@codyflee & @theimmc: I suppose my n=1, but i'll stick with the cheapies as I've never had problems. But thanks for sharing your experiences!

How often do you actually get in accidents? It'd have to be pretty often to make this worth it. IMHO, LH should be a little more selective about their posts, only forwarding along those which actually make some sense to implement...

Using [www.pricewatch.com] or other good RAM search engine, I've always gone for pretty much the cheapest sticks I can find. And I've never had problems to my knowledge.

1) For a nice list of airline alliances, see [en.wikipedia.org]

uh, hmm. dessicant needs to be "recharged" by heating very often if not being stored in an airtight/humidity-tight container (find me something that absorbs humidity infinitely and i'll find you a nobel prize). Those little dessicant bags you get in shoeboxes probably won't be good for long, and more likely than not…

Don't forget to extend your warranty period (often doubling it!) if you bought the item with a credit card! I just replaced a battery charger which was 10 days out of warranty with the service. Amazingly easy, didn't have to send the thing back as it was under $100, and I just got a check in the mail! cool.

another option is thelaptoplock [lifehacker.com] , though Prey looks nicer.

@Eric Jay: ah, thanks! i assumed (and we all know what happens when you ASSume) that it was just text entry based on the looks of the web form. yep, interfax is cheaper if you're going to pay for faxzero, but for the freebie, hard to beat. anyway, thanks, good to know!

The best combination IMHO: eFax for receiving, interfax for sending. No monthly fees. Free to receive. 11 cents per page to send. And critically, you can send pdf or word docs via email (instead of just typing something in an online form, which makes the faxzero nearly useless). For more: [albosure.blogspot.com]

Real Answer: Mediamonkey. You have the choice of "analyzing" tracks for volume (and replaying them at a constant volume), or actually re-leveling the tracks themselves. Plus, you get the best music player out there to go along with it.

do you have to have your computer on, with firefox open, and connected to the internets, in order for this to work? or do boomerangs servers do the lifting?

vote: dealnews.com

@Joshua.H: uh, it IS the Google of airfare search. [www.google.com] :-)

ITA Software's Matrix? You mean GOOGLE's Matrix. [www.google.com]

if a usb drive is faster than a hard drive, then it makes some sense. but it sounds like most folks below don't experience much of a performance gain.

@Ryan Nevius: quicker to zip around in your email. i can't stand web-based stuff where you have to wait to switch to another mailbox after clicking it. and who wants to click "older messages"? They're all just there in TB - just scroll down your mouse wheel. and there are folks who still use email offline. I…

still a big gap in the outgoing-call arena. google voice apps for windows aren't very usable, and who wants to have to keep going back to the google voice page all the time to make calls?

@TheButcherfly: haha - ok, ok, you guys win. ctrl-s isn't the *worst* default hotkey choice. (applause to you two for making the most out of a rhetorical question).

can you think of a worse hotkey default for show/hide window than "ctrl-s"?

@bloknayrb: the pipes aren't exactly DIY for most folks, true, but could be cheap - in fact, could save you money - if done while building the house.