It's also likely not just about quality. Water law is different in the East - Colorado and California are prior appropriation water right states, whereas North Carolina still has a form of riparian water rights - basically meaning it's a lot easier/cheaper to get the water needed to increase production in North…

Ah yes, didn't realize they had switched to all mail ballots for 2014. I was just thinking of the last time I updated my registration that it asked if you wanted to receive a mail ballot, but that was a few years ago. Guess that could cause issues for people without permanent mailing addresses.

I like having all options on the table. Here in Colorado, you can get your ballot by mail if you want. Once you have filled it out, you can mail it back, or if you don't want to pay postage, you can drop it off at one of many voter stations. And if you don't have a permanent mailing address, or just like voting in…

Add CO to the list. We're not mail-in only, but a large percentage of the electorate elect to receive their ballots by mail and just mail them back or drop them off at a voting station. I think over 70% voted before election day in 2012.

Yea that's pretty annoying, and I'm not hopeful about Chromecast support, with the announcement of their Fire Stick. But I ended up getting that for $20 ... I already have a Roku on one tv and a PS3 on the other, so didn't really need it, but oh well, I like shiny new things and I figure access to Prime streaming and…

"Their streaming properties are sub-par compared to all the other offerings so, if streaming is your thing, you'd still have to subscribe to an alternate"

True. But she did troll everyone's favorite asshole governors Chris Christie and Paul LePage, so that makes up for it IMO.

"Curiously enough, they put the McRib patties in the sauce after they are cooked. Which is weird, because that way it won't get much of the flavor in."

True. Like you said, pretty much every PC manufacturer has that problem. I wouldn't touch Lenovo's or any other company's budget PC's, especially for work.

I've owned two Lenovo-era Thinkpads (the first for 5+ years) and would disagree with your characterization about their quality. Hardware is quite solid from my experience (yes, I realize this is a small sample size, but I'd consider these models in the "T" series to be their bread and butter of the last 10 years).…

The Vizio I linked is 38" wide, might be a bit much for a desk (I have mine wall mounted under a tv). I don't see size specs for the Razer but there is a picture on their website that makes it look about the width of a full size keyboard. No idea on sound quality between the two or the Polk.

Yes but on-screen buttons can disappear when viewing videos full screen, which is nice since you get to take advantage of slightly more screen real estate.

Third-ing the Vizio recommendation. Specifically I have this model for a 43" tv in the basement (it's a relatively small room) that I use for my PS3, and it sounds great for $150:

How is it not a Chromecast competitor? For the average consumer, it's a similarly priced HDMI dongle that let's you stream stuff on your tv.

My setup is pretty much idiot-proof. 3 HDMI cables going into my soundbar, and then 1 HDMI going to my tv from the soundbar. I already have the cables marked so I remember which device goes to which port.

So does Chromecast, which only uses your phone as the remote; the actual streaming is handled on-device.

$20? Dual band wifi support? Sold.

Damn I haven't bought a bottle of Jack in a while - forgot how expensive it is for how shitty it is. Just a few bourbons that you can generally get for less than $23 in my state (CO): Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Bulliet, WL Weller, Rittenhouse Rye, Old Crow.

Michelle MacLaren please! She directed some of the best action in Breaking Bad (Hank One Minute shootout w/ the cousins, the horrifying simultaneous prison shanking, To'hajiilee ending ... not to mention some good episodes of Game of Thrones and Walking Dead.

Understandable. I gave in and just get most of my content through Amazon, so don't have to deal with it that much. Looks like the Kobo is similar price to the Kindle Paperwhite and has similar features, so might be the way to go if you want a more open platform.