...is pretty much what those of us that build our own systems do anytime we upgrade components (RAM/CPU/MB) or experience unexplained errors. It's similar to running the Prime95 torture tests overnight, which also checks calculations in memory against known data sets for expected values.

Good stuff for those that don't already have a knack for QA.

Good point about DLPs being much more "user-serviceable" than current flat-screens. I think the bulb replacement part on my 61" Samsung is down to about $35 now and takes about 5 minutes.

Yeah, as long as you can sit directly in front, they do work pretty great. Had one for years. Too big to haul away, so I sold it with the house when I moved.

Too big to haul away? My 60" DLP was 90 lbs and and about 15" deep at the deepest point. One guy could lift it by himself, although it was a lot less awkward with two.

The average dining room table, love seat, recliner, dresser... is far more difficult to move.

Same here. Even the 83" my parents have isn't a big deal for two people.

As for viewing angles? They were fine; you could sit anywhere in the room and see it just fine. The only bad viewing angle was if you were too high looking at a substantial downward angle which would only be a problem if you sat on a baby's high-chair 2 feet away from it.

Agreed. So far, I have better luck with good off-axis viewing on my DLPs than any LCD I've seen yet. Then again, I didn't buy sucky DLPs. ;)

But its nice to actually be able to see what you are eating and drinking in a Sports Pub these days without them having to dim the lights just so that people can see the rear projections screens mounted like a sword of Damocles over the bar.

For sure, the thin/flat superbright plasmas and LCD/LED screens are far better suited to that mounting arrangement.

Not to mention that most of the DLPs were using bulbs way past their service life and lenses that had been in a smoke-filled bar their entire lives. (Ever seen a lung? Yeah, lenses are worse.) There are some bars up here that have old LCDs and they're worse even than the old DLPs.

Here is your chance to practice what you preach
Pay for your lifestyle

What the hell do you think we did before people got all up in our junk with taxes to support the inner-city welfare state? Here's a hint: counties didn't have road-grade equipment until recently, let alone right-of-way zones. We managed to make it through the industrial revolution with limited support from Washington and lower taxes; funny we can't live without 'em today, isn't it?

Also, guess what? Our fire department (what there is of it) doesn't see a dime from county, state or federal taxes: it's all volunteer. We also don't see a dime of federal money for sewage, water, etc. So, tell me again what my taxes are paying for?

My best friend has a Taurus SHO. He's had to update his SYNC system twice: once for a map/GPS update and once to update the firmware so it supported some additional Bluetooth profiles. Neither time did he have to do anything with this "fuse" you speak of.

-1: Missing the Obvious

Disregarding anything else, do you deny the much increased difficulty of overturning legislation once passed? Even if the current form of this is full of caveats, it's still getting the discussion going in the right direction.

Also, when calling one's idea stupid, you should make sure people know your arms are crossed and you're sticking your tongue out in a fit of pique.

You don't think they've come up with delayed launch mechanisms so they can vacate the area hours or days in advance?

Eradicated? To whom, exactly, do you attribute the claim of eradicating any of those? I'm interested to hear where you were going with this.

Frankly, I'll take the current internet with all its warts and diseases over some centralized, walled-garden approach that will STILL suffer from the same things, just in a different mechanic. The bottom line is how you decide what to trust in any system.

I'd submit that the problem isn't that the internet is the Wild Wild West, it's that it is the Wild Wild West without any sheriffs or cowboys. No, I'm not talking about regulation of the internet; I'm talking about people who break laws (fraud, theft, etc.) being found and prosecuted regardless of what tool (postal system, telephones or internet) they used to do it.

My friends and family have pretty much all been avid gamers since the Atari days. What in the 7th level of hell does that have to do with anything other than gaming?

While I wouldn't vote for a Democrat on general principle, I fail to see how her playing WoW is a detriment. I'd go further and suggest that it gives her a feel for how normal people tend to use the internet and means she's probably more in touch than the average government denizen.

She figured out how to launch Firefox, go to favorites and pick her Disney princess flash game and play it, then when she was done she would close Firefox and shut down the PC. I'm not sure why this sort of hyperbole masquerading as "fact-finding" rates a slashdot post as it would appear young kids have been using Windows operating systems for years. Probably just like they've been figuring out how to use Mac OS for years. Probably just like they figure out how to unlock Mom's Android/iPhone and call random people or play games on it. Probably just like they figured out how to turn on Dad's TI calculator and delete his stored functions for this week's exams.

Nothing to see here but FUD from the other direction.

The list when I 'downgraded' from FF (actually, Palemoon 15.2):

BBComposer
Download Statusbar
Fireform
Flashblock
Greasemonkey
IE View Lite
iMacros
ImageBlock
Memory Restart
TabMix Plus

A couple of these have other variants that will work around but several of those are dealbreakers.

The world is a big, mean, scary place full of ill-intentioned people who will take advantage of the uneducated and the less-vigilant.

s/people/governments/ig

Question: do you think it is easier to defend yourself against hateful onslaught by ill-intentioned individuals or against governments that will take away your life, liberty and property just because you aren't toeing the party line? Follow-up: what do you suppose are some of the best ways to defend against tyranny? /popcorn

It's all tied together. Society's rejection of morality and ethics leads to this. Atheism leads to this. The culture of consent and contraception, leads to this.

Since when has religion had much to do with morality? It's about peer influence.

You do realize that pointing out a fallacy of generalization (atheists are amoral) by committing another fallacy of generalization (theists are amoral) doesn't really help the point you're trying to make, right? Try simply pointing out holes in others' arguments and leave it at that. When you ascribe general motivations to individuals you obviously do not know or understand based on the vision others like you present in the media/intertubes, you end up exhibiting the weak-minded, peer-influenced, dogmatic thinking[sic] you seem to be complaining about in others.

I'd suspect your counter-argument of being psychological projection but that would just be *cough* ad hominem *cough* as I don't know you or what values you hold dear. *hint*

Been a sprint customer since the late 90s. Started with a Palm Pre, upgraded to an EVO 4G (WiMax) and am now on a Galaxy S3 LTE.

The WiMax coverage for the EVO was primarily in the larger areas as people have said but I knew that before I bought the damned phone; I'd have felt silly buying a "high speed data" phone without researching whether the product was designed to work in my area. ;) WiMax, where it was available, was always very fast and connections were reliable enough that I never noticed anything untoward.

My S3 has much more limited coverage (which I knew) but is even faster in-zone. I primarily use 3G but I'll admit to not being the type that uses my phone as an entertainment console, so the occasional surfing I do to look things up while shopping or browsing weather radar or news while out and about works like a champ so far.

So far, I can't complain about Sprint. I haven't had any trouble with them jacking my rates or failing to grandfather in the All Everything All The Time plan I've had since 2002 or so. Based on my experience, I suspect this is mostly due to being both cognizant of realistic expectations for coverage and vigilant about letting the sales reps not screw up my paperwork.