@13: Actually, CO2 does have a liquid state, but under much more pressure than at sea level. Still the idea is pretty preposterous.

@14: I am about to move from a very short commute (2 miles to train station) to a super duper long commute (53 miles one way). Time to buy an electric car.

oh, and after actually READING the link, it would seem that they are not even using genetically altered rabiesvirus, but part of a single viral protein that is made outside the context of infected cells.

so there is no live rabies involved here. They are using a piece of a single viral protein to chaperone a small piece of RNA into the brain. This small piece of RNA inhibits the expression of genes - in their experiment it blocked the onset of fatal encephalitis (not sure what virus, but it really doesn't matter for this proof of concept).

Um, keep in mind folks,that these will be genetically altered versions of rabies, not live and killer rabies but attenuated versions that will be able to send its payload to the brain but cause no harm. While other adverse effects are possible, there will have to be tons of animal experiments before clinical trials will be done, and then many of the human "experiments" will be done under compassionate use guidelines, where someone is about to die and they are desperate for any treatment. Barring lots of bribery and a conspiracy, we should know of adverse effects prior to widespread use.

One problem with the use of viral vectors is that you will eventually generate an immune response against the vector itself, so any future virus-based treatments will have to be done with a different virus.

#14, psuedorabies is a herpesvirus, not rabies. But yes, there has been a big push to use engineered herpes simplex viruses to kill cancer cells in the brain, too. PRV is a varicella virus, like the herpesvirus that causes chickenpox/shingles in humans.

Oh, and #14 - does it really matter WHAT a virus is? It all depends on your definition of what life is. Semantics. It is a virus. That's what it is.

My son got the Lego catalog the other day - one of the statements in the Indy set is that "Indy can even ride under the truck", like in the movie. Made me think that Lego needs to make a Cape Fear set.
Counselor!

#18 - your firmware update for the car was applied without the driver's knowledge. The Acme remote diagnostic thing pressed the install button. Responsibility: Mostly Acme, some user. Acme should provide some way of fixing firmware issue at driver's cost.

The The iPhone update was applied with the user's knowledge. The iPhone user clicked the install button. Responsibility: Mostly user, some hacked firmware provider. Hacked Firmware provider should provide some way of fixing firmware at user's cost.

While I agree that Apple should have some way of noticing that the firmware is not the Apple certified firmware, who is expected to pay Apple come up with a workaround to detect hacked firmware? At what stage in the process does the firmware get recognized? Does Apple need samples of all the firmware hacks to be able to properly detect them to prevent the updater from working?

If Apple did detect the hacked firmware and say "no update for you", would these suit-happy folks then sue Apple because they could not access the iTMS like everyone with an unhacked phone?

I don't get it. You hacked your phone. You knew you hacked your phone by applying firmware, knowing that the hacked firmware might have bricked your phone. But luckily it worked. Now you are going to apply another firmware. Why do you think that this might not brick your phone? Why is Apple responsible for this? Were they responsible for allowing you to hack the firmware in the first place?

Case in point - I have a 1st Generation 1 GHz 17-inch Powerbook G4. Apple's firmware for the SuperDrive only allowed it to burn DVD's at 1X even though the drive specs said it was a 2X drive. It worked as advertised with all DVD-R media I threw at it. SOmebody made a program to flash the drive's firmware so that it would burn at 2X. It worked great with name-brand DVD's but not with cheap DVDs. Is Apple responsible for this? No.

I am sure all the iPhone hack creator/distributors said - "We are not responsible if you brick your phone". But if the poor innocent consumer is not responsible for the firmware installation (twice!) and resultant bricking, it seems to me that the hacked firmware providers are next in line for liability BEFORE Apple.

One more question: Did the iPone firmware update automagically install itself? If not, then Apple is not liable. You make the decision to hack, you deal with the consequences. But if the iPhone firmware downloads and installs without the user's knowledge, then PERHAPS the brickees have a case.

I don't have an iPhone, but I just read that before you do the update, Apple did provide a warning about hacked phones not working on the screen of the host computer. One word: DOH!

I shelled out the cash for the Bluetooth headset with the unfortunate name "iMuffs". Let me tell you these things rock. A tad expensive, but what sets them apart from the other bluetooth headsets is the phone functionality. The headset ALSO syncs with your cell phone, so while you are rocking out wirelessly and you get a call on your bluetooth phone, the music pauses and you answer the call (built-in mic on the headset). After the call is over, the iPod kicks back in right where you left off. It is really great tech. Comfort of the headset could be better, but I never miss a call and NO MORE WIRES! I replaced the battery in my 4G iPod and I get about 6 hours of usage with the bluetooth headset (14 hours with wired earbuds). Look 'em up, just google iMuffs.