NASA should poor money into commercial ventures such as SpaceX, including technology and resource sharing. The only we we're going to push forward with space exploration is if it can become profitable. It's sad, but true.

Most of my home systems are 1998 vintage, a couple from 2000. My laptop is less than a year old, but the kids had one from 1999 until the motherboard finally gave up the ghost.

The oldest system is a 1994 P75 that is still going strong 16 years later with its original hardware. The only thing I've added is an NE2000 ISA network card. Grin.

All I can say about H1N1 is, I wish all Flus were this mild. Typically my 3 kids get the flu and are sick for a week (they're asthmatic so it just settles nicely in their chest). They all managed to get over it within 3 days. My wife and I both got it with the same outcome.

So... a whole lot of media hype about nothing really. Surprise, surprise!

I wonder how many people died with "regular" flu this year and didn't get a ton of media hype?

I gladly help, because I know the next time my car needs maintenance I know one of mechanically inclined family members will return the favour. Or if I need electrical work done, or plumbing, or any one of the many other skills I don't posses. Failing that, the next time my wife and I want a date they can watch my kids for me.

Sure, it can be a nuisance sometimes, but they probably feel the same way when I ask them for the umpteenth time to look at my truck.

...considering I spent the first 21 years of my life in Europe. My excuse is lack of finances. I've got a very long list of countries I intend to visit before I die, which hopefully won't be for a while :)

I've travelled Britain extensively, and a fairly large chunk of the Eastern US. Egypt is at the top of my list, then I'll start working on the others as money permits. I want my kids to experience as many other cultures as possible so they have a greater appreciation of the world around them.

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure he's looking down from somewhere and giving you the thumbs up for following his wishes.

There's actually several of these kind of devices on the market, I've seen different watches, cell phones and even a backpack. They have their place, I have 3 kids all under the age of 10 and kids that age can get lost very easily if you don't keep a close eye on them. I've put serious consideration into buying some kind of GPS tracker for my kids.

It's important to realise, however that a kid is going to get abducted even if they are wearing some wizzbang locater device if they're not first taught how to defend themselves. There's no substitute for teaching your kids the most important lesson of all: Stay away from strangers! I've taught my kids some very important things, that all parents should teach them:

- Don't approach strangers
- If one approaches you, run
- If the worst happens and someone grabs you, make a huge fuss - kick and scream, do what ever you can to draw attention.

Right now, I'm investing my $250 not into a GPS device but into taking my kids to self defense classes. Much apart from the fact it's great exercise and teaches them discipline and respect, it may save their lives one day. Plus, they're having a lot of fun doing it :)

We have...

* Insufferably hot and humid with afternoon storms and tourists (June-September)
* Nice and mild with no tourists (October-April)
* Winter (a couple of nights in January, if we're lucky).

I would never buy a Kindle, unless it was about $50 and didn't have all that DRM crap. I tried the Sony reader and it was OK I suppose. Even then, I would use it solely for technical manuals. I've tried reading fiction on an electronic device and it just feels wrong. Sitting down and reading a good book is one of life's simple pleasures, and life is too complicated nowadays.

The only advantage I can really see with an E-Book is if my library caught fire it'd be a lot easier to replace everything!

It's surprisingly easy because we used to be nobility up until the reformation happened. We had backed the Parliamentarians, and once the King Charles II came to power we lost the majority of our lands. Oh well!

Time Travel - Not feasible (in spite of how much I'd love to skip forward a few hundred years)

FTL Travel - Goes against the laws of physics, but I'd like to think we'd be able to find a way around this one someday or we're stuck in one part of the Universe forever.

Human-Level AI - I expect to see this in my lifetime.

Discovery of Aliens - I'm in the "they're out there somewhere" club, but I don't think we've had any contact yet. I hope we'll find evidence of other life before I die, probably in our own Solar System first.

Immortality - I can trace my family history with near certainty back to the year 780. I have 3 kids of my own. You could say we're already immortal (at least for the next generation). I doubt true immortality will ever be a reality, but current research shows promise for significantly increased lifespan.

World Peace - Ha! Not a chance.

Sharks With Frickin' Lasers - Technically already feasible, but very silly.

Not to worry, most of the kids who bullied me in grade school are now working menial jobs because they felt making other people's lives miserable was more important at the time than studying. It's the best form of revenge. :)

You'll love college, most of the people are there because they WANT to be not because their parents forced them. Therefore, the maturity level is higher. Mostly.

Just another clueless web designer putting up an open relay form. I thought I'd seen the last of these back in the 1990s! I'm sure the web site in question has been blacklisted by all the major DNSBL lists by now.