Hurlshort

Protip: There's no such thing as a "good calorie" and a "bad calorie." Energy is energy. Have you read the book? Or at least looked at a summary of it? Because otherwise your response comes across as uninformed and presumptive.

Condolences as well Enoch. It's really good to hear your wife is doing well. It's amazing what they go through compared to us guys.

Seriously. You would think that if the US were help anywhere in the world, it would be the country they share a gigantic border with. I know they are helping though, and the situation is very complicated, but it doesn't make it any easier to watch. I just hope there is a corner to be turned here soon, I keep reading about cartel leaders getting killed or arrested, so hopefully the progress is worth the cost.

What about when Matthew Broderick almost started a nuclear war by hacking into the Department of Defense's supercomputer?

It says "High-definition widescreen LED-backlit" I don't really know what that means, but isn't this stuff pretty standard nowadays?

Yeah, I would hope the resolution is decent. It has an Nvidia GTX 460M GPU, so I would imagine so. Gorth, I'm pretty sure that spiel is standard for most retailers about the software. I don't pay it much heed, I've got my own copy of Office to install on it when it arrives. Best Buy is a pretty solid store, I've always been happy with my purchases from them. I'm a bit concerned about 'refurbished' though, I've never gone that route with a computer.

Technically I think you can still buy your own tanning bed and let your kids go wild with the melanoma. I see this as a pretty easy public health choice. There isn't any reason that a kid needs to be in a tanning bed, they can earn their skin cancer the hard way by being outside.

I finished the SW: The Old Republic book "Deceived" and thought it was pretty decent. After watching the trailers for the game, the book did a nice job of fleshing out the events. Now I'm reading a murder mystery novel set in Medieval England called The Abbot's Gibbet. So far it is a fun read.

I thought this was a pretty clever clip from SNL http://www.hulu.com/watch/287088/saturday-...stie#s-p2-sr-i1

I put a link to it in the tech forum. I hope it's a good choice.

I tried to get into Dragon Age 2 again last night. It had been a few months since I started it, I was only about 3-4 hours in. It wasn't too hard to get back in the swing of the combat. The story is still bothering me, but I'm hoping I'll get into it eventually. I also find my companions annoying. Ah well, I played the original, the expansion, and read the two books, so hopefully it will click for me at some point.

I ordered this a little bit ago. It looks like a pretty good deal for a laptop that can handle games and has a decent screen size. I was locked into Best Buy because of their great financing options, but I think I made a good choice. Anyone see any red flags? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Factory...p;skuId=3105157

I just bought a laptop for my wife. It's an early christmas present. It's a bit more than I wanted to spend, but it looked like a good deal and it will play games pretty solidly. Still kept it under $1000.

Yeah, that's always a bit of a shock. I can keep my weekly groceries to around $120, but every few months I have to go all out and pick up a bunch of the bigger stuff. Usually I hit $400 when I go to Costco, but I try and only go there a few times a year.

Well, he is clearly former military.

So far it's fairly different. I had trouble with the pistol in BC2, but it seems to pack a good deal more punch in BF3. After I got past the whole browser interface, I really started to dig it. I'm not sure how to fully explain it, but BC2 never felt quite as good as BF2 for me. BF3 feels like it has recaptured the magic. Oh, they seem to have borrowed the movement stuff from Mirror's Edge. I feel like a parkour expert out there jumping, sliding and crawling to avoid bullets.

I would spend more time on your studies and less on nitpicking Star Wars lore.

Damn, I am so jealous of you folks in the TOR beta. I'm hoping I get in for at least one of the beta weekends.

The Battlefield 3 Open Beta has a new map this weekend, and it is one with vehicles, including jets. It was glorious, I had a nice round where I got a couple kills with my pistol.

IMO, education had a far larger affect in reducing smoking than the taxes ever did. Ive never known one person to quit smoking because it was too expensive, only for their health. Now that I think about it, Im not sure Ive ever seen anyone quit any vice due to cost. Ah, but don't the taxes pay for the education campaigns?

I've been watching the Republican primaries play out a bit more, and it is looking like the crazies have faded a bit. The top candidate is clearly Mitt Romney, right now it's hard to imagine anyone getting over him. I know folks were clamoring for Chris Christie, but he has made it clear he has no intention of running. I don't know a ton on Christie, but I like that he is committed to the original job he was elected to (boo Sarah Palin) and I've always thought the best choice for president is the one who doesn't want the job. No reasonable person would. Anyways, no reason to talk about him further until he actually runs. So on to Mitt Romney. I've learned a bit more about him. Apparently the big knock is that he is too willing to compromise with democrats. Given that our country is in dire need of some bipartisanship, I think that's an absolutely crazy criticism. Herman Cain is an intriguing candidate that has picked up steam lately. Word is he doesn't have the funds to make a real push, but his fiscal conservative policies have some promise and he's got a fantastic background story. I think if he could end up as the VP candidate, that would be a pretty strong ticket.

That's a very good point, the marketplace is doing some pretty remarkable things to try and get healthier. Most fast food joints are trying to put a few healthy choices on the menu, and I've seen a huge movement against trans fats. I would say this is a result of both educational campaigns and the success of healthier choices like Jamba Juice. I love that many of these places have started to diversify sides, it's nice to have an option other than fries.

You getting enough exercise? Your energy levels sound appalling. Seriously. Maybe start taking a multivitamin as well, I know that helps me considerably.

I'm a fan of Avery, I'm sure he will find a team. $4 million is pretty pricey for a third liner though.

Yeah, that's my concern to. The science really needs to be front and center. Everything can make you fat, just because they sell it at a health food store doesn't mean it's great to gorge on.