I've been visiting with my parents here in WV and saw that story in the local paper a few days ago. I have to believe that someone had a buddy getting a commission, because that's how it generally goes here. I remember seeing this map a couple weeks before and can't help but think it'd be a better option for spreading broadband.

It's to force HARD WORKING AMERICANS to pay too much for light bulbs, and to make us needlessly fill our houses with failure prone "technology" designed by TREE HUGGERS that has a special lump full of electronics we don't understand, so that we won't be able to tell when the GOVERNMENT sneaks in and swaps 'em out for the kind that SPY ON YOU.

No, they got sued for calling it "Java." After they made it "work far better" it wasn't Java anymore, but they were still calling it that. You might find it interesting to read this short J++ article.

- for editing images of wildebeest

Wow, with a couple or three TSA people in every town the size of Bethel, the TSA could be a major employer in Alaska.

In 2008 I was a passenger on a commercial flight from Juneau to Kake. I sat in the co-pilot's seat while wearing my leatherman tool on my belt. The TSA did not participate. The only reason I don't similarly carry what I please on my regular flights between Anchorage and Dutch Harbor is that I'm continuing on to/from the lower 48 and the luggage I use for what I can't carry on the flight down South is checked through. Are TSA scanners really a problem for flights to and from that little town?

If I have to join Facebook to talk to Congress, does that mean that Facebook has to be regulated as a public utility?

But do you expect them to just ignore all the money Apple made selling internal memory in the premium model at a big markup?

First off I should explain my perspective: I am a T-Mobile customer. I don't buy data service for my N900 as I live and work too far from urban areas to get data coverage. When I want data service while traveling, what works best for me is to bring my laptop to a McDonald's or a Coffee shop that has free wifi, buy an overpriced beverage, and camp at a table for a while.

There are currently primarily two separate voice hardware specifications used in USA, CDMA2000 and GSM. I don't know of any phones that will talk to both CDMA and GSM.

The USA nationwide carriers that use CDMA are Verizon & Sprint. US Cellular, Alaska Communications Systems, and others use CDMA in some geographically restricted markets, and smaller carriers that sell access to the larger carriers networks also exist. If it's contractually allowed, CDMA phones can roam for voice calls on another carrier's CDMA network.

The major carriers in USA for GSM are ATT & T-Mobile (& GCI in Alaska). ATT won't sell you a SIM card unless you have made an agreement to have a contract with them which will last for a year or more. ATT seems not to want you to buy service from them on any phone other that one they sell, and doesn't want you to have any service on a data capable phone unless they sell you data service on it. T-Mobile phones can roam on ATTs nework. I have the unlimited talk & text plan from T-Mobile, and it has paid for calls I have made from everywhere I've been that there's GSM signal, except Unalaska Island in the Aleutians. If I'm near the border with Canada, T-Mobile will also remove any charges incurred if my phone accidentally gets picked up by a Canadian tower. I suppose roaming could work the other way, but a comparison of ATT's and T-Mobile's coverage maps will show that the question is somewhat moot.

The carriers have coverage maps on their web sites. No one sells prepaid cellular data service in USA. One of the cheapest Data plans is from Virgin Mobile who sells pre-paid voice on Sprint's network. A great resource for prepaid cellular purchasing are the general purpose electronics stores Radio Shack & Best Buy. They're not the least expensive, but the convenience is often worth the expense. General purpose merchants (eg WalMart, etc) also sell prepaid phones inexpensively, but the selection is much more limited.

If you plan to roam, make sure that you purchase a plan of the "nationwide no roaming" type as if you make calls while roaming without such an agreement, you've given the operator of the network on which you roam permission to financially rape you, and they likely will.

If you plan to buy additional time for a prepaid wireless phone, I recommend buying it online from someone like www.wirelessrefill.com I've found that the online prepaid airtime merchants have better rates. When you purchase time, they email you a code. You enter the code on your phone, hit send, and when the phone is done communicating with the network, it has the extra time. It's also worth noting that prepaid airtime expires if unused. The amount of time it takes for the unused time to expire positively correlates to the amount airtime purchased in one chunk.

What if I circumvent planned obsolescence by scanning in a broken pot-metal part and using my CNC mill to make one out of something stronger? Wouldn't the custom crash tests make getting permission to drive custom designed cars on public roads kind of expensive?