agreed

I can't believe I had to scroll this far down to find this comment. It's the first thing that popped into my head.

I like how that rolls off the tongue. And it's fitting. BOA as in the constrictor and LI as in it's a lie... It works!

Hmm... I was going to dispute the surcharge bit. But, apparently you're right. I swear I just looked that up within the last year and it was still prohibited. They only allowed a discount for cash transactions (which is why so many gas stations have a different price for cash). But, I see something has happened and at least Visa now allows surcharges in the US, Australia and New Zealand. I'm curious about what forced their hand on that one.

Not really. There is nothing really said in that speech that tells people not to do stupid things like inflating their vest at the wrong time. The point is that, suing the FAA for not requiring people to listen is pretty silly, as well. The large majority of those that aren't going to listen have already heard many times over. Those that have never flown and don't listen probably aren't bright enough to not do stupid things.

You're ignoring the fact that a two minute talk isn't going to change the fact that people are going to panic and ignore all rationality when things go bad...

There are already a number of waterproof phones on the market. Google brings up several hits. Here's one that is made for filming under water...
http://www.sonymobile.com/us/p...

I fail to see how we're "very close to a large percentage" being able to do this. Sounds plausible on the surface. But I still see a huge amount of infrastructure that needs to be put in place. It's not like it's good enough to just have a power outlet somewhere in the building that you can use. Number one, a parking garage would basically need a receptacle at every parking space. Along with a system for charging the person recharging their vehicle. Energy is not free.

That being said, are these difficult obstacles to overcome? No. But it's still a lot of infrastructure somebody needs to invest in before it becomes a plausible solution.

Doesn't that then lead to a bad situation for kinect users? If you design a game that relies on that overhead, then those that don't have it will have a poor experience. Granted, you can probably just disconnect the kinect and be just fine. Be all know what the general masses will do. Complain.

In what world is negotiating a better price illegal?

How has nobody pointed out yet that DRM stands for Digital Rights Management? Or did I just woosh it?

Plesae stop calling it "super storm". It was unusual for that area. That is all. It was no where near has large a storm as have been seen in other places.

Of the three things I have plugged in via USB right now, two of them have the USB logo facing away from me. So, it's not surprising that most people don't know this...

Your experience does not correlate with my experience.

The wikipedia page on containment buildings has this blurb.

In 1988, Sandia National Laboratories conducted a test of slamming a jet fighter into a large concrete block at 481 miles per hour (775 km/h).[14][15] The airplane left only a 2.5-inch-deep (64 mm) gouge in the concrete. Although the block was not constructed like a containment building missile shield, it was not anchored, etc., the results were considered indicative. A subsequent study by EPRI, the Electric Power Research Institute, concluded that commercial airliners did not pose a danger.[16]

While not a direct proof of design criteria, it seems to line up with the original statement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containment_building