@Lizard_King: Look, we agree that the system is flawed; we may disagree on remedies and some details.

@WTF! Realityism!: Then work within the system to change the law. That's why the Constitution allows for petitioning the government for redress of grievances.

@Alan Vazquez: I understand your reasoning, and to a large extent it's the same rationale that all the bands on MySpace use for putting free music up there - it builds buzz.

@Eric Schatz: COTD!!

@McKenzie with a Y: I join you in failing completely to understand the cries of "monopoly" here. Did people forget about things like Tucows and Download.com and majorgeeks and dozens of other sites that let developers post software? Do people really think that any official app store for any platform is going to be…

@Lizard_King: That makes every other argument I've heard on this subject sound brilliant.

@RainyDayInterns: Cool stuff, thanks. I have an 8" Dob, which I don't use often enough, but spending vast amounts of money on astro gear is on my list of things to do when I win the lottery.

@wætherman: Remarkably astute comment, there.

@Curves: Yeah, one of those prison romances would work. He needs a woman with a shiv.

@Don Is: La mort deuce.

@PenitentPenguin: If you go to Orion Telescope's website (www.telescope.com) among others, you'll see a whole line of TEC (thermo-electrically cooled) cameras. As others have pointed out, cooling the sensor reduces the amount of noise in the image.

@RainyDayInterns: The HyperStar - is that a replacement for, an adjunct to, or a third-party version of the Fastar (that looks funny; misspelled?) system?

@AngryBeaver: Actually, it might have been worse if he was force closed!

@legendofmatt: I have friends in Canada, does that count?

@tomsomething: One word: ShakeWeights.

@djfoxx64: Not allowed to carry the cell phone on the Sabbath. So I wear a watch one day a week. In general, watches interfere with my typing, so that's why I don't wear one during the week.

@angstman: FWIW, great analogy about "kernel panic."

@NateZ28: Obviously, what follows is my opinion, but you asked. Here's how I see it:

@CaptainJack: My sister-in-law has one in the middle of her family room. Not sure if it was for a lamp or what exactly in that spot, but it's there.

That is a great deal. If the 17" is similarly priced it will sell like hotcakes.