Thats pretty good guide I'd just add that there are some quality budget scopes out there. Celestron firstscope ($100) and the Galileoscope($20 though this excludes the tripod)

That said if I were buying for a young astronomer I'd get them binoculars. Because a) there compact and generate little bedroom clutter and b) they can be used for Terrestrial observation ;-)

Nice to know, but still relatively insignificant (as was cdrguru’s claim). The key is, they profit from them. How then is it significantly different from the White Pages’ business model? It isn’t. In any case, it’s absurd to blame the search engine for content when all it’s done is categorize and index said content. If they’re made aware of fraudulent pages, then sure, they can de-list them, but if they’re not aware of them yet then there’s nothing they can do about them.

Yes, true liberation was in WWII, but that's a foregone conclusion which I hope I wouldn't have to point out. People seem to forget about WWI a lot though. However, given the fact that Germany had lost no territory and fewer men than the allies, i think that our assistance in WWI went slightly beyond mere reinforcements.

I'd love to know what protein folding does besides make money for drug companies. I know that protein folding is both extremely complex and important, but is the subject being researched or data-mined?

> They added value by making the damned thing in the first place, you fucking imbecile.

No they didn't. They made something that they think will enhance their own control over the experience.

They didn't sell what the customer actually wanted. They sold something that the customer might actually settle for, or not.

... and they can't get the software registration key because the site is down!

Actually, if you read the rest of my posts, you would see that I specified the "Preview My Profile" tool to someone else who asked. My main proficiency is networking, and rescuing people's computers from their owner's actions and lack of planning. Being up on the latest quirk in social networking has nothing to do with my hardware/software/coding/radio protocol abilities. As a matter of fact, I spend so much time fixing other people's stuff some of my own problems are collecting dust in the office. Facebook is a small diversion for a busy geek. Part of the point of my original post is the fact that I should not have to spend a week trying to undo and reset what a "play" site has done.

Nice riff on Princess Bride.

"My UID is prime... is yours?"

Erm, yes, I think it is. Thanks for asking!

But isn't universal healthcare supposed to be about not dying at all? If everyone contributes a certain percentage of their income to a nationwide pool, with the intention of helping people in dire need regardless of their ability to pay, then no one has to suffer, even if they would otherwise be unable to choose the better insurance plan.

Whether or not that's at all difficult depends on the network in question. You could just about carve the data into stone tablets with a hammer and a chisel at the speed my cable modem delivers it, but when I'm moving files between machines on the LAN (Gig-E), it's a very different story.