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... how do we know it was called Rodinia? Who left records?

Language probably developed gradually over tens of thousands of years. The first words were probably danger warnings, then maybe things related to day to day survival such as words for various foodstuffs. I would not be surprised to find out that Homo Erectus had rudimentary language. Even today various animals have calls that correspond to danger signs, and primates such as chimps seem to be able to communicate fairly well without what we would call acutal language. Communication predates humanity, so it's only natural that apes with big brains (us) would take it to the next level and begin to transmit abstract information using vocalizations.

do it. check this out. It's semi-relevant and too cool. http://www.livescience.com/animals/prairie_dogs_041206.html

You know, when they post another story about the incredible discoveries in solar power that seem to never actually make it to those of us who would be interested if it was cheaper and more efficient..... Show me a company that is already selling this stuff and then I'll be interested.

Just read a great book about China's 'discovery' of the America around 1421 and they were able to get their junks around Greenland, a feat not otherwise possible, but it was warm that year.

Just think how much they've progressed, now they can get their junks all the way to Walmart!

Toam writes "The Rudd government plans to require every ISP in Australia to provide a filtered internet service. Some have reported that users will have to opt-in to receive the filtered service, while others have reported that those who do not wish to have their service filtered will be required to opt-out. The Australian government already offers free, downloadable internet filters for home use."
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/15937/1095/

XboxOZ360 writes "The Next Gen Wars . . . are Gamers still Loyalist
A very interesting take on the so-called Console Wars, with an interesting look at how the Wii is figuring in this . . . Makes for some excellent reading, and well worth the time to view . . . A little humourous and yet quite enlightening at the same time. Here's a small snippet:

"This little piggy went to the market (okay, perhaps too early judging by the RROD problems), this little piggy stayed Home (Playstation Home has indeed stayed home, delayed despite being in the works since early 2005), this little piggy had roast beef (tones of quality titles to play), this little piggy had none (well not many anyway....), and his little piggy went Wii Wii Wii all the way home....."

Ah the good ol' console wars. I remember the ancient battles between the Sega fans and the Nintendo fans. Then the Sony fans versus the Nintendo fans (the Sega side had of course withdrawn from the war after the ill-fated Dreamcast). Then the Xbox, Sony, and Nintendo conflict, (with some PC loyalists thrown in for good measure) which still rages today, in the great Next-Gen War. "
http://xboxoz360.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/wii-wii-wii-all-the-way-home/

Reportedly angered by the One Laptop Per Child project's demand that it curtail work on its Classmate PC and other cheap laptops, Intel has canceled plans for an Intel-based OLPC laptop and resigned from the nonprofit's board. Intel's screw-the-children-of-the-world's-poor hissy fit comes less than six months after the chipmaker giant earned kudos for agreeing to contribute funding and join the board of OLPC. It's the latest blow to the OLPC, whose CTO quit three days ago to launch a for-profit company to commercialize her OLPC inventions.

StefanJ writes "Oh, for cripes sake:

(CNN) — Americans may need passports to board domestic flights or to picnic in a national park next year if they live in one of the states defying the federal Real ID Act.

If George Orwell were alive today, he'd be banging on the lid of his coffin and screaming "Ahhh! Let me out!""
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/16/real.id/index.html