Much like many older "brick and mortar" stores have had to do to survive over the years, libraries need to follow suit. They either need to feature a very strong online presence (as in actually useful) or merge their resources together into a massive central location that's easily accessible and relatively clean/safe.

In recent years, libraries have gotten a bad rap for stock-housing materials that are so outdated that the materials themselves are either no longer relevant or are now historically inaccurate. These days, no one trusts anything printed over a decade ago, mainly because that's the point where the internet really started to take root in our culture. For many of us, if content isn't constantly updated as more information becomes available, the source of the content loses it's credibility.

Given how we tend to act within our own culture, our school systems have pretty much changed to adapt. As such, it's very likely that any student that goes to a library to study in the manner our generation did 15-20 years ago (nose buried deep in a book) would probably not get a decent grade. There's also the potential problem that having been born into a post-internet-boom world, they may not be able to adapt to information retrieval in that manner. It's possible that even being faced with such a task for prolonged period of time would trigger several bouts of cognitive overload. As it is, the current protocol this generation uses for handling information is to obtain it in short chunks at high speeds, relative to an information terminal... versus earlier generations who dealt with information in slower, longer chunks. The further back in time you go, the slower and longer these information chunks become, relative to our technological advancement. (books->newsprint->telephone->radio->television->personal computers->internet)

At any rate, libraries should not be trying to play up the whole "books are cool" line, and should be focusing more on how to adapt themselves to the demand for high speed information exchange. It might even make more sense for a company like Google to simply buy every library in every community, and turn them into data centers. Perhaps even establish some sort of proprietary network outside of the internet that would facilitate nothing but the absolute highest speed searches possible, then let the public utilize it via terminals at these libraries.

Why stop there when these companies could just sell the game engine alone on discs for $9.95 in a jewel case, then sell the user the content entirely as DLC subject to the "no refunds" policy at $40 as a form of "activation"? That way, if anyone rushes to buy the next big title of the season for $10, then decides they don't like it, the most they could get back is the $9.95, while the game manufacturers get to pocket the remaining $40 each time some poor sucker gets handed the same disc the manufacturer repackages over and over...

Back in the late 80s, we had a Big Lots come into town with their assorted piles of junk. Though, they did occasionally have some interesting stuff... like bins full of shrink-wrapped atari game carts for the 2600/5200/7800. (I probably had over 200 titles stockpiled at one point... and only one was that crappy ET game.)

Then during the early 90's, neighbor of mine asked me to come help them out with a computer problem on a machine they had just bought. When I got their, it turned out the problem was that they bought some ancient government clunker that took 8.5" floppies! If you can imagine it... picture trying to slide a floppy the size of an entire file folder into a drive barely big enough to hold it without bending the thing. It's nearly impossible!

You determine a game's worth by how fun it is. (Obviously, this varies with the tastes of the user.)

So, how can you find out without dropping a fortune on a questionable title? First, don't buy new right off the bat. If possible, either wait for a demo or rent a title before purchasing. Also, hold off for about 3-4 months following the release date. This is about the point where stores begin discounting these titles by up to 50%.

Finally, check sites like DealNews for updates on special pricing, or find a reliable store online that routinely offers cheap prices on titles you want. (Personally, I've found GoGamer to have fantastic discounts on new titles in their 48hr Madness section... sometimes by as much as $20 below average pricing on new titles.)

Depending on advances in technology and physics, mere positioning in a space battle might not be all that decisive in itself. For example, could a ship be armed with a shield that acts as an "always on" wormhole, redirecting all incoming weapons fire to an alternate point in space... such as the interior of the enemy ship itself?

The anime series "Gurren Lagann" used another interesting weapon system in which a form of time travel was applied to warheads, allowing them to make impact with a target randomly at multiple points on the timeline from a few seconds into the past to a few seconds into the future, effectively negating the possibility of blocking the attack.

... the very first programmer was a woman... Ada Lovelace.

Actually there were/are many more notables as well.

It may seem that way, but this isn't the early 90's anymore. Our society is now built around a premise of fear, rather than trust. For many, that means the majority of social interaction we have occurs from behind a computer screen. You're not likely to get abducted, raped, beaten or killed if you don't leave the comfort and safety of your home. This is the new norm... children are actually discouraged from playing outside for their well-being. This mistrust of the outside world gets carried on into adulthood.

Strangely enough, the ones most likely to react negatively to a mere comment on the internet are probably the same individuals who fear the real world is already out to get them. Getting others to react to a comment on a website only serves to reaffirm the fantasy of ever-growing dangers lurking in the real world.

... back when a conversation would simply "die" after whatever dumbass comment was made on impulse during a brief moment of frustration?

Nowadays, we're all expected to bottle our emotions, letting them slowly fester into a mental illness that could eventually result in a random explosion of violent behavior toward anyone who might rub you the wrong way at just the right moment.

Knee-jerk reactions to off-color commentary made to a completely unrelated audience are likely going to be the cause of several future columbine-like incidences. And why? Because you can't give anyone even the slightest bit of breathing room to themselves.

The internet may have brought the world closer together, but perhaps that difference is starting to make a number of us feel claustrophobic.

Also, how do such comments reach such seemingly unrelated audiences? Is it just coincidence, or is someone constantly watching this person for some specific purpose?

After years of running a large scale message board myself, one thing I have learned is that you simply can't quantify every situation enough to objectively make the correct decision every single time. An automated system can either be inadequate and unintrusive, or, draconian and inefficient. Using a team of humans is even more chaotic, because each one ultimately ends up falling back onto their own experiences to determine right from wrong. This can vary greatly from person to person, leading to either being too lax or too iron fisted. Both extremes have their own consequences and effect upon the community being watched over.

Even a system like Slashdot's setup, where the community polices itself, isn't free of flaws. A community that polices itself will ultimately normalize with whatever the averages deem "appropriate", for better or worse. In addition, any attempt to override this average will often be met with opposition from the community when the operators' trust in the community gets put into question.

No online system will ever be perfectly safe for children. But neither is the real world.

The only real way to protect children both online and off is for the parents to be more involved in their kids' lives. Talk to them. Keep the video games and computers out in neutral parts of the home where you can actually see what's going on, rather than putting them in the bedroom. Furthermore, don't violate your kids' trust in you by monitoring their actions from behind the scenes using keyloggers or VNC servers. You can be just as effective by watching their actions out in the open when you walk by. If they make a sudden knee-jerk reaction like turning off the monitor or closing windows, you know their up to something and your actions immediately after should be enough to put the fear of god into them when they know they're doing something they shouldn't be doing.

Want your kids to grow up "right"? Then don't let others do your job for you!

getting your name off of a sexual predator list after suffering a frivolous statutory rape charge.

In other words, you lost control of the situation after it was mirrored from the original source.

More on "the frizzies"

For anyone still scratching their heads... here...

For anyone else, congrats on "getting it"

Just had to say it.

Ok, this actually makes sense to me. Even if the app can identify itself as legitimate or pirated in a server/client setting, even the bandwidth used for verification of each copy of the app alone would eventually add up.

A product is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. This is how "supply and demand" works. If the consumers are telling you it's overpriced rather than buying it, then it is overpriced. If you paid too much in developing software that's deemed overpriced by your customer base, you can hardly blame the consumer for that. You simply over-invested in a failed project.