Dusty Chalk

Play a game...on your work computer? I don't think so. Raise? You're lucky you have a job, get back to work. I'd start by reloading the operating system. If'n you must upgrade hardware, I'd start with a new disk drive -- something more than 100G, presumably, and 7200Rpm, if you have any room to play.

It's not guaranteed. One should call ahead.

Doesn't everyone on this board have a decibel meter? Re: ER-20s -- you should be able to get another pair at the last minute at a guitar center -- is there one near you, or in Chicago?

FYI -- that wasn't meant as a criticism. It was actually admiration.

You know, I thought I was particular, but I must also be a lazy fuck, because when I travel, I make do with what's available -- I don't bring my rituals with me. Thought about it; didn't.

You may want to check with the hotel, a lot of them have those, these days. (Pretty much one-for-one in the last 3 places I stayed.)

Ah, the good ol' days -- I remember when I wasn't too old for that.

Okay, I wasn't expecting this (I do know that DAC's can play a great part in the overall synergy of a system, but think they're more for fine-tuning a system, than making a big difference), so discount anything I said.

I like the books, does that count?

You're always at the mercy of the programmer when zooming in on text. There's actually quite a bit of technology to fonts, but if zooming isn't incorporating any of them, then you're screwed. The good news is, it may get fixed with one of the updates. Which is not just a possibility, but a likelihood with a 'new' technology like the iPad. I would still complain about it (squeaky wheel gets the grease, etc.).

Raspberries? I'll pass. (Although I have to admit to being curious, so please do post impressions.) Me: beer. Way. Too. Much. Beer. I'm probably set for the next 5 years. (Found a stash of the Left Hand Oak-Aged Imperial Stout. So I bought it. I'm going to have to return that watch.)

[enabler]Glad I could help![/enabler] You could do worse than The Diamond Age and Snowcrash. I have -- but have not read -- Anathem yet, so take that with a grain of salt. Easily one of my favorite authors. PS The fourth storyline was supposed to be the earliest, but is not the Baroque Cycle nor any part of it. But I get the feeling the one involved into the other.

Win. Pic is ++good.

Ditto.

I'm wondering why you're getting "dark" out of your O2/KGSS. Is there a lot of variance between O2's?

Dude, everyone should see Gwar at least once in their life. Wear clothes that you don't care about, and that's all I'll say.

Me -- was listening to an unusual assortment of Porcupine Tree -- not sure what was going on with my iPod, but it played a couple of random tracks, then settled into The Incident -- can't say that I minded.

I don't like gorgonzola, but everything else looks dreamy, in a 50's kind of way. Me: chocolate

Okay, first of all, that wasn't me, but I am just as retarded, and that was still funny.

Okay, but that's not 'cloud computing', as I know it. I'm pretty sure that means flight simulator. Or a game based on Sky Crawlers/Kildren.

You've heard the story, haven't you? I've heard him speak (it's why my copy's signed) -- the book exploded. He turned in an interim manuscript -- as the publishing company is wont of him to do -- and they told him, you must stop, you're done, aren't you? And he said, "no, not by a long shot, haven't you read it?" And they said, "no, but there's a physical limit, beyond which, if you write one more word, we'd have to separate it out into two volumes -- and we could do that, but the economics of sales of the books is such that, ...well suffice it to say, it'd be more worthwhile if'n you actually wrote two books". He looked into it. Hence, the Baroque Cycle, and why the hardbacks are printed on such exquisite parchment. And why the paperbacks are in -- what is it, 8 books, rather than the hardback 3? And why it's called a 'cycle', rather than a 'trilogy', because he intended from the beginning for there to be a completely different number of paperbacks than hardbacks. But at the time, he just said, "well, alright, I'll drop the fourth storyline, and finish the other three". !!!

Wait, whut? Email and web browsing are "cloud-computing tasks"? Since when?

Sweet, thanks for the recs, insta-wishlisted. Me: Crematory, Infinity -- yes, Crematory -- you don't get a better metal name than that. And it's just what it sounds like. Mix of clean and ...er...whatever the opposite of clean is, dirty?...singing, but both male, so not "beauty and the beast". And yes, it might be the same singer, don't know, don't care. Fucking rocks, that's all I care about.

'Crikey' is an understatement.

The problem with that is, it'd be almost 4:32 by the time I read it...I'd start reading it, then it'd flip over a minute, and I would get distracted, and would have to start over.