Quoted: But the notion that most American consumers enjoy anything like a competitive marketplace for health care is flatly false. And a study issued last month by a pro-reform group makes that strikingly clear.

Quoted: The report, released by Health Care for America Now (HCAN), uses data compiled by the American Medical Association to show that 94 percent of the country's insurance markets are defined as "highly concentrated," according to Justice Department guidelines. Predictably, that's led to skyrocketing costs for patients, and monster profits for the big health insurers. Premiums have gone up over the past six years by more than 87 percent, on average, while profits at ten of the largest publicly traded health insurance companies rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007.

Quoted: Far from healthy market competition, HCAN describes the situation as "a market failure where a small number of large companies use their concentrated power to control premium levels, benefit packages, and provider payments in the markets they dominate."

Quoted: Quality of sleep is not something to be taken lightly, and yet so many geeks have trouble sleeping at night. Aside from the obvious (going to a doctor), there are a number of things you can try to get a better night's sleep, ranging from sleep-tracking alarm clocks to software that lulls you into a slumber.

Quoted: Think writing a compiler is difficult? It is—unless you use Parrot, a complete compiler construction kit. With Parrot, crafting a new programming language is as easy as authoring a new website.

Quoted: A fun pattern has emerged among the Republican efforts to reach out to voters through the new social-networking online media: They're failing massively, with episodes that just make them look stupid and ham-fisted, and even sometimes force them to apologize for offending people.

Quoted: I am aware of the difficulties of catching history on the run. Some explanation may emerge for Ahmadinejad's upset that does not involve fraud. For instance, it is possible that he has gotten the credit for spreading around a lot of oil money in the form of favors to his constituencies, but somehow managed to escape the blame for the resultant high inflation.

Quoted: But just as a first reaction, this post-election situation looks to me like a crime scene. And here is how I would reconstruct the crime.

Quoted: Jay Leno has a lot of old cars with a lot of obsolete parts. When he needs to replace these parts, he skips the error-prone machinist and goes to his rapid prototyping 3D printer. Simply scan, print and repeat.

Quoted: This is hard for liberal activists to adjust to. We're oriented to the democratic process which we see as a counter balance to the influence of wealth. But there has never been a time when it was more obvious than now that our two party political process mostly serves as a front for wealthy elites no matter who's in power. This situation does require a reorientation, and a big one.

Tom's Hardware goes Linux.

Quoted: As a lifelong Windows user, system builder, ex-gamer, and performance freak, I'm not drinking anyone's Kool-Aid. I just want the most amount of control over my system as possible, and at this point in time, Ubuntu is the best follow-up to Windows XP. Don't take my word for it, give it a try for yourself. If, like me, you've tried it before with no luck, perhaps it's time to give it another shot. You could try it with the Live CD, but let's face it, that's little more than interactive screenshots. Without installing and running software natively, you really can't give it a fair shake.

Quoted: This article will walk you, the Windows power user, through the Ubuntu installation process from downloading the CD image to finding help online. There are many guides available online, but most are written for total computer newbies or people already familiar with Linux. Most of the hang-ups that I experienced with Linux could have been easily overcome with simple Windows analogies.

Quoted: Writing for power users, I assume that you have a good working knowledge of Windows and computers in general, but little or no experience with Linux. Therefore, this article will not tell you to compile anything from source code, and no sentence begins with “bring up the terminal” or any other UNIX techno-babble. Common Linux pitfalls like hard drive partitioning, installing software, and setup of essential plug-ins will be addressed entirely by using the graphical user interface (GUI).

Quoted: We know you're curious. Give it a shot. The operating system is free, after all.

Quoted: On the outside, both cars look vaguely similar to other souped-up rides, with scissor-doors, carbon fiber-trim, and other tuner-ish bling. On the inside, however, the Air Force influence becomes startlingly clear. The X-1 is tricked-out like a jet cockpit, with an ejection seat (non-functioning, we assume) and an instrumentation panel to make any gizmo junkie's heart race. The Vapor's interior is done in two-seat style, with a bonus steering wheel for the passenger and a special "stealth mode" for the exhaust system. If the Air Force was looking for "shock and awe", Galpin totally delivered.