As I understand it, these devices allow you to copy from CDs onto their internal hard drive so that you can keep your own selection of music on the device. Is it possible to use these devices to burn a CD? AS far as I know, the answer is no. If they can't burn a CD, then they cannot be used for illicit copying.

That article doesn't discuss this scenario at all. It neither supports nor refutes the GP.

Some publishers already CAN'T sell through Amazon. For example, I have a book that is published by the College of New Caledonia. My book is not available through Amazon because Amazon demands a huge discount (70%, as I recall) from all publishers, including non-profits like this one. In order to sell its books through Amazon, they would have to hugely increase the retail price so that the heavily discounted amount they would receive from Amazon would cover their costs.

That's 150 euros, about US$225, per box, not total. It is understandable why he would balk at that.

Are you kidding? The Russians waited until the Japanese were on their last legs so that they could grab some Japanese territory. The Russians weren't much of a threat - they were exhausted by the war with Germany.

When I was a grad student at Bell Labs in 1983, a senior programmer told me about how she first programmed, when the labs were in New York City. She would write her program VERY carefully, punch the cards, put them in her briefcase, and fly to Washington, D.C. where she had access to a computer. She would give the deck to the attendant, wait a few minutes, receive her output, go back to the airport, and fly back to New York.

How about C. H. Lindsey's Informal Introduction to Algol 68? Obviously he isn't going to be using Algol 68, but this is beautifully and wittily written, describes a language with some interesting features, and has a very unusual two-dimensional organization.

A technique I've seen used for scientific purposes is to run a Zener diode in the high slope region and subtract DC, leaving a residue of quantum noise. I would think that with current technology such a package could be very small and cheap, though I don't know what is involved in reshaping the spectrum from 1/f in hardware.

I wonder why it is so insanely expensive (US$250). That won't help it catch on.

No. The heirs are not responsible for the debts of the estate. The debts are paid by the executor out of the assets of the estate. The heirs are paid out of what remains of the estate. If the debts exceed the assets, the heirs receive nothing, but they do not assume any part of the debt.

Actually, no. The debts of the deceased are paid out of the estate. The heirs are paid out of the remainder of the estate. The heirs do not inherit the debt. If the estate is not sufficient to satisfy the debt, the heirs may receive nothing, but they never inherit any debt.

What you are describing is the fact that software and to a considerable extent computer hardware do not follow standards comparable to those used in better established areas of engineering.

People who give to a charity for good reasons do not need special identification on their vehicles to let the police know that they deserve special treatment.

We don't have to speculate. California law severely limits the enforcement of non-competes. It seems to work well there, so it probably will in Massachusetts.