I remember that show and previous ones where he extolled the properties of the barrier by saying "This is the stuff they make bulletproof glass out of". I knew that what he had was Lexan (polycarbonate) the same stuff the Astronaut's helmets were made of, as well as CD's. When he said that I got nervous for him because he was clearly putting faith in something that did not deserve it. Lexan is the main component in bulletproof glass but it is a highly specialized (and thick) laminate that works as an effective bulletproof glass. The finny thing is it may stand up to a bullet but it can't handle windshield wipers. the tiny bits of grit scratch the surface too easily to be practical. That is why they are still looking for good scratch proof coatings for it. I think he really did believe he was using a very good protection that wasn't up to bulletproof glass level which would be much more expensive. I also think the look on his face when he saw how easily it was compromised was genuine.

RFC: Is it time to codify Epoch celebration traditions? What should they be? New Years eve has large parties, kissing someone at Midnight, Champagne, Time-Square, Dropping a large lit ball, Music, College Football Bowl Games,Rose Parade... So what is appropriate for Epoch day? First should major celebrations be a power of ten or a Power of Two? Since they come at less than one per years should the celebrations be bigger and more lavish? Come on Slashdotters, should we be honoring history? or should we ceremonially burn obsolete technologies instead of dropping the Ball? For instance we could have blown up a bunch of floppies instead of fireworks, Dropped a ball made of CD's instead of crystal.... Food: Pizza? Chinese, anything from the local take-out? Drink? Red Bull, Starbucks Parade: Floats made entirely of obsolete computer technology. Discuss

An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition. No it isn't :-)

The term "crash" comes from the old giant hard drives that looked like washing machines. The head on those drives drives had to float very close to but not in contact with the platter. If something happened to make that head come in contact with the platter it would "crash" into it. and physically remove the magnetic coating thus removing the data permanently. Since computers had so little RAM then, itwas a matter of seconds before everything went south. The most common cause of a crash was smoking in the computer room because the smoke would get into the drive and begin a buildup of a film of the smoke on the platter. The film would eventually get thick enough to cause a Bernoulli effect from the spinning drive being close enough to the head to cause a vacuum to suck the head down into contact.

But if congress allows the Bush tax cuts to expire he will take a big hit on Capital Gains if he Doesn't sell before the end of the year. Also, would the State income tax he helped quash be effective ion 2010 income? I'm guessing unlikely. His plan is much more oriented to Federal capital gains is my guess. And by the way, watch your portfolio in December because more than he will be looking to "diversify" which will lead to a big selloff. Which Pelosi will undoubtedlysay was because people are afraid of the Republicans being in congress again. You heard it here first!