is ndiswrapper too much to expect of anyone to use, even the easy as hell to use gui for wireless because it isn't installed by default?
ndiswrapper probably isn't necessary. The software was most likely VZ Access Manager, which is just a modem dialer. Ubuntu recognizes the modem, so you only need to tell it what number to dial: #777. I'm a total linux noob and managed to get WWAN setup on Ubuntu.
Have they perhaps considered that it's the hallucinations that somehow drive the craving for coffee, and not the other way around?
Yes. FTA:
However, they also suggest that people who are more prone to hallucinations could also be more stressed and more likely to consume large amounts of caffeine.
There is no mention of the control group.
No, there's not, but they did mention that they polled them about a variety of questions, including their caffeine use. The control group would be the subset of those 200 people who admitted to not drinking caffeine.
ANYONE can raise them in a clean, sterile environment for very little in the way of captial
I dunno. To me, "clean, sterile environment" means "no bugs."
The best book on programming for the layman is "Alice in Wonderland"; but that's because it's the best book on anything for the layman.