Depending on your child's personality, plane travel might require somewhat different rules than parents would normally allow. My daughter is extremely friendly and outoging, and also hates being constrained in those seats for a long time (then again, there are times when I want to whine that I want to get off the…

The one labeled "Blue Ring" is a Hall Effect Thruster, and is most likely taken from either Air Force or NASA sources. I'm sure my colleagues could identify it positively.

Would it need to connect to Plex Media Server? I'm new to this (and running Plex...clumsily, most likely), but if I could just navigate to my NAS, could it just handle fetching the stuff itself?

I have no doubt that this is true, but one thing to remember is there is a tendency for people to become more conservative as they get older. Or perhaps society becomes more liberal, and older people get set in their ways. It's not surprising that the more conservative the network, the older its demographic skews,…

Somehow, this is the height of irony, but today we received a message from the Secretary of the Air Force, regarding, truthfully, I don't even remember what, something about vehicle hazards (vehicle deaths in the DoD are lower than the population at large) for the summer, and IT WAS IN ALL CAPS! GOD BLESS THE UNITED…

And not particularly funny, either.

Please note: It's in Vanity Fair's Humor Section...

And, BTW, if you have a problem with my parenting, tell ME. No matter what you might think, it still isn't your job to parent my child.

Nice assumption, but no. It's a kids' service. Kids are supposed to participate. And restraining toddlers in their seats is definitely a way to encourage their participation and enjoyment, you think?

I've gotta add #11 (or #12, or whatever): The "I parent every kid" parent. If I or my wife are right there, do not tell my child what she can and cannot do. I don't set rules for your kids, don't set rules for mine. If there is an immediate risk to life and limb, yes, pull her away from the onrushing car, but don't…

There are a series of billboards on the way to my work that say something along the lines of "Be kind to pets, animals are children too"

I can almost guarantee this wasn't a prestige assignment for the guy. He probably had gotten in trouble previously, and they assigned him to a position where they felt he could do little real damage (how little they know). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was assigned to this position because he had…

Why do I suspect he's not a virgin, but we don't want to know how?

I highly recommend David Brin's new novel Existence for a view of what these distances and time periods really mean, and how (if at all), civilizations could communicate. A good read (as are all his things, IMHO), but he specifically and intentionally stays within the known laws of physics to look at the issue.

Every time I'm in a zoo and see people in the enclosures, cleaning, I make a point of noting that it is a new Homo sapeins exhibit

It's like the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, but more interesting due to the color.

Absolutely. Just remember that potassium nitrate (nitre) was used aboard ships to decrease sex drive in the 18th century.

If there was ever a movie that demanded a 21st century remake, this is it. If only to reduce the amount of mascara the make-up people put on all the guys

Why why doesn't anyone ever listen to the movie itself. Remakes, sequels, TV series, all that can be summed up as "There can be only one!"

Can anyone with experience speak to the usability of the WD Live Plus (the one with 1TB of storage)? I'm looking for something completely idiot-proof that I can store ripped DVD's and music on, as well as stream stuff to as necessary. I have no issues ripping my DVDs down to mp4s, but if I store my music on there,…