My son is 4 now and at the point where he really gets restless when we go out to eat. For the last few years we've tried everything from an iPod to a Gameboy Micro. While we don't let him play many games or watch too much TV at home, the convenience is fantastic while out. Today we finally found the right way to do it. I installed mplayer on my Treo 650 and my son was able to watch Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas while my wife and I ate Thai. It was a successful day all around.

I got two of their cables and could not be happier. from my HD DVR to my Sony 60" SXRD (lcos for everyone else) I'm having terrific luck. Great picture and the cable has a high quality look and feel.

Thank you very much for the referral to these guys - I have at least 10 friends getting them this week as well.

I just had to throw out one more quote from Terry Pratchett: "Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on."

I back up everything said about the Terry Pratchett books, especially his Discworld series.

One of my favorite characters is a night watchman: "Sergeant Colon owed thirty years of happy marriage to the fact that Mrs. Colon worked all day and Sergeant Colon worked all night. They communicated by means of notes. He got her tea ready before he left at night, she left his breakfast nice and hot in the oven in the mornings. They had three grown-up children, all born, Vimes had assumed, as a result of extremely persuasive handwriting."

Terry Pratchett created a man named Moist Von Lipwig.

I will say though (an possibly to great argument) to start your Discworld adventures with 'Guards! Guards!' instead of 'The Colour of Magic'. It's one of the best and has a low barrier to entry. TCOM is a lot more fantasy with odd names and many parts of it (especially the character of Death) changed quite a bit, and for the better, along the series.

I hope you do give them a try!

Drew

I must agree with Steve.

My primary torch is a Surefire Aviator. It was one of the first to use the low power LED (red) and a Xenon lamp for full power. People are always amazed that a little torch like that can pump out 50 lumens. I have illuminated the underside of clouds more than once with a flashlight I could easily conceal in one hand.

I willl shortly be buying this one: http://www.amazon.com/Surefire-G2-LED-Black-Lumens-Runtime/dp/B000YZ5QZA/ref=pdbbssr_4?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1201374922&sr=8-4 The basic LED G2 doesn't have the variable output but screams out 80 lumens and lasts a long time.

RE: 123a's. The previous comment stands. The 123a battery has unbelievable shelf life which is vital when you've put the torch in your bag or night table. You always want to know that when you push the button it's going to work, regardless if it's been 10 months since you last pushed that button.

There is plenty of room in the world for consumer flashlights, but if you want something you can rely on, you can't beat a surefire.