I owned a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis until last November. In total:
$200/month for gas (7 mile daily commute, 50 mile biweekly visit, 50 mile weekend adventure, 18 mpg)
$120/month for maintenance
$50/month for insurance
$10/month for tolls
---
$380/month in operating expenses

The Grand Marquis broke ($5000 in repairs needed). I now own a 2008 Toyota Yaris. In total:
$100/month in gas (holy crap fuel savings!)
$18/month in maintenance (obviously not sustainable, oil changes only)
$62/month in insurance
$10/month in tolls
---
$190/month in operating expenses

Owning a car is the second largest expense in my monthly budget (housing is first) which is not "Blow Money". I have never had car payments, and I drive significantly less than those around me. I suspect that I am not alone in this recognition of car expense. I live in Orlando and do not pay for parking/garage fees.

I will give up my car when a robocar which can take me to/from work, on a weekend adventure, and can be insured for less than $400/month. I will do so without hesitation, as the time gains are substantial.

Or not. The following short story presents a picture where, instead of being slaves to robots, we may enslave them instead.
http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

Someone please tag this. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong.

The benchmark isn't $45M. This can and will continue to happen until the security problems are fixed. If you don't want your ATM to be a Quik-E-Mart you are going to have to upgrade security.

Regular here. Hacked my teacher's computer in high school. I will have a PhD in Computer Engineering next month.

Correlation is not causation, of course, but an interest in "computers" leading to "using computers" and "degree in computers" isn't much or a stretch.

Hmm... A complaint about sending unneeded and unwanted food to people that want and need need it? That got modded up?

I suppose that you would have us destroy the food, rather than give it to hungry people? Because it will make the farmers for these starving people richer?

I'm curious, what should we do with the excess crop?

I am more interested in what Slashdotters have to say on the subject than anyone else. Typically a story like this plays out as follows:
NPR/BBC - here are the unbiased details of the story
BS news - OMG Explosion! Think of the children/town/nation! The government should do something/nothing!
Slashdot - here are similar stories (ammonia nitrate-related disasters), chemical discussion, physics of the matter.

MOD PARENT UP. Half my kingdom for mod points.

iGoogle is a fantastic product. One of the best software services that I use daily.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said that we were going to stop? We are just trying to extend the practice to new locations! Those people from Alpha Centauri think they're better than us pure Earthlings.

Pretend for a moment that our current energy needs are met 100% through non-renewable sources:
gas, coal, oil, fission

What would make you think that there is one solution which replaces these? What makes you think it is biomass?

In reality, we will probably meet these needs through another combination of 'renewable' energy sources:
wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass sources (algae, sugar beets), space-based sources (collection/transmission)

Additionally, our energy issues, like financial issues, are related to spending as well as creating. A more complete solution involves:
more (or less) efficient electronics, 'offer' off states, more efficient heating/cooling/lighting, better reuse of 'waste' heating/cooling, increased storage and storage time for batteries, more conductive transmission of power, quicker start up and cool down of generation facilities, repurposing (or double-purposing) existing land/roof space for generation/storage, and many more incremental improvements.

We have quite a bit of biomass, and we would like to use it for power in addition to all our other supply. This is part of a larger solution, and should not be criticized with the point of "This can only be PART of the solution". Take joy in the advancements when they come.

A handsome young Cyborg named Ace,
Wooed women at every base,
But once ladies glanced at
His special enhancement
They vanished with nary a trace.

-- Barracks Graffiti,
Sparta Command

GRUE - get it right! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_(monster)

For the record, you may refer to this as a "Letter of Marque" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque). Also, if you are pirating with the blessing of your Government (say, because you paid a tax to do so), you may officially refer to yourself as a "Privateer" (official pirate).

This posting removes a moderation, but education of slashdot on the subject of the patriotic/profitable practice of Officially-Sanctioned Vessels/Crews for Stealing is a worthy cause.