An SSN is not required to run a credit check. Ask any of the 3 credit reporting agencies and that's what they'll tell you. Finding a company knows that is a whole other story however.

That's the problem. The networks can't afford to lose the cable revenue stream (Netflix's revenue model is totally isolated from cable). For now, those of us going to the trouble of hooking our computers to our TVs are in the minority. That won't always be the case. Maybe a service like Hulu could break the cable company stranglehold on TV distribution (I'd be happy to pay a subscription fee for premium access knowing that it's needed to support show development, especially if they offered sane packages, or a-la-carte pricing). Now if we could just do something about lack of competition and choices for broadband, we'd be all set. On the other hand, if that's my biggest problem, I'm doing pretty well.

But they aren't watching it on their TV, so they aren't going to cancel their cable subscription. Read the Freakonomics post (which, I should have mentioned, is from the CEO of Hulu).

If you know how to set up Boxee/XBMC/Plex/whatever, you've probably got your PC hooked up to your TV and probably aren't too excited about running an app outside of your media center (extra clicks and whatnot). You might even consider canceling your cable subscription. If you don't know how to set up one of those apps, you probably don't have your PC hooked up to your TV (at least not permanently), so you're going to (as Hulu apparently imagines it) lean back in your chair at your desk and watch Hulu on your PC. More importantly, you aren't going to cancel your cable subscription, which is where the content producers get the lion's share of their revenue.

This post (Q's 7 & 8) I think explains why Hulu has been forced to block media center apps: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/your-hulu-questions-answered/ To be fair, Hulu needs to satisfy the desires of their content-providing overlords, and whether or not the people at Hulu agree with blocking media centers, they need to at least make it appear they are making a good-faith effort to do so (it does seem that every block they've thrown up has been easily worked-around). That said, I suspect the thinking is the full-screen app isn't going to be used by technically sophisticated users who are capable of setting up and running one of the Hulu-supporting media centers, and therefore anyone who is using the full-screen app isn't going to be the type that has their PC hooked up to their TV.

I'm running an unlocked phone on T-Mobile. T-Mobile will give you the unlock code for your phone after you've been with them for some time (I think 3 months), and you can add and delete features (like data plans) at will without contract extensions. I do have to "lie" on my online profile since the phone I own isn't a model they actually carry in the US market in order to make certain features available.

All reasonable assumptions given the current state of the airline industry and American driving habits.

energy densities, gas and jet fuel show that jet fuel is actually the same or less dense than common gasoline. And if we can't trust Wikipedia and random people on the internet, who can we trust?

To quote from Ask The Pilot:

I'm assuming that Mr. Smith as a professional airline pilot has got his numbers right. So where's your backup for your "insanely inefficient" claim?

Try this link: http://www.badscience.net/?p=540

Actually many airlines (most?) are disabling the power in economy and sometimes for the entire plane. IIRC, seatguru.com (no affiliation) has info for specific airlines and aircraft.