Re: those "shining new monuments, buildings, hell, public transportation in some cases": this was covered in the NYT a week ago. http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/ruin-porn-the-aftermath-of-the-beijing-olympics/

The omission of Can't Hardly Wait is problematic, not because it was any good but because the cast, in retrospect, is astonishing. Seriously, just look it up on IMDB:

As others have pointed out on this board, the new 9-5 is a surprisingly great car - probably my favorite current car in the mid-$40k's. My greatest sadness from all of this is that there won't be a CPO program for me to pick up an off-lease special a couple of years from now.

Another solution: tell the cabbie that you really need to get there and offer them $20 extra. Then just pay them exactly the fare listed on the meter. Note: only works if you don't have to get your shit from the trunk.

@cubist_zirconia: I'd been on Verizon for so long that it never occurred to me that a modern cell network could be so bad in a major city. Keep in mind, this was in July 2008, before AT&T's coverage was as public an issue as it became shortly thereafter.

After thirty months of not being able to make a call from my iPhone 3G (or my friend's AT&T Blackberry) in my office or my apartment, including six months of waiting for this damned phone to come out on Verizon: yes, I will be switching on day 1. Anything I can do to stop giving money to AT&T will be an improvement.

Note to self: get rich in the next three years or so.

Tragically, the employee who told CNNMoney that the leaker had been fired was immediately fired.

@crinklesmith: That's basically the point made in Alex Kozinski's (he of cow-porn fame) dissenting opinion:

In case anyone is feeling too happy right now and wants to be wracked by loss, sadness and tragedy for the rest of your afternoon:

Back in the Silicon Valley gold-rush days of the late 90's, a friend was shopping around for a new car and, somewhat on a whim, we found our way into a Chrysler dealership looking to test the 300m. They had a yellow Prowler on the showroom floor behind a velvet rope barrier, and were asking $160,000.

@MechGk: Lifetime appointments, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Sorry, you'll have to wait for these guys to get old and pass on. Or be overturned by the Supreme Court, which will probably overturn this as soon as it gets the chance ([en.wikipedia.org] ).

@PlaidNinja: They're introducing the S95 - basically the same camera but with 720p HD video, for $400. The camera's otherwise basically the same: same lens, same features, etc., though the new one has updated image stabilization software.

A chain reaction creating an exponentially-increasing amount of antimatter? What could go wrong?

How can vapor weigh 2755lb.?

@◄DЯӘω αлd nø╥ Џ►: And you would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for their meddling.

@CrispyAardvark: On the one hand, I agree with you. On the other hand, I have the Lego Carousel, which is built to minifig scale and is 15" square (and over a foot high). Based on that, I'm guessing the Tower Bridge would fill my dining room.

Or for the same price (!!), you could fly in this from New York to London and back.

@lostarchitect: I'd say "This" if it were still allowed. I'm even OK with the MTA spending a bajillion dollars to install waiting time clocks or a Second Avenue line - something that would actually help. But flushing money down the toilet to make our lives worse for no reason?

@pmalik: Agreed. Cabbies would vastly prefer to keep their old crates running for 400,000 miles with off-the-shelf parts; I can't blame them for that. But trying to argue that it's better for the passengers is just a flat-out lie.