I've always known that you must be into charity Anonymous Coward, the hundreds if not thousands of hours you've spent on /. And that's how you do it as well, with your hundreds of machines - commenting.

And it has saved my butt more than a few times. Basically everything I have is second-hand, and the IT equipment is no exception. And it's worth more than most people think. I've been picking up older but very good computers here and there for peanuts, and re-sold them for thousands.

Same thing with other tech gear, radios are particularly lucrative as they're still useable, and people like to listen to radio all over the world. Of course, you can't sell any old gear...it has to have some kind of collectors value OR usability value, perhaps even both. Those items I've collected are all high-end products from their own time. Rare portables with rare interfaces fetches a small fortune. Some laptops have very good serial port functions, and runs well on older operating systems - this is excellent for programming older micro-controllers and burning special eproms that can't be programmed with modern burners.

There are specialty plotters & cutters & cnc machines that doesn't have new drivers and the businesses can't afford to purchase new CNC machines when their old ones are doing a perfectly good job. That old computer comes in and saves the day.

If you think everything can be solved with a new computer, think again - old serial port based equipment (RS232 etc.) Parallel port etc. have timing issues with newer computers that simply are too fast, and the operating system "simulating ports" is just way too incompatible in "dos mode" etc. Trust me, I've been doing this for YEARS - and no matter HOW good you are as a coder/hardware hacker...you simply can't solve all these issues just like that.

The old "If it's not broken, why fix it?" applies here.

I don't know why this /. user got modded as a Troll for having his own opinion of a service? Clearly some mods in here are controlled by their personal opinions instead of being objective. Sure...the user may not sound politically correct, but since when did we become so politically correct in here that we can't express ourselves?

Personally I love Netflix, can't beat the price for what I get, here we pay around 9USD for it, and I've used it for a year now. I'd pay 9 bucks for 50-60 episodes of Breaking bad any day, not to mention House of Cards. And it's a great way to discover all those movies that DIDN'T make it as the official Hollywood box-office hits of our times. For example, I've had the great pleasure of discovering cool 80's movies that never really made it because they where overshadowed by other famous movies, but they are actually quite pleasing to watch, and the fact that I can relive my 80's with FRESH new material, is just priceless IMHO.

Sure, I wish there was more content on Netflix, some days feels dry - but then again...nine bucks to avoid the mind numbingly stupid broadcast or cable TV with its endless onslaught advertisement of the worlds worst repetitive TV-ads for a few minutes of entertainment? I'd take Netflix any day.

I think the Constitution must be respected! As it is now - far too much of it has been hijacked by the current AND previous government laws, we - the people, have certain inalienable rights. The government, the lawmakers serve the people - not the other way around.

I always take what I find on Wikipedia with a grain of salt.

But mr. Wales attempt to raise the bar is welcome, it's just not very easy to do it. As long as Wikipedia is as open in its nature as it is now, it will always remain something of a rogue place for opinions vs real scientific facts.

Wikipedia has also been accused with moderators treating it like it was their private domain, and the older more established moderators reign superior over the wannabees, so much so - I've given up any attempt to add anything to the site, as it's usually futile, even if peer reviewed and fully documented (no, not talking about oogey boogey science with crystal healing and all that jazz), but down to earth - time proven, document-able peer reviewed facts.

I think the entire Wikipedia needs to be reviewed, cleaned up and get a better moderation system

Quoting OP: My situation is as follows: all living expenses except food, luxuries and entertainment is covered by the wage of my girlfriend. That would leave me in a situation where we would be financially alright, but not well off, if I were to earn significantly less than I do now." Endquote.

I'm in a position similar to yours, except I work - for a minimum wage at the moment, but I get by. What is Luxury (or well off) is highly subjective, and for me... I have all the luxuries of this world (well, perhaps except a car, but I don't need one...I do own a house though, so I don't pay rent). The good thing about your (and my) situation is that you have the LUXURY OF CHOICE. Many people don't even have that, I bet you're better off than 94% of the planets population - I know I am, despite not being able to afford a lot of expensive new stuff.

The luxury of choice, is to be able to say no to a job if you don't like it. I am in a minimum wage job because I happen to like this particular job, and it's hourly based so I can just walk away if I need or want to do something else, that's high living in my world. I've seen people struggle with collecting garbage 20 hours-a-day for a living, just to feed their family.

...that news like that keeps surfacing every time someone "stumble" over their lost & found bitcoin-collection. Remember the Norwegian guy who forgot that he bought some bitcoins many years ago, and all of a sudden was a millionaire (just to see his bitcoin value drop to HALF the value the next month or so?)

Bitcoin is a perfect example of how easy it is to create something out of virtually nothing. It's essentially bits & bytes with a digitally encrypted keylock, it's nothing physical, most governments won't even recognize it as a currency, at best - it's a shady way of transferring money anonymously.

I sometimes wish I had Stevie Griffins time-machine and to go back in time visiting that local computer store on the corner, just to wave my 32gb "stamp" in their faces. You can keep your amazing 5mb ST-drive. Of course, the point is MOOT since I probably wouldn't get the interface to work with their old computers anyway, not to mention the "large disk" compatibility.

Indeed, that's the sad AND scary part. We're becoming so complacent in our "safe" environment, and so afraid to upset anyone that we'll gladly bite the stick, and go back to our little holes (which will soon enough become smaller and smaller). Whenever I'm hired in as a guest speaker at the schools, I try to schedule in a heart-to-heart talk with the kids and youths about this, and try not to become too wacky for them. Kids are quite intelligent, so most of them pick up the idea once it's fully understood.

And you know...the problem isn't the kids, it's what we teach them, or...don't teach them.

I knew it, I wasn't crazy!

Those pink Elephants have been talking to me for YEARS. All it takes is a few beers, then some more...and there they are, floppy ear pink bastards!

Because ultimately - the government will have the last say.

It's any governing powers wet dream to be able to know everything about its people, that way - they can know what buttons to press, what feelings to arouse, people to use and abuse - because, lets face it - if YOU...the normal guy on the streets should get some of your little secrets exposed, they have you locked in...and you would NEVER revolt, because you STILL count your little secrets and "safe" life not worth sacrificing as your only reward for sticking it to the man...would be being hung out to dry and your life destroyed.

Well, how is that different from war? War have casualties too, but there is no honor in death. If you're still alive to fix things, there is hope - and without hope, we're truly doomed.

What if you have no secrets? I asked a few people if they would have a problem with the gov. storing everything about them, what they say over the phone, what they write, what they purchase - and maybe even their little secrets at home. The answer I got from most of them, was: I don't have anything to hide, I'm so boring, let them watch, let them know.

Say, I'm going to let you in on a little secret of mine, I know a lot about people too (use your imagination here, because you won't get some long explanation on that, call it LIFE experiences if you wish). In fact, I know so much about people...that I understand the lure of power, but I've chosen not to use it at all, but alas...most people would use it in a heartbeat, why? Because I've seen that too, again and again - as I stood by and let them abuse me with the knowledge they had, it could be simple things like buying new hardware for the company to better support the workers (which is BAD if you go against the company policy), but very good for overall efficiency etc. I've seen countless people abuse power - because they want SO badly to RISE in their ranks, make their small insignificant lives a little better for them and their families, at the cost of others...not in their family.

Have you ever seen the movie a Bugs Life? Not far away from how the governing elite controls the small everyday working ant...and like it that way, because lets face it, wouldn't you if you where given that option? To never have to worry about anything...ever again? To have endless purchasing powers? To always be right - even though you're completely wrong?

The moral of the above is, if you GIVE them this kind of power, they will take it - and you will only have yourself to blame.

^ Someone mod this guy UP!

Telomere breakdown, and cell deterioration is one of our biggest issues - solve that, and we're well on our way to a longer healthier life. A think I've thinking about a lot though, is how our food directly affects our aging. More consumption + burning seem to equal faster living and accelerated aging. The slower the heartbeat, the longer some creatures seem to live.

No, I was experimenting. The diet has been constructed by me for my own body, I've googled endless pages about WHAT nutrition's & vitamins & minerals are in which vegetables etc, and looked up what the daily intake recommendations are, plus experimented with the overall progress. It's quite the science exercise. And it's a permanent change, it's been over 4 months now, and I'm not going back to my old habits, because I don't have too. This stuff taste BETTER than what I ate before. Of course, It's a bit more expensive too.

Yes, I agree completely, Moderation IS very important. You MUST follow your body's own instincts.

Thanks, but you (and anyone others reading this) needs to be aware of the side-effects of this insane diet. Yes...I'm a very disciplined person, but I did get other problems after following this insane diet, I did end up with some B12 deficiency, and low blood-flow...so beware, make sure your diet fits YOUR BODY, and always - listen to your body and don't become a fanatic.