For me it would really depend on the item. I shop online primarily because I hate crowds. I can take my time, comparison shop, and see a greater variety of products online. Having online retailers collect sales tax will be a logistical nightmare. If the states start requiring it, what's to stop counties or even…

I'd like to know who this "many of us" is that "barely" users their ice maker. Due to a health issue which I'll not go into details of here, I don't use any ice right now but the other members of the household use copious amounts of ice as do 99% of the people I know. Maybe that's just part of the culture here in…

I carry two devices. One is an older iPaq PDA that I keep on hand because it has Pocket Quicken and there's no version of it for my smart phone which is a Samsung Focus. The iPaq stays tucked away in my briefcase until I need it, while the Focus is in my pocket.

I'm a dedicated capitalist, just so you know where I'm coming from.

.NET can be rather large. Probably the easiest way to get the bits you need is to go here:

The most intuitive UI in the universe is worthless if the app isn't useful. The reverse is also true. The most useful app in the universe is worthless if the UI is so hard to figure out that no one can actually make us of it. If the UI causes the app to actually be slower than performing teh same task by hand with…

To be totally honest, what the European Commission does is totally irrelevant in the US. What is legal or legally binding here in the US is based upon US laws, the chief of which is the US Constitution. Any judge in the US at any level, state or federal, who considers foreign law or precedent in making a decision is…

I simply don't see how any alternate keyboard layout can be superior to QWERTY. I suspect that just like alternate operating systems, most alternate keyboard advocates are simply trying to be different. Some people seem to have a pathological need to go against the mainstream. That can be good when it leads to the…

What happened will likely depend on the species of bird. I've always heard that when a baby bird falls from the nest it's best to leave it alone because if the parents smell human or other scent on the baby they'll abandon it, while otherwise many species will still feed the baby if it doesn't get snapped up by some…

Probably the best thing is to remember the old adage, "If you don't have something positive to say, don't say anything." That is much easier said than done when you have strong opinions on the subject being bandied about in an online discussion.

While the WYSIWYG editors allow someone with little or no knowledge of HTML to put up a site quickly, there is no substitute for a basic understanding of HTML and CSS when you inevitably want to do something that isn't supported by the toolbar in your favorite editor.

3 computers that I personally own and use, 1 netbook with Win7 Pro, 1 desktop with Win7 Ultimate 64bit, and 1 Windows Home Server. If you count older machines that are currently gathering dust, bump that up to 6. 1 old sun sparc pizza box machine, 1 old dual processor pentium II with Redhat 9, and 1 old pentium III…

I've been a loyal TurboTax user since before there was such a thing as e-filing. Back then, TT came on floppy disks and all it would do is print out the forms for you to sign and mail. It's always done a good job for me. I like that it's easy to go in and add stuff that you already know you need to do even though…

I don't have an iPhone, but I do on very rare occasions tether using my Samsung Focus WP7 phone. I only do it if I'm trying to do something on the net that just isn't working right on the mobile browser and my netbook can't receive a WiFi signal. That's pretty uncommon, usually only once or twice a week for a few…

I've been using the same brand of tax software since before there was such a thing as e-filing. I started using it back when all it did was fill out the forms for you to print, sign, and mail in. It's always worked well for me. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Realistically, it all depends on how much warning you have and where you are when you get that warning.

My network is a mixture of wired and wireless. Wired for fixed location devices such as desktop PC's, DVR, Windows Home Server, network printer, etc. Wireless for laptop, smartphone, etc.

I'm a Ham radio operator so I'm fairly familiar with how radio works. I can't think of any reason why this should work. Plain glass, no metalic content, would be totally transparent to radio waves. If the glass had metal in it, such as would be the case with leaded crystal, it would be more likely to reduce signal…

To me, a troll is more than just someone with a strongly held negative opinion about whatever is being discussed. A troll, to me, is more like the mythical creature they're named after. They lurk in forums, mail lists, chat rooms, etc. periodically posting comments designed to illicit a response merely for the joy…

I guess it really depends on just how bad the customer service there really is. You say that it's "never been stellar". That could cover a wide range from the employees simply failing to greet you in a cheerful manner to regularly messing up your order. What's expected in the form of a friendly greeting also varies…