Profile for Slarty
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Slarty |
| Member number | 261 |
| Title | Raven v. Writing Desk |
| Postcount | 3560 |
| Homepage | http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/slartyvsdesk/ |
| Registered | Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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| Best Bad Guy in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 19:25
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I'll vote for: - Thanos of Titan, particularly for his role in the Infinity Gauntlet saga. - The woman whose name I forget (heh) in the last part of The Neverending Story. - Glory, in season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. - Dr. Claw! How could I forget Dr. Claw. [ Thursday, May 04, 2006 19:30: Message edited by: Djuran Orb v. Arancaytog ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Avernum V in Avernum 4 | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 16:22
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Well, Infernal used to have "666" in her name ;) -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| If You Were President... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 16:20
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Even when quotas are gone, "soft" affirmative action may well result in choosing a less-qualified candidate, even if the difference is slight. (Perfect example, Kel: remember my comment about a certain English dep't in that chat the other night?) -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Question 3: Disease in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 15:11
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So, do you want us to answer for right now, or for in a couple of decades when we are all basking in tropical diseases thanks to global warming? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| If You Were President... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 14:00
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I would definitely support an income-based affirmative action policy. The problem, though, is that money is not the only factor that correlates at greater than zero, and that is involved in awful marginalization and exploitation. Perhaps it is as useful a heuristic metric as race is, though. I'm not sure -- I need to give that some more thought. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| If You Were President... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 12:45
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See PoD person's post, Infernal, which provides what seems to me to be a very good explanation for that discrepancy. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| If You Were President... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 11:58
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EDIT: While I wrote this, PoD person wrote something that is frankly just smarter than what I wrote. Oh well :) quote:Ah, this is where we disagree: I think we are using the term "racism" or "effects of racism" differently. When I talk about combatting the effects of racism, I mean fighting two categories of things: 1) effects of here and now racism, like job or housing discrimination 2) pervasive effects of past racism on a large scale, like economic, social, psychological, geographic, educational, and political (etc) marginalization Now, the second category certainly applies to Asians as well as blacks (and a host of other groups, some of whom are white). But that whole transcontinental transplantation + centuries of enslavement thing is a bit of a trump card. I'm not advocating special treatment for people based on what was done to their ancestors -- I think that's ridiculous. But if those acts in the far past have consequences that reach to the present day and affect the descendants, we need to recognize it. Yes, it's possible to go rags-to-riches in America, and it's possible to go riches-to-rags as well. But the fact is that people who have more money have a greater than 0 correlation of their kids ending up with more money. The same thing is true if you replace either instance of "money" with "education" or "social status," etc. Thank god, we do have some socioeconomic fluidity in this country, so over time these effects gradually fade. The status of African Americans today is almost incomparably better than it was 200 years ago. But the average black is still significantly poorer than the average white. The average black man is significantly more likely to have spent time in prison, too. These statistical differences are way too consistent to be random fluctuations. Very simply put, they are the result of centuries of slavery followed by centuries of racism. In fact, much of the reason things have changed is due to efforts such as affirmative action that attempt, crudely, to tip the scales back in favor of a group that has had the scales tipped away from it for a much longer time. It is not the only way to do things, and there are certainly rational arguments against it. In fact I agree with most of them. But in the end I have to use a practical measuring stick. I have to ask: is it more unfair to tip the scales like this, or not to tip them? And however crude a restorative it may be, I would rather tip them back. quote:Yes, I've certainly thought about that. I'll even admit that when I was 11 or 12, my own thinking was influenced in just the way you describe. I think it's a good argument. But as you yourself note, that "isn't the case right now." In my estimate, this kind of collateral damage is less critical than helping the people in the gutters up. (Yeah, yeah, I know that's a stupidly emotional and somewhat distorted expression to use, but you know what I mean.) quote:I'm out school now, but YES. I absolutely would have. The fact is that, despite all the propaganda put out by the Ivies and other top schools, people who go those elite institutions do not get better educations than people who spend two years at community college and then transfer to a public university. Indeed, I hear more complaints about bad professors from people who did the former; the dominant "publish or perish" way of life tends to prevent big name schools from having too high a proportion of career teachers, despite their earnest efforts to the contrary. You don't have to be a genius in your field to be a good teacher; and many aren't. (The one area that legitimately distinguishes top schools, academically, is minute specialties. That really only matters for non-professional grad school, and admissions for that is a beast of a different color.) What you DO get out of attending a big name school are 1) a load of networking connections helpful in career-building, and 2) the use of the big name school's big name In other words, things that do not actually forward your education or increase your raw capabilities as a human being, but which simply make other people think more of you. Therefore, I think it's a perfectly fair trade-off for the effects of racism, which similarly ruins circumstances but does not actually decrease raw human potential. Things are a little bit different at lower tier schools, but since there is less competition for spots the lower you look, that's less of an issue. Affirmative action in the workplace is also a different issue and is a little more complicated, I think. [ Thursday, May 04, 2006 12:02: Message edited by: Ornkithopter v. Thurkyl's Recall ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Doors in The Exile Trilogy | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 09:46
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In Exile, though, it's rather significant, since the minimum armor damage stacks. It's a whole lot better to wear six pieces of armor that protect from 1-1 damage, than one piece that protects from 1-10. Also, don't forget that in E1 and E2, nobody wore pants. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| If You Were President... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 08:22
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Wow, what a firetrap of a thread. I'm going to stay out of most of this because most of it will either be preaching to the choir or yelling at people whose ears are plugged. A few points: quote:Sometimes racism is blunt and easy to spot (hate speech), sometimes it is a little harder to spot (racial favoritism with jobs or housing), and sometimes it is quite subtle but nonetheless destructive (unexpressed social attitudes). I grew up in the Bay Area, and while it may be an extremely liberal area, and it may be less racist than many places, there is absolutely quiet racism there. Walk up to ANY bay area high school during lunch, find a group of Asian kids with no white kids around, and ask them if they feel accepted by their white peers. Now go ask their white peers if they feel like the first clique excludes them. This is a consistent pattern. Now we have enough anti-racist programming in schools that I don't think this is a serious problem; most of these kids actively want to not be racist, and that's enough for me. But it goes beyond the kids. Compare the schools in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. Ask anyone who lives in a mansion in Hillsborough what they'd do if a black man knocked on their door. A lot of people would give enlightened answers. But some wouldn't. quote:Short answer: not anymore. They once were, but labor unions are a relatively small player in politics these days. quote:I agree with everything TM has said about Affirmative Action, and I've had similar experiences myself, being the one white kid sticking up for it. However, let's be clear: Affirmative Action IS discrimination. It's just that it is by FAR the lesser evil, compared to allowing the effects of racism to persist without an attempt at making things better. I would never claim that it is right. It is simply less wrong. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| US and Sudan in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 07:57
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He just thinks he doesn't have any identity. It's there. *nods sagely* -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 4 2006 04:38
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Yeah, but their resistance doesn't come from the fact that they are leaders. (Perhaps it is not an accident that serviles with resistance to shaper charm tend to be smart and strong and are likely leaders, but that's a different question.) As for being bizarrely smart and strong and being able to learn things and increase in skill at a truly incomprehensible rate -- well, that seems to be a given, regardless of race. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 22:41
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DV, that's simply not the way the shaper forcefulness ("leadership") has worked in previous Geneforges. Yes, it works wonders on meek, obeissant serviles. But it works nearly as well on meek, obeissant non-shaper humans. I don't remember it being very effective on even the random serviles in Kazg. And servile leaders among the Awakened and the Takers in 1 and 2 aren't one whit more vulnerable to it than shapers are. Neither can be at all commanded, both get mildly better but usually inconsequential new dialog options with high leadership skill. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Things that bug me about A4 in Avernum 4 | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 22:35
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quote:Quoted for intelligence. This is a really good solution. It allows strength to still matter, while getting rid of the annoying "I need to make four trips to loot the giant fort" syndrome. One of Jeff's goals, with most of the positive changes in A4, was to reduce waste of time and annoyance factor. In some ways, this succeeded. Changing encumbrance to focus on equipment worn would be a great way to keep on doing that. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Yom HaShoa in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 22:28
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quote:*facepalm facepalm facepalm facepalm facepalm facepalm facepalm facepalm facepalm* -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| US and Sudan in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 22:26
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Identity transplant? Don't you mean implant? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 12:03
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quote:That makes sense. It suddenly occurs to me that if only you threw in a lot of words like "agathism" and "postmodernism" into Geneforge alongside all of that philosophizing about the nature of existence, the games would read a lot like a Terror's Martyr scenario. ;) *stifled laughter* Edit: Vlish, this is Geneforge, there is no time-based expiration on the HP buffs. Also, I think that at least one of them gives a set HP bonus (though I may be thinking of A4 here myself) which would, of course, seem like a much bigger bonus to an agent. [ Wednesday, May 03, 2006 12:06: Message edited by: Ornkithopter v. Thurkyl's Recall ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 10:36
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I thought I remembered the HP buffs (possibly just one of them) having an effect proportional to the amount of HP you have. Thus, guardians would benefit from it significantly more than agents. However, it may have been proportional to level or endurance but not actual HP value, in which case there is no real guardian bonus. I may be misremembering, though. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Few Advance Notes On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 03:39
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I still want to see an Ornkithopter. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| If You Were President... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 02:17
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Oh look, it's a site that's a bigger waste of time than inane forums. ^_^ And Aran, isn't that always the case? When exactly has the international stage ever looked heartening rather than depressing? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| US and Sudan in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 3 2006 00:35
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The Israelis and the Palestinians have both suffered abuse. I think it's fair to say that they both feel like they're in desperate positions. I'm inclined to agree with Zeviz that fighting over whose position is more desperate is pretty pointless. I think it's completely understandable that most Israelis think they are morally in the right. Most Palestinians think they're morally in the right, too. Is that because they have a warped sense of morality, and they're evil? No, it's because they have experienced vastly different pieces of the same conflict. Their analyses of what has gone interpret the same things in vastly different ways. Zeviz is right that the truth isn't subjective. In most conflicts like this, both sides end up unintentionally distorting the truth. It would be absurd to suggest that no Palestinians have ever done anything wrong in this conflict. It would be equally absurd to suggest the same thing of the Israelis. But when you feel set upon, obviously you are going to focus more on the ways you have been wronged, than on things you might have done wrong. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Games in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 2 2006 21:19
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There have been multiple conversations about EV: Novah... since I've been here. So, yeah, it seems to be popular. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Music: a legitimate poll in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 2 2006 18:27
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For the people who put Other, I am kinda curious what your preferred genres are. I am guessing we have at least one vote for Hindustani music. What else? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 2 2006 17:22
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quote:This will never happen. Why do I say that? Jeff has always insisted on making every spell or ability potentially accessible to every character. When he implemented classes in G1 -- a first for him -- he still made sure that every class could use every skill. (Exception: there were a handful of spells that the Romans couldn't use in Nethergate. However, playing as Romans or as Celts were basically two entirely different scenarios, so I'm not sure I would count this.) -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Music: a legitimate poll in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 2 2006 16:54
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I didn't mean to imply that there is no variety in Christian Rock (or Christian music in general). My point was that Christian Rock has more unifying elements than certain other styles, so if Fatman is attacking the use of those labels, he would do better to attack another one. Art Rock, for example, encompasses both Tortoise and Sonic Youth, and I'm hard pressed to come up with anything they have in common, aside maybe from being innovative. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Music: a legitimate poll in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 2 2006 07:34
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From Wikipedia: Many of the games made for the Nintendo Entertainment System and other early game systems featured a similar style of music which may come closest to being described as the "video game genre" in terms of musical composition, as opposed to simply "video game music" for being in a video game or being played on a video game console. Some compositional features of this genre continue to influence certain music today, though, game soundtracks currently tend to emulate movie soundtracks more-so than this classic genre. This genre's compositional elements may have developed due to technological restraints. Features of this genre include: Songs almost always have main sections or "verse sections" consisting of chord progressions of four or more chords (similar to much of J-Pop and 1980's Western Pop), as opposed to the two chord progressions found in most Western Pop verses. The "chorus" of the songs also often contain four or more different chords in their chord progressions. Often many songs feature a chord progression which is extremely popular in J-Pop, which (in the key of c) could be given as: F minor, C minor, G major, C minor, with C major quickly inserted before the series repeats again. Overall, there would be generally a higher number of sections of a song than a comparable pop song, as this helps to reduce the repetitive aspect of the music, which was generally played as a continuous loop. This also sets it apart from even J-Pop music or most other forms of popular music. Songs feature a heavy amount of synchronization between instruments, in a way that would be difficult for a human to play. For example, although the tones featured in NES music can be thought of emulating a traditional four piece rock band (triangle wave used as a bass, two pulse waves analogous to two guitars, and an affected white noise channel used for drums), and although video game music was influenced by rock or pop music at the time, composers would often go out of their way to compose complex and rapid sequences of notes. That has been compared to music composition during the baroque period, where it is believed that composers compensated for instruments such as the harpsichord (which do not allow for musical expression based on the volume of the sound) by focusing more on musical embellishments. Composers were also limited in terms of polyphony, or the amount of notes that can be played at once. Only three notes can be played at once on the Nintendo Entertainment System. A great deal of effort was put into creating the illusion that more notes are playing. As of the late 1990s, musical groups covering these melodies have sprung up. One such group is The Minibosses, who attempt to emulate these melodies as closely as possible using real instruments. Another such group is The NESkimos, who opt to explore these songs artistically, and create entirely new songs out of them. The bassline of a large percentage of tunes during the 8-bit period consisted of notes played in the rhythm of a quarter note followed immediately by two eighth notes on most beats. The particular note played would often be the root of the chord. --- If it needs further justification, a number of related, entirely performance-based musical styles have sprung up, with names such as Bitpop, Chip Music, Picopop, Gamewave, etc. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |