Yeah, let's train our kids to believe in snake oil and magic medicines.
Let's start off by lying to them on purpose as well.
That'll be sure to give them a head start in life.

I have a kid, and I don't give him placebos or homeopathic remedies or crystal healing to make him shut up.

If your child needs a hug and a kiss after hurting themselves, fine. Here's a crazy thought. GIVE your child a hug and a kiss.
I know that might interfere with your "me" time but...oh, nevermind, just give placebo or better yet, just drug the little critter!

As for Patricks comment on the Alfa 8C, google it and behold the beauty. Those lines...

The frenchies also make very pretty (albeit family) cars.

In absolute beauty, yup, the Italians are pretty much unbeatable (although the new Astons and Jags are really nice)

That one in the picture has a SERIOUSLY cool rear

Voigt-Kampff test!

Yup, that's an application crash, not an OS crash.
If OS X and other apps are not affected then it shows hw stable the SYSTEM is.

I use WinXP, MacOSX an Ubuntu. All have their strong and weak points. All are well maintained The XP box has run for 6 years with one system reinstall due to swapping system disks (decided a clean setup might be nice)
OS X is better in most ways, especially stability and ease of use.
Even Ubuntu is better than XP in very many ways (though NOT in installing new hardware) and is almost a contender.

I also worked in repairs on Vista, which is why I still run XP.

OS X FTW!

I was sure he would create part of it folded.

What a master (like most of the Mad guys)
I have admired those guys work for a few decades now.

I have the $75 version on order, mainly because the $300 version was sold out.

The server was down when I tried DLing it, so I got mine of thepiratebay. I don't really feel guilty about it as I'm paying anyway.

Let's quickly look at what's included.
all versions include the download version.

$5 (download version)
all songs in 320kbps mp3 (no DRM crap)
48 page PDF booklet
Bunch of images, backgrounds, web graphics etc.

$10 (2 CD "regular" set)
2 disc set (audio cds)
+ 16 page booklet
+ instant access to the download version

$75 (deluxe edition)
4 disc set (2 audio cds, 1 blue ray disc with
the audio in higher than cd quality and 1 data
disc with multitrack files for all tracks for
remixing purposes)
+48 page book with photos
in a nice slipcase

$300 (limited edition)
everything from deluxe edition
+4 vinyl version in 125gram high quality vinyl.
+ photography book with loose prints suitable
for framing or viewing in the book.
+numbered and signed.

Making masters for a 4 LP run of 2500 copies is as far as I know expensive. If such a small run is done on good vinyl then you get the strange case where vinyl can theoretically give better audio than cd. (lets not go into practicality)

The prints and packaging cost a bit, as well as paying all rights holders for images and any designers and others that worked with Trent. All that is cost and cannot be calculated into Trents or NINs profit.
Taking a wild guess it wouldnt surprise me if the total costs of "deluxe" might be $50 and the limited ed. might go well above $200.

If anyone has better estimates or even just a better grounded guess, let' er rip.

If you're mostly going to listen to MP3s, then don't worry too much about the placement.

For best results try to keep them equally far out of corners, have the tweeters at ear height and try toeing the speakers in so you are looking straight into the tweeter (or close to that, try different toe-in angles until you like the stereo field.
Try to keep them a few inches away from the back wall and as far out of the corners as you can. They don't need to be set up very far apart, though. I have mine about 3 feet apart and set up with toe-in so that the stereo field is decent. I also have a bookcase a few feet behind my listening position and they make a high frequency diffuser.

They are very likely shielded and will not damage electronic equipment. These are nearfield monitors designed to be stood up against a computer screen.
As for the question about shielding, it makes the speakers less likely to damage things and makes the speakers less sensitive to outside interference. Pretty big points...

Congratulations on your gorgeous little girl.

As the proud father of an 8 month old I can state that the pride and happiness just keep on rolling in, in waves (tsunami sized). Enjoy it, and don't let the "sleepless nights" naysayers scare you. Having a little one is tough at times but oh, so worth it.

And she looks so healthy :)

Ahh, thanks for reminding me why the wife and I have decided not to visit the US again...

After all these insane incidents (detainments, strip searches and taserings), not to mention the danger of having to get medical help there (financially) we just decided it's not worth it.

As have countless others.

Having young children also makes me rather want to travel to other parts of the world. No orphanages for my kids!

How long till the US authorities realise that they are doing long term financial and cultural damage to their country?
I know most tech savvy folks already know, as do a lot of other ordinary citizens.

And I forgot, lest I sound like a total fanboy, I am still using Tiger and am well aware of quite a few issues. Particularly some network issues and some issues with the finder. These are the ones you notice.

I will use the best tool for the job at hand, and as I'm into amateur audio production the Mac beats anything else with a stick. XP is ok, and Linux is getting there. Vista may get there. Maybe. I don't like Vista much.... It was the reason I bought a Mac!

My experience exactly.
I switched not too long ago, and after seeing my sweet MBP in action most family members have switched or are switching.

SO much easier to troubleshoot, and I haven't had to help much at all. 15 minute training when they get the machine (command-q/command-w, mounting and ejecting, installing apps and a few other things) and again a week later. It's easy to teach (although I think that program downloading/installation is needlessly convoluted, and the red X in the top right corner should close the program, not sometimes close the window/sometimes close the program, a few inconsistencies...)

Just the reduction in help time is wonderful and I find the interface so much nicer to work with. Having Terminal is also a plus.

I have been a Win/PC technician and am pretty decent, yet in a very short while I found that OS X is in most ways better.
Ubuntu is good, but problems can take some tech skills to resolve. A well set up Ubuntu system is very decent, even for quite non-technical people.

My OS rating (for quality/flexibilty and ease of use) would go:
Mac OS X
Ubuntu (after correct setup)
WinXP (after correct setup + adware protection + virus protection)
Most other systems
A rock
...
...
Vista

As Bundercup says, Homeland security has expressed regrets about the handling of this case, showing us that they probably didn't do quite right.
According to all reports her only crime was overstaying her visit a few days around ten years ago. She´s been back to the US repeatedly after that. Now some goon noticed her minor infraction and she was put in chains.
She is considering legal action on multiple issues. US law was violated, Icelandic law was violated, international law was violated. Mostly about due process (oh, you don't have that in the US any more?).
The lawyers seem to look forward to this one.

Those goons obviously have no common sense or real idea about what their job is about.
All this crap REALLY dissuades most people from visiting the US unless they have to. People joke about being secretly sent to gitmo if the look funny at the airport. Only it's just kind of a joke.
That does not help the US economy at all. It will probably be good for us over here in europe. Business people of all sorts prefer not to visit the US either, you see.

Will it blend?

You can also approach it a bit differently by prioritizing.

Do you NEED that or WANT it.
Will it add to you life or detract from it.
Will it simplify your life or add complexity.

Obviously, if the object is for your hobby or work, adding complexity may be fine as it allows greater control. If you specialize in graphics a complicated camera (and editing software and/or darkroom) can be completely justified.
If it's just for point and shoot photography you probably just want some zoom, good colour handling, good autofocus and 2-3 different settings for conditions. The machine may be doing a lot of complicated stuff, but that should be completely transparent to the user.

The same with most objects/devices. Some need the most complex options, most will only use the simple stuff. Most car owners will never feel the need to change the front/rear diff balance which is why most cars don't offer the option.
Some device manufacturers realize that their product features should revolve around the user.
User centric instead of device centric.
Apple has done some work in the field, pairing many (not all the) options with simple interfaces.
For the remote control issues mentioned above, notice the design of the apple remote. For most uses it's enough. If they were to go one step further and make a remote with an iPod interface they could probably nail the super simple and power user markets. I've seen a remote with dozens of un-navigable buttons that could do surprisingly little that the little white apple remote couldn't.

Complex interfaces are usually due to technological limitations at the time of design, due to lazy design or due to cost cutting.
(submenus are cheaper than hardware buttons)

I spend time on work, hobbies (most needing some tech) and family. If MANAGING my crap eats into any of those I'm doing something wrong