mtalman,

Do you have link for your version of Sturgeon's Law? I have only seen the 90% version that King quotes and wikipedia has as well -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon's_law .

On Unix and Linux virtual desktops have been standards parts of most Windows managers at least 15 years. No need to download any extra software. Just fiddle with the options to get how many you desktops you want, and you are set.

I am glad to see the focus of this column getting a little less Mac-centric, but it would nice to see things get even broader.

As for stickies, I don't use them But I am sure that there are Linux programs

Did this guy watch any of the movies that he rants about?

In the In the Valley of Elah, certainly is not an anti-military movie. It could be called anti-war, or maybe even anti-authority, but it is deeply respectful of the men and women of the armed forces. We put soldiers into awful positions and then don't give them enough help when they get back.

King,

Thanks for the shout out fro the Tour de France. As others have said, it has been a great tour this year, but I am not afraid to embrace the sport's niche-itude.

For those who haven't caught any of the Tour this year,

you might want to try the time trial stage tomorrow. It is likely have a lot of drama and determine the winner, though for my money it probably won't be as much fun as the mountain stages from earlier this week.

King,

NBC definitely does weird things with their prime-time coverage, but that's what DVRs are for. I hadn't really though that much about which sports NBC has been playing in primetime because what I have been watching during primetime has include a lot of stuff from their other networks..

So I was surprised last week when you complained that you hadn't heard about women's basketball or seen any games because I had watched a few minutes of a couple of their games by that point. Similarly, with the heptathlon, I watched all of the coverage of that. Admittedly, they only showed some heats on the track portions, and they skim through the field part pretty quickly, but it was all covered. The coverage of the other field events was similar. I watched the shot coverage, as well as some of the discus and pole vault. They skipped through field events pretty quickly, but at least it is there. Covering field events is tough - there is a lot of dead time separating quick bursts of action. That's one of the reasons it is nice to go to track and field meets - events go on in parallel.

Anyway, I bet that you are right that NBC has been giving track the shaft, but because they put some much stuff on the other networks, what NBC does in prime-time is not nearly as important as it once was.

I can record insane amounts of Olympic coverage, and watch what I want. I can whet my appetite for my fringe sports favorites, like cycling and indoor volleyball. I can sample whole games in teams sports I know little about - water polo, field hockey and team handball. And I can take brief tastes of even more obscure (to me) sports like rowing, badminton, and fencing. I can watch my fill of Olympic standby track and field, and swimming (and much more than my fill of gymnastics and diving). The main limitations are my time and how far behind real-time I want to drift in what I am watching (I think I still have unwatched coverage from Monday, though I also have watched some things up through yesterday).

Anyway, my point is though there are obviously a lot of place where NBCs coverage has been less than ideal, this is the happiest I have ever been with Olympic coverage. Hopefully things will continue to get better, as TV and computer become better integrated. Eventually I think that the primetime show will end up morphing into something like a cross between a network morning show and Sports Center and we will all be picking and choosing which events we watch when, with the primetime show nudging us to go back and watch what we have missed.

It is right to question McCain's judgement, but you should also question Sarah Palin's judgement. it is hard enough for a family to survive the scrutiny that goes along with running for VP, but to do so when there is a family scandal waiting to explode is ridiculous. Why would she put knowingly put her daughter through this? It is bad enough that she governor of Alaska, but now Sarah Palin has made her daughter a national story. Palin's hubris rivals that of John Edwards.

ABout the only time that a squib makes sense is when the kick return is likely to be the last play of the game. In that case giving up field position is worth it if you can keep a team from being able to set up an organized return.

But what will it take for either Wall Street or the working man to get a mention in Minneapolis?

Ron Paul may raise those issues, though I don't think they are his main focus.

Or do you mean the Republicans in St. Paul?

King,

I don't think that you have to win any games to win a division in the NFL. Though they seldom happen, ties still can happen in the NFL, right? So theoretically every divisional game in a given division could be a tie. So you could end up with four 0-10-6 teams at the end of the season, and the divisional winner could be set by tie breakers.

Yes, it is silly pedantic, but at least I didn't try to come up with another playground variation on your name.

JMike66,

Great minds think a like.

See my earlier post.