Jon Konrath

Does this mean we'll see Microsoft jump to version 7.0 of their stores a few weeks later?

Each at-bat is worth more because each time you come to the plate isn't considered an at-bat; it's considered a plate appearance. If, in a game with four plate appearances, he walked, got hit by a pitch, got awarded first base due to catcher obstruction, and hit a sacrifice fly, he would technically have zero at-bats.

(But I doubt if his iPad-enabled highlight reel is filled with footage of him getting hit by pitches.)

It's troubling to see so many commenters slam the Yaris for lack of luxury, space, or comfort, which is typically the same argument used by SUV owners trying to justify their purchase. I thought we were all supposed to be shifting to smaller cars, making compromises, rethinking our ways to keep the world greener?

Disclaimer: I bought a Yaris last year, after investigating hybrids and smaller cars. I'm 6 feet tall, and no problems driving whatsoever. I don't haul around a family of seven, two canoes, three baby seats, and a trunk full of junk from Wally World on a regular basis. But then I also play a little game here in LA called "spot the single-occupant Prius" and it doesn't look like other people need the room, either.

The TSA screens rail, too:

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/rail/index.shtm

They don't screen every single passenger and bag like they do with air travel, but give'em time.

Wait a second - you give out a rebate now, and hope to lower oil prices in the future - but you pay for it by taxing oil companies in the future for windfall profits? Wouldn't lower oil prices mean no more windfall profits, and no way to pay this back in five years?

Amtrak has a system to carry your car on the same train as you, but it's only set up for the 17-hour trip between DC and central Florida. Your one-way ticket is about $140 (meals included), your standard-sized car starts at $190.

It's by no means a drive-on/drive-off technology that lets you grab the train magically at every block, but it's existing technology, and it's there. And by the fact that these aren't on every single Amtrak line says something about the feasibility level.

Maybe if the 'roids help your vision, Barry Bonds could get a job as an ump next year.

I believe the technical term for a "half-ass holdover with downloadable maps until full version in 2010" is the "Gran Turismo HD" concept. Maybe we can just use that as an ongoing term instead of having to describe this each time it comes up in the future.

Absolutely loved SOCOM I and II (3 got a little odd) but it wasn't for the graphics. It was much more the team strategy stuff in single-user. The spray-and-pray online FPS stuff is okay, but I also like games with a little more logic in them. A shame this one won't be there initially.

That said, I thought the graphics weren't bad, but I was more impressed with the sound. The gunshots sounded excellent, which I love, but my neighbors won't.

I remember when EPCOT center first opened, there was some sort of "world of energy"-type ride with a bunch of dinosaurs in it, and the smello-machine blasted out an odor that smelled basically like bronto dung. Wonderful.

Of course it dual boots - 40 or 80 columns!