Posts by Rick Brasche

I read this wrong..

I thought it said "scientologists"...

what's with the screams of "pedophilia"?

methinks a lot of people from that camp are "projecting".

Have *none* of you ever heard of College? You know, that school thing that adults, 18-50 or older, attend? Are any of you aware that "back to school" doesn't always mean the six years of elementary? that there's *at least* four years of education for professional fields *after* high school?!

My girlfriend is a "naughty schoolgirl" sometimes. She's 27, and is a few years away from her Master's. Yes, I bought her the shirt and skirt too. (she already had the mary-janes)

just because you can't get your woman to play doesn't make it a crime. Maybe you're just jealous or something? Or perhaps it's the obvious psychological projection issues-just because the pic makes *you* think of illegal acts with underage girls, doesn't mean that the rest of the healthy individuals in the world are as sick as you are.

@ David

if the movie *had* been about giant robots, and fighting, then it would have been cool.

Instead it was a sh*tty "coming of age" flick with some lame @ss topical political commentary, with squishy whiny humans taking too much screen time,

Or to be nice, it was one long commercial for GM and Mt. Dew. Bay's problem isn't just story and stuff, it's constant blatant product placement!

but, if it had worked...

and the markets had risen, and this all paid off, he'd be worshipped as a hero. No mentions of the illegality or immorality of his activities.

Makes you wonder, how many times in the past, or even currently, in how many companies worldwide, does this sort of thing go on, where the losses are "too small" to be noticed, or the rewards too great to complain about?

I detest gambling, which is all the various futures and stocks and money markets really are, except you can ruin a million lives instead of your own when you screw up. Oil isn't expensive now because of supply, or demand, or war or politics, but from speculation and blatant profiteering on the shares of the resource, not the actual resource itself. When politicians use the price of a commodity to support the push for an agenda, speculation becomes even more dangerous-where enough money not only buys the politicians, but also sets the conditions to force the people to follow along.

Artificial numbers, artificial profits, artificial maintenance of a class/caste system worldwide.

and it's really just an "accident"

when this thing drops on San Francisco or Hollywood! Really!

hey, a guy can dream, right! I'd be able to see the impact from the hills here:)

so we're discussing the limited flight duration

and I'm saying, "it's only 75 seconds. that could get nasty." to which my co-worker replies:" Depends on how fast that 75 seconds goes..."

My response: "about 75 seconds.."

now I thought of a way this could be fun-if you could add a parachute, then boost for altitiude and pop the chute back down...except this thing doesn't get enough height nor carry enough payload. It'd barely carry me when I was in shape fifteen years ago..now I'd just torch my arse trying to boost.

Just like I tell the electric car folks. Don't bother me with concepts and companies and "breakthroughs" until you can give me 100 mile range at an average speed of 70mph between charges/refills. Anything else is just a toy for people with waay too much money (usually raised by someone else to get them started or helped along) and not nearly enough brains.

whatever happened to that Mountain View company that was building the two propellor persona aircraft? Last I saw they were making "RPV's" and no more human carrying craft.

PH icon embodies the same mindset of the Tesla buyers, the enviro nazis with the old-designed SMART cars (priced at $28K and *not* the revised 08 models) and people with enough disposable income to get into the GM electric car program.

to heck with "F 1"

How about "F U"!

TIAC

"make the customer think he's getting more than he's paying for" A.k.a. "T.I.A.C" from KW Jeter's "Noir".

Next up: "Pimp-Style Management" from the same source :(

Not ready for prime time

nor any business need that I can see. I've had Vista for two days now. I'm in a government office and the Boss wants us support dweebs to get a handle on Vista before it gets deployed sometime in the future.

None of our infrastructure seems ready for this. Group policy settings that made sure Win2K and XP systems checked our approved server for "Windows Updates" means Vista boxes can't get updates from MS. It gives me nothing but DNS errors. Same for trying to "authenticate" the site-licensed OS. Security settings of antivirus and spyware enterprise solutions fail as well and require upgrading the entire business just to support even a single Vista box.

Fortunately the Microsoft SMS stuff seems to work okay. Tho msi packages created and tested on w2K and XP fail 2/3 of the time.

Plus, even with everything (widgets, transparencies, UAC) turned off, I still lose over a third of my RAM even while having no apps open or in the background, and no non-Vista processes running.

So even if we have our entire software infrastructure (security, installation packages, AV, updates, firewall configuration, technician training) done to support Vista, what do we gain? Not speed, since there's the 30-34% RAM hit. Not security, since we control that pretty well through group policy, on site controlled servers for updates, reasonably effective managed enterprise AV and a nice set of dedicated Unix based firewalls already. Plus the need for machines to contact MS to "verify" that they're still "genuine". Ease of use? Nothing looks easier than XP, plus has a learning curve. Multimedia and DX10 isn't a concern for work related use. Cost savings? HA! Cost of new license, user and tech training, new applications since stuff that worked in W2K and XP doesn't always work in Vista, cost in administrators' time to reconfigure and test enterprise control and security settings, and then having SMS guys rework all the packaging for the apps that will still work on Vista.

Why did I volunteer to install it, you may ask...so when i tell people the truth of Vista they can't say I didn't use it, or try to use it. They can't truthfully claim I'm just a M$ Hater and going off blog propaganda.

If it wasn't for DX10 and gaming, Vista would be absolutely USELESS. Even then, I am seriously doubting I'll install it on my game machine anytime soon. Deploying Vista in a preexisting corporate environment, dangerous. Almost criminally so. Government agencies should be discouraged legally from using it.

In 26 days this Vista install will fail because I can't even activate it in a proper (and I use that term very loosely) secured business environment. Nor can I experiment with the service packs (or even download the previous SP!) because of Vista's demand for a completely separate setup in the background.

ah, so open season on all lifestyle choices?

"I don't wanna have none of them "homer-sexuals" at "my" company, they knew that when they signed on. None of them "commernists", "ferriners", and (insert racial epithet of your choice) either!"

-some German businesstwat

That is the "choice" many of you @sshats are championing. You let one reason go, you let them all go. Or you protect everyone. Loud iPod users, gum-smackers, smokers, Democrats, old guys with "back in the day" stories, non-smokers and young whippersnappers reeking of patchouli and ganja.

If you can't pass a law, set a precedent

because even though the court fines and stuff are enforced if necessary by police and the legal system like "real" laws, and you lose liberty and property over lawsuits like "real laws" it's still not a "real" law. Which means you can do whatever you want by setting a "precedent".

So, in America, "precendent" makes it de-facto illegal to:

speak your mind to a protected racial group.

sell hot coffee (and not just in games!)

allow stupid people into your warehouse store

have a barking dog/noisy cat

manufacturing cigarettes

manufacturing firearms

owning a swimming pool

the list goes on.

But even worse, this is a Lady Justice with the blindfold taken off. Winning a lawsuit depends on chance, on the skill and price of the lawyer and the biases and perception of other people. The richer and better off or best connected have the best representation. A barking dog that gets one family sued into the streets, when owned by a political powerhouse...the complainant ends up in the street. manufacture cigarettes and get sued...but then spend enough money to change the ruling later. Got enough resources, it's "legal" to run P2P and copy music and movies. If not, then it's "illegal".

I absolutely *hate* drug dealers, pushers-no matter what the poison. I'm the type that would support "John Clark"-style (See Tom Clancy's "Without Remorse") vigilanteism (an independent citizen who'd face serious legal problems if caught) long before I'd ever be comfortable with the sort of legal lawyerism-based maneuvering such as this. Wrongness in law by individuals is one thing-institutionalized wrongness is many many times worse.

to quote many other posters...

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

too bad business and mega-corporation strategy isn't a democracy:(

After reaching one frontier

he heads off to explore another. I sincerely hope it's everything he expected. I can expect this exchange outside the Pearly Gates...

"Why did you pass on to the Afterlife, Sir Edmund?"

"Because it was there!"

was she disarmed before the interview?

divested of all Blackberries, perhaps? For all Wacko Chavez knows, she coulda been another CIA wetworks op planning on terminating the million AK47-buying "peaceful" dictator with a skillfully placed PDA...

What would Q Branch have to say about this, considering her best work was with completely unmodified devices...HMSS woulda added pop out blades or something.

Black Helicopters chosen cuz that's how mysterious American assassins show up in Hugo's delusions.

@ Phil

We did. You weren't supposed to tell anyone.

the iHitSquad will arrive in a few moments to correct this.

Hail Steve!

this causes me some serious doubts about the OLPC management

why should Negroponte even care what other products are out there? If Intel wants to make and sell something cheaper, that's ther business-OLPC was supposed to be *giving these away* so there's no competition at all. having two or more low price devices hurts nobody-unless you're trying to corner the market in such devices and either want absolute control, or are planning on making a personal profit selling the things. Did Negroponte come up with this as a way to get others to design and manufacture hardware at no cost to him? Now that's the best business plan since Andy Warhol-make everyone else do the work and produce the product and then take all the profit and credit when you sell it. Even better because he gets the protection of global socialists as a "charity" too.

@ Kent

heh, when I ride, I assume that *nobody* can see me. California drivers, many without licenses anyways, are a very self absorbed, selfish lot. All these "green" hypocrites driving around in their own monster SUV's. Or one step above that, assume everyone not only *can* see you but also are actively trying to cut you off or something. Some guy jealous that his girlfriend left him for a biker, that @sshat lawyer/politician/corporate manager who's mad that you can use the carpool lane or lane split while His Importantness driving that $100k sports car is stuck in traffic. Or that soccer mom who got jilted by a biker when she was in high school simply can't allow herself and her minivan to merge into the lane behind you where there's a mile of empty space, so she attempts to floor it because she just has to be in front of the motorcyclist to prop up her ego.

Personally, I think they're all upset here because I'm doing a hell of a lot more for Big Enviro than they are don't need to sacrifice to do it.:)

Now here's a new cellphone curse I see almost daily..people *texting* while attempting to drive!

@ Pascal

this is how the American justice system has been perverted, first by celebrities and the rich, now it's filtering down.

It works by essentially trying the victim, rather than proving or disproving that a crime occured or the innocence or guilt of the charged party. You put the victim on trial, "prove" that they're not spotless, and somehow that translates into meaning the crime was justified and the criminal guiltless.

Worked for OJ, worked for Michael Jackson, worked for Robert Blake, and even "Brandy". And that's just off the top of my head.

Similar technique in making the innocent guilty and letting the guilty go free is the South Park "Wookie Defense". Sounds silly but it is eerily similar to how "high profile" cases get off the hook.

but..

how does it *sound*? If I have an old laptop (P3) with a messed up sound system, would something like this work? Would it make a good semi-portable DVD movie player with a nice set of 5-1 or 6-1 speakers?

As posted above, I want to *read* reviews. I want charts, numbers and graphs. The video is like those TV commercials trying to show you how much better the picture on their new TV was, when you were watching it on your old one.

Upgraded model?

now, with less cellulite!

err, they were referring to the model, not the PC?

great, they're gonna listen to the whiners who weren't gonna buy one in the first place, and turn it into yet another overpriced, power hungry wannabe mac book. All these "features" added will increase weight and cost and decrease reliability.

They need to get some of the "original flavor" EE's around here first.

Save the planet, ride a motorcycle

but don't mention the massively increased efficiency that petrol powered bikes have enjoyed over all cars for over 60 years. Rant on about how a toxic battery powered go-kart like the Prius is saving the world, but do everything you can to legislate bikes off of the roads. I'm looking at you, San Francisco. And the rest of California.

Even without catalytics, their total amount of nasty emissions are greatly reduced compared to even the smallest street-legal 4 wheel vehicles. My 07 FJR1300, (1.3L or around 80 cubes to you V twin guys) *with* catalytics still gets me a measured (actual riding conditions based on measured mileage and fuel input over a six month period) 40 MPG. This is in start and stop traffic, as well as unreasonably fast highway sprints of over 100MPH. On long trips of highway-only at 80+MPH I measure over 50 MPG. If I were to drive reasonably (remember all those 70's gas saving tips!) I could embarass the green-weenie "SMART Car" for mileage-and it only has a 1000cc (1L) motor.

But it's not about saving the earth, as Honda found out. It's about advertising the size of your Green Member. (they didn't sell enough "hybrids" because they looked too normal). It's about control and forcing people to buy things that Big Government can control. Remember the artifically controlled 'rolling blackouts' of a couple years ago in CA? If there was a true "power crisis", how come state and city officials could pick and choose when and where to shut down power? None of the big businesses were affected, nor were residences in more affluent parts of town.

How do you drive an electric car when the State decides to "save the planet" by cutting power to your neighborhood? Charge it with a few verses of Kumbaya and a handful of Carbon Credit Coupons?

I noticed over the years that SF removed the ability for scooters and motorcycles to park at greatly reduced rates on the street, removing yet another economic incentive to going two-wheeled. They don't even give tax breaks to 50cc Vespas getting 100MPG but they'll issue tax breaks to "hybrid" SUV's. Increased legislation aimed at motorcycles include laws saying you cannot install anything on your motorcycle that isn't done at the "licensed" dealer. Nor can you work on it yourself if these laws pass. All for "public safety" (Honor Harrington, anyone?) of course.

For those of us lacking the money and parking space to own two full cars, buying or leasing some electric toy (that can't be charged at home by any apartment dweller either) for short trips or grocery runs is a pipe dream that the elitist rich love to use to force people to stay untravelled and controlled. "Let them eat cake!" will not convince anyone to buy an EV. However, an inexpensive mid 80's or even late 90's metric cruiser with under 700cc's can be dressed up with enough cargo space for short trips and grocery runs and still run well under $3K (usually you'll come well under that). And in CA, riding is almost year round. In the rest of the country, any winter weather you couldn't ride in would kill the battery of an EV anyways. Or you'd spend a lot extra in energy for the heated garage...

the Green movement has become the biggest con-job and snake-oil sale of the century. People, government, and politicians are out to rip people off, screw over the weak and shaft the gullible all for their own power and money. Not caring that they're not only causing more environmental damage, but irreparably damaging the efforts of a very few actually doing the right thing.

Case in point-local car dealer wants to sell you a "new" SMART car. The 07 year SMART car is the first to be reliable enough and safe enough to sell in the US. This local dealer doesn't tell you that they're selling "converted" older model SMARTS (converted at a premium so you're paying over $24 THOUSAND for the go-kart) instead of the 07s which will sell at closer to $14K. Take into account that the previous years of SMART were so unreliable and such poor build quality the company went out of business in Europe and was bought out by Daimler-Chrysler. This "dealer" (also selling ZAP street legal golf carts-read up on the shady activity that ZAP's in trouble for) fails to mention that little fact, hoping to lure people in who've seen the small press blitz for the 07's and sell them a vastly inferior and overpriced product.

This becomes a serious problem when it goes from a "buyer beware" situation when CA government gets involved with either taxpayer-subsidized tax breaks or even forced purchase by making larger cars "illegal" or taxed separately. Then, government is forcing people to get scammed, and the scammers operating with government blessing.

Hybrid systems allow multiple charging options and allows the public independence. Proper electric car design using current technology can give us superior performance. Sell people a fair deal, home biodiesel generators, or range-extending generator trailers, and a car that costs close to it's petrol competition. Sell electrics on performance (I've driven both the EV1 and Honda's EV Plus extensively-it's fun to spin the tires on the Impact!) and you'll make inroads. You'll go farther than the con artists even if it takes a bit longer to make the huge profit.

And the truth to "who killed the electric car?" the Lawyers, and the lawsuit-happy, irresponsible society they infest. That's the true reason the Impacts had to be destroyed. Anyone who refuses to believe that is a big enough fool to buy into the rest of this BS "conspiracy", probably also believes in the AGW religion and is a "911 Truth-er" too.

it's almost cliche

with a name like "Dror Shalev" you're already half way to becoming an evil cybernetic overlord. Sounds vaguely similar to that guy that created the Daleks...

A cosmic tragedy-and a reality check

after decades of propaganda and hype, an Alien Gore convinced his world to abandon all technology to "save" their planet. After finally establishing equilibrium as millions died from disease, starvation, civil strife and exposure to the elements, their society finally emerged from it's Dark Age and began to prosper and grow anew.

Then the planet really started to heat up with the application of lots of nasty intergalactic radiation. Since they'd shut down "unnecessary" carbon-footprint-causing technology like telescopes, they had no warning. When their atmosphere began to fluoresce, they looked at their "forbidden" histories and despaired their lack of industrial infrastructure, to build the ships that might have allowed some life to survive. Cursing their own shortsightedness, life died under the searing steam tornadoes and later, to the ravages of interstellar cosmic radiation.

Cosmic events like the article describes tends to show just now little humans are worth in the Big Picture. Human will, human hubris, does *not* control the Universe. Our best efforts at changing even this tiny planet would last barely longer than the entire existence of the species-which is but a blink in just this world's lifetime. All the Kumbaya-singing and "carbon neutrality" nonsense is nothing more than a teddy bear to cuddle in the darkness-a replacement religion for those who are too self-absorbed to deal with established moral codes.

what f**king innocents?!

where do these bleeding heart "innocents on death row" stories come from?! Just because, after a decade, there's no witnesses left alive to retell the tale, or because after fifteen years a legal loophole or some fancy maneuvering got some guy off the hook, does *not* mean innocence!

That's just a debate-fodder fantasy. Finding a guy with a bloody knife in his hand, the slaughtered victim under his heel, the guy signing a confession and showing the videotape of th murder being committed...then some lawyer saying the cops didn't put the video in the right plastic baggie and forgot to read off the Miranda rights in three languages before taking the confession on non-approved paper and no ACLU lawyer present, does not change the fact. getting cases thrown out is *not* proof of innocence. It's an artificial construct, a judicial fairy tale.

Nor is it "innocence" or an "undeserved" execution when it takes multiple savage murders to get the courts' attention in the first place. Then when Prosecution fails (in it's legal gamesmanship versus the Defense storytelling and "what-if" wankerism) to prove one murder out of the rest (even if the others were proven) the case fails because some idiot made it a package deal.

The whole "he was innocent" argument is bogus. The legal system allows much more evil by letting murderers go free. If there's a "failure of deterrence" it's because, guess what, most murderers know it's practically *impossible* for them to be executed. How many murderers were incarcerated and convicted in New Jersey alone? How many were even suggested to get the death penalty? Of those who prosecutors tried to get a death sentence, how many actually got the scum onto Death Row? And of those, how many actually got put down like the rabid beasts they are? What percentage? Pretty good odds that it'll never happen-that's why the "deterrent' failed! A murderer has a better chance of winning a couple of bucks on a Lottery scratch ticket. Rapists, child molesters, etc have even *better* odds of avoiding the executioner. And that's just one state!

If a murderer knows he's definitely going to ride the lightning, you can damn sure bet no one's gonna knock off a store clerk for 50 bucks. If a serial rapist knows for sure he'll get a big ol' shot of less-than-anesthetized heart stopping chemistry, he might just think twice. Unless he's psychologically unwell, you say. Isn't that how Orwell defined every criminal and politically incorrect thought? a disease to be cured? Is all human behavior a symptom, to be classed as a disease whenever convenient? Nothing we do, are we responsible for it? Do I care when the f**ker breaks into my home because "Satan" told him to, or I find him laughing in jail while my son is being buried after a drive by shooting? Does it matter a decade later when the SOB is back in a second or third time, and other parents mourn their family? Is justice served by "treating" this schmuck the first time? Was Society served and public safety handled by "rehabilitating" him? Not in the least!

Long prison sentences merely give more time for more legal bullshit to break the system and avoid accountability and responsibility for criminals' actions, at the expense (not just money but public safety) of society.

Worst case scenario: with the death penalty, there's a tiny chance you *might* catch an "innocent". Without the death penalty, *many* innocents *will* die. Do the math, if common sense has failed you thus far.

The thumbs down is best used when thinking of a Roman emperor at a gladiatorial game. Put Them Down. Protect the innocent, protect society, for a change. The "save the crooks" isn't making things better anywhere.

distance an issue, get the newer model

the newer one (wired) uses a spring to fire an air plunger. I get 15-20 feet consistently with mine. Problem is, the software hates Windows 2000-doesn't render right so to click the buttons to steer, you gotta click off them a bit.

Now I know there's linux and windows support for batteries of these, but you've gotta use up USB ports for each. I wonder if one wireless transmitter can control multiple launchers. If they're fixed to one channel, no one else in line of sight can have one of these. If they're different channels, you'd have to have multiple transmitters.

With a multi channel option, I wonder if one of those widgets that amplify or increase the range on IR based television remotes would work as a range extender? Could I hack the IR output of my PDA to drive this as well? Hmmm.

a Reg shill-reporter?

let's cut the crap, okay?

the issue isn't about technology or capability. It's about what the company sells, what it tells you you're going to get for your money, versus what you actually get.

This is very simple. If you sell me "unlimited" use then it is "unlimited". If you put a download cap (not just bandwidth throttling) then you are "limiting". very very simple.

telling me you sell "blazing fast" internet connections and demonstrating to me how fast i can download stuff, then put a cork on downloads that come from a source you decide is too popular, is "bait and switch".

Crying about not having enough to "serve all our customers" is not the customers' problem. If you failed to modify your infrastructure and oversold capability (which Comcast et al was already doing over 6 years ago when cable modems first rolled out-which is why I never went back to them) is *your* problem. If an airline sells me a seat on an airplane, then oversells the seats, giving me a f*cking bus ticket isn't going to be allowed.

What happened here is providers sold what they thought was a cash cow for them-selling to rubes who would never utilize bandwidth or even come close to getting their money's worth. Comcast and others just sat on their @sses and laughed at all those "nerds" who bought the "high speed hype".

Then, people started using the pipe. It wasn't just nerd bragging rights now. Even Aunt Bea and Grandma needed a phat pipe because the Internet got too bloated. Advertisements on her favorite gardening site and email provider are even full video now. Web 2.0 dorks and out of work dot-commers flooded the net with eye candy and bloated sites to try to get recognition. A fast connection became mandatory. And the cable companies were caught with their pants down.

We wouldn't accept crap like this from cellular companies would we? Cell speeds and coverage are much better than even 4 years ago, no matter how sucky their customer service and billing systems are. Every provider has wireless data service many times faster than the fastest dialup connection. Even as far behind Japan as we are, even AT&T is getting faster, and they actually put a little of their profits into infrastructure expansion and improvement.

Not the cable guys tho. Not in tune with how fast they sold the stuff. They got people canvassing my neighborhood at least once a week. One hub, a thousand apartments, and Comcast failing to mention you're sharing that "high speed' with every damned one of them. They also forgot to mention back in the day that you were all on the same network-when I used them I could browse the C drives on every neighbor's PC who was in the same neighborhood hub.

Maybe instead of paying shills and lawyers, maybe they ought to either upgrade neighborhood hubs to a better technology, or if that isn't possible, actually be *honest* about what you do and don't get. Advertise the average speed measured in a given neighborhood. tell new cusomers that your speed goes down as soon as that condo/housing development goes online next month. Tell them that for anything but websurfing and MMORPG's, it's going to get even slower so that the websurfing and email can get thru. Stop using "unlimited" in ads.

Because most of the world aren't weasely lawyers and Clinton apologists who buy into convoluted arguments about 'what the definition of the word "is" is". Most understand the language, and the language of lies is what's causing Comcast the problems. Less money on weaseling out, more on doing things right.

And keep your f**king cable guys and their ads off my porch. I told each and every one of them I ain't paying $50 a month for channels spewing mostly ads, propaganda and sh*tty "reality TV". Then getting gypped for more to get the few channels I could stand, and still, no decent pr0n. Oh yeah, add on more cost to be able to pay for their "socialist internet" (everyone is equal, some are more equal than others) and I'd pay close to $90 a month (until the next rate increase!) to get less than I do now with DSL and a Netflix account (that costs me less than $50 total now). Plus I remain blissfully unaware of "hawt social trends" like which wanker won "dancing with the stars", or what new beer/car commercial is so awesome. I ain't paying for some corporate @rsehats to cram a sewer pipe into my living room. They'd better pay *me*.

"Nuts"?

don't give it ideas! at that height-one stiff-armed mechanical punch and "The Nutcracker" becomes more than a Christmastime theatrical production...

the PS3 will outsell the Wii when

the Ps4 comes out. Then they will sell the Ps3 for a reasonable price-for fanbois aside and nextgenHDTVBluRaynevergooutside types, a console is just a toy and the real world cannot justify that much money for a toy. Plus, the Ps3 is a complete waste without the HDTV infrastructure, so you have to realize that $500 console is really around $1500 by the time you get a reasonably sized HD set. If you spend that much time on your arse in front of the boob tube, then more power to ya. Don't talk to me about being "hard core"-sounds pretty soft and couch potato-ey to me. Hard core is something that requires effort, not just a big wallet. I doubt you're ever gonna throw out a shoulder playing (insert PC ported game here) on the PS3, unless you're reaching for the Cheetos and fall outta your chair. Trying to throw a 100mph fastball (my best still sucks at 80 mph-averaging closer to 70) and playing home-run derbies with your friends is a whole other ball game (pun intended).

I can't wait till someone makes a real baseball simulator-more control over pitching, base runs, outfield, etc would be awesome...maybe a new version of "Base Wars"?

instead of a virtual fence

why not build a f**king real solid fence instead of some fake, virtual "Second Life" crap?! Concrete, razor wire, and solar powered high voltage. Quit screwing around with security-I don't see this "virtual' security crap being used around "important" stuff-banks, Saudi Princes, Hollywood d*ckweeds-they all use real, nasty security-usually backed up by thugs with guns. Crime, slavery, and terrorism are real problems and not some Web 2.0 wankerism! Why do so many of these politicians think a swiss cheese border is a good thing?

Nevermind, it's that Fifth Column. Good job, Soviet Union! Looks like you won the Cold War after all.

@ TeeCee

perhaps they were working on "penetration testing" as well. It was a white-hat model. Depends on how fast it was going when it tanked, I suppose.

@ Mr. Greenwood

there's a "high degree of certainty" because no one in NASA is ever ever allowed to answer anything with certainty. Because if you've taken your math classes, you'd know that there is no such thing as 100% certainty in the real world. Those with sciency backgrounds can tell you there's all sorts of uncertainties Heisenbergian and potentials for atoms to do really weird quantum stuff. Those sick SOB's among you with political and MBA backgrounds know it's all about blame-the one guy who bets his career on a certain outcome, is the guy who will lose it (thanks to the political and MBA types making room for their own ilk)

Not leaving out the zoology guys-understanding the feeding and mating habits of the rabid weasel makes any bureaucratic response (or real scientists forced to deal with them) easier to predict and understand.

But seriously, if the guy were to have absolute certainty that the problem was fixed, the Media and political hacks would destroy him and as much of NASA as they possibly could if anything-even totally unrelated-were to go wrong.

what?

you're trying to tell me all those hawt chix don't really want to get to "know" me?

I'm crushed:P

What about all those girls from nearby parts of the city? They want me so bad they follow me from city to city, so whenever I log into a site that's hosting their ads, I see those same poor lonely girls are nearby me again! Poor things!

wow, so the government does some clean up

and still the leftists find a way to whinge about it. Why not put on your algorean Green Hat and celebrate the fact there's less toxic crap out and about leaking into the precious water tables and biospheres of Gaia?

As the article clearly stated, dirty bombs are about *disruption*. Which means, the Media and left wing anti Westerners will scream bloody murder when even a few roentgen worth of radiation from a handful of dust around a firecracker "contaminates" an area. You all will scream about "millions of years" of contamination and "drastically increased cancer risk!" and do everything to assist the terrorists in their goals of spreading fear.

Hippies and their ilk have turned "nuclear" into a boogieman, training over a generation to fear it's evil radioactive malevolence. All a "dirty bomb" has to do is tap into that field of fear. And that fear is dangerous enough. It causes economic damage, as well as physical harm when people panic. Law Enforcement gets overwhelmed and makes it a field day for all sorts of crooks. Panic in an urban environment is a very bad thing.

Many scream of an "artificial atmosphere" of fear being created (by the Government, not by the guys who actually send the press releases and blow up kids in busses, but that's a different psychosis to address) but when Government does something to alleviate that (as the "elite" wish to believe) artificial fear, the same people do their best to eliminate it's effectiveness. Hmm-looks like it's not just Government who gets off on maintaining fear, eh?

there's an old American saying that applies here:

"Them that has, gets."

Like millionaire stars getting high end electronic gizmos free in their Oscar night gift packs, that would cost the rest of us thousands of dollars. Or high end cars or custom bikes given to rich musicians or other famous folk-the same folk who would have already bought such a thing had they ever wanted one-so it's an expensive and totally wasted gesture.

Or people using influence and fame to get free necessities of life like meals all the time, when they never, ever need the charity. Or tax breaks so that the seven figures pouring in annually and being saved in the "scorecard" bank account don't get lowered to the high six figures.

If anything, why not have Negroponte give a few of his OLPC's out, then they can be real-world tested in the blasted burnt-mall wasteland of Southern CA?

I love their little dodge..

as long as local "law enforcement" follows "local" law, then Google hands it over without qualms. If "local law" states that "ISP's must immediately turn over all information about anyone who says naughty things about local dictators based only on the victims' say-so" then Google can just hand it right over and claim they're being good "global citizens". Following the laws of repressive regimes have never given anyone else carte blanch to do evil, why should Google be treated differently?

why so much hate..it could actually be a lucky Wii!

lucky for the seller, that is, if some chump buys it!:)

it's funny seeing used ones sell locally around here for $500. If my girl and I didn't play so much, I'd be tempted to cash in on folks who're incapable of shopping around for the things.

@ Anthony-

there is yet hope for the world when "Pinky and The Brain" are still remembered!

"Narf! Zoit!"