But for those of us who prefer running, certain sports, etc. "Workboots" just don't cut it. My last pair of shoes were some simple DC skater-style shoes. They lasted me two years until I wore the sole down so far it burned a hole through the bottom. I went to buy another pair of DC because they were so good to me but I sadly found that my local store didn't have any leather ones anymore. Only synthetics and the sole on the new shoe was thinner than some parts of my two year old shoes...

You're right saying consumerism is a part of the problem but the solution isn't "HEY EVERYONE BUY x PRODUCT"

I actually disagree with this point. The reason why certain aspects of MMORPGs are so addictive is because of the link between effort and reward. In WoW if you spend x amount of time performing your profession you WILL get to 450/450. People see the link between how much time they spend doing something and the reward that comes from it: something that is not guaranteed in life.

For example, no matter how much time I try I doubt I'll ever become a professional sports player. I've played soccer for probably 17 years of my life and have won medals on a provincial level. But no matter how hard I will not make it professionally. I have had numerous ankle injuries (breaks and multiple sprains) as well as acute asthma that prevent me from becoming a hardcore sprinter. Here, I could put 5 years of effort into practice and training but I'll bet you $50 that I'll still be in the same place I am now, if not slightly further ahead. Here the link between effort and reward is broken as a simple reality comes into play that some don't find out until their 30's... just because mommy told you that "you can do whatever you want in life" it doesn't make it true.

This site is directed mostly at UK people being attacked by a very similar business model. Although not 100% relevant I'm sure it has plenty of information on there for anyone who's received a letter or simply wants to read some legal rights they may (or may not) have.

We must protect this house.

What I find more interesting is:
"Number of traffic sources in the room: 21"

Maybe I can't comprehend this properly but 22 AIM > 21 sources?

By the time people are 19 or 20 their personalities for the remainder of their lives are pretty much set. It takes some catastrophic event to change it (and rarely occurs). So yes, you're right. He was a douche all along: he just needed a reason to be extroverted about it. That reason happened to be fame and money.

Once a douche always a douche.

I had a sore back and sore throat and went to the local 24hr clinic. They told me I pulled a muscle and that I had a lymph node infection. After taking the medication I broke out in a red polka-dot rash head-to-toe knowing full well I was not allergic to Amoxicillin (bleh spelling). So i booked an appointment with my doctor and he giggled after looking at my rash. Turns out I had mono and the "back pain" was my swollen appendix. The anti-infection medication caused the rash as it occurs when you have mono. He told me a short story about how when he worked in Africa they used it to diagnose mono because of the lack of clean needles for drug tests.

Rambling aside: 24hr doc could have killed me (Potential appendix burst since I was/am very active in rough sports like Krav Maga/Paintball) but my Doctor actually cared enough to look into things and get the right tests done.

Correct me if I'm wrong but you are North American correct? Doesn't the government provide all secondary education with a certain percentage of taxes every year? This money is used by the universities/colleges to keep tuition lower than if students had to take on the full costs themselves. So yes, you didn't get any money from the government directly but you still collected your pennies.

Again, please correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the assumption that is how it worked in USA as it does in Canada.

I'm in the same boat as you fellow Captain. I find however that the issue is employers seeming to THINK that Highschool isn't enough when it really is. Browsing the job market I see 75% of jobs requesting bachelors (of anything) or greater can be accomplished by two weeks of in-house training and a grade 10 education. The problem isn't that we have too many degrees saturating the market, its that every employer feels their entitled to request only those qualifications for their position when not required.

If Munroe is a troll then follow the rules. Stop feeding the Troll. He'll keep doing it as long as you* keep reacting.

*I say "you" not as a personal attack but meaning a generic finger-point to everyone getting up in a fluff over this.

"Myth was a Scene group which ceased to exist after it was targeted in the FBI “Operation Site Down”" -Source

I personally believe Rockstar understood the logo was in the exe and left it there on purpose as sort of a "suck it pirates" attitude knowing there's nothing the pirate group could do about it.

That made me chuckle a little bit because I'm also a student (Software Engineering) and right after learning some fundamentals of C++ they started ramming Assembly down our throats. By the time I got to a third year project programming a microprocessor in Assembly I'd punch a baby to be able to code in C.

Now I understand what you're TRYING to say but the reality is that unless you can get a grasp of a low level language before they push you into Java/C++ then you'll never have a "complete" understanding of the architecture you're coding for.

With all the Canadian "angry letters" I'm sure there has to be a paper-cut in there somewhere. Bury them in paper, that's how the canucks get violent.

@#2 I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not but in the case of a 911 emergency cellular phones without a SIM or account are still capable of dialing out. (At least phone's I'm aware of can). Basically if you're stranded somewhere without a land-line and your account is frozen you can still dial 911 and it will go through. You can't dial other numbers however. Also a thing to note is that your phone will be more aggressive when fetching a signal. I've been able to get a 911 connection when my phone reported "no service". On top of that if you're not a preferred carrier (your carrier rents towers from a larger corporation) you sometimes will not be able to call out if the towers are 'occupied', but with 911 it forces your connectivity.

In reality my favorite games (of AWLLLL TIEEMMMM) are Half-life, Starcraft, Chrono Trigger and Final fantasy III (For SNES, its like FFVI or something)... in no particular order. Sure Half-Life & Starcraft may be comparably "simple" but they are extremely complex when you consider the plot, story, balance, and fluid game-play they provide (something that many modern games fail to achieve). Now I want ONE person out here to tell me that Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy are "Simple".

The challenge isn't simpler games, its making new games that don't completely fail in one of the fundamental sectors of decent gaming. You can have a game with great plot and story but if you can't play it worth a damn it will suck. You can have a very fluid game with great story (Halo 1) but if it lacks modern twists (Multiplayer online) then it doesn't fair up.