Dusty Chalk

Okay, yeah, those are prices I'd pay. I'm not saying North Face is bad, they just seemed overpriced, every time I looked at something by them. The fact that they were head-turning enough to look at tells me I'd still like to own some of their gear. I was probably looking at the low-end gear that you were referring to. Dan -- are there any outlets anywhere near me (and for reference, I usually set my searches to "within 200 miles")? You have to realize, when I went to the North Face site to "find a store near you", I got a bunch of Macy's and Nordstromses. Not exactly the place I look to, to get a deal.

Yuppers.

I'm not familiar with contrastique, she must be (relatively [to my absence]) new.

Is that plainsong you're talking about?

I wore shorts like that to high school once. I think it was me and one other kid. He "made it all better" by raising his fist in solidarity and saying, "Bahama fan club for life!"

Re: option 3 -- rule it out. Inputs? DVD players don't have inputs. Also, if you localize your upsampling/line-doubling/upscaling in the DVD player, you won't be able to go computer-based video later, and you do want that as an option. So you, either make sure the one built in to the TV is good, or get an outboard one (or, get one that's half decent in the TV to begin with, and upgrade to an outboard unit later). I've heard good things about the Lumagen, though I've not experienced one for myself yet.

BTW, just so that no-one misunderstands, there's nothing wrong with being a fan of anime. I, too, am a fan of tv shows and movies, some of which happen to be anime, and I agree that there are some bad ones, too. (What was that elf-hunter one we watched one episode of? That sucked.) But I am acknowledgedly an anime fan, as there are quite a few good ones. If you want to see violence at its absolute finest, watch Elfen Lied. I think like 26 people die before the opening credits of the first episode roll. I don't mean "die by gunshot", I mean, some of them explode in great big red clouds of gelatinous blood, IIRC. I know it sounds psychotic, but it's not -- there's something about gratuitous violence that makes me giggle like a little girl.

Compared to used and DIY (and I don't mean buying someone else's DIY, I mean actually soldering the stuff together yourself), yes; compared to real world market prices of competitive gear, no.

So considering how jacked up their prices are to begin with, that brings them back down to, what, "reasonable"?

They vary. There are some absolutely stupendous scenes, surrounded by some absolutely atrocious scenes. The extended fight in season two (you know which one I'm talking about -- I think it was just over an episode in length?) was absolutely beautiful, and wonderfully intense. I could not stop watching.

We got lots of rain, but no snow (thank goodness -- 3/4" rain == how many feet of snow?). And we're supposed to get more tomorrow.

And first thread -- although at least written in complete sentences -- is "in praise of Canz3D", I.E. "in praise of me". Canz3D -- we should explain something -- we got nothing against Members of the Trade, and street teaming, and praising your own gear. It is by all means encouraged to introduce us to your wares, especially if they are something we are not yet aware, and could possibly be good. What we hate, is when people pretend not to have any financial association with the vendor. So by all means, come out, it'll gain you some brownie points. Oh, and welcome to head-case, hope you have thick skin (because if there are any faults in your wares, we'll point them out, too).

Goddamn, that looks just like Allison, except with darker hair. (staples self in palm of hand to avoid thinking about something so painful)

And the reasoning they used was that it cost more than that to make.

I can't seem to find the original pic of Jack -- is the guy in the background digitally altered as well? Because, that would be, like, pure-win-to-the-sleepy-eight.

Core solo is gone. I would go for the US$779 one, but I ain't got that much dosh raht now.

Well, here's the thing. I mentioned this to someone, and they couldn't believe that it was an actual Apple iPhone, and suggested that it was most probably a knock-off.

Dude, these are parts, not computers. Have you seen the prices of opamps come down "quickly"? I didn't think so. That said, I believe their original estimate was US$300+, so this has already been corrected updated at least once.

iSuppli's breakdown of iPhone costs I don't think they can come down that much more.

+11 passive aggressive score

No, he's right. I mean, it's Monster, fer chris' sake, I bet I could tell the difference if they used some sort of silver cables.

After reading the article in WIRE, a couple of Hot Chip disks.

At the Apple Town Hall today (iPhone SDK rollout), pharm software company Epocrates demoed a prototype that they've been developing over the last two weeks. Is that the one you use?

Is that an actual hospital fire sale?

I'm more interested in how it sounds. If it sounds good, I don't care how ugly it is. I don't think it looks as bad as others do. That said: Wood side panels, metal fascias == good; tri-color scheme (wood, silver, black), black screws/bolts/retainer clips/whatevers in otherwise light front panel == not so good. I'm thinking if he had gone with a black front panel, or with silver screws and a silver top, either of those choices would have been better.