Slashdot genious have missed the real reason. if (osName.startsWith("windows 9")) Too much important software out there (including the Java runtime) makes this check and would break.

And why am I batshit crazy? Because I had a bad experience reading EPA websites about CFL mercury and had a significant emotional response to my child's possible exposure? And because I bought a dozen packs of 75W and 100W bulbs and just plan on using them? My house is solar equipped anyways.

About 6 years ago I switched over to CFLs. I dealt with the crappy light quality, flicker, and high failure rate. Then my wife broke a CFL literally inches from my 2-year old's face. I'm thinking "meh, I played with mercury thermometers as a kid. big deal". But then I read about vaporized mercury (yes, it goes to solid dust when not pressurized but still) and visited the EPA website which, at the time, recommended I replaced the carpet in the bedroom. Not cool. My wife was in a state of panic over the possible mercury inhaled by our 2-year old. We obviously have no idea about how much mercury he was exposed to. I know that eating several fish is probably equivalent to the same amount of mercury, but there is a difference between inhaled dust and food digested by your stomach. At which point I switched the entire house back to incadescent. And I bought a shitload of 75W and 100W bulbs (probably a 10 year supply). Now granted nowadays I'd just buy LEDs, but cheap LEDs weren't available in 2009-ish. After that experience and given my stock of incadescents, I'm going to keep using incadescents until my stock runs out. I can afford it and I don't a flying fuck about what others think. I do far more to reduce carbon emissions in other ways. That said, I'll only buy a small stock of 40W / 60W. LEDs are good enough nowadays that I see myself switching to those (but you never know when you want a cheap lightbulb for a cheap temporary lamp or something).

I can't stand talking on mobile phones. I'm really sensitive to noise, and mobile codecs are typically in the 9.6 to 14.4 Kbps range. A POTS landline is 56 Kbps and it makes a HUGE difference for me, even if the other side is using a mobile phone (since the signal is garbled/compressed once instead of twice).

Or pbs.org Assuming Linux has decent flash support.

nVidia device drivers have the complexity of an entire operating system (yes, seriously). Much of the functionality and competitive advantage comes from the software drivers.

IMHO, a touring bike makes the ultimate commuter. An upright riding position, durable, and can take a load of cargo. The LHT has a longer wheel base which makes it handle more like a "truck" compared to my road race bike, but I can't see how this is possibly an issue for city riding. I've been commuting on my LHT for the past year.

I've been on a lot of tours of WWII vessels-- everything from the USS Arizona in Hawaii to the USS North Carolina in North Carolina to the submarine exhibit at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. I have to say the very best tour I've done was the USS Cobia sub tour in Manitowoc, WI. http://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/ The tour was given by an old WWII submariner (yes, he was old!). It was a far better experience than any other sub exhibit. The sub is in the water and it is quite the feeling to go beneath the water line of a WWII sub. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it! Granted that was 12 years ago and nowadays the old tour guides may have either passed or are too feeble...

$2.99 for an HD episode on iTunes. Stop the FUD. I haven't checked, but there are probably other purchase options as well besides HBO/cable subscriptions.

I don't recall the specifics. I thought the IS-95 CDMA had several channels with each using ~ 1MHz of shared spectrum. Even so, CDMA does use very fine-grained power control. Make the cells smaller and the transmitters reduce their power such that interference with adjacent cells is reduced (and battery life improved, etc.).

One of the core concepts of "cellular" phones is that "cells" enable frequence reuse. Now this has to be carefully done to prevent interference, but in general, decreasing the size of cells will increase capacity. Of course this adds infrastructure cost.

Dude, go smoke some pot or something. You are way too angry for your own good.

Studies consistently show that your mind doesn't lose focus when talking to passengers in the vehicle compared to talking on the phone. Perhaps because your passengers realize when a traffic situation is momentarily tense and stops talking?

You either didn't learn the very basics of finance in college, or you shouldn't have qualified for a loan in the first place (since your only post-bankruptcy option for buying a BMW and house would be cash or handouts from Daddy).

The carpet was shot anyways ;-)