You bring up a good point - nix the pure quarters plan, substitute the quarters, dimes, nickels plan. Mix in a few foreign currencies in there for fun, and it can be a scavenger hunt every month of the year - the gift to bored employees that keeps giving the entire year long.

See, what I plan to do is make my payments in person at a store every month if this goes through - in quarters. Every month. Sure, they will charge me a fee - and that will be paid. In quarters. In person. To a customer service representative they have to pay. Every month.

I thought perhaps a method that triggers the release of chlorine gas into the interior of the vehicle if the glass is broken or perhaps something that electrifies all surfaces of the vehicle to 500A@10kV. Ta-death!

...or listening to the radio, needing to use the bathroom, or being an asshole in the near vicinity of a car. Of course, this -really- punishes those who have always used hands-free technologies, used their phones responsibly, and drive safely every day. They HAVE to be a problem - because the NTSB says so...

Were these stable elements - or did they exist as a product of some super-collision for fractions of a second?

Oh, how I wish this was how it's supposed to work... many employers really REALLY -MEAN- having ten years of experience in the product that JUST came out. I remember getting through the 'gauntlet' only to have the interviewer get really pissed that I didn't have the experience. Told me I 'wasted his time and mine, and that he would make sure I would NOT be considered for any position in that company EVER, just for being such a liar'.

Needless to say, I told him how awesome he was - and never worried about it again.

Some people ARE -those- kind of assholes, though.

Odds are, if there is a disaster large enough to wipe out your office, all of your storage, all of your backups, all of the off-site backups and defeat all of your CBO plans - your out of business. Time to call the insurance agent, notify any surviving employees, set up a mailing for your remaining clients, and see what you might be able to salvage. The IRS doesn't generally bust asses of people who have survived massive disasters like that... but if they do, they can talk to your accountant and insurance agent (you -do- have an accountant who keeps a duplicate of your records, right?).

Putting your confidential information into the hands of some almighty 'cloud' is really irresponsible; especially if that provider has a track records of handling that data in an irresponsible fashion.

They didn't get US Marshals to seize property based on the court judgement - as yes, that is a civil matter. However, a civil judgement has the weight of law behind it to enforce it, which Righthaven ignored, or failed to obey in regards to the court judgement - which was cause for the judge to issue an order to secure the property to force compliance, as well as issuing a contempt charge (most likely). The goods weren't 'seized' as such, only secured so that a trustee could be appointed to sell them to satisfy the judgement.

It's the same principle in that law enforcement secures property in a bankruptcy proceeding during a Sheriff sale (if I remember right), they are not seizing it for direct payment - they are securing it for storage until such time a trustee can sell it to convert the assets into cash money.

IANAL - I believe the legal language is something along the lines of 'The corporate veil (or shield) protecting agents of the corporation from judgements and legal action can be pierced if the agent in question has performed the offending actions while significantly outside the scope of the agent's duties with the employing offending organization.' Basically, it protects employees from personal lawsuits for actions taken by the corporation when the employee was acting as an agent of the corporation in performance of his/her/their job duties, when those duties are in compliance with their stated scope of their duties and those duties do not directly violate the rule of law. So, can't sue a CEO directly for when his towing company accidentally repossesses your car, causing damage - can only sue the corporation. If the CEO was using his towing company to steal cars, then you can 'pierce the corporate veil' and charge him/her directly.

Sounds like something I might have to give a try then. The 'I own the copyright on the ISO image, so you have to pay me to get an installable copy' stuff was bullshit, to be honest.

I remember trying to install this back in the 3.0 days, being thwarted by the fact that one of the authors of the software owned the copyright on the OS in ISO disc format, effectively making it impossible to get a version to install without paying him. After a few failed days of missing this or that file, and corrupt BitTorrent copies, I gave up, went back to FreeBSD (at the time).

As long as we, the people, are not heard in regards to our wishes - this kind of thing will continue. I, for one, have stopped flying because of the security theater; and I will not be forced to drive or walk to avoid being sexually assaulted in my own country - and PAY for the privileged of being mistreated.

Just remember, when they ask for your papers - don't run, otherwise they will shoot you in the back.

When I was attempting to write for mass market, I managed to contact a few of the larger publishers - and were all told the same thing:

If I knew someone in their current stable who could vouch for me, and was willing to take the hit if my books bombed - they'd sign me. If not, they weren't signing new talent - with or without an agent. Sorry, wasn't happening.

Of course, I knew some people in some places - and if push came to shove - I could get published by some place like Tor or Harlequin (if I wanted to write love novels) but their contracts for new writers was indentured servitude (mostly); and they would NOT even review your materials if you EVER published anything through a Publish-on-Demand publisher or self-published. Ever.

It really put a damper on my writing - and I am just now starting to recover to the point of wanting to write again - mostly because I know if I want to put a story out there, I don't have to turn to these people anymore - there ARE now other avenues to get my stories out there, and I don't have to sign my life away to get exposure. If the world of back-room deals to get published is coming to an end, I welcome it with open arms and wild enthusiasm.

Exactly this. Bingo. Unless you already have an in-road somehow with the publisher, you're not making it past the lobby.

Of course, you -might- get noticed by an employee who -happens- to not follow office protocol and opens your stuff, and -happens- to read it, and -maybe- likes it, and doesn't get caught before he/she -might- make you an offer. A lot of mights, maybe's, happenstances, and almosts there to hang a hope on - hence people get bitter and give up. For some - it takes one rejection letter, for others, it takes hundreds - but for a few - all it takes is the same rejection letter worded the same way by the top four for the same reasons:

You don't have an agent
We don't know you
You -could- flop, so we won't even try
Suck tea bags.