It's also a return deterrant. Once you've shredded the package, you're much less likely to try and return it if you don't like it. Still, you could solve that by using a tear away strip. The packaging is irrepairably damaged, but the product is then easy to get out.

Another key advantage is that it's very effective at protecting goods in shipping. It makes a very good shock absorber and it's very hard to damage the product inside. Unless you work in manufacturing or product development, you probably don't realize how much damage and vibration boxes suffer in the back of a truck.

Professionalism.

99% of my customers run Windows and MS Office. That's the standard business environment. By sticking with it, I have fewer problems exchanging documents with my customers. That's a business expense that has to be accounted for. If your staff or customers can't open a spreadsheet, they're wasting their time and they drag IT into it, wasting more resources, and on top of that, you have angry, frustrated customers.

Personally, I like Outlook as a mail client. However, Exchange is awful to deal with. It's just not geared towards the smaller business. I would definately recommend either outsourcing the mail server or using something less complex. What you ultimately use will probably be dictated by what type of phones your employees carry.

The problem is that most consumers don't have a proper Windows install disc. Microsoft long ago quit mandating that manufactures include a generic Windows disc in their packaging. Some manufacturers let you do a plain reinstall as part of the recovery process, some reload all the crapware. So for them to get a clean Windows install, either they have to pay someone (such as the Microsoft Store) or bother a friend/acquaintance such as you or me to do it for them. Frankly, I'm tired of doing that. Usually, I just tell people to run "msconfig.exe" and uncheck everything under the startup tab. Hell, I do that at the office just due to the crap that we load on to PCs that thinks it needs to autostart.

The problem with this, as I see it, is that it cuts both ways. If search results imply that Glen Beck did something unsavory to a young girl in 1990, Google could find that they have to clean up those results as soon as someone complains about it. Even more so for autocomplete suggestions. This is an awkward and dangerous path for Google to try and walk. I really think they're better off by washing their hands of any editiorial culpability and hiding behind the shield of "proceedurally generated content".

Still, I really hope that Mr. Volokh gets nominated to the Supreme Court some day. There are some other members of the Volokh Conspiracy that I'd be happy to see on the court as well.

I don't know why you would. If you've been to a big box hardware store lately, you'd see that there are quite a few LED bulbs available now (rated at 20-30 years) for half that price.

Also, generally speaking, LED bulbs don't burn out, but they do burn down. Heat damages them over time (that's why they've got giant heat-sinks) and they produce less light. The 20-25 year life on the bulb is when they predict it will be down to 70% brightness. And that's why I'm installing 75W or 90W equivilents instead of 60W. Also, if it costs me less to light a room, I want it brighter. Most rooms in my house are on dimmer switches, so there's really now downside to installing a brighter bulb.

Apparently you don't work in product development or technical support. First of all, all of the OEMs who build home computers don't want those extra features in the home version. The reason is that a lot of unqualified customers will start experimenting and causing problems. Those features won't be set up or used correctly. And when the problems start, that means more angry customers calling tech support. This is expensive and time consuming for the manufacturer (who is expected to provide the front line support due to the pricing they receive from Microsoft).

Frankly, Microsoft is learning to simplify. Windows 7 came in 6 different versions for the x86 platform. This is 2. It also makes sense. Why should the home users be subsidizing the development of buisness class features that they don't want or need? This really is about as good as we can expect from Microsoft.

If someone is tampering with their meter, they are a criminal and should be prosecuted. Everyone who tampers with their meter raises the rates for honest customers, like me. Most utilities are natural monopolies and their pricing is tightly regulated. Yes, whoever built meters that are so easily tampered with should be sued out of existance as well.

Lastly, having pricing that more accurately reflects the cost of the power supplied potentially creates more efficient usage. While some power plants can be spun up and down very easily, others (like nuclear) have a fairly static output. So if you can shift some things from high demand times to low demand times, power becomes cheaper for everyone. I run my dishwasher in the middle of the night (it has a delayed start option, so I can set it and forget it). For responsible people, this is a win all around.

Their point is that the arrangement of items that are public domain or otherwise free can still be protected by copyright. However, this is a very narrow protection. If Boundless is using their textbook to create a 'free' clone, it's quite possible that they're crossing the line of infringement. This is very much a gray area of copyright.

The first place I worked had an enclosure decorated with strands of randomly blinking christmas lights. It was a piece of equipment that I didn't know what it was used for. I think I was there a year before someone explained to me that it wasn't functional and had not been in operation for almost a decade.

They have .jp domain names that could potentially be siezed. That would be highly disruptive. I'm sure that they also have assets in Japanese banks and do business inside the country. In short, they have plenty of assets under the jurisdiction of Japanese courts should they fail to comply with the court's order. Not being an expert on the local laws of Japan, I can't tell you how relevant the location of the physical server is, but I'd bet it's not that important to the case at hand.