Ah, the treachery of images. This is not a galaxy.

The rules are different at the border. Until you pass the border, they can detain you without arresting you, and they can do so on a mere hunch. You aren't "in the United States" yet, and you do not have your constitutional rights until you are.

It's great that atmospheric distortion can be largely eliminated, but just wait until we get some improved optics into space. Hubble has produced wonderful images, but the James Webb Space Telescope is going to be a phenomenal upgrade.

Just because the patent expired doesn't make it great. Some of the stuff rendered with BCI almost makes me want to go back to bitmapped fonts. Or maybe it works well, but only with non-free fonts. If that's the case, here's hoping that free operating systems that use FreeType do NOT make this the default immediately.

Is because Microsoft's source is closed, and a spy might have a chance to find a hole in the source code that's not obvious without the source code, or possibly would have a chance to plant something in the code. On the other hand, spies are welcome to contribute to open source. They won't be able to slip much past the massive peer review.

I believe the acronym here is P2W (pay to win)

"sudo rm -f /usr/bin/Auto.bash /usr/bin/run.bash /etc/profile.d/gnome.sh index.php run.bash && sudo dpkg -r app5552" Man. I'm going to have to get me some anti-malware software...

This is good advice, and gives me an opportunity to speak to the community at large: some of us who go to cons and are in a position to shake tons of hands politely decline. It's not because we're being dicks, it's because we know it's a good way to substantially decrease our chances of catching and spreading any germs.

I played the PAX Pandemic game, where the Enforcers handed out stickers to attendees that read [Carrier] [Infected] or [Immune] (There was also a [Patient Zero].

I got the [Immune] sticker, and by the time I got home on Monday, it was clear that I had the flu. I've had a fever between 100 and 104 all week that finally broke last night, but I'm going to the doctor today because I think whatever I had settled into my lungs. I'll tell him about the H1N1 outbreak and get tested if he wants to run the test, but at this point I think it's safe to assume that I was [Immune] to the Pig Plague, but definitely [Infected] with the damn PAX pox.

Even though it's been a week of misery, it was entirely worth it, and I don't regret going to PAX for a single second.

The rich get rich and the poor get iPhones?

This is why my motto (and fundamental rule for life) is Don't be a dick: it's simple to understand, and reasonable people can agree on what it means.

Science proved astrology wrong? I hadn't heard that. I thought proofs were in the realm of mathematics. Science tries to provides evidence for theories, but that does not prove them corrent, and science would have a hard time proving many things wrong. Prove you aren't a computer simulation.

Looking at the article blurb the bias towards the forgone conclusion is clear with words and phrases like "flawed mental shortcut", "nonsense", "otherwise highly logical", and "silly things". Couldn't astrology simply be so complex that science is unable to explain it?

Sure I'm playing devil's advocate here. But I'm also being skeptical of my skepticism, like a person of science should.

Reminds me of a quote:

If a man has a strong faith he can indulge in the luxury of skepticism.
                                -- Friedrich Nietzsche

This is a sad day indeed. Possibly one of the greatest and most lasting influences from my childhood was the power that Gary helped to nurture - imagination. Combined with that very special way of being able to get together with friends. Back then, pen and paper, and today with MMOs. We have lost, but the legend will live on.