Let's hope the hinges on his coffin lid don't snap off.

My vision is as good as the next guy's, but when I saw Avatar, although I thought the 3D effect 'cool' like most people, there was a small portion of my vision that was always on the periphery and which felt 'glassy' or 'haloed' as though a bit on each of the lenses was finely scratched or smeared with Vaseline. It was noticeable enough that I tried polishing the glasses on my shirt several times throughout the movie to no avail. It may have been a dud pair of glasses, and I have not seen a 3D film at the cinema since to compare, but it was an irritating distraction irrespective of its cause.

I'm very sorry, I don't know what I was thinking.

My computer at work is licensed for Acrobat 8 Professional. After upgrading Microsoft Office 2003 to 2010, I can no longer create PDF files from Word documents. Looking online, the solution to this issue from Adobe appears to be "upgrade to Acrobat X". Yeah, thanks.

He finds the characters contrived, the jokes laboured, and the acting sub-par at best.

I'm curious. At what point does this breakdown in cultural output appear?

Your argument, if I understand it correctly, is that when piracy becomes widespread, nobody will make any real money from writing, film or music, so any professional output in these areas will die off. Well, piracy is already quite widespread, yet the film-makers, music artists and popular novelists appear to be making as much, if not more, money as they were 5/10/15 years ago. How many more Pirate Bays are required until cultural output declines to a statistically significant level?

Are you serious?

Let's hope you're never on trial for a crime you didn't commit and someone bribes the jury.

For that to happen, cognitive dissonance would need to be virtually eliminated, and seeing how prevalent it is in the human psyche, that won't be happening for a long time.

Seriously, read this book. It will make you rethink why people behave the way they do, and how they justify their beliefs and behaviour. It is eye-opening but rather depressing at the same time.

Sounds like a money-making scam to me, but then again I don't have enhanced auditor perception and recall.

Well, if we didn't become our own species through gradual evolution (whether naturally, assisted by God or by aliens) and if we didn't become our own species by being created in our present form from scratch (whether naturally, assisted by God or by aliens), how else can you explain homo sapiens? What is the missing third way?

If a cake has not been made from ingredients, and a cake has not appeared from nowhere fully formed, how else do you explain the cake, the nature and character of the baker aside?

I remember the good old days when I first dabbled with online gaming, playing Duke3D on TEN (remember that?). This was at a time when MSN Gaming Zone was popular for playing commercial multiplayer games such as Outlaws, Outwars, Jedi Knight etc.

TEN had a 'Mr Bandwidth' character, an alien whose eyes would change colour according to your connection quality. I never got better than orange with my shitty internal modem, but it was still good fun to play a few games of Duke3D, and the idea of playing online with real people was a hugely novel and awesome concept to my young teenage self. I still play online occasionally these days but the magic is not there anymore. I remember one new year's eve, playing Red Light District as the clock struck twelve while my parents hosted their dinner party in the other room. Good times.

I'll have to fire up xDuke and YANG or whatever the kids are using these days for a trip down memory lane.

In every version I have played the nipples were covered with tassels so it wasn't much more explicit than a magazine skincare advert.

Living up to your name, I see.

Many wet-shave hobbyists swear by traditional double-edged and straight razors, and use soaps or creams with shaving brushes as part of the process (Badger & Blade is a good resource for learning more). It helps to take your time and treat it as a pampering ritual to be savoured and and not a chore. Good preparation is part of it. I've just started using traditional soap pucks and a badger brush and it's made me look forward to shaving now, although the razor I received as a gift with the brush set takes only Mach3 heads so I'm yet to use a double-edged safety razor (I don't think I'd ever have the balls and patience for a straight). The Mach3 is a reasonable enough shave, but the refills are expensive and it's disingenous to think that Gillette can keep topping it and their current offerings forever. Will they reach a pinnacle cartridge and just stop, saying it is the best they can do and no razor will be perfect? I doubt it.

No doubt inertia plays a part, but many companies bottom lines are bolstered by misinformation and ignorance, that's obvious any time you turn on the television and watch an ad break. Sixty percent for AOL is probably low compared to others out there. Is it really possible that they can keep inventing new and improved toothbrushes, razors and air fresheners every year? Of course it isn't, but that doesn't stop some of the largest conglomerates making billions by selling lies and scaring people into believing that their homes stink and that the mascara they bought last year is now worthless junk that makes them look like shit.

Par for the course, and I can't see it changing any time soon.