As a self-taught web designer, I would definitely agree with this. I have two degrees in completely unrelated (liberal arts) fields, but my interest and curiosity about technology/art meant I ended up spending a great deal of my time learning and teaching myself about it.

I definitely recognize this as being (depending on who you are) a big draw to games. And this is, once again, part of the formula for Apple's success. The don't have to consistently make products that are better than everyone else (I am not looking for a flame war here, but there are many phones out there now that are…

Read a book a while back (good read) "Here's looking at Euklid" that talked some about the mathematics of gambling. I don't recall if there are specific governmental regulations about the % payout, but the casinos spend a lot of money to figure out the best ratio of wins/losses to keep players happy and still make…

I am still totally in awe every time I see these pictures. Thanks for sharing the panorama; I had never seen it.

It is a difference between the way you unlock the phone. Swipe left from the lock screen and you go to the "Kid's Corner", swipe up and you go to the actual phone contents. Just put a password on the phone and they won't be able to open it up, but swiping left would allow them to get to the "Kid's Corner"

I desperately hope so. My first thought was that it was related to camera/video tech, too. PureView will likely only make an appearance in a stepped-down manner, however (not the full size seen on the 808).

I did the same. I still am ticklish in some ways, but not very much. If I am surprised it can sometimes still make me laugh, but I can usually suppress it pretty quickly.

While I love Hornblower, I find that the Aubrey-Maturin series is a bit more mature in the way it deals with characters and character development. Both series are great, however. And you can't go wrong with any books that have so much nautical speak. I love me some t'gallant stays'ls.

Very true. And zoning standards today are generally geared toward car-specific transportation. Especially where manufacturing plants and the like are usually forced outside of primarily living areas, forcing people to drive to work.

Very true... ships were rarely sunk at all, much less by cannon-fire. Though it does seem that, in the trailer, it is going to be a lot of boarding and fighting that way. This would fit in well with the game anyway, since they have a well established fighting system for swords (and would allow for some platforming…

I have never had the chance to use passenger rail in the US outside of subways within major cities. I did live in Germany for a period, however, and found it to be a much much better, faster, and more comfortable way to travel. You do sacrifice being able to define your own schedule, though—the only real downside.

Definitely true, but that doesn't work for a lot majority of shipments within the US. Also, shipping by boat (from what I recall) ends up costing more over short distances due to the cost of loading/unloading and the added time associated with that—probably some other factors as well.

What is your opinion on a manned mission to mars? Is that something you think would be a good goal for the near future, or would you rather see NASA and funding prioritized to other projects (like the Europa project).

Points to you, sir.

From what I recall in terms of the economics of this, there are pretty clear curves in terms of cost for each method of transportation (focusing here on truck, train, ship) relating distance and cost. Trains and (obviously) boats don't make economic sense for short distances currently. But, as you say, it is generally…

I think lack of infrastructure is the big problem—not all stops or origin points have close access to rail. When you have to ship from the factory to the train station, then by train, then from the train station to the destination, it often becomes cheaper to just do it all by truck (especially since trucks generally…

Too bad we can't do more with trains. Trains are great.

Curiosity is in fact one of two entities I follow on twitter. The people writing the tweets are definitely, in my opinion, doing a good job.

Indeed. This guy is amazing—have loved all of his videos.

I would have to agree completely. The Mount Sharp photo is absolutely stunning and I desperately wish it had been higher resolution.