For the size of the displays in the paper would a simple box for tracing letters and better handwriting recognition software be better?

Looks kind of like someone filtered / hid some data and then just highlighted the cells. This captures the range of all cells from the top selection to the bottom selection. Not just the visible cells. The subtotal function will operate on just the visible cells. And there is some menu option for selecting only visible cells too.

I have been bitten by this but you are correct - after unfiltering the data excel very clearly shows me my mistake with a colored border around many cells I didn't want selected.

Definitely agree with buying directly at a concert Plus I usually get them to sign the liner. The really cool bands will join me for a beer or three!

Make bulk mailers pay full price. This will have many effects: less volume => fewer workers needed, less gas used. Higher revenue per item means the now-smaller workforce is more sustainable. I don't get those stupid spam mails that just go straight into the recycle bin unopened.

Ads can be relevant. The problem is too often they are not and then they are considered intrusive. I would really like some help in wading through the tons of options. A system that learns that I like Myth Busters and Top Gear would hopefully keep the ads about the latest hospital drama away. Ideally it should be a tool to alert me of things I would be interested in and save me from things I am not.

I watched tons of TV growing up and I turned out OK. These studies that point out things like declining attention spans are ... HEY LOOK - A SQUIRREL!!...

Include a restriction of requiring approval from the person in the image in order to use the image to advertise for a product/service/political campaign/etc. Doesn't that already exist?

First, I am not sure that Ms Moss could not find a decent deal for her next book. She has shown a track record of bringing in money. Surely some publishers could find a way to make money off a successful author's next book.

Second, the publishing industry is changing, and this sounds like it may hasten that change. More self-publishing opportunities will emerge. Advertising will be much more social - people will get book ideas from trusted review and recommendation sites rather than expensive glossy advertising in magazine and on TV (note: I don't actually know if that advertising exists still since I don't read magazines or watch TV :-) )

Third, the short copyright period makes Ms. Moss need to create more fantastic works to keep her royalty checks coming in, thus enriching the culture with her memorizing stories, inspiring new authors to pursue writing stories of their own. Granted - this will result in a glut of crap flooding into the market but that will result in more opportunities for people to create curated lists of recommended books (see point #2 above).

Looks like a nice future to me.

So you're saying Apple is going to start supplying in-house BJ's next?

From TFA:

Hmmm... This is interesting logic. We don't send 5th graders to war either so should we not teach about WWI, WWII, etc? That would certainly make history class a lot shorter.

There is a fairly high bar to get a reply. It would be nice if the President responded to them himself. Take some direct accountability for a response about an issue obviously a lot of people care about.

The article mentions that messages will be sent to the friends. I suppose the theory is that a stranger will just ignore the request while someone with a true connection will participate. It is not just parsing the map of connections among facebookers.

My public library has a great selection of DVDs and they will even ship them to the library branch just a few blocks away from my house. Yes, they are not free (taxes, but I pay for it whether I use it or not so I may as well use it.

I'm not saying I disagree with the decision but I spotted an interesting justification in the pdf. "This country has no tradition of specially restricting chil-dren’s access to depictions of violence."

What about Rated R movies?

Another interesting bit: "...Cali-fornia’s Act does not adjust the boundaries of an existing category of unprotected speech to ensure that a definition designed for adults isnot uncritically applied to children."

So restriction to porn is only OK because it was done before? What about the first ban on porn? Shouldn't that be thrown out and thus the whole history of the ban on porn be thrown out?

Taxing miles is a can of worms. City miles probably cost more in infrastructure repairs so a straight tax per miles would unfairly hit rural communities and highway drivers unless some way of tracking where the miles were accumulated is included. Tearing around corners and hitting potholes at 50 mph is probably more wear than a cautious driver so some way of monitoring how the miles were driven would be needed. This idea easily leads to impinging on individual freedoms.

But tires will wear out more quickly the rougher the vehicle is driven. Seems fair to me. Seems cheap to implement. And seems to keep Uncle Sam's nose out from where it shouldn't be in the first place.