Productivity:
--Ubuntu (base OS)
--Openoffice (office tasks)
--Gimp (photo editing, photoshop alternative, lacks CMYK though)
--Inkscape (vector editing, illustrator alternative)
--Scribus (book/graphic design, vector+photos on multi pages, indesign alternative)
--Gmail (email)
--Google apps (professional gmail, sending from yourdomain.com vs. gmail)
--Simple webpage for reservation system (if you take reservations)


The biggest issue on top of this is the POS and accounting functions. I haven't researched open source tools for this and you don't want to mess these up. I'd pay for something decent in this area.

The subway expansion in LA was halted due to large methane deposits and not earthquakes. However, that is no longer the case and they are just finalizing the surveying before breaking ground with the TBMs (tunnel boring machines). To bring this back on topic, it might take another 2-3 years to get the subway in LA and then maybe another 10-20 years to get cell service in the subways. I'm surprised cellular carriers don't sell and price service based on your home location. Some areas are much more expensive to service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westside_Subway_Extension

On top of this, you will also need to manage turning access on and off to each unit, collecting monthly/annual revenue from each user, changing rate limiting settings for each user based on the amount they have purchased, dealing with DMCA complaints and any other law enforcement requests since you would be an ISP, blocking spam from being pumped from your network, servicing customer service requests when the service is not working or users don't know how to configure equipment, handling equipment or wiring failures, etc. You would be basically starting your own ISP and your own company without really knowing how to run an ISP (based on the fact you are asking these questions).

Actually installing the wiring and the equipment to run this operation really isn't that bad (as long as you get some professional advice). The trouble is managing the service and maintaining it. Have you tried reaching out to established ISPs to see if they will manage this for you and draw a fat pipe to your building in exchange for something (minimum user guarantee or the primary ISP for the tenants or a required connection as part of condo fees)? I have seen local ISPs draw a line to condo and office buildings and then sell portions of that line and manage the system. I have also seen condo buildings have a dedicated satellite connection (cable tv) and only offer that single satellite provider service to tenants.

Very good points and I agree. People starve in other countries and we demand fast and nearly free internet access all the time. Since our economy and society are built on capitalism there is the constant desire to consume more. So naturally the more you consume and the more things improve, the more you increase your expectations of your base needs. However, if everyone came to this realization that they didn't need everything, then the economy would fall apart since people would stop consuming and wanting the newest items.

You do realize that the price of oil is not set by the oil companies? It's set by the global commodities trading market and largely OPEC, which is a monopoly / oligarchy. It is naive to think that just because the oil companies sell oil that they can control the price of it. You should be complaining about trading markets and financial firms that seek to gain on artificially raising the price of a commodity.

Back on topic, I don't like the high price of Verizon's services either but then I don't like the high price of a Ferrari or any other luxury car. At the end of the day, a cell phone can be considered a luxury. Do you really need to make a phone call anywhere at any time? Do you really need to check that email immediately? Maybe you do need those services but do you need the super fast speed of LTE? There are plenty of alternative cell phone networks and there are plenty of alternative data connections. But Verizon is offering the fastest and newest technology (LTE) and selling it at a premium. Yet you complain that this luxury service is not offered at bargain prices. If you want unlimited cell service or cheaper service, go with the carriers that are offering it. But if you want premium features that Verizon is offering, then you better be prepared to pay for it.

This attitude that you deserve the newest and fastest service at a super low price is the same greed that drives Verizon to raise their prices and put limits on the data usage.

You are commenting on this from a consumer perspective. If you want to understand why verizon is doing this you must think from the business perspective. A business wants to increase their profits and increase their margins continuously. In order to do this you either expand into new markets or increase your profit on current markets. Their biggest growing market right now is data on their faster LTE network. They increase their profits by making you pay for the LTE connection. Then they guarantee future profits by limiting your data usage now since they know your data usage will only grow in the future and make them more money.

Just because you want a cheap and unlimited and super fast connection doesn't mean that makes business sense. I'm guessing you still pay for a cell phone but complain about the price. If you don't like it, then don't buy it and the business will adapt. But last I checked, their business is booming and they are making very healthy profits. So clearly they are doing something right even though you personally don't like it.

From a business standpoint, offering an unlimited plan on a service that can push 20+Mbps would kill them down the road. They want mass adoption on LTE but they don't want people to destroy the network early on or even. I think the carriers have learned from the 3G unlimited plan mistake. Back in the day using your phone as a data connection was a joke and it was almost pure profit for the carriers. So they throw an unlimited tag on it to make a ton of money. But now that people actually use it an unlimited plan would kill the business. AT&T just went on the record in the past week saying that the unlimited 3G service killed them and was a major mistake.

Take a look at the history of their services. SMS plans are moving to unlimited because those are pure profit. Even calling plans are being offered as unlimited because people are moving towards data and the cost to transmit voice is becoming very low. Data is the future and they want caps on it to milk it as much as possible.

I use the integrated GPU for a 4th monitor. I drive 3 displays from a discrete card and then the 4th from the CPU. It saves the cost, hassle, power, weird driver issues, from putting in two graphics cards. Yes, I could go the route of a displayport hub but those are expensive and it limits the throughput of the monitors. I'm not going to be gaming on the 4th monitor but do want to display more info.

I have major doubts that the US will recognize or abide by Sealand's "sovereignty". The US has a history of violating sovereignty and getting away with it. Extracting Bin Laden from the nuclear armed nation Pakistan without permission? Flying drones in Iranian airspace? If someone or something is labeled an enemy of the US, sovereignty or nuclear weapons won't stop them from invading or entering that area. If nuclear weapons aren't even a deterrent (Pakistan), then what makes you think that Sealand, with absolutely no defenses, will be able to protect its servers?

Those issues aside, how do you protect the internet connection or power connection to your mini island? Anyone supplying power or internet to Sealand will be deemed responsible for supporting their actions and the US will step in and stop them. Also, the US could setup an embargo against Sealand. US embargos against nations work extremely well. Iran is extremely scared at the prospect of the US imposing sanctions against them and setting up an embargo. How is North Korea doing with their isolation? Sealand doesn't stand a chance. It will only help the US. They'll be able to step in and take the servers and only risk the wrath of Sealand citizens (do they even exist)?

IANAL. Conspiracy to commit a felony can be punished pretty severely as is evidenced by this situation. Some people will argue that this tramples rights because you cannot even read something without risk of going to jail. The flip side is how do you arrest someone that is planning on blowing up a building without this law? Do you wait until they blow up the building so you can actually arrest them? What about someone planning to kill someone or rape someone? Do you wait until they commit the crime to arrest them or arrest them when you have enough evidence that they are planning to commit the crime? What if someone was planning to kill you or blow you up? Wouldn't you want them arrested BEFORE they killed you?

So I guessed last week that they did a man in the middle attack on the control channel. However, at the time I didn't consider the GPS connection as part of the control channel (silly me). Now how do we build anti-GPS spoofing receivers?

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2564952&cid=38307186

You didn't read all of my comment: "...rely on cameras to help determine where they are to correct for this error in the absence of gps but what if the cameras were blinded as well?"

I've seen those reports. But I'm guessing that's assuming it can still get a proper GPS signal. If you rely solely on expensive accelerometers, gyros, etc. without a gps signal then there's no way you are going to make it 50+ miles back to a safe landing zone without a significant amount of inaccuracy in your position. Lots of missiles rely on cameras to help determine where they are to correct for this error in the absence of gps, but what if the cameras were blinded as well? Blinding a cruise missile is pretty hard seeing how fast it is moving and that it is designed to hug the ground. But a stealth drone that is not supposed to be seen and flies at slow speeds and at a high altitude makes it easier to track than the missile (although its still probably hard).

Although, I must admit, if you had asked me three years ago if the signals to drones would be unencrypted I would have said that was impossible and they would definitely encrypted that channel. So maybe we give the US government and their contractors too much credit and this thing actually landed itself in Iranian territory...

This was reported that people were able to capture the video that was sent out by drones: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html

Hopefully they encrypted the control channel and just sent the video in the clear? Honestly, I've tried to think how they got their hands on this drone and hacking the control channel seems like the only possible way. Since the drone was undamaged they didn't shoot it down and it didn't just run out of gas. Even if they jammed the GPS receiver, there's no way the US would just land the drone. They would have it pre-programmed to circle until it ran out of gas then crash itself into the ground to make sure no one recovered it completely. They would just hope that they it either re-established a GPS fix and followed way points home or the control channel came back online and they could remotely control it before it ran out of fuel. So the only plausible explanation is that the control channel was hacked and it was safely landed. But in order to do that you would need to jam the satellite broadcast but allow your connection to be received by the plane. Maybe they have a plane flying above the drone that creates destructive interference with the satellite signal and then broadcasts it's own signal to the drone below? This would basically be a man in the middle attack against the drone. If you just jam the satellite, then the drone's receiver will also pick up the jammed signal and will have a hard time receiving your pirate broadcast. Or maybe you just send a set of spoofed commands to the drone, like land at xyz, then you jam the control signal so no one can cancel those commands.

Either that or this is a fake.

Personally, I'd still take a CYA stance in this situation. If you return the documents or tell anyone you have them you are admitting to a crime by proving that you took the documents and had them in your possession. This is really the worst case situation because you could be sued civilly and potentially have criminal charges brought against you. At this point you can only hope the company doesn't take action against you. Also, I believe that you are not blackmailing them for these documents but who's to say they believe that? What if they think you destroyed the original copies and then kept some for yourself. Then you make money by them coming back to you and getting paid as a consultant who just so happens to have copies of the missing documents. Your intentions don't matter; the law and what lawyers can prove matter. You are taking an insane amount of risk by keeping these documents and also by bringing them back. Why expose yourself to so much risk? Would the company do the same for you?

To the other posters that said these things happen and documents are accidentally left here or there: Intellectual property is an extremely valuable asset to any company. You are potentially holding on to something that is worth a lot of money to the company. If you were an accountant or say someone physically handling money, would you accidentally leave $100, $1,000 or more dollars at your house or the companies' money while you were counting those bills or handling checks? No way. You would make sure every cent was accounted for and returned to the company. Do you think intellectual property is any different? In many cases it is even worse because a single pdf or notebook could be worth millions. Before you take that notebook home in the future, check your company policy, are you even allowed to remove items like this from the company? Get written approval from your boss that you can remove these items and work on them from home. But make sure that If you are planning to sever ties with the company, search your computers and your files for company information and return them (assuming you had permission to take them in the first place. If you didn't, then you are back to the original problem). Once again, IANAL and this is not legal advice.