I hear the accountants at the NYT don't use spreadsheets or even PCs... They've one back to ledger paper because it's so much cleaner and more efficient. And, they stopped using calculators to check their math because it's better to do it all by hand.

I read in a book -- and, I think it was "The 80/10/10 diet" -- that people aren't meant to drink too much, evolutionarily speaking. It has to do with the positioning of our eyes, which face forward. This would have been disadvantageous for us as a species as we "went down to the lake or river" (so to speak) to drink. (Other animals have their eyes set wider apart and are therefore better equipped with wider fields of vision to see predators approaching.) The book also suggests that most of the water we would need would be present in the raw (uncooked) fruits and vegetables we eat. So, if you cook your food (which most people do), you probably need to drink more water than if you eat a diet higher in raw veggies & fruits.

Nice. I had the Atari 800XL & a floppy drive -- but my desk was never anywhere near that organized.

Krhainos: LOL!

This is a giant leap for mankind. We must now entirely do away with "the trough."

Ironically, that picture makes me feel all soft, warm, & fuzzy.

I'm in the minority here. I agree 100% with what Moonbat said, "The one right every man should have is the right to build a fucking castle on his property."

If you own property, you should be able to do damn near whatever the hell you want with it, without involving the government. Anything short of, say, opening your own nuclear reactor should be fair game. This story makes me sick.

And, to the guy who didn't like the design... too the hell bad, bro. It's not your castle; it's that guy's.

I wonder if it would work against all of those high-tech sonic weapons being developed by the military?

Kind of a tangential comment, but... That book cover artwork is really cool, although the author's name kind of gets lost at the bottom amid all the green, yellow, and especially purple. Perhaps a bit of drop shadow, outer glow, or a stroke around the font there would've sharpened things up a tad.

Kyle Armbruster, I liked your comment. The kid didn't deserve a 0%. What he did was definitely inappropriate, but what the teacher failed to realize was that the student showed some considerable creative promise. With proper guidance, that kid could turn into a fairly decent writer.

Teresa-

Respectfully, you're still missing my point. You wrote:

"I don't understand why you guys are so eager to give away your basic rights. What you're saying, in effect, is that police department rules are civilians' laws. They aren't. You're also implicitly saying that an officer has the right to taser you unless you can persuade him not to."

FWIW, that wasn't my point *at all*. I'm simply drilling down into another area of the issue -- one you're not focusing on. Agreed, it's a less important issue in the grand scheme, but it's an issue just the same. I'm merely stating that, while it IS technically your right to be angry/belligerent with an officer and not get tasered (your point), the *reality* of the situation is that IF you are angry/belligerent with an officer who is predisposed to tasering, you probably WILL get tasered (my point). Right or wrong, that's my sole point. There's nothing political or ideoligical about it. I'm simply making a rational, objective observation. You're focused, quite nobly, on *changing* reality whereas I'm focused, quite practically, on *dealing* with reality.

The mod wrote: "I am bleeping tired of hearing how someone "contributed to the situation" by not behaving with utter meekness and a perfect understanding of the situation, right before some officer tasers him."

You seem to have written that after pulling my original comment, which I didn't think was out of line. But hey it's your call, I guess. Anyway, I more or less agree and disagree with you.

How I agree: These cops are clearly abusing their power. This is nothing new for cops, as we all know.

How I disagree: I simply think you're missing the point. The point is: If you don't want to get tased, do what the officer says. For example: If he says don't return to your car, then don't return to your car. How does he know if you'r going to run for a gun or something? Maybe that kid in the video wasn't going to pull a pistol and return enraged, but that doesn't mean others wouldn't. Yes, that vid was intense, but cops see things 50x more intense every day than you & I do. They have to be prepared for every mental case in the world.

I was particularly happy with the book cover from my memoir, Tales of the Midwest (released earlier this year and freely downloadable as a PDF eBook at that link). That page also describes the process used in designing the cover. My favorite cover design aspect is the back cover listing of "advance criticism" snippets for which a dozen or so other bloggers offered insults -- so much better than the usual "advance praise" found on so many books today.

Not that this excuses the practice, but I wonder how often those who fall victim to this sort of thing more or less have it coming. Even a-hole servers, one would think, would hesitate to screw over the nicer patrons. Or the good tippers. Maybe Mr. Victim routinely comes in, behaves like a total jerk, and then leaves 5% -- finally moving Mr. Waiter to consider exacting a little revenge. Again, not that this makes Mr. Waiter any better of a human being.

But, I've been a waiter and, hey, some people just have what's coming to them.

Along those lines, though, I should add that credit card fraud is the mark of an inexperienced, desperate waiter. There are numerous other ways to increase one's earnings via shady dealings. For example, skimming from the till is a time-honored classic. Or, perhaps less risky, "forgetting" to ring up food and drinks usually brings in larger tips. (People figure they'll tip you generously since you didn't charge them for things.)

"how one might reduce the unpleasant shock if they're about to be tased"

This is admittedly low-tech, but... One could also try the novel approach of shutting the f*ck up and calming down when the police officer or other taser-wielding person asks.

Kind of funny that anyone figured a "for dummies" book was necessary for SketchUp. The whole point of the program itself is to serve as more or less a "3D for Dummies" kind of thing. I don't mean that as a criticism, either; SketchUp rocks! When you first run the program and spend an hour with the tutorials, you've already mastered pretty much everything.