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Comment Re:I say go ahead ... (Score 1) 342

That's what I said until I got divorced and started dating again. Thousands of text messages. Yes, thousands. You don't tell a hot chick to switch to gtalk, just because it's free. Nope, you're better off being a man and spending that $10 a month for unlimited text without mentioning it. I'll never regret that choice.

You make a damn good point.

Comment Yes, this ban is absurd, but ... (Score 1) 820

Firstly, I want to say that I have enjoyed many hours of entertainment with these Buckyballs. I even bought two more sets so I could make some real cool structures with them. Since when did all products have to be safe for humans to ingest? It seems to me like all household cleaners, motor oil, industrial lubricants, hell ... even integrated circuits would have to be yanked off the market now.

All of that being said, I'm actually surprised no-one else has mentioned a particularly troublesome issue with bucky-balls that poses for even intelligent adults: peeling metal. After having fumbled with these bucky-balls for a long time, tiny slivers of metal have been peeling off, which would be fine if they didn't end up on my fingers. Just imagine a wooden splinter, only way smaller and more rigid. I've found them to be impossible to remove deliberately. Basically you have to go several hours, sometimes even a day or two, with the shavings on your finger and eventually they will fall off (either by being washed off or just falling off after awhile). Fortunately, I've been careful not to ingest the slivers or scratch my eyes but after having the slivers end up in my fingers a few times I've stuffed the bucky balls into a box and tossed them aside.

That doesn't mean I'm going to go complaining to the company about it like a cry-baby. I do realize that rare-earth magnets are quite brittle and they must be treated with care (which I thought I did -- but apparently not enough so). Perhaps I'll pick up some gardening gloves and give the bucky-balls another go.

Comment Re:Scotty in Trek's Voyage Home (Score 1) 1200

The fakest looking keyboard skills are when Scotty inputs the formula for "transparent aluminum" into the computer in the movie Voyage Home (the one where they go back to modern day LA). He just kinda hovered his hands over the keys and randomly smacked his fingers over the buttons very fast. Will have to give props to the funny bit of talking into the mouse first, though.

Blasphemy I Say! ... Scotty just had too much charm to call that *bad*.

Besides, that whole scene was too "tounge-in-cheek" to be taken so seriously. The world would be missing something without it.

Comment The Real Motive here ... (Score 1) 112

... is to give Apple some more reason to hesitate before entering the DVR market (by leveraging the AppleTV and possibly acquiring TiVo out-right). At this point, Apple's dominance in mobile computing and its ability to further extend its domination into Television programming puts a squeeze on Microsoft's ability to hold its ground.

If I were wrong, Microsoft is simply wasting their time (or just being plain mean) filing a lawsuit against a company that has a single niche product and little, if any, risk extending themselves into other markets (unlike Apple). At this point, I wouldn't put it past them to be blundering bullies but my gut tells me they are actually being sneaky this time.

Comment Many won't admit this but ... (Score 2) 349

... I would argue that this is *proof* that a transparent national defense (as promoted by the pro-Wiki-Leaks crowd) is a very bad idea. Assuming that the U.S. is behind this (a bold assumption yes, but is highly likely), for some-one to "leak" information on this, would be a travesty.

And no: this is not flame-bait ... I just making a "case in point" observation here.

Comment CG: Hollywood's "hammer" (Score 2) 532

Notice how the article is addresses "special effects" and just about every comment is a gripe about CGI? This is the fundamental problem. As suggested by the cliche "to a hammer, everything is a nail": CG would be Hollywood's hammer. This is truly sad since there are numerous instances where CG is the *inferior* choice. Take a look at a Space scene in a Star Trek TNG episode or even Star Wars, and you will see what I mean. There is something organic and substantial about real models that just can't be replicated by CGI. Granted, they have come a long ways, but everything just *feels* smaller and much less grandiose when you take physical models out of the picture. And whenever I see a film where Liam Neelson is doing his own stunts, this jumps out at me and pulls me into the story. Replace this Liam Neelson bad guy busting scene with a CGId up screen shake-fest and I start falling asleep.

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