There was a theatre in Texas that bans the use of cell phones during the show completely. Even goes so far as to eject without refund and offending patrons. They made a wonderful ad from a caller who left a message complaining after she was ejected for using her cell phone "as a flashlight' since it was so dark". The simple fact that she was terribly drunk made it so hilarious.

See references:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jun/07/cinema-filmgoer-thrown-out-texting-alamo/
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/movie-theater-kicks-customer-texting-195400/

In this age of decreasing levels of common decency, and manners in public places, (theaters being nearly the antithesis of private) people still feel they have a false sense of entitlement to do rude things without consequences.

Not play down that someone DIED here, but that level of offense is going to get more common as the texters drain what enjoyment might be left in going for a Big Screen Experience.

I still remember when they first banned cigarettes in theaters, and how terribly offended people were on both sides of the ban.

Maybe, I'm just getting Old and Cranky... Good thing I'm Canadian, and guns are nowhere near as available to us up here.

Wearable tech makes it even more hazardous to be in public, let alone drive. We've already seen backlash from things like people not being served if they're talking on the phone at a counter. The rudeness (or perceived rudeness) of constantly using, or even looking at devices while interacting with live people (dates and meetings are prime examples) are already eating away at feelings of well-being and self confidence. If wearable tech "takes off" people will become much less personable, and such interpersonal relations in business (even Dating) will become a lot less effective...

If you want a project to fail (as some in opposition to Obama certainly do), you pad a simple, decent idea with enough B.S. to make it collapse under its own weight, and then blame the source.

I call it "Bureaucratic Sabotage". Agree to allow something to happen, and then Bury it in B.S. and layer on the Pork-Barrel extras to make sure it fails miserably, while claiming to be co-operative, all the while knowing what the results will be...

Bottom line is: Good Luck on getting any decent idea through "Government" without it getting totally Buggered (and otherwise mutated) from its' original form and function.

Seriously, though. My fellow workers and I refer to most folks walking by, obliviously texting away as "Pod-People". Many of them with ear buds (or even huge, bulky headphones) to emphasize their wanting not to hear you. People aren't truly in tune with proper social behavior with cell phones/smart phones and constant (albeit intermittent) communications now. If a device (any device) makes it even more of an attention hog than it has already become, then people are going to start walking into traffic (even more than they already do). Many people today are already texting people they are physically standing beside as a method of "whispering" things clandestinely, no matter how rude it really is. People are already getting fully absorbed in their smart phones to the point of not knowing how to hold a coherent conversation over a meal. All this will simply be compounded with the more pervasive devices. It's only a matter of time before Google Glass becomes outright illegal to use while driving. It's bad enough that people think that having their smart phone in their lap while driving is acceptable and considered safe, despite being illegal in many places. What is it going to take before people start taking serious offense at others' smart device use in public places? Not serving people while they are on their phone is a decent start. After all, how rude is it to be expecting someone else to give you proper attention to serve you, and you can't even be bothered to pay enough attention to get the amount of you bill right? Little wonder why many employers have effectively banned smart phone use while at work, particularly in the service and hospitality industry. How far will it go? Extremism exists, and will manifest itself on both sides of this topic. Mark my works: It Will Get Ugly!

When I buy a system, I want to be able to play any games I purchased whenever I want. At home. At the cottage (where I do not have any form of internet). At friends' houses. In the RV while traveling. I also have the right to continue playing them if my box has an accident, or needs to be replaced. It would be nice if I could upgrade to a better version of the box without having to jump through hoops just to keep playing my same old games. Maybe, I might even pick up a copy of last years' hot game, and play it for myself, now that I can score it for a discount at a trade-in shop. Because that's what I want to do with my money and time, I see absolutely no reason whatsoever to waste either on such a system. And no, I do not have anything associated with Steam. I like to play a lot of off-line games, as I have limited (or nonexistent) internet access. That, and I'm not able to even come close to competing (let alone surviving) the 15 year old twitch gamers, hyped up on Red-Bull. If this is the future of gaming, I guess I'll stay in the Stone Age, with my off-line games, playing them with friends over my LAN.

Ultimately, the question I pose is this: Is this fertilizer going to be worth all the trouble to make, distribute, use and clean up after? Another series of questions I have is; What kind of affect does this new product have on the nutrient value(s) of the crop it's used on? Are there any potential Health Hazards? Is it Toxic, or produce toxic effects, directly in the food, or indirectly, in the soil it's used on? After the side effects of genetically engineering Corn and Wheat and the now rampant intolerance to these two products, what is next? Maybe it's time to just get away from fossil fuels, like we've been pushing for for such a long time. After all, there seems to be a lot of uses for them in the bomb-making field, anyway. Determined terrorists will always find Something they can use to cause mayhem. I'm surprised there aren't better ways to 'sniff out' fertilizer-and-fuel based bombs already.

In the reference above, the quote:
    'Extensive research has already been conducted and found no connection between media and real-life violence.'
is almost as bad as saying:
    "There is no direct link to fast food restaurants available food choices and obesity"

OK, maybe a bit extreme, but if these shooters are practicing and building tactics in spreadsheets and FPS and plotting out tactics, weapons and scoresheets, maybe it's time to have a serious look at them.

I am surprised that nobody has (yet) found a mock-up of any of the target schools made with one of the myriad game editors and level construction tools. Maybe then someone might finally see a more direct connection. Since there is an underground culture built around FPS, there stands to reason there is a database somewhere of potential or past target environments, and "Sample Models" or areas to choose from. . . They might even make for good tactical analysis tools for defending such places, and serving as training tools for professionals in dealing with such an attack.

Sounds almost like a good game foundation:
"Save the local Mall-plex from a handful of Crazed Shooters, while minimizing casualties and property damage! Get high score! Bag more crazies than your buddies! Best score for Least Ammo Expended, Least Property Damage and Most Innocents Saved! Bonus Points if you save the example with a write-up for local authorities to use in the event of a Real Incident!"

Politically Incorrect? Definitely. If it's used to save lives, does that change anything? What happens if (when) it gets into the "wrong hands", though?

I still have a few user-made maps for Unreal Tournament. The Castle of Laputa is one of the more extensive ones, but surely plotting out a local university campus or massive mall-plex is not impossible.

Since the whole thing seems to revolve around the following:

"passed a nonbinding proposal to allow states to collect sales tax on Internet sellers that have no presence within their borders..."

Just how do they plan on collecting this from anyone 'Outside their borders'?

If they actually figure this out, someone in some foreign country will start using this against Americans (or any other country) to start some form of Internet-based Sanctions.

This is only going to make it all that much more muddied for anyone making online purchases.

First, my Ebay purchases. Next, my e-mail, tweets and SMS from out-of-country sources.
Digital 'stamps' anyone?

Seriously! If we can't even Match what we have if it's lost, what good is any other enhancement?

Everything else is already available with external hardware. Give me back my lost Eye (due to a mini-stroke within, and resultant nerve damage) and we'll talk.

At least by drivers.
There are so many places that such distractions are downright Deadly.
Rude is simply not even thought of anymore.

Looks like another classic game is going to suffer the effects of Greed, and be made into a money-grubbing, online-only, don't-even-think-about-playing-it-offline-by-yourself game.

Surely, I am not the only one out here to want games that I can play when there is no access to WiFi or any form of internet. Decent, engaging, immersive, single-player game play that does not require an account online somewhere, or constant call-home-to-mommy-for-permission-to-play crap.

Maybe I just want to play something to keep myself entertained while in the "boonies" or out of touch with the world?

Perhaps I don't want anyone else constantly monitoring my feeble progress through their killer levels with my n00b skillz while others snicker at my attempts, or spawn-camp me to rage-quitting something I've spent en exorbitant amount of money on in the first place.

Sorry for the rant. I just can't seem to part with my hard-earned cash so that I can be someone else s' target-practice.

Am I truly that alone out here?

Anyone who has seen the Actual working conditions at the Big 3 automotive manufacturers knows what it's like there. Employees coming to work late, drinking on the job and sleeping it off in some remote location, or taking three or four hours lunches to play euchre on the clock. Using five workers to do the work of two, and much more slowly, as they need 'stretch the job out' or they'll have nuthin' ta do fer the rest o' th' day...

At least the French don't deny it.

True, however, that the rest of the basic labour force has been reduced to little more than slave labour conditions for minimum wage that no 'self respecting' American would do, resulting in foreign workers coming into the country en masse to conditions that are far superior to what they were experiencing 'back home'.

Maybe it's time kids were taught the meaning of decent work for decent pay, and showed an interest in working at the many Manual Jobs out there that the immigrant workers are taking over. They are leaving themselves out in the cold for jobs that are over staffed, over trained (or poorly trained for), since they all want a sweet, tech based job that pays excessively well, for little effort, and are unwilling to get their hands dirty doing anything that takes real physical effort.

MCSE? There's at least a dozen each three months churned out at the community college. Ever wonder why, in any given college town there are computer shops popping up like pimple on teenagers, then blowing away after a few months?

Nobody seems willing to work at the local warehouse system but migrants. Nobody wants to subject themselves to those 'slave labour conditions' here.
Just ask them what is was like back home for a real Wake Up Call on expectations from the working class!

It certainly goes both ways. Employers pay peanuts, they get unskilled monkeys, then bitch about the quality of the work...

Now this!
In the lower capacity drives, it wasn't so painfully obvious that we all lost so much space to the flawed 1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte conversion rate as sold. Now, as such capacity losses are becoming a whole lot more obvious, space being eaten up by the OS and (in many cases) needed, pre-installed apps is growing ever more disconcerting.

As a collective community, we really need to stand up and tell the assorted gadget makers that we're simply not going to take it any more!

What kind of space losses are people going to accept when the Petabyte drives finally make it to market? How bloated are the next generation of OS and productivity programs going to be? What is considered "Acceptable Use" in OS and bloatware storage reduction?

Where is the proverbial Line in the Sand?

All this analytics could be easily rendered useless by a small device that simply churns out about a dozen or so MAC addresses, and broadcasts them in a short-range burst fashion. Something about the size of a disposable lighter, or easily kept on a key chain. Now, when you go into a store, it looks (to the analytic software) like a dozen people came in, looked at the same stuff as you, and left. Take that, you software-probe-wielding . . . people!
If it were to cycle through the addresses, turning some on and off at random intervals, you could easily obfuscate the pool you're using, making it even more difficult to pick your actual MAC address out! Turn off your own WiFi, and you're just polluted the pool enough to make for a really nightmarish situation that should discourage people from trying such a futile effort.

Now, make them available to highschoolers/mall-rats inexpensively as some sort of fad fashion accessory that can be clipped to their belt, and traded easily.

Ok, now I'm being silly. They'd have to make it Hello Kitty or Pokémon to make it really work, and that would be . . . Brilliant?

I'd like my cut if anyone ever makes these! Heh heh heh heh...