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this was on the news today BBC News - CD player production ends at Linn

Happy Birthday to you! Hope it's a good one.

I've heard rumors of various public figures having accounts on head-fi. They never get outed over there because we all know how much celebrities hate publicity (yea right). So any of you forum addicts got any usernames to go with some big names? We're all friends here and I'm just curious.

In my line of work sometimes I got to brush shoulder with them. Most of them are quite nice. Some that I could remember (and no, I'm not those guy that stands outside a glitzy club waiting for them) : - Paris Hilton : contrary to popular beliefs, she has a sweet sweet personality. Readily to take all the requests for picture or autograph. A bit too welcoming IMHO. - Jamie Foxx : nice guy too - Leo Caprio : very reserve bloke. Never seen him entertaining requests for pictures or autograph. Though the way he turn the request down was very polite. - Eva Longoria : Usually will entertain peoples request for pic but can be quite rude sometimes. Gorgeous in real life as …

Article in the Tuttle Times, and a transcript of the email exchange. Having worked a help line before, I can only sympathize for poor Johnny.

I got an order for some ceramic dildos from some progressive sex toy stores in the northwest. I thought you guys would find it amusing. If they sell I'll be able to afford the HD800's in no time. They can hold a vibrating egg and they have a base that will fit most strap-on harnesses in case any of you are interested. They just came off of the wheel so they haven't been fired yet which I probably won't do until I can figure out some safe and perfectly smooth glazes to put on them.

CERN announces start-up date for Large Hadron Collider - 07:30 CET (08:30 BST) I heard a trailer for BBC Radio4`s "Big Bang Day" themed around switch-on of the LHC and it got me thinking BBC - Radio 4 - Big Bang Day The CERN home page also has link to a live webcast for the occasion. CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research Live webcast of switch-on what the LHC is : Large Hadron Collider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm here helping out at the Symposium Acoustic room (the Venetian) or I can be found aimlessly wondering the halls.

I need a new chair for the home office. The cheapo Office Depot one is just not giving me the back support I need (even with a lumbar support attached). It is too big. I don't want to spend more than $1000. I was looking at the Herman Miller Aeron and Steelcase Leap. I also considered the Humanscale Freedom but it is more than the other two and doesn't seem to be any better. The reason for the Aeron is because I am 5'2" and I can get the small (size A) one. Almost all other chairs are one size fits all with adjustments. I've tried the Aeron and it seems good. I cannot find a place nearby to try the Leap. Any suggestions/preferences? Anyone on the short side use…

Some of you fine folks may be charitable givers. I've no doubt you have organizations you enjoy working with if you are, but here's another for you to consider. Kiva is a microfinance loan organization registered as a charity in the US. Basically, you choose a loan beneficiary by geographical region or business sector, and loan money to them. Most loans have a repayment period of 12 months, and better than 95% of the loans are repaid on time. They are zero-interest loans overseen by volunteers on site. Those volunteers choose the recipients and assist them in administering funds. Personally, I;m a big fan of microfinance, and of this organization. 100% of your…

CSC is giving me a vote on where they contribute their money this year, and all the others are children based, which doesn't interest me, so it's down to these two. Does anyone know anything about either of them? No need to "lmgtfy", iwgtfm, tyvm. Sometimes someone has information or strong feelings one way or the other.

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Welcome to The Patriot Post This site has lots of good information about current affairs. And who wants to argue with being patriotic?

I am in need of some hotel assistance with the Chicago area HC crew. My daughter and three of her classmates from Notre Dame plan to spend the Thursday through Saturday of Easter break visiting and sight seeing around Chicago. None of the girls are from the area so they have no clue where to stay that is centrally located to fun activities and reasonably priced. I was thinking somewhere along the Magnificent Mile, Whacker, Loop, Michigan avenue area. Am I searching in the right area or can you suggest something better? None of the girls drink so proximity to bars is a negative, fun restaurants and fun activities are. If you can recommend areas we should focus on when…

For those who lived in the Chicagoland area in the 1980s or knew the music/club scene there, I have a question. In 1982, my brother was in business school at Northwestern and my family went to visit him that summer. Using his ID, I went with him and another older brother to see a young band named Survivor, with a month or so of the Rocky 3 release date. They played at a place in DesPlaines according to my brother, and it was a redneck bar or hall with hay bales around the perimeter for seating. Does that place sound familiar to anyone? Bonus question: We also saw 1910 Fruitgum Company at a club in Chicago on that same trip. Anybody know where that might have been? N…

Just putting this out there in case it can help. Harry Manx, a fixture on the Canadian folk-music scene, had a one-of-a-kind instrument (basically his livelihood) stolen recently. Here's a photo of it, and a message from him: Beloved friends, with a heavy heart I want to tell you all that this morning at Chicago Ohara airport, while I was on my way to retrieving my luggage, someone stole my beloved Mohan Veena (pictured to the left of me). Security cameras showed a man pick it up and walk out. I've had that Veena more than 20years. There's hardly been a day that I haven't played it. I feel as though I've lost a good friend. I need everyone's help to find it. I…

Now this is interesting. The park will have sex, um technique shops China to open first sex theme park | World news | guardian.co.uk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407693&in_page_id=1770 Anyone else read about this? It's absolutely disgusting. I can't believe China allows this kind of stuff, especially with the real olympics being held there in just a couple years. You'd think they would have considered the negative publicity before staging such an event, but I guess not.

This girl made friends with me on myspace because we had similar interests and we wrote back and forth for a couple of weeks. After a while I began to see that she was more than a little crazy and started backing off. She then wanted to come and visit me and that's when I got out it entirely. I told her that she was too chaotic for me and we needed to stop talking. That was about a month ago. I just got two phone calls from friends that said that she had written crazy harassing messages to them. They were both on my myspace friends list and I now have no idea how many of these letters she sent out. I wrote everyone explaining the situation. My question to you guys is …

In case you're looking for some additional audio fun this Christmas... Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Stories (including 'Santaland Diaries' by David Sedaris) Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Stories : NPR Selected Shorts: Holiday Special (including Ron Carlson's great 'The H Street Sledding Record') PRI: Selected Shorts Podcast This American Life: A Very Special Sedaris Christmas (more Sedaris) This American Life http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/12/14/oh-christmas-bush/

Well it seems our Christmas eve dinner is growing by the minute. I need to buy cigars for three Christmas eve guests and a Christmas gift for a dinner guest. All smokers are experienced smokers not the brand conscious once a quarter types like me. My budget is $80, with about $50 allocated for the gift the rest for Christmas eve. Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Circuit City couldn't find a buyer and is shutting down. Read about it here.

Does anyone have moisture building up in their ear after extended listening sessions with their custom IEMs?

Any suggestions on how to properly clean out a battery compartment that had a minor battery leak? There's not much residue, but was curious what my best options are.

I was just thinking about some of the clothing fads in my younger days. One of the earliest fads I remember in middle school was Starter. They made work out or athletic clothing along the lines of Reebok, etc. I remember getting a Saskatchewan Roughriders Starter winter jacket one Christmas that was the coolest thing for a while. Later on a Red Wings Starter t-shirt that has the design to look like a movie poster, the movie being called "Wings of Fire" with the players names listed in the small print in the credits. I still have that shirt and love it. Another was Guess. Guess jeans, shirts, watches were pretty popular as well in my school around '96. And No Fear. …