LadyCrimson

Such over-inflated contrast numbers don't always mean the best picture. From what I've read/heard, calibrating the LCD monitors (sometimes you have to download stuff) are really important to make them as good as they can be. Out-of-the-box isn't going to make me happy, I'm sure. I'll be spending hours fiddling with calibration, when I get one. And even then I'm sure I'll think the CRT's are still better in some areas. I'm first going to try some of the cheaper ones I can return easily, like the Scepters (that I liked the display of in the store) or other $300 brands. It's becoming difficult to find a large selection in any store. They'll have one LG, one Dell, etc. on display. Maybe they'll be fine. If not, I'll go for the pricey Multisync's, screw it.

It's Alive, Aliiiiiive!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh........I feel better now.

Was watching Hell in the Pacific on cable. A classic. The ending isn't all that great, really, but all the rest before is pretty awesome, particularly Toshir

Agreed about less wasteful. My only issue is just a personal thing...I like being able to see/try things before I buy, and I absolutely dislike having to wait for mail if you need to return/exchange. I want to be able to go return the same day if I want. Other than that, the only business ramification I could see as a 'maybe' would be in terms of employment. I'm not sure if on-line/mail order purchasing creates as many jobs as retail stores. Tho obviously things like food and pharmacy would still be a walk-in things. If it's a lot less, we'd need to find other areas for mass lower-skilled jobs or it could become a problem? Maybe?

Ahahaha....that was lol worthy. And I bet someone will try, too. On the one, I love this kind of stuff...more options always good. On the other hand...I still forsee the eventual day where there are almost no retail stores and we buy everything online/delivery. I'm not sure I like that. But I'm not the market people are selling to anymore so it doesn't really matter.

Hey Walsh, just curious if you're still as happy with (or happier) your monitor after some time has passed. Ghosting with games or fast-motioned video all right? My CRT's contrast is fading slowly away and I'm becoming more desperate about making a LCD choice. The Gateway FHD2401 reviews aren't too bad either. I think I may just have to go the "buy it/return it/buy it/return it" 10 times route...

That's my point...either tax food or don't.

And my case was that I agree you can make a case that 42% potato is enough to call them "potato-based"... enough to be taxable anyway. Although if it was me, I'd say they only have to pay half the tax...7% not 15%, or some such. Hah, hah. My impression based on the wording of the VAT rule quoted in the article is that it's really less about the potato issue as it is about whether under the new law, Pringles constitute a certain kind of junk food item...Pringles is a snack/non-food and they can't deny it, so they're trying to get out of being taxed through a potato loophole. But I do agree that if govnt's want to tax food to fill their coffers, just do it...stop putting all these stupid little "it has peanuts, so is it a cookie or a candy bar" distinctions in there. If you're going to make non-good food taxable, a candy bar with peanuts is still junk food (so are cookies for that matter) and should be taxable etc. Or something.

Decided to try Opera 9.64 or whatever the latest version is. Installs fine. I fiddle with some of the basic Preferences like turning off sound notifications and the 'wand' and some of the javascript allowances etc. I notice it seemed to import my Firefox bookmarks even tho I didn't ask it to. I enter any URL in the address bar, hit Enter and it gives me a blank page/nothing, as if I never tried to surf the web at all. I hit "Reload" and it gives me either nothing or a white page that says something like "URL moved, it's now here (click link)." I click link (or refresh again) and the page loads. Happens every single time I hit any URL...like once I get this forum to finally load in browser, the process starts all over for every single link-click. Obviously not acceptable. I don't have ANY "blocked content", since I just installed it. ???? Edit: I see via Google that some people have Opera issues w/firewalls. We use a hardware (not software) firewall...Firefox/IE have never had a problem with it, but could that be it?

So are most restaurant hamburgers and real butter cookies, and yet so many still eat them. We're a funny lot, aren't we? I loved Pringles as a kid, mostly because they were 'forbidden' and thus I could rarely get my grubby hands on them...But eh...I lost my taste for chip-like foods a long time ago. Pringles now taste kinda like salty wax paper. (edit) And I'd say Pringles are potato based...I mean, they have to buy potato in some form or other to put in there, even if it's powdered or whatever ... thus taxable I guess. Beer and sports drinks.

Good Lord, bro, give us a picture! Seconded. You can't tease like that and not give us something. You just...can't...?

I suppose I must watch this, and I might even like it (doesn't look bad)... but I also suppose I'm going to have mental fits about Hollywood remaking yet another one of my childhood memories. SIGH When Diana first ate the rat/mouse/guinea pig or whatever it was, everyone talked about it for days. Sure it's a total (and dated) cheesefest now, but back then ... it was awesomeness. There's a reason for that : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO34WjK8KI4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceD9N0t7Tk Not that V was the first to have the 'hovering spaceships'. (For those that don't want to watch the vids...)

That's what I thought was happening too, LostStraw...but it's happened when using a wireless mouse and when my hands were nowhere near the touchpad. I wonder if the plastic areas around the touchpad are "loose" or something...maybe even my hands on the sides of the touchpad sometimes trigger it via vibration. Very strange.

Just finished watching Glee. A lot better than I expected and I loved it. Funny in the way I like, a bit surreal, great/fun music. Can't wait for more. Even musical-hating hubby liked it - he LOL'd several times, even. Awesome.

So this laptop I'm trying to use seems to have this issue, where if I leave the mouse cursor over a link for a second (or less, it seems rather random) it sometimes automatically opens the link...or closes a window...or opens a program. It's extremely annoying, but also intermittent. Has anyone encountered this before, is there a Windows setting to turn this off or is something broken, hah? I turned off a lot of the default XP Windows visual features but it's still doing it. I've never had it on my desktops. It's WinXp/sp2, Sony Vaio.

Re: Star Trek plot holes - nitpicking possible reasons for seeming lapses in logic afterwards is fun (I loved doing that with the OS)...but there's a point where too much constant disruption of 'belief' while actually watching=fail story-wise for me. Means it wasn't engaging enough for me to get lost in the moment. And still doesn't solve the tired sci-fi plot/mechanisms. In terms of the end, But only saw it once so not surprised if I spaced out on that. For more silly in-the-name-of-fun nitpicking, what I meant, in the beginning of the movie, was where they said At any rate, I did like the new Trek. Just not orgasmic about it. Heheh.

Hubby got an old spare Sony VAIO laptop working so I can watch mlb.tv on the big screen in living room and be on the 'net w/out having to constantly hit ESC keys. Which is cool, but laptops feel awkward when not used to them. :/ Plus I need a wireless laptop mouse because this mousepad thingie sucks. Takes me forever to do stuff and I keep hitting it with my palm so the cursor moves mid-typing. Watched Boston lose again. Took a walk in the warm breezy evening with my camera. Had a cola Slurpee, which I used to love years ago and really wanted one, but it wasn't nearly as yummy as I remembered. Still great on a hot day, tho.

I objected to the notion that the Romulans would You don't really have to answer...it's just fantasy, I know. But c'mon...it's distracting.

My maiden last name, which unfortunately I'm not going to reveal here, was something I never quite grew out of disliking (my brother eventually came to terms with it) and thus was very glad to be rid of it when I married. Re: name shortening - I understand the shortening of names verbally, because I'm syllable lazy, but stuff like "Bob" from "Robert" or "****" from "Richard" doesn't make sense. Richard...Rich. Logical. The other...not so much. But I don't know where the lineage of such names comes from, so...

It's all about the excess lint issue...

I have to admit it ... I laughed.

I miss meta and reading his posts. He was great for debating.

Humans don't like making changes to lifestyles and imo will naturally be resistant to them even if they make long-term sense for species health. I feel the same way about the population growth issue - that everyone ignores it/doesn't want to talk about it. It's hard to rationally discuss issues that feel like a denial of a "natural right" ... ie, freedom to choose. But ... well ... that doesn't mean we should stop trying. I think human kind will most likely never learn to not make war with each other, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for peace. I know that doesn't address your frustrations about not having info about cost vs reward. but that's all I really have to say about it ... there no way of predicting whether something will forever fail/get worse and thus is not worth ever bothering about, or if something could and will eventually change by the simple virtue of not being ignored by us. That is ruled by optimism vs. pessimism, faith in human intelligence vs. faith in human stupidity. There will be extremists in every cause...don't let them bother you so much.

This week I learned that Charmin Ultra Strong is better than Charmin Ultra Soft...and that either Charmin is way better than Quilted Northern Ultra Plush.

My dear dear Walsh....*laughs good naturedly* My irrational empathy and your irrational hyperbole would make interesting Forum BBQ debate, complete with Wookie-sized gesticulations and roars. When is that BBQ happening, again?