CD and 32x were addons, not separate systems in their own right.

Honestly given that the Sega CD and 32X could be used in conjunction with each other, they should have released the Saturn as a standalone Sega 32X CD system.

Dreamcast had some issues that were hard to overcome that weren't just marketing related.

1. The proprietary "GD-ROM" disc format. 1GB of storage space which was a fraction of what PS2 had with DVD's. It also didn't let people play DVD movies at a time when DVD movie players were still expensive.

2. Incredibly easy piracy. Most of the games targeted for GD-ROM's were capable of fitting on a regular CD, and people figured out how to make easily burnable pirated games without even needing a modchip.

#2 was a fluke, but #1 was just a bad decision in general. I honestly think if Dreamcast had shipped with a DVD drive Sega would still be making hardware.

No, actually there's not. If you commit a crime you are guilty of it - regardless of if someone paid you to do it or not.

"Just doing what you're hired to do" is no defense if what you were hired to do is illegal.

Was about to say the same. In most parts of the US (I think it's a state-level thing) you need 2 years of a foreign language to enter college. At the college I went to you had to take another 2 semesters of foreign language if you were are liberal arts major. Math/science majors didn't have to take anything over what they had in high school.

I took 3 years of French in high school (didn't do anymore in college) because it was the only foreign language my high school offerred (which is a bit insane - Spanish IMHO should be the required language these days with others optional). I got to where I could carry on a conversation in French - albeit a basic one.

Problem is in the US you're not exposed to that language in a natural setting - pretty much ever. ~15 years later now I still remember a decent amount of French words but all the grammar and structure is almost completely gone.

At this point I'm thinking I may go to the local technical school and take some Spanish classes actually. My love of taco stands has me exposed to that a decent amount. On my own I've gotten to where I can count, place an order, etc in Spanish, but occasionally someone who speaks only Spanish will hear that little bit and try to spark up a conversation and I'm left unable to understand or communicate.

Probably because I'm not installing hot tubs and the like.

My home costs less than renting. Like everything I shopped around. I paid $115k on my house as a foreclosure in a neighborhood where most of the houses are $150-160k. Rent is typically $1100-1200 per month though my house payment is $700. The "bursting" of the housing bubble may have been bad for some but it was a great time to BUY a house.

There are certainly some upkeep costs associated with owning the home, but they don't come anywhere near that difference between buying and rent (but then again I worked in construction as a teenager and am pretty handy. Most basic stuff I can handle myself). In say, 5 to 10 years, if I wanted to move, as a renter I'd just be leaving the home with nothing. As a home owner, even though I wouldn't have the entire house paid off, I still would have a decent part of it out of the way and that is my staked interest in selling. If I still owe $80k but can sell the house for $140k then I've made a lot of money.

And that's IF I even sell it - ever. I have no desire to leave the area. In 20 years while the insurance and tax escrow portion of my payment may go up, the actual principal/interest part that I'm paying will still be the same - it doesn't scale with inflation. A very old mortgage payment is an even bigger savings over rent. After 30 years if I'm still here that payment goes away completely.

Financially, I home out FAR ahead as a home owner. Yes making payments depends on having a job, but realistically I have to make payments SOMEWHERE or I'm homeless. Homeless vs homeless with a bad credit rating doesn't make that much difference to me.

How often is that really happening? In the last two years I've been without internet or power at my residence for a combined time of 4-5 hours. I certainly am not so attached to digital media that I can't survive that long without it.

Nope. Netflix only.

I'm guessing you're younger. I was there once too - perpetually broke and willing to tolerate anything to save $10.

A lot of people aren't there anymore. The cost for these services is trivial, and far worth saving the hassle of downloading stuff for sketchy websites that may or may not even be accurately labeled. Plus you get well maintained clients or professional devices. XBMC on a Raspberry Pi might work OK, but its a lot more hassle and far less polished than Netflix's app on Roku/FireTV/etc.

Eventually there comes a point when the hassle of piracy outweighs the monetary cost of just going the legitimate route.

Sorry, but none of this stuff is "renting" anything - you don't pay for a specific show on Netflix or the like. You pay a flat rate for "all you can eat" content. I have no qualms with DRM applied to such content because I'm not buying it.

If you go to a chinese buffet you don't get to take extra plates home for dinner (not without paying for them anyways). Same concept.

Frankly, the "unlimited" access model works very well for me. It's far easier to budget for (non-variable monthly cost) and I can watch as much or as little as I want without having to worry about racking up a bill.

I'm pretty open to trying out their service if it's good - but not if it means having to buy an Apple TV. Netflix, HBO Go, etc, seem to have the right idea: offer the service and build the client for just about anything with an internet connection.

I typically use an Amazon FireTV downstairs and my PS4 in my bedroom to run my other video services. I have no interest in replacing them.

Yes. Ads are tacky and fucking atrocious. If something is free, - meh, I can put up with them. However, if I'm paying for a service I absolutely WILL NOT tolerate them. Put ads on there and they can keep whatever they're peddling.

And no, I don't subscribe to newspapers are magazines either. Heck most of the "articles" in that archaic medium have just become disguised ads anyways.

Actually, no, I had no idea what they meant until I got down into the comments. I assumed that craters were actually popping and was reading the summary trying to figure out if they were just observing some recurring natural phenomenon or if (far less likely) the probe itself was disrupting something on the surface.

"You know what I meant" is a terrible excuse because half the time it's simply not true.

School aged vaccinations for this type of stuff are generally available for free (there's usually a local government-run "Health Department" that will administer them).

Basically all the mandatory vaccinations are that way. The yearly flu-shot isn't completely free, though almost all insurances cover it if you elect to take it. At work they'll bring a nurse in for a day or two and you can just stop in and get one if you'd like.

I do have to concur with this. Every "non-stick" pan I've ever seen - if its used regularly - has flecks and pieces missing from the non-stick part. Those have to go somewhere. Hopefully the sink or dishwasher during cleaning, but you know some of it is making its way into your food.

I will admit I do have some of them because frankly, when I bought my house I couldn't afford to outfit myself with an entire pantry full of quality cookware, but as I "upgrade" my stuff, I pretty much buy ONLY stainless steel. Any stainless steel pots/pans of decent quality will last a lifetime. You get 3 or 4 $50-75 pieces per year for a few years and before long you're set forever.

I think part of it depends on family size too.

I cook a decent amount. I actually enjoy it, however I've found that when I buy ingredients for a meal I'm looking at either eating the same thing for several days in a row or throwing out enough of it that it would have been cheaper for me to go out for dinner (ie, buying a whole bag of hamburger buns and then using one and throwing the rest out isn't very cost effective).

For more complex recipes I still enjoy the process but it's not uncommon to go to the store with a list of stuff I need to get for one meal and the total come up to $30 or more. Sure I've got enough to make a meal that would feed a half-dozen people, but half the stuff will go bad before I'll need to use it again.

Just from the financial aspect (not the health), it's far less convincing for a single person to cook unless they truly like it or they want to do it for the health benefits.