It's nice and snappy on my $200 netbook...

WTF? Of all the anti-US drivel on slashdot, this is some of the stupidest. Tipping is custom, not corruption. It isn't for the right to get access to government service, it's something done in private businesses.

Two party system is wonderful. Take a look at the recent election Greece, where the far left party forms a nonsensical coalition of the far-left and far right. Or in England, where party that received the most support is kept out of power by a similar coalition.

And the economy of Europe is being pulled up by Northern/European counties? Have you read a paper in the last year or two? Europe's economy is in the shitter and going down.

Is the US not getting things done? It has the highest rate of worker productivity, the economy is growing, it has the largest manufacturing economy in the world by a large margin, top colleges are basically all US, Nobel prize winners are more US than elsewhere, government patent filings are mostly US, and the US has won the world series for like 20 years in a row. The lack of government subsidizing of ethernet to some bumfuck exurb is just a sign that the US doesn't treat broadband as an inherent right of being a citizen, and personally I would agree.

WTF? If you want a super portable game machine, buy a gameboy.

Western Europe, where 5% of the global population thinks they are most of the world...

Nonsense. Every carrier offers a bring-your-own-phone plan, and T-Mobile doesn't offer a discount, they just don't offer a subsidized phone option at all. WTF why are you ranting about something you clearly know nothing about?

Just because pull-down menus are a great idea for Turbotax, doesn't make them the best idea for a webbrowser. The "good" one wastes screen space on stupid pull-down menus that will never get used. For a program used on occasion, yes it is a very good idea to follow standards strictly. But plenty of people do basically nothing on their computers but use the web-browser and Office. I think it's best to optimize these programs interfaces to actual use, irrespective of general standards.

I just spent 2 seconds to turn on the pull-down menus to my browser...and a File menu? WTF? How often do you need that?

I can not believe anybody would suggest that WWI marked the begin of the strength of the British Navy. You know absolutely nothing about history and you shouldn't be talking about it with an air of authority. What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

But here we sit, arguing about whether people should be able to use their cars as they see fit.
Except that's not what's being argued. People can still use their cars as they see fit, they just have to pay more for licensing and insurance, to cover the increased road use and insurance liabilities. That sounds a lot more reasonable and realistic then a complete overhaul of the "goddamned" health care service.

And, Uber isn't a ride-share program where you find people to tag along on your road trip. It's an unlicensed taxi service. I doubt a proliferation of slightly cheaper taxis keeps a non-trivial number of people from purchasing a car of their own.

I prefer civ 3 but civ 5 is way better than 4 if you have the mods. I understand civ 5 was borderline unplayable when it first came out and of course that sucks, but it's since been taken care of. If that's the reason you left give it another try... Leonard Nimoy's voice is the only thing I miss from 4. Not that 4 was 5, just 5 has similar, clearly superior gameplay.

From your link, ~1.6% is the average for the year. Dec 2014 was: 0.76% hence my "these days"

Trumpet was a pretty easy way to connect to the internet with Windows 95. Sure, Windows should have had TCP/IP but if there's an easy workaround, who really cares? Anyway this is 20 years ago, it's like refusing to buy an iPhone because you hate how Apple got rid of 3.5" disk drives way too early.

And Openoffice & iwork have been around for years now, and are still obviously inferior to MS Office.

What a ridiculous idea...you're on an internet forum, and you're not swearing at each other? Thanks a lot George W Bush!

Actually, these days 1.4% is probably higher than current inflation.
And it's too low given the differential risks to 4% inflation vs 0% or 0.5% deflation.

In the long run, everything will be fine.

Of course in the long run we'll all be dead.

Fwiw radio shack actually does carry a selection of contact-free phones.