Firstly, I want to say that I have enjoyed many hours of entertainment with these Buckyballs. I even bought two more sets so I could make some real cool structures with them. Since when did all products have to be safe for humans to ingest? It seems to me like all household cleaners, motor oil, industrial lubricants, hell ... even integrated circuits would have to be yanked off the market now.

All of that being said, I'm actually surprised no-one else has mentioned a particularly troublesome issue with bucky-balls that poses for even intelligent adults: peeling metal. After having fumbled with these bucky-balls for a long time, tiny slivers of metal have been peeling off, which would be fine if they didn't end up on my fingers. Just imagine a wooden splinter, only way smaller and more rigid. I've found them to be impossible to remove deliberately. Basically you have to go several hours, sometimes even a day or two, with the shavings on your finger and eventually they will fall off (either by being washed off or just falling off after awhile). Fortunately, I've been careful not to ingest the slivers or scratch my eyes but after having the slivers end up in my fingers a few times I've stuffed the bucky balls into a box and tossed them aside.

That doesn't mean I'm going to go complaining to the company about it like a cry-baby. I do realize that rare-earth magnets are quite brittle and they must be treated with care (which I thought I did -- but apparently not enough so). Perhaps I'll pick up some gardening gloves and give the bucky-balls another go.

With some careful planning I'm pretty sure one could respond to such a request from the DOJ by either:

"Decrypting" his/her laptop .... OR .... Decrypting his/her "laptop"

Maybe for the ambitious:

"Decrypting" his/her "laptop".

Blasphemy I Say! ... Scotty just had too much charm to call that *bad*.

Besides, that whole scene was too "tounge-in-cheek" to be taken so seriously. The world would be missing something without it.

... is to give Apple some more reason to hesitate before entering the DVR market (by leveraging the AppleTV and possibly acquiring TiVo out-right). At this point, Apple's dominance in mobile computing and its ability to further extend its domination into Television programming puts a squeeze on Microsoft's ability to hold its ground.

If I were wrong, Microsoft is simply wasting their time (or just being plain mean) filing a lawsuit against a company that has a single niche product and little, if any, risk extending themselves into other markets (unlike Apple). At this point, I wouldn't put it past them to be blundering bullies but my gut tells me they are actually being sneaky this time.

**cough** **cough**

Yes, I was genuinely coughing that time.

**cough** This would never **cough** happen **cough** **cough** on an iPhone **cough**

... I would argue that this is *proof* that a transparent national defense (as promoted by the pro-Wiki-Leaks crowd) is a very bad idea. Assuming that the U.S. is behind this (a bold assumption yes, but is highly likely), for some-one to "leak" information on this, would be a travesty.

And no: this is not flame-bait ... I just making a "case in point" observation here.

Notice how the article is addresses "special effects" and just about every comment is a gripe about CGI? This is the fundamental problem. As suggested by the cliche "to a hammer, everything is a nail": CG would be Hollywood's hammer. This is truly sad since there are numerous instances where CG is the *inferior* choice. Take a look at a Space scene in a Star Trek TNG episode or even Star Wars, and you will see what I mean. There is something organic and substantial about real models that just can't be replicated by CGI. Granted, they have come a long ways, but everything just *feels* smaller and much less grandiose when you take physical models out of the picture. And whenever I see a film where Liam Neelson is doing his own stunts, this jumps out at me and pulls me into the story. Replace this Liam Neelson bad guy busting scene with a CGId up screen shake-fest and I start falling asleep.

Yeah, all I can say is it looks ... kinda nasty.

I'm just glad I don't actually *see* this shit happening (full-blown magnification and all) every time I charge stuff up at my bedside.

Seriously -- what's up with the Cartman buttons?

And shall the recursive jokes ensue ...

I actually think supporting the addition of Flash in apps but, now this is key: continuing to not support Flash in Safari -- is actually rather ingenious of Apple.

First off, Apple was smart to ban Flash from App Store apps, initially. This has allowed Apple to build the thriving eco-system of apps, using their native graphics APIs, that exists today. Now, they have lifted said ban, one might be concerned that this means that suddenly a bunch of slow flash-based apps are going to dominate. But, here is the kicker: in order for a flash-based app to be successful it will have to compete favorably against the hordes of non-flash apps, already out there. Personally, all the apps that I use on a daily basis, aside from having all the features I need, are fast, pleasant to use, and just look nice. All the rest simply sit on my last page of the home screen as they approach their fate of being deleted.

By lifting the ban, they have effectively said to Adobe: "Fine, you can submit Flash-based apps. But, just watch what happens." My guess is that there maybe only a handful of flash-based apps will make the cut, if that. And by continuing to not support Flash in Safari, Apple continues applying their pressure on web developers to migrate from Flash to HTML5. Of course, this move could potentially back-fire on Apple, should Adobe figure out a way to optimize flash such that it's performance hit would be insignificant. My former prediction is the more likely scenario. And I'd bet real money that this is exactly what the folks in Cupertino are counting on.

The reality is, the "room" has gotten a bit too hot (with everyone complaining about App Store restrictions, the iPhone 4 Antenna issue, etc.) so Apple made, what I believe to be a very wise decision, to help relieve some of this pressure. It's a calculated risk for sure. But, one that will pay off for them in the end.

No more computer labs?

Given that computer labs were one of the few worthwhile hangouts of mine back in high-school (the Physics classroom was the other): I would be saddened to hear them be completely done away with.

It was one of the few opportunities for folks like us to socialize with people like ourselves.

... every one turns off their WiFi

Awesome, now Gurus will be mediated to troubleshoot Firefox (I mean Timberwolf) issues.