Leave it to the WSJ to be 15+ years behind the times in figuring this out.

Gas filled triple panes made a *very* big difference for me. Several friends of mine did their windows and say the same thing. The difference is night and day. No doubt about it.

I did the same about 5 years ago. Triple pane, xenon(?) gas filled, with UV glass on the outside pane. Luckily I live on a relatively quiet road so noise isn't much of a problem to begin with, but times like now when the temperature is about 70F and I have all the doors and windows open reminds me of how it was before. With doors and windows closed I can rarely hear any outside noise. I did it for insulation reasons, but after it was done I was amazed at how much it eliminated outside noise.

I have to agree. I have one of each. The Neato XV-11 is "smart" and 2 years later I'm still on my first battery. I don't remember the XV-21 from when I bought my XV-11. If I was buying one now I'd get the XV-21. I use it for all the rooms (1 floor) except the master bedroom in which some of the furniture is too low for the Neato to get under.

The Roomba I now only use in my master bedroom. Gone through 2 batteries in 2 years, and *every* time it finishes I have to remove the "brushes" and cut (with small surgical scissors) the hair, carpet fibers and such that collect on the ends. It is *really* a PITA. The only advantage is it's a bit shorter than the Neato so it can get under a few things the Neato can't.

Of course - The government is so in cahoots with corporations and corporate welfare they want competition killed. The voters of any state who allow such a law to be passed deserve exactly what they get. They voted for their lawmakers. Let them live with the laws the lawmakers make. These days the corporations are important, not the "people". Oh, wait! Corporations ARE people (NOT). Yet, people vote against their own interests all the time. That's just the way it is.

This isn't the days of early telephone communications. These days people who live so far out that they need government assistance for broadband internet should get together with others in their area, form a cooperative and do it without asking me for money (through federal taxes) so that they can get broadband. This is not to mention the billions the telecoms have already been given to provide solutions. These days they slap on a tax and then end up using it for something entirely different, anyway. Should *we* be paying for Dick Cheney's "cabin" in the wilds of Wyoming to get broadband access?

My girlfriend likes mine, or so she says... ;)

Assange isn't hiding. Why do you keep saying he is? The whole world knows exactly where he is. The two girls who accused him traveled off to who knows where. All this over Sweden wanting to "question" him? Get friggin' real. If Sweden wasn't in cahoots with the US in an extradition agreement of some sort, the ass hats in Sweden could travel to the UK and question him. The two girls were *groupies*. They wanted his penis in them. Nothing more, nothing less. If they gave a damn they would have stayed in Sweden to press charges. Serious sex crime? Give me a break. Two groupies became pissed off when they talked and found out he was fucking both of them. Cry me a river...

It depends. For example vBulletin has their "Tachy goes to Coventry" option. I did use it in the past but haven't now for several years because all the person has to do, assuming the site is open to the public as my forums are, log out and view the thread their post is in (or if it's a thread they started and thus just has their post in it, just look at the forum listing they posted in) and they will see their post/thread isn't there. No need for a different user account. What I do with all spammers is BAN them. In vBulletin it locks out that email address. The spammer may have many, but since it's time consuming to make another account and try again, especially when they see their first attempt failed, they generally go away. NOTE: I'm referring to HUMAN spammers as opposed to script BOTs, which are a whole different story. I found a way, and it has nothing to do with IP or email address blocks, to completely block script bots from completing the Registration process in my forum. I just put in a timer so that if it takes less than 10 seconds (you can set the time you want, I chose 10 seconds) for "someone" to complete the registration, it's going to be a script bot so the registration is aborted. I just last Saturday saw a wave of script bots start registering. I personally have never seen so many script bots in such a short time on my site. A long time ago I set up the board with "non-standard" screens to post in or start a new thread in {I edited templates} so the bots don't know how to post or start a new thread on my forum so they couldn't actually post any spam. But - It was annoying me - something like 45+ BOT registrations in less than 6 hours. I put the registration timer in and BAM - No more BOT registrations. Script BOTs are relatively easy to defeat if you remember that 1. They are FAST, and 2. They are just scripts, so when they run into a situation that they're not programed for (such as "non-standard screens) they have to stop. As always, YMMV

I agree. I sell ads on my sites directly to companies. I have never solicited ads, companies contact me wanting to advertise, so obviously the advertisements are relevant to visitors. I keep things simple. I make it clear that I don't track clicks, I don't track using cookies, and they get an ad spot which is theirs for as long as they want. There is no ad rotation. Ads are .gif or .jpg files on the server and unless someone blocks images (which would make the sites useless) they will see the ad. They can look up site statistics (I post them monthly) but other than that, nothing. I also ensure the advertiser fully understands I sell advertising space as "Brand" advertising. Most of my advertisers have run for over 4 or 5 years (such as Underwriters Laboratories). I have not had an opening for a new ad on a site since around June 2011. Several of the advertisers track their ads by giving me a distinct URL for their ad and some send me their stats now and again. I thank them but as I tell them, I know nothing about how they figure out their ROI or any other aspect of advertising on the web. Point is, apparently they're all happy or they would be staying on year after year. I will say I probably sell ad space relatively cheaply, but I'd rather have long term, consistent income than try to gouge an advertiser and lose them.

What ever. This is the company that did my windows and sliding glass doors and the front door: Gilkey Windows. I'd have to dig in my files to see who I hired for the attic insulation, the insulated garage door (attached garage) and the door in the back of the garage (also triple pane, argon filled with UV film). The house was built in 1967 and I've had a lot of work done on it over the last 7 or 8 years. It has single pane windows that leaked like a sieve. This house is tight as a drum now. I can have the place at 72 inside when it's 105+ outside and the AC hardly breaks a sweat keeping it cool in summer. And in winter, its really cheap to heat. Still Renovating, though.

A few years ago I replaced all glass (windows, sliding glass doors, etc.) with triple pane, argon filled, and they also have a UV film on them. The difference (after also adding 18"+ of attic insulation) is unbelievable.

You do know, of course, that your reply files in the face of the GOP Platform for education. Sorry, no critical thinking allowed. ;) (No points to give today but your posts are right on- +100)

No mod points to give today, but +100 - I wasn't directly involved until the 1980's but I do know the history and you're right on. I was working for a defense contractor and also saw quite a lot of the pre-history of what we have today.

I was even running a POTS BBS running BBS-PC on an Amiga 1000 from 1986 to 1990. Not the internet, I know, but my motivation was working with was the "internet" at work at the time. I started my first internet web site in 1995, all hand coded (no WYSIWYG program) and it went public on 5 January 1996 (that one is still online today).

I'm also in the "Stay Off My Lawn" stage of life and am continually amazed at the expansion and evolution of electronics and communications. When I was in college I was lucky to have a portable electric Olivetti typewriter and Sharp 4 function "portable" calculator which would run on AC or it's internal rechargeable batteries (I still have it in storage!). That Sharp was great for physics and math classes and it only did add, subtract, multiply and divide. I bet you, like me, remember the time period where slide rules became obsolete for all intents and purposes.

So are the airlines. What's your point?