"Well, none of those can fit inside your wallet"

Perhaps so, but if I put something like this in my wallet, it will be broken in a day or 2. See, I put my wallet in my back pocket. And any electronic device thin enough to put in my wallet, will likely snap they first time I sit down too fast. And.... I'm only 165 lbs. I can't even imagine something like this being able to survive in the wallet of a comic book guy/neckbeard's wallet.

According to the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/) there are "More than 480,000 deaths annually " related to cigarettes and (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm) "approximately 88,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the United States"

In 2011, the CDC says (http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/overdose/facts.html) "33,071 (80%) of the 41,340 drug overdose deaths in the United States were unintentional"

So ciggs+alcohol deaths ~ 570,000 deaths per year
Accidental drug overdose ~ 33,000 deaths per year

Now which should be legal and/or a greater concern to society at large? Which likey have a greater economic cost to society? Which has a greater overall impact?

I'm not saying hard drugs aren't bad, but perhaps we should concentrate on what is causing the most damage first.

"Some, like the sort you are thinking of, are simply idiots seeking pleasure"

Yes. They are the idiots. Why would anyone try to seek pleasure. They are obviously in the wrong.

"she stole hundreds of pounds of my wife's make-up "

Your wife must be a real looker if she flies around with hundreds of pounds of makeup.

My first job was in 1989, and I remember the federal minimum wage was $3.35/hour back then. I'm sure some people made more, but I doubt most students beat that by much.

"Personally, I'll never buy an automated car."

You will not have a choice one day. If the average driver gets in an accident every 100k miles, and the average automated car gets in an accident every 1M miles, then the insurance companies will charge you to the point that you can't afford to drive yourself. They already do that now for minors and people with DUIs on their record.

Plus, it will take longer to go places when the system is fully in effect. Automated cars will be able to travel closely at high speeds in convoys, likely have dedicated lanes, never need breaks, etc.

If they want to sell some comics, they should make Wonder Woman a man. And Batgirl a guy as well. Maybe, then it would sell better.

Well, they are doing a sequel to Twins saying there were Tripleps. And of course, the 3rd guy is black.

"Some of these domains are .us TLD, which unfortunately will limit my choice to U.S.-based companies."

Make a landing page on the .us servers that forwards them to servers elsewhere. Almost no one goes to web sites by name anyway. Forward it for now. Eventually your users will bookmark or remember the new site.

In reality, you can't not get sued if you put yourself out there. Anyone can sue you for anything. It doesnt' mean they can win, but they can still get the ball rolling. And it doesn't cost that much to sue, so they don't have to have expensive lawyers. And even if you countersued for damages, that doesn't mean they will have the ability to pay.

http://www.opm.gov/policy-data...

A GS-15 in Atlanta's starting pay is $120034 and they top out at $156043. Now, that's the top level, but you can make decent money as a gevernment employee.

Your basic FBI/DEA/ICE/Secret Service agent is a GS13. Their range is $86,355-112,261. I'm sure some people on here make more than that, but I bet a the majority don't. If you go here (http://www.whatsmypercent.com/), it states someone making $100k is in the 96%. That is the entire US workforce, but should paint a relevent picture.

""A 'threat,' according to the bill, is anything that makes information unavailable or less available."

With this definition, the whole internet is a 'threat'. If you are downloading something from site x, you are using bandwidth that could be making site y "less available". Therefore, any site that requires the use of bandwidth to access could be consider a threat.

"I would argue, though, that the man could have had other content on the drive, which was unknown, and which could have incriminated him for some other crime. In which case the ruling would be improper."

That doesn't work. Otherwise, everyone who commits a murder should keep some cocaine handy. Then when they search your house for the murder you could argue that the cocaine constituted an illegal search because they weren't looking for that.

"US law protects people in the USA. That's how "laws" work - they apply to a geographical area, not to a diaspora of people spread across the world."

Not totally true. You are liable for taxes as a citizen, even if you haven't set foot on US soil in 30 years. Even if the company you work for has no presence in the US.

Additionally, if you leave the US with intent to violate certain laws elsewhere you may be breaking the law. i.e. Going to Thailand with the intention of having sex with 13 year olds would be illegal.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is another example. You don't have to be on US soil to violate US law.

"According to the WSJ, citing Gallup, "62% of the more than 18,000 U.S. consumers it polled said social media had no influence on their buying decisions."

I suspect most people would answer a poll saying advertising NEVER influences their buying decisions. Independent analysis may prove otherwise. Coke, GM, or whoever don't spend billions on advertising because they think it helps. They have done lots of tests and analysis, and they know it helps. Sure, lots of advertising is a waste. But targetted advertising at the right time and place can have a ROI.

"Bill said he was out at lunch with clients for an hour, but the geolocation-software installed into his phone says he was located around a car dealership, and was there for 3 hours."

That sounds like horrible software if the managers don't know to take it with a grain of salt. GPS isn't accurate down to the foot, and there are restaurants located beside car dealerships. Plus, he could have dropped his car off for service, left his phone in his car, and gone to lunch wtih clients.