Fall would be perfect if we could transition from Fall directly back to Spring. My only misgivings about Fall have to do with what comes next.

"Swine virus 100 times lethal than seasonal flu". Of course, it could still be statistical noise. But it seems trends are starting to emerge - there are targets who are not at risk from seasonal flu, but are more vulnerable to swine flu: namely pregnant people, obese people, and teenagers.

Thank god it's virtually impossible to be a member of all three groups at the same time.

Great, next thing you know they'll want us to shower, too.

The problem is that most of the pranks involve convincing people there is imminent danger. Given even 30 seconds to think about it, all but the dumbest people would realize what they are being asked to do is stupid. Having to make a split second decision in what they believe is a life and death situation, and in the absence of any other information, a lot of people will tend to just do what they are told, regardless of how outrageous it sounds.

Maybe the gas thing is just to avoid hauling around bits of loose change?

I used to do it even though I've always bought gas on a credit card. I quit doing that lately, though. My new obsession is getting in those last few squirts of gas so the needle goes all the way up and rests against the stop. It's trickier than you'd think, because every pump seems to cut off at a slightly different point.

I think the idea is that you can simply orbit the planet in the same vehicle used to get there. A lander means you have to carry a separate vehicle which can land safely *and* can climb back out of the gravity well again, with all of the weight, complexity, and cost associated with that. Just orbiting and sending down some throwaway robot probes means the mission is less complex and cheaper by orders of magnitude, meaning it can be done in a much shorter timeframe.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've experienced this. I was horrified to learn that they were installing a cell tower on top of an apartment building I was living in at the time. The day it was supposed to go online, I could "feel" it; I started getting dizzy and nauseous going up in the elevator. A few weeks later, I learned that there was a delay and they hadn't even powered the thing up until a week later. Fortunately, finding this out "cured" me of what was essentially a phobia and I haven't had a problem since.

Yeah, there are definitely parts of Neuromancer that are hilariously dated. The one that always sticks out for me is the part where Case has 3MB of stolen RAM that he's trying to move. It sounded impressively futuristic in 1985. Today, not so much.

Since skeletal remains are unlikely to be a danger to the community, they'll probably let the bastard go.

So the question is: Was the laptop you ended up with better than your old laptop?

That's interesting, I've always used the term "jury rigging" but I never knew what its origin was until today.

It's OK, the crickets hate lawyers even more than they hate the music.

Don't forget who the true hero of that book was. The Trashcan Man.

In that case, I think our #1 priority should be determining the whereabouts of Matt Frewer.

I'd love to see the manufacturer's cost of materials for mega priced "audiophile" cables like this. Do they really spend more on "high quality" materials (even if it's useless) or do they just make it out of the same stuff as regular cable and then try to keep a straight face while they take your money?

Yuck. If she bent over, she'd resemble a cow with hanging udders. Blech. Give me natural As or Bs anyday rather than fakies.

If you're the typical Slashdot reader, you probably have natural As or Bs already.
http://www.instantrimshot.com

Sorry, how could I resist?