Maybe I should try it on a different OS when I get home. I'm on Jolicloud Linux right now, so maybe there are some redirect shenanigans. Thanks for the links though, I'm definitely following up on this.

Having played those games back then, I personally would have given preference to X-Wing over Wing Commander 3. Not in story, but just in raw gameplay. Both were good games though. I did REALLY like Wing Commander Privateer though which was a more open ended pirate/trading game in the spirit of Elite.

I must say though that as far as combat and story went, I much preferred Descent Freespace over either X-Wing or WC. Very engaging story and good engine.

I really find it kinda sad that space sims as a genre have kinda died out. That was by far my most played type of game "back in the day". There's still some open source ones that are out and available, but nothing really like a complete and polished studio game.

Kid to mother: Mommy, why doesn't it ever snow over by Mister Dragon's house? And why are the trees always green in the winter? How come I feel warmer when I stand on his sidewalk?

$16M/year is nothing to the government, they've just been keeping it on life support for 10 years. Even if SA is turned back on, GPS will be accurate enough for commercial navigation and the system proven reliable enough. Let LORAN-C pass.

You're one to talk!

If I could mod you +1 for good demonstration of situational irony, I would!

Negative! Some very effective ad-blockers work by modifying your computer's DNS entry to a given ad-serving domain so that it will appear as though the server does not exist. This works regardless of what sort of content is being served.

On the general topic at hand: I have found that, while ads are getting creepier as to how much they clearly know about you, they are getting to be more useful to me personally. "Got an iPhone? Like chocolate? Work in IT? Buy our combination iPhone case, chocolate bar, VPN token generator!"

Sorry if I came across the wrong way. Your comment sounded like: "I want it all, I want it now, and I want to not do any work whatsoever." I can see now that this is not your attitude. In light of that, my comment re: geekiness clearly missed the mark. Had that been your attitude though, all I meant by it was: if you want something to do what it does not yet do, find a way to make it do that, don't merely complain and expect that someone else will give you a magic bullet every time.

Actually, users installing Windows (or leaving Windows installed) on a computer of their choosing is effecting Microsoft's bottom line.

Obligatory XKCD: http://xkcd.com/326/

FTFY :)

A) Jailbreak (http://blackra1n.com/)
B) I have a 3GS, and it most certainly does have Voice Dialing.

Aren't geeks supposed to be knowledgeable and have a penchant for solving perceived problems through creative methods?

Agreed! Free will, with which we have been endowed (against which some will argue) is a wonderful thing that demonstrates whether or not we are willing to live according to standards other than those that we ourselves have set. It also moves us to recognize that the same applies to others - their free will is their own with which to do as they please.

When will this egregious practice of planned cell abortion finally be ended?! Cells are living things too!

Disclaimer: while the above is definitely a joke, I firmly oppose abortion; doing so on the ground of ethics and morality based on Bible principles.

Dear "outsourcing" naysayers..

READ THE SUMMARY. Like, the part where it talks about prices across "the country." As in, the country that the named companies operate in, i.e. the USA.

Imitation +1 Funny Mod. Now with half the calories!

In before the correlation-is-not-causation trolls.