Zuck didn't get to where he is solely due to greed. Lucky break? Sure, but that should only encourage a career in science/tech/engineering/medicine. Consider that at a $750k annual income, Zuck makes about $4k each weekend. Add to that the assumption that he made a conservative $1bn US from his stock appreciation, allocated over 8 years. So since he started Facebook, he's been making about $690k every weekend. Having $690k in retirement as a couple is downright impressive in a country where well over half the population could not cover a $1,000 emergency. I would be proud if I were you!

Has the cost of paper and shipping gone up substantially in the past few years?

Yes. According to Financial Times as of this spring: "...disruptions in Chile and Finland, which together account for more than 10 per cent of the world's pulp market, have tightened the market just when Chinese consumption is soaring". And don't you remember the lines at the gas station in Summer 08 when oil peaked @ $147?

So who actually has the power in the university org structure to effect this change? Is it teachers who shill for the publishers or should we look further up the chain? And will the cost savings in production *actually* be reflected in the student price? In many cases I can get a "like new" used CD on Amzn for half of the cost of the MP3 album...

Perhaps, but with *most* tattoos, one willingly applies the sticker...right?

At any rate I always have to stifle a chuckle when I notice machines where the person just decided (or undecided?) to leave the stickers on. Just another one of those mysterious details of the personal computer that some folks are completely oblivious to. Naturally most machines I see like that are also hindered by a host of other "details".

This last part seems especially important. Given Schmidt's (or Google's) audience, consider the total portion of people who fall victim to this type of thinking. What number would you approximate? His speech sounds to me less like the ramblings of a madman, but rather a proclamation of the new status quo.

Taking this quick ammo assessment into account, one should also consider another implication: the likelihood of the round to penetrate the body, a wall, or other structure and harm people/property. So potentially, the living environment (small apartment? rural ranch?) will be a prominent concern. Wouldn't want the neighbor Norm gettin' tagged by a stray sabot, would we?

Where I live, any type of drug conviction (such as a marijuana possession charge from ~ 40 yrs ago) will bar you from legally carrying a firearm outside your home. There is no recourse save for expungement of your records (not likely). To be caught in violation of this statute would almost certainly result in a felony conviction. However, you are still free to join the metro police force (just sign here, take a quick lil oath, and pass a pathetic 8 week training course).

Questions indeed.

...and use it regularly.

Maybe the change will make the new CoD tolerable on multiplayer. Currently the multiplayer scene in CoD4 is overly littered with servers run by anal-retentive, overcompensating neckbeards keeping it TACTICOOL by making up way too many stupid rules and fervently enforcing them. I look forward to the day I can log in, jump in on a game and get my pwn on without having to deal with these outrageous wannabes. In the meanwhile I'll stick to CS:S and TF2.

Interesting. Lemme just say that while deployed as an info assurance / security manager for a small unit working directly under a major Army command, I dealt with spillage (processing of classified information on unclassified systems) on a monthly, if not weekly basis. I lost count of how many customers were sending 8-digit grid coordinates over the NIPR, even though it is supposed to be common knowledge that information like that is to be protected from disclosure over unsecured comms. Furthermore, although the G2 was well prepared to provide support for mitigation procedures and sanitization, punishment for the crime was often delegated to the individual commander--at which point "penalties" becomes a relative word.

Not sure where you're getting your facts from, but from my years in the military I'd venture to say that you're a bit overconfident. There are plenty of ways for sensitive data to find its way into the hands of outsiders.

Though TFA doesn't mention any other criteria by which newspapers would be allowed to operate as a nonprofit, it is a bit shortsighted to assume that this bill is meant to de-politicize US newspapers. I am sure there are many small, local papers about to go under who would be very much in need of legislation like this. How many people will actually cry foul if preserving one of the only outlets for independent local *news* means that they had to be deprived of political endorsement drivel? Leave that crap for USA Today . . . in MY paper, I want to see obituaries, High School sports, and DUIs from last weekend!

Regarding your statement that Ron Paul's views are uninformed, can you provide any examples? He was just on CNN last night utterly refuting high-school graduate turned C-list actor Stephen Baldwin's spewing of the same tired and weak apologies for the (failed) War on Drugs and flawed logic behind the Fed's continuing criminalization of the use of marijuana, sometimes in bold defiance of State law already in place. Uninformed you say? Please inform us then! For those of you who are actually sick enough of TFA's example of yet another D.C. clusterfuckery, why not direct your sights on one of the biggest shenanigans in history by auditing the federal reserve?

Since we're all for China bashing, have a look at the U.S. - China Economic and Security Review Commission's 2007 report to congress, which states, "Chinese espionage activities in the United States are so extensive that they comprise the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies". Add to that the MI5's recent warning that big EU firms were being targetted for web-based espionage, and the lynch mob might have to drop their pitchforks and go think this thing over. I might sound a little redundant because I've made mention of this before, but as an information assurance tech working in the field (Operation Iraqi Freedom to be exact), the whole bash-the-China-basher thing resonates. Make no mistake about it--China is using the web to actively target the US military-industrial complex, as well as key commercial and civil interests. There are numerous statements from the Pentagon which allude to this, although the often classified nature of threat-specific information demands ambiguity. Lots (and I mean lots) of recent activity might change that though.