Although the plastic has yellowed considerably, the calculator that got my dad through school still works perfectly! The leather holster for it has seen better days, however.

Yes, it is a slide rule - it's been years since I actually used it to calculate something, but it certainly is still functional.

Apart from that, my old TI-99/4A booted up last time I tried a few years back (Parsec!), but it's been in the attic ever since. It did run almost daily from 1979 until I got an Apple IIc in... 1985 or 1986 or so

[x] One parrot
[x] One keg of grog (duty free)
[x] Marks the spot

Billerica? You mean good old "bricka"? :-)

Actually, Fox News does occassionally omit the partisian labels, and even switches them (http://mediamatters.org/blog/200906240026 - assumedly this is inadvertant, although folks more suspicious than I tend to infer malacious intent). That doesn't make the omission here any better, of course.

It's fair to say there has been a severe lack of civility on both sides of the aisle, highlighted mostly on the Republican side, I think (Cheney telling Leahy to Go F__k himself, the rep who shouted "you lie" during the presidential address, etc), although Rep. Grayson clearly enjoys lowering the standards himself.

Well, after the detox diet week (which was admittedly difficult), I went on a low-glycemic diet (which I plan on continuing pretty much indefinitely). It is, no doubt, the more important contributor to the weight loss.

I'm staying off the diet coke purely because I'm not craving it, not because I think it's necessarily integral to the weight I've lost. I do feel happier, have an easier time staying on task and have a better memory (well, at least as far as I remember). Some people would chalk that up to quitting aspartame, not caffiene, but either way, I feel better than I did :-).

I never drank coffee (never liked the taste or smell), but for years, I drank upwards of six 20oz bottles of diet coke daily. I accept that 120oz of soda/day makes me a caffeine lightweight by Slashdotter standards, but it still seemed like a lot.

I quit cold-turkey about 8 weeks ago on a Wednesday night as part of a "detox" diet (no caffeine, no oil, no fat, no carbs, no sugar - basicially veggies and water). Thursday morning was OK, surprisingly, but I had a headache by noontime. The headache lasted (never completely crippling, but *constant* throbbing behind my eyes) until the following Sunday morning.

I felt like I had very little energy for the whole week, which probably had more to do with my diet than the lack of caffeine. However, after a week or so, I actually felt better - I have better focus, more stamina, and actually got more shit done. I definitely feel better now (and have dropped 30 pounds, which doubtless helps). I haven't RTFA, so I don't know if the days-long headache is a typical response. YMMV, but based on my experience, I do recommend at least trying to cut back on caffeine (maybe not cold-turkey, though).

That's a tough one. I have 4 kids (ages 3, 5, 7, 9) and they've all asked the question at various points. Our shetland sheepdog died when our oldest was 6, which was tough. Essentially, as an agnostic (me) and a lapsed Catholic (my wife) we framed it as an on-going debate where no one really knows what happens when a person (or family pet) dies. I think it was more of a shock to my daughter that there were some things that grown-ups don't actually know.

We did touch on faith and how some people *believe* they know what happens, but stressed the fact that no one *really* knows what happens. We then had a short discussion about the main ideas (a. you go to heaven or hell, b. you get reincarnated, c. your existence just ends, d. none of the above). I told them what I personally believe, but made it clear that everyone ends up deciding for themselves at some point.

What was interesting is that my wife's side of the family is for the most part, pretty religous. A few months ago, by daughter was talking to my wife's Aunt about God, and kept asking her why she believed in God. I should mention my daughter is *extremely* persistent and pretty bright. Eventually she got the Aunt to admit it was, "because my parents brought me to church when I was a kid", which I believe is - with exceptions, of course - the main reason most people have the religious views they do.

Anyways, my take on it is that kids are pretty resilient - give them as much information as possible and answer questions honestly, and they'll figure things out. When I was younger (I'm 38 now), I always planned on teaching my kids to question authority and think for themselves. I still try to do that, but it's *much* more difficult when *I'm* the authority.

Back on subject - Mythbusters is a fave for TV, and Asimov's set of science books for kids is *phenomenal* (if a little outdated).