I actually felt just the opposite about the 3D.

While the 3D glasses did darken things, I thought the 3D effectively enhanced the experience to the point that it became unobtrusive. And to me, that's a good thing, because when 3D is used as just a novelty, it's distracting and just gets in the way.

And 3D isn't all the same either. For example, before the movie started, there was a 3D trailer for the latest "Pirate's of the Carribbean" movie. The scenes really came across like they were made to show off fact that it was in 3D instead of actually conveying a story. And the 3D used in the trailer was so amazingly poor--more like a View-Master image--very distracting. In "Tron: Legacy", the 3D effects were there, but they really just made the movie work better (like the rockin' lightcycle scene.) There were few scenes where I felt like the 3D was forced.

SIDE NOTE: I have to admit that our age really showed. Everyone working at the theater asked how we liked the movie. When we asked if they had seen the original (which we had in the theater.) Pretty much everyone said, "No." In fact, most were born after the original came out. Sigh.

We got a puppy a couple years ago, and since then, whenever we go for walks, I always let her drink from puddles, play in the dirt, and sniff and eat pretty much anything (except cat poop--that's just gross.) My thought is that if her body gets used to the dirty things around her, she'll have a stronger constitution. Obviously far from scientific, but after over two years, she's in perfect health. it's really nothing more than how I grew up as a kid. We played in the dirt, drank from streams, and pretty much didn't care about what we got into. Other than the occasional bout of the runs or poison ivy (thankfully, unrelated!) my friends and I grew up pretty healthy.

The speeds that FiOS provides for the price is really stunning in comparison to many alternatives, and the increases they are rolling out is amazing. But what about coverage? My neighbors, family living in the same subdivision, and I have been requesting FiOS for a couple years now, and I doubt we'll ever see it any time soon. I guess the reality is that increasing the speed over existing an infrastructure is far cheaper than building out the infrastructure.

Doesn't the date just mean that the calendar rolls from "age" of the Myan calendar to the next? Sure, it's the transition from one to another, but isn't it more psychological than anything? After all, other than lining many IS people's pockets, wasn't 2000 relatively uneventful?

I partied like it was 1999, and I still had to go into work the following day....

What, you mean "password" isn't a good enough password? I figured the more obvious it was, the less likely someone would actually try to use it!

So "friends" can automatically add you to a group? That sounds like a HUGE security and privacy hole. I could certainly see friends "suggesting" groups to you to join, but to give them default ability to add you to a group is just WAY beyond belief.

For just syncing bookmarks, this is a great alternative, and it gives you Web access to your bookmarks. Of course, Firefox Sync and Xmarks also optionally synced other information such as history, passwords, etc. but GMarks does look solid.

For me, Firefox Sync (formerly Weave) is a completely viable solution. But one thing that Xmarks has that Firefox Sync does not offer is Web-based access to the saved bookmarks. Just last night, I was at a relative's house, and used Xmarks' Web site to go to a link I had saved. I'm sure Firefox Sync could implement the same at some point, but with that minor exception, Firefox Sync performs just as well as Xmarks.

I know this is functionally different, but I have a Windows Home Server backing up my PCs at home. WHS apparently uses a "Single Instance Store" model to store backup sets. If the same file is detected on multiple computers, it is stored only once saving storage space. I'm backing up the C: drive of three Windows 7 Home Premium PCs to the WHS. Each PC uses between 40 and 60GB of space, yet the backup sets on the WHS total only 80GB. I'm sure that could partly be attributed to compression, but still, this seems to be pretty cool.

I'm sure that if he really cared about the items, he could have arranged to have them sent to his plane as checked luggage

But then he couldn't play with them on the flight!

It seems that the REAL reason many people jailbreak is to unlock the PHONE portion so that they can use the phone on another carrier. but what about us iPod Touch users who simply want to jailbreak because there are useful applications available that Apple will not permit on AppStore. For example:

SBSettings

This lets me seamlessly enable and disable WiFi to save battery life. Why Apple won't do this is beyond me.

Backgrounder

Lets me control how multitasking works so that it actually is productive on my 2nd Gen iPod Touch.

Wiki2Touch

The best offline Wikipedia reader available.

I forgot to mention that the SageTV HD Theater 300 does NOT require SageTV Server software to run. You can navigate the filesystem and directly play music, videos, and view pictures.

SageTV now has an HD extender called the SageTV HD Theater 300 for about $150.00. I have not used it, however I have used other SageTV media extenders with great success.

You also need to run the SageTV server software on your Linux box. The HD Theater 300 just connects to the network.

SageTV costs, but it is very solid, and they have reliable hardware partners.

"I have a map of the United States, life size. 1 mile equals 1 mile.

It's a bitch to fold it."

...my trusty VIC-20 was clocked at a mere 1.02 MHz.

Its truly amazing how far we've come in so short a time.

(Well, maybe not so short for you whippersnappers...)