The Grilled Cheese

I am in Australia, where at the University of Queensland I am charged for internet access per gig of download or transfer. As much as I hate having to worry about going to a website with images (facebook) or video (youtube), I wonder if this might be a decent way of cutting back on illegal downloads. If illegal downloaders have to pay based on how much they download, then they will download less. Such a payment scheme may also promote general bandwidth efficiency. But there must a be a reason ISPs in the US simply charge flat rate. The most likely reason is that bandwidth provision is a relatively competitive industry, which eliminates the opportunity for such price discrimination practices. But bandwidth in college dorms is not a competitive industry. Universities have an effective monopoly over the internet access in their dorms. So why don't universities in the US, which clearly have an incentive to keep bandwidth under control, use the same system as UQ? Maybe they do, as my only experience is with Wash U. Regardless, it would be interesting to note any differences in internet provision between universities and ISPs.

When teachers face rowdy classes, I often hear them declare that they can't even hear themselves think. Of course that is not true, but it gets the point across. However, what if we focus on the effect of lots of external noise? Are we more prone to think to ourselves? If so, what kind of thoughts might be more prevalent? I imagine that we may think more personal or intimate thoughts when there is lots of noise. If we get the perception that nothing can be heard because of the loud external noises, then we may feel more comfortable thinking such thoughts. Of course, the feeling that others can hear our thoughts is not exactly rational, but we do think that our intentions and feelings are more transparent to others than we actually are, which is similar. Unless brain imaging can tell the difference between personal/sensitive/intimate thoughts and less embarrassing thoughts, the only way to test this would be to be self-report. While that would most likely not be too powerful, I think it is worth a shot.