Don't get me wrong, playing with your friends while in the same room is INSANELY FUN. Seriously they are a lot more fun than Internet+VOP can ever be.

But LAN parties aren't my thing anymore unless we all have gaming-worthy laptops

Carry in your tower + monitor + box of stuff (keyboard, mouse, cables, etc.). Which can be a real pain depending on where you friend lives: in an apartment, where you have to park 100 meters away and then take the stairs. Sometimes make multiple trips.

By the time you bring in YOUR stuff and wire it up... a fair amount of time has gone past. Then you have to factor in doing all of that in reverse when you want to leave.

And if you're HOSTING then it's still a hassle: clean out an area large enough, setup a router nearby, find enough tables and chairs, clean up afterwards, etc.

Again: all laptops is easier. Just a backpack, power brick, and mouse. But I don't spend that much on my laptops.

Ah sorry.

I actually hear people say stuff like that often though... and MEAN it.

Like 720p isn't HD. Or 1080i is the REAL HD.

So when I hear it, I just cringe.

Except 720p was always defined as HD.

Initially, you had two choices: 720progressive or 1080interlaced. They both required more-or-less the same bandwidth to run. 1080p is more of a Jonny-come-lately.

Many preferred 720p for some shows where the progressive scan adding an important benefit: mostly fast-moving scenes (sports, action, etc). Others preferred interlaced for shows that didn't need the fine detail in motion.

Eventually, years later, 1080p became a thing but for a while some TVs didn't even support it. And heck, cable-TV only recently started supported in limited amounts.

This is one of the many reasons why I won't be an adopter, or at least an early adopter.

If I have to babysit the car second-to-second, then there's little point in having the car.

And I won't trust the car to not malfunction and kill me or someone else, so chances are I will be monitoring it. Maybe the car companies / Google / whoever will say "trust me, you can sleep in the back seat" but I'll have a hard time accepting that for at least another 15 years.

And lastly... I trust myself as a driver (never had an accident). To ME, my skills are a known commodity. And if I mess up, then I messed up and can own up to it. If my car messes up and I wasn't babysitting it enough or some birds**t landed on a camera, then if I'm liable then that sucks. I can accept that I made a mistake and pay the consequences easier than something I own made a mistake and now I have to pay for its consequences.

We had a relative from Europe complain about our lack of signage. He lives in Austria but he travels all over.

In any case, he was under the impression that our highways and roads would have way way more signs stating how to get to the various cities. Like that exit 26 would help you get to towns W / X / Y/ Z. Or that every-other intersection in town would say would list 6 nearby towns and distance/direction.

We tried to tell him that at least in our state, the most you would see is the city that a freeway exit dumps you... or maybe the nearby 1-2 bordering towns at a local intersection. And that he should look up where he's going on a map first... instead of just assuming he can rely on signs to get to Maplewood or Bernardsville.

He thought we were being silly... unfortunately after getting lost on his own he realized we were right. And then went on to rant and complain about how stupid it was.

I've been to a couple of cities in Europe often, but I've only used mass transit so I never really paid attention to these many many signs he speaks of. But I imagine they're there.

I see people flip out when:

- Plane is running late
- Their train hits a snag: trouble on the rails, power issue, etc.
- Their bus hits traffic
- Their ferry is running late

Plane rage is the worst... but people (in the US) keep their cool inside the plane because they don't want to get sky-marshalled or put on a no-fly list. Then again I've never been in a "wait on the runway for 5 hours in the hot summer" situation.

The train rage is the next strongest of the three... though nowhere near as bad as on the road. And even if it was THAT bad, we don't have to worry about their anger making them screw up and accidentally kill a bunch of people with their metal battering ram.

The other two are minimal.

I speed, but not highly so. ~5mph on the roads, and usually only ~10mph in the right or middle lane. I DO get annoyed when the person in front of me is going UNDER the speed limit... especially after I watch them pass a couple of limit signs that they either ignored or didn't notice.

Beyond the obvious (spilling gravel out a truck, cutting me off) the only other thing that bothers me is people that don't pay attention at green-arrow signals. They tend to only stay green for 5-10 seconds and a person sometimes doesn't it appeared notice until it turns amber already.

Probably a troll, but I'll bite.

Here in the states, driving isn't a right... it's a privilege. I imagine this phrase is popular in the UK as well.

If you want to drive then you have to follow their rules and demands... else get fined or imprisoned for breaking the rules and risking the safety of others.

This means being properly licensed, having a car that has been inspected and approved for use on the roads, and following they various rules and regulations.

Agreed. People are going to freak out about that car in front of them following the rules 100%

Humans play it fast and loose... we either gamble or assume from experience that a cop won't pull us over on this particular stretch of road for going 5MpH over the speed limit but the WILL on that stretch or at that time of day.

But... some cops / towns WILL pull you over for just going 1MpH over the speed limit. It's rare, but it happens.

So the car will have to be built to follow the rules exactly: speed limit, stop on yellow, full multi-second stop at a stop sign, etc. Otherwise if the owners are getting tickets, they will be angry. And the community will yell at CompanyX for unsafe cars.

And the people are going to freak out because they actually had to stop or go the speed limit. Honestly, the complaints might be loud enough to screw up the project.

I'm a big guy too.. and I agree with most of what you're saying. I don't consider my situation as I'm disabled. I don't think anyone should ever get a better parking space because they're too big or whatever.

That being said... being fired BECAUSE you're overweight is pretty bad. It's one thing if your job requires something physical and thus the obesity prevents you from doing your job (fireman, EMT, cop, etc.)... but if you're fired from a desk job or mistreated at work due to being fat then that's crossing a line IMHO.

It's illegal (in the states) for an employer to fire or harass an employee due to a number of attributes: gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability. But it's still kosher for an employer fire someone or harass them BECAUSE they're obese. And as a result, it happens.

I'm NOT saying a person should be protected from firing in GENERAL because they're obese, but I've heard of people who've been fired and/or mistreated BECAUSE they're obese from jobs where physical fitness isn't an issue or requirement. Often from ex-athletes that are disgusted by the obese; which is fine on a personal level but not if it lets them fire someone.

But, that's just my opinion.

You don't want that.

I'm not a Microsoft hater... I'm one of the few that think Win 8.1 is alright. But I *now* am not the biggest fan of the Microsoft "MyFordTouch" on my Ford Edge.

The Navigation system is nice, I wouldn't trade that in for the world.

But outside of GPS the Microsoft MFT system is buggy and crashes, and they failed to deliver on a heavily-advertised feature for MFT. It crashes about once-per-month, during which time while driving I lose a lot of climate-control / GPS / entertainment functionality.

The failed feature was: connecting to iOS apps. They were supposed to let the MFT connect to a handful of iOS apps like Pandora and such. They couldn't get it working.

They DID get it working on the regular Ford Sync... which lacked the large touch-screen monitor. So great... people with the cheaper system got the advanced feature while those with the more expensive system were told to "go screw."

Meanwhile they were advertising how the MFT would do this that and the other thing... and failed to deliver.

Umm, my current 2011 Ford has this. Heck my older 2006 GM car had this.

On my 2011 Ford I have like 4 buttons next to both thumbs on my steering wheel. Pressing one with my right thumb will repeat the next step in the directions, with the updated distance. Including stating the street name.

On my 2006 GM, there was a button on the dash easily reachable, without needing to look at the dash, that did the same thing. Except the "dictionary" on that car wasn't as great so it wouldn't say the names of all roads outside of the obvious / easy ones like exit numbers, Main st, or other simple words.

Meanwhile, as I said, the mini next-step instructions are on my speedometer on my Ford. Arrow (left/right) street name / x miles.

I may have issues with my Ford, but I think they got it right in terms of Navigation. I have little-to-no reason to have to look at my media center. Everything is done by voice (including asking for an address) and the next-step-direction-guide is on my speedometer where I have to glance on occasion anyway.

The only improvement I can think of is a really small projection on the windshield saying "Turn right in 0.7 miles onto Main st"

All voice controlled, so I don't have to even try typing while driving (if I were so inclined). Click my tumb-button on the steering wheel and say "Destination Address" and then state the address when prompted.

The system's voice prompts me on where to turn, and when. Including the street names and exit number.

And instead of having to look too far down at my media player (which I COULD), instead there is a mini direction-reminder on my speedometer. Just saying the name of the next turn's street, distance, and a left-arrow / right-arrow / etc. Since I tend to have to glance down at that every couple of minutes anyway it's no big deal.

No fuss, no typing, no looking too far away from the windshield.

Did they change it already?

As of 11:56AM New York time (16-June) it is saying "Google Fiber Is Officially Making Its Way To Portland" and lacks the apostrophe.

Therefore, at least as of now, it is using the correct form of its. Without the apostrophe it means the possessive, with the apostrophe it means "it is"

So did they take the apostrophe out?
Or are you making an incredible blunder?

Agreed, Hulu was just a for-instance. The big issue is whatever comes "next"

This is going to be a major roadblock for any new streaming idea / service coming through... if they want access they have to pay the toll.

I guess it depends on your employer. The current tax programs will let you type in some serial number from your W2 and it will connect to some repository and download all of the W2 fields so all you have to do is eyeball the results when they're done to make sure it looks right. But I guess your employer has to opt into said service.

Personally I like the way some of the apps (like TurboTax) phrase the descriptions when asking about deductions. My living situation seems to change every 2 years so every year or so I have to see if [A] affects me or not... and they offer plenty of help to let you know whether you are affected by something or not.

Dependent -> renter -> home owner -> etc.