vandy125

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 23, 2008 -> 11:34 AM) No, but it also wasn't constructed on the idea that tiny minorities (i.e. corn farmers in Iowa, a few thousand ultra rich bankers in NYC) should be able to dominate our political discussion with their issues while the issues that actually would affect the lives of so many other people (urban schools, adequate public transportation, pollution controls, etc.) are neglected because of them. Yes, because obviously the voice of people growing the food of the nation does not need to be heard... The city people definitely know what is needed to grow our crops and protect the environment outside of their city... Sorry for the sarcasm, but I view it is separate ecosystems in way that each have their own needs. Both voices need to be heard.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 03:50 PM) Didn't they do some sort of coin flip thing for ties? How did that turn out and what did it mean? The coin flip was for who gets to be the home team for a 1 game playoff in case of a tie. Thankfully, if it comes to that, we won the flip and would have the game at home.

Glad to see a response to those Mac commercials finally. Macs are good for some things (creating graphics and videos), but PCs are much better at what I want to use a computer for.

In my 20s and I just cut it real short. I always knew that I had no chance at all looking at the hairlines of the men in my family. I like to joke that God created a few perfect heads and put hair on the rest of them.

From what I have seen with TVs lately, Panasonic and Samsung are the ways to go. The big money saver can be whether or not you go with 720p or 1080p. I went with a 720p because it saved me $500-$600 on my Plasma and I knew I would mostly be using it from HD broadcasts. It will be a long time still before networks switch over to 1080p due to bandwidth issues. So, the only reason for a 1080p was due to the PS3 with BluRay that I just bought. I would say (IMO) that unless you are planning on watching a lot of Blu-Ray movies and you have a screen large enough (> 40 inches or so), 1080p is not really necessary. Here is a good chart on viewing distances where the difference between 720p and 1080p is noticeable. Remember BluRay is about the only thing out there that can do this so far (I think DISH may have a couple of premium movie channels as well). http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html

Not much hair up there. Not much point to repeating.

Big Konerko fan here. Nice way to start off the top 10.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 26, 2008 -> 11:58 PM) I actually put my money where my mouth is and never even visited the CST site so as to not accidentally click on one of his articles and generate any revenue. That was my take too. I would never visit their web site just to stay away from clicking on one of his columns. So, I would never read them unless the text was posted here.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 25, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) The funny thing is, if he didn't go so out of his way to make contact with the guy, he never would have fallen and wouldn't have been the benefit of a bad call. There is no way you would see the play the same way if it went against the White Sox. We could probably pull up the old OC (I think?) thread where he slid into 2nd base and was called on that one. These seem like very similar plays. One went for the Sox, one went against the Sox.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 25, 2008 -> 11:43 AM) I believe it happened to Crede once in Oakland back in 05 I think. Twas pretty darn obvious when he did it. Crede just needs to work on that twist away where you actually stick more of your body out over the plate then.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 25, 2008 -> 11:31 AM) Borderline? C'mon. Was AJP impeded at all? He stuck his elbow out. He made contact and fell down doing so. It was a great play by him, but a horrific call. We will all take it, however. Maybe the worst, or best call of the year depending on who you are cheering for. I really don't see it as being much different from a batter who sticks his elbow out on purpose to get hit by a pitch. That happens all the time, and I don't think I've ever seen an ump not award 1st base.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 25, 2008 -> 06:18 AM) When all of the experts predicted 4th place, and everyone here agreed with them, being in first place in the end of August is a prize. Its a helluva lot better than 99.9% of people thought we would do. They are doing much better than I ever thought they would do! It is fun to sit back and enjoy the ride.

I was out and missed the game, but it sounded like Danks didn't throw a curve all night long. That's crazy that he just put that one on the shelf for the game!

$3.83 for the Ethanol based Mid-grade (it is cheaper than regular Unleaded).

I have one of those Dutch last names that starts with Vander. The number is actually my wrestling weight class from way back in high school. I've just used this one for that long.

Here is a nice little article that goes through the differences between Cable and DSL. Cable vs DSL The main thing that affects speed for Cable internet is how many people are using it in your area. The main thing that affects speed for DSL is the distance you are from the hub. I have DSL at home, and it works out great. I would bet that Cable would probably be faster in my area, but I would be paying a much higher price for it.

I'll echo what others have said. The ATM and credit cards are the way to go. Traveler's checks can be useful as a backup plan to get cash in case you lose your ATM card (as I did).

QUOTE (Steff @ Jul 11, 2008 -> 03:01 PM) The console prices I have seen are at least $250, fit is right around $170, and they also would need extra controllers. I did estimate a bit high, but I think if I have to go the ebay route it will be right there. Why are these things not in stores?? This, IMO, is one of the most annoying things about Ebay. A lot of people wait around for things like the Wii to go on sale for its regular price at the store. Then, they go buy as many as they can, throw it on Ebay, and make a profit off it. So, you can never find the things for their normal sale price at the stores because of all the Ebay hawks, but there are tons of them out on Ebay if you are willing to pay extra.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 10, 2008 -> 03:08 PM) I heard Steve Stone on a WSCR interview today very emphatically say: (1) the 0-1 pitch to Dye was low and outside and he shouldn't have swung at it. It was not a hittable pitch. (2) Cabrera did nothing wrong on the play. They were basically giving him the base and so he took it... which is what he should have done. (3) Dye over-reacted (4) that it's not a big deal (1) Yep, it was an oh crap the pitch is coming and I lost my focus type of swing. (2) Pretty much agree with you there (3) I would say that Dye may have said something out of frustration (probably not a good idea) and OC overreacted to that. OC could have let it slide by just seeing it as frustration. They are both at fault. (4) As long as they handle it amongst themselves without hurting their play that is true (and I think that it is)

It's good to see kids actually playing outside. We used to play all kinds of games outside wiffleball, throwing the football around, roller hockey in the street, etc. Not sure why I don't see that around anymore. Is it because of the sue craziness of our culture?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 9, 2008 -> 03:27 PM) The flip side to that - aside from symbolic or purely strategic reasons (as with Obama spending money in TX) - under the current system, why would a Republican waste any time campaigning in places like NYC, Chicago, Boston, the Bay Area, etc.? There are significant amounts of Republicans living in those places, but they more or less get ignored and left to the Democrats, and they become perpetual liberal strongholds (before I left Chicago I could count the number of Republicans I knew on one hand, thinking of the people I know in Chicago, still can). The same goes for the Democrats in places like TX, and much of the South. Why bother? You won't win the state. Basically, by shifting to population centers, it means a different group of people gets ignored. So it's the same thing either way. How would that be any different then what would happen if we switched to a popular vote? In both cases, the strongholds get ignored. The difference is not in how strongholds are approached (I would think that would stay consistent no matter which system was involved), but in how much say different population centers in different areas with completely different concerns get.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 9, 2008 -> 01:52 PM) no doubt. but the candidates would be forced to play the entire country. This is why I hope Obama's 50 state plan will eventually lead to the National Popular Vote bill gaining momentum when people see that politicians will actually visit the "minor" states. I still don't understand how this would cause the candidates to play the entire country. If I were a politician with just a popular vote, I would limit myself to places that have over 1,000,000 people (or some number like that). It's just not worth the travel and time to go anywhere else.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 9, 2008 -> 01:46 PM) that's basically my stance too. If Obama had not decided to run a 50 state campaign, the people of Texas and Illinois would really see or hear from the candidates. There's no point. McCain should win TX easily and Obama IL. But with a national system, they have to visit. what about the small states? Same thing. 50,000 votes in Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming is 250,000 more votes. A national election also means that EVERY vote counts and i really believe voter turn out would go up. In 2004, i would have voted for Kerry, but i never registered. what was the point? He was going to win IL anyways. At the time I wasn't really vested in local politics to make an educated vote. But those 250,000 votes are nothing compared to what you can get by concentrating on a place like LA where you can get that amount in 1 city.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 9, 2008 -> 01:06 PM) Actually, I'd suggest the opposite will happen. If you are in a small state, probably, they don't bother anyway. Unless its a "swing" state - then it doesn't matter if its big or small, they'll matter. But that's the whole problem with it. The electoral college artificially disenfranchises 80% of the electorate who don't live in "swing" states. If you have a truly national vote, then every vote counts the same. I actually disagree with this. JMHO, but I think that it levels out the bumps so that states like California don't get such a huge piece of the pie. They get a big piece now, but it would be even larger without the electoral college. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think that our elections would all get decided by the people who live on the coasts. You could forget about the whole Midwest. I wouldn't think of my vote as counting for much of anything.

As a citizen in a small state, I really dislike the idea of getting rid of the Electoral College. If that happens nobody will care about what is needed on our farms and away from the cities. Those all become fly over areas that the candidates will not care about.