They do. It's called sales tax, and the neat thing about it is that it applies not only to Apple products, but to everyone equally. Cool, huh?

I mean, what the hell? I don't even have any Apple products aside from my old iPod, but your logic ("hurrrrr let's tax people who prefer a particular brand more than others!") is ridiculous.

But then they wouldn't get the smug satisfaction of pointless America-bashing.

As if this problem isn't bad enough already. I absolutely hate going down the highway seeing billboards with misspellings. It just looks so...stupid. It's amazing how technology was supposed to make us better, smarter, faster... doesn't it seem like in some ways it's making us (well, the average population) weaker, lazier, and dumber?

It boggles the mind, honestly. I just cannot imagine being so shallow and.. ridiculous.

Of course--but usually you get what you pay for, so the nicer atmosphere and better food is going to be a little more expensive. Despite what some people seem to think these days, you can't get something for nothing, or every perk you want without ponying up for it. Things cost money, service requires a paycheck for the employee, and quality in either of these areas requires more money than a cheaper, lesser alternative.

Imagine how many edits could be done to Wikipedia articles surrounding details of a widely publicised case, too. Anything with that much potential for bias is a bad idea.

And in other news, 640K ought to be enough for anybody.

The cost of living is fairly low here as well, but I think we probably pay more for electricity than you do. I'm moving to a town in northern AL and am not looking forward to how much more expensive things seem to be so far.

Yikes! I'm in the south as well, but not as far down as you are. I have been to the Pensacola area, so I know how humid it gets down there, but I had no idea how high the bills could get in summer. That's astonishing. I'm in the northwest of South Carolina at the moment (moving again this weekend) and my bill in the summer tops out at maybe $90. I'm glad you posted this, as I move around a lot... this information is helpful, albeit surprising. And scary! (LOL)

So very true. I happen to be one of the lucky few who are both right- and left-brained--logical, structured, but also creative and sometimes emotional. I've gotten some odd looks for explaining that I feel like programming is just like any other type of artistic expression--I can paint, draw, write poems, or write code. It is using a medium to create something bigger than the sum of its parts, and IMHO code can be both functional and pleasing to the eye or mind.

Thank you for this post.

In short, casual gaming means more and different people may be playing, but it shouldn't override, dilute, or replace the hardcore games. They should be able to co-exist, side by side, appealing to different audiences.

(And I have a confession to make--I love a good FPS, RPG, or racing game as much as the next guy {well, girl}, but I love me some Angry Birds. Addictive!)

Yeah, I hear ya. It sounds like you are being more responsible than a lot of people, for sure. I'm one of those weird people who didn't really have sex until I got married, and now that I'm newly divorced, I'm not sure how I plan to approach it. It *is* dangerous these days. I don't know if I agree with your last sentence though... just like it's irresponsible (or inconsiderate at the least) to kiss or even just be in closer-than-necessary proximity to someone if you have the flu or whatever, it's your responsibility to keep others from catching what you have. If it's a curable STI, you get it good and taken care of before you even think about having sex again, and if it's not curable... that sucks, but it's the risk you took when you engaged in those activities, you know? The fact that some things stay dormant/symptomless for a while is pretty frightening, and you're right--some people are selfish and shortsighted enough to lie. I guess the free-love, sexual-revolution thing has its downsides.

Well, gee. He's got HIV... I should let him go down on me, but only if he doesn't brush his teeth. Oh, wait, no. I guess this is where things like being responsible about sex comes in, but that's a pretty unpopular stance...

Yeah, myself, if you must know.