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They actually document this in KDP FAQ as well, so he should have known in advance:

Public Domain and Other Non-Exclusive Content

Some types of content, such as public domain content, may be free to use by anyone, or may be licensed for use by more than one party. We will not accept content that is freely available on the web unless you are the copyright owner of that content. For example, if you received your book content from a source that allows you and others to re-distribute it, and the content is freely available on the web, we will not accept it for sale on the Kindle store. We do accept public domain content, however we may choose to not sell a public domain book if its content is undifferentiated or barely differentiated from one or more other books.

They've a right to ensure that people enjoy using their site, and their site would be less enjoyable if I had to wade through a bunch of content that is otherwise very easy to find on the rest of the web.

Good lord, have you seen some of the crap in the Kindle store? Lots of poorly written stuff that badly needs an editor. And there are titles carefully chosen to make people buy them by mistake.

This is not about content quality. They just don't want people selling content that they can get for free elsewhere — bad customer relations.

(Or is it? Back in 2006, I co-wrote a book for Sun Microsystems. I was well-paid for this work, and I wasn't expecting royalties, but for some strange reason I got them, showing that the book sold reasonably well, despite being available online before the book came out.)

Now, Amazon has every right to do this. But that's just the problem: the Kindle platform is another walled garden. Just as I don't like Steve Jobs telling me I can't have lame iPhone apps, I don't like Jeff Bezos telling me I can't buy lame books. The fact that the app or book is lame is besides the point. The central control is the problem.

If I ever become a sufficiently popular author so that people want to by ebooks written by me (unlikely, alas) I will make sure they're available in portable formats, such as EPub/Adobe. I won't try to prevent them from being available in Kindle format, but I won't stand for an exclusive release,.

Unless, of course, the Kindle starts supporting open formats.

If you want to get something educational for your children, why not just buy the simplest Kindle and load it with books? Sure, you won't have a color screen and flashy games, but for younger children the various electronic features will probably be enough to satisfy their desire to explore. People often overestimate what it takes to keep a child staring at a screen for hours on end. Tthey could actually read something edifying and there wouldn't be quite the same distractions as an Android tablet.

Not all kids can read [1]. Furthermore, I just went to my daughter's K-grade parent teacher conference and the teacher plainly said that the iPad can elicit learning that the computer or analog equivalents can not... and the teacher in fact was *not* an iPad fan, she just uses her class iPad (loaded with only educational apps) as a reward for kids who behave properly.

And a generic "tablet" doesn't necessarily win here, either - it needs to be sufficiently non-laggy for Kids to feel it's immersive. False touches and ghost movement are a huge interest-killer for the tykes. Perhaps Android tablets will be there soon. Just not today.

[1] http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/14/tech/gaming-gadgets/ipad-autism/index.html

Blind skepticism is little better than blind faith.

Since your name suggest you chose the right editor, I'll assume there is hope for you.

When you say "they have identical donors" that simlply isn't true. The billionaires that make up Crossroads GPS are not donating to Obama's campaign or PACs, and LGBT PAC is not spending money saying nice things about Romney. There is a choice. If you're in the 1%, or an ultra-conservative religious enthusiast, Romney will undoubtedly have your back. If if you're.. well... everyone who doesn't care to see the desires of the ultra-conservatives and the wealthy prioritized above the rest of us, then it would seem Obama is a clear choice.

If you want to cut out all the bullshit, take two good examples. Read the 2010 Affordable Care Act (as passed)

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/full/

And then Read the Paul Ryan budget (which Romney claims is very similar (if not identical) to his):

http://budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/pathtoprosperity2013.pdf

These are outstanding examples of what each camp would like to do with your money. You can read into the past versions if you like. The orignal Obama Care included the highly controversial Public Option, and the original Ryan plan turned Medicare into Vouchercare. Both were bad ideas if you ask me, but they have since adapted their plans.

If your argument could be amended to: "Both sides are far too influenced by money and special interests." Then I would wholeheartedly agree and highly recommend this book by Lawrence Lessig on how we should go about fixing this problem:

http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Lost-Money-Corrupts-Congress--/dp/0446576433/

If you want to get something educational for your children, why not just buy the simplest Kindle and load it with books? Sure, you won't have a color screen and flashy games, but for younger children the various electronic features will probably be enough to satisfy their desire to explore. People often overestimate what it takes to keep a child staring at a screen for hours on end. Tthey could actually read something edifying and there wouldn't be quite the same distractions as an Android tablet.

$300 is a lot of money? Are you kidding me? Dude, I work a white collar job at like $65k/year. I have a mortgage to pay on an 1800sqft house. $300 isn't a lot of money. They get broadband for 10 years with no fee, that's like $2.50/mo

I spent $350 outright on my Galaxy Nexus so I didn't buy any $50 contract phone for 24 months with a +$20 bill ($480 + $50 = $530 for the phone, no I spent $350). I have a watch that costs more than my mortgage payment. I pay my mortgage and my car payment every month and I still save up an extra 3 mortgage payments and a car payment (I'll have that house paid off shortly).

I mean seriously, the most basic welfare and unemployment necessity costs more than $300 and requires paying more than a $100 monthly fee to use, and burns like $50/mo in electricity.

2) Poverty, one aspect is that it's strongly tied to a lack of space. If we develop the means to expand our habitable environments. Poverty can be greatly reduced.

The old argument "We need to explore space to have more room!" is doesn't hold water. In his trilogy beginning with Red Mars , Kim Stanley Robinson makes the point that with the current world population, even with multiple space elevators you couldn't move more people off the planet than are being born on it at any given time.

And if you had some way of lowering the population so drastically that you could move some significant amount of people away, you wouldn't need to anyway.

I'm posting this as someone who has a 6 year old (Who loves riding his bike, climbing trees and has wanted to be a scientist when he grows up since 4). I'm a C.S. person who worked in mainframes for years before converting to the dark side of management. My wife is an engineer.

For the circuitry aspect, get them "Snap Circuits" (Linky). It's fun to do with them, and teaches the basics of electricity and circuitry.

The computer, I gave him my old laptop (I always buy laptops with full keyboards AND the 10-key pad. I hate small keyboards, I have big hands.). I let him watch while I build computers (A hobby I do for friends / family), and explain what I'm doing. I don't feel he has the coordination to build it himself yet.

Emulators. I love emulators. Especially the old Mac emulators (Basilisk II, Mini vMac, SheepShaver). DosBox. This gives him a feel for "old computer" handling, and teaches him how to look up error codes and solve problems. When he solves things, the reward is playing old computer games (Wizardry, *Macintosh* Dark Castle, Lemmings, etc.). He really gets a kick out of doing that. It also teaches him how to mount and dismount drives without corrupting images. What that previous sentence means, and what happens when a disk image is corrupted.

Since his computer is a laptop, it's easier to take to different places, load in the car for long trips, etc. Since it's my old laptop, I don't mind if he breaks it (Although he's been warned that's his only computer for "A long time", so take care of it).

The computer is running Windows XP simply because Windows is the OS his school uses. I don't want to confuse him too badly. The main "TV Computer" (My HTPC) runs Linux. He uses that for some things, so he is exposed to Linux.

I want to get him into programming. I suggest finding online tutorials to go with compilers (Nehe is my preferred tutorial), but he isn't quite ready for that. He will be programming before 10.

Like I said earlier, every kid is different, so go with what works for your kiddo. Good Luck.

Amazon

Any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of any Amazon Service, or to any products or services sold or distributed by Amazon or through Amazon.com will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court

EA

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY THIS PROVISION, YOU AND EA ARE FOREGOING THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

Ebay

...Agreement to Arbitrate, which will, with limited exception, require you to submit claims you have against us to binding and final arbitration, unless you opt-out of the Agreement to Arbitrate (see Legal Disputes, Section B ("Agreement to Arbitrate")). Unless you opt-out: (1) you will only be permitted to pursue claims against eBay on an individual basis....

Newegg preferred account.

THIS AGREEMENT REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES

On top of all this I have found generic arbitration clauses and a plethora of companies that are too numerous to count.

For more efficient composting check out some of the barrel or tumbler options.

Tumbler:
http://www.amazon.com/Woodland-Direct-Tumbling-Composter/dp/B004ZG45P6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347222366&sr=8-2&keywords=composter

Barrel:
http://www.amazon.com/Soilsaver-Classic-Composter/dp/B003959G9Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347222366&sr=8-3&keywords=composter

Both are highly rated on Amazon with a good number of reviews. I can't say which is better (tumbler seems easier and faster for finished product) but I've read that tumblers are faster, 6-10 weeks. If you fill all 6 cubic feet then that's three free bags of very good fertilizer.

And make sure your compost is exposed to the sun, much faster.

And keep it away from fences, I purchased a home that had a compost heap in the corner (shaded). It ate right through the fence after a couple of years (with leaves and yard waste as the only source material).

For more efficient composting check out some of the barrel or tumbler options.

Tumbler:
http://www.amazon.com/Woodland-Direct-Tumbling-Composter/dp/B004ZG45P6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347222366&sr=8-2&keywords=composter

Barrel:
http://www.amazon.com/Soilsaver-Classic-Composter/dp/B003959G9Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347222366&sr=8-3&keywords=composter

Both are highly rated on Amazon with a good number of reviews. I can't say which is better (tumbler seems easier and faster for finished product) but I've read that tumblers are faster, 6-10 weeks. If you fill all 6 cubic feet then that's three free bags of very good fertilizer.

And make sure your compost is exposed to the sun, much faster.

And keep it away from fences, I purchased a home that had a compost heap in the corner (shaded). It ate right through the fence after a couple of years (with leaves and yard waste as the only source material).

Start composting if you aren’t already, free fertilizer and less organic trash. Composters aren’t too expensive, or you could make one. Google knows how.

Look into companion planting, where two or more plants share space and assist one and other through things such as putting nitrogen in the soil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companion_planting

There are also a lot of great books. I’d recommend Square Foot Gardening for low space high output gardening that is pretty easy to setup. Even if you have high quality soil already I would recommend the soil and treatments that are in the book for best results. Compost can take over after the initial setup.

http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027

> None of the target audience for this device will care

Plenty of people care about force fed ads.

Some people will even pay to avoid them or just buy someone else's product.

This isn't about Free Software religion. This is a hardware vendor blatantly abusing the customer. In an era where technology is allowing us to filter out or avoid ads entirely, it's a pretty stupid move.

Amazon is selling the hardware below their cost, in part because of the ads. How is that abusing the consumer? It's not like it's the first product in the world that's subsidized by ads, but in this case it's a luxury product that's easy to opt out of. It's much harder to opt out of things like buses and bus shelters covered by ads

Oh, and they offer a 30 day return guarantee for the device - if you turn it on and feel abused by the ads, you can box it up and return it for a full refund.

I think you're misreading their target market - they aren't targeting the sophisticated user that's uses (or has even heard of) ad blocking software, they are targeting the rest of the market (the users that don't read Slashdot), where users aren't so offended by ads. The more sophisticated user probably isn't going to buy a Kindle, or if they do, they are just going to run CM on it (and will enjoy the ad subsidized price without actually having to view the ads, so everyone wins -- those that don't care about ads will see them, and those that care enough to block them can do so).

Why do you still keep coming to Slashdot since ads are prominently featured on the site (and not just a "lock screen" that's only active when you're not using the site)? You're forced to use blocking technology to block the ads if you don't want to see them. From your post, you sound like one of the many people that care about being force fed ads, yet you continue to patronize a website that force feeds ads to you (even more obtrusively than the Kindle).

What light? There isn't one in a true e-ink device.

Kindle Paperwhite with built-in light
Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight

Who needs to buy the DVDs? Law and Order has like 5 or 6 dedicated channels on the satellite. Is there a Law and Order game yet? OMG

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000DL003/dp/B004CCS266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347056020&sr=8-1&keywords=ST2000DL003

OF coutrse, you will need to buy it and tested it for yourself since you dismiss what other people who've tested say.

Doing it right:

Subject: Binternet Rands sues God Almighty!!

Binternet Rands sues God Almighty for copyright, design-patent, and trademark infringement. Rumored to be acting on behalf of a mysterious organization called Accademia del Cimento, Binternet Rands is suing God Almighty for infringing on the "distinctive design" of the device commonly known as the "Galilean Thermometer."

Through its attorney, Binternet Rands claims that the external reproductive organ of the human male is not looks very similar in shape to the "Galilean Thermometer" but both devices are commonly used to measure temperatures.

Legal experts widely dismiss the copyright and design patent claims on a number of fronts, not the least of which is that it is widely assumed that male anatomy was invented first. Asked for comment, Binternet Rands's attorney mumbled something that sounded like "pics or it didn't happen." In addition, any copyrights or patents issued during that time period are almost certainly expired.

The trademark claim cannot be so easily dismissed.

Noted philosopher and writer H. Benderson notes that while the "Galilean Thermometer" is commonly used to measure air temperatures and the male reproductive organ is commonly used to measure the temperatures of other things, notably parts of the female anatomy and the temperature of showers. As such, Binternet Rands's claims that confusion is very likely cannot be dismissed out of hand. In addition, the "Galilean Thermometer" is sometimes used in a manner similar to the male reproductive organ as a means of providing erotic pleasure, despite wide-spread recommendations not to use breakable glass for such purposes.

There, that's doing it right.

It's not that hard, buddy.

More examples? Stephen King's recent book 11/22/63 is $13.59 paperback, $16.41 kindle.

Do we have different internets? Are you in another country?

Sthephen King's book is 9.99 on Kindle.

It's $13.59 in paperback (pre-shipping).

http://www.amazon.com/11-22-63-Stephen-King/dp/1451627297/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347037977&sr=1-3&keywords=stephen+king

I just typed in "50 Shades of Gray", and the Kindle version is $9.99 (no shipping). The print version is $9.57. So, you've got me by 42 cents before shipping, which still means that the Kindle version will be cheaper for 90% of amazon buyers (those with Amazon Prime are Excepted, although Amazon Prime allows for free Kindle lending, which could put the price at 0.00 for Kindle.)

http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-Grey-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B007J4T2G8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347036166&sr=8-2&keywords=50+shades+of+gray

I looked up "Stephen King". I went thought the first 20 or so novels, and there are exactly *two* that cost more on Kindle (vs paperback). Most are $8.99-9.99 total, and none are more than $2 more expensive on Kindle. At this price point, I really wouldn't care for one version over the other. They are going to crank out so many poor quality copies of these high-selling paperbacks that it eventually makes their printing costs very, very low.

I would be (and I am) much more concerned with the higher priced books, like the non-fiction tech guides that are not only printed with much better quality, but are over 1,000 (large) pages. Using the Unix must-have "UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition)" as an example (I happen to own both the paperback and kindle versions), it is $41.05 for the print version, although the price printed on the book is actually much higher. The Kindle version is $27.35. That thirteen dollar savings will cover the difference for at least six Stephen King titles - before shipping.

I just finished going through hundreds of titles for (Nonfiction, Technical) books that I would purchase or have purchased, and I could not find a SINGLE title that was more for the Kindle version, using the keywords "Linux, Java, Bash, Windows, OSX, Javascript, or algorithms". Some of the Kindle versions are less than the paperback versions by only a couple dollars, but there are several than are 30%-75% less than their dead tree counterparts.

With the types of books that I read, my kindle has paid for itself many times over, and I have no reason to buy another one, since my laptop, iPad, and Nexus 7 all can use either the free download or the web-based kindle reader. Just guessing, it has probably saved me anywhere from $700-$1500 on my current library of 110 titles.

The author-editor team didn't make anything from your used books.

It's a sticky topic. I don't want to go off the rails from your post, just point out that used books have that crucial payment to the creators stripped out -- it's an unsustainable comparison. Matching that price means no books produced.

Well, I'm not sure that's true, but would love to see some numbers to prove it.

When I buy a used book, that means someone originally bought the book new, and if I buy his used book for 50% of the price of a new book, I'm effectively giving him a 50% subsidy for the purchase of the book and helping him buy his next book.

Of course, that effect gets lower and lower each time a used book is resold.

But it's easy for a publisher to shortcircuit this process - a month or two paperback release (when the books are widely available on the used market), they could cut the eBook price to match the price in the used market.

Since you mentioned tech books... well, It's harder to find used book deals on Tech books because as you said the market is smaller, plus many people that buy them keep them around for reference and by the time they are willing to sell them, they are obsolete. But lets look at the pricing for a random tech book Beginning Python:

$26.23 for the Kindle eBook, $27.61 for the eBook, and $27.60 used including shipping.

The eBook is priced $1.48 lower than the paper book, but since I don't have a $300 Kindle DX with a large screen (so I can see diagrams, code samples, etc), the eBook is much less useful to me than the paper book.

Does it really cost only $1.48 to print a 700 page paperback book, warehouse it, and ship it?

Like all of them?

Here's A Dance with Dragons, the first book that came to my mind, from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553801473

The ebook is $14.99, but you can find the hardcover in the amazon marketplace new from $14.36, and the paperback is just $9.99

The overbed table is a good solution. I use this one for my laptop and it works great: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BJGHPM/

The truth is, there are holes in the evolutionary theory.

There are 'holes' in General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, too. (They make conflicting predictions in conditions we can't yet test, so at least one and probably both are wrong.) But we still teach them in schools, because they are the best theories we have and they cover such a huge range of phenomena with such precision that, whatever the truth turns out to be, it'll still look a hell of a lot like GR and QM.

As Isaac Asimov put it, "[W]hen people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was [perfectly] spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."

Newton's Laws are wrong, yes... but they are so close to right we still use them every day, and teach them in schools. Hell, NASA still uses plain old Newtonian physics to pilot their space probes, with just a few occasional relativistic fudge factors, because a full GR treatment would be prohibitively complex and add no useful accuracy.

It's the same with evolution. We know that all life is related by common descent, and that life has changed drastically over the course of 3.5 billion years, and that complex structures were built by numerous small tweaks well within the realm of chance. Natural selection has been demonstrated now and over the fossil record.

Evolution is true. Will there be further clarifications and refinements? Sure. But they won't upend evolution any more than GR and QM could possibly be 'overturned'.

Background: I hurt my arm pretty badly in 2010 after (of course) helping someone move. I developed tendinitis in my shoulder, elbow, and wrist, and did a serious re-evaluation of my ergonomics.

I built a standing desk out of 2 x 4s and my old desktop, a piece of cheap particle board I've been hauling around for a decade or so. I already had an articulated keyboard tray I'd salvaged from a previous employer, so I put that on it for fine adjustments.

I built a so-called "tie-fighter" keyboard out of an old Goldtouch. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-vertical,-ergonomic-tie-fighter-ke/

I also built a raised mouse platform to go next to it and screwed it to the keyboard tray, so that my arms would remain at the same height for typing and mousing.

I got an inexpensive ergo mouse. http://www.amazon.com/Vertical-Ergonomic-Optical-Mouse-Ergoguys/dp/B001FWKA7A/

I got an anti-fatigue standing mat, the kind which are used by cashiers and such. http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Comfort-Antifatigue-Zedlan-CK0023BL/dp/B000PTO8MW/

Probably the most expensive thing I did was buy a new, drafting-height chair. See other comments in this thread about bar stools; same idea.

The end result is an ergonomic workstation that is almost perfectly suited to my ergonomic needs. I no longer pronate my wrists; the only tendon that gets tensed is the one around the back of my elbow. My back doesn't hurt from sitting anymore and I have better circulation overall. I would say I sit down about 25% of the time when computing, though it varies from day to day. Some days I won't sit hardly at all, others I'll feel a bit lazy and sit maybe half the time.

I chose not to spend lots of money on a commercial standing desk or one of those movable ones. It seemed easy and approachable to do some simple carpentry and build one myself. The whole project increased my awareness of computing ergonomics, and I think my body is happier for it.

Background: I hurt my arm pretty badly in 2010 after (of course) helping someone move. I developed tendinitis in my shoulder, elbow, and wrist, and did a serious re-evaluation of my ergonomics.

I built a standing desk out of 2 x 4s and my old desktop, a piece of cheap particle board I've been hauling around for a decade or so. I already had an articulated keyboard tray I'd salvaged from a previous employer, so I put that on it for fine adjustments.

I built a so-called "tie-fighter" keyboard out of an old Goldtouch. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-vertical,-ergonomic-tie-fighter-ke/

I also built a raised mouse platform to go next to it and screwed it to the keyboard tray, so that my arms would remain at the same height for typing and mousing.

I got an inexpensive ergo mouse. http://www.amazon.com/Vertical-Ergonomic-Optical-Mouse-Ergoguys/dp/B001FWKA7A/

I got an anti-fatigue standing mat, the kind which are used by cashiers and such. http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Comfort-Antifatigue-Zedlan-CK0023BL/dp/B000PTO8MW/

Probably the most expensive thing I did was buy a new, drafting-height chair. See other comments in this thread about bar stools; same idea.

The end result is an ergonomic workstation that is almost perfectly suited to my ergonomic needs. I no longer pronate my wrists; the only tendon that gets tensed is the one around the back of my elbow. My back doesn't hurt from sitting anymore and I have better circulation overall. I would say I sit down about 25% of the time when computing, though it varies from day to day. Some days I won't sit hardly at all, others I'll feel a bit lazy and sit maybe half the time.

I chose not to spend lots of money on a commercial standing desk or one of those movable ones. It seemed easy and approachable to do some simple carpentry and build one myself. The whole project increased my awareness of computing ergonomics, and I think my body is happier for it.

Snow Crash - $10 from Amazon in paperback or kindle format, less than that from other sellers, and less than 1/5th that used. That's just one I know to be ridiculous from memory. How is it the same price to pulp a tree, print it, package it, and ship it to my house as it is to copy a digital file and send it over the internet (not even over wireless networks since most of the new Kindle's are WiFi only)?

Just because it worked that way in the past doesn't mean it will always work that way in the future. It is plausible you will reach a tipping point where technology is sufficiently sophisticated that it will be better at nearly everything than a low skilled human and you will wipe out large swaths of the workforce with no replacement jobs in sight. There will be jobs in creative skills, highly educated skills, but a lot of people aren't going to have the intelligence or inherent abilities to do them.

You could reach a point when large numbers of people are going to be unemployable unless someone is willing to make work for them or is willing to support them on something that is essentially welfare.

There is a pretty good book on this topic, The Lights in the Tunnel

I used to put a lot of comments in my code. Then I read the book Clean Code, and it changed the way I look at comments. Basically, every comment you leave in your code is an admission of defeat: you were unable to write your code clear enough to eliminate the need for the comment. Today, I write my code with comments, and then I go back and try to eliminate each comment by making the code clearer instead. So instead of

do_args(&argc, &argv); // process command line arguments

I do this:

processCommandLineArguments(&argc, &argv);

and the comment is no longer needed.

Today, my code has far fewer comments, but is easier to read and understand. The few comments that are left are usually block comments that explain why something is done, or outlining how the code could be improved or expanded in the future.

More fancifully, perhaps the Rat Things from Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash are now a possibility.

Unlikely, those things are described as running several hundred miles per hour, also I don't think the non-proliferation people will be too happy about all the RTGs involved-

The important thing about this kind of research is that the artificial solutions move in the same way as the biological models. That makes it easier to integrate them with biology. Amputees won't ever be happy to have lost a limb, but an artificial replacement that can outperform the original is a lot better than an artificial replacement that can do no more (and often does less) than the original.

More fancifully, perhaps the Rat Things from Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash are now a possibility.

Mountain uplift is known to greatly enhance rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering compared to the rates in tectonically stable regions (e.g., Stallard and Edmond, 1983; Milliman and Syvitski, 1992; Derry and France-Lanord, 1997). These observations have been used to argue that orogenic events lead to global cooling over geologic time scales by accelerating the rate of atmospheric CO 2consumption by silicate weathering (e.g., Raymo et al., 1988; Raymo and Ruddiman, 1992; Edmond and Huh, 1997; Wallmann, 2001).

It talks about another cause of accelerated erosion, mountain uplift, but increased rainfall should do the same. As I assumed, it talks about geologic time-scales, so it doesn't really help us.

You are not making that same foolish mistake are you?

I don't know, am I?

I don't know what you mean by a "class 16", but that $30 card claims to be a class 10, which is the highest class of card. Did you mean UHS Speed Class 1?

I was in the same boat as you. I am a musician and wanted a stand up desk for my audio workstation to make it easier to play guitar and record. I already had an X-type keyboard stand sitting around so I bought a second platform for it to make it a two tier stand. I put my laptop on the second tier using a scrap piece of lumber. Works great and cheap. This is basically exactly what I have.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Stage-Stands-Deluxe-2-Tier-Keyboard/dp/B0002M3OUO/ref=sr_1_9?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1346966758&sr=1-9&keywords=onstage+keyboard+stand

I got one of these adjustable laptop stands. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005VE27R4 and have been fairly happy with it, although I do not use it alot. It is easy to adjust up and down, but I just move or move it out of the way. In the winter putting my wrist on the metal did become uncomfortable as it conducted heat away, so I tucked some cloth under the laptop and over the bottom edge where my wrist touched. This is really a laptop only solution. The price seems to have gone up 50% since I got mine.

I never have tried it in bed but this might be the solution for jcborro.

You've got many choices.

1. Get an over bed table ala http://www.amazon.com/Invacare-Over-Bed-Table/dp/B000QA0EHI $49, you can adjust the height, upto 42" which should be within a few inches of what you need.

2. Use a bed tray on your normal table - ala http://www.standsandmounts.com/winsomewoodnaturalwoodbreakfasttraywithtiltingtop.aspx

3. Get a shelf with adjustable racks ala http://visualadventures.com/gear-review/how-to-make-an-adjustable-stand-up-desk-for-about-50

4. El cheapo option, wooden boxes, or piles of telephone directories, or piles of soft drink can crates.

Get a tall stool to sit in when you need a break from standing.

I started using a standing desk a year ago and I won't go back. I bought this desk http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MS70Z2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00. See my review for caveats because the keyboard tray isn't wide enough for mouse and keyboard. Yes, the standing will make your knees sore. I bought this mat and it does help http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EFK9KM/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00. I feel much better in general. My back pain went away and I feel much healthier in general.

I started using a standing desk a year ago and I won't go back. I bought this desk http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MS70Z2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00. See my review for caveats because the keyboard tray isn't wide enough for mouse and keyboard. Yes, the standing will make your knees sore. I bought this mat and it does help http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EFK9KM/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00. I feel much better in general. My back pain went away and I feel much healthier in general.

I bet this is what people said 100 years ago about putting a man on the moon. Think of all the incredible things that have been done or discovered in the last century...

Assuming technology were still accelerating at the same pace it did in the 20th century, it's probably less likely that we'll travel to the stars. If the human race ultimately merges with machines, we may decided to move into a virtual reality, with the infrastructure located deep underground where nothing will bother us for many millions of years. See Vernor Vinge's classic novel Marooned in Realtime for some musings on this possibility.

And even if we did launch such a mission to the stars, that first mission would likely be overtaken by missions that, while launched much later, are capable of travelling faster. Vast spaces missions are not worth bothering with in the short term.

If this man is really looking to cyberpunk writing, then perhaps he'll follow recent advancements in implanted electronics and, taking a cue from Neil Stephenson's The Diamond Age , offer us a gun that can be concealed in the cranium. Then again, if you set off the metal detector at a location even when walking through completely naked, someone's going to know that something is up.

Do the movies work with Linux?

If you are referring to the DVD - yes. Your choice of deCSS'ing or actually licensed played, afaik.
Amazon Prime? That depends. There was recently a change that caused things not to play back, but apparently you have to install HAL. My Linux usage is rather limited, though, so I'll point you to the thread:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/amazon%20video%20on%20demand?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx3EQAX98ED5WQ3&cdPage=1&cdSort=newest&cdThread=TxFTGOK5LRL3JM

I think there is a bit of a philosophical question here, though. Assume it didn't work on Linux and there were no DVDs available. Then are the movie studios (or Amazon) making it difficult for you to rent/buy the digital copies, or did you make it difficult on yourself by choosing to use Linux?
Is Mozilla making it difficult for me to watch WebGL content by claiming it doesn't work on my machine, or am I making it difficult on myself by using FireFox? (hint: Chrome serves it up just fine)

Would I rather that Amazon - and also the studios - embraced Linux completely and supported it through-and-through? Of course.

most people like to RENT. NOT buy. Studios make that difficult. Yes, it is difficult.

If the movie simply isn't available for rent online, then I don't think it's a matter of it being difficult. It simply doesn't apply. That doesn't change that I think it's lame that the content isn't available for rent online, but it's also not 'difficult'.
Once it does become available, though - what will be the next thing that makes it 'difficult'?

The reason I ask is because the part you quoted was in reply to...

they try their damnedest to make it difficult to view a movie

.
There's no mention there of online rental.

If we're going to keep narrowing the matter at hand so that there's always something that'll be perceived to be 'difficult', this subthread is going to get very long indeed :)

Again, don't get me wrong - if I had any say in this (more than I do now, anyway), 24-hour global rentals would become available the same day as the physical media release. Working on it for my limited corner of the world, but it'll take a long time for that to happen here.. never mind the U.S. market or global.

From their perspective, this is no doubt a beneficial side-effect of the massive expansion of the private national security industry since 9-11. I guess at least it's providing jobs.

Piers Anthony is a good author. He finished this book for 15-year old Robert Kromwell who died before the story was complete. It's a decent read.

Sure, a Mac Pro or a Mac mini + external Thunderbolt RAID may serve fine as a pedestal server. But I was under the impression that only Windows, Linux, and the like ran on rackmount hardware now that Apple has discontinued Xserve. Or has it already become common practice to put pairs of Mac mini computers into 19 inch racks?

where are the dual PSU's and hotswap HDD's?

the mini does not even have a easy to get to HDD (next to all other desktops) in it.

Sure, a Mac Pro or a Mac mini + external Thunderbolt RAID may serve fine as a pedestal server. But I was under the impression that only Windows, Linux, and the like ran on rackmount hardware now that Apple has discontinued Xserve. Or has it already become common practice to put pairs of Mac mini computers into 19 inch racks?

It's unfortunate your message lacks tact because your otherwise insightful post is forcing people to shoot the messenger instead of listening the message. :-/

Speaking of facts have you read the book: "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion"
It is a catalog of six fundamental ideas that commonly support moral systems: care, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority and sanctity.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Righteous-Mind-Politics-ebook/dp/product-description/B0052FF7YM

Speaking of Math, have you read the graphic novel Logicomix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logicomix

This was my biochemistry book-- I took the course when the book was new. I still have it around, somewhere.
It's 11.2 x 8.7 x 1.8 inches, and consists of 1064 color pages crammed into a fairly dubious hardcover binding. I believe I paid somewhere around $60 or $70, for it, from the college bookstore-- amazon came later.
On Lulu.com, an 800 page book, in color, would cost 192.55, just to manufacture, or 44.50 in black and white,
The color does have some pedagogical value--highlighting active sites, pathways, important structures etc.

They already make mice with d-pads... but they are designed for use with the consoles.

I have the predecessor (non-elite) to this one for the PS3: http://www.amazon.com/Aimon-PS-Elite-PC-PS3/dp/B0044B6WYE

It works pretty well.

What stops the students from sharing an access code?

I didn't have to buy *any* books for university. There were plenty of copies of anything "important" in the library (with a portion of them not available for loan), and most lecturers just gave a list of 10 or so books, only a few recommended one book over all others. One lecturer once set questions from a book, about half an hour later a student sent an email to the discussion list for the course with a scan of the relevant page. The lecturer forwarded it to the whole class. (I actually bought the book, I thought it was interesting.)

It was this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MACHINE-LEARNING-Mcgraw-Hill-International-Edit/dp/0071154671 which is £34 / $54.

On Amazon.com the paperback "International Edition" isn't sold; the hardcover is $163 http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Learning-Tom-M-Mitchell/dp/0070428077 How's that free market? ;-)

More likely the fact that everything under the sun comes with a EULA or ToS specifying that its non-transferable.

The technical side of breaking DRM hasn't historically been a big problem (even if you can't figure it out yourself, the torrent is only a few clicks away.)

Its the legal side of things that can be tricky, assuming you're in the group of people who care about keeping legitimate (and anyone high-profile pretty much has to be or they'd be plastered all over the news in short order.)

And come on, its Bruce Willis. I don't know how big his iTunes collection is, but I somehow think he could afford to just buy his daughters a copy if that's all he cared about.

He's taking a stand on principle. I give him a giant thumbs up for that! The whole mentality of locking in and locking down needs to be fought wherever it can!

Well, then maybe he shouldn't sue Apple but the RIAA instead, because it sure isn't Apple that insisted on that clause. Which you can tell by the fact that Amazon has the same clause almost at the beginning of the ToS: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200154280 "2.1 Rights Granted. Upon payment for Music Content, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Music Content only for your personal, non-commercial, entertainment use, subject to the Agreement."

And if your collection of CDs or vinyl LPs burns, you can't restore your music either. But sensible people back up their hard drives. Or you can pay Apple for iTunes Match, and Apple will back it up for you. If you don't like Apple, Amazon offers a similar service.