fotorobot

I wish there was some hope of mounting a counter-attack, and retaking the ground we have already lost.

This. Exactly this. I've argued this in several threads already, but it bears repeating. We cannot allow ourselves to always be on defense; we need to mount a counter-attack as well.

Those who are fighting to defend the status quo (which isn't that great btw because of the DMCA) are on the back-foot, while the lobbyist firm of "TROLOLOLOL Take Away Your Rights" is on the attack. And with that type of dynamic, they will always win. If they create some heinous piece of legislation that is massively opposed, then they'll redraft it and reach some sort of "compromise" where only half our rights are lost, (that is, until the next heinous bill comes along). Or they sneak bits and pieces into other bills so that it doesn't draw much attention, and then we lose our rights piecemeal. The trick is we need to reverse these roles and actively push for what we want. Something bold to put the entertainment industry on defense, so that even if we don't get it, we can force a compromise in our favor. Repeal the DMCA, officially recognize linking to websites as protected speech, put a 20 year limitation on all copyright patents, free blowjobs from pornstars, etc. Again, the point is not to get these passed per se (although that would be great), but to start out with a large demand and go from there. Otherwise we are constantly on defense, and we cannot win from that position without major election / campaign-financing reform.

but is it worth the time of the most prestigious research institutes on the planet to look into this bullshit? I think not

MIT is a university just like any other, except with better students and faculty. If one of the faculty working for MIT is interested in this topic and wants to study it, let him. A university isn't a government lab where everybody is solely focused on whatever is the most important issues of the day.

I remember leaving cookies out. And when I woke up, I saw only 2 cookies were eaten. Which kind of disappointed me, because I had this image of Santa being this big cookie-loving glutton. So I decided to help him out and eat like 5 more cookies. When my dad woke up he somehow knew that "Santa Claus" only ate a small portion of the missing cookies, and his tone of voice strongly implied that I did it (and really I was just lying for his sake, maybe he too would be disappointed that Santa ate only 2 cookies).

That's too bad, because I agree with Malakie00 that while the game was good, there was too much emphasis on combat, which is why Tomb Raider Anniversary is still my favorite of the series. While everyone has different opinions on what should be the right mix, I feel like the heavy focus on puzzle solving and exploration is what made the series stand out and differentiated it from all the other action/adventure games. But now it is more like all the others.

There seems to be a group -- a shrinking group -- of parents who have just resolved not to be the ones to tell their kids.

From my encounters (total anecdotal evidence, I know), it seems the number of people is growing rather than shrinking. Is there actual data either way?