Dusty Chalk

Pfff. Tyll doesn't do Sony. From the link: 3840 x 2160? Fuck yeah...

Thanks, guys, G5 it is. Ari -- yup, that's the one I have, and that's the one that's been discontinued, and NOS ones sell for over US$100. I have about 5 of them, with varying stages of deterioration. Mostly the buttons, as I am hard on them. I'd love to be able to just fix them, and am saving them on the hopefully probability that that is doable. I suspect it's just a contact switch inside that got bent to the point of no contact or broke off. This appears to be the closest thing they will continue to have. I gotta have that form factor -- I've tried about a brazillion different trackballs, and mostly they like to do the top palm-rolly thing. I much prefer to use my thumb, hence this form factor is a favorite of mine. Microsoft used to have one too, that would have been adequately, were it still available.

Yeah, but then you keep sayin' stuff.

I no longer feel comfortable traveling with my Logitech Trackman, as that is discontinued and sells for > US$100 on Amazon, much less eBay. And I don't seen an equivalent, although I'll be getting the Logitech wireless thingy to try. So...any recommendations on rugged mice? I want something I can throw in my bag that can endure the abuse I plan on giving it. Especially the buttons. Or should I get a hard clamshell or something to protect it? Not that that will save it from the abuse. I tend to press harder on the buttons or downright bang on them when the computer becomes unresponsive or starts doing something I don't want it to do. Optical or laser? Laser, right? Because most surfaces short of flat black work, right? Any advice would be appreciated.

I stand by, 'cranky'. The set was just an example, but I stand by that it was a good example -- he made sure the set was the way it was, because not only did he want continuity, but he wanted the actors to sincerely feel and convey the sense of claustrophobia, lived-in-ness, home-y-ness, AND ETC. that having a life-size set would give. And speaking of continuity -- the reason Whedon's shows were so swarming with continuity was BECAUSE OF HIM -- he's the one who made sure that incidents that happened in season one of Buffy were echoed in season 7. And that contradictions occurred when it was appropriate due to the growth of the character (sleeping with Spike...oops, sorry, SPOILER). One of my absolute favourite moments when it comes to acting (of all time, television or movie) happened towards the end of the episode, "Fool for Love" (of Buffy), right after Buffy tells spike, "it'll never be you. You're beneath me." Spike transitions from shocked, to sad, to angry, in one fell swoop. I can't imagine how many takes it took to get that right, but if Whedon were a hack, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble (and even if he didn't direct the episode, he still oversaw it) to get that performance out of Marsters. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Yeah, we need to do that.

That's what you said, that she wrote the best one. Or rather, the best written one. And also: would a "hack" director go through great pains to make a set life-size? That's what Firefly was. It was one set, in two pieces, so that there would be no inconsistencies in terms of multiple levels &c. So yeah, I stand by 'cranky'.

Yes. "bad acting" "bad writing" -- he's like the opposite of those things (well, technically he's not the opposite of bad acting, but you get my meaning). I mean, I realize it's all just opinion, but there's a general consensus of what bad acting is. I mean, even fucking Sara Michelle Gellar -- of whom I'm not the hugest fan -- played at least three different parts in the show (Buffy, Buffy-bot, and, in the final season, The First). At no point does anyone wonder which part she is playing when she appears. And you're making it sound like the entire second half of Dollhouse was badly written, which I know for a fact that you did not feel that way at the time. (Yes, that episode -- the one you said was the best written -- was second season.) And don't even get me started on Firefly/Serenity. Who are you, and what have you done with Dan?

Sweet! Congrats!

Okay, now you're just being cranky.

What?!?!? Name one instance of bad writing.

Oh my.

Grawk be trollin'.

I love the 7 minute version of Ain't No Sunshine by The Temptations from Solid Rock, this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raezCQT0fII I would also recommend listening to the entire Dap Tones record label (yes, really, though you should probably start out with the various artists compilation [surely compilations by now?]), as that would definitely be up your alley.

Bad Salad, Uncivilized -- rawk! Prog metal. Quite possibly album of the year for me. Clean singing (mostly). Long instrumental sections (not all of which are guitar solos). Medigs.

Aw, sweet, you mean I can carry around the 24 inch 2560x1440 monitor? Sweet... EDIT: Well fuck, that is more expensive than the monitor.

The older generation Shure earbuds I had definitely had "inoffensive treble".

Yes, yes they do. I would even go so far as to say, "...in all areas." I have an FM modulator (a wired one, which is better than a wireless one), and it's still not as good as a cassette adapter. I largely suggested Crutchfield to find out whether or not your car has a multi-/changer adapter on the back of its head unit. If you do, then it's the best choice, whether you hook a CD changer to it, or an iPod adapter.

Yes to the latter, or something similar. You essentially have three choices -- cassette adapter for the iPod (which really isn't that bad a choice), FM modulator for the iPod (I'm about to replace my head unit, so I probably won't need the iSimple unit I just got and had installed -- you're welcome to it for a discount), or see if your head unit will take a CD changer (my Thunderbird had one). Go to Crutchfield.com and find out what your car can take.

No, I swear I've seen a picture of a Santa with exactly that color hair. I want to say, Rockwell, or some Russian painter or something... (wanders off to perform an image search for "blonde Santa Claus"...HELLO!...turns safe search back on...uh...that's a little better...) I give up, maybe it was Ted Turner colorizing Santa or something...

Actually, it looks kinda alright with the beard bleached, too. Like a young Santa Claus, before he went white.

Right. Which I have already purchased, in anticipation of getting it. Cool, thanks.

I'm looking for something in the 900p to 1080p range that I can carry with me in a hard clam shell or something. Anyone know of anything? This is perfect, except ( a ) DisplayPort, and ( b ) 21 inches. I can probably find a way to carry 21 inches, and I can probably get a DisplayPort converter, but I thought I'd ask, first. Is there anything like what I want? I realize there are a bunch of smaller 768p, and they're even USB-powered, but that's usually just a tad too small. I'm currently using a 17", 1280x1024 desktop monitor, and that's perfectly fine. Cheap laptop with a similar size and resolution screen screen? Cost prohibitive, but if I can utilize the extra horsepower, I may do that anyway, and use my current laptop as the second monitor (I'm doing everything with VM's, so that's doable). iPad? Don't know how that would work, but I'm sure there's something. I don't need anything to run on it other than the graphics. Get used to using a Windows window manager? Other thoughts?

There are other non-gamer-oriented tiny linux boxes.

RIP, porn star dude, you will be mi...oh, who am I kidding? You won't be missed. They may not even remember to trawl for the body. Snarky comment #2: If this boat is rockin', don't come knockin'...your head!