Hell, just turn on a popup blocker. I've been a heavy internet user for 18 years now, and I've never had porn just pop up out of nowhere. Seriously, the only time I've had porn appear on my browser is when I went poking around adult web sites, in which case I can hardly act surprised.

I'm sick of people perpetuating this strange myth that on the internet, you can be just casually reading web pages about cabbages and WHAM, porn comes zooming out of nowhere to take over your screen.

Also, people have to start fighting back against the accusations. The RIAA makes an accusation of copyright infringement against you? Sue them for slander, drag them into court, make them spend large sums of money failing to prove their accusation, and then extract a large judgment from them. Make it too expensive for them to actually use this unamerican tactic of guilty-upon-accusation.

Don't forget to submit complaints about the copyright violations you suspect of the recording industry and all its corporate officers and its investigators too. Remember, you want them to run screaming to the legislature to beg for the repeal of the law themselves. It won't take them long after their internet gets cut off and they're unable to sell any music online or transact any business online or spy on anyone any more.

Why on earth would I pay $38 for a used copy directly from its owner, who I don't know and don't trust, when I can pay $26.50 (plus some reasonable markup) for a used copy direct from amazon, who I trust and have a free-shipping arrangement with?

I like Stanza better, actually. It's more pleasant to read with. In Stanza I can tap to turn the page, pinch-unpinch to alter the text size, and rotate to get a different aspect ratio. In the Kindle app, I have to swipe to turn the page, tapping just annoyingly brings up some controls I usually don't want, and rotation does nothing. I still haven't figured out if I can adjust the text size in Kindle. On the other hand, rotation not working means I can lay down on my side, turn the phone to align with my head, and read, which is harder with Stanza.

Kindle places a border around the text on the page, which is pleasant to look at, but means there's less text on each page so I have to change pages more often. Stanza uses the entire screen.

Also, if I buy an ebook from an online retailer for use in Stanza, I can back it up with my computer. Kindle books are delivered directly to the device, so I have to trust that Amazon will still be delivering my ebook to my devices in the future, and that I'll want to be doing my ebook reading on a device they support.

I don't think I'm going to be buying a lot of ebooks for Kindle as long as it has its DRM issues, unless they lower the prices a lot. The books I found on the kindle store that I would want were not significantly cheaper as ebooks than as paperback. If they want me to put up with DRM, I want to pay half the price of dead tree media, or less.

No, the app works just fine if you don't own a Kindle.

No, I do not "snoop out" my potential employers. The company does not have a personal life for me to invade, and its employees personal lives are just that - personal - and thus none of my business.

And while I've never posted anything about myself to the net that I'm ashamed of (easy, if you lead a life in which you do what you think is right), I have posted information about myself regarding which an employer might wish to illegally discriminate against me, such as my sexual orientation or my religious beliefs. So, if an employer ever tells me that they rejected me as a candidate based on what they learned by googling me, I will go directly to my state's anti-discrimination office and file a complaint.

Oh, and I should explain what the letter is, sometimes people have never seen one and don't know what to put in it. A typical letter of reference would say something like:

To whom it may concern,

I have been Jane Smith's manager at Spaceley Sprockets from Juiy 2057 through September 2063, where she was initially employed as a Sprocket Tooth Tester and later promoted to Senior Sprocket Engineer.

During this time, Ms. Smith's performance has been consistently excellent and she has received consistently positive performance reviews. She has been a pleasure to work with and manage, and I would not hesitate to hire her again. I am confident she will be an asset to any employer.

Regards,
John Doe.

First, you don't get a reference from a former employer. You get a reference from the PEOPLE YOU WORKED WITH at a former employer. Employers will rarely ever say anything other than "we verify that so-and-so was employed here from this month of this year to that month of that year, and it's our policy not to disclose anything further."

When you've given your notice at any job, go to one or more people there - it can be your manager, coworkers, even subordinates, just pick people you have a good working relationship with who you think will want to help you - and ask them very nicely if they would be so kind as to give you a "letter of reference". Explain nicely that you know people change jobs over time and you'd like the letter so that you'll always have their reference and so they won't have to be bothered with many phone calls about it. No one I have ever asked for a letter of reference has ever said no after I explained why. Some were concerned about giving me a reference on behalf of the company... I told them that I wasn't asking for a reference on behalf of the company, I was asking for a reference on behalf of them personally, and it didn't need to be on letterhead. They then agreed.

Once you've got the letter (or preferably letters), you can include it with your resume when you submit it for jobs, or send it when they ask for references. It's a little old-fashioned, but it often impresses potential employers and makes you stand out.

Now, after you've got the letter (and get it HOME), you don't need that employer who is giving you a hard time any more, and they don't have anything to hold over your head. So:
1) Explain bluntly to HR that you are fully aware that you've had stellar performance reviews and that you have given them the normal amount of notice that anyone in any industry gives, that it is inappropriate for them to be threatening you to demand more, and that if they ever give you a bad reference, you will sue them into the ground for defaming you and harming your career.
2) Leave at the end of your two weeks notice.
3) If they give you any further hard time about it, write a polite note to your manager at the company you're leaving, explaining that you're terribly sorry and really wanted to finish your two weeks but due to their hostility you feel this is no longer possible and that you consequently resign immediately. Give it to your manager, be apologetic, and leave. Take the rest of your two weeks off, then start your new job.
4) If you feel they'll be okay about it, you could call the new job, tell them the old job decided to let you go early, and ask them if they'd like you to start right away. Likely, they'll be happy.

Anyway, get that letter, or preferably several, and then you have nothing to worry about.

Just what I need, more competition for the inadequate number of jobs available to me.

Wow. You know, back in the dark ages when I was in high school, they had this newfangled thing called "Detention". I wonder whatever became of it.

i have a friend who works for a company that has an "encrypt everything" policy. He has a company laptop which is equipped with such encryption software. His wife has an identical laptop. Mr. X's laptop is a dog. Mrs. X's laptop is zippy.

Overhead and speed are the cost of the kind of encryption you're talking about. That's the price you're going to pay for doing what you're talking about. If you really want the encryption, learn to live with it. If you can't live with it, ditch the encrypt-everything policy and find a way to only encrypt what you have to.

Wouldn't this violate HIPAA?

If so, I believe that any doctors that participated in disclosing the DNA data to the state would be subject to federal arrest and jailing.

"Thailand is ramping up their media wide censorship of anything that remotely offends Thai royalty."

Uh, no. Thailand is ramping up their media wide censorship of anything that remotely offends the kind of obnoxious people who think censorship is a great idea, are looking for something to get offended about, and don't mind using the king's good name as an excuse.

There's a difference.

The actual king says that people should be permitted to criticize him, and I believe he has not expressed that he's in any way offended by any of the stuff people are being jailed for.

I would think this strategy runs the risk of insulting the judge.