There are those of us who don't mind an occasional ad. AB+ and its Acceptable Ads program is a workable compromise. And a program using ~140 MB while your browser is running isn't exactly a major concern in this age of multi-GB RAM builds. Most PCs come with 8 GB of RAM so the 140 MB for AB+ is a drop in the bucket. If you're dead-set against all ads, AB+ will block all ads for you. I use AB+ because it sends a message that responsible ads are fine. If I wanted to remove all ads, I could just as easily null-route all the known ad networks at the firewall and never see an ad again.

I've done it with many jobs, most contracts require a witnessed signature to be legitimate. A good example of this would be the NDA/Assignment of Rights that many devs are required to sign. I've had clauses struck from those that result in a zero net change situation on my flexibility to leave a position if I need to.

Or they didn't bother to read an unknown number of pages of legalese and just signed it...

You miss the blindingly obvious answer. Strike the clause from the contract and submit. Funny thing about contract law, if you physically sign the contract you get to strike objectionable sections of the contract. Most employers, regardless of how often they're told to read everything, will just check to see if you signed it and then sign it themselves. We, as the prospective employee/contractor, have the ultimate power to force a change in how things get done. If you push back, most companies will cave regarding nearly anything if you have the right combination of skills and experience. Don't be afraid to negotiate your pay, a contract, even your benefits are all up for discussion and upgrade if you present the right case for it.

Something to consider: If everyone started to push back on the arbitration clause, and getting it struck from the contract, this wouldn't be an issue anymore. We all keep forgetting that we hold the ultimate authority over if that contract gets signed, *NOT* the employer. If the clause offends you, strike it from the signed copy and submit it. If they push back, remind them that you don't sign contracts with those clauses per policy. And be sure to have a written copy of said policy to hand over upon request.

I would have to agree with that one.

I have done this sort of thing before, and have had the same results. Something that most people seem to miss is that, while we all prefer Linux, it is a resource hog.

Mandrake and a few others are now taking up more the 200 MB of physical RAM. Windows and it's GUI only use about 60 MB. There is a major difference in the usage here as well. Older computers can benefit from Windows, or it could benefit from Linux.

It all depends on the distro used.

My $0.02 worth. For what it's worth.