I agree - scales are much easier to use when everything goes in nice segments of tens. For example, take a look at this prototype temperature scale I've developed:

30 - It's freezing
40 - Still quite cold
50 - Cold
60 - Bearable if it isn't wet or windy
70 - Nice
80 - Warm
90 - Warmer
100 - Too hot

Now keep in mind it's just a prototype (still not sure if it should start at 30), but I hope that you, as a fellow decimal-system connoisseur, will agree that this is a perfectly adequate system for measuring temperature.

As an American, I'm sorry our football scoring has you flummoxed. I think you'll be most pleased to note that I take no part in these shenanigans - no sir, I'm a cricket man myself. Give me the good old one run is 1 added to the score...except when you hit the ball out of bounds, in which case it's 4...unless the ball is still in the air, in which case it's 6...ahem, point being that these measuring systems (present due to differences in culture) cannot be classified as "better" or "worse" - only different. You are right in saying "the only reason it makes sense is that you're used to it", but the fact goes both ways. Cricket is not a better game than American Football, it's a different game.

Systems only become "better" or "worse" depending on how many people use them. And before you start defending Celsius because 0 is freezing and 100 is boiling, let me draw attention to the fact that base 10 is just another human system, only regarded as "good" because everyone uses it.

Apparently there are no fertile researchers at the Scripps Research Institute?

Not to mention the information they gathered couldn't escape the gravitational field...soooo, about those tps reports...

Oy! Since when are CowboyNeal jokes trollish? You could have at least given me a warning.

Funny, I always thought it was something more along the lines of: Don't be a dumbass.

But seriously, I think this will be an easy and fast way to get statistical data. I can see it coming in handy for anyone looking to do a little research into a particular event/phenomenon. I'm not suggesting that Zoetrope will become the forefront in statistical research, but I can foresee it becoming very useful. Time may prove any one of us wrong. But if Adobe takes over the world, they'll use Zoetrope to find its first proponents...

Personally, I never understood the travel mechanics of SL - not allowing people to fly/warp wherever they want would make it much more immersive, IMO. You'd get rid of all the annoying pop-in, and I'm guessing the real estate market would get a boost as well, since proximity to popular venues would become even more important. It seems to me that in SL you have all the benefits of real life and more, but almost none of the rules.

Of course, too many rules make the experience just plain boring, but you'll notice that all successful open-world games (EVE, for example) have set a realistic transportation speed limit. Then again, maybe most places in Second Life aren't worth walking 5 minutes for. If that's the case, then get them to spring a couple thousand lindons for a car, or one of those fancy-but-functionally-useless jets I've seen for sale. I'd be very interested to hear other peoples' opinions on this.

...on CowboyNeal's brain.

I agree that people want to use what you sell them, but they did sell you "up to" 10mb. It's your problem since you agreed to their contract, even if it wasn't exactly what you wanted.

However, it may be the case that they mislead you by offering a "10mb line", when the fine print really said "up to". This strategy is despicable - it's akin to selling someone a car and suggesting that the car will always go 70mph when you want it to. Sure, you may reach a speed of 70mph on some days, but most of the time you'll be limited by traffic, weather, and the speed limit. It's simply irresponsible to suggest that a car/connection will always go a certain speed when the average speed is far lower. I would be extremely happy if companies started selling their connections on the basis of average speed as opposed to maximum speed.

TFA is about English, so I feel partially justified:

Just for the record, a word cannot simultaneously be shorter and longer than another word. There, now I'm satisfied. (Also, "there are" instead of "there's". Now I'm really satisfied. And it's not from the stewardess porn.)

I'm using the butterfly effect client, you insensitive clod!

Ha! You had it easy - just see how bad Monty Python had it.

Are you sure it wasn't because CNN told you that this would be one of those unique moments, the kind that people decades from now will remember and ask each other "Do you remember where you were when Obama was elected?"

I watched it too (and CNN did say that). But I will remember :)

I'm not expecting a miracle, and I hope there aren't too many people out there that think the crises facing this nation will disappear just because Obama was elected. But any candidate that stands for change in a time like this has my support.