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    Ultraportables -- am I missing something?

    Okay, I just don't get the appeal of the ultraportable, be it the MacBook Air or Intel's relentless marketing campaign for "ultrabooks". I understand wanting a smaller computer. I understand wanting a lighter computer. And I certainly get wanting both of those without compromising performance...
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    Staining a deck?

    Seems to be a lot of expertise of various sorts here so I'm hoping maybe someone can give me some advice on this. I have a new deck that was installed last year, and my understanding is that you are supposed to wait a year before staining it, which would mean this summer. Of course summer is...
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    Anyone got a good source for replacement batteries?

    The battery on my son's Dell notebook is toast. There are tons of third-party options but many battery suppliers use cheap junk. The "real" Dell replacement battery is overpriced and still has a lot of bad reviews suggesting that it is also rather junky. Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.
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    Happy Birthday to Who?

    Many of you probably know the history behind the song "Happy Birthday to You", which dates back to the 1800s but people still have to pay royalties to Warner in order to use. Someone is challenging this in court, a suit that I am surprised has not happened earlier. I'm no lawyer, but based on...
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    Supreme Court Rules Human Genes May Not Be Patented

    SCOTUS gets one right. I find it amazing that it even had to go to the highest court at all. When intellectual property laws actually impede innovation, there's something seriously wrong.
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    Andrea first named storm of Atlantic hurricane season

    Fortunately it's poorly organized and not likely to strengthen, just give a huge soaking to an east coast that really doesn't need more rain.
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    More gun regulations approved by California Senate

    Saw this in P&N but since it turned into a flame war all of 6 minutes after it was posted, thought people might want to actually discuss the topic itself here. California is looking to pass some rather sweeping gun control laws: Some of these seem reasonable, some seem unreasonable, and some...
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    A veteran's Memorial Day perspective on war and the role of our military

    A powerful Memorial Day sentiment: (I've included this in full here, which I usually don't do, because some people have problems with Facebook posts, because the author doesn't derive benefit from clickthroughs, and because my guess is he'd want more people to read it.)
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    Gay Marriage and Society -- the Sequel

    Let's try this again. And this time, I don't want to see any name-calling. Stick to the issues. I'll open with a quick comment about the polygamy argument when it comes to gay marriage. In principle, I don't have a problem with polygamy. In practice, I do, because it ends up being a raw deal...
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    Coulter: "When did we vote to become Mexico?"

    The GOP civil war over immigration continues, with the anti-immigration side continuing to be as classy as ever: And of course, we have the requisite evidenceless conspiracy theory: Not all of her points are entirely invalid: Citizenship should be granted based on rational means, not...
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    3-D printer helps save dying baby

    Pretty amazing stuff: Also nice to see that they were not held up by bureaucratic red tape:
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    Far-right French historian commits suicide in protest against gay marriage

    There's extremism, and then there's extremism: I suppose there's some small amount of admiration due to someone who would be willing to go to this length to draw attention to his cause, but mostly I just keep wondering about how much hatred must be required to lead someone to do something...
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    Huge tornado near Oklahoma City kills at least 24 (was 91)

    The death toll is up to at least 91 in the horrific tornado that struck Moore, OK yesterday. There were early reports suggesting it might have been the strongest tornado on record, but the preliminary estimate by the NWS is that it was an F4, the second strongest type. Obviously the whole...
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    Radio Host wants to shoot Hillary Clinton in her (private area)

    Is being a crazy, misogynistic asshole some sort of prerequisite for being a talk radio host these days? It's not hard to figure out why sane discourse is impossible these days with so many people being fed a steady diet of this sort of filth.
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    A Black Mound of Canadian Oil Waste Is Rising Over Detroit

    Because Detroit doesn't have enough problems, they now also get a mound of Canadian oil sands byproducts the size of a city block and three stories high. Brought to them by Koch Carbon, a company...
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    Houston doctor accused of illegal abortions

    Looks like Kermit Gosnell may have some competition in the area of abortion providers unwittingly undermining abortion rights. Apparently three former workers at the clinic came forward with truly sickening descriptions of what went on in this guy's office, which are being investigated. There's...
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    The consequences of superstition -- extinction

    Yet another example of the irreparable harm done to the world by supersitition is the destruction of rhinoceros populations. This is getting worse because of burgeoning wealth in Vietnam, which is driving demand with offered prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per horn: The full...
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    Vermont moves to pass end-of-life choice law

    Vermont about to be fourth state to allow doctor-assisted suicide, and the first to do so legislatively. I think we were also the first state to permit gay marriage through legislative means. Four down, 46 to go. Maybe there's hope for America yet.
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    Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Guilty of Murder in Late-Term Procedures

    End of a sad and sordid tale. Not only was this guy's behavior despicable and inexcusable, but by giving the far-right a poster boy for the worst examples of abortion, he has probably set back the cause of women's rights more than all the pro-lifers combined could ever have hoped to achieve.
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    Co-author of Heritage immigration report a major-league racist

    This certainly puts a whole new light on the report issued earlier this week about the supposed costs of immigration reform: Republicans are going to act surprised when Latinos vote Democrat again in 2016, aren't they?
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    Is Barack Obama a "radical"?

    I had Sean Hannity on while making dinner yesterday, and heard him refer to Obama as "radical" about 4,723.4 times, as he does most occasions when I have him on. I just don't really see it, personally. He may have some radical views, but he seems to keep them out of his policy positions. I...
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    Should obesity matter in judging a politician?

    Apparently Chris Christie "secretly" had a gastric band surgically installed about three months ago. I wish him the best of luck -- I hope it works and he's able to reduce down to a more healthy weight, for the sake of his health and his family's happiness. But it gives me pause that someone...
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    Conservatives Feud Over the "Cost" of Immigration Reform

    The Heritage Foundation released a report on Monday claiming that immigration reform will cost US taxpayers $6.3 trillion. Naturally, critics disagree, and now controversy has broken out even among conservatives. I haven't read the full report yet myself (just haven't had much time for anything...
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    Mother claims "The Diary of Anne Frank" is "inappropriate" for grade seven students

    I highlight this story as an almost perfect example of the incredible, and incredibly hypocritical, sexual prudism of America: Here's the passage that has Queen Victoria II upset: So basically.. she's unhappy that kids entering puberty might read an incredibly honest and innocent discussion...
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    Israel launches air strike into Syria

    As they say, let the games begin. It's not a broad campaign but these things do have a way of spiralling out of control. Hopefully that won't happen. I do think this is one place where Israel can play a useful proxy role for the US, perhaps earning it some of the unconditional love it's...
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    The Democrats have lost on sequestration

    Can't really find much to disagree with here: And why did this happen? Because, as usual, the Democrats have no spine: Furthermore: I've always summarized the two parties this way: "Republicans are assholes, and Democrats are losers." I doubt I could find a better example to prove...
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    Blazing The Trail For Female Programmers

    It's the 21st century, but enormous divisions in gender roles persist, and someone is trying to do something about it: The article mentions ENIAC, an early computer I spent quite a bit of time researching last week so I could write about it. The machine was incredibly difficult to program; the...
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    Looking for summer rental in San Fran

    My son got an internship in SF for the summer, and has left finding a place to the last minute of course, lol. I'm starting to help him look around for options, but I don't have anything to go on except what I can google. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be grateful. :) Thanks!
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    Michelle Malkin links Grover Norquist to Boston Marathon bombing

    The right-wing civil war continues, and in particularly ugly fashion: Right, because obviously if the bombers attended a mosque that some guy was the president of, and that president knew Norquist, then Norquist must be implicate. :rolleyes: For those who aren't aware, while Norquist is...
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    The Mississippi Ricin Circus

    Does anyone understand what the heck is going on with this case? First I heard they arrested some weird Elvis impersonator. Then they let him go. Now they've arrested a new guy, who the first guy says framed him. But the second guy says no, the first guy is framing him to divert attention. What...
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    3D Printing Hype

    Am I the only one getting tired of it? I understand that the future can surprise, but some of the predictions associated with 3D printing are such patently obvious nonsense that they get on my nerves. Exhibit A: Open source cola and the 'Napster moment' for the food business, wherein the author...
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    On the Sixth Day, God Made the Dinosaurs

    Read it and weep. I suppose calling this child abuse would be hyperbolic. But there is no doubt in my mind that kids exposed to this sort of stuff on an ongoing basis with nobody to correct it are having their minds poisoned in a way that could affect them in the long run. It's been my...
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    DirectX gaming support question

    I'm not a heavy-duty gamer but I'm building a low-to-mid-level machine for my son and trying to avoid potential issues he may come up with over time. So, a couple of questions for you gaming experts... 1. Am I likely to be okay with a DX10.1 card? From what I can tell, there are only a couple...
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    Any legit ways to get Win7 at a discount?

    Probably the stupid question of the day, but I need a copy of Win7 for a machine I'm building my son, so I looked on eBay where I found some very cheap (almost certainly fraudulent) but others just a bit cheaper than places like Amazon (not really sure). Anyone successfully buy Windows 7...
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    The latest sequester blame game -- air traffic controllers

    So, once again, we have Republicans complaining about the sequester budget cuts by accusing the White House of trying to make the cuts "as painful as possible". Is there any actual evidence of this? Even leaving aside for the moment my general view on GOP sequester complaints -- which boils...
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    One indicator of why the US is losing its competitive edge...

    ... is that 30% of Americans can't get half the questions correct on this easy quiz. I'm sure if they had a quiz on football teams, the Kardashians and menu items at McDonald's, the average would be a lot higher. ETA: Especially discouraging is the fact that, since the questions are multiple...
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    Assessment of this card please?

    I'm building a budget machine for my son and have been offered a nice deal on this card. I'm not entirely up to speed on the dizzying array of video card chipsets out there; can anyone give me a subjective assessment of how well that card will handle "moderate" gaming? Meaning, not the latest...
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    Another member of Congress who should be removed from office

    Lindsey Graham: Not content with that, he continued: It's bad enough that your pals stained our nation with torture last decade, permanently damaging our moral standing; and also bad enough that the Obama administration did nothing to bring the perpetrators to justice. But recommending that...
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    An Army colonel's open letter to morons who videotape shootouts with smartphones

    A great read if you don't know much about guns, and just as good a read if you do.
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    GOP Congressman: ‘Increase Surveillance’ of Muslim Community

    And the generalizations and hysteria are right on schedule. I truly detest that man. Someone who shows so little thought on a consistent basis heading a subcommittee on "Intelligence" makes a complete mockery of Congress. Gotta love this too: This from a guy who spent years supporting the IRA...