I really hate to bring this up, but I hope we can focus on the topic, and not skew off to debate the court/political side of things....

Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman news coverage.

When the news story first reported most of the newspapers and news agencies showed the picture of Trayvon in the red shirt and George in an orange jumper. There were other pictures available, so somebody chose these pictures.

Trayvon's picture was of when he was 12 years old. The picture has a very happy looking kid, with a big smile. Eyes are bright, and the picture is very friendly, very innocent.
George's picture is of a old mug shot, he was heavy, unshaven, the picture could be lightened or darkened (I've seen lighter and darker pictures, unsure what the original looked like). George is not smiling, unhappy, depressing.

Now there is a headline "Man kills teen" and phrase "Man kills in self-defense"

With the images provided we make assumptions.
The Trayvon is 12 years old. False, Trayvon is 17.
George is a convicted felon/criminal. False, George was arrested, but charges were dropped (yes I know there is some claims on this, but the charges were dropped.).
George is white, Trayvon is black, this is racism. False, George is Hispanic. George is known for tutoring black children for free on the weekends, and was the only person to come to the defense of a homeless black man. The FBI investigated George and found no evidence that he is racist in any way.

So, the images and headline imply the idea: "White racist convicted felon kills innocent happy black child."

Other shading comes from the text - small example: Using "Trayvon" and "Zimmerman" for names. "Trayvon" is a very "black-sounding" name. Zimmerman is a common German name (Germans aren't known for any racists right?).

And the damage is done. People have picked sides and have dug themselves in. Even now when we have up-to-date pictures (few are using the old red-shirt/orange jumper pics), the original images have set themselves in the minds of the people. What would have the story been like if the media outlets used the up-to-date pictures, rather than the kid/convict pictures?

purchase != steal

It's fine if MSDOS contains parts of QDOS if Microsoft bought QDOS. The original authors got paid. Now if we consider the price paid to be fair is another story... But that doesn't matter, all that matters is did the author think it was a fair price at the time, and did he willingly accept it? In hindsight, of course he should have gotten more, but that is always the risk when you sell your IP...

It's more stupid teenagers. 2 bucky balls on your ear lobe can look like an ear ring... Hmm what about make it look like a tongue stud! Small ball covered with saliva... yeah that can get swallowed quite easily.

Buckyballs are *NOT* for kids!

They are marketed to adults. Designed for adults. There are 6 warnings on the package, instructions, plastic storage box, etc that is so expressive, it's to the point where I'm not sure a child should LOOK at it. Really, above and beyond on warnings that kids should not go near these things.

You cannot force people to use their real name... Especially on a free service that has no requirements to sign up for.

-Yours Truly,
Abe Froman

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
        -Oscar Wilde

Moot. Your issue is moot moot.

If one provider dies, hope there is another. If there isn't, your SOL. If RIAA decides that a song violates a copyright and pulls it from all streaming... tough.
vs
I have a local copy, it will never die unless I choose.

As seen on Youtube.

and not just Samsung Galaxy S3, but any phone with Android 4.0 (ICS) with face unlock active. My EVO 4g LTE can be fooled the same way, but what is the odds that some random person just happens to have a picture of me? It's more likely they could guess my pin/pattern.

The reason why they are made to fit in the ear is because: Nobody wants a hearing aid.

It's a sign of that says "I'm old". There have been hearing aids that fit in the bow of eye glasses, worn on necklaces, things that look lake pagers... All are gone because people don't want to advertise that they need a hearing aid. This is why people want things hidden. There is no sexy hearing aid.

Hearing aids are Class 1 Medical devices.... that's the same category as a toothbrush. You don't need to vising a licensed dentist with trade lobbyists to get a toothbrush.

This is why you can buy hearing aids off of TV, the internet, all without a fitting, or a clue what you are getting... Kinda scary because an improper fitting/setting can deafen you.

What I tell people when they ask why they are so expensive - cost in making them. Each hearing aid (in the ear/canal) is custom made by hand, if done wrong, it is re-done at full cost, but the customer doesn't pay for remakes (as stated above). Plus the hearing aid isn't "Make everything louder". It's a very complex device. Think of an expensive home stereo, the type with a bunch of sliders. Now shrink that and put it in your ear. Only have hearing loss in the 1.5 khz range? then that is the only thing boosted... or the sound in that range is shifted up or down. Different environment? have the aid automatically adjust from a noisy lunchroom mode to park mode when you walk outside. Add in directional sound detection so the aid knows the voice in front of you is likely the one you are listening to and not the voice behind you... Add in wireless communication between aids to help find the direction where sound is coming from, plus use media streamers to listen to the TV. Do all of that in something about the size (maybe smaller) than a pen cap.

And no, Health insurance doesn't cover hearing aids (most of the time, maybe there is a few, but that is the exception, not the rule).

Austrian Monk named Gregor Mendel?

This was before the "Ohh by the way, floating ice doesn't raise the ocean level if it melts" fact was pointed out... He held a Ph.D. in Geology to boot!

I'm a software engineer who has Faith. I sit near a guy who has his cube decorated in Catholic icons and a picture of him meeting the Pope. My boss is a practicing Catholic. My other cube neighbor has a Lord Ganesha figure on his desk. All of us are Software Engineers, so I'd say we are technologically literate.

Also, I'm a huge nerd... Heck I once even wore a pocket protector (it was cool! shuddup!). Don't paint with such a broad brush.

I saw this on a different article quite some time ago and clipped it. The link to the article doesn't work any more so author "unknown"

From the article in the above /. story, 78% believe God had a hand in human development. 15% believe no "God" had a role in where we are today... We have a lot of people calling others stupid for what they believe... who is ridiculing who.

Lets all play nice, shall we?