EBook readers are much simpler than tablets.
I expect much of what we are seeing is that most of the people who want(ed) one ... have it now.
Battery life is soo good and processor usage is low, that you don't need to update them every year or two.

I have two Kindles ... the first is >5 yrs old now and still works great.

How about tell that to Apple?

I can see marking it as cheaper ... but if Amazon marks down to $0.00 ... what's their cut? They are still hosting which has it's own costs (albeit small-ish)

Per:
      http://www.vancouversun.com/news/earthquake+hits+Haida+Gwaii+Region/7459506/story.html

... the second largest to hit the country since 1949, when another earthquake was recorded in the same area with a magnitude of 8.1.

Emphasis mine

So no.

First Item is $100.
Second Item is $30 (you pay $15)

Total savings is 100*(1-(115 / 130)) = 11.5% savings

If you had 20% off on all ... you would be well ahead.

Break even point is if Item 2 is $66.67
Any less and 20% is the better deal
Any more and buy one, get half off is the better deal

Solved that with Algemebra

'cause I am SMRT (doh!)

Isn't this kind of like asking the concierge for a dinner suggestion and being referred to a restaurant in the hotel rather than outside?
If I ask someone who runs a landscaping company who I should get to mow my lawn ... I have a pretty good idea in advance what they are going to say.

Meh ... I never bothered upgrading two of my machines (main office and laptop) and still use Vista.
With decent drivers I don't mind.

I still find 7 annoying for hiding too much stuff. Vista is bad in this sense, but 7 is worse.

UAC I have (unfortunately) kept enabled ... we are a software company and I need to know when things fail due to that to support our customers.

Or more generally ...

Any programming related to simulating real-life scenarios often involves higher math. I wanted to write a simulator for curling (go ahead make fun of me ... my friends do) ... The actual forces involved governing a spinning rock sliding down bumpy ice are VERY complex before you even get to the collisions.

So ... if you are doing DB programming or non-game web programming, you may be able to avoid math, but if you are trying to simulate any real life situations, count on requiring a little more math.

NEVER rely on a single source for anything of any importance!

I rely on my wife for sex. How is that wrong?

What I find most odd about this ...
      "... when an emergency arises"

Assuming you own a gun (which I expect you do based on the tone of the comment) ... what percentage of the time do you use your gun in an emergency situation vs not?

And your friends with guns?

IF I were to have a gun it would be for sport not protection.

There have been commercially available disguised handcuff keys for a long time.
This one isn't terrible, but not the best I have seen either.

http://theawesomer.com/bracelet-with-handcuff-key/144904/

Note: The people most likely to want to get away after being apprehended are both guilty AND repeat offenders. The second factor being a group that might have the foresight to wear such a thing.

From the summary:

Goldman and Sachs itself had decided against investing in Lernout & Hauspie two years previous to this because they were lying about their Asian sales.

It's not that they didn't check or didn't advise that they didn't check.
They had evidence to suggest it was a bad idea (they would not invest with L&H) and did not disclose that.

It was all about getting the commission and nothing about ethics or doing right by their customer.

This however is exactly the point, though not for the purpose of violating privacy.
Like bandwidth, providers have to provide for the the peaks.

This allows them to better plan their power systems instead of guessing where they need switches and more redundancy.

Agree that if a bad guy can nefariously check my usage and determine I am away by remotely reading the signal while parked in the street, this is concerning. As long as the data is collected in real-time but analysed after the fact, my concern / objection goes away.

Depends on just how FAST you are speeding.
At least where I am from ... going sufficiently fast becomes criminal in the form of criminal negligence ... even if you cause no accident / damage / death.

Not so much.
I had a problem with my dishwasher and nothing was available online without spending $50
If it was free I would have done it my self DESPITE it being under warranty

Samsung then had to pay a local person to come fix it for me.

Flip side ... I wanted an ANDROID phone (Motorola Razr or Sony xPeria) but my provider was unwilling to sell to me (full price) without also getting a 3 YEAR data contract.

In the end for me, the iPhone was more open in the sense that I could just buy it.