Sony Walkman I'm actually considering it now that Apple has discontinued the iPod Classic line.

I know, right? When I first saw the girl in this photo I thought, I'd totally hook up with her. Then I saw that wire coming off of her headphones...

Well, that and my wife and that I'm probably older than her father. But that wire was definitely the deciding factor for me.

As long as he has a way to defeat it

I still have my lawn dart/Jarts. But I'm pretty sure my parents bought me a shotgun before I owned Jarts. I certainly had a BB gun first. Now you can get things like a no chemical chemistry set . Different times.

Sorry, I forgot the sarcasm tag. Apparently that was not obvious to you. But let's look at the points listed in TFA:

Nuclear war: We've been in danger of it since the 1950's. We even came close on a few occasions. So what's the solution? No one in their right mind has a workable solution. No country that has these weapons is going to give them up. And many countries want this capability. Some are dedicating considerably more resources toward it than others. Do I wish someone could wave a magic wand and make all of the nukes, knowledge of, and desire to build them go away? Hell yes. But it's not possible.

Global Pandemic: Other than isolating the population, what can realistically be done? We can't even stop the yearly flu outbreaks. How are we going to stop something (that may or may not ever happen) "uncontrollable", as the TFA states? By definition, you can't.

Ecological catastrophe: It's rather apparent that as individuals we are interested in this, but as a population no one seems to give a damn. Or at the very least don't feel it's a major concern. Just look at Deepwater Horizon. Or manufacturing in China or India. If the population of the US was truly worried, we'd stop off shoring manufacturing to countries that pollute as badly as we did 50 to 75 years ago. I try to be conscientious of what I purchase. Often looking for the most sustainable option. But it's becoming increasingly more difficult as such products are disappearing from the market.

Global system catastrophe: The global financial systems are so complex, I'm not sure what could even be done at this point. Just trying to stabilize it could bring about the opposite effect. Even so, after the last decade or so, you'd think that, that's what we'd be trying to do. But again, this is something we care about as individuals, but apparently are oblivious to as a population.

Synthetic biology: What can be done that is not already happening? Create a world policing system and execute anyone caught working on an armageddon germ? I'm sure that there are several countries working on this already. If not to devise a defense against it, but under the guise of doing so. Biological warfare is already banned and most of the planet has agreed to it

Nanotechnology: This is a rather vague one. Of course it has enormous potential for misuse. But the potential for good uses is phenomenal. It's like fire. Sure you can burn your neighbors house down with it, but does that mean you shouldn't be allowed to cook with it? or use it for heat? Of course not.

Artificial intelligence: See nanotechnology above. This is no different, other than James Cameron made some movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I've often wondered if we will ever hit a level of computing power and connectivity through the internet that AI could somehow spontaneously come into existence. If it did, would it even notice us at all? Would we notice it?

Future bad global governance: This could be happening right now. If you turn on the news, you'd probably be convinced that it is. Unfortunately, only history will know for sure. All we can do as people is to vote for what we believe will be the best people to do what is best (if you're in a country where that's an option) Or you can join or organize a revolt.

Unknown consequences: Yes, fear of the unknown. Fuck! We better start working on re-animation so we can bring back Steve Jobs to eliminate this threat with his reality distortion field. Or maybe we should work on a way to channel the power of all of the other threats into a single combined force in order to defeat this "unknown consequence". Or perhaps doing so will cause it to begin with.

So Oxford throws a bunch of scary scenarios out and what's the resolution at the end of TFA:

*rolls eyes*

If you look at this list, the majority of these problems are man-made. Other than a super volcano and an asteroid impact, the solution seems pretty simple. We must abandon all technology and kill all but a small percentage of the population. And those that are left must live in isolated groups. That way there will not be a world wide disease outbreak.

Not even the US can maintain air superiority over the entire ocean.

Depth charges dropped from a plane seem a hell of a lot cheaper than missiles that there are defences for on an Aegis destroyer.

But for those of us who are short on time, watching The Hunt for Red October, Crimson Tide, U-571 and K19: The Widowmaker twice takes less time than watching Das Boot once. ;-) But I do agree with you.

While taxes are certainly part of it, I would guess that campaign contributions also play a very large part too. Granted, contributions may not have as much sway now, but historically they certainly did.

No arguments there. My system is pretty flat from 16 Hz to 25 kHz. I know that one of the things people complained about was the tweeters being too "bright" in the speakers I have. But I thought they were just about as perfect as I was going to get in my price range. The bass, like yours, is not boomy unless I really run the sub hot.

Actually most "audiophile" equipment I've listened to is rather flat as well. It's mostly the consumer grade stuff that is is boomy. But you're going to pay a lot more for that sound than you will with studio monitors. Most of what I have seen shows specs too. Then there's Bose. They take BS to the extreme.

I have those same headphones, somewhere. The leather material that covers the foam on mine wore through and I haven't been able to find a simple replacement for them.

This poll is more subjective than usual.

My hearing is not what it used to be, but it's still better than average. So I do appreciate good audio equipment, to a point. I tend to wait for companies to switch model years, or EOL a product when I buy it. So my speakers in my 7.1 system retailed for $4K. But I probably paid between 1/4 to 1/3 of that for them. Even at that price, I'm sure many on /. will think that qualifies as very expensive.

However I know audiophile types who spend more than that on a single sub-woofer. I can certainly tell a difference in most cases. However, when I listen to music or watch a movie, my system gets louder than I need it to and sounds clear/clean enough that I thoroughly enjoy what I'm listening to and am not distracted by any shortcomings.

I don't fret over silver cables and other things. I'm using Monoprice 12 gauge speaker wire. I don't bi-amp or bi-wire (don't get me started on that) my speakers. In the end, you need to find a price point that you find acceptable and meets the quality of sound you are happy with. If that's a $200 "surround sound in a box", then great.

But it was mostly republicans email addresses. So it's OK. ;-)

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about him squatting on domain names. One one hand he had the foresight to invest his money in something that may not have amounted to anything. It's really no different than a person buying a commodity when it's cheap and plentiful, then selling it when the price goes up. But I also see the other side of the argument too. The internet has become ubiquitous.

However you are being a drama queen. You don't need a specific web address in order to be in business. It is nothing like a protection racket. He doesn't come and burn you business down or kill your family and friends if you don't pay him. It's closer to someone trying to open a business and using a name or advertising slogan that has already been trademarked. You can be sued or decide to settle by paying a license fee. But they don't send a bunch of goons to rough you up, other than the lawyers.

North Carolina is on the East Coast.