The obvious, and economically fair, solution to this is a change in pricing structure whereby customers of the power companies pay a large rental fee coupled with a lower usage rate, thus the utility companies will recover their fixed costs across their customers' rentals and the variable costs will go to customers as they use the utility as backup. If this is adopted it may stifle large scale uptake of self generation in the short term as the fixed costs of current electricity generating/distribution plants are huge. Longer term it may favour smaller centrally generated back-up utilities supplying small communities.

I take things differently and make pizzas that are instantly inedible.

Me too, with your own boys vetting you at least you understand the culture and the values. A concern with the current way of working is that as a European the NSA could decide that you're an enemy of the state and you'd be picked up at boarder control when trying to enter the USA; then you're over there with an almost impossible task of getting out. Nobody would know you've been picked up, you'd just disappear.

My debit card offers me the same protection as my credit cards, there are choices out there guys, start using them.

There's a flaw in your argument, we have a much lower level of fraud than the USA does

Don't worry, you can pick your own PIN

Despite the often criticised regulation in the EU we seem to have got this one right. I live in the UK, pay c. $24 per month for 80Mbs broadband (20Mbs upload) with unlimited download/upload. I regularly use over 120Gb/month as I usually watch my TV via the internet. Although the UK is at the lower priced end in the EU there's not a broad spectrum of prices across the whole area. In the EU, regulation took the interests of the end user as the paramount factor when setting out infrastructure build targets and pricing levels, anyone that can work within that envelope can enter the business, if you can't then you can't. A free mark has developed within the envelope which delivers acceptable returns for shareholders and acceptable performance for end users. As a result, the UK has hundreds of broadband suppliers, each with their own niche and package and each offering comparatively great value for money. Giving a completely free hand to businesses will only ever result in a cartel developing, that's clearly the case in the UK for the power industry where each is providing power at an independently set extortionate rate, no cap on prices and no incentive to reduce costs. The same can be seen in Australia and the USA with broadband products, not particularly impressive service and high prices - very impressive senior management returns I dare say.

News just in, IrDA isn't an acronym it's an abbreviation, sometimes the two are the same but usually they are not as is the case here.

Agreed. I think the subtext of the racism is the fear on the part of our american cousins that they are about to be usurped on the world's stage by our other cousins from China, it's a form of nervous laughter and also displays the atrociously poor reporting of non american news in the home country.

For all 'intents and' purposes. Whom has it's place and in such places no other word is appropriate.

The argument that the USA being much larger than European countries and thus is a different model is misleading, fibre in Europe comes under European regulation with some relatively minor local, or country, adjustments possible. Therefore the comparison between Europe and the USA is entirely reasonable. We have a free market model but if that doesn't appear to be working in favour of the consumer the regulator, state or European, steps in to redress the position. The focus of broadband within Europe is primarily social benefit and not company profit so controls focus on areas that will promote this. I'm living in the UK and pay c. $25/month for 80mb broadband with calls and on-demand TV thrown in, this same package is available to over 93% of the population by law.

We have a system that does that in the UK, I think the police fund it, it may even be possible for overseas people to use. You enter as much info as you have on the bike including a full component list, photos, and distinguishing features etc. not all bikes over here have a serial number so you need other info to keep a record.

I sent my kids to a terrible private school, am I evil?

It's you.

Now what would happen if a stream of methane developed which was ignited by, say, a lightening strike, there would be a rapidly growing forward feedback loop which would release more methane and generate more heat, and more methane, etc. How much oxygen would this methane use up and how much heat would be dumped into the atmosphere? Would this be shrugged off by the earth or would it spell a species killing catastrophe?