It will be interesting to see how long it takes the people that need it in Egypt today to ban it after they're in power.

I'm OK with that if it means I'll never look like a lunatic yelling at my phone in public again.

Residential
Res-i-den-tial
Res-i-den-ti-al
RES-I-DEN-TIAL
RESIDENTIAL!!! I live in a fucking house!!!
OPERATOR! OPERATOR! NO! YES! NO! NNN-OOO!
Arrrrrggg!!!

Yeah, it is a great service. It's one of the only automated attendant experiences that I preferred over a human operator. Every time I suffer through a clunky, annoying IVR when I call my bank or cable company, I wonder why they can't do it as well as Google's free service. Maybe the answer is, Google blew a lot of money on it and couldn't (or didn't want to) sustain it any longer.

Don't be such a downer. My 401k dropped from $100,000 to $1, but now it's up to $5. I have to assume it will continue to grow at a 500% rate, so I'm going to retire a millionaire and vinyl will be the dominant music format again.

I'd say Mario is an example of an iconic character that is used to showcase new styles of game play. Arcade platformer, co-op play, 2D scroller, puzzles, 3D console, racing, etc. Most "franchises" regurgitate the same game, adding little more than gimmicks for a new platform.

Theater of Magic! I'm insanely jealous.

It's hard to reproduce pinball in a video game, but Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection on the Wii comes really close. The Wiimote and nun-chuck are perfect for the flippers and nudging the table, and the physics are lifelike.

I agree, developing tests after the fact is boring and forces you to remember what you did. When you create unit tests during the creative, problem solving phase it's much less of a chore. The end result is much easier to maintain too.

You're not alone. Normally, my undergraduate math courses and Wikipedia are enough for me to at least explain the concept to laymen. I'm at a loss in this case.

Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa! Let's get the hell out of here already! Screw history!

Like many of us, I've had a parent undergo heart surgery. I don't recall concerns about cath's electricity, but I know today's technology fails to detect atherosclerosis (artery thickening) until very late stages. If this can deliver "high quality, 3D-images from inside arteries and blood vessels" it could prevent heart attacks and open heart surgery. Don't get me wrong, coronary catheterization has helped this generation survive heart disease and enjoy a better quality of life. But "stress tests" and family history are the only tools doctor's have today to help diagnosis this type of heart disease. I hope this leads to better tools.

the first CS student that claims he read The Art of Computer Programming Vol. 1-3 and isn't lying.

When I moved out of my DSL provider's service area (Speakeasy), I didn't have to pay the early termination fee. It wasn't my fault they were unable to provide the service.

Is the game good enough to pay $50 up-front, $10/month, and suffer through ads? If they invest the extra revenue in their development, support, and network, you're getting what you pay for. If they're squeezing loyal customers for extra profit and offering nothing in return, it's a price hike. If it's too much to pay, find something else to do with your time and money. People always gripe about price increases, but if they're willing to pay more the product was under-priced.

Wait, you have to pay for games? I can already buy a console, pay a monthly service fee, and purchase games. I thought OnLive was similar to a premium cable channel, you paid a monthly fee and could play the entire catalog available. This is a slightly cheaper console but you lose the games you bought when the company tanks.

Pioneer of on-demand gaming my ass, Sega and even Intellivision were far more innovative decades ago.