I am boggled at everyone suggesting stuff that was already old when I was a kid. There's plenty of modern SF themed stuff. I guess there is more fantasy and more for older kids, but what about something like Colfer's Artemis Fowl? Would you count something from a modern extended universe, like Pokemon books or Star Wars? (I am not sure what you're kid's reading level is at, but there are Star Wars for pretty much any reading level.) Or maybe gateway stuff like comics, or books about comic characters? Does Iron Man count as SF?

Yeah, I enjoy it although by now I'm mostly only reading to my younger two kids (12 and 6). I read to the older two until long after they could read themselves.

The last one has apparently just been finished (in first draft, anyway.)

My sister quite outdid herself in that respect, getting "Karaoke Kid" for my daughter, a large Teddy Bear that sings. Very loudly. And has an attached microphone so that my daughter could sing loudly along with it. Needless to say, it had no volume control.

It was "lost" pretty quickly.

There's still some DHMO in grain alcohol -- you never get 100%. Try drinking some vegetable oil if you want to reduce your DHMO consumption.

I know -- I'd totally want a job where I got to shoot people in the head, but that whole holding my arm at an angle thing was a deal-breaker.

Yeah, but Robert Bloch said it first.

Somebody mod this guy up.

There is no way that a) Downey is going to agree to doing an ensemble picture as a bit player after headlining 2+ Iron Man movies, or b) That the studio is going to spring for the big money it would take to hire him, just for an ensemble role in a risky new franchise.

Yeah, if Downey wouldn't play Stark in The Hulk, then why would he do it in The Avengers?

I actually first tried Earl Grey because of ST: TNG. But I drink it lukewarm, because I'm different and edgy like that.

Whuffie, isn't it?

The OP has a degree in physics, I don't think there's much if any math in programming that's going to require, say, tensor calculus. (Well, other than programming in fields where they use that kind of thing, like image analysis.)

We did that too in our house (~9 years old). In Canada if that makes a difference.

We went from the RC to actual Windows 7 a week or so ago and the same thing happened. The laptop is also overheating a lot more than it had been. I think MS owes me a new laptop. Maybe two. It is about a year and a half old but it's had about the same battery life, maybe a slight decrease but nothing like the huge drop after we "upgraded" -- we usually have it plugged in though.