If you are on a Virgin Galactic space ship and look out a window and see a giant piece of ice... you are not in space.

I once used Network Solutions for my domain business but after a snafu on their part where I lost a domain for a couple years, switched to directnic.com. I pay the extra US$5 for Direct Privacy, which does all those things Network Solutions scam, er real email says it does. I don't understand why people are paying so much for a simple domain name every year either.

Amazingly enough, a friend and I were talking about very odd weather in our areas just last week. He lives in Reno and I am about three or four hours north of him, in Oregon. Back in the summer of 2003, I had seen four mid-air plasma balls during a huge thunderstorm. I had even spoken to a meteorologist friend who worked for ABC Medford (Oregon) after the storm passed by, who told me I had seen a very rare event. I only wish I had video.

What had happened was a bunch of thunderstorms had merged in to a super-cell and according to radar, was moving north and would pass through the valley I live in. As I was home anyway, decided to go upstairs to view the approaching storm. My home sits up a bit higher than the rest of town so I get a good view of storms coming up the valley.

As the storm arrived, the late afternoon light went to pitch black night. Lightning, thunder, lots of rain, wind, typical thunderstorm. But then I saw a ball appear in mid-air, maybe eight blocks south of me. It floated there for I have no idea how long, seconds. I did see colors on it of white, yellow, blue. Then it exploded with a huge noise. It sounded like a bomb, not a lightning crack, and it shook the house.

I have seen a lot of goofy storms over the years but never a ball of lightning in mid-air that exploded. Over the next few hours, saw three more balls, though much farther south, all of which exploded. After the storm was over, I called the friend who worked for ABC News and found out just what I had seen.

It is a bit easier to figure out which Windows operating system to use:
If your computer has a touch screen, use 8.x
If it has a regular screen, use Win 7.

If the software you just bought says "Windows 98 or better"
install Linux.
:)

Have someone outside of your 22 home complex provide wireless. The integrated wireless antenna and router are tiny in price and size, but can get you the broadband you need.

Your policies suck, seriously. In the past ten years, you have killed endangered species under the guise of "whale research," NUKED the Pacific Rim's oceans, air, and land, something people here in the Pacific Northwest should be very nervous about, and now we find out you are killing intelligent species because it is "tradition." Isn't time you rethink everything?

Americans have a collective amnesia when it comes to the weather. Actually, world-wide that amnesia is present, how else can you explain one hundred year floods happening every other year.. People seem to block out that the weather in their location is stranger today than it was ten years ago. Where I live is far warmer, in January, than it should be. For example, yesterday had a high temp of 60.3F at 4:20pm but started out at 22.1F. Ten years ago, we were ass-deep in snow and lucky if the temp was above 0F.

If you live in a city, it is possible to "ditch the car." However, some of us live in rural areas and still need a vehicle, especially when a larger town is 100 miles away, one way. Although, if fuel prices rise and the economy continues its stall, I see a future of co-operative shopping happening soon.

A couple of years ago, I sat in on a few interviews for a non-profit and was stunned on the type of questions asked. It was very odd to hear questions about things not even remotely related to the actual job. I was under the impression you interviewed people interested in a certain job to see if they knew what they were doing, at least vocally. The person they eventually hired "worked smarter, not harder" so I guess it met their expectations because nothing got done.

When I moved in 1993, my crystal ball disappeared.. Guess Amazon found it.

If China was behind the BIOS plot, aren't most all of the motherboards and their BIOS chips made in China anyway?

If a computer is "bricked" because the BIOS is faulty, have people forgotten that in the old days we could physically remove the BIOS and replace it with another. Looking at a new PC motherboard, BIOS chips are no longer replaceable. Maybe it is time American companies made the BIOS chips in America and made it so we can once again replace as needed.

"The organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has proposed destroying at least 1000 tones of the confiscated Syrian chemical weapon stockpile out at sea, which some fear will destroy delicate eco systems vital to sea and human life alike. The OPCW claims the plan is 'technically feasible' ..."

Oookay, am sure it is "feasible" but if you have made a mistake, 'sorry you just killed everyone in the region.' Drop the mess in a volcano along with the Syrian brainiacs who thought chemical weapons were a good idea.

I can't believe I just read this post..

Don't dogs have to be on leads when outside in an apartment complex? I'd think putting up cams for areas hardest hit by 'Fido' the elephant pooper would be easier and cheaper.

Metallica started to sound like itself after the "Master of Puppets" album.. Iron Maiden has always had a unique sound.

Amusingly enough, I played my "Powerslave" tape (saw the concert in person in 1985) when workers were at my home in 2000, many thought it was great music and wanted to know who this new band was.

I suspect something like this is happening a lot, new ears rediscovering groups of the past who are still around and making excellent music.

I find that the comment of the OP, "OCZ's notoriously unreliable drives", not even true for me. I have a number of new and older OCZ SSD's in my computers and none of them have failed or had any error whatsoever.