Red Alert 3 isn't free. Red Alert, however is.
Excellent point. I'll just go back and edit my post...
Shit.
Don't think of just entertainment, choose games that will teach the children valuable life skills. For example:
Teach them to Rule the World: Freeciv
Teach them the value of running over hookers: GTA 1&2
Teach them the awesomeness of fighting robots: One Must Fall 2097
Teach them to conquer the world in a different way: C&C Red Alert 3
And finally, teach them to conquer the world of worms (you never know): Wormux
I've never had my own home phone service, and getting the internets isn't too much of a challenge. Here are your options:
DSL:
Both Verizon and ATT offer dry-loop DSL. This means you get a phone line that's exclusively for DSL, no home phone service. Dry loop service generally costs a bit more than traditional DSL, but you'll still save over paying for a phone line that you don't use. I think in my area Verizon's starts at around $25/mo and goes up from there.
FIBER:
Both Verizon FIOS and ATT U-Verse offer very fast internets over Fiber, without any mandatory phone service. Again, you'll probably pay a bit more for internet alone than you would in a with-phone bundle, but c'est la vie.
CABLE:
Just about every cable provider in the country offers high speed internet access. Mine's through Time Warner / Road Runner, and I can typically download things at around 1MB/sec along with low latency to close-by servers. I pay $45/mo for 15mbit service.
WIFI:
Check for a local WiFi-based ISP. Where I grew up in rural Washington, it wasn't a bad way to go. YMMV.
CELLULAR WIRELESS:
If you live in an area with 3G or EVDO coverage, you could get pretty decent access through a cellular provider. They all impose download caps, and the bandwidth isn't crazy, but you can't beat the flexibility.
SATELLITE INTERNET:
Hughesnet offers some fairly affordable satellite internet packages. There might be other providers, Google will tell you. But, be ware of less than spectacular bandwidth and very high latency. Say goodbye to online FPS gaming. If you're in the boonies, this might be your only option.
ROLL YOUR OWN:
Beg, borrow or steal wireless access from a neighbor, set up an internet sharing cooporative in your neighborhood, get a Pringles can and have a go at it. If you have the time and ability, the possibilities are endless.
Unlike every other Stephenson novel - this one has a real conclusion!
While I'm a big lover of Stephenson's work, I've felt like in his other novels the end is just hacked off without literary justification. This time, Stephenson provides us with a satisfying conclusion. It sort of blew my mind.
As to the rest of the novel, I enjoyed it overall. But I felt like Stephenson did fall prey to the trap of letting his characters discusses theoretics overmuch at the expense of some narrative.
Also, I'm not sure that forcing readers to learn so much invented vocabulary for the sake of his imaginary world was entirely worth it. Sure, there might not be a word in the English language that perfectly encapsulates the idea he was trying to communicate, but most writers are forced to overcome this obstacle every day, and do so without making up new words. It added a layer of complication to Anathem that was unnecessarily daunting.
So, read the book if you're already into Stephenson, you'll probably love it. But - as the review said - you'd be better off falling in love with the man's writing somewhere else.
Don't read Tolkien's less common stuff. By less common, I mean, haven't had a movie made out of it yet.
There's a reason that his popular stuff is popular, and his obscure stuff is obscure.
Tolkien found a good balance between the background paraphernalia that gave his world depth and narrative in The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. Much of his less popular stuff doesn't find that balance, which makes it fine for us more obsessive nerd types, and not much fun for the average reader.
Dude, have you ever hung out with a domesticated hamster? There's definitely some genetic defects going on there. They're $@#&'ed up.
Filed under: Transportation
Just over a year ago, we passed off a far-out proposal that would turn highways into wind farms. Now, however, the state of Oregon is proving that such feats are actually within reach as it breaks ground on the first so-called "solar highway" demonstration project. The project will be installed at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin, where it will cover around 8,000 square feet and produce 112,000 kilowatt hours per year. The total cost for the 104-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system is $1.3 million, and believe it or not, it should be completed and operational in December of this year.Memory fault - where am I?