I replaced a 320GB HDD on my new HP Pavilion laptop with a smaller but faster 128GB SSD drive. Since the factory install used only about 30GB of space, I figured that I could just do a simple recovery using the recovery discs that I burned after the original install.

Wasn't gonna happen.

The recovery processed failed stating that the disk I was installing to was smaller than the one installed at the factory, so it could not continue. I ended up just shrinking the partition on the HDD and then cloned that image to the SSD, and ended up with what I needed, but it was NOT for the faint of heart.

HP's response was basically, "Sorry, we don't support that."

Not having attended high school or college since the '80s, and not having kids, I feel like I'm really out of touch with how schools operate today. Just how do schools grade?

When I was in school in the '80s, classes were graded strictly on the curve, using a simple percentage scale (such as 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% - D, below 69% is an F) or some hybrid of the two. As I recall, the percentage scale was the most typical used.

The first method grades the against each other, the second method grades against the test, and hybrid strikes a balance.

I remember a college professor who graded everything on a strict curve, so if the overall class performance showed that a test was "easy", the grading scale would be adjusted on that curve. I actually had a test where the distribution was such that an A grade was something like 98-100%, and a failing grade was under something like 85%.

How are classes graded today?

The way I see it based on the background information they revealed, the perceptions from level to level are not necessarily directly linked, and as you go down levels, it would take longer for the effect to propagate due to the time perception differences. had the van fallen a much longer distance, conceivably, the perception of weightlessness would have propagated.

Maybe "too long" is a bad choice of words. Maybe "exhausting" would be more appropriate.

And while it may sound like a contradiction, I actually think another hour could have been added to the film, and then the film could have been split into two separate movies: the first part prior to the mission, and the second part which was the mission. The first part prior to the mission seemed rushed and incomplete like they had to edit out material.

So many people, including my wife, said they just didn't get it. I must really be in the minority, because I thought that it had a similar "wow" factor as "The Matrix", only with plot instead of special effects. I remember watching "The Matrix", and at the scene where Neo got unplugged, I had this overwhelming feeling of "Oh, my, god! I get it! This is so absolutely innovatively cool!" I really had the same feeling when watching Inception. And maybe my delight with it has to do with the fact that I am able to have lucid dreams on occasion. I specifically remember one where I woke up from a dream, somehow realized that I was still dreaming, and then woke up from that. Having personally experienced that made the concept at least understandable.

Granted, it wasn't a perfect movie, and it was probably too long, but I really think it had an innovative depth that hasn't been seen in movies in a long time.

I also feel that though the SFX were cool, this is a movie you really don't need to see on the big screen. The plot carries it well. The wow-factor doesn't come from the SFX, it comes from the plot.

In the case of concert tickets, there is no value to geographic translocation (the concert is in a fixed venue), or early acquisition (the concert is at a fixed time).

Unless it's general admission, wouldn't "early acquisition" result in a "better" seat location which, to many, would have a higher value?

Otherwise, very insightful!

...but I can carry hundreds of eBooks, multiple Bible versions, dictionaries, and the entire text dump of Wikipedia (Wiki2Touch), and still have room on my iPod Touch to carry music and videos. Yes, paper absolutely has its merits, but the convenience of sheer volume of a portable eReader often outweighs those merits.

...Paper still covers Rock.

As a science-oriented kid back in the 1970's living in rural America, we used to do all kinds of stuff that, today, would no doubt land us in jail in a heartbeat.

We used to make homemade gun powder, pack it into pill bottles, and blow 'em up in various configurations. We'd pack it tighter or looser and vary the ingredients causing the explosions to go from a loud "bang" to a cool mushroom smoke cloud. And of course, adding some magnesium made for a bright show.

And we'd take chunks of sodium (weren't science classes fun back in the day?!?) and drop it in swimming pools or lakes and watch the fun.

I doubt kids today even know what are the components of gun powder. Not necessarily because they don't know the chemistry, but it's just not Politically Correct to even think about gun powder anymore.

OK, I definitely know all the arguments and feelings about Rush Limbaugh, but seriously, please take a look at what he pointed out today:

He contends that NASA isn't moving the dates because of equipment issues, but to help protect the sea turtle hatchlings. Seriously!

There are efforts to move thousands of sea turtle eggs from gulf coastal waters affected by the BP spill to a location "somewhere near Cape Canaveral". There are also "lighting bans" in effect for many coastal areas to help prevent disrupting the migration habits of the sea turtles. An article I found titled "Coastal Protection Of Sea Turtles In Florida" states:

[225] See id. at R. 62B-33.0051(4). The nesting season is March 1 through October 31 for Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward Counties, and May 1 through October 31 for all other counties. See id. at R. 62B-33.002(32).

The next shuttle launch is set for Nov 1, 2010, the day after the ban ends, and the second launch is scheduled for Feb 26, 2011, two days before the ban resumes.

So, is it really an equipment issue, is it to protect sea turtles, or is it just coincidence?

I use a jailbroken iPod Touch running OS v3.1.3. I have the "Backgrounder" app installed that lets me run apps in the background (aka multitasking) but it is a bit overrated in my opinion. Apps tend to open and close quickly, and most retain the place you were at when you return (yes, there are some severe exceptions.) And unless there's enough shared RAM, multitasking just won't work well.

The moon is the next logical stepping stone to everywhere else we want to go in the solar system.

I think that people may forget that we wouldn't necessarily build a Mars-destined rocket that takes off from the Earth, would we? Wouldn't it be much more useful and practical to construct such a vehicle in and launch it from zero or limited gravity eliminating the need to escape the Earth's atmosphere and pull? The moon may not be the best place for that, but it's certainly work consideration.

Maybe the US will wake up when China lands a man on the moon.

What happens when China (or another non-U.S. country) lands there and "claims" the area they land on? What if they claim an area that is directly facing the Earth, and then they set up nefarious equipment like RF jamming equipment or shining blinding lasers back on the earth? OK, so it's a bit conspiracy theory-centric, but I'm just saying....

...so no harm, because I don't use the installed version.

Why on earth would a thinking person even consider putting hot coffee from McDonald's between her legs while driving and then complain when she gets burned?

It's not about performance. Sure, there are extremely processor-intensive Flash applications that could probably cripple any system, but come on. I ran Flash applications just fine on far, FAR less capable Windows 98 boxes circa 2000.

This is just a "who controls the money" issue for Apple. Apple wants control over app creation and deployment, and they'll get it as long as they can maintain control.