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hydrogen is a net energy loser. It takes more energy to create hydrogen than it creates from burning it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=99463&pa ge=1/

quote --

And where does that energy normally come from? It is produced by burning fossil fuels -- the stuff we're trying to get away from -- in processes that use more energy than the extracted hydrogen is likely to produce. That's called a net energy loser, and until someone solves that problem hydrogen power isn't going to go anywhere.

quote -- The bottom line is that - if we create hydrogen from burning fossil fuels, then we actually burn more energy latent in those fossil fuels than we gain from the hydrogen end product. If we create the hydrogen from renewable sources such as wind and solar then hydrogen is no longer viable because of the enormous amount of power generating devices (wind turbines, solar panels etc) required.

Office is the standard, and for 99% of people that use it, it's flawless.

Great to know MS Office isn't responsible for all these problems

First, you're making the wrong assumption that rich people are conservative. I'm sorry, but that's just plain wrong. Look at this. Yes, I know it's from Rush Limbaugh, but I won't accept an ad hominem attack on him. An anecdote: in my state, Wyoming, only one county went for Kerry: Teton county, home of Jackson Hole, which is where all the rich, out-of-state people live. Teton county has about 15,000 residents and 20,000 people employed there (because people can't afford to live there, so they have to commute). Next, journalists are liberals, and they decide what to report. I think it should open some eyes when you have ABC saying they need to hold Bush to a higher standard of truth than Kerry, or when you have the Newsweek editor or publisher (I can't remember which) saying that positive coverage of Kerry is worth 15% (later revised downward to 5%). Sorry, but the data don't fit your proposed explanation, so the explanation has to be wrong.

I think it's important to tell the whole truth. The media never mentions when we open schools, when we open hospitals, when we improve infrastructure, or anything else like that. The media is only telling one side of the Iraq story, and it's the side designed to harm American morale. Why don't they start reporting on the good things that are happening over there as well?

The Kerry by 20 in PA came from early numbers, and Karl Rove was even quoted mentioning it. They had Kerry tied in North Carolina. However, when the exit polls vary far from months of previous polling, that's got to be pretty telling.

John McCain is liberal relative to most other republicans; the same is true with Arlen Spector. However, in general, they're centrists. That final remark was food for thought. Next, Bill Clinton raised the top income tax rate from George H.W. Bush. Also, economically speaking, Bill Clinton is a moderate, and Barry Goldwater was a social conservative (and a nutcase in my opinion. 1964 was the last time that Wyoming went Democrat). Goldwater suggested doing nothing with the taxes, Clinton raised them. However, this whole analogy is flawed: you're comparing apples to oranges here. Furthermore, Bush made the income tax system MORE progressive. Crunch the numbers instead of relying on baseless allegations about how Bush is only taking care of the wealthy.

...bloggers are only one of ABC's "people of the year." Others include the Spiridellis Brothers and Joseph Darby.

...bloggers are only one of ABC's "people of the year." Others include the Spiridellis Brothers and Joseph Darby.

• People of the Year: Spiridellis Brothers
• People of the Year: Bloggers
• People of the Year: Google Guys
• People of the Year: Joseph Darby
• People of the Year: Mary Fetchet

• People of the Year: Spiridellis Brothers
• People of the Year: Bloggers
• People of the Year: Google Guys
• People of the Year: Joseph Darby
• People of the Year: Mary Fetchet

• People of the Year: Spiridellis Brothers
• People of the Year: Bloggers
• People of the Year: Google Guys
• People of the Year: Joseph Darby
• People of the Year: Mary Fetchet

• People of the Year: Spiridellis Brothers
• People of the Year: Bloggers
• People of the Year: Google Guys
• People of the Year: Joseph Darby
• People of the Year: Mary Fetchet

• People of the Year: Spiridellis Brothers
• People of the Year: Bloggers
• People of the Year: Google Guys
• People of the Year: Joseph Darby
• People of the Year: Mary Fetchet

I don't watch the local news, too depressing.

The closest to an announcement he has made was the letters of condolence. Other than that, it seems whitehouse spokesman Duffy has been doing the talking.

The commitment of 15 million is less than half of what the Europeans are sending.

The administration point was secondary. I was more annoyed that clearing brush from his ranch was more important to Bush. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=36527 3)

I'm more interested in what people think this will do for Pakistan-India relations. Especially from people from either of those countries who have a better sense of it.

But hey, we Americans don't care. Since only 8 Americans died (thus far) in the trajedy, the news isn't covering it the way you might think they would for a single event that has caused (so far) over 20,000 dead.

And since when did you get to speak for all of Americans? If you haven't noticed, tsunami story have been on the front pages of all major U.S. media websites, such as CNN, Fox News, NBC News, and ABC News. Are you so freaking lazy that you're only capable of watching/reading news if it's shown on prime time TV on Fox?

What's really sad is that the bias reflects most Americans: They don't care about it, since Americans weren't affected that much (except the 8 that died). Typical Americans, at most, only care enough to ask "Could this happen to us in America?"

While your actions will most likely be limited to bitching on Slashdot and maybe various other forums, there's already some relief campaigns starting in the U.S.

Having volunteered in soup kitchens in the past, I've noticed that most of the fellow volunteers were from church groups, preppies from various high school and college clubs/organizations, and select few who need to get their court ordered community service done. There are plenty of Americans who do care. Granted, there are also plenty who don't give a damn (and some who act like they care but won't anything about it exact bitching), but because because you fall into this catagory doesn't means every other Americans do as well.

Imagine, the Indian people aren't interested in the patent issue. Could it have anything to do with the fact that 3000 or more people were killed by a tsunami?

If I were in India, I wouldn't be to concerned with patents right now either.

And if that number isn't big enough, they're saying a million people displaced from their homes.

There are several things we do not know. The most important things is why those ballots were rejected. There are real and legal reasons to reject a ballot. Reasons such as they are not a citizen of the United States or they are a college student trying to vote where they are going to college instead of getting an absentee ballot from where they are from like you are supposed to do.

It is also known that the Democrats use the inner city to get more votes by having people vote more than once. There is no real system to insure that everyone who is supposed to vote votes just once. Remember the registration cards for crack cocaine scandal?

There is also such a thing as voter responsibility. Take Florida. If a person votes for more than one person for President of the United States, that ballot shouldn't be counted--even if it's just a dimple.

Democrats won't ever stop complaining because in their minds they won--even if they only get 1 vote! I am always a little suspicious about ballots that are suddenly found or were previously rejected!

I hope the Republican continue to fight this. The United States needs another Liberal in office like I need another hole in my head. Don't people learn from California's 80 Billion-dollar liberal fiasco.

If we continue to marginalize "dorks" who read math books, then we're going to be in big trouble down the road.

I for one welcome our new, math-knowing, Finnish overloards!

And our math-knowing Korean overloards.

And our math-knowing... eh, forget it. At least we beat Portugal.

The official website for the film (http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/) makes heavy use of Flash, and the Flash-free pages failed to load for me in Mozilla.

I like what Michael Crichton says in his recent book that will soon be published:

Michael Crichton Article

I have a lot of respect for Michael Crichton. With countless number one selling books not to mention a medical degree under his belt, I think the man is very smart.

Yes, let's take a look at the NHLPA. They just offered owners a 24% decrease in salary, which the owners rejected. How many /. readers are offering to work for 76% of their current salary for the same work? I know they're making a bundle, but the owners signed the contracts...

Extreme Makeover:Home Edition is growing in popularity. Find good people & do something great for them. Do you wonder why so many companies & celebrities want to be associated with it? A lot of those blue-shirted workers who demolish the home in the first few days donate their time. Even the craftsmen & women do their work for free.

Build it and they will come.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=328977

LOS ANGELES Dec 14, 2004 -- The U.S. film industry is preparing to sue computer server operators in the United States and Europe who help relay digitized movie files across online file-sharing networks, a source familiar with the movie studios' plans said Tuesday.

The lawsuits are aimed at disrupting the unauthorized distribution of movie files through BitTorrent and eDonkey, two popular online file-swapping services, the source associated with the effort The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Calls to the Motion Picture Association of America were not immediately returned Tuesday. The trade group was expected to formally announce the lawsuit campaign at a news conference in Washington scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

BitTorrent and eDonkey work differently but both enable computer users to share music, film, software and other files.

Both services have steadily gained in popularity after the recording industry began cracking down last year on users of Kazaa, Morpheus, Grokster and other established file-sharing software.

To disrupt BitTorrent users, the movie studios' lawsuits will target U.S.-based tracking servers that help direct how the bits of data move between users, the source said.

Similarly, the film industry's litigation will target eDonkey servers in Europe that also help relay data between computer users, the source said.

It was not immediately clear how many server operators would be sued or when the lawsuits would be filed.

Hollywood movie studios have become more proactive recently in their efforts to stamp out the unauthorized trading of films online, which the studios say has the potential to threaten their industry, particularly as bandwidth makes the large movie files easier to download.

By comparison, music files are far smaller and swapped at greater volume.

Last month, the studios began suing computer users for swapping digitized films online for copyright infringement. The industry has also been a party to lawsuits against Kazaa, Morpheus and Grokster.

The industry failed to persuade U.S. federal courts to shut down the services, and is awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I can't find anything about it online, but while at Champaign we were told that the University of Illinois' library system was the second largest in the country, behind Harvard. Oh yeah, and our basketball team is #1 :-) And sorry to all you Michigan folk out there, it's just been a while since I've been able to say that!!

Uh, actually, no. :)

-fren

The NFL does not have anti-trust exemption like Baseball. From ESPN.COM article
Q: Why don't other sports have the antitrust exemption?
A: For 18 years after Toolson, in case after case, judges admitted that the baseball exemption was flawed, but it was never overruled. Exemptions for boxing, football and basketball were denied in the higher courts, while hockey and golf antitrust exemptions were also denied in the lower courts
In fact baseball's anti trust exemption keeps being dwindled away by congress
In 1972, Curt Flood's case -- which also challenged baseball's reserve system -- reached the Supreme Court and although it was again acknowledged that baseball's antitrust exemption was "an anomaly," the Court ruled that it is up to Congress to change baseball's antitrust exemption.
Further reduction of the anti-trust exemption could be coming up soon with the issue of steroids becoming an item on political agendas. Congress will look to pass regulations and possibly remove the exemption if baseball does not police itself steroid use.

I did not actually say that the White House would dismiss it, only that it would be easier to do so if they so desired. They could use the fact that it was an "embedded" reporter to question the creditability of the soldier who felt that the Army is not doing enough to armor their vehicles because it appears, like Rumford answered, that they are doing what needs to be done to armor their vehicles.

I will admit that I did not read the whole transcript until now, thank you for providing the source. However, Rumsfeld answered the question by stating that "Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce the armor necessary at a rate that they believe - it's a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously, but a rate that they believe is the rate that is all that can be accomplished at this moment."

Yet, several days later, we are learning that a company that provides armor for the Army is only at half its capacity. One of many news articles that reflect this can be found here. Of course, logistics is only part of the problem, but the fact that question was phrased by a journalist compromises the perceived necessity of the armor for their vehicles. To me, this means that the problem is not going to be addressed.

If they don't have a spare gun handy, I'm sure they could just borrow one from the neighbors.

Mal-2

Paper Regrets Handling of Rumsfeld Story

It turns out that an "embedded" reporter had helped frame the question for Rumsfield. However, even if that is true, the question did garner a applause from other soldiers, so it would not be too far from the truth. But, it was still misleading and may ruin the creditably of the question, making it easier for the Whitehouse to dismiss it.

It looks like BitTorrent may be next on the list. MPAA spokesman declines to say whether the trade group intends to sue Cohen. They'd have a harder time proving that BitTorrent is primarily used for copyright infringement though, due to the many legitimate uses.

Dec. 9, 2004 --At Camp Buerhing in Kuwait on Wednesday, Wilson -- known as "Jerry" to family and friends -- asked Rumsfeld why the U.S. Army requires its soldiers to "dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal" to bolster armor on their vehicles.

Although I seriously doubt the folks at Google are shuddering over this new "rival", you can't overlook the potential benefit to American companies who are looking to do business in the world's largest consumer market.

Nike being a prime example - it's also quite difficult when the Chinese government decides to ban Nike Commercials because having Lebron James defeating cartoons of "a kung fu master, two women in traditional Chinese attire and a pair of dragons", were all "insulting" to their country's image.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=239735 (video)

Doug Chapin, a nonpartisan election analyst, finds the claims to be baseless. "There were no problems that would lead me to believe that there were stolen elections or widespread fraud," he said.

"There was no overwhelming reason to cast doubt on the outcome of this election," seconded Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, the campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 campaign. "George Bush got more votes this time."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/11 /10/internet_buzz_on_vote_fraud_is_dismissed/

Much of the traffic is little more than Internet-fueled conspiracy theories, and none of the vote-counting problems and anomalies that have emerged are sufficiently widespread to have affected the election's ultimate result.

Kerry campaign officials and a range of election-law specialists agree that while machines made errors and long lines in Democratic precincts kept many voters away, there's no realistic chance that Kerry actually beat Bush.

''No one would be more interested than me in finding out that we really won, but that ain't the case," said Jack Corrigan, a veteran Kerry adviser who led the Democrats' team of 3,600 attorneys who fanned out across the country on Election Day to address voting irregularities.

''I get why people are frustrated, but they did not steal this election," Corrigan said. ''There were a few problems here and there in the election. But unlike 2000, there is no doubt that they actually got more votes than we did, and they got them in the states that mattered."

''I think it's safe to say that on the votes that were cast in Ohio, Bush won," said Dan Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University who is working with the ACLU to challenge Ohio's use of punch-card ballots. ''If the margin had been 36,000 rather than 136,000, we would have seen another post-election meltdown."

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/11436220p-1 2350492c.html

All three said their networks had set up investigative units to review any claims of voter fraud or problems with electronic voting technology this year, but that nothing significant had appeared anywhere to affect the election's outcome.

"A lot of the allegations we've looked into, they're just not true," Shapiro said. "Believe me, I'd love a juicy story about the election as much as anybody. Florida was a great story, but it's just not there this time."

As for exit polls, often brought up in the context of electronic voting, here is one expert's view:

I think the important thing about exit polls is they show us why people won and the dynamics of the race. The mistake most people make is they see polls as a horse-race, but they are actually the explanation of what happened.

The polls may have been wrong about who won, but they were right about explaining why people voted the way they did. If you don't have polls, you allow the elites and candidates to interpret the elections in their own interest. Polls, in many ways, are crucial to democracy.

If you look at previous elections, you can see that exit polls are always different the day after the election. Exit polls ultimately are always right, though they are never right originally. This is because polls have to be weighted with the actual vote to be completely accurate. The vote, of course, can't be factored in until the election is completed. If the exit polls are not "corrected" in this way, then the analysis of the election will always be flawed. So after the polls have closed, exit poll

Gradually, TV and movies have devolved into very little content, but a lot of sex and violence.

How do you know? You haven't watched TV in four years.

But of course, we must pander to the mindless majority. If someone speaks up, he/she is just an old prude who wants to stop everyone else's fun.

No, he/she is someone who thinks they are smarter than everyone else, and should therefore make their decisions for them.

And you are free, of course, to use your first ammendment right to support the dumbing down of America.

And you are also free to not support the "dumbing down" by not watching this crap. I don't like it either, but there are alternatives to broadcast smut. Before "moral" groups start taking away my choices, perhaps they should exercise some restraint like you did.

Story from ABC News

ABC News also has a report on the hoax. The BBC was duped, plain and simple.

Found this two minutes after this "story" was posted:

BBC Says Dow Interview an 'Elaborate Deception'

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2 99657

'Denny (FUCKING!) Crane....'

According to this article, Alias Media, and your site, you were audition for Alias. are you going be an agent?

We had a whole industry based on this in Norway a while ago, until Ford pulled the plug on it. Thanks for stifling our innovation!

Think
and Think again

Nah, with the occasional exception, hockey players mainly fight one another. The Pistons-Pacers brawl was excellent entertainment, though, and the moral outrage of the US media may actually have been funnier.

Thank the Lord for Bill Simmons.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

Already done.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=239735 (video)

Doug Chapin, a nonpartisan election analyst, finds the claims to be baseless. "There were no problems that would lead me to believe that there were stolen elections or widespread fraud," he said.

"There was no overwhelming reason to cast doubt on the outcome of this election," seconded Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, the campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 campaign. "George Bush got more votes this time."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/11 /10/internet_buzz_on_vote_fraud_is_dismissed/

Much of the traffic is little more than Internet-fueled conspiracy theories, and none of the vote-counting problems and anomalies that have emerged are sufficiently widespread to have affected the election's ultimate result.

Kerry campaign officials and a range of election-law specialists agree that while machines made errors and long lines in Democratic precincts kept many voters away, there's no realistic chance that Kerry actually beat Bush.

''No one would be more interested than me in finding out that we really won, but that ain't the case," said Jack Corrigan, a veteran Kerry adviser who led the Democrats' team of 3,600 attorneys who fanned out across the country on Election Day to address voting irregularities.

''I get why people are frustrated, but they did not steal this election," Corrigan said. ''There were a few problems here and there in the election. But unlike 2000, there is no doubt that they actually got more votes than we did, and they got them in the states that mattered."

''I think it's safe to say that on the votes that were cast in Ohio, Bush won," said Dan Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University who is working with the ACLU to challenge Ohio's use of punch-card ballots. ''If the margin had been 36,000 rather than 136,000, we would have seen another post-election meltdown."

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/11436220p-1 2350492c.html

All three said their networks had set up investigative units to review any claims of voter fraud or problems with electronic voting technology this year, but that nothing significant had appeared anywhere to affect the election's outcome.

"A lot of the allegations we've looked into, they're just not true," Shapiro said. "Believe me, I'd love a juicy story about the election as much as anybody. Florida was a great story, but it's just not there this time."

I can't see why anyone would *strive* for a cape after watching this!

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=239735 (video)

Doug Chapin, a nonpartisan election analyst, finds the claims to be baseless. "There were no problems that would lead me to believe that there were stolen elections or widespread fraud," he said.

"There was no overwhelming reason to cast doubt on the outcome of this election," seconded Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, the campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 campaign. "George Bush got more votes this time."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/11 /10/internet_buzz_on_vote_fraud_is_dismissed/

Much of the traffic is little more than Internet-fueled conspiracy theories, and none of the vote-counting problems and anomalies that have emerged are sufficiently widespread to have affected the election's ultimate result.

Kerry campaign officials and a range of election-law specialists agree that while machines made errors and long lines in Democratic precincts kept many voters away, there's no realistic chance that Kerry actually beat Bush.

''No one would be more interested than me in finding out that we really won, but that ain't the case," said Jack Corrigan, a veteran Kerry adviser who led the Democrats' team of 3,600 attorneys who fanned out across the country on Election Day to address voting irregularities.

''I get why people are frustrated, but they did not steal this election," Corrigan said. ''There were a few problems here and there in the election. But unlike 2000, there is no doubt that they actually got more votes than we did, and they got them in the states that mattered."

''I think it's safe to say that on the votes that were cast in Ohio, Bush won," said Dan Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University who is working with the ACLU to challenge Ohio's use of punch-card ballots. ''If the margin had been 36,000 rather than 136,000, we would have seen another post-election meltdown."

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/11436220p-1 2350492c.html

All three said their networks had set up investigative units to review any claims of voter fraud or problems with electronic voting technology this year, but that nothing significant had appeared anywhere to affect the election's outcome.

"A lot of the allegations we've looked into, they're just not true," Shapiro said. "Believe me, I'd love a juicy story about the election as much as anybody. Florida was a great story, but it's just not there this time."

A frequent charge levied after the 2000 election was voter disenfranchisement and ballot spoilage due, in large part, to antiquated, malfunctioning, or broken mechanical voting equipment. Legislation was introduced guaranteeing a minimum standard for the equipment and processes associated with voting in all jurisdictions. Since we are living in the 21st century, electronic systems were specified. $3.9 billion was set aside under HAVA to replace all mechanical punch card systems with electronic systems by 1 January, 2006. The goal is to ensure a consistency and fairness in the appearance and operation of the voting systems, both for voters and local election officials.

After the 2000 presidential election, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA):

To establish a program to provide funds to States to replace punch card voting systems, to establish the Election Assistance Commission to assist in the administration of Federal elections and to otherwise provide assistance with the administration of certain Federal election laws and programs, to establish minimum election administration standards for

The article claims that New Vehicles Will Make own Decisions Based on Commands.

Well fuck me. Ohh Noooo. I didn't mean that.

I just wanted to hijack this title to say:

Hunters with disabilities just need to get to the island.

To heck with CSI:*, watch NYPD Blue (esp. older seasons) to watch how they tie evidence, confessions and eye witnesses to crime in a big city, high anxiety environment.

smarmy;

An attorney was sitting in his office late one night, when the Devil appeared before him. The Devil told the lawyer, "I have a proposition for you. You can win every case you try, for the rest of your life. Your clients will adore you, your colleagues will stand in awe of you, and you will make embarrasing sums of money. All I want in exchange is your soul, your wife's soul, your children's souls, the souls of your parents, grandparents, and parents-in-law, and the souls of all of your friends and law partners. The lawyer thought about this for a moment, then asked, "So what's the catch?"

I don't have a problem with smarmy lawyers per se, as long as they are sexy, and I rather watch them than the forensic geeks over at CSI.

I'm not saying that Shatner is sexy, but that he might be beamed up at any moment.