First, the idea that those ancient civilizations don't have to replace infrastructure is stupid. And people keep ignoring the elephant in the room - greed. Greedy capitalists have driven costs so high that wages are high, too. Countries in Asia which have kept greed under control have a much lower cost of living and proportionally lower wages. This allows them to undercut your prices every time. Fix the cost of living imbalance and the trade problems will melt away.

It's worse than that. The energy released by burning hydrogen is less than the energy used to electrolyte it. Rather than take a loss in the conversion, just use that electricity to run an electric car. No need for fancy electrolysis cells ans high pressure hydrogen storage.

Most people can not speed read; it's just not possible for them and they'll never be able to understand what it means. For the fortunate ones - it's not skimming or skipping words or anything like that, it's reading - just faster. I get all the meaning and pleasure from a book, it just takes more books to keep me happy. If you're running a finger down the page, using cards, or applying any other tricks, you're faking it. And if you can't do it, that's OK. The important thing is being able and willing to read.

Slow slide? You're there already. You've got everything that East Germany had except the wall, and your government is building it as fast as they can.

That applies to prosecutors, too. Consider this when you read these stories and you'll understand what seems not to make sense

And if it's on a BlackBerry, you can't operate the app without several attempts at each button push.

I've had too much experience with those things; I supported them for a major corporation (ugh) and even had one of my own. After a month or so I was ready to trash it; my wife insisted that it was a nice phone and I should give it to her instead. So I did; a month later she was ready to stomp on it.

The only thing they ever had going for them was email - and that required a BES (or BIS) server. Now that other phones do email (very well, actually) there's no reason to put up with that RIM nonsense any longer. They've been circling the drain for a while now and their last hurrah isn't a wise investment. Take it from someone who knows; just say no and get some other kind of phone. You'll be glad you did

I've got a laptop, tablet, and a desktop computer. I've been going back and forth for a couple of years now and I've discovered what matters to me and how I use them

I use the tablet a lot - and the desktop gets used a lot, too. The laptop just sits around collecting dust; it's been powered up once in the last three months - and only because I needed a file from it.

Those who recommend a Chromebook - they don't consider that there will be times when you have no internet connectivity and want to use your tablet. This, and the availability of tablet apps that meet your needs will point your way to the correct tablet device for you.

You might not be aware that fluorescent bulbs (including CFLs) are gas discharge lamps, also. They're low pressure mercury vapor lamps with a phosphor on the inside of the glass to convert the hard ultraviolet from the mercury arc to "fluorescent light".

Parkers are great - but you've got to have a fairly fresh refill to avoid blobbing. Black ink behaves better than the blue does. You can get gel refills for them, too. Their textured ball gets good traction on slick paper and they handle nicely.

You can go with the cheap plastic bodied Parker pens from the office supply superstore, or search out the better grades. The more expensive versions have a nice snug fit between the point and the barrel which gives neater lines, and the additional weight helps them handle better.

My personal choice is the Ciselle style; very nice. Only problem is that you can't set it down and walk away from it; it's liable to walk off while you back is turned. Try one of these on good paper (like a Moleskine notebook) and you'll be well pleased.

You can't imagine how ridiculous this hyperventilating over a miserable tropical storm appears. I live on a tropical island and we have an average of 28 of these storms come our way every year.

Clear the loose items from your yard and put them indoors; lawn furniture, BBQ, garbage cans, etc. That's easier than chasing them down later. And be prepared for some flooding in low lying areas. If you live in one of those low lying areas, consider moving to higher ground.

And if you can't deal with a tropical storm, don't live on the coast. They can be inconvenient, but they're also infrequent. Pop open a cold one and watch nature's show. When it's over, clean up the mess and go on with your life. This isn't a crisis, it's just another day on earth.

You might be surprised to learn that sugar is used in soft drinks everywhere in the world - except for the US, where HFCS is used instead.

And never saw the problem of third-party driver support mentioned. I do some audio work, and have a high-end digital audio PCI card installed. The company that made it was "acquired" a couple of times and this product is no longer even remembered by the current owners.

The last OS that they had working drivers for was XP - and it took a while for those to come out.

To upgrade would require that I replace this audio card - it cost over $1200 when it was new and there are NO new replacements. Without a driver, it'd be useless. So I'm sticking with XP.

The latest and greatest from MS would remove needed functionality and replace it with useless eye candy. No thanks.

So how many hours have you spent staring at a TV screen in your life? Or a computer screen?

The whole "self lit screens hurt your eyes" meme was thought up by companies like Amazon who didn't have a self lit screen to sell

You may have various reasons for preferring a specific device, but if you're going to trot out that tired "self lit hurts" nonsense, how about citing some research that backs up that assertion?

The cost of living in Singapore is very high. Incredibly high, in fact. And while the laws are reasonable, they're quite different from what the European / US people live under and seemingly minor infractions can have significant penalties

That may well be true in Japan, but there's other countries in Asia that treat foreigners very, very well