It's certainly true that many games have dropped local split-screen coop, but then you have World of Keflings, which rightly adds local split-screen coop, something the original (A Kingdom of Keflings) should have had. So it's not all going the wrong direction. Racing games typically have split-screen, some better then others (I believe Blur has 4-player split screen, and of course Mario Kart Wii has 4-layer split-screen, as does Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing). So there's games out there that have it. What's missing from many of *those* though, is the ability to play online with multiple local players. Mario Kart Wii has it (albeit 2 players only). Thankfully Bomberman Live Battlefest (and it's previous version) has this feature in all it's glory, but most games do not. We ought to be getting the best of both worlds. Split-screen (or shared-screen) local players playing online together.

And we aren't even close to this spec. I think I measured it at 2.6 Mbps or some such number, downstream. Upstream doesn't even break 1 Mbps. However, it seems pretty fast to me. It is true that the Xbox 360 does some hiccuping with HD video streams (Netflix and ESPN 3), though, so perhaps that's part of the definition. I do want to get FiOS, but as far as just normal use of the internet, the DSL connection seems pretty fast, and it's $20 less per month. Thus the waffling on getting FiOS.

n/t

Of course they will say it's not going to happen until 2012. Why would they want to jeopardize any sales they might otherwise get this year and early next? If they announce that Wii 2 is coming in 2011, then fewer people will buy Wii 1 this year and early next. And any case, if sales are way off for Nintendo this holiday, you can bet they will fast track the Wii 2.

I can see value in an EV mini-SUV-ish thing, but I'd rather have an EV Corolla. Basic, light, low wind-resistance transportation. I just need something to get me to and from the train station and occasionally all the way to work and back. Anyway, I don't really envision being able to buy one until the prices come down. I presume this is going to be another $40k+ monstrosity. I hope it succeeds wildly, though, and helps drive prices way down.

However, she is on a Mac, so I *presume* she is safe, except for her credit card number, which she did enter in order to buy the software. I told her to cancel her credit card and she did that and they issued her a new one. It is correct that she has no worries from the downloaded software, right? These things are always Windows-only, right? Just want to make absolutely sure. Or is there some way for them to hack her account given that she provided a credit card, and probably address and such?

I presume that this vulnerability does not affect Preview on the Mac? Is that a correct assumption?

n/t

Well, yes I agree... except that for those of use who've gone and jailbroken their iphones... now we (or at least many of us) find it hard to live without the jailbreak. I wish Apple would be forced (I can't reasonably expect them to choose) to allow Cydia in the App Store. But... I'm not disagreeing with you, because I love my iPhone even without the jailbreak and I bought it with no expectation of jailbreaking it. I just love it now even more with the Jailbreak... and so I anxiously await the release of a Shatter-based jailbreak so I can upgrade to 4.1 finally. And, moreover, its unlikely I'd buy a new iOS device if I didn't know that it could be jailbroken. It does create a dilemma....

... the Pew Pew Research Center. Sorry.

"demand for legal digital downloads of PC games exceed sales of the physical object"

OR

"the majority of gamers prefer physical discs"

???

Apple's HTML Live Stream of the keynote was pretty impressive. There were some hiccups, but overall the performance was outstanding, as was the resolution and quality. Worked great on my iPhone and on my 1st gen MacBook I was able to watch the keynote at high resolution and quality without the fans going ballistic like they always do with Flash, even tiny videos drive the processor bonkers with Flash. The CPU stayed below 20%, often 15%, and this isn't a recent Mac. I was even browsing the web in another window and it was at 15% most of the time, never going above 20%. Stop thumping the proprietary Flash drum. Apple has always been one to drop dated technologies and pushed them to a deserved obsolescence more quickly. Flash is the same thing as the floppy drive.

I loved that game. Probably the best action puzzle game ever IMHO. It would have been nice to have save files instead of passwords, though.

It's not that Flash isn't still used or won't go away, it's that there is no end of things to do on my iPhone as it is. Every once in a while I run across a web site that requires flash. What do I do? I don't use it. Their loss much more so then mine. I'm not saying there aren't things out there I wish I could use on my iPhone, only that other things weigh more heavily for me, and in any case it just hasn't been a big deal. If it's some site I really want to access I'll send them a message and request that they make their site compatible with iOS and non-Flash. Sometimes they do that. Sometimes they don't. I'll live.

I can't believe this got posted on Slashdot, and am thrilled that it was. Such a great, great event. If you like pinball in the slightest, you need to head to Pittsburgh next year for PAPA 14. The tournament is the emphasis, but the PAPA facility is huge and filled wall to wall with one of the largest and most amazing collections of pinball machines in the world. Everything from "bingos" to the newest pinball machines. You don't need to play in the tournament to enjoy this event, though it's even better if you do play in it. Also you can pick up essential skills just by watching the top tier players, and this year there were 3 HD video cameras that made it possible to actually see them play. Hopefully next year more cameras will be put in place so that all the games can be watched, or perhaps just more HD cameras, with the facility able to switch which are shown on the big screens. That would make it possible to keep the action showing on the screens during the finals without needing to fork out for more TVs.