that I know of to run an organization with a purpose other than making money is to have it run, as much as possible, by non-professionals and user donations. Otherwise, the amount of bloat within the organization goes nuts and, of course, the money starts influencing the editorial process. Just look at the difference between traditional AA-like programs vs. the Catholic Church. How much of what a cardinal or whatever does is about helping people with their spiritual lives and how much is meta-crap about the organization itself? Whereas, in AA, all of that shit is kept to a bare minimum since there's very few people who are part of AA infrastructure professionally. And yet, there are millions of AA members in hundreds of countries.

By the time we have them, we won't really want them anymore. I live in New York City and, seeing the congestion on the roadways, would hate to have the air choked with cars as well. Especially given the likely size of the population by the time that flying cars would be practical.

As someone pointed out in the YouTube comments, and in the above reply, this doesn't really offer freedom in the 4th dimension, or even an accurate way of looking at the 4th dimension. It's analogous to two 2D mazes stacked on top of each other with the ability to jump between the two. The overall puzzle exists in the third dimension, but not in a "life-like" way.

Another problem with this type of representation of the 4th dimension is scale. If the 4th Dimension is time, and you want to move in the 4th Dimension to a point at which the object you're trying to circumvent, say a wall, doesn't exist, you have to go back to before it was made or forward to when it decays away. In a lot of places, any wall you're likely to encounter is older than you are which, you might suppose, would mean its size in the 4th dimension would be bigger than you. I suppose if a wall were new, you would be at one edge of it 4th dimensionally-speaking.

Anyway, I know that this game is just using the 4th dimension as a way of spicing up a puzzle game, for which I applaud them, but I would love to see a real mind-warper out there sometime. There used to be a 4D rubiks cube program, for instance that used to really tweak me out.

I am glad to hear a lawyer say that these buffoons should be smacked for this.

Their whole policy, requiring students to use only the school's computers, not allowing them to access or disable the webcams, makes no sense to me. It smells like someone trying to limit their liability, you know? Like trying they are terrified of what these students might do with these computers. Sex-picture viewing, president threatening, etc, but not in a rational risk-management way. It feels more like a witch-hunt.

Why is our culture ever more terrified of our teenagers?

As someone pointed out on another site, there are two big problems with the school's position:

1.) Just because they told the kids that they might activate the web cam to find it doesn't give them the right to do so. If the activity is illegal, telling someone you are going to do it beforehand doesn't make it legal. IANAL, but this one sounds pretty shaky.

2.)Even if they had the legitimate authority to use the web cam, once they realized that the laptop was in the hands of the right person, they would have been legally obliged to stop spying. Any information they gleaned from that spying would have been inadmissible in court.

From the posting at that link it looks like the school is on a serious freakout powertrip. Requiring the students to have one of these computers, requiring them to use them to the exclusion of all others and then spying on them periodically even if there was no report of the laptop being stolen.

The school board and school administration of that town should be burned to the ground with metaphorical salt sown in their professional fields.

Exactly. I don't see how publishers are the bad guy here. Everyone seems to think that every form of intellectual property should be free or what they perceive as low-cost regardless of the costs to produce it. That's why the music industry shrank by 2/3 in the wake of the MP3 "revolution." What people don't see is all the amazing music that they could be enjoying but there's no one to sign the band, record and promote them so they languish in their hometown and you never know they exist.

If it's too expensive, don't buy it. Just like any other product. I could buy $150 balsamic vinegar, but I don't think it's worth it even though it is tasty.

As far as the textbook industry is concerned, I know a thing or two about it's inner workings and, let me tell you, there is a big difference between a free textbook and a $80-$130. There are a lot of people working behind the scenes to make sure that it's useful to you, well written, up-to-date and error-free.

I say this knowing that it would really make a great film(s) if they re-worked the characters and plots of at least the Final Programme. I have seen the original '70's version and, while it has it's upsides, it could really be done much better today.

It's got sex, drugs, humor, rock and roll, time-travel, hermaphroditic super-beings...you name it!

That's why I say the drugs should be enough. And IANAD, but nitrous really isn't dangerous in a medical setting when compared to the other options in the pharmacopia.

...why do they need the video game? Once it kicks in you could amputate at the knee and recieve only chuckles in response.

Yerba Mate is my favorite caffeine delivery vehicle as well. I've used the gourd/bombilla method, but when I'm working, 10 or so teaspoons in a tea pot, strained over ice with a little mint in the mix to cut the squedgy herb flavors gets me through. It's the best alternative to straight up pharmacuetical amphetamines I've found! Also, in New York City, you can get 3 kilos of the stuff for $6 US --- Value!

Glad to see there's another Slashdotter out there who appreciates it,too!

....it made them stay at work late into the night last night freaking out and running around. It also made my Inbox swell with useless warnings about how to surf the net safelyl

Actually, while one's raw processing speed (fluid intelligence) begins to decline in one's 20's, what's called crystalized intelligence continues to grow. That is, one's overall store of knowledge and ability to use that knowledge peaks in one's 60's.

That means while someone may not be able to figure out the solution to a problem as fast as they age, they may not need to because they remember the solution from the last time it, or something similar happened.

I'm in psychology, not IT, so I don't know which would be more valuable.