Agree.. it looks like a well done HDR final.

If the only tool you have is a hammer [gun], everything starts to look like a nail [something you should shoot].

Who to blame.. video games, where guns aren't real, or NRA, where guns are real.

Figures. Some people still believe in magical mystical all powerful heavenly deities, others still that the earth is flat.

I'm a musician and I'm a mess: guitar right hand, pool both, drum dominent left hand open style, bass drum right, double bass drum left.

I had pressure to go right in 1-2 grade. Never took.

Wife recently surprised me with a late xmas gift - new 42" LG w/ led, passive 3d vs active (uses the same RealD theater glasses) and came with a free soundbar - $475ish @ Microcenter, etc. Tried some demo 3d content via Roku, instantly hooked and have since gone all in (new bluray 3d player + 7-8 movies). It's a gimmick, but now that I've got home 3d, I can't see myself ever going without it (assuming I can stay w/ affordable 3d in the future). The set also has a realtime 2d->3d conversion and while is isn't real 3d, it does a pretty good job of faking added depth to just about everything. Watched the entire super bowl in simulated 3d, was quite enjoyable.

http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-42LM3700-led-tv

Two days to fill a 512GB ssd? You could write 512GB in about an hour ~ 150MB/s (conservative speed, much higher if copying between SSDs). Rewrite the drive 24 times in a day, drive in dead in a month and a half.

(not sure if you were talking about casual use, which 256GB/day would be more extreme but still power casual use, or a major stress test of the drive)

What are we supposed to be doing? Violently overthrow media conglomerates?

I already vote with my dollars. I no longer buy nor subscribe to (or pirate) music, movies, etc. I stopped buying restrictive DRM games years ago. I've cut the cable cord. I prefer indie authors almost exclusively and get my text in print form whenever possible. These companies don't care, they've got more than enough $ already and the only one really being hurt is me (near zero access to pop culture).

Get off your high horse and be useful. Enlighten me. How else can this battle be fought?

Having the additional resolution helps preserve quality during the making process. For example, most music is recorded at least at 24bit 48-96khz per track (dozens to hundreds depending on the music), even tho the destination will usually be 16bit 44-48khz. The extra fidelity makes all the eventual filtering, dithering, resampling, correction, compression, etc ultimately that much higher in quality.

Disclaimer: worked in TV and music production.

But think about this a step further. Presumably, the people who are doing all of the threatening (clearly highly intimidating threats otherwise guards wouldn't be called in) are supposed to be the 'good guys' gun carriers, not the bad guy criminals who aren't supposed to have guns in the first place. This whole thing says a lot about the perceived power a gun holder has over someone without. Good guy or bad, own a gun and you start to feel power enough to turn into a thug.

And aren't the thugs what the good guy gun owners want to defend against?

Forgot to mention.. the UPS reports the system usually hovers between 60-65w and is configured to shut the system down at 11pm (12am weekends), start back up at 8am. Almost negligible effect on the monthly power bill (~$1.75 iirc). Well worth it.

Plex - http://www.plexapp.com/ ($free$)

I reused an old Acer w/ an amd 4050E and 4GB ram. Installed a simple Newegg/Rosewill SATA card and added 2 WD green drives. I then stream all of my audio/video/photos to everything (android phone/tablets, tv via roku, itunes music, xbox, etc). I use standard windows file sharing along with FreeFileSync (http://alternativeto.net/software/freefilesync/) to use the server as a backup for everything else in the house.

My daughter (4) loves them. And interestingly, they are a lot more like the Legos I remember from my childhood (early 80s) than the kits I see now. Very few specialized pieces, much more of the generic block that you then turn into something interesting. The instructions that are included are very similar to how I remember, and some of the larger kits also feature the alternate builds that I again remember.

The topic poster has a point though. Wander through the Lego section and ooh-aah over the cool kits, but a lot of the pieces are very use specific. Obviously you can re-purpose them for anything you want, but they were clearly designed to put in a certain spot on a certain kit. The ghost series is a great example. The ghost train, while very cool, you really can't build much outside of the train using the pieces that are included. Little doodad crap sure, but nothing larger.

Killing no, but these people will all die eventually (just a hole in the dirt - hate to alarm them) and their crusade dies down with them. Will they be gone? No. But as their followers also die off, their message will fade.

As a followup, you don't have the resources to circumvent big brother if he's after you. And actively trying to do so will splash you with a bigger target.

Withdraw enough cash to feed yourself for a week, then leave. Go camping. Get out into nature. If technology is your concern, get away from the technology.