...right along with gun owners, we are at the twilight of those two industries unless we put this to a stop. Logical people know video games and guns don't cause violence - crazy assholes do. But as long as we're willing to be vilified, we will be picked to pieces in the chaos.

The UN has gotten a really bad reputation lately due to the pandering to groups that outright hate the United States. However, the US is called upon to be the world's police force, ambulance, piggy bank, and shoulder to cry on; but the US is denied the ability to have an appropriate role in the UN in exchange for these services. Instead, we have China and the Sudan on the human rights counsel, we hear about considerable corruption and abuses of UN power. The US brings these injustices up, all of a sudden - the US is reminded of all these back fees and membership dues that they supposedly owe. Never mind that without the US, the UN would have no teeth to accomplish anything. This is not to belittle the good things the UN HAS accomplished - but the United States does get tired of being treated like the scapegoat for all the world's problems.

I don't hate Linux, I really like it actually. I use it for servers and tinkering workstations all the time - I'm a geek, after all. But every time I've tried to use it for real work - some huge glitch keeps me from making the switch over, something doesn't work as advertised, or something just gets depreciated without a replacement.

Business and people DO buy software in stores, especially the non-technologically savvy.

I can say, however, it is a fair to disclose that I have not had the occasion to try Ubuntu on the desktop as of yet. Their server distros are nice, and the instructions they give for getting things set up is great.

...seems pretty appropriate, given what this guy is like...

I get the impression he hates on Apple because it's popular to hate on them in particular - but they aren't doing MORE than what everyone else in the industry is doing. That's not excusing it, of course - but the real problem with the "Just run Linux" solution is that non-Computer Science people want to do things like answer e-mail, write correspondence, and buy software from the store that has a nice, easy installer. We geeks don't have trouble with the idea of tinkering under the hood when we don't like something - but I am driven to drinking when I think of my grandmother or father trying to use OSS for anything useful when they hit their first problem.

Freedom is nice, but when it involves having to become a computer engineer to exercise it - most people will take the padded handcuffs. Just the way most 'mundanes' are, sad to say. Since I am not drinking the Apple hate-eraid, I imagine I will be modded into oblivion.

Overactive volcanic activity has produced a crushing atmosphere in Venus' case - which mixed with its solar exposure, makes it unable to support life as we know it.

Who read this as saying, "...the factory says that the multiple automated and manual checks have meant that only two of the 150,000 boards made there have been shipped DUE TO defects" I mean, could explain the supply problem. Much more plausible that the entire world is being supplied by a half-dead 89 year old electronics engineer hand-building each one, occasionally losing his glasses between runs, with a crappy 1960's era Radio Shack soldering iron...

Let me see - sliding on black ice at the intersection - even though you have your foot on the brake peddle, and it to the firewall - you go sliding through the intersection, triggering the camera? Ambulance behind you flips their lights on just as you approach a yellow light - but for whatever reason, their lights don't trigger the override? You prepare to slow down to a stop, but the person behind you appears out of control - and there is no cross-traffic, so you run the light to prevent a collision?

Those were just the few I could think of in a few second, but sure - mod my ass down.

...who didn't see that happening? When you can't face your accuser anymore, someone who can see you had no ability to stop for the red light - people will just jam on the brakes, be damned the people behind them at the time. Sometimes, just going through the red light is the -least- dangerous option presented - something a red light camera doesn't distinguish.

Perhaps Bill Adama had it right - give books to people, never lend them. Then you can't get upset if they never make it back to you.

Humans are social animals - we develop to our fullest potential when we are safe, secure, and can develop socially. When we are ignored, or left alone - the need to develop complex intelligence and social constructs fades, we revert to a more animal state. Children, especially babies, are closer to animals (in brain development and in-born skills, not in terms of our compassion for them) in this aspect than adults - as they have not yet formed the relationships with other beings as well as the means to express themselves fully. Only after they are cared for, taught and kept in part of a social circle are they able to develop more humanly.

...like what they'd do to NORMAL people when we spit in the face of the judge with our restitution... likely to happen? Nope. Sad, really. They really really deserve it.

People often miss steps when they work on academic papers - such as proofreading, and copy-editing. Remembering to cite sources can be a good reason in of itself to have the paper evaluated by a copy or proof-editor. Just like a novel released for commercial gain, you need to put your best effort forward to get accepted the FIRST time. Failing that, it looks like you can get the establishment to do that for you...assuming you want to be the laughing stock the first time around.

I think that is where the aforementioned '...and even individually-work camera backpacks to gather its footage...' would come in. You know, to get interior shots.

I'm still trying to decide if it blends...

Perhaps this is too expensive to replace the portable restrooms in developing countries, but perhaps this could be used in larger-scale applications to help deal with the solid waste in waste treatment facilities? Instead of using harsher chemicals, we could augment it with more biological processes such as this to increase the efficiency of the treatment. Just a thought anyway.