I don't drive, however my mum drives a Prius.

With only the electric motor going, it's really surprisingly quite, to the point that she often surprises people in parking lots (where she is likely to just use the electric due to low speeds). It's something she independently noticed and commented on long before there started to be this public complaint about it (to my knowledge).

Obviously, the law should have something that clearly defines what is and is not permissible/required for electric cars. They shouldn't be louder than a properly operating normal car. They shouldn't operate on any ridiculous frequency. And their noise should be steady, regular, and unobtrusive (you know, like the noises made by a car under normal circumstances). I mean, we have noise pollution laws as we don't want to end up like other nations where the horn basically consists of a "Hello, I'm here" instead of "LOOK OUT!".

That all said, how about a wonderfully juvenile fart machine, with the 'intensity' of said flatulence sound being linked to the speed of the car?

Because the teaching of science, when done well, teaches students how to think, and to question the world around them. If that isn't enough, some people think that exposing children to different fields lets them discover their interests/calling at an early age. On top of those 2, I honestly can't think of any famous inventors/scientists that were drawn to the field by money, most were drawn to it because they were, you know, interested in it. Sure money is great and all, but if you don't actually like what you are doing, there isn't much of a chance of really excelling.

Your idea sounds more along the lines of "Send everyone to vocational school, people will naturally bubble up due to drive for money."

Lots of them now have the bigger redbox machines with two or three disc units hooked to the selection one.
This.

I don't think it was Netflix that killed BB, I think it was Redbox. The draw of a brick and mortar video store (to me) is that you go there, pick out a movie, and watch it that night. Netflix is that you set up a giant honking list of stuff you want to see at some point. Sure, with Netflix's, and others, streaming services you can get a similar effect at home. That I suspect there will be a place for Redbox, and regular video stores, for some time, probably until we actually have saturated, reliable, and appropriate bandwidth (Enough to properly stream a movie at the current HD level, whatever that is at the time).

It isn't youtube people are calling abuse on, it's the company issuing the DMCA take down...

stick a bang stick on to the reverse of one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_stick

I am so confused over this.

First up, Racksapce is a host, not an ISP. There are millions of web hosting companies out there, and a good number of them are known specifically for being ok with hosting anything you want. If rackspace says "nope, we disagree with your statements enough that we refuse to do business with you" it is THEM expressing their freedom of speech, not suppressing the church's.

If you wrote, say, a book on evolution, and I used force (as rackspace did) to prevent you from doing this, surely you'd agree I'm suppressing your free speech. The same is going on here.
No, your analogy doesn't work. A better analogy would be the church posting signs on one of those bulletin boards that some bars have for upcoming events and the bar taking it down as they don't think that it is appropriate and thus expressing their right to free speech by not broadcasting the church's message.

An argument could be made if an ISP starting blocking them, as they are subsidized by the government, and often there is no real choice in ISPs for many people. If their ISP drops them I would take issue with it. However, Rockspace isn't an ISP, they are a web host. There are options for web hosts, they aren't granted near monopoly status.

Hell, doesn't Google let you post just about anything, that doesn't break the law, on Blogger? (I honestly don't know, but I seem to remember that being the case)

No, they don't. The scammers don't 'fix' anything, they just take the money. They might give them an 'anti-virus software' (read, more malicious software), but they aren't going to remove their damn malicious software just because you gave them $80.

Even if they did, extortion is illegal, and thus a perfectly viable charge reversal.

Sorry, but your apparent argument of "people are dumb and should pay for getting scammed" doesn't really float. Basically the entire point of charge reversals is to deal with scammers.

hehehe

I'm not sure how it works in the US but here in Europe those idiots would probably have a pro-gay net effect, because most people would recognize how ridiculously stupid the Westboro nuts are.

It wouldn't work in the UK, as he (and potentially anyone from his church) are denied entrance :D

I kinda wish the US could do this to him.

I would say this was true a few years ago, and still true for a portion of the gaming population, however I wouldn't even say it's true for the majority any more.

There ARE non-AAA titles, and people do look at them differently. Indie developers are growing in popularity, and are viewed differently than the AAA games. There are also casual and those games you find on XBL Arcade, the PS3 store, etc. They might not be casual, or really indie, but they aren't AAA games, and people do view them differently.

I can say this for my self, and I assume there are others like me:
I have a price point for video games where I view them differently. For me it's $20. If a game is $20 (or less) I will likely pick it up if it interests me. I don't necessarily need a demo, nor do I hem and haw over buying it, I don't shop around for deals, etc etc. If I enjoy the game I'm happy, if I get a good number of hours out of it I'm really happy. If I don't like it and drop it in a week, I'm a little put out, but nothing big.

Anything over that $20 price point I have a much stricter limitation on. I have to try the game before I buy it. I have to see good reviews, especially from friends who I have similar tastes too. I will wait for it to drop in price, or go on sale, or whatever. This is all because I know that if I DON'T get a lot of play value out of it, specifically replay value, I'm going to regret the purchase a lot. I do hold AAA games up to a higher standard than I do indie/'cheap' games.

Oh, and don't forget that the casual games players are a (if I remember NPD's nubmers) majority of 'video game players' currently. These players are very specifically only looking for bejewled and it's cousins.

Right, because the current internet generation doesn't find it cool to be racist, sexist, or offensive in any way they possibly can. We will not see Juan Rodriguez post a long, and insightful analysis of warlock DPS only to have about 50 replies using the term "dirty mexian"?

I think the Real ID thing is dumb. I think their justification for tying it to the forums is ridiculous.

I have used the Logitech TrackMan, and then the Logitech TrackMan Wheel for years now. It's the only decently priced thumb trackball I have come across, it lasts a few years each time (eventually the buttons wear out). It, like all thumb trackballs, caps out at 2 buttons and a wheel (so 5 possible binds), the only thing that makes me want a mouse every so often is the possibility of more buttons for my right hand.

Oh, and the wired option of course as its more reliable, cheaper, and why does it matter if you have a wire on a STATIONARY OBJECT? (I know, I know, it makes a less cluttered desktop/setup/whatever)

"Fair. Only trackball I ever used had the buttons operated by the thumb, and the ball on top to be moved by the fingers. Odd that both large body mice were made by Logitech, though. The one I have is "ergonomic" (for a righty, anyway) too. Quite pleasant to use."

This is why you don't like trackballs for gaming.

I have yet to run into a gamer who uses one of those 'ergonomic' center-ball ones.

"Each to their own. You're obviously not a PC gamer, or if you are a very casual one."

Sorry, but a thumb based trackball is just as good as, if not better than, most mice.

For me it comes down to a few things:

1) The fact that you can get greater precision with your thumb than yo can with your wrist/arm.

2) You never run out of movement space. Sure, with a high sensitivity you will not often have to pick up your mouse and move it, but it does happen.

I set my sensitivity such that I can do a 180 turn in either direction with out lifting my thumb. This is a fairly low sensitivity, which means I have (for me) rather fine control when I want it, however I can also do big movements when needed.

The one thing that keeps tempting me to get a regular mouse is more buttons, and what I really want is a speedpad type thing instead Something that gives me movement keys + lots of extra buttons for my left hand). The one I liked was the steelseries Fang, however it isn't being made anymore...

I give up.

What exactly IS a cable?

"State Department cables"
Are these memos? Orders? Operating procedures? What?

Probably, I just always think of my dad with Swimmers Shoulder, but I assume that if you aren't pushing your self doing laps it probably isn't an issue.