If you think about it, Beck would be hilarious as a parody of the extreme right ; the problem is that he *tries* to be taken seriously (or at least many of his viewers actually believe it). In a way, Colbert is a parody of Beck

GameMaker is similar to GameSalad (but older and more mature), but Windows only. It has a free (beer) version, and a cheap ($30 or so) pro version.

Many students in private unis do not care either, and many in public unis do care. There is a lot of variation on students all over.

And, the screen is way smaller, but, OTOH, I keep the iPad much closer than my laptop. Don't get me wrong, I use my laptop for real work, but the iPad is great for casual browsing, especially on the couch (that is, if I can take it away from my kids :)

Actually, if it worked with no problems whatsoever, the mystique wouldn't go away, as MacOSX *is* all that, or at least much better than other OSs I've tried (Win XP,Vista,7, Linux) for basic usage. Although a big advantage is that you always run it on good HW :)

I agree that 'In general, the police have better things to do than walk around randomly asking people for their papers.'; however, I see a big potential for abuse; some US citizens will encounter some cops who happen to be SOBs, and they will have trouble if they don't carry enough documentation (or they want to mess up with those cops :). I don't live in Arizona, and don't plan to visit it; if I lived there, I'd make sure to carry my license, but I'd also try to look for other places to move to :)

The main problem is that, in the US, people are NOT required to carry Ids, or even to obtain them (of course, having them makes your life much easier); it is considered (I think) one of the guarantees in the constitution; in many other countries you have to register with the govt, and carry a national Id; not here, and that's the big issue.

It does not just makes an effort to enforce the law, it (appears to me, will see how it actually gets applied) adds penalties, at least detention/arrest, even for US citizens !

B. FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE PERSON'S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c).

So an American could be detained for 'reasonable suspicion' unless they carry their papers (at least until the status is verified); moreover

E. A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, WITHOUT A WARRANT, MAY ARREST A PERSON IF THE OFFICER HAS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE PERSON HAS COMMITTED ANY PUBLIC OFFENSE THAT MAKES THE PERSON REMOVABLE FROM THE UNITED STATES.

It would seem to me that an *American* could be arrested just for not having/presenting their papers, since that could be construed as probable cause ... that hasn't been in federal law.

Nooo ! cookies are an evil security risk and ..... oh, never mind

My kids are not there yet (my oldest is in 1st grade), but I've helped many friends and kids of friends, and I've always been able to read their textbook and understand what they wanted.

BTW, the fact that numbers have those properties is incredibly useful; the commutative property tells me that 3+15 = 15+3 (the later being much easier to calculate by counting with my fingers) and that 3*9 = 9*3 (the later being much easier to calculate by repeated addition). Making it explicit gives it a name, but also helps with the kids who haven't got it yet (my kids don't know the name, but they know the commutative property and can apply it)

Delphi was a cool tool, but VB was already entrenched when Delphi came out, which is (at least partly) why Delphi never became popular; Delphi was a response to VB, not the other way around.