Randomness

[Asso]

Yes.
Welcome back, JzK.

[justTripn]

It's amazing times we live in. Yesterday, I was on the computer and I hear my son laughing and giggling and cheering at his computer and he's going, "Hey Mom! Look at this video! Look at this video!" I walk around the corner, expecting to see some stupid You-Tube, and there is his girlfriend on the screen, a live feed, and my son's face is a little box down at the corner, and they are laughing and waving to each other. She is at college and sent him a little camera that he clipped to the top of the computer, and a microphone! and now they can sit and chat face to face. It is totally Star Trek-ish! Yes, it's amazing.

[TPoptarts]

Dude. It's called "webcam" and it's been around like... forever

[JadziaKathryn]

We seem to have a slight generational divide here...

Thanks for the welcome back, all! (Despite not "leaving" here.)

[Alelou]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/scien ... ss&emc=rss

Can robot soldiers behave ethically?

Oh man. We're so not ready for this.

[CX]

I thought scientists were supposed to be smart...

[JadziaKathryn]

Was it "Drone," the Voyager episode where robots were still fighting even after their creators had wiped each other out?

There is an argument for saving human lives here, but I fear that widespread use of robotic soldiers would make war more common.

[CX]

Anyone know anything about http://www.storefantastic.com/info.html ?

[Elessar]

Anyone know anything about http://www.storefantastic.com/info.html ?

*Tries to guess whether CX is ordering MST3K or Transformers*

[CX]

MST3K. I'm wondering whether I should trust them with my credit card number or not.

[Elessar]

MST3K. I'm wondering whether I should trust them with my credit card number or not.

I've never personally seen the site.

But if you have a major CC company, I wouldn't worry about it. I've been buying things off the net (with CC) for many many years and I've only had my number stolen once. I never even found out how, but it wasn't hard to get the charges taken off with my company.

[Alelou]

Personally I think you're far more likely to have your card number stolen at your local Chinese restaurant or at some other real merchant where you've actually swiped the thing. Our local grocery store chain managed to lose just about everybody's card numbers to a hacker last year and my husband's debit card promptly showed up with a bunch of weird little charges.

However, CX, if you need that card desperately, you might want to make sure you have a back-up card because while you're not responsible for fraudulent charges it can take awhile to get your replacement.

[JadziaKathryn]

Personally I think you're far more likely to have your card number stolen at your local Chinese restaurant or at some other real merchant where you've actually swiped the thing. Our local grocery store chain managed to lose just about everybody's card numbers to a hacker last year and my husband's debit card promptly showed up with a bunch of weird little charges.

Was that Hannaford, and they waited a long time to fess up? Then they said it wasn't their responsibility or something absurd like that. We weren't happy.

[Alelou]

Yeah, it was Hannaford, but I didn't know they'd taken a long time to fess up. Certainly there was no delay between the announcement and new debit cards arriving from the bank, and the bad charges that eventually showed up got reversed immediately.

Honestly, they seem like a decent chain to me. Better prices, no irritating need for a special sale card, and they really help support the regional food bank. That makes them (and Panera) look pretty good to me.

[CX]

Found some reviews online, and it seems they have a problem with accepting money without ever sending the goods. Too bad though, I'd really like to get all of MST3K.