BZR

So, lots of people wonder whether you can get a DUI on a bicycle. The answer is, it varies state-by-state. I know in Florida, where I live, DUI applies to -VEHICLES-, which includes bicycles and horses in addition to more commonly accepted 'MOTOR vehicles'.

My question is -- what if the bicycle is on the sidewalk? I can see riding in the road, as a 'vehicle operator', but the sidewalk is for pedestrians. Rollerblades,skateboards, walkers, joggers, etc. are all on the sidewalks as pedestrians, not vehicle operators, right? So as a bicyclist on the sidewalk, aren't you a pedestrian as well?

So say a cop nabs you for whatever reason (just feeling bossy, maybe?) on the sidewalk, and you've had a few drinks. What happens if you refuse a breathalyzer? I have lots of weird questions on the specifics but am just curious to see what people know about this.

I live in Central Florida, and just got a new house. I'm considering buying some fruit trees to plant; the house has two orange trees in the back, but they froze in the past and have reverted back to being sour oranges.

I saw Lychee trees for sale at Lowes... checked online and some sources claim they should produce within the year.

What are some good fruit trees to plant (in Central Florida) that will produce fruit quickly?

I just bought a new computer -- HP e9160f. It comes with a GeForce GT230 video card w/ 1.5GB memory. I scavenged parts from my old computer, including a GeForce 9600GT w/ 512MB memory.

I've read in several places that the GT230 and 9600GT are essentially the same card, but on another website I saw the 9600GT ranked much higher than the GT230.

My question is... should I pull out the GT230 and replace with the 9600GT? Will it make any difference? Or should I just leave the GT230 in my new computer...

A couple weeks ago, I made an offer on a home in Orlando, FL. A week later (Tuesday, July 7), we heard back from the seller's agent saying that "the bank would like to approve your offer" pending our submission of requested information and an escrow check.

We got them the check and information and figured we were good to go. A few days later, the agent contacted us again and said she had approval, but was getting 'higher approval', but not to worry because it always went through and it was just normal process.

She stopped answering the phone and remained out of contact until yesterday (July 14), when she notified us that Fannie Mae was countering my offer at $20k higher than the accepted price, and demanding $10k down, and that I had until noon today (July 15) to up my offer.

My realtor said she'd never seen anything like this -- we had written acceptance from the agent and they were already holding my deposit. Apparently, Fannie Mae is allowed to back out of any contract, even up to the day of closing.

Is this really true? Is the seller agent really within her rights to just withhold all paperwork from us and simply relay the word-of-mouth that Fannie Mae wants $20k more?

I wrote an angry letter but decided to come back with another offer halfway between theirs and my original offer. If it's not accepted, I'm backing out. If it IS accepted... can they really just decide to back out on my closing day? Is that really permitted?

About a year ago, I saw this trailer for a movie but forgot the title...

It had these two young guys, dressed in white, showing up and taking this family captive. It seemed like they were playing sadistic games with them. I think they mighta had fencing outfits on? At some point it looked like the family was going to try and resist or something.

Anyway I saw this trailer in the same movie where I saw the 'There Will Be Blood' trailer. Does anyone know what the movie in the trailer was called?

I recently got a $136 ticket for following my friend out of a parking lot as he took an illegal left turn (he drove off but I got pulled over).

I found this site called The Ticket Clinic online and they claim that for $90 I will have no points on my license, guaranteed.

Has anyone done this before? Does it work? Can I trust this company?

Any advice, experiences, etc. are appreciated!

I just bought a new TV -- Samsung PN50A450. I want to keep on using my current speakers, but they use speaker wire, where my new TV only has digital audio outputs.

I'm looking for the CHEAPEST and hopefully SMALLEST receiver that'll make this possible. I only have 2 speakers (large cabinet speakers) and am not concerned about setting up surround sound or home theater.

I just want to be able to use my older-tech speakers that want speaker wire with my new TV that only has digital audio outputs.

Any ideas?

I have a pair of nice cabinet speakers hooked up to my old TV, and am wondering if they'll work with my new TV.

My new TV is the Samsung PN50A450, but the speakers are older and have the red / black wire connections instead of the newer Red / White RCA cables. I don't know where to look to see if my new TV has the 'old' kind of speaker connection... I really don't want to have to buy a receiver or anything to be able to hook up my speakers to this TV.

I recently bought a TV at Circuit City. I intended to buy it cash, but a salesperson informed me of a '24-months with no interest' deal if I were to open a Circuit City credit card and purchase the TV with that.

I decided to accept and keep my money earning interest in the bank.

Now, I can cut checks each month to pay the bills, but I was wondering if it's wise to just set my 'real' credit card to just auto-pay the balance on my Circuit City card.

I have no debt and always pay my balance in full each month. Is it wise to let my 'real' credit card auto-pay my Circuit City balance, or should I manually pay it off each month?

I'm just curious. I'm running a GeForce 6600GT with 256MB memory...

I'm upgrading to an evga GeForce 9600GT with 512MB memory.

How much of a difference are we talkin' about here? I realized it was time for me to upgrade when I noticed the 9600GT was only $80 on Amazon.com after a rebate, and when my framerate dropped into the teens while I was playing a game that came out almost 5 years ago :p

Any concise summary spec comparisons that'll tell the story?

I'm using a Medion M3 Composer 5200 with an intel P4 540 processor(3.2GHz with HT). The mobo is MSI MS-7046.

I just bought an upgraded video card (GeForce 9600GT) and am about to get a RAM upgrade (replacing 2 sticks of 256MB DDR PC3200 with 2 sticks of 1GB DDR PC3200). Total cost of these upgrades after rebates will be about $150.

Should I get a better processor as well? What can my motherboard handle / will it be needed in order to be able to take advantage of the upgraded RAM and video card? If I got a processor I'd be looking to spend under $150. Any advice?

I use a Medion M3 Composer 5200.

I've got 1.5GB of RAM currently (2 x 256 and 2 x 512 cards)

Will my computer accept any more RAM?

I'm looking for a hand-pumped air tank. I saw the spare air tanks online but those seem like overpriced mini scuba tanks. I'd be satisfied with just a few extra breaths of air at 40-60'... I free dive and am curious to see if a small air bottle (hand-pumped) exists to extend bottom time for stalking fish, etc.

This had to be fifteen years ago or more. It was a short, animated thing.

It's this guy sitting at a table, with a boiled egg in front of him. When he taps it with his spoon, he hears a knock at the door. He gets up and opens the door, but outside it's just darkness and snow.

He sits down, and taps the egg again with his spoon; again the knock. He checks again, nothing.

The last time, he taps and cracks the shell of the egg. As soon as he does that, the whole universe collapses on him and he screams before the screen goes black, and that's it.

I saw it when I was little and just remembered it. I wonder if it was just a crazy Nickelodeon short, or some kind of filmmaker special, or what? I can't remember and can't find it through searches on google.

Anyone else see this by any chance?

I was thinking, since there are plenty of people willing to play them, why not release a four-faction RPG?

That way, each faction could have an ally, a neutral, and an enemy faction. You could have trade / travel / party bonuses in the friendly faction, travel / trade taxes in the neutral faction and still be able to party up, and outright hostility from the enemy faction.

Things could get interesting when you have to work with a friendly / neutral faction in a way that has you interacting with your / their hostile factions as a consequence.

Just an idea. Anyone think it'd be neat to see that?

A little over a year ago, I did something that hurt my hip / upper thigh joint. At first it was tender to stretch, but it's gotten worse and worse.

The pain is about as low as the base of my tailbone, only off to the right side -- beneath the buttock as opposed to the lower back. It 'feels' like the joint where my femur joins my hips.

It's worst when I wake up, or when I've been sitting in my office chair, or driving. It usually is just a dull ache, but becomes really painful if I try to stretch (touch my toes) and especially if I try to lift my left while I'm sitting.

I saw chiropractor a few times and he thought it was my sacroiliac, but the little elastic belt and adjustments he prescribed haven't done anything to help. I spoke with my dad and he calls the chiropractor a 'witch doctor' so I guess that option is out.

Has anyone had a similar condition? Was it your sacroiliac? How did you get it corrected?

I'm wondering how to invest a couple thousand bucks I've got sitting in savings. My dad supervises a portfolio for me with money in stocks and bonds and funds, but as time's gone on we've both been feeling uncomfortable with the stock market.

II think I want to make future investments in something other than stocks / funds.

For a month or so I've been visiting the NYMEX page and watching the fluctuations, and have been getting a little eager to try it out.

My question is -- can I buy and sell commodities like stock? My friend insists that I have to buy futures, which are arcane to both of us and seem like more trouble than they're worth for people our age (early twenties, just getting started on our careers).

So... can I buy / sell directly? If so, what's a good way to get started? Morgan Stanley manages my account -- should I go through them or is there an alternative internet based method?

I have a good friend at work who's interested in surfing (she tried it in Hawaii and loved it) and wants to get a board here in FL. I have been pushing shortboard or retro-fish since that's what I ride, but I'm a man and so might have a different perspective.

I know she learned on a longboard and is habitually looking at huge longboards (9') and thinking 6'11", 7"3 funshapes are a nice choice for 'performance'.

I started on a 6'4" funshape and really didn't enjoy surfing until I got on a 6'1" shortboard. My 6'4" was too big and clunky. I feel like this girl should choose either a smallish longboard, or get a nice fat retro fish for Florida waves.

What do you think? I have two other good female friends who both ride shortboards and love them; I have two more female friends (one is an ex) who had big funshapes, and neither really ended up getting into surfing.

My friend is about 5'4", maybe 120 lbs? Athletic and tough so I think she can handle what FL has to offer. Advice?

So, I hear that the upcoming Xbox Live update will include Xbox Live Party, which lets up to 8 people meet in the dashboard to talk & party up from game to game.

I was wondering, will this addition allow those same 8 people to chat in-game without using push-to-talk?

For example, in Halo 3, when you have a party or team larger than 4 you have to push-to-talk. It's said there are functionality reasons for this, but it still kills the social aspect of gaming when you have to push-to-talk. Especially in a game like Halo 3 where all your fingers are already engaged without having to do push-to-talk.

I was in Costa Rica last October. While driving on a country road, I passed by a large grove of palm trees that appeared to be agricultural.

Occasionally, on the road, parts of the palm trees that were harvested were scattered, having fallen from trucks (I guess). Some of these were split open and had spilled bright red-orange seeds all over the road. What variety of palm could this be? What were the seeds, or whatever they were, used for?