Any nuts, trail mix, and/or granola bars. Neither of them need refrigeration, they can easily be fitted into backpacks, they aren't loud when consumed, nor are they particularly messy. Plus they taste great and can be healthy for you (healthier than chips anyway).

The Xubuntu and Kubuntu variants, I also recommend. They don't have the hideous and nigh-unusable "Unity" desktop interface that Ubuntu introduced as a default a few years later.

If you have to ask, choose Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is far and away the most accessible to Linux newbies. The Xubuntu and Kubuntu variants are actually better, though.

However, if you're wanting to move beyond Ubuntu, there are many options. Arch, Slackware and Gentoo are three common enthusiast destinations. Fedora, OpenSUSE and Debian itself are common moderately-involved choices.

Zealotry aside, there is no one be-all end-all distribution, so it may be wise to try a few before settling on one.

DistroWatch may also be useful.

The best established attentional training game is called dual n-back, and you can download and use the software free. You can probably tell from the name alone that dual n-back isn't exactly the instantly addictive ‘Bejewelled Blitz', but it has its charms in an oddly meditative way. The game requires you to simultaneously remember letters (spoken aloud by the computer) and locations of squares on a tic-tac-toe style grid (presented visually, obviously). At the easiest difficulty level, you need only remember the letters or locations from the previous round. At harder difficulty levels, you need to remember letters or locations from longer ago (the round-before-last, and so on). Harder difficulty levels quickly become fiendishly difficult and demanding, but you can always ease off and practice at the easier levels.

On the PC, you can play the dual n-back game by downloading the open-source software Brain Workshop. On the iPad, you can download the IQ boost app (also free). Both of these versions of the game come with full instructions.

It should be noted that research in this area is at an early stage, and your results may vary. Anecdotal comments on various internet sites report a range of benefits, from significant to none at all. Still, it never hurts to try. A common theme is that it takes dedicated practice to achieve significant results.

The title on the MUD explicitly says "... 404 Error: Now what??? ...."

I like to bring Casu marzu, a pecorino cheese and Sardinian specialty. I import it directly from Italy. I'll eat it sometimes with Sardinian flatbread which is imported from the same place. Most of my co-workers dislike it, but I can't help myself. It's very delicious. If you can ever get the chance, I would recommend trying it. It's expensive, though. I have family that live in Italy that are friends with the makers of the cheese, so I can get it cheaper than what it would normally cost.

Do you teach in South Korea?

I didn't make this. reddit user kyphoscoliosis is the creator. You can find more tilt-shift images like this one on reddit's /r/tiltshift. That's where I found the tilt-shifted Andromeda Galaxy.

Here is the Sombrero Galaxy in tilt-shift by the same user:

Streets Of Rage Remake v5 on PC with a friend. An independent program team called BomberGames spent eight years on this remake of the Streets of Rage series. Streets of Range Remake is a freeware game; it contains almost all characters, enemies, stages and features from the three original games (all enhanced), as well as brand-new features (branching route selection, new moves, new enemies, new stages, new game modes, secrets and cheats to unlock), a remixed soundtrack, and a customizable game engine. Do note that the game itself was taken down, but mirrors can easily be found with a bit of searching. It's a pretty fun beat 'em up game. The only downsides I can think of is the lack of online-coop, and the motorbike and jetski stages are kind of annoying. However, it's still a great game to play, especially if you have a friend with you. (You don't need a friend, but games are always more fun with them, no?)

PPTP isn't secure. Avoid PPTP. In truth, it is dead. OpenVPN has much better encryption, can bypass censorship and is better suited for computers and laptops on the go. There are other protocols but they are less used. L2TPs use is dwindling, IPSEC is too hard, and SSTP is generally only used in networks and countries where PPTP is blocked, as well, it is rarely provided with the exception of StrongVPN, which keeps logs. Go with OpenVPN. I would do your own research or ask someone else, though. I'm not an expert in this field.

I suggest reading "Which VPN Service Providers Really Take Anonymity Seriously?," an article on TorrentFreak. Another article on TorrentFreak I would suggest reading: "How To Make VPNs Even More Secure."

Personally, I prefer to run my own VPN for $10/$15 a year using a cheap 128MB VPS from either BuyVM [the best] or 123Systems [don't respond to support tickets]. You can also use it for other such as running a very small seedbox or web seed, or a bittorrent tracker. The problem with this is that if you use legitimate details, the VPN could be traced back to you, but that's the same with VPNs that use a dedicated IP address who will cut you off, but using a shared IP address could mean a couple of software conflicts.

Edit: Whoops, I thought you said "VPN" not "VPS." A VPS provider I would highly recommend: Linode. It is a bit expensive compared to other VPS providers, but it is worth it. It has tons of great features, is always up, and support is very helpful. Their entire clusters are built from scratch, and as I understand it they own all their hardware. They're also one of the more reputable VPS providers out there.

I suggest Adblock Edge. Adblock Edge is a fork of the Adblock Plus version 2.1.2 extension. The fork provides the same features as Adblock Plus 2.X and higher but without the "acceptable ads" feature. Adblock Edge was primarily branched off from Adblock Plus 2.1.2 source code package. (Firefox only.)

Yes. They have quite a few active members.

There isn't any yet. There are a few tools (one similar to RES), though. You can check them out here: http://hubski.com/tools

I'm sure someone will make one eventually.

I only have Half-Life 2 for Xbox 360, and I've never actually finished it.

I've never seen the appeal in Cookie Clicker and games like it. I tried to get into it, but I found it very repetitive and pointless.

Critics praised Half-Life 2 for it's advanced graphics and physics. The Guardian gave praise especially to the environment design throughout the game. Most of the interest came from it's engine, and not particularly the gameplay. It's also seen as having a good storyline as most FPS games during that time lacked such a particular feature. It also has a unique character that everyone loves-- Gordon Freeman.

I used Alexa.com and based the percentages off reddit and Hubski. It's only speculation, though. I'm just hoping somehow the actual statistics are revealed to see how close I am.

Did you play it when it was new? When it was first released it was a great game compared to the other games of it's day; however, the games of today have of course become better. So it probably wouldn't be that great played today, because FPS games are the worse when it comes to age. (In my experience.)

You have to remember that Half-Life 2 came out in 2004.

I doubt this would work. How could one create something that could thwart a government agency with a budget as large as it is? I'm sure they have the funding to bypass anything a private company or individual creates. The only sure way to escape the NSA would be to permanently go off the grid. You would have to live in seclusion somewhere where they couldn't track you. The best thing would be to live in a cave, and become a hunter-gatherer.

I'd say 19% of users here are from the United States, 10% from Canada, 41% from the United Kingdom, 13% from Australia, 11% from Romania, and 6% from the rest of the world.

I am part of the 19% that are from the United States.

reddit is useful in the way that it has so many varieties of subreddits with decent numbers of members. reddit has thousands of different communities, and it is the central hub for many of those communities. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and reddit can offer you a place to discuss them. You don't have to subscribe to those default subreddits if you don't want to. That's the beauty of reddit.

None but a few subreddits that I am subscribed to have pictures. And most of those pictures are educational. The subreddits I'm subscribed to are generally above average people, and they know how to make a great community. Some examples: /r/programming, /r/startrek, /r/books, and /r/netsec. Those are all great communities. People generally look at the defaults and think that all of reddit is like that. However, that is simply not the case.

I like Hubski; it's a great site. However, the only thing I see that Hubski could offer is an alternative to popular subreddits. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. I joined Hubski for an alternative to subreddits like /r/AskReddit. (I'm so tired of all those pun threads.)