As one that was born in 1965, I DO remember saving for a few months to get my Vic-20 for $150, plus another $150 for the tape drive. I remember when CompuServe was $2.49 an HOUR of "internet" time, not that it was called that. Those were still the days of dialing directly who you wanted to communicate with. How do you think I feel buddy? I also remember the days of Motorola brick style phones that ran $1500, no contracts and pricing was usually around a buck a minute of cell time. Just like I remember the ads for a the first cell phone that was, gasp! less than half a pound in weight!!! Amazing, eh?I remember a time when ONLY those with some serious money had a cell phone, or even a "real" computer in the house, not just something like my old Vic. Do I feel old? You betcha...

Remember two things... It can ALWAYS get worse... I think Dennis Leary said it best when he said "Life SUCKS, get a helmet..."

Personally... I used to have a 1981 VW Rabbit with a 1.4 liter gas engine that reliably got 38 MPG. Now, I'm not the EPA, but to me, that was pretty damn good mileage. With the 10ish gallon tank, I was pushing 400 miles on a tank, and routinely went 250-300 miles without even bothering to check the gas gauge. And no, it didn't have AC, and yes, it WAS a 5 speed, not a damn auto.

Let me add a monkey wrench into your list bud... I have a 1990 Ford Van... how are you going to get MY old beast to conform to this new toy? ...just a question...

I understand the idea of what constitutes "piracy" of media... but to me, it still makes absolutely no sense. Follow me here for a minute... If I buy a CD at a brick and mortar store (let's say Wal-Mart for the sake of argument) and take it home to listen to on my CD player, all is well with the world. But now, say my friend that has not heard this CD wants to hear MY copy of it. I can either invite them over to listen to it, or more likely, email him a copy of all or part of it in MP3 format after I had copied MY LEGALLY PURCHASED COPY to my computer. Now, I have just pirated my own copy, or more precisely facilitated my friend to own a pirated copy of my CD. This all sounds far more like I am RENTING the "rights" (what a laugh) to this CD, not buying it. If I can't do with it what I want to, AS LONG AS I'M NOT MAKING MONEY ON IT (like it used to be back in the VHS days), it sure as hell sounds like renting. NOW, if I'm RENTING this CD, does this mean that when/if something happens to it (scratches, etc.) can I get a new CD from Wal-Mart? Or whoever the record company was? Or (lmao) the RIAA? I just think that the RIAA and MPAA Nazis need to just go the fuck away, not that they will, but it's a nice thought... If I loan/give a copy of a CD or movie to a friend, it IS my goddamn copy, right? Now if my friend starts burning copies and SELLING THEM (a whole different kettle of fish), sure... burn his ass. The whole thing just royally pisses me off due to the total lack of anything resembling common goddamn sense...

You DO understand the difference between a WAR and a COLD WAR, right? WAR=BOMBING and COLD WAR=NO BOMBING... got it? Plus, try checking my post again. Where did I say his goal was to end the Cold War? I said he was instrumental in it's end... He was instrumental in ending the COLD WAR by way of misinformation leaked to the Soviets (you know, what the Russians were called when there was a SOVIET BLOCK?) that we had the fully functional "Star Wars" system online that would render all of the Soviet missiles irrelevant. Check your history books junior, seeing as it's VERY obvious that you aren't old enough to remember facts like that...

I hear ya, and you're also missing another use for small nukes... mining. Using a pocket nuke to blast loose a bunch of granite is an acceptable use for nukes as well, without the news being blasted about "oh my god!!! We're heading for nuclear winter!!! Oh the carnage!!!" etc...

Were you even ALIVE when he put all the strikers on the street? Honestly, what's the color of the sky on YOUR planet? He DID end the mainstream Cold War, due to several things of sometimes questionable ethics, but still, at the end of the day, it got DONE. Now, sorry for sounding assholish, but still... it fries my ass to hear people blast off a load of bullshit about shit that happened either before they were born, or at best, when they were still in diapers...

Common Sense... so rare it ought to be a goddamn superpower...

Ahhhhhh... the days of $2.49 an hour for Compuserve... :)

This looks really cool... but as someone that cares for a bedridden spouse, this would be FANTASTIC for taking care of bedsores...

I'm sure I'm not the only one on here that's heard the old joke... "What do you call 1000 lawyers on the bottom of the ocean?" "A good start..." :)

A lot of what you say is true, however, as a former ATM tech myself, a LOT of the security issues that they're referring to is simply poor setup by the ATM tech at the time of the installation, or the latest update/upgrade. IF the unit is set up correctly, it ONLY talks to whoever is handling the transaction, and is a bit harder to tap into than junior's laptop. Also, not ALL ATMs record any keystrokes for PIN numbers, etc. Some, sure, but not all, and it's usually buried in the file system pretty deep. Also, for all of you that were guessing at OSes, the vast majority of those that I worked on, (various brands, Diebold, NCR, Wincor, Triton *shudder*, etc.) either had a firmware OS, like the little Tritons, or OS2 Warp. The numbers of systems that were being shipped with XP were growing, but I never DID see a 'nix based ATM. Also, there were a few Windows NT, and a few Windows 2k Pro out there, but the vast majority were all OS2 Warp. I about tripped out the first time I saw that on an ATM I was working on... like stepping back in time. :)

That's because you get FAR more out of hemp than just paper. Remember how much of the Ford Model "T" was made of hemp based products... the cellulose components, the original lubrication, etc. I'm sure this "wonderpaper" from Japan isn't quite so utility in it's use.

I remember this quote too... but still smacks of that Skrull quote from the FF. :)