Actually, it was both Yeast and Algae. And as I said, we have a long way to go before people would be ready to buy this stuff (and hence justify mass production).

Probably at the same time that companies acknowledge that its OK if they make the same (inflation-adjusted) amount of sales as the year before and constant growth is not a necessity.

In other news, Walmart contemplates changing their name to Buy N' Large.

Asimov predicted this decades ago. Just another case of science catching up to fiction, or perhaps this just validates the theories of psychohistory that we aren't supposed to know about..

Of course, there's a long way to go before we generate enough recipes and concoctions of artificial ingredients to make it palatable, so that it's economically and socially mandated to create massive bio-farms.

For more information, refer to your copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica.

Still a good deal though (thxs), even if it's just for a year. Personally, I'm on the fence about renewing now ... for $40 I'll probably renew it, but at $60 it's probable I won't next year.

Lately, all I've used my M$ Xbox Live for is Netflix and very rarely for games. The Xbox is the fastest/most convenient way of watching Netflix ... but if the price goes up and I don't find myself playing Live games any more over the next few months, it'll be time to drop it in favor of just watching it through the PC.

Of course, then I'll need to buy myself that silly DisplayPort adapter so I can output to the TV and both monitors at the same time from the PC instead of having to choose 2 of 3 screens already connected via the other ports, but that's another story/rant...

Yes, but citing the source generally means you go out and read the source to base your claim on, or at least to verify that the summary is valid. The GP (based on the smiley), is speaking about cheating the system by citing the wikipedia source, without taking that extra step to actually verify for himself that the source validates the article (which isn't always the case on wikipedia, though they try).

I'm pretty certain that in most areas, cell phones will already receive notifications from the Emergency Alert System in a crisis via SMS. Or at least, that's how it should be...

The reason for the bunny suits at this stage is NOT to protect it against damage from dust, but to prevent contamination. If we're sending a probe to another planet to search for traces of life, the last thing we want is to "discover" life that we brought with us in the first place. Hence all spacecraft (or rover) components are handled in the most sterile of environments.

The mats in those photos are probably to ensure it doesn't roll over any lingering dust on the floor and to mark where people (in bunny suits) shouldn't work, I doubt those are actually anti-static mats, or if they are if that's the main purpose in there.

It certainly would be, even with the obligatory $34.99 s&h fees when you find them on ebay.

Or a game with an active community that he's involved in. I first got into coding in JHS learning Perl CGI to make an automated website for a Starcraft clan me and my friends started. We also played with the SC map editor for a while, but that wasn't exactly coding.

The point is to start with a goal that he wants to accomplish, then encourage exploration from there. Mods are a great idea, but few of those are simple enough for one person to learn and see results in a project by themselves in a short period of time. Community websites in support of a game on the other hand are much more manageable. As are, for certain types of games, utilities to help strategize, organize statistics, tournaments, etc.

Another useful path is making quick games (or utilities) to play on the go. In my day, it was games for the TI graphing calculator to not play during class :-) Now a days, iPhone or Android apps could be a more interesting start.

In a way, this is just an extension of what some studios have done in the past. It's nearly always the publishers that push the DRM against the developers wishes. I remember a few games in the past where the unofficial word from the developers was to download a no-CD crack to bypass certain performance issues. Of course they would never say so through official channels, but the message (through Forums that the developers frequented) was quite clear.

Only a small portion of routers are actually Linux based. Most Cisco/Linksys ones (not counting the 'L' models) actually use VxWorks. Linux is becoming increasingly popular on the cheaper brand routers as well, where the vendors don't want to invest in software. In general though, dedicated embedded operating systems (ie:VxWorks) reign supreme in the majority of routers.

A full desktop operating system will never be seen in an embedded device (note: linux without X is not a desktop OS).

And yes, most network 'vulnerabilities' are the result of poor configuration. To give the general public credit though, many people assume that things come properly configured out of the box when they plug it in and it works. What we should have are more routers that are shipped in a secure state, with annoying GUI wizards to configure wifi security features for the "idiots guide to..." crowd. That way, it would require effort to make a network unsecure, versus expecting people to exert efforts to secure something they don't understand in the first place.

iPad-like tablets are useless to us tech folks, but as the sales show, their at least in the short term adequate enough for the masses to continue iPadding Jobs' wallet.

The ideal device, which I still have yet to see as a real commercial product at a reasonable price, is a convertible netbook.

A small laptop with 720p capabilities (like the newer netbooks), plus a stylus-friendly touchscreen, and the ability to fold it open all the way [or rotate and fold back if that's simpler] so it can be used as a tablet when the need arises [ie: watching a movie, reading on the go, making presentations, etc].

Combine that with a sunlight-friendly screen, like the OLPC's Pixel Qi color ePaper-like display, and you've got a real winner.

Before you can answer that question, you have to realize that game manuals fall into two, maybe three, categories:

1) Traditional Instruction Manual with story overview, controls reference, and other useful information. No matter what, such manuals are always essential for quick multiplayer games (ie:Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Smash Bros., etc.) for looking up some extra moves while you wait your turn ;-) For some games their useless, but for others their a great reference.

2) "Collectible" Instruction manuals. These are one-step below the dedicated art books that come with recent games, but still include extensive story, background information, artwork, and more. These won't be going away, though I predict we'll increasingly be seeing them only on "collector's" edition copies.

3) The Boilerplate Manuals. These are the ones that Ubisoft and others use the most and should go the way of the dinosaur. These manuals are always virtually identical, contain a picture of the controller, copyright notice, and maybe a copy of the description printed on the box. On occasion, these come in thick booklets that trick you into thinking it's type (1) or (2) before you realize that it's just boilerplate * n languages.

So in summation - if all the publisher's are writing are boilerplate manuals, let's go save some trees. But for those few developers that still invest the time in creating real manuals, those are an important piece of gaming tradition that we don't want to lose.

Actually, it's just 2 photos. The computer detects where the license plate is in the photo and they print out a zoomed-in version of it for the record. I'm sure the original photo is significantly higher resolution than that of the printer used to send you the notice.

Note: I haven't been a victim of the red-light cameras, but I was caught by their speeding camera once. Placed on the exit ramp/street from 295 right after the speed limit dropped, but well before the end of the highway and a light/intersection.

Placing of those speed cameras can be just as shady as yellow-light timings . . .

That subject should have been "MythTV + Hulu + Netflix > Cable" ... apparently /. doesn't like straight '>' signs in the subject (though it accepts the HTML entity) ... I wonder whether that's a bug.