I beg to differ about not experiencing significant problems on 1/1/2000. We had significant issues that caused all our approximately 2000 store servers to repeatedly shut down until we unloaded the offending software.

I was working for Hollywood Video in the Tech Support department (support for the rental stores and all their computer equipment) leading up to and after Y2K, in Wilsonville, Oregon at the corporate office. (Of course this was before their two bankruptcies.) The software development department performed extensive (and probably expensive) testing on every facet of our current in-store software and hardware setup (custom COBOL software running on DOS 5.0 on NetWare 3.1 if you can believe it.) They were even going to scrap NetWare in favor of a brand spanking new Windows NT Remote Desktop-type setup, but we were highly disappointed when NetWare came up with a patch for NetWare 3.X series to make it Y2K compatible, so they scrapped the NT plans. But I digress...

Came in to work on 1/1/2000 a couple hours after midnight (yep they pretty much forced us to come in, and for very little extra pay - I may have been a bit drunk still.) Everything was already chaos: Almost every single store's NetWare server shut itself down at midnight, thinking there was a power outage. And since our stores' computers ran as dumb network-booted terminals to the main server, that means all the computers were down and rentals couldn't be performed except by writing the rentals on paper.

Problem was, in the test lab someone had commented out the UPS backup auto-shutdown software line in the servers' autoexec (or its NetWare equivalent, might have been autoexec.ncf or something.) And yes, I do know who that someone was (wasn't me.) :) So I guess no one thought to test that particular software. So all the servers would boot up, immediately think there was a power outage, and immediately shut themselves off. We did have a manager's station computer in each store that had its own hard drive and could be used in emergencies, and had pcAnywhere and a modem, so we manually dialed into each of our approximately 2000 stores (at 14.4 kbps.) Then we walked a bunch of clueless managers and minimum wage kids through taking the new autoexec we had copied to a floppy on their manager's station (and a bunch of the stores had to run out and buy a box of floppies on New Year's Day) and booting up their servers using the floppy.

I think we got the last few stores up and working by 2 or 3 pm Pacific. And before you say "who rents movies on New Year's Day?" - EVERYONE did. New Year's Day and Christmas Day were two of our biggest movie rental days of the year. People are home with their families, the festivities are over, everyone wants something to do and streaming from the internet didn't really exist yet. What did everyone do? Rent a video or go to a theater. I'm not sure how many tens of thousands of dollars in rentals we lost that day, but I'm sure it was significant.

TL;DR: Just because you didn't hear about any significant losses due to Y2K bugs, doesn't mean they didn't happen. It's not like businesses were eager to admit they screwed up and forgot to test something.

Windows 8 64 bit runs faster on my aging AMD Athlon64 X2 dual core 5400+ with 2 GB RAM than Windows 7 does. Been running the RTM version for a couple months now, and since I just got a legit Windows 8 Pro key from my work's MSDN account, I plan on getting rid of my Windows 7 install. Didn't use the Start Menu much, so I don't really miss it - you can replicate most of the functionality of it by putting some icons and shortcuts on your desktop. You can install several free apps to log directly into the desktop once you log in. I was easily able to find drivers for Windows 8, and when I couldn't, Windows 7 drivers worked fine. Only app I needed to get new version of was Nero Burning ROM, and I was using an older version that I originally started using under Vista, so I wasn't too surprised.

Try it out before you make your decision! There's copies of the official RTM floating around out there that you can install, and you can use it for 90 days until it forces you to get a key and register it.

I didn't realize every single person that works in IT in Seattle works for Microsoft.

Those are all changes that Google implemented in ICS. My stock Galaxy Nexus behaves just like that. And yes, there's a lot of blue. :) Once I got used to it, I quite like it myself!

My Samsung Galaxy Nexus has both the micro-USB and headphone ports on the bottom next to each other, and it actually makes a whole lot of sense when you actually use it for a while.

It's great for when you mount your phone in a dash mount in your car. The micro-USB for power and headphone jack for plugging into the line-in in my car stereo drop right out the bottom so they fit nice and securely, instead of like in some phones where the USB port is in the side so fits less securely (and gets in the way of the dash mount.)

When you're carrying it around in your pocket with headphones attached, you just slip it into your pocket upside-down with the back of the phone facing outwards. When you need to switch audio tracks, it's one smooth motion to grab the phone with your whole hand cupping the back, pull the phone out and turn your hand 180 degrees to flip it upright while still holding the phone securely in your hand. You don't have to turn it around in your hand to have the screen right-side-up, or pull out the phone with two fingers and hope you don't accidentally tap something on the touchscreen. Kinda hard to visualize unless you actually try it, but now that I have a phone with headphone on the bottom I like it a lot, and hope my next phone has the same port layout.

As far as HDMI video - here you go:

1) A dock that connects to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus micro-USB port and provides HDMI out.
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/03/23/review-samsung-galaxy-nexus-hdmi-portrait-desktop-dock/

2) An adapter dongle that connects to the micro-USB port of various Android phones, including the Galaxy Nexus, to provide HDMI out including 7.1 audio.
http://www.cellphoneshop.net/mhlhdmi.html?cagpspn=pla&gclid=CJnS5PfysrECFQQJRQodj2EAQg

This is actually pretty common with modern Android phones, it's called MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link.) It also includes a command bus between the mobile device and the TV, but haven't heard whether that's supported by any common TVs or smartphones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link

They didn't try him twice. The prosecutor decided what to charge him with, and decided instead of charging him with a "misdemeanor" or "felony" (where he'd obviously have the option for a jury trial), they instead decided to charge him with a "violation." A violation in Oregon is an offense like a traffic ticket, parking ticket, possession of a small amount of some drugs for personal use such as less than one ounce of marijuana, etc. Penalties for a violation generally just consist of a fine, can also include other penalties, but cannot include jail time.

Here's some more information about violations in Oregon:
http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/153.html

Well there is the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence...

http://www.portlandsisters.net/

Portland Oregon actually has a higher per capita number of strip clubs than churches. Yes, I'm very proud of this fact. :)

Naked Day was last weekend at the Oregon Country Fair. Yep I was there, and yep it was awesome like usual.

http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/photo_gallery.php

(There's no nudity in those galleries, but trust me there was plenty of nudity there. I love Oregon!)

Because the prosecution dropped its case to a violation, not a crime. It's not that he was denied a jury trial. "Brennan didn't have the option of letting a jury decide the case because the prosecution dropped its pursuit of a conviction for misdemeanor public indecency. The prosecution is now seeking a conviction for a violation, which is similar to a speeding ticket." Violations don't have the option for a jury trial in Oregon.

This article gives more information:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/07/post_247.html [oregonlive.com]

It's not that he was denied a jury trial. "Brennan didn't have the option of letting a jury decide the case because the prosecution dropped its pursuit of a conviction for misdemeanor public indecency. The prosecution is now seeking a conviction for a violation, which is similar to a speeding ticket." Violations don't have the option for a jury trial in Oregon.

This article gives more information:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/07/post_247.html

Gonna have to agree with you there. :) Worst...drivers...ever. My wife and I moved back to Oregon in 2006 (selling our Phoenix house at the top of the market before the crash) and we couldn't be happier.

My condolences. ;) Why did he single out Oregon specifically? (I live in Oregon.) Is there some upcoming ballot measure to legalize gay marriage here or something? If so I'd definitely be in favor of it. Or do people in Texas think Oregon is a hotbed of gays or something?

Maybe the returns grief is specific to your local store? I've shopped heavily at the Fry's in Wilsonville Oregon and both Fry's in the Phoenix Arizona area for at least the last 15 years, and all of them have never given me grief for returning anything for any reason - and I returned a LOT of stuff over the years. In fact that's one reason I shopped there so much, because I knew I could return the item with no questions asked. Never once was I charged a restocking fee - this is the first I've ever heard of Fry's having a restocking fee in fact.