What Napster were YOU using? I could find anything and everything I could think up to search for, and some of my musical tastes are quite remote. I used to be able to bet my co-workers (and win, typically) on attempts to stump Napster. THOSE were the days that had record industry executives spending their nights trembling beneath sweat-drenched sheets.

You're assuming linear trajectories. In the solar system, EVERYTHING is moving along a curve. Nothing hurls straight at a standstill Earth only to have the moon swing through its path and take the hit instead, which is what you seem to be arguing. All objects in the solar system are being carried by the sun's gravity and thus are at varying-sized elliptical orbits, so it is not too difficult to imagine numerous parabolic paths sliding between Earth and its moon to impact it on the inner side.

I honestly read it that way. I was seeing the word "up" as being implied. (Queue up the people arguing for .. etc etc). Either word fits without changing the basic intent of the statement.

> I'd be willing to seed that game.

Posts like this are why I love the internet.

Dude ... what? The iTMS was selling music and media for YEARS before the iPhone was released.

"I notice you're still working with polymers."

"Still? What else would I be working with?"

"Ahh, what else indeed..."

"Corporal would you open this book up to the part that says that where the mess hall is?"

"Well, Lt Kaffee, that's not in the book either, sir."

"You mean to say the entire time you've been at Gitmo you've never had a meal?"

"No sir, three squares a day, sir."

"I don't understand. How could you know where the mess hall is if it's not in this book?"

"I guess I just followed the crowd at chow time, sir."

This is the creepiest thing I have read in a long time. Is this real? Am I the only one who see this device as the basis of an episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone?

OK I'll bite.

A bank robber flees the crime scene in a car going 90MPH. Would you permit the police to give chase, given that they would have to violate traffic safety laws to do so? Or should the police only drive the speed limit?

Another scenario: A man is holding a hostage at gunpoint. Should police draw their weapons and aim them, even though threatening violence (or death) against a fellow citizen is against the law?

The police are permitted a good deal of latitude in their behavior in order to enforce laws. It would be impossible for them to do so otherwise. And yes, a cop posing as a pross or a drug dealer or a 12 year old girl in a chatroom gives people lots of reasons to reconsider engaging in illegal behaviors. That's the whole point, comrade.

Your Newton 2100 (1997) was killed by the Palm Pilot (1996).

Apple created the modern PDA, but Palm got it down to its correct size and eviscerated Apple's market share. By the time Apple's technology was maturing into an useful device, Palm had achieved a strong dominance and WindowsCE devices were coming up hard and fast.

You have no idea how pissed off the MxO community has ALWAYS been regarding SOE's refusal to market and adequately support this game. Most players now posting on the official SOE board are refusing to ever spend money on another Sony product, holding them directly accountable for the game's failure.

The game itself is actually quite an achievement. The environment is vast and magnificent even at mid-range video settings, the character models are the best human MMO avatars I've ever seen including lifelike animations, moods, emotes and facial expressions, the system of crafting is VERY extensive (and not very complicated, despite what a previous poster tried to argue earlier). The combat system of "Interlock" is fun and challenging, unlike any other MMO's, allowing for different fighting styles (Aikido vs. Karate vs. Kung Fu, for instance), and the MOST appropriate IP for an MMO thus far in the industry. And SOE basically let it wither and die with virtually no marketing, no promotion and not even a decently-sized staff. For the past year and a half, the game had no animator. Since January, the game has had no devs at all and was just on "autopilot".

Basically, SOE screwed this game, and it's a damned shame as its potential was so vast.

No. SOE won't allow anyone to host a private server despite numerous requests, citing copyright issues and co-ownership with Warner Brothers.

This is my problem with console gaming in general. This past month I've upgraded my PC gaming rig for the third time since I bought it back in 2002. I can play with my choice of controllers, including a keyboard and mouse (which I prefer), I can upgrade RAM, processor and video hardware, and I also get to do things like look up stuff on the internet and check email. Consoles are closed systems that you can't upgrade. That mentality should have died in the late 80s/early 90s, but folks like MS and Sony want nothing more than to ensnare buyers into a forced upgrade path which requires buying a whole new console. Screw that.

> Prior to bittorrent, there was Samba sharing as enabled by several crawler-search setups. Prior to those, there was Napster. Prior to those......

Anyone else remember downloading stuff of that service called Hotline? Man, that was the [Mac] warez nirvana. You could get full versions of professional-grade software, music, MPEGs, fonts, pretty much anything you were looking for, provided you know where and how to look. Good times.

The only reason for that scene that would have made any sense would have been if Kirk were being chased by the Cloverfield monster. At least then the fans could have had a chuckle, and there's no reason to think that the events of Cloverfield couldn't have been part of "his" Star Trek's canon. I know when I saw that monster in the theater, my FIRST thought was that I hoped it was the Cloverfield guy. (Would have made Spock that much more impressive in getting rid of it, too.)