Please enlighten me, fer reals. When I was being educated, the market for graphing calculators was huge. I pre-ordered at TI-83 plus in high school, and still used it in grad school a few years ago. So, where did the education market go? I haven't been plugged in to that world for a little while, so I don't know…

Thanks for the timely article. This will help me ignore the entire Jez commentariat.

I'm not sure the Philips=Norelco thing is always true. My first electric razor, purchased in the U.S.A. at a discount retailer, was Philips branded.

So, you submit that the cost of dealing with Buster's missing hand was what really sunk Arrested Development? Makes sense...

Why the heck not? I watch Fringe, so I know nothing bad can come of kiddie drug trials! Especially if Spock is one of the lead researchers.

Amen. Stupid calculus!

Going the cheapskate route gives in interesting glimpse into the ingenuity of cheap-ass electrical engineers. The pringles cantenna is one example, although I always had the hardest time getting it built just right.

Good point, which reinforces my main point: Carrying a knife =/= violence.

I have an issue with their method of quantifying potential violence. Carrying a knife? Knifes are tools. You probably used one today. Carrying one might only mean one finds a need to have such a tool handy. Also, where and when did these kids carry knives? At school is an entirely different beast than on the job or…

Heart-clicked due to location. I live in the upstate. We have to stick together in our inferiority-complex ways!

I had this exact same situation a few years ago. Our downstairs neighbors would smoke in their master bathroom, and turn their vent on. The cheap-o vents just suck air into the space between the walls, and the smoke happily came out our vent into our bathroom.

I have pig parts in me, and I don't mean the sausage I so often eat. Following an accident that severly damaged every tendon in my left knee except my PCL, parts of some the tendons were repaired with piggy tendon grafts.

I had forgotten all about banana boats! Thanks! We went for baked apples tonight, which the kids loved. The apples were picked yesterday. Next week it's banana boats, and the week after than? I'm thinking borrow my friend's dutch oven and make some cobbler.

What are some fun and easy treats to cook over/in a camp fire? As inhuman as this sounds, I HATE s'mores and am not overly fond of roasted marshmallows. Tonight we (me, wife and young kids) are going to bake glazed apples in the fire pit, but I would love some more ideas. Things that are simple are best, so that my…

@8x10: To clarify, my "craziest" statement was directed at Billy_Miller, regarding the whole abolition of modern arena bloodsport. Man, my fingers hurt just typing that.

Thanks for the clarification. My amazement at the deceleration involved is accordingly reduced by a factor of 10. Still experiencing a high number of amazement units.

I don't know the numbers behind woodpecker pecking. I do wonder how accurate the deceleration numbers are. I mean, they're not smacking diamond; their bills drill into the wood and would lower the deceleration rate, I think. Maybe I just can't wrap my head around 12000 g's.

Ok, that's the craziest suggestion so far.

There are ways to incorporate USGS topo quadrangle maps into Google Earth, via free plugins. I won't post links because the dev behind the one I use requests people not to crash his server with heavy use, but such plugins are not hard to find. Very handy.

Sure, but my experience suggests the lack of necessity seriously reduces the number of people who even care. If there is something faster and easier, why do it the hard way? I'm guilty of this, of course. It's not like I ride a horse to work.