Sounds like the state of Louisiana is devaluing American currency by limiting its usefulness. Brilliant.

Funny enough, when the TSA started up I said to myself airports are the best place for them to start: people tight for time, with lots of money on the line, tired, just want to get from point A to point B. What better subjects to test new "security" devices/protocols on. Airports are the test bed. It'll spread if left unchecked.

I've been logging in as little as possible for awhile now, just responding to direct messages and giving people my email address if they want to have a deeper conversation. I figure if enough people stop adding content to Facebook, the rest will get tired of talking to themselves.

The Boards of Canada song you linked is one of my favourites, too. Never thought to look up the video, though. :)

When trying to read or concentrate on a task, I usually opt for instrumental music, usually soft/ambient/downtempo. Vocals are distracting. Though I seem to have a higher tolerance of non-instrumental music when it's played through low-fi speakers (eg. an iPod's speakers).

Don't forget your pajama jeans and a flock of cuddly puppies!

It also mentions in the article:

But there's much more that Manterola and co have deduced. They point out that nobody else on the planet seems to have seen this comet passing in front of the Sun, even though the nearest observatories in those days were just a few hundred kilometres away.

That can be explained using parallax. If the fragments were close to Earth, parallax would have ensured that they would not have been in line with the Sun even for observers nearby. And since Mexico is at the same latitude as the Sahara, northern India and south-east Asia, it's not hard to imagine that nobody else was looking.

It is certain that as your own intelligence increases to where you find yourself smarter than all but a fraction of a percent of the population, the ideas you have will be mostly correct but most other people won't be able to understand you. This can be incredibly frustrating.

I don't consider myself exceptionally smart, but I feel like this somewhat regularly. It can take people months or years for a situation to evolve to a point where others understand and/or agree with what I proposed long ago. It is very frustrating. I partially blame inadequate communication skills to explain some of the ideas I have... that's one skill I'd recommend for a prodigy to focus on (applicable, of course, to anyone).

The sad thing is you rarely if ever hear any of this in a politician's campaign promises, as if erosion of people's rights and privacy are a non-issue or can't be helped.

What really pisses me off is Sony changing the EULA on a product I already use (Playstation Network). I _had_ to "agree" to the EULA in order to continue to play online games. However, I emailed a complaint to them and refuse to make any more purchases on PSN. New games - no problem - they are on my do not buy list.
If Microsoft and Nintendo decide to go this way, then my console options are pretty much zero.

Even if this is somehow "legal", it's a slimy enough move that I refuse to buy from EA or anyone else who wants to use this tactic (most recently, Sony). Bring it! I will spend my money on things that don't require me to waive my rights.

What would that mean if Neo (from The Matrix) were to ride a Tron Lightcycle.

Organic world -> Matrix Simulation -> Electronic Tron world inside a simulation -> Build a Matrix Simulation -> Pick up a phone

Anyway, cool looking bike...

1. I want to see a completed Death Star roam into the Borg home world (as seen on Voyager's "I, Borg") and fight it out

2. http://spacebattles.com/
   

How about a tax scale that accounts for the current unemployment rate? Higher unemployment = higher taxes for corporations and rich, lower unemployment is lower taxes for corporations and the rich. Hell of an incentive to create jobs.

Thank you for the informative response! I need to see an audiologist.