I wonder how long it will be until Mexico needs a huge new data center to help with the war on drugs, Of course America will be happy to fund this providing the CIA can keep a few yottabytes of files there, safely away from Executive scrutiny.

"Does the timer start when the "box" is opened or when the "box" is filled?"

Neither. The timer simply determines how long the government has to ship the data off to a non-US jurisdiction then deny that they ever collected it.

I'd suggest that the order size is determined by to competing factors:

      a) Reduce the risk of being caught by making fewer large orders
      b) Reduce the loss when a delivery goes astray by making smaller orders

Which leads to the unexpected conclusion that when the police get better at intercepting orders and the drug dealers become more reliable the size of the orders increases.

In Rome (yes, I was there recently) anyone using a tripod is regarded as a 'professional photographer' and needs a permit. If they can do it I don't see why the US Forestry Service couldn't implement the same stupid rule.

Must resist.... must resist.... must.... "All your trees are belong to us", "I for one welcome our tree hugging overlords". "But they've got root access..."

...why divers pee in their wetsuits. It helps them swim faster.

What's left? The Koran, the whole Koran and nothing but the Koran. It sounds like they've never heard of George Satayana and the expression, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Instead, they are taking the route trodden by Ne Win, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, and other dictators. Soon they will be teaching their own version of history and killing each other in gruesome ways. I wonder what percentage of the population will need to die before this regime falls apart.

Assuming you're dealing with a bunch of young males and have some basic workshop facilities I'd consider getting a) Plenty of sheet steel b) Some medium power DC motors with rubber wheels c) Some robust lead-acid battery packs & chargers d) Some RC controllers with drive modules to match the DC motors e) Four standard chassis welded up from steel tube, say A3 size, 4" high Yep, anyone for team robot wars?? Start off with a chalked circle as an arena. Leave the circle, you lose. I'd guess setup costs would be around $1000, mostly on motors and RC equipment. Running costs would depend on how 'committed' the players become.