The linked story is distinctly lacking in details. Yes, it mentions the red or green license plate requirements, but I consider that to be a minor requirement that says nothing about the actual operation. This story has more interesting information and it doesn't even mention the license plate requirement.

Among the highlights:

• In the test vehicles (presumably the ones with red plates), there must be 2 people in the vehicle at all times, with one able to immediately take over control.
• Companies must register their testing intentions with the state, such as testing in fog or snow/ice. They must also share results with the state.
• There must be a "black box" type data recorder that records and stores all sensor data for 30 seconds prior to a collision.
• Once a vehicle is certified to operate without a driver, a person can operate it without being physically present in the vehicle.
• The operator is liable regardless of whether they are present or not.
• There are exceptions for operating an autonomous vehicle while talking on a cell phone (illegal in Nevada without a hands-free device) or texting (also illegal to do while driving), but not for being drunk.

Seems like reasonable rules to me.

Any software you find is likely just going to be a database entry/maintenance type software tool for storing your genealogical information, but itself will not give you any information; it just provides a place for you to keep track of information you do find from other sources.

If you are stuck on open-source, I'm not sure how to help you, but if all you really care about is that it is free, I can strongly recommend Personal Ancestral File from here. While it has some fields for Mormon ordinances, you don't have to use those features and it will do nicely to maintain your records.

As for doing the actual research, again I recommend looking into the Mormons - they maintain branches of their main family history library at various church buildings around the world. The volunteers who staff those branches are instructed to not proselyte, they simply are there to help you do the research. The only time you'll have to pay for something is for obvious things like using the copy machine, or if you want to have records shipped in from Salt Lake City you'll have to pay postage, but that's it.

Disclaimer: yes, I am a Mormon, so I may be biased on this matter, but as far as I've seen, the Mormons are the premier experts in the world when it comes to family history research.

I work as a student employee at my university. Over the last summer, we replaced about 500 computers across campus (most of our student lab machines). The new machines only have Display Port as their graphics interface, and we have had lots of problems with it. Lots of various software glitches, and even some significant hardware issues as well.

One issue is that the physical connector is not very sturdy. One good whap (which is not uncommon in an academic environment) and the connector gets destroyed, sometimes taking the graphics card with it. We've had to replace several graphics cards because of this. This was not a problem with our previous batch of machines, which used *gasp* VGA. There are other issues as well, such that there was actually some serious discussion at upper levels of management about the possibility of returning the whole lot of computers (remember, about 500) and demanding the replacement use either VGA or DVI. In the end, they decided that this would be more trouble than it was worth, and that we'd just deal with Display Port issues as they arise. Which, they continue to do.

As for myself, I have no intention of ever using Display Port as my primary display interface on my personal machines unless there is literally no other option. In my opinion, DVI is superior in every respect that matters, and even VGA is preferable.

I rarely watch movies in the theater. The last one was Toy Story 3, which I saw with my wife. We were rather annoyed with the fact that we had to go out of our way to find a screen showing it in 2D, as it seemed everyone just wanted to show it in 3D.

Even if it was cheaper, I wouldn't want to watch it in 3D. It's a gimmick, and one that gives me headaches at that. If there were no screens showing it in 2D, we would have skipped it and waited for it to come out on video. This will forever be true for me - if moviemakers decide that every movie should be 3D, then my days of going to the theater are done. Now that I have a nice HDTV at home, the desire to go to the theater is lessened, anyway.

I hope more producers take the stance against it that Christopher Nolan has - then maybe we'll see some sanity in the industry about it. Maybe that's a tall order, but I hope not.

Assuming a height of 5'6" (1.68 meters), the units convert like this:

3000 heights = 3.125 miles = 5.03 kilometers
6000 heights = 6.25 miles = 10.06 kilometers
9000 heights = 9.375 miles = 15.09 kilometers
12000 heights = 12.5 miles = 20.12 kilometers
15000 heights = 15.675 miles = 25.15 kilometers

Pretty much, unless you are in the city you were born in, your answer should be more than 15,000.

According to Google Maps, I am 1,234 miles by car from where I was born. I am 6 feet tall, which means I am 1,085,920 heights from my birthplace.

I've only ever purchased one Ubisoft title, and that was Beyond Good and Evil for the GameCube. I rather enjoyed this game, and am excited that a sequel is in development, though likely still a few years from being released. However, it seems unlikely that they will release a Wii version of BG&E2, which means that I was going to be dependent on getting the PC version to enjoy the game. However, if it winds up with the limitations of this draconian DRM, then I will pass on it entirely.

People have often complained about Steam doing similar things. However, in the case of Steam, it at least has an offline mode. You get authenticated against the server, and then you can play your games offline. I'm fine with the way Steam does things - my only real complaint is the lack of aftermarket sales, but I've never bought a used game anyway so it doesn't really affect me.

No single-player game should ever require an active Internet connection to play. Sure, it can be supported, allowing for saving progress on the server, but not required.

I've never been on Mt. Evans, but being from Colorado Springs (at the base of Pikes Peak), I have driven up Pikes Peak. Not as a racer, mind you, just as a tourist, in my '02 Saturn SL2.

It's not a simple road. Even going slowly, you definitely have to pay attention. Lots of loose gravel and dirt where a moments inattention can result in a skid where you go driving right off the side of the mountain. And as others have pointed out, the difference in elevation wreaks havoc on engine efficiency - going from about 8000 feet elevation at the toll gate to just over 14000 feet at the summit, my car was noticeably more sluggish near the top than it usually is (Colorado Springs, where I do most of my driving, averages at about 6500 feet). As an indication of the hazards of the road, every once in a while there is a local news report of someone driving off the road to their doom.

Every summer, there is an organized race up the mountain, the Annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb. I assume that this robot will be doing its thing during that race. I look forward to hearing about how well it does.

It's interesting to me that the only incident involving these Somali pirates and an American vessel resulted in the US Navy getting involved, a few dead pirates, and a rescued civilian Captain. I think it's great that our military took such a firm stance against those pirates and actually protected American citizens. Why don't other nations' militaries take a similar hard-line approach?

All it would take is a few more stories about how a military vessel used lethal force against pirates to protect innocent civilians, and the piracy would dramatically decrease. Heck, a single aircraft carrier in the region, launching planes to fly patrols which would respond to distress calls, would go a long way to securing the region. Why isn't this done?

I agree. I used to play Mario Kart online a lot. Several sessions a week, at least.

The cheating started slowly at first. And initially, I wasn't even completely sure if it was, in fact, cheating, or if the people playing were just getting lucky. I wasn't seeing anything that couldn't be legitimately explained through the game's normal mechanics, even if I was seeing suspicious behavior more and more often. The kicker, though, happened the last time I played, which was about a month ago: someone pegged me with a red shell right off the starting line. Well before we reached any items on the course.

I didn't stick around. When that happened, I knew for a fact that there was cheating going on. I immediately powered off the Wii, and I haven't been back into online Mario Kart play since.

I would pay money to get an update to Mario Kart Wii that removes cheating.