I'll pick up where you left off, if one finds them self in the unfortunate position of losing in a criminal case--sentencing.

If you have the of option of probation, and can opt for jail time, and unless you're rich, always opt for the jail time and here is why.

The city I live in tries to get everyone on probation instead of in our jail, for two reasons--we live next to the US/Canada border and our jail is usually full, and probation makes money for the county coffers rather then spending it, as is the case with incarceration.

I pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after making a deal--$200 fine and a two years probation. Sounds pretty doable, right? Right. What they didn't tell me was that the probation cost me $80/month, PLUS there was attached "Anger Management" classes, open-ended for the entire two years, with as many as 3 meetings a week at $65 a pop, at the discretion of the guy making the money. This is potentially $22200 that I could have ended up paying, all said and done. FUCK THAT.

After two months, I intentionally violated my probation. I got chewed out by a Judge. Then I did it again. This time he revoked the probation, gave me the original 30 days in jail of which I did 20 days (ALWAYS check the jail roster online and try turn yourself in when the jail is full!). I only paid the first two probation "installments" and telling the guy at the anger management place to fuck off was the first probation violation, so no additional costs incurred by that asshole.

And no, I do not have anger issues, but I can only be pushed around so far.

"Not to sound harsh...."

Larry, you need to log in.

"LibreOffice comes pre-packed in most Linux distributions. If you want OpenOffice you have to download it from Apache."

And the rest of the world--read Microsoft users--have to download it. That would explain the numbers right there.

"...Are you for real? Is your next argument going to be "why don't copyright holders make their music uncopyable?"

Why not? It's been done before.

I'll give you an example that many in this crowd will recognize--the maps included with TSR Dungeons and Dragons modules. You know the maps of which I speak--the ones printed on the back of the module cover in light blue ink. That light blue ink was used to make it exceedingly difficult to copy (and thus print) the maps using standard Xerox copier technology. There was nothing illegal about this. You could still trace out a copy by hand and use it, TSR still made money, Xerox didn't get sued, and most importantly, the TSR module maps didn't go around replacing everyone's hand-traced copies with "Genuine TSR Dungeons and Dragons Module Maps" suddenly subjecting the traced copies to the whimsical notion of ownership on the part of TSR.

If you drew the map, it was yours. If you grow the seed, it is yours. Pretty simple, really.

"... Any biologists out there?"

Nope. They've all specialized.

"You could probably have a 48-hour battery life if you wanted to wrap the sides and back of your head with batteries. Go for it."

I guess this would be a good time to bring up the fact that batteries often fail explosively. I'm thinking the "battery pack helmet" would be similar to the packing around a plutonium core, only there is no packing on the face, so...well, I think you get the idea. Could get messy.

The sanctions are exactly what are imperiling that complex--nobody can import computers there because of the sanctions. Pretty hard to keep up without computers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/world/asia/north-korean-sites-are-down-in-possible-cyberattacks.html?hp&_r=0

My guess is that they are trying to pressure a change in specific language (the ban on exporting computers to NK), so that they can actually compete. It seems slave wages are not enough.

There are tradeoffs to everything.

I, personally, chose to speak with my money and my conscience, with a bit of common sense added in. This means a few things...

1) Never give my money to someone that doesn't deserve it.
2) Never get in a line of people when the guy with a badge at the head of the line can legally stick his finger up my ass.
3) Never do business with anyone that has been given the benefit of the doubt and squandered it.
4) I'm not going to get everything I want.

Served me well so far, and nobody is pissing in my Karma pool, including me. I sleep well.

Could have been....

One aspect of the possibility of life on Mars that is rarely discussed is the fact that there are still a couple of other characteristics of Mars in it's current state that preclude life, as we know it--a lack of a strong magnetic field and the permanent sequestration of CO2 in the ground.

Mars is dead. The core of Mars has long since cooled, leaving it with a much thicker solid mantle then Earth currently has. It may have similar "ingredients" to Earth, but those ingredients on Mars have stopped flowing--much of the magnetic field on Earth is a result of not only the ferrous content, but the motion of that content within the Earth, motion that can only occur in non-solids.

Why is this important? Without a swirling interior, you have a much weaker magnetic field protecting the planet from solar radiation, radiation that is harmful to life. Another more important aspect is the effect of a magnetic field in terms of solar pressure (the same pressure that propels a "solar sail") on the atmosphere of Mars. Here on Earth, our magnetic field counters that pressure from solar winds and literally keeps our atmosphere from "blowing" away. There are other things that keeps our atmosphere around (ha!), like gravity, but protection from solar pressure is important--the solar pressure exerted on Mars is greater then the countering effect generated by Mars' magnetic field.

There is nothing to keep Mars' atmosphere from blowing away.

http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/papers/mars_mag/

All of that being said, any CO2 released from the ground--CO2 that would create a greenhouse effect--doesn't stay in the atmosphere. The idea of Terra-forming Mars wouldn't work--we could bring the entire atmosphere of Earth along with us to Mars and it would simply blow away into space.

But, Tardigrades have survived in space a very long time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrades

"I'll get my Porn from North Korea."

Ok, maybe not.

"As for TFA this is another trend I've noticed from the militant feminists..."

Fuck 'em.

I'll get my Porn from North Korea.

"Seriously, the Oceana launch that happened today is having exactly the same problems..."

That is because this is NOT about DRM--this is about killing the Used PC Game market. The server connection is to verify first-install. After that, the game will not work on any other machine (or be whittled down to Demo functionality). That being said, all EA PC games will have this "feature" from this time forward as they and every other major game developer/publisher are all involved in a major assault on First Sale doctrine.

Corporate Gaming is dying...don't throw it a life-preserver by purchasing their bullshit. There are a TON of Emulators and Kickstart projects out there--give THOSE folks your money.

"How about just a flash drive with a capacitive finger print reader..."

How about we look at the history of fingerprint bio-locks on storage devices...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/136439/article.html

As you can see, Sony has, in the past, made the fingerprint scanner a security vulnerability by combining it with another security function that was not so secure. Unless the touchpad on the device under discussion can be manipulated with a stylus, it too can have a similar vulnerability and may actually be used to harvest fingerprints.

Lest we become hypocrites...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory

"So ... Hugh Pickens wants everyone to be unemployed?"

Who the fuck is Hugh Pickens anyway?

Clicking his name in the article (as well as the one you just linked) brings you to...

http://researchandideas.com/index.php?title=An_Independent_Evaluation_of_Phillips_66,_its_Business_Strategy,_and_Execution#How_Much_Money_Does_the_Marland_Refinery_in_Ponca_City_Earn_for_Phillips_66.3F

What the fuck? Is Hugh Pickens really just Dice?