Allow me to conclude with a short poem by the great German playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht*.

The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th June, the Secretary of the Writer's Union,
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee,
Stating that the people had forfeited the confidence of the government;
And could win it back only by redoubled efforts.
Would it not be easier in that case, for the government
To dissolve the people, and elect another?

* You may know him best as the author of "The Three Penny Opera" from which the song "Mack the Knife" was taken.

The gating issue is now screen size and finger size. Nice big high def screens need big batteries to keep them lit. I don't think those items are going to get much smaller.

Agreed. invest in ux.

There is an inverse correlation between the price of the hotel and the price of the wi-fi. But, even at expensive hotels with $15/day wi-fi, there are things you can do.

At many of those hotels wi-fi in the lobby and restaurants is gratis, and they may be pleasant places to sit while you read your email. Also, it is worthwhile to butter up the desk clerks who maybe able to slip you a password. I have also found that most hotels never change their passwords. Sometimes I have paid once and used it several times.

BTW, Panera's coffee and food are much better than MickeyD's. The wi-fi is usually serviceable. A couple of years ago a storm knocked our cable service for a week. I spent a lot of time at the local Panera.

I forgot to sign in before posting. I apologize.

That is right. The law may say that if you employ someone, you have to pay him at least $15/hr. But, the law does not say that you must employ anybody. If a given potential employee can't pull his weight at his wage, you not hire him, or if you did, you will fire him.

Ask yourself how many kids fresh out of high school are worth $15/hr? I think the number is probably less than 3%, the rest of them will be working on their basketball shot or their video game skills.

Mortgages must be recorded in the county land records. The mortgage instrument must set forth the principal amount of debt secured by the mortgage. The amount so stated limits the amount the lender may recieve in the event of a foreclosure sale, although the amount may be increased by interest and expenses.

"Antarctic Sea Ice At Record Levels" Posted on May 12, 2014 by Anthony Watts

"Antarctic sea ice has expanded to record levels for April, increasing by more than 110,000sq km a day last month to nine million square kilometres."