For people like these, even letters are a dangerous form of communication. A tenant of mine died recently - his apartment is overflowing with letters, pictures, cheap amulets from dubious astrologists, his mail box is still overflowing every time I check. And I was wondering why he was in debt despite his quite comfortable retirement pay.

That is not really true. Read e.g. http://www.cumminseuro6.com/wh...

As of January 1, 2014, Euro-6 is standard on all newly sold trucks in the EU. But even the older buses in my city (all diesel except for two diesel hybrid buses) are not really polluting that much. You can get even truck diesel engines clean, if you want to.

I wonder what the potential for fuel savings in *hybrid* buses is. I checked up on this and found an article on the buses my city used: 750,000€ instead of 400,000€ for the bus, with savings of only 8000 L/year of diesel fuel.

Please explain to me just HOW Israel can be called an "apartheid state" without Gaza *at least* being called a "fascist regime filled from head to toes with exterminatory anti-semitism".

Just explain to me why muslim Arabs can live mostly peacefully under Israel's reign, while not a single Jew can live peacefully in most Arab countries, especially (!) Gaza. And that is not something that started with Israel's founding or the current conflicts.

The German word for most Arab countries nowadays is "judenrein" (you should know - a goal we Germans tried to achieve quite fervently before being bombed to the grounds and the following denazification). And that's nothing, ever, to accept or be proud of - unless you are Hamas, of course. Then the whole world will excuse your anti-semitism with whatever anti-semitic ideas still linger in the rest of the world.

Today, Jews cannot even live peacefully in Berlin or Paris. Tell me why, just WHY these French or German citizens are being held responsible if the protests target "Israel" and not Jews. And did you read the signs held up in recent (mob) protests all over Europe? Or hear the translations of their chants? "Juden ins Gas" ("Jews into the gas chamber") was recently chanted in Berlin. And not by a single "native" German: Nazis don't openly fraternize with muslims - yet.

All of this happens while Syria is going belly-up in terror, with hundreds of thousands dying, and ISIS building a terror regime wherever they go.

You must be pretty naive to think that the "possible abuse hasn't materialized in Finland". First of all, this idea is also present in the German tax code ( 42 AO). It is a constant reason of judicial trouble, and it puts the state above the law - because it only works against the taxpayer and not in other circumstances. It is a clear indication of a cleptocratic government. Second, there are hidden costs: In your example, a couple marrying and then divorcing again is clearly f*cked. Their marriage is lost, and so is their money. And, of course, their belief in justice. Which is the greatest cost of all.

But I know, people with collectivist tendencies see the "state" or "society" as standing above individual justice.

I *suspect* that even Comcast will route this through a secondary public IP and will also log activity there. At least that's what Deutsche Telekom does. Hotspot users get an IP address different from your own public IP address. I think doing otherwise would also endanger your NATed private network, if ever so slightly.

Same principle here in Germany.

But Deutsche Telekom is not doing this as an opt-out thing, but as opt-in - plus you need a certain router model. I bought the (inexpensive) router and opted in, because now I can use all of these home router hotspots, plus all FON hotspots worldwide, all Telekom hotspots (in public places, at McDonald's, in high speed trains). The public hotspot users get very low QoS, so they don't harm my VDSL connection.

And the best thing: All I have to do to keep using it is connect the home router at least once every 30 days. So since the router is not my primary choice, 99% of time I'm freeloading and using my custom router, all the while keeping my hotspot privileges.

If she sees me and she (or the thief) shares it online, it *is* an invasion of my privacy. And that's why I am opposed to Google Glass. If I sit in a restaurant, that is a private venue, not a public place. So turn off your f*cking Google Glass, or I will. There is a fundamental difference between seeing me somewhere, and saving imagery of seeing me somewhere.

You might find that if you used GG here in Germany, you might find yourself confronted with a lawsuit.

Then I don't have to replace ANY meal with it. If "soylent" is just a combination of nutrients and Joules (or calories, for the backward food crowd), then why would I waste my time with it? My average diet of varied, tasty meals is more than enough to keep me happy and healthy. I enjoy eating and cooking!

Maybe Wal-Mart will happily sell it (In their non-food section?). Whole Foods probably won't.

It is still inconceivable to me how anyone would forgo the pleasures of good food, given the fact that we don't have much time on earth to enjoy it anyway.

We already mostly have that. At least Volkswagen and BMW do it for engines I know, like the VW TDI series, where just software and piston rods made the difference. And, of course: brakes! The brakes vary depending on the engine. So there's a limit to that, because other costly stuff depends on the engine power.

On a side note: In my 2003 VW Golf, it was cheaper to buy it WITHOUT cruise control and get an upgrade from a dealership, than ordering it directly with cruise control (at least in Germany, guess they never tried to sell cars without CC in the U.S.

I'd say it's the language that most closely resembles Italian. You can really confuse them, at least with your eyes closed. Of course, if you open your eyes again, you will easily spot the Italian: It's the one constantly using his/her hands to make gestures. Italian is probably the only language that doesn't leave out deaf people. You can essentially *see* everything that's being said. And of course, even if your hearing is somewhat impaired, you can also still hear it. At the other end of town.

I wonder what the fuss is about. When you're agreeing on a cell phone + contract, the contract has a subsidy in it. So, Obama is actually forcing a seperation of both parts. I still think companies should be able to lock the phone for the initial 2-year duration of the contract. If you don't want that, buy your phone somewhere else and get a bare contract, like I've been doing for years, or PAYG.

I usually buy my phones whenever I want a new one, where it's cheapest. Then I go and find a contract where the guy selling it hands me part of his commission, or I use PAYG. I'm usually better off than with a contract+phone.

So if everyone around you started chewing khat*, you'd say: "My children can do it, too, so they will function in the world around them. We're not some cult who abstains from what everyone else is doing!"

I doubt your children will miss anything if they're not constantly exposed to TV series, smartphone apps or the internet in general. The educational value of ruining your attention span is also quite dubious to me.

*: Or smoking cigarettes, if that sounds less far-fetched to you. I assume neither of us lives in Yemen.

...or log in to both accounts from the same IP or browser?

True infact.

On German satellite HD channels, timeshift is usually disabled for many channels. And there's still ads, and you have to pay 60€/yr for the HD channels.
IPTV (Telekom Entertain) DOES support timeshifting on all channels, but it's impossible to get the recorded movies out of the set-top-box (Microsoft Mediaroom). So I'm stuck watching on my TV. That is, as long as my subscription for IPTV was active. The second I changed my DSL provider, all the movies on my STB's HD were ...gone. Imagine my fury when some long-kept documentaries were lost.

  It's simply MUCH easier to download complete seasons of "Game of Thrones" and just put them on a NAS, or do whatever I like with them.

I remember when GoT started on TNT HD: I missed the first few episodes, and the only way to catch up was... pirating.

Next they'll start cutting cost in restaurants: providing a single menu, or just letting the patrons cook.