Too bad that extension doesn't work for FF3.x

It didn't happen to be the Boost Ball Guardian in MP2: Echoes, did it? That thing was insanely hard for being that early on in the game, and if you didn't do it exactly right and move around fast enough, you'd die pretty quick. Not to mention you were pretty well constantly losing health due to being in the Dark atmosphere. And I do remember there being quite a bit of running through the level and cutscenes to get to it from the nearest save point.

I can't think of any in the first game that were that hard. Corruption had some that were hard, but none of them were overly ridiculous until the end. Well, as long as you were playing on the easiest difficulty that is. On the medium and hard difficulties, they got a lot tougher, and the final boss was largely an exercise in luck and endurance on the hardest difficulty.

I expect nothing less from them, actually. They have certified Panasonic electronics repair locations, after all. There's only one repair shop in my area that is certified. However, I do tend to like their products, and I've had very few issues or complaints with the ones I have. I would gladly pay the premium for their certified products/services, and have in the past, and have been very satisfied.

Could it be possible that they are doing this as a reaction to the laptop battery recalls? Perhaps they don't want to have to suffer the repercussions of a battery catching on fire or exploding in someone's hands or even face. If they limit the batteries that can be used to Panasonic certified ones, then this becomes less of an issue for them. If someone uses a non-certified battery, and it explodes in their face, Panasonic can try to dodge the litigation.

Replying to myself instead of each one individually...

I agree with most of your points, the classics do generally contain intriguing story lines, are thought provoking, etc. I was commenting mostly on the style in which they are written. I love to read, and enjoy many different genres. But a lot of the books that are labeled as classics are very difficult reads. Most of them, if I were not forced in some way to read them from beginning to end, I would have put them down after the first few chapters and never picked them up again. Dickens in particular has wonderful multi-leveled plots, but the style in which it he writes is simply intolerable to me.

As for the one who compared classic novels to Britney Spears... please. We all know she is the crowning singer of our time. /sarcasm

That whole bit was just something I've been toying with in my mind lately. Classics are supposed to be those books that withstand the test of time, those whose themes and ideas are still valid and intriguing decades after they had been written. Granted, that's true of most of the books I mention (no matter how painful to read). However, I simply wonder what percentage of total sales of those books are because students are required to read them for their schooling. Would they still be considered classics without those sales? Clearly, /. is not the place to ask these sorts of questions since most of us are the types who enjoy a good read, and many of us would pick those up and read them simply for the sake of having done so. But the general populace? Especially the general USA populace? I doubt many would pick up Moby Dick to read one rainy evening. I just wonder how the landscape of classics would change if students were allowed to choose the books they read for their schooling (of course only allowing books on the same reading level, of suitable subject matter, etc) instead of being forced to read the same classics year after year.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/mount/default.mspx

Totally...