No kidding.

On a recent trip to Texas, from Kentucky, we had a cancellation and a couple of delays along the way. It ended up that we could have driven there and either arrived at the same time, or a little earlier. I was wishing we had driven by the end of the day, too.

You have a point about flying abroad, to see family or for important (like religious, not sporting) events.

But the GP does have a point... there is a LOT of flying being done by a big portion of those who are up in arms over how the TSA is treating people. A lot of flying that doesn't have to happen. You're right that in a "free" country, we should be able to fly for our vacations, but if principles important to you contradict that, then don't fly. You can drive anywhere in the continental US for a vacation. Some may say it even enhances the experience, being able to see more. You can drive to work if you work in a different city. Just leave earlier.

The point being that if those who are so vehemently opposed to how the TSA operates would act upon those principles, then the airlines would begin to feel it. And we all know that the government wouldn't allow the airlines to start collapsing.

Even eliminating flying for vacation and unnecessary business travel (I regularly drive for work when it's only 4-6 hours, when I know others would fly for that kind of business trip) would make a huge impact.

That's the exact opposite of what I've seen. When I'm travelling to St Louis, the ones doing 80 or 90 are all in BMWs or Escalades or some other expensive car. I've noticed that the bigger and more expensive it is, the more likely they don't give a flying fuck...

Just because they're driving a BMW or Escalde does not always mean they have the "ability to afford to repair or replace the car". I would hazard to guess that a lot of them can't afford the car (evidenced by borrowing money to "buy" it, or by leasing it).

Your rule of thumb is illogical.

Well, your argument to the contrary is based on an invalid assumption.

Wish I had mod points. I'll comment instead...

Most everyone here is forgetting that we know what the NSA is doing. And that's a big point to miss.

The key, that I think Thanshin is eluding to, is what do we do about it?

Thanks for confirming what I've long thought. Watching LIVE sports (collegiate and professional) is the only thing that keeps me from dumping DirecTV.

This simply means that ESPN is just making too much money with their current arrangements to ever want to really pursue a subscription-based model for LIVE broadcasts. Yes, I know about the Watch ESPN app/ESPN3/ESPN360. Those are lame attempts at streaming live sports and doesn't include much content at all. The same goes for the NFL Network (which offered live radio streams, but not video, last year).

I guess we, as customers, need to force the hands of the traditional content providers (cable/satellite TV) by jumping ship. Until they start losing enough money, they aren't going to rock the boat.

To that end, I guess I'll just have to live with watching OTA whatever the major networks carry, as far as live sports goes.

I wanted to say that I agree 100%.

I also wanted to comment on the suggestion that someone would want to substitute family members into Shakespearean plays. I don't think that whoever wrote that part of the patent text has read any Shakespeare.

The velocity is accelerating!

Haha, well, without any mention of the traps commercially available, and with your description being very close, I'd still say it was a reasonable conclusion ;-)

Haha, yeah, no doubt. I was wearing mainly Columbia clothing, very thin, moisture-wicking type stuff (both the long-sleeve shirt and pants) with ventilation. It was still hot, but fortunately it didn't go over the mid 80's while I was there and clouds provided some respite from the sun. Though, if you're tortured by them like I usually am, hot + mosquitoes is worse than mildly hotter - moquitoes, especially when carrying a canoe on your shoulders and they're swarming around your head, inside the canoe.

I'd doubt anyone who's commenting on this article hasn't heard of them, but the Parent does sound like they may be living under a rock.

I'd be interested in a do-it-yourself version, as those that exist for purchase are outrageously expensive IMO.

I've also always been a mosquito magnet. I just came back from a trip to the Boundary Waters up in Minneosta and let me tell you, if you are one of the unfortunate 20%, be prepared with 40% DEET spray, a head net, and long-sleeve shirts and pants. Otherwise you're miserable up there.

Here here (or "THIS." as the kids are saying).

I'm not familiar enough with the kinds of abuse, as its being called, that Linus is doling out on the mailing list(s) to comment, but your simple statement is all I feel needs to be said on the matter. If he's abusing people that take such things personally, feel publicly humiliated, or are embarrassed by such harassment, then he'll be creating enemies. Whether that's significant in any way, who knows, I guess it depends on the enemy. Speaking of which, based on the anecdotal evidence among the comments, Linus must have quite a few enemies.

Haha, you have a point. I guess my mistake was assuming that someone commenting on the subject matter has some experience related to it. My bad!

I agree that none of it is necessary to be successful in the sciences, or more specifically engineering. It also doesn't necessarily guarantee a more well-rounded, thoughtful person, either. That entirely depends upon the person, their motivations for taking the class ("damn, gotta take this stupid thing" vs. "i have to take it, so i might as well see if i can learn something"), and of course the person teaching the class. However, if you end up with one of those professors that cater to the psuedo-intellectuals the humanities seem to be fairly rampant with (the facebook-posting ne'er-do-nothings you refer to), then it's your responsibility to get the most out of the subject matter. Who hasn't taken a class, or even been in a single lecture, where the professor was worthless as far as any real "teaching" is concerned? In those cases, you must take it upon yourself to do the teaching and the learning. It's not the subject matter that's failing you, it's the professor (or more generally, the educational institution itself).

Well aware. Thanks to having an above average professor (according to other accounts here and elsewhere), that was Philosophy 101.

That's a gross generalization of students in the humanities, though I won't deny there's some truth to it. It's all about perspective and what you've been exposed to. If all you know are your humanities classes, then sure, their (humanities) statistics class might be their toughest. For those who went to an engineering school, then it seems petty to whine about that kind of class, when our easiest class very well may be Probs & Stats (it was for me). It's all relative.
But you can't deny the fact that there are plenty of engineering students who whine about their course load or difficulty. I've known a lot who brag about it. What's the point of that?

Very true. That comment was really meant more for the other software engineers.

Ah, it's all becoming clear now! :-P (I have a lot of close friends who are EEs)

There's a lot of truth to that... and it's where the squeaky wheel wins.