Haven't seen anything listed, but I would bet that they somehow "fingerprint" their media, and then use something akin to Shazam to see if a given soundtrack can be matched against the fingerprints in their catalogue.

The real issue here is how do you handle Copyright for "naturally occurring sounds" (Birds, Waves, Wind through Trees)? Chances are someone produced a library of these things for license. Do they hold the copyright and are they allowed to license their library? I'd say sure. They produced it with (presumably work on their part).

Okay, now someone else (as in our story), goes out and produces an all new original recording of the same naturally occurring phenomena. Why should the new person not have the copyright for their new work? How do you prove actual infringement?

The only way I can think of is that in order to prove copyright for naturally occurring sounds, there must be some acoustic signature inserted so that they are no longer naturally occurring sounds.

Its akin to me taking a picture of the skyline and using it on a web page, and then being sued because someone else already took a picture of that skyline and had it in a database somewhere.

Good point. I'd assume the fact that they KEPT doing it, meant they probably tested it out once or twice and it seemed to work (backup emergency propulsion system? :) )

This.

The two main ways to look at space warfare are basically "Air Warfare in Space" or "Naval Warfare in Space". I think most people agree that the Naval Warfare model is more likely given current technology levels.

Two fleets would need to find each other, engage each other, and ports of call (Planets/Asteroids/Space Stations) would be good targets.

Yeah, weaponry will be a bit better than cannon, but considering we keep mentioning mass-drivers and planetary bombardment ... Cannon seem like a good analogy. :)

If I had to guess, I'd bet they had a problem meeting demand in 2007-2009 after their reputation (and the market for flat screens) grew (starting in 1996), and probably outstripped their production capacity, so they went for quick/cheap components?

Which suffered higher failure rates?

I know you're joking, but ... the best find was a bottle of cherry liquor that my great-grandmother set to ferment in a cask (somewhere between the 20's and 60's), and that my grandmother found while cleaning up the basement and bottled.

Probably only aged in the cask for ~30-60 years (depending on when she actually casked it), but knowing the people involved made it priceless.

(we remembered my grandmother finding the cask and filtering/bottling it, but didn't know there was any left :) )

Substitute Jiu-Jitsu or Karate for Judo (not sure Judo does much work on Joint locks/breaks, versus throws, which may be less useful in truly tight quarters), and I'd agree with you.

Heck, they can even chem-snif/x-ran my bags if they really want to, and make me walk through a magnetometer and drink from any liquid I'm bringing on board (if they really feel a need), but the ridiculous level of pseudo security we have reached is mind-boggling.

And yet, sadly, they don't.

I thought they were going to start using Bi-Planes again?

To federal standards.

Try reading A State of Disobedience.

Interesting depiction of a second U.S. Civil War.

Not sure how things stand now (between the redeployment of National Guard troops, and other things), but it sure makes for an interesting read of one way things could play out.

Heck, when we were cleaning out my grandparents house we found a jar of honey that had to be at least 30-40 years old (pre-zipcode in address and no barcode, but a "recognizable" brand name).

We cracked it open and enjoyed it with some similar vintage alcohols (also found during the cleaning), on some (newly bought) crackers, as part of our "good-bye meal" after we finished emptying everything else.

Really? I think "Boy, I'm glad I bought that disc for $8 and could watch it at home with my wife, eating the food/drink of my choice, on the timetable of our choosing, instead of paying $25 to watch it in a theater, and then being gouged for Soda/Popcorn/Snacks."

I was thinking the same thing. I bought a Samsung 32" for ~$1200 in 2006, and (so far) its been running fine. The TV I have to set the bar on for comparison was an old TV w/remote (wireless), that my parents had that was bought in the early 80's and lasted ~20 years (surviving two moves).

I haven't had any problem with it, but I know it was right before Sumsung became popular, so maybe as demand increased, quality dropped?

They added it back in on later models.