Apple is getting ready to release a new iPhone in the next few months. I'm sure this kind of regular product cycle makes consumers not want to upgrade for the quarter before a new release. I know I'm going to skip the 3GS and wait for the "4" or whatever the new one is called.

Agree. People are already playing online poker. It is better to have our government reap the tax benefits and for the profits to go to a US-based casino rather than just shipping the money outside of the country.

The reason he doesn't think it is art is because he is not looking at it from the perspective of the artist, but from the audience. People who make games are artists. We arrange elements of a game in such a way as to make the audience enjoy it. In the same way that a great poet arranges words on paper or a painter arranges paint on canvas, a programmer also arranges words and digital paint to create an environment. It does not matter that a game has rules or can be won or that there is an ending - those elements simply go beyond the ability of most classical art. Even still, when you read a murder mystery book you typical ARE put in a position that you can 'win' by figuring out the ending of the story before you read it... Like realizing Bruce Willis is dead in the Sixth Sense. Having a purpose does not make something not art. The design on a yogurt cup is art, but it is designed in such a way as to make the yogurt more appealing, it adds emotional elements to an otherwise emotionless cup of yogurt. You no longer eat the yogurt simply for the nourishment, you eat the yogurt because the packaging tells you that eating the yogurt will make you happier. The reason I feel the need to make the claim that video games are art is because I make video games, and I am an artist.

It says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

The key word here is "respecting". They cannot make a law that RESPECTS an establishment of religion. Some people try and claim that the Constitution prohibits the ESTABLISHMENT of a religion, but that is obviously not the case. To understand why, simply change the first part of the sentence to something like:

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Notice now that what this sentence prohibits the establishment of a state religion AND laws that prohibit the free exercise of state religions.... but that doesn't make sense, because why would you make sure that people have free exercise of a religion that can't exist because of the first statement?

It is clear what the founders meant in their papers and notes, as well. The first amendment establishes a clear and complete separation between church and state, for the mutual benefit of both.

To quote YOURSELF: "But you have no actual arguments against it beyond your dislike, and you're boring."

Cat5 cable is what they call "UTP" - Unshielded Twisted Pair. Essentially, the losses and electrical noise of each pair of wires is canceled out because instead of comparing individual voltages, they compare differences of voltages between each wire in the pair. If you try to hook up an ethernet cable pair using a coax wire, you're going to end up with one wire (the shield) picking up the electrical noise and the inside wire won't pick up the noise. This is going to just make not work well. It'll work for short distances (just like if you crimp an ethernet cable but mess up the coloring so the pairs aren't matched) but over long distances of 20+ feet, it is just going to crap out.

PLUS... Dude, you're going to want gigabit eventually - and it uses 8 wires and is even more sensitive.

Bite the bullet - use the coax as a guide and hook up an ethernet jack in every room that needs one. Use CAT-5E cable or CAT-6 cable so gigabit connections will work. And then buy yourself a gigabit switch, and piggy back it onto your WRT54G to handle the internet routing (or buy a gigabit router). Good luck!

"Well the thought of the building blocks for life to have just "formed" on earth is too far fetched."

Why is it far fetched? We've generated nearly every one of the bases of RNA and DNA in conditions that mimic the early Earth - Some from experiments like the Miller-Urey Experiment created a whole slew of different organic compounds, and more recent studies have shown the synthesis of an amino acid resulting from exposure to ultra-violet light (I believe it was uracil?) - showing that there are many many different ways to create complex organic compounds.

Hi, I help run an astronomy group (San Diego Astronomy Association) and I think I can help you out - feel free to contact me directly if you have questions.

Right now I would recommend showing off:
The Pleiades (M45) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(star_cluster)
The Great Orion Nebula (M42) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_galaxy

You can also check out the planets - right now Mars is pretty close and bright, but it isn't much to look at through a 4" telescope. You can show off Saturn, but it doesn't rise until kind of late. You should be able to see the rings, but right now they are edge-on.

Depending on where you are located, you may also be able to check out some smaller galaxies and nebula. Also, depending on where you are located, get in contact with an astronomy group and see if you can visit a local amateur observatory. We have a site about an hour from down town San Diego where we have a 22" telescope available for public viewing once a month and we also have public events held almost weekly where we bring telescopes generally around 10" in size (I bring my 16" on clear nights).

Others have joked about using your telescope to point at the Sun - obviously don't do it. Even pointing the scope at the Sun will permanently destroy eyepieces and coatings on optics - and if you happen to look through it, say good bye to your vision. Permanently. However, if you can get yourself a solar filter to put over the telescope, you can safely observe the Sun - which is pretty interesting. You should be able to see sun spots and perhaps prominences with the right kind of filter.

Good luck, and clear skies! :)

By all accounts I can find, the issue with the Toyota's sticky gas pedal is a MECHANICAL one - not some electrical bug.

This DOES (essentially) reduce thermal energy in the atmosphere.

Typically, the solar energy just heats up the ground, and also bounces around in the atmosphere and heats it up. This thing works by trapping the energy in a small area (greenhouse) and then using some of that heat to generate electricity. By the time the air is pumped out into the open atmosphere, it has less heat energy than if the thing wasn't there to begin with.

This really boils down to being just like a photovoltaic panel. Rather than the Sun wasting its energy heating up the atmosphere, we use the energy to make electricity... which we then waste by turning electricity back into heat which heats up the atmosphere. :)

"When Transportation Security Administration agents opened one of the bottles and tested the contents, the resulting fumes nauseated them, Youngblood said. Both were treated and released at a local hospital." Does anyone know, off the top of their head, the proper treatment for SMELLING HONEY? What 'fumes' exactly come from honey?

They already demonstrated the E.Coli bacterium evolving the ability to metabolize citric acid... that makes it a new kid of bacterium (the inability of E.Coli to metabolize citric acid is one of its defining characteristics).

That guy needs to learn how to spell check!! I couldn't finish, I was too annoyed after the first two paragraphs.