Obligatory reference: The Office.

Don't you ask somebody out in order to get the opportunity to get to know them? This issue has been debated heavily by 90's sitcoms.

The only bar I go to is the one my parents built in their basement while I was away at college.

I never pay for drinks, I know the password for the Wi-fi, and it never closes.

Problem is, the only girl who ever shows up is my sister.

A point well taken, but there's a degree of normalcy shift you need to expect when you live around the corner from Bungie. At least the cops reacted appropriately, both to the initial information they were given, and to the actual situation once the facts came to light.

If he did, it wouldn't surprise me if he were in the 5-digit club, as GP is.

Well, I was going to moderate, but I feel it more important to ask this question:

What, exactly, is the difference between a saboteur and a terrorist? Aren't all terrorists out to sabotage?

It seems like it might be a DDOS attack. I was asked to pass through a CAPTCHA and I made it in. Try this link: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam_00

If you have to do it in space: The same thing works there too. You just have even more problems getting the power here. But what's the point?

No clouds or night to vary output, no dust on the panels to clean.

Chrome has had security flaws too. Not that I sympathize with Microsoft since IE security has been swiss cheese for a long time and they wouldn't be such a target if they hadn't forced their browser onto so many desktops. But if ever Chrome, Safari, Opera or even Firefox got as big a market share as IE, they'd be the number 1 target for hackers too.

I don't believe any PC vendor would change the default unless they were being paid, or just angling for a better deal from Microsoft. I suppose the latter is possible too, but given their choice of browser I think its more likely it was a monetary deal.

You guys do realize that Twitter accounts can be set to "Private", right? Only the people you let in can see what you post, if you want it to be that way.

Lets say I create four private accounts; "Dad", "Mom", "Big Kid", "Little Kid". I allow all of them to see each other, but nobody else can see them. You now have an instant, anywhere-you-are, refrigerator family note system. For the record, it is also easy to send a direct message to somebody, like when Dad asks Mom to call the babysitter so they can have a romantic night out.

My friends and I (all in our mid twenties) use it for impromptu planning. Last night's BSG board game wouldn't have happened without Twitter. One quick text message, and my friend had let 12 of us know that he was getting off work earlier than expected, and were free to drop by. Five of us RSVP'd, and a fun night was had.

Lets take the idea presented by this article. I create a group of private twitter accounts: "MyHouse", "MyWasherDryer", "MySprinklerSystem", "MyModem", "MyServer", etc. My family are the only followers, and choose the things they care about to send them a SMS when an event occurs. With a proper setup back on the home side, you can direct message back to one of these accounts, and suddenly have a DIY home automation system.

I believe that the only people who haven't found a good use for Twitter yet, just aren't being creative enough with it, or flat out refuse to have anything to do with it because of the stigma that it's only used by idiots to keep up with celebrities. Give it a try, poke around for a bit, and be creative.

I imagine a cartoon-like scenario, of a curious party feeding a flexible snake into one end of the pipe, trying to feel out how far it goes before terminating, only to have it come out the other end and poke them in the butt.

Apparently I'm 5 years old.

Sometimes people want the line to go straight through the floor, instead of through a wall jack. Doesn't make any sense to me, but it's one of those "customer is always right" sort of things.

Oh, the stories I could tell...

(I used to work in the "Damages" department of Dish. Essentially, all of the worst install stories got routed directly through my department.)