#105, Soup - Very well said. I admit that my first kneejerk reaction to the idea would be "it's impossible". But now that I think about it, I'm willing to settle for very, EXTREMELY unlikely.

Hey RMS, I looked at the site you linked in your post. I really agree with the sentiment expressed throughout the page. But my comment is that it seems a bit simplistic. Everyone who writes, and most all who read BoingBoing are pretty savvy about stuff like patents, copyrights, DRM, rootkits, and everything related. I applaud the website and organization you pointed to, just wonder if you are affiliated with the EFF and others who are fighting the good fight, if not, why not?

My (humble) opinion is that DRM, AS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED, is not inherently evil. Artists, producers, et al SHOULD have some rights to their works, at least for certain period of time. It is what DRM has BECOME and the evil, selfish uses it has been put to that is the problem.

Why you... I oughta...

http://tinyurl.com/32qty7

Mr. Free, give your thumb a good rest, don't do any hitchhiking for a while.

I've made that same note to self numerous times.

"I don't want to call down a jinx"...

Ha ha, I'll bet. You're just trying to stir up trouble cause you're having a boring Sunday afternoon. ;)

Rikf, good, I'll be interested to hear the answer.

This thread is so photoshopped. I can tell by the pixels.

These guys should get together with those skull bong dudes. Bet they'd have a lot in common.

Minamisan - Just send $50.00 and an SASE to:

Skullbong Society
39 Bong St.
Bong City, TX

Thanks for your donation.

"contrabass balalaika"

Go on... get outta here.

"I'm sure they cleaned it and didn't press their faces onto a maggot-filled hole to take bonghits."

What makes you so sure?

Tenn @ 39 - best low-tech Rickroll ever.

I hope you're not feeling down about stomach problems. My brother has a pretty full-blown case of Crohn's and/or IBS. I have none of it. I was afraid for a while, since that stuff seems to have some genetic component, but my innards seem to be pretty happy, no matter what I eat.

But when I was your age hot spicy stuff gave me problems too. I guess alls I'm saying is that give it a few years, you'll be surprised at all the stuff you can put down your gullet with no problems.

In our house we call a stomachache a stom ach a chee.

"Traditional DRM".

Something (everything) about that phrase is very wrong.

Velocity Girl, you are my hero.

Kyle, aren't you askeered of zombies?

Takuan, once again I have to agree with you. Cremation and scattering of ashes seems to me to be best method of disposal. My mom and dad and 1/2 the grandparents went that way. I can feel them all around when I want to, without having to go to some cemetery.

Still, I'd like to bonk these stupid kids in the nose.

I don't know if there is a crime here, Tak-san. But why have graves at all if it's ok to dig them up? The family of the kid who was buried there (if there are any still around) might be a bit distressed that some dumb goobers dug up their kids head to smoke pot out of it.

It's discourteous at the least.

Best address ever... Woodcock Rd & Kitchen Dick Rd.

Thanks Threef Jeff.

Well obviously not Antinous.

Talia, Me Me... Pick Meeeeee!

Some of us humanoids from the deep may take exception to your comment, Tenn.

Roach, I agree.

Antin, I sympathize about jury duty. I've shown up after being summoned a couple times in the last few years and it was pretty interesting. But I didn't have to drive more than 20 miles or so.

I guess that out in the far west desert, people (government bureaucrats) haven't really yet figured out the price of gas and the cost of transportation.

OOPS, sorry I didn't finish reading the intro. But still I contend, even with piano wire it would still take four people to play it.

:D

Man, I am so late to this party. But as one who always has to check himself before saying anything - I am very happy about these great tits.

#20 FoetusNail - I have similar memories of places like that. I grew up in the late 50s - early 60s and many of my friends, relatives, etc. had haunted cellars, hidden stairways, mysterious attics and even ever-glowing spooky light bulbs.

I feel sorry for kids nowadays.

This is SO cool, but what are you supposed to use for strings? Maybe those twisted wires that support telephone poles? I think it would take at least 4 people to play one of these. If they were all in synch, you could get a really good jam going.

But yes, I understand that it's a sculpture. I'm just letting my imagination go.

#9 Alistair - Well if the reason this bulb burned so long is "It's simply a thick filament that is incandescent at a really low temperature". And they are no longer constructed this way, then I'll stick by my original statement that they sure don't make them like they used to.

Thank you, drive through.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

What, no forehead tattoos?

Dan Isett - ha ha. Liar liar pants on fire.

In the second panel Robin is saying, "HOLY SHIT BATMAN!!".

Personally, I'm not sure if HE exists or not. But I bet if HE does, HE has a sense of humor.

Fair enough, Alex. I'll do my research and educate myself a bit.

Holy Crap! I actually feel kind of nauseous after looking at those. So much for the myth about "European Design". In the third photo (bedroom), that doll in the corner is WAY creepy. And what's with that kid trying to look up his mom's skirt?

Yuk.

@21 - Alex, I don't know enough yet to take a side in this argument. But someone asked the question about what percentage of what one pays for a carbon offset goes to the actual offsetting, and how much goes to administration, etc? Do you know the answer? Also several people have made the argument that the carbon offset system just gives richer people the right to not feel guilty about polluting. What is the argument to that?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic, just sincerely interested and uninformed.

Hey John, These cities won't be kept aloft by radioactive jets, but according to the article, "by means of gravity-annulling devices".

Jeez man, GET REAL! :D

Joel, if you're having trouble grasping the concept of insouciance, just think about the feeling you got when you almost stepped on that rattlesnake... Insouciance is the opposite. :)

In my family toilet paper (and paper towel) tubes have always gone by the name "doot-de-doot". Just thought you needed to know.

Yes, I had always assumed that pushing the button would make the "walk" sign light up when it otherwise wouldn't. Also at intersections where the lights are controlled by those wires embedded in the road, it lets the system know that someone is there when there's no car to trip the light change.

"Astute BBG readers can fill in the punch line to that filthy joke in the comments, since I'm over my quota for the day..." Nah, too easy. :)

Very cool, Dculberson. I am always drooling over the vintage electronics sections on ebay. If I wasn't married to a woman with more sense than me my home would probably look like a warehouse.

I WANT a sexy, cool looking old open-reel deck in my living room. I don't know that I'd even use it all that much, I just want one.

@ #5 and #8 - To quote the 4th line at the top of the intro: "Of course, maybe the bag just blew over the cameras".

It may have been living, and stem cells and all that. But I don't see how it's a jacket, it just looks like a little blob to me.

Um... hello. (sound of crickets chirping). Sad echo fading away...

Thanks Tenn, I was wondering the same.

Cool Whitetail, thanks much.

Good story Joel, What was the name of that tripod thingie at the end? I'd like to have one of those.

+1 for the good guys. :)

Well, I for one, am all in favor of transistors. As a junior electronics geek, all I can say is, I would never have become one if it weren't for guys like Mr. Sparks. (And might I add - what a great name for and electronics inventor). Safe passage sir.

Where's the pocket protector?

As a kid taking my first computer classes (early seventies,writing programs, punching out cards to be fed to an IBM System 360), there were these Wang calculators in the computer lab that used these tubes for readout. I always loved the way the look.

But mostly, I just like to say the word nixie.

nixie, nixie, nixie, nixie, nixie....

Proto - In my mind that guy has a thin little mustache, has one raised eyebrow and speaks with a French accent.

Antinous, on your way to the check room with his coat maybe you should stuff his pockets with happy pills.

You could also put the head up there for hats.

Hanglyman, good question. :)

C'mon, Faustus, I'm anything but disingenuous and maybe I do get a buzz now and then from shoebikes and things like that. And this time dbarak among others, killed it. I had a moment of glee. Then I was was brought crashing back to the crappy world where people are pointing out that I shouldn't take so much enjoyment out of the things I enjoy, because... blah blah blah seen it before whatever.

Besides, their berets don't HAVE to match.

I'm sorry, I'm totally off topic, but insouciant is one of my favorite words of all time. My favorite definition is "blithely indifferent". I have always aspired to insouciance, but alas, I fear I'll never really have it.

Oh, who cares...

Well, I for one got a serious chuckle from both the photo and the video. I may have seen this idea before, in some drawing or cartoon or somewhere. I was glad to see that someone had actually gone to the trouble of building and trying to ride one. It made me glad.

Then... I went to look at the comments (which I always do). What a buzzkill, the very first one is a negative whiner. It's like the feeling I get get when I've just washed my car, its all shiny and spiffy and some huge bird makes a giant splat on it two hours later.

When I see a post here that doesn't interest me I usually just skip it. I don't splat on other people's enjoyment. Or I guess I could just stop reading comments. (Never, it's addictive).

Cool. How come no link? I'd like to see a video of this bad boy in action.

It's beautiful.

Derryl Murphy sez - "Seems to me the people happiest to use this sort of thing are pedophiles."

One simple question Derryl, WTF are you talking about? Someone who posts a photo to the internet, and doesn't want to be identified by the government or some "security service" is most likely a pedophile? I hope you are kidding.

Lessors or lessers? Enquiring minds want to know.

And no, I don't have anything "bad" in there. So don't tell me "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of". That is definitely NOT THE POINT.

Too bad there doesn't seem to BE much due process these days.

Oof, I am in despair reading this article and comment thread. I've carried laptops through airport "security" plenty of times, and of course they've been thoroughly scanned. But no one has ever asked me to boot it up and show me what's in there. All the tricks you've shared about how to hide content are really cool, but I don't think that's the real issue.

I don't WANT to give up MY exclusive access to my personal files, thoughts, photos, writings, whatever. If anything in this world belongs to me, it is those. I feel defeated, I feel like freedom and liberty are becoming laughable concepts in this world. I'm willing to let border guards or cops search me for bombs or guns or whatever, but not my own thoughts.

Shit.

I'd like to pose the question I asked on BB Gadgets, where this was first posted:

"It's a cool video, but is that 3-bladed thing a real boomerang? Would an actual authentic Australian person use it? I've seen these things before, but I thought a true boomerang was a sort-of L-shaped piece of wood.

Heck even a Frisbee will come back to you if you throw it right. But I don't think that makes it a boomerang. Just askin' :)"

Beuller... Beuller... Beuller...

Um... he's sick.

#2 - LOL, That would be embarrassing.

We used to have so much fun coming up with new ways to destroy old hard drives when I worked in the shop. I bet one of the best things about using this crusher would be the sound it makes as it busts through the drive. I wonder if you could rent one for a couple days, just to play with.

It's a cool video, but is that 3-bladed thing a real boomerang? Would an actual authentic Australian person use it? I've seen these things before, but I thought a true boomerang was a sort-of L-shaped piece of wood.

Heck even a Frisbee will come back to you if you throw it right. But I don't think that makes it a boomerang. Just askin' :)

#2 - Nope..."Nor will you find instructions in this book for producing methamphetamine in your home lab or synthesizing other illegal substances. In short, if you plan to break the law, this book is not for you".

Rob @ 37 - Congrats on your successful reemvowelment. :) Seriously, I don't understand why people are taking so much offense at this post. Apple is not ALL that great, computer repair and support people CAN be pretentious jerks (I know, I was one for a few years). If you don't like words like douche or whatever, there's always net-nanny.

@6 Dolface - Yes, I remember reading the story in Jr. High English class. And it was in a book of short stories. For some reason the images in the story stuck with me, and I also would like to know the name of the book or the story at least.

D'oh!

Re: #30, Wow, I didn't know that Teresa was hanging out in BBG. I am one of those unfortunate few who can't easily read disemvowelled text. So I'll have to go back and give it some serious look-see.

Be that as it may, I thought Brownlee's original post was informative and funny, yeah a little mean maybe, but in the spirit of someone like Don Rickles (I'm dating myself there). It was sarcastic but humorous.

I've only had one experience with an Apple store (we're mostly a PC household), to get a warranty repair on my wife's iphone. It went fairly well, but the place did seem a bit on the pretentious side. Really, where do they get off calling these people behind the desk "geniuses" anyway? I thought we reserved that term for guys like Leonardo, Newton and Einstein.

I wish people would lighten up a little bit around here.

I knew what #18 meant by Mensa graduates, and I enjoyed his rant. Brownlee's too, he makes me laugh.

Couldn't Mazda engineers have like, maybe, uh tested the vehicles? I mean they could have taken apart a representative sample to see what had gone on inside them. I agree with the others here, incredibly wasteful. They should have been donated somewhere.

Cool post Joel, but why are you working? I thought you were on vacation. :)

I remember reading a story about Louis Slotin's accident when I was a kid. The photo is just like the scene I had in my mind. Except I always imagined him wearing a white lab coat.

BO @30 - As a native of New Joisey, and resident of Florida, I hear plenty of ribbing and stereotypes about those places. I don't go saying fuck you to everyone of them.

Nice to meet you though.

No, you would not. I salute you sir. :)

Antinous, I assume you are familiar with definition #2 below (from Websters).

1: an underlying ground, theory, or principle
2 a: buttocks b: anus
3: the part of a land surface that has not been altered by human activities

Oh crap, here we go again. Now it's not only mall rent-cops, but good ol' Tennessee sheriffs who are a-scared of people takin pitchers.

Maw, them hippie communist, terrists is out there with that new-fangled camra agin. Whatdya spose we aughta dew bout it?

Rossindetroit - 8/10 oz. = 4/5 or 0.8. Geez, didn't any of your elementary teachers tell you to reduce your fractions?

Now I'm off to consume my daily 32/16th of an ounce.

Cheers.

I'm tempted. This thing about getting actual excuses for things not going my way, this is attractive. But, sorry, I already sent all my money to Pat Robertson or Tammie Fay or one of those... I forget.

Why you Nazi, why don't you go talk to Hitler.

Ooops, sorry.

I guess it's over.

:D

Hmm, I don't like propaganda. No, wait, yes I do!

Wait... I just changed my mind.

So if I'm walking down the street and I happen to look at you, you should own what, my retinas, my brain waves, my memory, what?

HEY you kids! Get off my lawn!!

:D

I'm in, I'll bring the beer for Takuan.

I'm not sure where to begin either. But one of the first things that came to my mind was to wonder, since this is your first comment post here, whether the whole thing was just a long piece of spam for your organic cosmetics company?

"This is a dead commentary, but..."

Resurrection, huh?

Hey Tenn, I said I had posted stupid comments... not that I had dandruff. ;)

So I fit right in.

Thank you Antinous, I am all four of those things. :)

Tenn,

Thanks for the kind words, but I've been doing a lot of "posting something stupid before I got the joke", lately.

I don't necessarily agree with the thing about only believing in God to cover your own ass in the afterlife. To me it's a fundamental question in life, whether there is or isn't. I put myself in the firmly agnostic category. But whatever... if the argument is whether or not the Bible is literally true then why do we (I mean both sides), even argue about evolution? Neither fundies nor scientists ever have a chance of winning.

After doing a little digging, found a store not far from me that sells these little gadgets. After looking at a lot of websites that were SO elegant and refined - and reading a lot of words like celebrity, indulgence, discriminating, exclusive...

(excuse me, I just had to go puke for a second)

I found that these babies start at about $7000.00. I assume that since you guys are reading a gadget blog, that you understand what kind of serious, high-quality stuff that kind of money might buy.

I don't know if the writer (his name is Rob, by the way) has any wealth envy. Probably more like a healthy dose of disdain.

Sir Winston was a little abstruse sometimes.

Evidence, et al, I have been following this thread for (it seems like) weeks. But I've been reluctant to post anything because there are many others arguing on my side who are smarter and have better writing skillz than I do.

There seems to be one item that might bring the whole argument to a halt, and forgive me if its been mentioned already. -- If the fact that someone believes that the Bible is 100% literally true, word for word does not allow one to "believe" in evolution or give it any credibility at all, then why argue about evolution at all? I mean I personally would grant that the creation story in Genesis (if taken as literal truth) contradicts the theory of evolution, or anything like it.

So it seems to me that the argument should be about whether the Bible is literal truth or not. If it is, case closed, for you anyway, you won't convince others who don't believe that. If the Bible is more an allegory, metaphor, some kind of instruction book for life - well then all the more opportunity for us mortals to try and figure out how God really made the universe.

This is just my 2 cents worth and I put it to you in all humility and without malice toward anyone (in my better moments I AM capable of being without malice, really!). Again I apologize if it is poorly written. Cheers.

Ye Gods, I am a such a dummy sometimes. My apologies to the original commenter for being so dense. (Not enough sleep maybe). zzzzzzzzzz

I just looked at the picture a second time today, and yeah... what #6 said.

ACB @2 - I'm a little confused by your comment:
"Australia, being a democracy, recognises the right of individuals to protest peacefully in private, as long as their protest does not affect anyone else".

Aren't protests more effective if they take place in public and not in private? And I think the whole point of a protest IS to affect others, or at least their thinking.

I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, just get to what you meant. Here in the US we have the right to assemble and protest also (on paper at least).

@8 - "For God's sake, won't someone think of the children!"

But don't take any pictures of them.

I completely agree with #5 - "we seem (as a society) to have shifted to a situation where the photography of children /itself/ is harmful, no matter what the circumstances". This is kind of nightmarish. As someone who has enjoyed photography his whole life, I totally resent having to be fearful every time I use a camera.

In the article I noticed that, at least the cop was courteous and apologetic in his dealings with the photographer. This doesn't seem to be the norm in these kind of situations these days.

Don't do it Takuan! Think of the children!

Say it a few more times jonesy, it's not boring enough yet.

Spam much?

In one of Julia Child's early cookbooks she mentions, for those who had never eaten it, that rabbit "tastes just like chicken". So I think maybe she was the origin of that famous cliche.

Nifty! I'd still forget which number drawer I put something in though. :)

well, I think...

It's not the twenty bucks, V. I just usually try to buy stuff that we will both enjoy.

If a blog post is empty in a forest and no one is around to hear it... oh nevermind.

Now that I think about it, I'm not really surprised that this post has gotten such a huge reaction. It's like when a kid gets a really big, fancy present, he/she usually most enjoys playing with the empty box.

Takuan, you are my favorite pickle on the whole internet.

Oof, now that I'm coming off my self-righteous high, I see that I spelled feel as fell. I guess I fell off my high horse. That's what getting mad will get you. Arrrr.

Whew... I fell better now. I hope you guys will intercede with Teresa for me.

At the risk of being disemvowelled, I must say I am sick of jackasses like you. Why do you people always have to whine about "steampunk", people promoting their own books, and anything else they don't care for? Who cares?!!!

Don't read if you don't like. I DO like most things I read here, and I say so. If I'm not interested I just skip it. I don't go out of my way to say that I'm not interested in something. Because I know nobody GIVES A SHIT.

Hey El Stinko, I LIKE the painting, I LIKE the EFF, I was thinking about ordering a print (Subject to wifely approval, of course).

What is your fucking problem?

New kind of shoe = gadget. I dunno.

I was SO tempted by this, and I looked at the Amazon page about 20 times today. But I just couldn't pull the trigger. I really want a nice, shiny new smart phone, and they even had a couple 3G models on there. My wife has an iphone and we are already on a two year deal with ATT. I am using a pre-pay, cheapo Virgin cell phone. I couldn't figure out from the site whether we could get a decent deal on extending our existing contract with ATT while adding a second phone. (You had to sign up for a plan right there in the Amazon checkout).

So, I passed. Oh well, I hope I didn't lose out on a good deal, but I guess I'd rather talk to a person before I sign up for a 2 year commitment.

Whenelvisdied, do you have any criticism of the work in question? Or are you only interested in protecting your academic turf?

#5, When I was living in Serbia last year, my wife's niece had a Cluedo game that we played. Maybe it's European manufacturer is in a country where the word clue translates as cluedo? Just a guess.

Anyway, this set is awesome and if I had the money burning a hole in my pocket, I'd be all over it.

Kibble @214, I never say this lightly but, LOL. Mind if I steal the line?

Comment posted by Clockwork under Mark's post "Untitled 1":

"i am so sick of hearing about untitled... honestly, when will it end?"

Bravo, you took your spanking and made some humor out of it. Good for you. :)

I came in to say what #2 said. For a second there I was afraid this video was going to end very badly.

Ha ha, u did it WRONG. There's spose to be wurds in there.

"Eh, as much as it annoys me to read about the same thing time and again..."

You don't HAVE to read it. That's what the scroll bar is for.

Every time Cory posts something about one of his books I always look at the comments to see if anyone has come up with new or interesting ways to complain about someone promoting his work on HIS OWN BLOG on HIS OWN WEBSITE. Um... nope.

You people really are like clockwork though.

fuck that noise.

Wow, on first look I thought it was a guy flipping the bird. But now I can see it the other way too. I guess it's like that picture where you either see two faces or a vase, and can switch back and forth.

Big smile on the unnecessary Ben Stein slam. :D

Yeah, but the picture one centimeter below the headline kind-of gives it away.

I'm sorry, call me a whatever you will, but I LIKE watching the Charlie Rose show, whenever I get a chance and the guest(s) might be interesting to me. Yeah, he is one of those guys who is an instant caricature of himself. He's a lovable goof. But he seems to be fairly intelligent, well read and educated. I like to think that if he sees this he would get a laugh out of it.

IMHO, you can't beat that plain black background they use. It tends to focus the viewer on what is being said.

MicrosoftYahooMicrosoftYahooGoogleGoogle...

Zowie!! Completely amazing. The artist said he used 150 individual clockworks. Won't all the clocks run at slightly (very slightly) different rates, and eventually cause all the hands to go out of synch.? I wonder how it's adjusted and if it's a huge hassle.

What are pholages?

Antinous, maybe rape and murder are prima facie evidence of mental illness, but does that absolve the perpetrator of responsibility? I can't help having feelings of extreme antipathy for the guy who did this.

I was just the right age to fully appreciate the spectacle of the the Apollo moon landings (13-15 years old). I will never forget the experience of watching some of my fellow earthlings walk (bounce around) on another celestial body. I have a fear that I won't see it again.

I remember Apollo 17 when the fender was busted by the guy with a hammer in his pocket, I didn't, at the time, even think about how they fixed it. I just assumed they would. The fact that they used plain old duct tape makes it even better.

Oooh, ugh. You're right.

Hey it looks like my old Packard Bell! Probably a lot faster and more features though.

I, for one, will eschew Ms Eshoo's idea.

Oh sure John, leave me out here looking like the pervert now! Sheesh! :)

Sweet! As someone who has built a couple hundred computers I can totally relate to the satisfaction/relief that comes with that first good beep. And the fear and panic when you get no beep, or worse, the sound of something frying.

And the, "after many hours of reading, assembling, disassembling, screaming, installing, uninstalling, reinstalling, saying bad words, pestering friends, and generally not having very much fun, I was done: my machine was up and running..." part, well that's just part of the "fun".

I'm sorry, I'm sure the Skype stuff is very interesting... but I'm too busy trying to imagine what position you were in that would allow your girlfriend to defecate on your chest during coitus.

Fusilli Jerry?

Man, that looks like a lot of stuff, no wonder your pack is too heavy. I hope you have fun out there and can't wait to read the reports.

Jenn, I agree with you that untooned Jessica is much less creepy looking than Homer or Mario, and probably because, "she was carefully constructed to be hot in the first place". But a still picture is one thing. I think if I saw her walking around in real life (and hadn't had too many beers), I think she would still look very weird. (Lips, eyes, etc.).

Guess what I'm saying is that when I look at the picture something in the back of my brain knows it's still a cartoon or cgi or whatever, and I think it would still be noticeable without the context.

Maybe the NEXT generation of computer enhancement will make her completely human-looking. But I don't think it's quite there yet.

With the lack of comments here, I guess we are ALL reacting with a shrug. We've all become so jaded and we so much expect the worst from big companies and the government... sigh.

So the third one from the bottom is the one plugged into the ethernet. So is that the one you use most?

This Monkey Doodle looks nothing like a monkey. Maybe some kind of bear or something?

The world needs more guys like this.

Kevink @10,

"In other words, a anti-conservative rah rah propaganda rag.
BTW I'd be all for restoring all the Bill of Rights back to the original stance.
I doubt most of you would really want that".

Would you care to be more specific? I.E. what the hell are you talking about?

Soon Epson, Canon, and HP will be selling coffee cartridges, (and overcharging for them) at Staples, right next to the ink.

Mark, I learned that Land O' Lakes trick when I was about 10 years old. Then I forgot about it. Every five years or so I remember again and make one to show somebody. It's always a hoot.

Now if I only knew who IT is or was. And how and why did it leave it's mark.

It is to wonder.

Cheese, Gromit.... CHEEEESE!

When I was thirteen, 'almost' was about all you could hope for. :)

Although it works if you copy and past the link directly into the browser.
I always thought he was such a fine looking fellow).

wrong again!

"I dare you to have that conversation with your wife."

-- We do all the time, it's not easy or pleasant. But it helps keep the air clear.

I know, I spelled it wrong, sorry.

#78 - There is a difference between telling someone what to do, and critisising their choice.

Antinous, are you saying that all the people who were once morbidly obese and managed to lose all the extra weight, had to have plastic surgery to remove the extra skin? I'm thinking about the Subway guy you always see on commercials. So everyone who loses weight is going to have extra skin hanging around for the rest of their lives? Seriously, I'm just curious.

"Gentlemen, I understand that you've never actually gotten near a real woman, so let a gay man explain it to you."

-- I find that to be a little snide and mean coming from someone who is usually more gracious.

(Don't tell my wife).

@40 - Does anybody here feel sorry for her?, I sure don't, and I don't see anyone else here feeling that way either.

Well, I'M impressed! And I want them!

#5 - Mad Magazine flashback.

If her purpose was to gather sympathy for herself, then she failed. After watching the video (or as much as I could bear), I now care even less than zero about her, her husband or her problems.

@ Santa's Knee - yeah, I didn't notice, why didn't Mommy get a nose job while she was at it?

This is fucking horrible. Yeah... with everything going on in the world it's MOST IMPORTANT to teach our kids about plastic surgery.

"You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn't fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better." ---so just remember little one, when you get too fat to fit into your clothes, don't bother going to the gym or getting some exercise, just go see Dr. Michael.

I had the Lectron cubes also, I REALLY had fun with it. That and the Digi-Comp plastic mechanical computer were two of my all time favorites.

I agree with #1, this is funny as hell on video, but in real life not so much. Looks like he was having fun at least.

I just came back here to ditto #17, I bought the book today (What a bonus, one of my current favorite authors, with a super cool book jacket). The copies were all shrink-wrapped to keep the looky-loos from messing them up.

That's pretty cool, but you should see my cat play the trombone.

Welcome to the new mutant-gadget overlords.

Yeah, it's photoshopped, you can tell by the pixels. (Just kidding).

I don't know if I'd call it inside-out at first glance, but it is weird and wonderful. The more I look at it the stranger it seems.

Poor Mulder, has he really sunk this low?

I got to see it earlier today, it's good stuff! Keep trying it's worth it.

@82 "so they themselves should be destroyed," and this is the best part ---> "right? Right??"

Wow, he LITERALLY has a frog in his throat.

So is it really rounded on the bottom and you have to balance it? What happens when you snooze off, tip it over and flood the apartment below you?

nyuk nyuk nyuk, woobwoobwoobwoobwoobwoob!

Well, I'm a guy too and I always thought my mouth was average size. When I was a kid and my mom would give us cereal for breakfast, she would always ask if we wanted a teaspoon or a "big-mouth spoon", I always opted for the latter.

Ah... on further research I see you are correct. There were several animals sent into space before Laika. She was the first critter to go into ORBIT.

Trent Hawkins @15, "...many animals were sent up in space and returned safely before Laika went to orbit". REALLY?? Can you tell about a few? I've been following the space programs pretty closely for over 40 years and this is the first I've heard of other animals in space before Laika.

The stupidity of this may well give the TSA a run for its money.

Link still isn't working. I'd like to see, it looks interesting.

Huntsu @2, There are only two posts, but almost two hundred comments on the blog. I read them and most are supportive, some very inspirational. You should check them out.

Congrats and happy b-day to your granny, Mark! 107 years old is mind boggling. I don't have any grandparents left, I miss them all but the memories keep me happy.

This is now on the front page of Yahoo. Almost every day I see some story on BB and then 3 or 4 days later, there it is on Yhoo. They are lazy and they really like to read BoingBoing.

Well I'm glad you're working on the problem (I knew you were). :) I've left 3 or 4 comments today without getting logged off or the dreaded "wrong text" message. Also, I just noticed that my favorites are working again. Yay!

Wow, so far every single comment positive. I'm impressed. And bravo for that mom.

Wow, a guy in the government who understands some of the problems that "anti-terrorist" measures are causing. This IS news.

Too bad he's probably the only one.

The watch is totally boss. Beautiful.

And yes comment system is extremely screwed.

Re: the update to this story. Try as I might, I just don't see a dachshund. All I get is a goofy looking fish. How does this fit in with the Satanic conspiracy?

Yeah, but why not say something like "follow up" in the title of the article? Just nitpicking, but it's old news.

We read about this like five days ago. I'm sorry he was stabbed and I'm glad he's getting better. But why post the story again?

Once when I was in college we lived in a house across the street from the delivery entrance of one of the dining halls. We saw a delivery truck unloading boxes labeled "edible meat" and we considered what the next lowest grade might be. Now maybe I have a better idea of what was inside the boxes.

Mmmm... cattle heads.

One of the saddest commentaries on our U.S. society is that Bill O'Reilly is still on the air and people still watch and listen to him. It makes me a little sick. :P

Nice, RECORDMYCALLS, but still spam.

I'm agreeing with #1, let a family bury their child in peace. I'm all for the first amendment, but sometimes there has to be compassion for wounded people. Who did the protesters think they were going to convince?

Nah, I'm not buying it. I looked through the list and saw many of my favorites. But somehow making this list makes it all less funny. For some reason it's depressing to me.

So... A horse walks into a bar...

I don't know if it has any relevance to the ETs, but the guys house is in a village in Bosnia, not Belgrade.

No wait, that's Miss Crabtree from the Little Rascals.

So this is what Miss Jane did before she got her gig on the Beverly Hillbillies.

When I was going to school in Iowa you could buy a t-shirt at the college book store that said, "University of Iowa, Idaho City, Ohio". There was a really good pizze place in town too. :)

Do I have to trot out the old tired example of yelling FIRE! in crowded theater when there is no fire? Sure you are free to yell it, but others might find it objectionable and you might be sanctioned for it. You might also cause unnecessary harm.

And ludacris is some kind of rap guy, the word you're looking for is spelled ludicrous.

That kind of logic is like the undying patriotics saying "If you don't like this country, leave!"

Unfunny, no it's not. It's like saying "If you don't like this blog, then leave." There's a difference. Yes, free speech does require some moderation (either self-imposed or not).

I guess I'm just saying, get over it, it's not your web site. If you want to be able to say absolutely anything you want, then start your own.

NICKPAINE, I did not mean to be flippant in my reply. The subject of disemvoweling vs deletion has been addressed ad nauseum under a recent post by the moderator Teresa. I believe it was under the heading of "Moderation Policy", you could search for it and read the 500 plus comments (I did). Usually the disemvoweled posts contain hurtful and personal attacks on specific people. There is nothing "neutral" about the use of the filter. In the opinion of the moderator, the comment was offensive in some way.

NICKPAINE, for the 57th time, because it allows you to read the objectionable comment if you really want to and decide for yourself whether it's objectionable or not.

I worship Mariella Bogus. She is the goddess of tourism.

I always thought (I dunno where I heard it), that Creature from the Black Lagoon was the first Hollywood 3-D movie. I saw it once in a theater, with the glasses, it was cheesy but fun.

Black Water. A disgusting name for a disgusting "company".

Why do people go to the bother of making up a whole new account, just to be snarky and insulting? (#1)

Joel, I think your corpse is supposed to be INSIDE the photon torpedo casket.

Ooh, they do look cool. I want one. I'd put it in the bathroom, I swear my wife gets LOST in there sometimes. And she always claims she had no clue what the time was.

This does look like it could be a funny site. And who knows, you might eventually get some intriguing recommendations.

One caveat though. When you want to recommend this site to a friend, just try saying, out loud, the word "Dyslexflix". My tongue is still in a knot. LOL.

That was great! It was just cheesy enough to be fun, and the music track was excellent. #4 is right, I've seen much worse stuff on MST3K. Great job.

I was 12 when this movie came out. Our 8th grade English teacher took the whole class (bless her, she was fantastic). We also saw it on the widest screen imaginable, with speakers all over the theater. I was blown away, and to this day it's still one of my favorite movies of all time.

I have similar incidents in my past as well. Good times.

Tenn @75 - I like your perspective. Being an old guy I don't often remember how much of my time in school was spent on whaling on and being whaled on. Whether it was just pranking each other, playing basketball or football, or just horsing around. It almost always ended in laughter all around. And on those times it didn't, apologies were exchanged and everything was eventually forgiven and forgotten. It was a much simpler time.

Takuan @#5, You didn't like my first comment?

poop.

Antinous - thanks LOL

Try to be cool. :)

well, I did it wrong, there should be at least two more dah dahs at the end.

dah dah, dah dah dah, dahdahdahdahdahdahdahdah

I'm confused now. Are we talking about global warming (yeah 8 degrees F, or 2 degrees C is a huge deal). Or are we talking about what a clueless geezer Ted Turner is and always was?

What? Huh?

Concerns about global warming aside (and it's a big aside), Ted Turner was never the sharpest tool in the shed. Lately he seems to be lacking any edge at all.

I'm giving up. Hounskull, you are no fun. Derision is not a civil response, no matter who you are responding to. (Especially when the person you are responding to is wise, learned and a ball of fun). There is no good response to someone who is "always right" and no fun at all. So, I'll go on to better things right now and maybe we can tangle again some other day.

Ciao.

@96 - "I come across as someone who responds to lame posts with derision."

Since when is derision a way to conduct a civil discussion?

Also would like the answer to the question - "Hounskull: Are you aware that you come across as a deliberately ill-mannered and arrogant person?"

Just want to know if you are a troll or pain in the ass who doesn't ever want to admit that someone else might be right... even on the smallest point.

well, I just left out a letter from the word I just made up: ...apatheticans.

Antinous - Nah, there are motherfuckers all over the world, some of them even not American. I think something like lazysheeplikeapathetcans is closer to the mark.

Scottfree @25 - "As a side note, something I've recently discovered from living in the us, if you innocently point out that there is no English word to describe someone specifically from the us, they get really indignant".

This is great point and something I've been thinking about lately. Whenever my wife (who is from Serbia) mentions something about "America" or "Americans", I always point out that when you say America you are talking about two whole continents and not a specific country. I can tell her that to refer to country one can properly say "the U.S." or "USA", but I'm at a loss to tell her what single word is correct when referring to citizens or residents of the U.S.

Sorry, a bit off topic but any ideas?

My brain doesn't not hurt.

Jeff @21, are you in a country that doesn't celebrate April fools day?

Takuan @15 - No.

I took the test, turns out I'm very qualified to go on an April Fools trip to colonize Mars. Yay!

I second Takuan's question. What exactly is in the spray? I'd like to be informed before I was subjected to it.

That Rocked!! :D

This IS cool. Dali painted some similar things, he was one of the first painters to explore the idea of pixels.

Check out:

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/14/Floridian/Gala_Contemplating_th.shtml

Now I'm going to be scared every time I see our cat coming around a corner.

Well, he seems like a good guy. I like that he explained himself so well and owned up to his mistakes. I won't hold my breath waiting for Creative to do the same.

Does this have anything to do with the DONG Energy Company mentioned over on BB Gadgets? Do you think they'll be able to pull it off?

Link is dead already. They got Boinged?

Ugh, I'm not even going to watch the video. In my mind anything to do with poking and eyeballs is the grossest thing in the world.

MD, First of all I don't have any personal stake in this, I'm just arguing for fun, and I'm not going anywhere near Vista for the foreseeable future. And I do know how fast computer stuff ages, I've been repairing and supporting them for too many years.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it seems to make common sense (not business sense and not profit sense) to accommodate existing users of your products. I don't see why it wouldn't be a win-win if Creative paid the guy a few thousand bucks for the exclusive license to his improvement, tested and supplied it as their own. Isn't it possible that the customer satisfaction and goodwill generated might lead to future sales? Capitalism doesn't HAVE to suck, I believe it can have a human face.

I guess the person who posted the photos had some kind of 2nd thoughts. The first time I looked there were a dozen or more photos in the set, now there are only five. (One of them has an identifiable person in it, so I guess they didn't edit just for face shots). Was gibt?

#7, Well then I guess he could just use a desk, or a table, or a milk crate or something. Yes, I agree, putting a laptop in your lap can get pretty uncomfortable.

Looking at the set, I see they spent all their furniture money on blow.

Why is that guy in the picture typing in such and uncomfortable position? Maybe he should put the laptop, like... maybe in his lap?

OK, buzzkill.

Sorry... in the second paragraph of the above comment, substitute "Creative" for "created". Duh on me. :)

MDHATTER - First of all there's a difference between a sound card (still functional, hardware-wise) that's probably only a couple years old and a 1965 car.

I would think it would be in Creative's interest to keep their former customers happy, and yeah maybe to buy some code from a guy who did their job for them. Otherwise most of the people who go looking for a new sound card will feel slighted and go with some other brand of sound card. If created is maintaining a message board relating to these products that don't work under Vista, then I assume the products are still "supported". If they are unwilling to provide software to make their hardware work, then (again) why not strike a deal with someone who can?

I don't think it's ok for companies to abandon products (that aren't yet obsolete) in order to force people to by a new product. Isn't everyone sick of that practice by now?

just another $0.02

As a youngster I used to lie on the couch with my head hanging over the side and try to imagine what it would be like if there was furniture up there on the ceiling. I guess I wasn't the only one.

Ohhh Noooo!! Gosh, it's illegal to deface US currency!

Well, someone had to break the ice.

#1 - So Creative is happy to let their customers go without functional drivers for their products just because some poor shlub did their work for them and makes a few bucks?

Why doesn't Creative work out some sort of deal with the guy who wrote the drivers, instead of just shutting him down and leaving all those folks with useless sound cards?

"The Danish press questioned whether DONG can pull off its promises."

My first LOL of the week, coffee came out my nose. Happy Monday indeed.

A couple weeks ago I was looking at an exhibit at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum about cosmic background radiation. It mentioned that if you tune a (not hooked up to cable) TV to an open channel and turn the brightness down so that the snow (or fuzz) becomes discreet dots, about one out of every 100 dots is triggered by a cosmic ray photon. Pretty cool.

The Mad Magazine fold-in remains to me one of the most brilliant things in the history of magazines.

When I was a kid in the 60s, one of my buddies had a subscription to Mad. We loved it, and worshiped the authors and artists. One time my friend went into absolute hysterics when he found that his dad had committed the blasphemy of actually FOLDING the fold-in.

It's nice to know that at least one of the originals is still out there.

Well, I dunno, I guess because a conk on the head is more effective when there's not a boot covering it? :)

So... what is the plan?

#6, yes, and then in the middle of the night someone snuck in and put them on his feet, and conked him on the head.

Somewhere in some back room of the wrestling arena lies an orphaned sack of nipples.

If I had 4800 bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I'd be all over it.

Takuan, don't try to entice me with your cheap Ferris Beuller references. Ben Stein is dead to me now. Besides it's bed time.

This is the coolest radiator cap/hood ornament I've ever seen. I'd like to haz one. But I don't know how well it would go with my Saturn four door boringmobile.

Yeah, I'll be signing up for some Olympics tickets real soon. What a paradise.

Oh... and by the way... FREE TIBET

Why?

Hi Sarah, welcome. Now get out there and close some loops and manage some operations! Mazeltov.

All - #2 is a male, says so in his profile. Also he HATES pickles.

The way things are these days, I'm surprised he wasn't shot but some cop or "security" guard. And what about these panicky people on the subway, doesn't anyone have any thought behind their responses any more? I dunno, I guess the first reaction to any weird or even slightly threatening situation is OH MY GOD IT'S A TERRRRORIST!!!!
Stupid and sickening (and all too common). I shouldn't have even bothered commenting... what's the use. I'm sick of it.