I think I would install linux (duh) and see if I can crack a couple of really strong encrypted stuff. US army maybe? Just as a proof that this is possible and if I can have access to such a powerful computer, someone else probably has as well. And with an infinitely fast computer, encryption fades as snow melts in the sun.

I could also try to run some simulations on some complex engineering problems I might be working on at the time. That should be fun :P

Just for completeness, not all of us are US citizens. What are the google fiber speeds? I'm assuming 100Mbit/s here.

There are 2 ways to make a memorable ad. The first way is to create a beautiful, funny or otherwise great ad which is a good experience in its own. The second way is to make the ad as annoying as possible (in the spirit of bad attention is attention as well). Unfortunately the second category is abundant on TV and radio because it is cheaper to create that kind of ad. (I remember one telling me to turn off my radio. When I didn't it proceeded to tell me "see, radio advertising works". Really annoying. I made a point out of it to turn off the radio every time I heard that one).

Now, I don't blame people for blocking ads on the internet any more than for zapping away because of radio/TV commercials. There are a couple of problems with internet ads for the one showing the ads however. First, the one who placed the ad can see how many people have actually seen it while on TV, radio and in the streets they can only guess. Second, when using the internet, you send your content to someone else. The receiver can then decide what he wants to view and what not. There is no way you can control what the receiver sees. These problems make the internet different from the more traditional media.

So, the internet is different. It can count the number of views and everybody can block what they want. Imagine TV with an unlimited skip ad button and the ability to count how many ads are actually watched. My guess is that the stations will be broke soon because no one watches the ads anymore. This is what is happening on the internet at the moment. More and more people find the unlimited skip button in the form of ad blocking software. And once they have found that button, they set it to autoskip and will never ever think about it again. You have lost them forever as potential 'eyeballs'.

Now, how do you prevent people from setting up blocking software? Simple, don't run ads at all and make money otherwise. But is you really want to run them, your only option is to use acceptable ads. That isn't the case at the moment. Youtube treats its player as a tv, putting 30 seconds long ads in front of a 3 minute video and news sites treat you like an idiot with intrusive ads about completely unrelated things while often cutting an article in 3 parts to generate more ad revenue. This doesn't amount to acceptable advertising in my book and gets blocked accordingly.

So, I think we have arrived at my conclusion about advertising. Not all advertising is bad, but it needs to be acceptable. Unacceptable advertising will be blocked and once I block, there is no way back. You screwed it up and I don't have the incentive to give you a second chance.

Now, for the other possible ways to make money: Paywall and donations. Paywalls suffer from piracy, just like everything else. However, I think it is really naive to think that you can ban piracy. Most independent studies published on the subject have even shown an increase in sales for pirated stuff (unfortunately I cannot find those studies anymore, sorry). The problem with paywalls is that there is no easy way to pay. For example, I I want to pay for a paywall, I have to use a credit card. I for one, don't have one since we have a better system to pay online in the Netherlands (and we have to pay for a credit card). However, since the paywall is in the US, I cannot pay unless I use PayPal. If I don't have PayPal either it becomes pretty hard to pay (and I WILL be taking the easy route, so no doing a long setup procedure to get a PayPal account etc). Long story short: Make things easier and have something to offer. Then people will pay.

On donations: Yes, you are right. Donations are not a viable business model for a for profit organisation. For non-profits and small blogs/sites this is actually viable.

I block ads for good reasons (even if I say so myself). It is because I really hate tracking and allowing ads shows that I somehow agree with the big guys that they are allowed to track me. Also, I loathe the banner/flash type of ad (instant leave and no return if you run one of those on your site and I happen to catch you). I don't mind unobtrusive, unpersonalized and clearly marked text ads since those are, well, unobtrusive and easily ignored without using technology. If you need to use trickery and flashiness to sell your product you are clearly doing it wrong.

I recently read the first page of mnmlist.com. It talks about a minimalist website, the how and why. He argues that you also need to care for the reader. The reader also hopes to gain something from being at your site. The most amazing part is that even though all his work is in the public domain and there are no ads on his sites, he still manages to make a living off of his sites. Clearly, there is another way.

Things like flattr are a step in the right direction to make money making on the internet easier. It allows people to give to creators without having to deal with the annoyance that is advertising. Even large sites like news sites could use something like this. Maybe it is really flattr like, or maybe it is a paywall where you need to pay a few cents to read the complete article. A bit like buying music via iTunes of a similar store.

I agree that historians are also well qualified, but isn't the scope of their work different from the scope of anthropologists?

I've been to Saba and St. Martin. The Princess Juliana airport strange, but it is safe. You just don't want to drive there if there is a plane near. You might get blown off the island if you are really unlucky.

The above picture gives you a better image of the runway on Saba. The runway is only 400 meters long, making this more like landing on an aircraft carrier. If the pilot can't stop in time he will need to take off again. Also, takeoff is really weird since you pretty much throw yourself off the rock.

In Dutch it is common to swear/curse with diseased. Cancer, smallpox, tuberculosis and the plague are all very commonly used curses. Often combined to add more weight to the curse. Especially cancer is a hot issue since it is a common and bad disease. In some rare cases I also curse with disease (when I am really, really angry). I would like to get rid of that rare time I swear/curse with a disease.

Also, telling someone to die isn't a good idea either. Better tell them to go and ride their bike.

I know that my university does claim certain rights to projects done by it's students for educational purposes, but claiming full rights to work done in one's own time is ridiculous. That would mean that the school would have the rights to every letter written, every drawing drawn. Pretty much everything really. They do not deserve that. The school contributes nothing and only takes away the joy in side projects.

I think I would involve Harry. From your story it seems he is unable to intercede because he doesn't know how, so if you give him a hand, I would think he could be instrumental since he is friends with June and she trusts him. Otherwise they would not be in this together.

Could you confirm that this is true? I really want to find a solution now and am really curious how you pulled it off. Interesting problem to say the least (less fun if you are in this situation).

Currently, I have 2. One I share with my father, who is building a house at the moment. The other is my personal project which will probably never be. Both are rather technical in nature.

The shared project is something I refer to as "project Koukleum". Koukleum is a dutch word meaning "someone who gets cold easily". The goal is pretty much this: Design a system which will regulate all of the heating equipment in the house. It involves solar panels, a fireplace which feeds part of the heat generated into the system and a regular central heating unit. I regularly think about it, but nothing tangible has come out of it yet.

My personal project is home automation. I want to automate my room with all kinds of technical gadgets with one important condition. Nothing can be pick and place. I must do everything myself. So, I regularly think about how I would automate the locks on my doors, save power by turning off certain things at certain times etc. All without me doing anything intelligent to make it happen. The problem is, this isn't all that hard in theory. I just don't make it happen because the solutions I have now use way too much wires and would have to use too many ports on a embedded system...

Ah well, I suppose there isn't any harm in having these forever projects.

The New Green podcast, now brought to you with a pretty video. Great video and still a great podcast. I enjoyed it yet again. Next Thursday, I will be running and parkouring partly because of this. Thanks.

If what they claim is true, it is impossible to prove since the old techniques have been forgotten. The best he can do is recreate the techniques.

In any conflict, be it small or large, dialogue should be the first step. Try to get the countries involved to understand that the terrorists were wrong to do what they did. Show goodwill. This is the first step to cooperation with those countries to get the terrorists. Indeed, the people may never come around, but an attempt to resolve the conflict without the use of force would have been made.

After 11 September 2001, the US started an investigation to look who was responsible. After that everything moved really fast and 7 October the first bombs fell in Afghanistan in a joint operation with the British army. That is less than a month. No sign of talks with the local authorities. Instead of trying to bring the criminals to justice, the US took justice in it's own hands. And to make it worse, the US didn't fight a clean war. The US uses torture and instead of trying the main antagonists in court, they were shot dead.

Long story short, the US acted like a bully instead of trying to talk things out first. This makes the Middle East see the US as a bully instead of a rational country.