A constant, minimal buzz.

My eye has the largest field of view of any of those options, and is the most portable. However, I went with my binoculars because they are better for viewing the Andromeda galaxy than my naked eye (or a telescope). I live in a large city and have to go on camping trips in order to stargaze, so binoculars are by far the best equipment for my needs. A couple of my friends have telescopes, but they are nearly useless in town, and too large to take camping.

True enough; I did not take care when copypasting my definitions. Let's try Wikipedia instead of Dictionary.com: "a mechanical or virtual agent, usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry." I think that does the job better.

I will strongly second this based purely on anecdotal evidence. If the OP has any science to cite, I would be interested to see it.

I would second items 1-3 regarding sleep, diet, and exercise. I took the bar exam in July, and to prepare, I gave myself a strict sleep schedule and ate only foods that made me feel great. After the test was over, I decided that I should keep doing everything that I did while studying, since I should always be at my best. It has worked fantastically well. "Lifestyle change" is definitely what your are looking for.

A robot is "a machine that resembles a human and does mechanical, routine tasks on command." A cyborg is "a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device." The Terminator is a robot; Robocop is a cyborg. The writer became a cyborg, not a robot.

Friedman has made a career of making poor, conjectural arguments which have no factual support but which appeal to your emotions if you don't think too hard about them. His articles read like a last-minute college essay that mentions many things but fails to address them in anything close to a complex way. He is a waste of time, and a waste of the Times.

That's the real news story.

... you insensitive clod!

Software pianos are currently not up to reproducing acoustic pianos, and can be easily distinguished. However, the gap is closing fast and there is no theoretical reason why they will not be able to fully reproduce the sound of an acoustic given enough time and effort. For an exhaustive discussion and some scientific testing of software pianos vs. acoustic, see the pianoworld.com Digital Pianos forum, particularly this thread: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1365103/The_DPBSD_Project.html and this thread, discussing a fully-modelled (i.e. no recorded samples) software piano called Pianoteq: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1470073/Just_tried_Pianoteq_OMG.html

The want chimpanzees released from "illegal detention," but if we treated them like people, they would end up in prison very quickly. I would give them two days before they were guilty of trespass, theft, assault, and battery. They would be ruled incompetent to stand trial, and probably placed in a psychiatric prison in solitary confinement. That is what we do with people who act like chimpanzees.

Without Nelson Mandela, there would have been no Mark Shuttleworth, and hence no Ubuntu Phone.

"The system will have a video camera, thermal imaging sensors, a laser ... and a microphone."

Okay, so it's a "laser range finder" and not a death ray, but my world now potentially includes hostile robots shooting lasers at me, which is neat (or terrifying?).

"The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent." -- John Maynard Keynes

As many have said, it's an issue of money. Based on some brief research, a monthly pass for the London underground costs £213.60, or $344. A monthly pass on the NYC subway costs $112. The residents of my city would rather have an additional $232 in their pocket each month instead of a newly redecorated subway system.