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Thirded - Electronic Lab 130-in-one Project Amazon sell them for $60US. http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Sports-Cards-MX-906-Electronic/dp/B00005K2SY

You might want to have a look at something like this: Electronic Lab 130-in-one Project http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Sports-Cards-MX-906-Electronic/dp/B00005K2SY

You would need to download Ubuntu, whose bundling availability via the book is not mentioned in the summary or the Amazon page linked.

Or you can get a copy from a friend if you know of someone who has Internet access and a 2 cent CD.

Or your local library can probably download one for you and you buy a 5-pack of blank CDs and give them the other four.

Or you can buy a 5-pack of them from Canonical for 5 pounds plus shipping and split the cost between a few people.

Or Amazon would be happy to sell you one in pretty packaging with a reference card and other materials for $25.
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-video-DVD-Training-Reference-commands/dp/B0018KUB6Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1271106869&sr=8-4

Or, if you're seriously cash-strapped, you can have Canonical mail you one for free (this option requires a bit of patience - they delay the shipments to prevent massive abuse of their largess). https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

I'm not saying they are totally ubiquitous, or that you can always find one for free, but in most places in the US you can probably find someone within twenty miles of you who would be willing to burn a CD for you at little or no cost. I've given about a half dozen of them to coworkers.

Even if you have to spend $25 to get it, that's still $75 less than the cheapest legal version of Windows Seven available in the US (Home Premium).

I was thinking the same thing. Shoot, http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=DC7100SFF-P430-RCD-3R&cat=SYS complete system here, minus keyboard, mouse and monitor, for $134.99, with Windows XP preinstalled! This one, http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EL1300G-01W-R&cat=SYS is $179.99, comes with Vista, keyboard, mouse, and speakers! (Granted, these are refurbished units).

I mean, where are you getting that you cannot buy an operating system and malware for microsoft for that price?
Here is XP for $69 http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Professional-System-Builders/dp/B000JTDV6M/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1271101580&sr=1-4 Several people have mentioned that you can get Vista and Windows 7 full versions for $99 http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-64-bit-English/dp/B000MFIPDC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1271101580&sr=1-7. Avast and AVG are free, and I know Avast at least now includes free malware protection. Spybot is free. Need I go on?

I was thinking the same thing. Shoot, http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=DC7100SFF-P430-RCD-3R&cat=SYS complete system here, minus keyboard, mouse and monitor, for $134.99, with Windows XP preinstalled! This one, http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EL1300G-01W-R&cat=SYS is $179.99, comes with Vista, keyboard, mouse, and speakers! (Granted, these are refurbished units).

I mean, where are you getting that you cannot buy an operating system and malware for microsoft for that price?
Here is XP for $69 http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Professional-System-Builders/dp/B000JTDV6M/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1271101580&sr=1-4 Several people have mentioned that you can get Vista and Windows 7 full versions for $99 http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-64-bit-English/dp/B000MFIPDC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1271101580&sr=1-7. Avast and AVG are free, and I know Avast at least now includes free malware protection. Spybot is free. Need I go on?

Who ever said you couldn't buy Photoshop by itself? It costs about $700, but it's a lot less than the full creative suite.
Try looking at amazon next time.

Yep. I can highly recommend these if you have a toddler/young child.

Wow, wait, if we just accept all liberal delusions, the world would be fine ?

stop worshipping people who can hit/catch/throw balls - sure, but why not include all entertainment ? All entertainment is useless. Why have Harry Potter, why have movies at all ? Why not all work like mindless drones in an environment that Jesuit monks would find "a bit bland" ? Surely society would work much better that way ?

wars kill people - yes, but they kill a lot less than not having wars. As bad as the American invasion was of Iraq in death toll, Saddam Hussein killed more, even compared on a yearly basis. And I suppose America should just have refused to do anything about Germany, so that the endlosung would, well, so that it would still be going on. Anyway, here's what Gandhi's policy accomplished against an actual enemy. It worked well to drive away people who meant well (even if they were seriously heavy handed), but here's what it did against a real enemy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India. Note that there are still constantly cases of Hindus "disappearing" in pakistan and bangladesh. Without war, America would be a slavery supporting nation. Of course, "progressives" "protect" all sort of cultures that practice slavery.

Of course it would be very unfair to call you on this, right ? Does "avoid war at all costs" support slavery ? In the real world, the answer is an obvious "yes". Does it support oppression and genocide ? In the real world, the answer is again obviously "yes". Would it end international trade before you can say "made in china" ? Defineately.

There is no god - I'm inclined to agree with you, however I wonder if that matters at all. Besides I am much more supportive of people choosing for themselves, without anyone laughing at them, or worse, than I am for forcing any religion (or "non-religion") on them.

In one of his short stories collected in Tales of Known Space , Larry Niven introduced an alien species that had developed the power to attract prey towards it telepathically. Consequently, these aliens no longer had a need to move around to sustain itself, and evolved into a sessile species that just sat there like a rock. At a time when health experts complain that young people are becoming too sedentary, is the potential of mind-controlled technology really that good a thing?

1. The cost, far higher than either of its rivals. I can afford it, but I can't justify it to myself - it feels like being screwed over.

How long ago was this?

Right now, the consoles are priced at:
Wii - $199 USD for the 512MB version. Only supports 480i/480p (NTSC) or 576i/576p (PAL) graphics modes. Supports Composite and Component video connectors. Can also play GameCube games, but requires GameCube controllers and memory cards to do so.
Xbox 360 - $199 USD for the 512MB version, $299 for the 120GB version (sometimes includes 1-2 games), $399 for the 250GB/2 Controller/1 game versions (current versions are Splinter Cell or Final Fantasy XIII, previously was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2). Supports Composite, Component, and HDMI video connectors. Doesn't support Wireless networking without buying a $100 external adapter. Charges a monthly fee for online gaming. Can also play Xbox (original) games. All versions come with 1 Headset to match one of its controllers.
PS3 - $299 USD for the 120GB version, $349 USD for the 250GB version. Supports Composite, Component, and HDMI video connectors. Hard Drive can be swapped for any 2.5" hard drive.

There's a great book about this, focusing on the NASA admin. who had to make it happen, both down the chain and maintaining Congress's attention up the chain. I've read it and highly recommend it:

http://www.amazon.com/Powering-Apollo-James-Webb-History/dp/0801862051

In our 8-man Document Management department, we use Documentum. Yes, that's 8 people just to support Documentum, and our users. It's been very effective for years, but there are a number of problems with it.

First, it is expensive. In fact, it is so expensive that we are seriously looking at Alfresco as an alternative due to how much ECM wants to charge us for extra seats.

Second, the official ECM support techs and consultants don't know the product very well. We have paid ECM twice to have them send a tech to look at our system and help us troubleshoot it. After we sent the second one back because we knew more than both of them about Documentum and how it runs, we haven't thought about calling them for any support since then. This is a common theme among Documentum shops.

Third, unofficial (community) support is scarce. Finding good information is very difficult, and when you do, it disappears quickly. Nobody wants to host the stuff for some reason.

If you do decide to use Documentum, check out dm_cram for training info, and this excellent book for understanding Documentum.

Look at how long it too for someone to completely 'solve' the game of checkers (using a computer)

Depends on your definition of 'solved' -- Samuelson's 'solution' was a brute force attack that relied heavily on position evaluation functions provided by human experts. [slightly off topic, I know, but...] Good discussion can be found in Dave Fogel's book, Blondie 24 The book discusses Samuelson's work in the background discussion, but its main subject is development of a checkers playing program from 'first principles' - only givens were the physics of the game (legal moves) and one heuristic: more pieces is better. Everything else was learned. The program was eventually playing at an expert level against human players on the web. My point, relevant to the post above: While simple games like checkers are considered 'solved' algorithmically by many in the AI community, those 'solutions' often actually rely heavily on the kind of human reasoning / intuition / learning -- combined with brute force evaluation of future move possibilities. [end off topic]

I've often seen the development of advanced robotics technology in Japan attributed to the desire of the Japanese to overcome their falling birthrates without allowing massive immigration. (The current demographics of Japan are wacky beyond anything in the US or the EU, see for example Coulmas' Population Decline and Ageing in Japan ). If there aren't enough Japanese entering the workforce to sweep floors, assemble parts and care for the elderly, then they feel the need to develop machines that can do it instead. Different social pressures could understandably lead to different technological developments. After all, didn't the Romans treat potential new technologies as mere toys because they had endless slave labor?

Chess and Go are actually EXPTIME-complete, even harder than NP-complete problems and PSPACE-complete problems.

In general, one-player games of bounded length (like Flood-It, or Sudoku) tend to be NP-complete; one-player unbounded games (like sliding-block puzzles, or Sokoban) tend to be PSPACE-complete; two-player bounded-length games (like Hex, or Amazons) also tend to be PSPACE-complete, and two-player unbounded games (like Chess, Checkers, and Go) tend to be EXPTIME-complete.

I can't resist here a plug for my book (with Erik Demaine), Games, Puzzles, and Computation, which discusses all these issues in detail. A theme running throughout the book is the same as the view expressed in this paper: most interesting games and puzzles seem to be as hard as their "natural" complexity class, outlined above.

FYI: IL*Surmovik is available for the PS3, and you can get a USB flight stick control. It's not perfect, but it does mostly work. (It's unplayable without the flight stick.)

In a sense, we've already outpaced science fiction. As recently as the 1990s, I enjoyed Larry Niven's Gil "the Arm" Hamilton stories (collected in Flatlander ), which foresaw a future so dependent on organ transplants for longevity that even the simplest of crimes like jaywalking would get the death penalty. With China in the news at the time for executing prisoners and harvesting organs, that kind of dystopian future seemed completely plausible. Niven didn't foresee alloplasty (gadgets instead of organs) becoming an alternative for centuries. But already stem cell research, nanotechnology and tissue printing shows that we are jumping directly to modifying the human body through purely artificial means.

Haha, most epic review ever. http://www.amazon.com/review/R3HESUQA4KOLP5/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000IZGIA8&nodeID=172282

will work great with this:
http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Office-WM-01-Laptop-Steering/dp/B000IZGIA8/ref=pd_sim_auto_1

Aw come on, you posted a picture of an item that can't be bought.

    My little girl would love it. She's 3, and has absolutely no fears. I'm sure she'd torment the neighbor kids with it though. :)

I have many problems with these numbers, how many of those are dual boot systems with Windows? I have three machines like that. I'm not sure of any reliable way to differentiate dedicated stand alone desktops. Ubuntu is the kind of thing I muck around with alot, people such as myself drag up the stats if they are trying to work it out from downloads, respository use stats.

Actually going by downloads would lower the number of installations. I can download Ubuntu once then install it on a thousand machines. You could have done that yourself, except installed it 3 tymes instead of a thousand. I could also burn the ISO onto a bunch of DVD/CDs and hand them out for others. Also books and packages with disks are available. Amazon lists 6 ubuntu 9.10 dvds and 35 books, however not all are strictly 9.10.

Falcon

I have many problems with these numbers, how many of those are dual boot systems with Windows? I have three machines like that. I'm not sure of any reliable way to differentiate dedicated stand alone desktops. Ubuntu is the kind of thing I muck around with alot, people such as myself drag up the stats if they are trying to work it out from downloads, respository use stats.

Actually going by downloads would lower the number of installations. I can download Ubuntu once then install it on a thousand machines. You could have done that yourself, except installed it 3 tymes instead of a thousand. I could also burn the ISO onto a bunch of DVD/CDs and hand them out for others. Also books and packages with disks are available. Amazon lists 6 ubuntu 9.10 dvds and 35 books, however not all are strictly 9.10.

Falcon

. But there's more (and this is where one of the article's assertions surprises me). TFA states:

Scientists have thought that gut bacteria might pick up genes from other microbes, a process known as lateral gene transfer, "but there hasn't been an example this clear before," says Ruth Ley, a microbiologist at Cornell University

. IANAMB, but I thought that it had been pretty clearly shown that ordinary gut bacteria could become antibiotic resistant, and that that resistance could be transferred to other, more nefarious bacteria via gene transfer. Somebody who knows something about this is hereby encouraged to chime in ...

After reading The Shadow Factory you might change your mind.

Consider this development along with yesterday's story on amateur radio, where so much is going on now in software, with people using mainly expensive radios with everything on inscrutable ICs, and fewer and fewer hams are building their own equipment. Radio Shack no longer offers the range of retail components that they did just a decade ago. As time goes by, there's less and less electronics in our daily lives which we have any chance of understanding ourselves. Technology companies have become a priesthood.

A basic income would eliminate poverty (and was endorsed by Nobel Prize winners):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
http://www.basicincome.org/bien/aboutbasicincome.html
http://www.usbig.net/
http://www.pdfernhout.net/basic-income-from-a-millionaires-perspective.html
The right amount of vitamin D would reduce sick care costs by maybe a third in industrialized countries:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
A good diet, occasional fasting, and moderate exercise would reduce another third or so of sick care expenses by helping people break out of a pleasure trap from supernormal stimuli:
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
Single payer health care in the USA would reduce expenses (for paperwork) by a third as well (these are not all additive, of course):
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer
Reinstating regulation on children's TV might help prevent damage to kids:
http://www.amazon.com/War-Play-Dilemma-Childhood-Education/dp/080774638X
http://www.amazon.com/So-Sexy-Soon-Sexualized-Childhood/dp/0345505077
A more vegetarian diet would also free up three-quarters of agricultural lands in the USA:
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/watmess/watmess_2002/2002html_summer/article6.htm
Renewable energy has been cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear, when you factor in the externalities, like pollution, defense spending, and risk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/oil-gas-crude/461
Switching to electric cars would probably reduce our electricity use, and eliminate the need for much oil (since it takes more electricity to refine the oil into gas than it would to run electric cars the same distance as a gallon of gas in an ICE car):
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm
We can develop the technology of being able to produce almost anything from commonly found raw materials:
http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/
We know how to make healthier communities:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Americas-Depression-Epidemic-Community/dp/1933392711
Nuclear weapons and military robots are ironic because the same technology could produce abundanc

A basic income would eliminate poverty (and was endorsed by Nobel Prize winners):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
http://www.basicincome.org/bien/aboutbasicincome.html
http://www.usbig.net/
http://www.pdfernhout.net/basic-income-from-a-millionaires-perspective.html
The right amount of vitamin D would reduce sick care costs by maybe a third in industrialized countries:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
A good diet, occasional fasting, and moderate exercise would reduce another third or so of sick care expenses by helping people break out of a pleasure trap from supernormal stimuli:
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
Single payer health care in the USA would reduce expenses (for paperwork) by a third as well (these are not all additive, of course):
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer
Reinstating regulation on children's TV might help prevent damage to kids:
http://www.amazon.com/War-Play-Dilemma-Childhood-Education/dp/080774638X
http://www.amazon.com/So-Sexy-Soon-Sexualized-Childhood/dp/0345505077
A more vegetarian diet would also free up three-quarters of agricultural lands in the USA:
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/watmess/watmess_2002/2002html_summer/article6.htm
Renewable energy has been cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear, when you factor in the externalities, like pollution, defense spending, and risk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/oil-gas-crude/461
Switching to electric cars would probably reduce our electricity use, and eliminate the need for much oil (since it takes more electricity to refine the oil into gas than it would to run electric cars the same distance as a gallon of gas in an ICE car):
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm
We can develop the technology of being able to produce almost anything from commonly found raw materials:
http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/
We know how to make healthier communities:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Americas-Depression-Epidemic-Community/dp/1933392711
Nuclear weapons and military robots are ironic because the same technology could produce abundanc

A basic income would eliminate poverty (and was endorsed by Nobel Prize winners):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
http://www.basicincome.org/bien/aboutbasicincome.html
http://www.usbig.net/
http://www.pdfernhout.net/basic-income-from-a-millionaires-perspective.html
The right amount of vitamin D would reduce sick care costs by maybe a third in industrialized countries:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
A good diet, occasional fasting, and moderate exercise would reduce another third or so of sick care expenses by helping people break out of a pleasure trap from supernormal stimuli:
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
Single payer health care in the USA would reduce expenses (for paperwork) by a third as well (these are not all additive, of course):
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer
Reinstating regulation on children's TV might help prevent damage to kids:
http://www.amazon.com/War-Play-Dilemma-Childhood-Education/dp/080774638X
http://www.amazon.com/So-Sexy-Soon-Sexualized-Childhood/dp/0345505077
A more vegetarian diet would also free up three-quarters of agricultural lands in the USA:
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/watmess/watmess_2002/2002html_summer/article6.htm
Renewable energy has been cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear, when you factor in the externalities, like pollution, defense spending, and risk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/oil-gas-crude/461
Switching to electric cars would probably reduce our electricity use, and eliminate the need for much oil (since it takes more electricity to refine the oil into gas than it would to run electric cars the same distance as a gallon of gas in an ICE car):
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm
We can develop the technology of being able to produce almost anything from commonly found raw materials:
http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/
We know how to make healthier communities:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Americas-Depression-Epidemic-Community/dp/1933392711
Nuclear weapons and military robots are ironic because the same technology could produce abundanc

A basic income would eliminate poverty (and was endorsed by Nobel Prize winners):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
http://www.basicincome.org/bien/aboutbasicincome.html
http://www.usbig.net/
http://www.pdfernhout.net/basic-income-from-a-millionaires-perspective.html
The right amount of vitamin D would reduce sick care costs by maybe a third in industrialized countries:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
A good diet, occasional fasting, and moderate exercise would reduce another third or so of sick care expenses by helping people break out of a pleasure trap from supernormal stimuli:
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
Single payer health care in the USA would reduce expenses (for paperwork) by a third as well (these are not all additive, of course):
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer
Reinstating regulation on children's TV might help prevent damage to kids:
http://www.amazon.com/War-Play-Dilemma-Childhood-Education/dp/080774638X
http://www.amazon.com/So-Sexy-Soon-Sexualized-Childhood/dp/0345505077
A more vegetarian diet would also free up three-quarters of agricultural lands in the USA:
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/watmess/watmess_2002/2002html_summer/article6.htm
Renewable energy has been cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear, when you factor in the externalities, like pollution, defense spending, and risk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/oil-gas-crude/461
Switching to electric cars would probably reduce our electricity use, and eliminate the need for much oil (since it takes more electricity to refine the oil into gas than it would to run electric cars the same distance as a gallon of gas in an ICE car):
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm
We can develop the technology of being able to produce almost anything from commonly found raw materials:
http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/
We know how to make healthier communities:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Americas-Depression-Epidemic-Community/dp/1933392711
Nuclear weapons and military robots are ironic because the same technology could produce abundanc

A basic income would eliminate poverty (and was endorsed by Nobel Prize winners):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
http://www.basicincome.org/bien/aboutbasicincome.html
http://www.usbig.net/
http://www.pdfernhout.net/basic-income-from-a-millionaires-perspective.html
The right amount of vitamin D would reduce sick care costs by maybe a third in industrialized countries:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi111.html
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
A good diet, occasional fasting, and moderate exercise would reduce another third or so of sick care expenses by helping people break out of a pleasure trap from supernormal stimuli:
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasure-Trap-Mastering-Undermines-Happiness/dp/1570671508
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/039306848X
Single payer health care in the USA would reduce expenses (for paperwork) by a third as well (these are not all additive, of course):
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer
Reinstating regulation on children's TV might help prevent damage to kids:
http://www.amazon.com/War-Play-Dilemma-Childhood-Education/dp/080774638X
http://www.amazon.com/So-Sexy-Soon-Sexualized-Childhood/dp/0345505077
A more vegetarian diet would also free up three-quarters of agricultural lands in the USA:
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/watmess/watmess_2002/2002html_summer/article6.htm
Renewable energy has been cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear, when you factor in the externalities, like pollution, defense spending, and risk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/oil-gas-crude/461
Switching to electric cars would probably reduce our electricity use, and eliminate the need for much oil (since it takes more electricity to refine the oil into gas than it would to run electric cars the same distance as a gallon of gas in an ICE car):
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm
We can develop the technology of being able to produce almost anything from commonly found raw materials:
http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/
We know how to make healthier communities:
http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Americas-Depression-Epidemic-Community/dp/1933392711
Nuclear weapons and military robots are ironic because the same technology could produce abundanc

You do not have to learn a new language such as C++ to do object oriented programming.

It's hard to believe that it takes time.

Yet I still can recall that it took me a week to swallow the ~5 pages on OO theory in Turbo Pascal 5.5 book. It was 15 years ago, but I still can recall the struggle.

I managed to grasp all of it - finally - only after reading twice the Booch's OOAD. In the end that cost me probably a month or two of my spare time.

I feel that it was time well invested. But OO in practice isn't really that much and generally overrated. It often saves typing, but as touch typists I can't really relate to the sentiment.

That's for pussies. Eat this. Hungarian post-soviet socio-drama in 435 minutes!

I sort of research in this area (only sorta, but enough to keep up and know about half the people in it). So I can't help but throw out some additional resources, which you can interpret as "stuff I like".

FWIW, the general idea is usually referred to as "serious games", with a bunch of terms like "persuasive games", "games for change", "games with a purpose", "political games", "news games", etc. having more specific meanings.

I personally rather like Ian Bogost's book on the subject, which, contrary to a lot of stuff in this space, is more measured in talking about both the possible benefits and likely pitfalls. Although I love the idea and think it has a lot of promise, I've got to admit most attempts to make "serious" or "political" or "world-changing" games fall flat. Anyone played McCain's 2004 campaign game, "John Kerry Tax Invaders"? It's exactly what you think it is: a space-invaders clone with John Kerry tax bills coming down at you, in place of aliens. Hilarious, but kind of stupid. So I think it's important to not be fan-boyish about it, and figure out what would make the medium actually flourish for these sorts of purposes. (FWIW, Bogost also has a former blog on "games with an agenda", and a interesting Colbert appearance).

An interesting precursor is Chris Crawford's 1980s games, which tackled subjects like the Cold War and the environment in interesting ways. He's now giving away a .txt of a book describing the design behind Balance of Power (1986), still something of a high-water mark in combining the simulation genre with attempts to really make people think about the real world.

For more recent games, specifically in response to news events, some of which have activist content and some of which are just commentary, there's also a newsgame index. In addition, there's a recent paper discussing whether and how newsgames might become the 21st century's equivalent of political cartoons.

Don't fall for the ham scam!

BEWARE .... radio is *not* made of Ham, but rather made of plastic.

This review is from: Galaxy DX2517 10 Meter Base Ham Radio

I had wanted to get a radio made of ham for an anniversary present, but unfortunately I didn't read the product description properly. This also isn't actually 10 meters big, I was hoping for an approx. 30 foot in circumference radio made of ham. It's much smaller than that and fits on a small desk.

There's an interesting write up here.

    It doesn't fully back what he was saying, but does suggest that the media did play up the response to the show more than actually happened. Oh, imagine that. :)

    What he says seems to come from the Wikipedia article, which cite this book and this book. Both books were published over 60 years after the events happened. Actual evidence shows that people did evacuate, or at least gather in Gover's Mill. There were many calls placed in to the police, radio stations, etc...

    The "frequent interruptions" were 3. One at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. I have listened to the show, and that's how I recall it, but one of these days I'll sit down and listen again. Maybe in a couple years with my daughter, when she's old enough to believe. :)

There's an interesting write up here.

    It doesn't fully back what he was saying, but does suggest that the media did play up the response to the show more than actually happened. Oh, imagine that. :)

    What he says seems to come from the Wikipedia article, which cite this book and this book. Both books were published over 60 years after the events happened. Actual evidence shows that people did evacuate, or at least gather in Gover's Mill. There were many calls placed in to the police, radio stations, etc...

    The "frequent interruptions" were 3. One at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. I have listened to the show, and that's how I recall it, but one of these days I'll sit down and listen again. Maybe in a couple years with my daughter, when she's old enough to believe. :)

Minor point, but Amazon has never placed any restrictions on their MP3s, hence why I buy them.

I was talking about their video service. You can buy movies and TV shows, watch them on your computer or Tivo. Nice idea, but if I buy from Amazon, can I play it on an iPad? If I buy a movie from iTunes, can I play it on an Android-based phone?

Nope. I'm locked into a handful of supported devices. What's more, not everything is available in HD (even if the Bluray has been released and the studio obviously has an HD copy), so they're *already* trying to force you to buy a crappier version so they can force you to re-buy it in HD down the line.

I'd like to know just how people come up with the assertion that the pronunciation of words (such as Knight) have drastically changed when there aren't recordings of such words to be heard.

The K continues to be pronounced in other Germanic languages. Compare German Knabe to English knave. The logical conclusion is that English innovated in pronunciation (and stagnated in spelling) while other languages in this instance retained older features.

The reconstruction of older stages of a language is not perfect -- in his compendium of Latin pronunciation Vox Latina , W. Sidney Allen notes that we may never know the minute details that distinguished the accent of one Roman city from adjacent regions. However, in the main, determining the general phonology of earlier stages of a language is considered reliable. The science of historical linguistics is over 200 years old now and it retains the same fundamentals though some theories come and go.

As with any comedy, some of its great and some of it fails, and a lot is in between. But some of the people on Amazon are basically review comedians, and they're really really good. And maybe the best funny-per-word ratio, of uranium ore:

I purchased this product 4.47 Billion Years ago and when I opened it today, it was half empty.

Yes. Even a magazine is too heavy, but usually you can rest it on your chair/lap until you need to turn the page. Now you have this gadget that needs lots of user input/interaction...hello gorilla arms. It isn't the ability to lift and hold the device or media, it is the need to continuously hold it and interact with it for long periods of time that becomes the problem.

I compiled some weights to compare items you hold in front of you (or don't in case of textbook):

Wii Remote / Nunchuk: 3.1oz / 2.6oz
1984 Paperback 248pgs: 5.6oz
Kindle: 10.2oz
People Magazine: 11.5oz
Kindle DX: 19oz
War and Peace paperback 1424pgs: 19oz
Ipad: 25oz
Average Physics Textbook: 58oz

Yes. Even a magazine is too heavy, but usually you can rest it on your chair/lap until you need to turn the page. Now you have this gadget that needs lots of user input/interaction...hello gorilla arms. It isn't the ability to lift and hold the device or media, it is the need to continuously hold it and interact with it for long periods of time that becomes the problem.

I compiled some weights to compare items you hold in front of you (or don't in case of textbook):

Wii Remote / Nunchuk: 3.1oz / 2.6oz
1984 Paperback 248pgs: 5.6oz
Kindle: 10.2oz
People Magazine: 11.5oz
Kindle DX: 19oz
War and Peace paperback 1424pgs: 19oz
Ipad: 25oz
Average Physics Textbook: 58oz

Like this review of The Secret?

It's really the density that gets you; the thing is surprisingly heavy for its size.

The density? So you're saying if they made it less dense, it would be somehow better? Since density is a function of mass & size, there are two ways to achieve this: remove mass without changing the size (bye-bye, battery, wireless chipset, screen, and casing!), or increase size while maintaining the overall mass (hello boombox-sized iPad!)

If a pound and a half is too heavy for your hands and arms to hold, then what you're probably looking for is called a clipboard or a legal pad. Both slightly less functional than an iPad, but I hear they're both far more accessible to tinkerers, and the displays are just like reading on paper, even better than eInk.

For the record - the shipping weight of this book is listed at 1.9 pounds, according to Amazon. I read this book for hours at a stretch when I discovered it back in high school. If you've ever sat down with a decent sized hardcover novel and found yourself saying, "I just can't get over how heavy and uncomfortable this 1.5 pound book is," then you MIGHT want to think about spending some more time at the gym. I'm not in particularly great shape, but my arms and hands can handle a pound and a half pretty easily, in a form factor and use case remarkably similar to a hardcover book. So let's do a scientific comparison.

• The Stand (linked above, hardcover)
• • 8.3 x 5.9 x 2.1 inches gives it a volume of 102.8 cubic inches;
  • Weighs 1.9 pounds
  • Has a density of 0.02 pounds per cubic inch.
• The iPad (per apple's specs)
• • 9.56 x 7.47 x 0.5 inches gives it a volume of 35.7 cubic inches
  • weights 1.5 pounds
  • Has a density of 0.04 pounds per cubic inch.

The Stand has a weight distribution that is uneven as you read through the book, as more pages shift from one side of the spine to the other once they are read. This increases rotational forces on the wrist and fingers substantially when the book is held one-handed. It is also about 1 inch shorter, but nearly 5 inches wider when open, increasing the likelihood that a second hand will be needed just to hold the book up. So while the density of The Stand is half the density of the iPad, it's clear that the difference in dimensions will also come into play, making density a contributing factor in comfort, but not the sole concern.

It can. Just not to everyone. I can't stand Faulkner but really like Steinbeck and some Hemingway.

A good place to get an idea on why 'the great books' are great is The Western Canon by Harold Bloom. Yeah, yeah, an old white guy going on and on about books mostly written by old white guys. Still, he explains pretty well and easily understood why he thinks they're important and what's interesting about them.

No, typically the crowd outsmarts the smartest ones in the crowd. http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-James-Surowiecki/dp/0385721706

It's normal industry-speak for the person who Runs the Show, and has been for a decade.

In addition to the other links you're getting about Kindle Hacking, which doesn't seem to be too hard and opens up a world of Linux possibilities, there's also an official Kindle Development Kit.

There might be a truly locked down device out there, and it's annoying that more manufacturer's don't make their devices more open platforms, but I don't know how much there is to complain about, really. The bottom line is that for most people who actually care about how open their devices are, there's usually a way to get what they want, even if it isn't what they want out of the box.

Where can I get a normal tablet computer for the price of an ipad?

Well, I have no idea. You can get them cheaper though.

Awesome burn.

Where can I get a normal tablet computer for the price of an ipad?

Well, I have no idea. You can get them cheaper though.

You could always find an Asus Eee PC on eBay and bid $499 for it. I'm sure the seller would be happy to oblige.

Been working on brushing up on math as well, this book has a lot of breadth and has been great for me: http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Nonmathematician-Dover-explaining-science/dp/0486248232