Someone on the writing staff must be an Aliens fan; during the pilot when all the kids go out to the still, the cute chick and the son are going back and forth about "slashers":

CC: "...they mostly hunt at night.
S: "[scofs] Mostly?"

Then the episode Jimmy mentioned aired, and I had the exact same thought, "What the hell is Newt doing in TN?"

If you really want Jurassic Park meets Alien, there's a decent book (from which was made a horrible movie), by the name of Relic.

As much as I'd love a Mac Pro, I'd rather spend that kind of money building a custom system capable of running whatever operations system I want.  There's a device, EFIX, which plugs into your motherboard and emulates the EFI environment of a Mac (as opposed to BIOS on a PC).  There are a few drawbacks: it's a couple hundred bucks, you're limited to using compatible hardware, and each operation system needs its own hard drive.  Compare that to the benefits of being able to build a system that will run OSX, Windows and Linux natively, and the drawbacks don't look so bad.  Even with the cost of the device itself, you can build a system pretty darn close to a Mac Pro, and still save a bundle.  Even the hardware restrictions aren't all that restrictive, you just have to consult their site before buying anything.

Personally, my Macbook Pro does everything I need a computer to do at the moment.  If anything I'd like a Mac Mini, to act as a server for my iTunes and such, so I don't have to keep the laptop hooked into workstation mode all the time.

That said, I do miss having a desktop to poke around in sometimes.  The fan in particular gets annoying when I'm running a video game, rendering a scene, or encoding a video.  Heck, watching a vid on YouTube or Vimeo often eats up so many compute cycles the fan kicks in.

Desktops might be going away for the public at large, but I think there will always be a place for them, in my life anyway.

I haven't even posted in this thread!  And only my mother calls me Matthew.

Steve!

Wait, Apple TV won't let you choose your audio track?  Even my iPad lets me choose a track.

I ripped all my DVDs a few months back, complete with subs when necessary and commentaries.  Right now I'm only streaming to iPad, but one day it'll be nice to stream to a t.v.

Fixed.

I agree about the free stuff notion, in fact if anyone is interested, here are my suggestions for protective iPad 2 cases.  It's also pretty much the email I sent my sister, regarding my nephew, Hunter.

Here's a list of recommendations.  I can't personally vouch for any of them, so I recommend following up on them yourself, but here are some tips based on how I chose mine.

I'm currently using a Switcheasy Canvas.  I started with an Apple Smart Cover, simply because that was all that was available at launch, but I knew I'd be upgrading because it doesn't protect the back side of the iPad.  I did like the fact that I could fold the Smart Cover into a stand, since one of my primary uses is watching video.  I wanted something that would fold into a more stable configuration, since I tend to do a fair bit of watching in bed with the iPad resting on my chest.  Ideally I also wanted something that would utilize the magnetic shut off function the Smart Cover utilizes.  I'm pretty happy with it, but I have been looking into something a bit more drop resistant myself lately, so I've already done a bit of this research.  The big problem I'm having is that most cases designed for good shock absorption are "housing" types, rather than "folio" types; i.e., they enclose the back and sides well, but leave the glass open, and vulnerable, whereas a folio design like the Canvas has a cover that folds over the glass when not in use.  It seems one can have one or the other, but not both.

One of my go-to sites for iPhone / iPod / iPad related reviews is iLounge.com.  For example, they gave my Switcheasy Canvas an A-.

My favorites in terms of something tough and Hunter-proof are the Gumdrop Drop Tech Series for iPad 2  (which iLounge also gave an A-), and the Griffin Survivor for iPad 2.  iLounge has not review the Survivor yet, but GadgetMac gives it a 3.5 / 5.

The Gumdrop case has an integrated screen protector which seems able to resist several direct paintball impacts.  Pitted against the heavy hitter Otterbox and their iPad 2 Defender Series Case, which had its screen destroyed by said paintballs.  I've read mixed reviews of the Otterbox case, despite strong support for its iPhone cases.  Still, iLounge gives it a B-, so it's still a contender.

The Griffin Survivor I would recommend based simply on the crazy stunts their QA team put their products through (though to be fair, most of those are for the iPhone/ iPod touch line of cases).  It was developed to Military standards, so it should hold up pretty well.  Personally an issue I would have is that the rear camera and the speaker are covered by the outer cover.  GadgetMac discusses it in their review; might not be an issue for you.

So here are my recommendations, in my personal order of preference, with links to Amazon.com since you'll probably have to order online, and it's useful to read other people's reviews.

1. Gumdrop Drop Tech Series for iPad 2, $59.95
2. Griffin Survivor for iPad 2, $39.36
3. Otterbox iPad 2 Defender Series Case, $52.48

I came up with a couple more, so the budget option, as well as award for thinking outside the box goes to iBallz, for their...unique solution, $19.95

Also, the Speck iGuy seems tailor made for this sort of thing, and got a B from iLounge, $39.95.

With a bit of tweaking I could easily offer this as a sample of what I can offer.

I recognized her voice, but I think I had looked up the cast at one point and just forgotten she was in it.  It's practically a cameo anyway, but she does well with it.  I was just surprised I didn't recognize her, but to be fair I really haven't kept up with her since Firefly, which is coming up on a decade ago.

Dude, I grew up on Cape Cod; Martha's Vineyard is like, right there (though I've never actually been).  I can totally see that being in fashion even today, much less the late '70s.

Zarban: Yeah, I guess I am basically describing an online personal shopping assistant.  Think about this though: I can't tell you how many times I've gotten the wrong thing in the past, because I failed to do the research, I was too cheap to get the right thing the first time, or I didn't have someone to get a second opinion from.  In those cases I wound up having to get a second item, to replace the first one, and got stuck with something I didn't need.  I'm a big fan of getting the right thing the first time, not waiting to get it home before you realize it won't work.  I'd have rather spent that money on a second opinion.

My top three recommendations for an iPad case for my sister ran from between $40 - $60.  The least expensive option that I could recommend was around $30, but I only listed it as a budget option, I wouldn't actually recommend it unless that was all you could afford.  But say you went ahead and got that one anyway, got it home, let the little one smack it around a bit, only to find that it's not really that good.  Now you've spent $30, and you'll have to spend more to get a better case.  I'll charge you $20, and tell you which ones to look at before you buy.

Admittedly this does make more sense for higher end products, but it certainly doesn't have to be limited to that.  I may not know anything about washing machines, but give me a couple hours and I can learn enough to offer an opinion.  How about cars?  Fortunately I'm a bit of a gearhead, so it wouldn't take me long to brush up on the latest models.  For my local clients, I think having someone to go to a store or a showroom who isn't there to push a sale could be a big selling factor.

iJim: Am I looking for a new TV or computer?  Well no, but I did recently brush up on TVs because my roommate was thinking of upgrading.  TVs are one of those technologies that is always evolving, so by the time someone is ready to buy a new one they usually have some catching up to do.  Sometimes all you need is someone to go to the store with you and keep the salespeople at bay.  An unbiased second to bounce questions off of.  My roommate did not decide to get a new TV, but he did get his first laptop.  He got it home, and realized it didn't have enough power to play Netflix, one of the main reasons he bought it.  I went back to the store and helped him pick out one that would do what he needed it to do.  Did it cost more?  Of course, and if I had been charging him it would have cost maybe $20 on top of that, but it would have saved him a trip back to the store.

Heck, I even helped Teague pick out the mixer DIF has been using for the last year, and when the roommate who owned the TV moved out, I helped him pick out a new one.  How those working for you buddy?

As far as the "Rottentomatoes for review sites" idea goes, I like it, but I don't want to spend a lot of time or money on updating and maintaing a website, not yet anyway.  If it could be done in such a way that I can do it myself fairly easily, sure, but that'll be between me and my web guy, whoever that winds up being; I know a guy who knows a guy who I need to get in touch with about it .  For now all I'm thinking about in terms of the site is a place to get more information about what I do, give folks an idea of who I am and why I'm qualified to do this, an e-mail form, and eventually testimonials.

Keep 'em comin' guys, I appreciate it.

Kinda with Greg here.  Say what you want about the story or the directing, the guys pushing the pixels in post did a heck of a job.  Wish George had put them to work doing clean-up for the Blu-ray release.  At least we still have the "Revisited" editions to look forward to.