Also check out the Forex markets. Brokerages like IBFX.com use MT4 which has an open API of sorts. (I am just beginning to look at this myself... For similar reasons to the OP). Some nice things about Forex is that most brokers use the spread for their fees, no other fees or commissions. Also, forex has some nice margins. (50:1 leverage). Together, this means that you can trade for much lower investment than in markets like NASDAQ.

Disclaimer: as I mentioned, I am just now beginning to look into / learn about forex, so I may have completely mangled things.

Well, any time there is an apocalypse story, I have to post a link to DoomsdayPie.com...

Well yeah, its already begun!

I would think that the banks would have dedicated systems that would not even know how to go to such an infected site. Just because a device has an operating system and programs running on it, doesn't mean it has the ability to interpret a url and use it to retrieve content from the internet. (For example, my 2003 Taurus is not at risk of getting an infection from a malicious web site, but yes it has a computer that processes input from the outside world.)

On the other hand, I could see small businesses using said QR codes to authenticate larger bills. But they would probably do so with some software running on a PC, iPad, etc....

Great! You can still check out Doomsday Pie and find out that you aren't the only one fighting off zombies as everyone will be tweeting the Zombie Apocalypse in real time.

Plague / Pandemic is still only #3 at Doomsday Pie. So I will continue to place my fear and worry in the Zombie Apocalypse. Hrm... or maybe West Nile is the precursor of some zombie virus....

Looks like I need a new category for DoomsdayPie.com.

Natural Selection is a mechanism that results in Evolution. Though they are related, the debate over Evolution is very different from the debate over Natural Selection in a religion vs. science context. I think that both sides tend to forget this in their enthusiasm.

A UHF antenna made from a coat hanger does a fine job of pulling in digital OTA broadcasts. Now I can honestly say that the crap on TV is worth every penny.

A UHF antenna made from a coat hanger does a fine job of pulling in digital OTA broadcasts.

Here are some instructions for building a dirt cheap antenna. I have this one in my attic and it pulls in stations from 50 miles away. Not bad for some 14 gauge wire, a 2x4 and some aluminum foil. And I agree that the HD looks way better. My TV viewing is now worth every penny ;-)

Gray-Hoverman Antenna

I have found some of the AI challenges out there to be refreshing. Had a lot of fun with the Netflix challenge a while back (even though I didn't do terribly well). Here is one that Google is sponsoring right now... http://aichallenge.org/

Yeah, my frustration was more in response to some of the other comments. Reminded me of similar attitudes that I see on other tech forums. Like the kind of thing where someone asks how to do something in language X and the responses are that language X is dead and useless and that they should be using language Y instead. If you don't know the answer to the question, there is no need to reply. If you can't imagine why someone is STILL using language X, it doesn't mean that there isn't a legitimate reason.

I don't have a need for a CapsLock. And if I (in my geeky prowess) can't think of any reason that someone would want one, there can't possibly be a legitimate need for one. Get rid of it now!

I was surprised by how how many unix people at my last job didn't know about 'top'...