appalachian_fox

Sometimes an umbrella is just an umbrella...

(emphasis added) I don't know about y'all, but I think I'm going to keep my ideas to myself...

LOL what? Doesn't work quite like that...cigarette smoke leaves a very fine dust which is known not to effect electronic components unless left for years and even then the small particles don't clump unless moisture is introduced. *cough!* That smell is dust burning. I've seen enough electronic equipment (including several HW-101s for any Amateur Radio ops out there) that has resided with smokers for anywhere from a year or so to decades, and while they all ran to some degree they ALL had the cigarette smell. Perhaps there's enough moisture in the air? Regardless, it's hard to argue against the yellow haze built up on the exterior of these electronics packages. Perhaps frequent cleaning may prevent that from being an issue?

Undies -- Wow, what model Dell monitor was that? I've never seen anything like that using VGA on a Dell LCD, but I'd be interested to know which one gave you problems.

Sorry you got busted, if he was truly just being a jerk as you indicate he sounds like a real winner who will make lots of friends But, let's reconsider this: Illegal is a pretty strong and relatively meaningless word. Perhaps against University rules, but the R.D. is not a police officer and they don't have to worry about throwing out evidence they gained through questionable or even outright illicit ways because the University is not a court of law. In fact, while in the dorms you are on their property, and they can do all sorts of things which they tell you they won't do. While he sounds like a real turd sandwich, you don't get afforded the protections a citizen gets from the government, even if it's a local or state school. Not trying to reprimand you, but warn you for the future. Lots of college-aged people think they can get by on technicalities or say, "You can't do that," but the bottom line is most of the time they can, and when they can't you usually don't have much in the way of legal recourse. Watch your bottom, because it can be real easy to get in big trouble these days, and there are enough jerks in R.D. and administration positions to make it a real pain.

Agreed. Be it so resolved. *Bang*

I imagine this is how Les Miserables would have turned out if Victor Hugo were an MMO player: JVJ24601: "D00d! i cant have 1337 stuffz if i dont pay teh farmz0rs for gold! yer game is brkoen i had no choise." Admin: "Tough, buying gold is against the EULA. I don't care if the game is unplayable, you still broke the law. Let them buy cake." Thenard: "oh my pwnt lolol!" Enjolras: "I'm starting a blog to whine about this game! It's like a revolution, only we're still paying to play and instead of bloodshed in the streets there's whining on an ineffectual public forum with effectively no barrier to entry! They'll HAVE to give us what we want! Can you hear the people mope?" M4R|V5: "Man, this game still sucks and I'm still paying for it. So many people typed up whiny posts but nothing changed! When will it all end? What will be the cost to players everywhere? *Mope*"

I'm definitely on board with everyone else here: That Dell 24" is an excellent choice in monitors. There is also the 27": http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...mp;sku=222-7315 That's probably a bit above the budget, plus it's 27", which depending on your workspace may be a bit big, but they are worth every penny if your workspace can support it and you are comfortable working with a monitor that size. Otherwise, the 24" can handle the same resolution.

I guess they'll have to buy their own towels?

No way, man. I'm all about some alacrity golf!

Seriously? One monitor? He should have at least two for $10k...Maybe that's where you can put the leftover $...

Targus ftw. I don't know about Wegner, but I do like the Targus stuff. Sorry to hear you have to explain everything, so you're probably not going to get it internal, but for $10 it would have been so much easier. No dongle to lose or break off, no risk of damaging a USB port, but it's not THAT big of a deal as long as you're paying attention. I'm sure you'll enjoy it either way, a little dongle shouldn't ruin your laptop experience.

Is it something that can go in a book? Are you familiar with Lulu?

That's where I was, and I like the simple answer, but there are some pretty compelling connections with some interesting ramifications, not just socially among the heroes but in terms of what kind of powers they have. If Linderman is Kensei, then there is a way for people to live a long time in this world...What is that? Is it power-related? Some kind of power-chemical hybrid? Just a fun road to go down. Fair enough, when I go over what I write I tend to be risk-averse when it comes to possible spoilers. I guess I didn't want to link them together in case someone hadn't seen the episode, but I guess that wasn't that big a deal.

Maybe that's part of the disconnect. My car cannot hit 165, nor do I care for it to. If I had a nicer car that could do things I neither need nor want, I wouldn't feel any better about it. Likewise, I don't over-purchase my PCs. Sure, I build headroom in so that I can use it five weeks later without it dragging, but I doubt my old lumbering lummox of a machine would quickly open all of my apps and I'm okay with that.