Our classes apparently are different. We didn't have TIME to talk. Lecture started at 1:00 PM. Lecture is supposed to be out at 1:50. Lecture runs over until 1:57 because that's how chemists roll. Next prof is waiting outside tapping his or her foot impatiently. No time for tea and crumpets when there's science afoot!

We also had course administrators, so there could be six sections of general chemistry lecture that all did the same assignments, and therefore could work together and study together. FB brought us all into the same loop, and it let us all communicate with each other.

Nowadays, our university uses Blackboard to give us the same option to email classmates, so it's not like it was just a trend for introverts.

Because you could connect with classmates that you didn't necessarily know. There was a good 18-month period where FB was very useful for setting up study sessions and whatnot.

(Also, you could find out if that redhead two rows down was single)

Really? Because everybody hates driving in rush hour traffic, and pretty much everybody has to.

(Yes, I'm being Amerocentric)

Manhunt? Hahahaha. Police are too busy arresting high school honor students making Drano bombs in empty fields to be bothered with petty criminals.

Actually, it's the same food.

I thought about doing this. But the days of free wifi are dwindling. At home or at work, sure it's easy - but you're also next to a PC, so the smartphone is pointless. When a smartphone is actually useful is when you do NOT have access to a PC, if you are out at a park and decide you want to see Iron Man 3 and need to look up showtimes, or at a bookstore and want to look up a review, or at a bar and need to settle a point of contention with Wikipedia.

This is just anecdotal evidence of course, but it seems to me that since the advent of smartphones more places are doing away with customer wifi than are adding it.

4. Cop pulls cell phone out of your car and starts writing up your citation.
5. Pull out backup cellphone, blow up cop, drive away. No ticket!

Quit FUDing! Drones just saved their first life! And after only nine years of CIA drones spying and blowing people up.

Clearly they are the greatest boon to public health since penicillin.

Well, the universities are (partially) funded by taxes, but most research-producing profs teach at or near the same rate as non-researching profs (typically 3/4 teaching load is considered the ideal situation), so the taxpayers are getting their money's-worth - actually, when you figure in how many graduate students teach for a fraction of what profs are paid, research-producing profs and their groups are actually a better value.

Now, research is rarely funded by the university itself, about 90-95% of research funding comes from outside sources - and the "internal" sources are still from university foundations and endowments, not taxpayer funds or tuition.

You can say, "But the university provides facilities for the research!" and this is true. But remember each research group typically saves about $100K in professor salaries annually, not to mention making the university more attractive to undergrads, thus increasing the university's appeal and allowing it to charge more for tuition.

Anyway, my point here is that saying "But the taxpayers paid for this research through university funds!" is by no means a clear-cut argument.

Congress just recently passed legislation saying that any papers produced and at least partially funded by the NIH must be made public within one year of publication. This, of course, is dependent upon the NIH making an actual database for this, and Cthulhu only knows how long that will take.

http://publicaccess.nih.gov/

Or for any place that has a restaurant serving onions or garlic.

Until last year, I have about a ten-year history of two Sanyo phones. Both have been dropped in water (one in a pond when I took a tumble hiking, the other took two spills into the tub thanks to my damn cat pushing it off the edge). Both continued to function admirably, not even needing to be dried out.

Can't speak for the GP, but I bought my 1st-gen Nexus 7 from Staples when the new models came out and they were clearing out the old stock ($150), and I'm pretty sure I got the accidental damage plan for 10% ($15), specifically because it was going in my DnD bag and getting thrown around with a bunch of big-ass books.

One of only two plans I have ever purchased, and haven't had to use either, but I am still pleased with both decisions.

It definitely depends on the person/usage. As a rule, I don't buy accidental damage plans or extended warranties (and have never regretted this rule), but back when consumer GPSes were brand-new (2000 or so), I bought one for myself and for my brother specific for a backpacking trip in the Rockies, and got the accidental damage plan for both ($20 bucks on $200 units, I think) because, well, they aren't called the "Fluffy Pillow Mountains." Never had to use the plans, but it was great not having to worry overmuch about damaging brand-new GPS units during their first two weeks of ownership. $40 well spent just to be able to enjoy that trip in its fullest.

Or you lose a little bit of money to be sure that you don't lose a lot of money when the government impounds your car because you didn't pay your government-mandated corporate extortion fee to privately-owned Geico and its stockholders.