Those Linux hounds who foam at the mouth over stories like this as potential to convert the unwashed Windows masses seem to be missing the point. The way to fix the problem is not to abandon the medium; that's not FIXING the problem, that's AVOIDING the problem. We need to do what we can to get Microsoft to fix this bullshit (i.e. get this all over the internet).

Girlfriend's out of town...I know what I'm doing tonight!

@4: Do you not see a difference between photographers and Paparazzi? The activities of the latter border on harassment and stalking, and the methods which they employ to get their photographs pose a serious threat to the safety of their target and everyone around them.

See also: Princess Diana.

Am I the only person who is absolutely tired of the "I'm not ______, but..." rhetorical device? As if saying "I'm not racist, but I really don't like black people" makes someone less of a racist. The front page of cops writing cops contains an essay about why off-duty cops should not be ticketed, and begins with this wonderful gem:

"I do not suggest nor endorse the concept that anyone is above the law or be given immunity from arrest..."

Tell me then, what are you suggesting?

Here's a screencap from the security camera showing the robber instructing the teller to fill the bag with money:

Screencap

Wow, I'm surprised how sore people are getting over this post. It's a comic rant on absurdity. That's the basis for many comedians (see: Lewis Black). When someone or something stands out from the norm, they are certain to be noticed, and those who notice are certain to form an opinion. It's a conversation. We're so used to the same old same old that when something different comes along, we take it and run with it. Are those people "bad" for thinking this guy's haircut is absolutely ridiculous? Are we against change? Are we against people who think and live outside the box? Are we against personal expression?

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd expect others to think I'm as much of an embarrassment as I think this guy is if I had this haircut. But cheers to him for having the guts to be so uncaring. For that, I am jealous, and perhaps that's where my negative opinion of his awful do stems from.

That, or I'm just offended by how hideous it is.

I've never called a Senator's office before. Who do you end up talking to, and what do you say exactly?

Man, I seriously hope everyone is right about 2012. We've gone far past the point of no return and into a whole new Dark Age. We need to start over with a clean slate.

This would be relevant to Brian Wilson's interests.

Absolutely brilliant. It was only the other day that I was discussing with someone that we are raising a generation of unprepared, plastic-wrapped pansies who will be unexpectedly shocked into the real world. We're sheltering our children from the most primitive form of learning: first hand cause and effect. You touch a hot stove, you burn yourself, you don't do it again. You stick your tongue to the end of an adapter plugged into the wall, you shock yourself, you don't do it again. You use a giant coloring book as a surf board on your aunt's polished floor on Christmas at the age of 2, you break your leg (yeah, Merry Christmas to me). This is how we learn. By telling our children, "Don't do this, don't do that," we only make them want it more. Adults are no different in that regards. If we allow our children to fall off their bike or stub their toes or burn themselves, we're only preparing them for the real world.

Natural selection, ACTIVATE!

#42, it's a quick judgment based on ocular observation. Those who believe it is the same dog is not assuming what you believe they are; you don't need to assume anything here. What you need to do is look at the two images and see that they are the same dog. Your argument is nothing more than a red herring.

I seriously hope, for the sake of my dying faith in humanity, that you were being sarcastic.

Give me a break. People are debating whether or not this is the same exact image? Christ, look at the comparison at the top of the page. It's as clear as day that it is the same dog.

Now, in regards to the whole copyright issue, the difference between FOX stealing an image and, say, a blogger stealing an image is that FOX is a for-profit corporation. FOX used this image during a broadcast that generated revenue for the company from advertising dollars. FOX did not request permission from the photographer to use her image. IANAL, so I can't say whether or not the image is considered public domain, and really, that would be the only way FOX could get off the hook in this case.

One more vowel and Nintendo would be up their asses.

That's a pretty damn intuitive idea, though. Well done.

My vote for the most obnoxious receipt goes to Circuit City. They start at about a foot and a half for a single item. They're about the width of two standard receipts. To top it off, if you're paying by card, you have to sign in this big ugly box at the bottom. For this, plus their poor layout, I avoid them unless I cannot get what I want elsewhere.

Man, if I knew my money was going to fund the building of wicked underground homes when I give it to the homeless, I'd actually give it up. Very crafty, sir, very crafty.

...Now, when they kicked him out, was he saying "Boo" or "Boo-urns?"

The problem with digital technology is that there is no physical product. Barring DRM, the only way to transfer an eBook to a new owner is via good faith, as in selling the book, transferring the file, and deleting your copy.

We're led to believe that "good faith" isn't a strong enough system to rely on (see also: the 62% of people who did not feel Radiohead's latest album is worth purchasing). How do you create a system then to fully transfer over ownership rights of a digital file to another person?

Perhaps with eBooks, we need to work around the idea of buying and selling. Perhaps we need to focus more on a solid model based around the library system in which members of the site can "rent" as many books as they'd like for a given period and return them for new ones, ala Netflix. The only reason why one should pay for such a service is due to maintenance fees (bandwidth and so-on), since they are not publicly funded like our libraries are.

But even then, you will still have people like me who purchase and rarely/never resell books (especially paperbacks). I don't want to be limited to 10 books forever; I want to be able to own as many as I want. What if I do decide to sell the book? We're back to the DRM issue.

So here's our problem: How do we ensure the handling and transfer of a digital file is actually occurring without somebody fudging the system in nearly all cases? I say nearly all because even with physical books, someone could simply copy the entire book and sell it. We cannot destroy copy machines because of this, but at the same time, because a person can copy a physical book, we should not leave the system wide open for people to easily copy the digital files.

Does it really matter how the keys are laid out if you almost sub-consciously know where they are? Perhaps arguments can be made towards wrist fatigue, but I cannot imagine being able to type any faster than I already do.

Can I be the first to say that this has gone too far? lolcats is the only meme that works. Every other instance I've seen has paled in comparison.