That's the most Bangled up Z8 I've ever seen.

I'm not sure if calling Mass Effect the most important sci-fi of our generation is a huge accolade to Mass Effect as it is a critique at how sci-fi in other mediums simply hasn't stepped up to the plate.

Don't get me wrong, I love the ME games. L-O-V-E them. Part of why of love them is that they contain all the sci-fi tropes that I've grown to know and love; AI, aliens, ancient mysterious evil, genetic manipulation, and all that good stuff.

Trouble is, Mass Effect's greatest strength is its greatest weakness. It's derivative. It doesn't really introduce anything we haven't seen before. The Krogan are like Klingons, the Geth are like Cylons, the Mass Effect relays are Stargates, the Citadel is Babylon 5, etc... But then again, name a truly original Sci-Fi property from the last 20 years, I dare you.

What Mass Effect does better than anything else however, is examine morality. At first, the Geth are the "bad guys" and the Quarians are sympathetic nomads. Then you find out that the Quarians not only created the Geth, but tried to exterminate the Geth when it gained consciousness. Were the Salarians and Turians justified in unleashing the genophage on the Krogan? Is Cerebrus evil for placing human interests first, knowing full well that the other races have similar organizations?

Personally, I can't wait to play the third installment, and I hope the franchise live on for some time after. Especially if that means game where I get to play as Blasto, the Hanar SPECTRE!

Did anybody mention Mass Effect's awesome humor yet?

Now, the article went to great lengths to make its argument. If you disagree with it, that's fine, but try and back up your argument a little more than simply damning it as viral marketing.

Each "Geth" encountered isn't a single physical life-form, but hundreds of individual near-sentient programs in a single chassis. These programs are shared among other Geth chassis nearby. Each program is individual, but there there is near-instantaneous communication with others. They aren't quite a hive mind per se but something else altogether.

Imagine every cell in your body could think for itself. Now imagine that those cells could instantly communicate with the cells in someone else's body, your car, etc. That gives you a better idea about the Geth.

Admittedly, they dumbed it down a little too much in ME2, but I didn't miss it as much as I thought.

I'm not a huge fan of number crunching and Min/Maxing in RPGs (I've been playing since D&D first edition). I've always found they detract from the actual "role-playing" and just make the game about math.

I find the Mass Effect games some of the best actual role-playing experiences. Your decisions have consequences, and you never seem to be punished for making a "bad" choice.

"Yes... Yes I am."

YOU are the type of people we need to be listening to in this. Informed, educated, properly motivated and experienced.

Heart click for you and best of luck to you and your family!

It's been done.

I would think that the family history of autism would be a greater factor than the MMR vaccine. Whether or not that vaccine was a "trigger" is still up for debate. I know from my own experience that a child's mental development isn't a straight line. My own 3-year-old son will have days where is vocabulary seems to almost double, only to drop down again the next day. In retrospect, it might seem days like that are a sign of autism, but only after the fact.

What is obvious is that more studies need to be done, not regarding the vaccine, but in understanding autism itself. What causes it? Why don't we have a definitive test? Does an immunological response come into play? Do vaccines speed up an inevitable process, make it worse, or are completely unrelated? Obviously, the Wakefield study is shit, what else do we got that links autism to vaccine?

I can only hope that the debate doesn't distract from actual finding a cause, and with it, better treatment. I would also hope that those who do wish to enter the debate do so by educating themselves by looking into the actual research, not because they are jumping on some former playmate's bandwagon.

I always thought autism was more commonly diagnosed by the lack of social development. What happened in that 72 hours that differentiated between normal and autistic?

Whether or not this has ever made a damn bit a difference, I can't say.

There. Used it in a sentence.

I also almost romneyed my pants when I found out about him strapping the dog's kennel, with dog inside, to the roof of the car for a 12 hour road trip.

I assume that's why he threw it in anyway... Anybody know how to fix a iPhone that got submerged and then got really, really hot before it bricked? (It's been in a baggie of rice since)

Of course, the Hemi has already been stuffed into it.

Makes you almost wish Chrysler would bring it back with better drivetrain to apologize for the Sebring and PT Cruiser convertibles.

A 1.8L Supercharged four banger that managed to exhibit turbo-lag. With a mediocre 158hp.

Here's a pic of the infamous G-lader supercharger. Try and find a Corrado in the wild where it hasn't been swapped out.

Not to nitpick...

But a 10.1" (measured diagonally) screen would almost be four times the surface area of a 5.4" screen.

Or are my pythagorean theorem math skill that rusty?

#corrections

$2000?

HELLS YEAH!