I have an R-103 and it is about ... 6 years old now. Been hiking with it in Hawaii, honeymoon in Jamaica and countless other places and is in perfect shape. The bag itself is pretty light for the padding and construction. What I travel/keep in there most of the time. Canon Rebel XT (yes it is old but invested in my lenses), battery grip, 17-85f4, 50mm 1.4, 70-200 f4 IS, 580ex flash, plus spare batteries. All that is just in the inside compartment. There is still the oustide and inside zipper compartment. I tend to use those for my iPod, phone and small point and shoot. With everything in there it is tight, but manageable. I usually will take some things out of the bag if I am taking somewhere where I know I won't need that equipment. Laptop - I don't use it much but when I do I have a Powerbook 12" I put in there. I just have many CF cards. I have found the key is don't bring stuff you won't use, and if you do leave some in the hotel room and travel light. For example I didn't need my 70-200 IS on a nature hike so I locked it in the safe.

I have about 50 GB (yes GB) of photos. My solution isn't elegant, but it has saved my ass. 1) DL pictures to my primary HD (I do not delete from camera) 2) When I get a chance I backup to a second internal HD 3) Then after that I backup the secondary HD to an external HD 4) Then I will wipe the memory card in the camera A few times a year I burn the whole collection off to DVD's and store them away. I would like to have a permanent off-site backup at some point. I imagine it will be another HD in my work PC and dump stuff there.

Excellent analogy!

Exactly. But most people I know who play "casual" stuff will only do so under party atmospheres and otherwise they "hate" video games. I think that is a more common attitude especially amongst 30-something women.

The younger crowd is a little more open.

I am a gamer. I'd fall into the casual category. Problem is simply that I have a life that doesn't permit me to play more than 5-10 hours a week. And that is if I am lucky. I want and can handle complex games. Anything less and I will not be satisfied.

Now the people that are playing "casual" games would much prefer watching TV over gaming. Those people will never be able to be converted to a more involved type of game.

Look at all the people that play Farmville. My wife even got into it and she HATES video games. And after a short time she bailed on it. Why? because she doesn't want to invest time into a useless endeavor.

Give her something more complex that might not be a "waste of time" and she gets frustrated because she wants a zero learning curve. Zero learning curve tends to mean something less then advanced. It's an evil little circle that might be impossible to overcome.

The untapped market will more likely than not remain untapped.

One of the modules of the ISS is hardened against just this type of event. All of the modules have radiation protection, but this class of flare exceeds the safety limits of the those modules.

Think of it as a storm cellar in space.