In the case of Stack Overflow/Stack Exchange, see Jeff Atwood's (slightly dated - IIRC job candidates are no longer charged) answer to "What is Stack Overflow's business model?":
I believe it ends up getting enforced at the retailer level; most major chains will refuse to purchase Christmas lights that are not UL listed, so you can be reasonably sure that the cheaply manufactured lights you purchase at Walmart don't burn your house down. They also seem to be providing education [1] and revising their standards [2] to discourage particularly ill-advised appliances such as electric turkey fryers.
I am a fan of both Top Gear (seen every episode, save for the most recent series) and Tesla (would kill for a Roadster or Model S).
The Tesla Roadster review seemed to be fairly typical of Top Gear; with Jeremy Clarkson pointing out his likes and dislikes in fairly equal proportion. Clarkson in fact seemed very impressed with the Roadster’s performance and I believe the official lap time placed it somewhere around a comparable Porsche 911. The breakdowns seemed believable, especially for a supercar; as Richard Hammond pointed out in a later episode within that series (wherein a Pagani Zonda breaks down within the first few test laps on the Top Gear track) that it’s the nature of supercars to "explode immediately" on use. Tesla didn’t seem to receive a harsher treatment than any other car manufacturer.
The Tesla Roadster is an amazing product, but it -like every machine made before it- has a few bugs to be worked out. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I have yet to give Evernote a full test drive but personally ever since Google implemented two-factor authentication Google Docs seems to have a profound aura of safety that makes notes feel super-private and nigh-unloseable. It’s hard to complete with that. If Evernote were to implement OpenID I would likely be much more interested.
A barebones, 30-minute (5 minutes if you're good) FizzBuzz-esque puzzle given to candidates up front has drastically reduced the number phone interviews that leave me paralytically depressed at the state of CS education.
I pop the SIM out of my iPhone and put it into one of these whenever I go biking or camping. Mine cost $15 as a GoPhone (not unlocked). Couldn't be happier.
Same here; I think cable companies’ complacency in customer service issues isn’t receiving due consideration when discussing this “cord-cutting” trend.
When I purchased my house in 2008, I proceeded to call Comcast (intending to sign up for basic cable + Internet), set my iPhone on speakerphone, and paint the walls of my new rooms. After three nights of 30-45 minute waits with no answer, I gave up and purchased AT&T DSL.