You would be too if you had an office reserved on the 119th floor like he does.

KIDDING!

But yes...the list of dearly departed, please ?

I'm going to guess it wasn't intentional. The more consoles they sell, the more games they *might* sell. I doubt the momentary pleasure of being able to truthfully say they were "sold out". My guess is they were caught of guard...

(MS shipping department)

"Well another day another FIVE 360 units to send to Japan...gotta keep that stock, up oh yeah..."

'Dude, they already sold 18,000 and it's only the 10th.'

"Ap-ah-dub-dit WHAT?!?!?"

" 'Water Boarding' just got a lot more fun!"

-------------------------------

Erm...where do conventional $25 swim fins fit into this performance matrix ? Because if it's a choice between spending $1800 to swim with that thing in the YMCA pool down the street @ 8mph, or spending $1825 to go snorkeling in Hawaii with conventional fins @ 6mph - 7mph well that last mph just doesn't seem worth it...

PS - Shouldn't the speed be in 'nauts' ???

"Oh, Steve...if I've told you once I've told you 666 times. When you tie your virgin sacrifices to the stake, use wire, NOT HEMPEN ROPE. If you use rope, that's the first thing to burn through, and then they raise all kinds of hell...except the kind you're summoning..."

Ok...so raise the price.

Problem solved...

I just think it would be a neat direction for general microprocessing to take...

And so on and so forth...

Of course, there are a lot of other concerns to this type of setup...memory architechture for one, internal/external bus speeds and such, but it would be very nifty if a system could balance processing power this way. Perhaps even shutting of half or more of the cores at times for power optimization.

I guess this is actually kind of the direction AMD is going with 'Fusion', though with more core task optimization.

It should be interesting to see what develops...from all camps... :)

And it might actually work It worked for the Batman franchise, worked well..and then phenomenally well(though I think H(D)eath Ledger really stole the show in TDK). When he's not busy smacking his mom and sister around Bale is actually a very good actor. But of course, actors, even GOOD actors, can only rise so far above their material. So the script can't reak too much.

If they manage to pull of a moderately cogent script, keep the special effects non-cgi enough of the time to keep the film gritty, and don't make any and all sex scenes TOO gratuitous (remember Matrix: Reloaded ? GAG! I didn't know who to feel sorry for, Neo for starting it, trinity for allowing it, or myself for watching it), T4 could be all right.

I mean heck, We've all already seen how to make a good terminator film (T1) how to make a great terminator film (T2) and how to make a terrible terminator film (T3). Cut, splice, rinse, repeat where appropriate...

Is this statement meant to be facetious ? As I recall the Genesis was pretty competitive throughout the 16-bit generation, even though the SNES debuted much later, and thus had some technical superiority.

"Sega began 1992 with a number of advantages: a 55% to 45% market share over the Super NES, a lower price, and a tenfold advantage in number of games...A Sony focus group found that teenage boys would not admit to owning a Super NES rather than a Genesis...Neither console could maintain a definitive lead in market share for several years."

- [en.wikipedia.org]

Just sayin...

With Klaatu's persona evolving and changing in the new one to be more sympathetic to humans, it seems kinda backwards. "Oh, oops. These guys aren't so bad. They're ruining their planet and slaughtering each other, but I'M the one in the wrong. I'm being too harsh. If I leave them alone and turn my back I'm sure everything will work out ok by the time they learn to travel through space...they just need a time out and a new video game..."

What the heck is this...'Dr. Spock's Galactic Eco-nanny force" ?

I realize I'm assuming a lot since I haven't seen the film yet. Maybe it burns me up because I grew up with the original and I jsut don't like seeing classics bothed. Or maybe it's because I see too many parents these days taking exactly the attitude I described earlier and I can't stand to see the neglegence perpetuated even further.

Bah...this is all IMHO anyway...as you were...

No kidding. You'd think it would have been a clue to us that Imperial was a bad idea when the people who freakin invented it switched, at least in part, to metric...

I cut my own IT teeth on that system. The Samsung HDD went wonky within a year, and I swapped it for a 30GB drive (my first time working inside the case!). Then I upgraded the Vid card to an ATI All-in-Wonder 128 Pro w/ 32MB onboard (YAY! TV in my room!). Next came a Soundblaster Live MP3 edition soundcard (I still use the bundled software today). Then a Creative CD-RW (purchased white box from Tiger Direct), and finally a DVD-ROM (Though I also eventually had to replace the modem when the original failed...$70).

Once I got it to that point, I had nice stable little system that did just about everything I could want. I spent many an hour playing Delta Force 2 on that thing when I should have been doing school work (college). Ironically enough, that's still my favorite game...

Next came an Athlon 1.2ghz (fastest chip you could get...for about 2 weeks) that was pretty good if a little unstable. Later built a secondary rig out of a Duron 1600. Then my glorious AMD 2800+ Barton rig that I unknowingly ran underclocked for years (always wondered why it didn't seem much faster than the 1.2ghz system...). Bios update fixed that just in time for it to run Vista reasonably well. Then I replaced that after I uh...acquired an E6700 and built a system around it, and later built a second out of a 4800+ X2 to replace the Duron.

Yeah...max performance ain't my thing anymore :P

Point taken. Not ALL sequels are terrible, and you gave a few good examples (though strangely absent was Alien/Aliens...WTF?). But I'll reposte your touche and say MOST sequels do not live up to their predecessors. Example (of franchises whose sequels did not equal or exceed the original):

- Jaws (x2)
- The Mummy (Brenden Frasier version) (x2+Scorpion King)
- Batman (Micheal Keaton version) (x3)
- Predator (x2)
- Jurassic Park (x2)
- Mission Impossible (x1 - MI:2 was ok)
- Indiana Jones (x2 subjective - Last Crusade was good)
- The Matrix (x2)
- Highlander (x3)
- The Crow (x1)

And that's just the short list from a guy who doesn't actually watch a *lot* of movies. True, this is all based on MY opinion, and even within those franchises some of the sequels were entertaining, but I stand by my main point that most suq...

But...to each their own...

I certainly hope not. I've seen enough movies and sequels at this point to expect a sequal to

a) Suck balls compared to the original
b) Suck balls entirely on it's own merit

BUT! I was most pleasently surprised with Batman Begins that if this sequel is even half as good as it's predecessor I'll probably enjoy it well enough. And by all accounts it should be :)

Maybe I'll catch it next week...opening day/weekend is usually none to much fun. Here's hoping I can resist the temptation to download it before then...

"The winning concept will be chosen in 2008, and the manned vehicle flown in 2014"

So what do we do until then ? Will the ISS have to rely on the Russians for transport and re-supply ?

Better get set to cruuuuuuuuuuise in the Sooooo-yuuuuuuuuuz...

Seriously though, what is the actual plan ?

Well...yes and no. It's always kind of sad when things go mainstream. Star Wars... Celtic Music/Culture... Mediteranean Food... Anime... Cell phones for cryin' out loud. All so ubiquitous and done to death...and yet they all started out so cool. On the plus side, all those things are much easier to get now, which is a small consolation for the mean level of quality plummeting as mass acceptance rises.

The lowest common denominator, is never very high, eh ?

Still, I'll miss the days when 'going on-line' was reserved for those who knew what a BBS, Sysop, and baud rate were...as opposed to simply being the vehical for human perversions such as and including 'Myspace'. and 'Anime' (in the US anyway) was a mysterious beast from the east passed from person to person on VHS (or even BETA) video cassettes smuggled back from the land of the rising sun.

Good times...but I shouldn't complain. I still have Fencing, Archery, and Chinese chess. I should be good until the X games gets ahold of those...

As to the question someone asked about the reasons Germany used Hydrogen, yes...it was largely political. The US was the major producer for helium back then, and Germany knew America's destruction was in their ultimate plans, so they didn't want to become reliant on them. They certainly didn't WANT to use potentially explosive Hydrogen in the dirigibles, but that's what they had, so that's what they used (I think it actually has more lifting power as an added bonus)...

"I for one still have my balls attached."

Keep playing with fireworks and that might change....

Just kidding! Well actually it's true, but I agree, removing the idiot factor from a situation in the long run goes farther to make things safe than taking away fireworks. You can injure yourself with a stick or a freakin' glass of water if you're stupid enough.

And now that I think about it, I've got 9 or 10 'firecrackers' left over from the days when I was a sad neglected and angry young man with nothing better to do than gnaw on teen angst and make explosives. I never lit them off because they were getting both highly powerful and highly unpredictable (I started adding things like solid rocket engines and such...never knew if they'd simply go BOOM with smoke or blast fire and flaming debris about 50' from both ends...). Now I don't even remember what's in each one....

SSID: "ALLYERBITSAREBELONG2ME"

SSID: "PRFSNLHACKERHOWBOUTU"

SSID: "DIDHARDTIME"

SSID : "YourWifeCheats"
Key : "@nshesgood2"
Key : "Thank$IOU"

Oh, people are people no matter where they hail from...I know that. But American bashing is just so fun (not to mention easy) sometimes I can't resist.

But I will say, whenever I've been in an international airport, a place where you see people from all over the world, and observed someone acting like a loud obnoxious douche (which has happened a number of times)guess where they usually (but definitely NOT always) come from ?

And course, it should also be noted that every time this has been the case, the truth is there were plenty of people around from the same place behaving quite affably.

And as for that and any other such comments being 'turdy', well...I call it like I see it...

And incidentaly, I'm an American myself, so either way it kind of proves the point then doesn't it :P

Chill peeps...it's all in good fun...

And now apparently they publish comics about it (not to mention reality shows)...

Where to begin with how much of a nob this guy is. He went to how many stores that in all likelyhood actually DO sell the tool he needed and yet he DID NOT manage to acquire one ? Judging by his remarks about the associates degree sporting 'genius', I'm going to guess he didn't even bother asking anyone working at HomeDepot and wherever else he went because if HE didn't know what a torx driver is, how could a simple-minded retail worker ???

Here's a hint nob...they don't HAVE TO know what it is or what it does (even though they almost certainly do), just draw what the screw head looks like ( like this -> * ), and show it to them. Someone will know what it is...

Or he could do the obvious and bring the freakin' PORTABLE computer with him and actually show IT to them...

I find it highly amusing that he thought he'd just walk in and they would let him use their tools for nothing. Does he kick guys out of the pit at the oil changers too so he doesn't have to change the oil in his car lying on his back ?

And exactly how is it the genius bar peoples fault that he bought an $80 card ? He probably could have bought the card+install at the genius bar for a bottom line price and zero hassle. Is he just upset that he bought the card impulsively without even checking to make sure he could actually install it ?

And exactly WTF is he doing opening this machine up anyway? I mean I'm guessing his wifes work didn't give it to her to keep, and opening it up like that would probably void the warranty.

I'd love to say he got what he deserved, but he really didn't. Not a single consequence or indignity was visted upon him throughout his @$$-Hattery. Despite the fact that he probably genuinely offended/harrassed most of the other people invovled far in excess of what was done to him or even what was appropriate to the situation.

The sad thing is...there's a million other people out there just like him...

I can't wait to move back to asia.

(Not that there aren't people like that over there to, but you know...I still want to move back)

Can someone remind me what is so UN-green about using, erm...metal ? I realize you have to produce steel, aluminum, magnesium and such in smelting plants/refineries, but you can pretty easily tear down and rebuild a quality metal bike every couple years, and/or simply melt the frame down and build something else with it when it's totally unusable as a bike any more. Seems pretty easy on the eco-sphere to me...

Also, isn't there some truth to the statement that the lions share of industrial pollution actually stems from the production of paper products (of which cardboard is one)? I heard that somewhere...don't remember if I ever verified it was true, but either way I don't see how a conventional bike is in any serious way detrimental to the environment...

How to take this machine though ? I wonder how it would react to two pucks...

Yeah... I got a very 'Star 80' vibe from this thing when I saw it too.

But need I remind everyone that in Japan they don't tend to have/use as much furniture as in some other countries ? Lounging around on the floor (even when guests) are over is totally common. I've seen any number of 'chairs' over there that don't have any legs...the seat 'sits' right on the floor...you put your legs in front of you 'indian' style and compute, web surf, eat dinner, whatever...but you get SOME back support.

Of course, some J-homes are quite westernized, but it's entirely possible that this little lady is lying right where she puts her bed when it isn't folded up and stored in the closet. And as for a couch...if she had room for a couch, do you think she would need to fold up her bed and put it in the closet ?

This particular design might not be *great* for your back in the long run, but it isn't any wierder than all those 'lower back pain' chairs from the 80's we had over here in the states that actually CAUSED back problems...

Like others are saying, what's the point in holding the title, when you could only hold it for a few years anyway ?

And, not that I like to contribute to the MISPLACED climate of fear (I mean there are plenty of things in the world worthy of dread but certain things get a wee bit more press time than is proportional to their real threat is all I'm saying), but can you seriously imagine a terrorist thinking "Hmmm...I know how I'll make my political statement...I'll bomb/blow up/raspberry the worlds SECOND tallest building! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

As Dave Chapelle would say "You not gonna see it..."

Besides, $555 million is cheap in one of the richest countries in the world. Witness the factr that 90% of the building as yet has not intended purpose. This is probably just so some rich 80 year old japanese businessman can have the secret private gogo disco bar and shag pad at 2000' that he's dreamed about since college.

And you know what ? If you're an 80 year old billionaire, why the heck not!?!??

I must say, it's weird seeing carnage like that in a (recognizable) place where you hang out.

I mean...jeez man...I eat Gyros 2 blocks from there...

@Jimbuck: Most of the personal accounts are simply people describing what happened as illustrated in the 3d animation/models from their own perspective of course. The narrator is for the most pert also simply describing whatever you're seeing on the screen, and throwing in a bit of moralizing here and there (he says something about this being a terrible age we're living in...)

My japanese is pretty rusty, so I'm probably missing a bunch of stuff though I'm pretty sure all that is in there. And my Japanese reading skills were never that great, but the first white text on black background says ~ 'He came to Akihabara (specifically) to kill.' (which is already pretty dang obvious...)

"Ya just put'em in you mouth
(Put'em in your mouth)
Put'em in your mouth
and suck'em!
and suck'em!"

- Chef

[en.wikipedia.org]

Which puts it only around -5...

RIP your uncle (/pours out 1 ounce of distilled water on sidewalk, saves other 39 for self/). Perhaps a set of these

[www.autosportcatalog.com]

would make nice gifts for your family ? Unless of course you're growing weary of them :P

I don't know...it seems like its a 55/45 split either way depending on your personal perspective of whether it's better to start upgrading intra or inter city systems first. One might be slightly more important/urgent than the other, but in the end you need both at the same time to really make it work.

Course, it would be hard to justify federal funding for a single US city unless the plan was eventually to upgrade cities across the country at the Govs expense.

Well...the Gov might pay to tear down and rebuild the infrastructure across *A* country perhaps, though ironically enough not THIS country. Maybe repaving over sand is easier than dirt ?

Perhaps the gov could plan out an interstate high speed train system, and then only connect states that agree to install local systems to a certain spec (before hand) for each city connected.

Nah...that might actually WORK...

Too true about the cell phone usage patterns in Japan. I was e-mailing the GF unit once (I in US she in Japan) and I just happened to get an immediate response; she was sitting at her computer at that very moment! Kinda rare due to the time difference and our schedules. So we traded a couple emails back and forth. As I went back over the conversation later I realized now she actually switched TO HER PHONE when she wanted to send a LONGER message (the address changed from her ezweb to her vodaphone account...I didn't notice at the time cause I just kept hitting reply). And then she switched back when she wanted to send a picture that she'd taken with her regular digital camera that was now stored on her PC. That's right, she's actually MORE comfortable emailing from her phone than she is from her PC with it's lucious full size QWERTY keyboard. She was sitting right in front of her PC, emailing from her phone...

Japanese are crazy...

Course that's probably why I love'em so much...

"Where is all of this anger coming from people?

They're just models! Not even famous ones... "

Oh they're famous NOW all right. When the next American Idol stars the 'Arm-boob Man(?) and the Skank-Eee Hoes', thanks to the Giz you and everyone else will know EXACTLY who they are...

The geek is STRONG in this one...

I "need" (non-essentially mind you), a device for school and travel. Which means it's got to be light enough to carry for a few hours a day, small enough to fit in a bag with other stuff (clothes, books, etc...) and it needs to run mainstream software (Office, Email, etc).

I could live without such a device, but it makes a great adjunct to a full power contemporary desktop for my usage. If/when I finally move/go back school in Japan I may pick up one of the new breed of these tiny laptops, but for now I'll stick with my Fujitsu P1120. Downgraded to Win2K, and runs everything I need pretty decently and is highly portable (fits on a cattle class tray table and has a 5 hour 6 cell battery). I think it was $1500 when it was new, but I got it for about $420 used ~2 years ago.

Since I'm hoping to moving back in late 2009 or early 2010, I'll probably be able to pick up a netbook (or whatever) in addition to a 15" - 17" desktop replacement. And that combo should last me until I finish school (probably a year), find a job and get a permanent place to live whereupon I can have a desktop machine again...

Sigh, got a long road ahead...and only a Lifebook to keep me company...

And yet...how much FLAP was there when batspit insane, has-been inane, Brittany Spears' defunct woman bits \made a surprise(?) appearance on the street?

(Having regrettably seen the pics I would actually have to guess quite a lot...)

I know I know...'leave Brittany alone'...I just can't stand the hypocrisy...

But what the heck, at post 100+ who's gonna care...

HaHA! Don't you mean "Restless Dreams" ? :P

But speaking of Silent Hill...more nurses...more sirens (the air raid kind)...definitely a bit derivative.

Which is OK. The sirens are haunting/and chilling if used properly (as was done in SH). And the nureses...well...they can definitely add to the experience. I mean as far as SH goes, you might be able to withstand the general game play without it freaking you out, but you'd have to be one hard pipe-hittin gamer indeed not to be creeped out by the fact that you're turned on by the melted manequin corpse nurses...

I mean, I'm not the only one who thought they were hot, right ?

Right...?

As for visiting Japan if you're an american...why not ? Zombies, animated corpses and demonic thralls gotta eat to ya know ?