This is good advice, and gives me an opportunity to speak to the community at large: some of us who go to cons and are in a position to shake tons of hands politely decline. It's not because we're being dicks, it's because we know it's a good way to substantially decrease our chances of catching and spreading any germs.

I played the PAX Pandemic game, where the Enforcers handed out stickers to attendees that read [Carrier] [Infected] or [Immune] (There was also a [Patient Zero].

I got the [Immune] sticker, and by the time I got home on Monday, it was clear that I had the flu. I've had a fever between 100 and 104 all week that finally broke last night, but I'm going to the doctor today because I think whatever I had settled into my lungs. I'll tell him about the H1N1 outbreak and get tested if he wants to run the test, but at this point I think it's safe to assume that I was [Immune] to the Pig Plague, but definitely [Infected] with the damn PAX pox.

Even though it's been a week of misery, it was entirely worth it, and I don't regret going to PAX for a single second.

The problem with most of those "close this frame" or "view only main frame" or whatever links/buttons tend to just go to whatever the frame was originally. This doesn't work if you've navigated away from the original page. It also will be painful if there's a half-filled out form on the page.

What we need is the ability to remove frames without reloading the page.

Also, Firefox has a "view this frame only" option in the context menu (right click), this is usually better than the site-provided buttons since it stays on the same page if you've browsed around (though it still reloads the page).

I haven't RTFA, but I think they're talking about trace amounts already existing in the water supply, not additives. Though it does sound like something someone might do as a result of hearing about this study.

That's where lithium comes in. Life will still suck, but you won't notice because you're a mindless drone with no memory.

Insects are easier to kill than dinosaurs. Or, so I assume as I've never actually tried to kill a dinosaur by smacking it with a newspaper.

Dewd, ur carma jst run ovr mai dawgma.

I know you're joking, but just ask Woody, he knows what to be scared of.

Myan calendar needs a new digit in 2012, not 2018.

Hey now, Dr. Who was reversing polarity years before Star Trek! Besides Jon Pertwee pronounced it better, also his ship was a small box made of wood.

Oh, obviously there is a ton of physics laws they bent and broke. But you also have to look at it from the point of view of someone in 1987-1994 not someone in 2009.

Besides, they TRIED to make it more scientific. That alone skews it drastically towards sci-fi.

I am curious as to why you're implying space elevators are impossible.

A space elevator at ground level is most likely impossible with current technology, and would certainly be unfeasible (the center would have to be very large in order to keep the whole thing together). A space elevator that can be reached by standard aircraft, however, might just be possible, and with stronger material a ground level one might be as well.

Why would you say Star Trek is fantasy?

Cell phones are a reality that did not exist when TOS aired, yet they imagined mobile, hand-held communication devices. Is that fantasy?

There are far more examples in TNG, especially when it comes to physics ideas. The fact that it explored how and why, or at the very least attempted to explain it makes it Science Fiction to me.

Star Wars, on the other hand, is about as far from Science Fiction as The Lord of The Rings.

Only on slashdot would such a post be modded insightful. Not that I disagree.