...didn't go to conventional schooling aren't smart enough to grasp English grammar and presumably other more cerebral concepts? America's education system is a joke at best; a scam at worst. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZtX32sKVE&feature=player_embedded

Cables probably don't matter. Apparently you can use a coat hanger and get the same effect as those pricey high-end cables. http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables.html

By the way the $549.99 number is a "sale" price to boot. Hahaha what a joke. It's normally $599.99.

The courts have been making laws (via stare decisis, i.e. precedence) for many decades now.

Sales tax is 7%, but I'm working from an employee discount number, so I didn't feel bad about leaving that in for effect. :) Not counting sales tax or the employee discount:

Online price I paid: $449.07
Best Buy's price (retail, before tax): $549.99

That's $100.92 more than what I paid... before taxes...

Why anyone shops at Best Buy I have no idea. A fool and his money...

I'm just amazed that Best Buy is still in business. The bulk of their clientele base seems to be comprised of people who are completely unwilling or unable to utilize the intarwebs to find cheaper prices for the exact same products.

Case in point: I was recently in the market for a mid-range camcorder, and settled on a Panasonic HDC-TM90 after doing some research. I have a friend who works at Best Buy who was willing to get the camcorder for me using his employee discount; I'd then pay him back (nefarious? maybe a bit).

The "deal" he was able to get me ended up being about $42 (after taxes) more expensive than the best internet price I could find. Obviously, I purchased from the internet and am loving my camcorder.

I mean, I can certainly understand paying a small premium for the convenience of walking out of the store with an item, but a nearly 10% premium after the employee discount? That's a bit steep for me.

I don't think Best Buy is going to be around much longer as each coming generation becomes more tech savvy than the last.

It used to be focused on policy. And it will be again, but only when all the dupes (i.e. the vast majority of Americans, myself included for a time) realize that both major parties who trade power back and forth have frighteningly similar agendas when you ignore what they say and examine what they actually do. There are too few who honestly examine policies while keeping social red herrings at a minimum (Ron Paul being my personal favorite for now), and far too few voters in the country who understand what's at stake. "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin

I don't use TinyURL since a class project last Fall wherein the prof tried using TinyURL to link to assigned sites; the links, nearly a dozen of them, broke almost immediately and he had to waste time figuring out a workaround. Partly his fault for wanting to use short URLs when he didn't really need to, but also partly TinyURL's fault for breaking. For the record, it's really rare that I find a need to shorten a URL (I don't use Twitter either - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KagkNFYJvuY&feature=related). Maybe it was a fluke, but it left a bad taste in my mouth nonetheless.

I'm not one to buy into the China Syndrome scare tactics of Hollywood activists and their ilk, but fair is fair. Mentioning the Solar One project dismantling in Daggett, CA in drive-by fashion is a bit misleading [http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/bang-7374-daggett-going.html]. I don't know if it was your intention to cast doubt on the efficacy of solar power in general or not, I just want to point out that Solar One was an old project that has helped pave the way for new tech to improve upon the processes where it fell short. Solar Two is a perfect example (also utilizing the molten salt method of energy storage). Cheers!

* what methods work or don't work, I meant to say...

Could also probably be used to monitor sleep apnea in patients and find out what methods (breath-right strips, CPAP, etc.). I know I'd be interested in finding out more about my sleep patterns (for my wife's sake mainly) and what helps me not snore as much. :-)

Good for you. I have not and will not choose Verizon.

Caveat: Before you cut the lines, find a good business attorney who loves taking on the big boys, and when he or she gets you a reasonable amount of money from Comcast for their rent to use your property (obviously you're aware that any sane judge will find $1m/month is far from reasonable), pay the lawyer his or her fees. Then thank me.

Absolutely. Cut the lines.

Yeah, cause the government getting involved always makes things better, without fail, every time! The Fed has the Midas touch! Yay for nationalism! Screw dirty profiteering and job providing. That stuff is just wrong. Don't allow stupid consumers to voluntarily choose to pay their money to companies like Verizon that bend them over and have their way with them, that's just not fair, and it's certainly not the consumers' fault! It's the fault of the EVIL CORPORATIONS!!! We need to be forced by the gubmint to pay for stuff for us, cause they obviously and always know what's best for us! Stupid free market system! Down with what made this country great! Abolish all freedoms in the name of good intentions, I say! The rich can afford everything we need! And if they won't volunteer their money we'll just TAKE it! That's the American way!