Profile for cfgauss
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | cfgauss |
| Member number | 4590 |
| Title | Warrior |
| Postcount | 103 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| Wha?! in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Wednesday, May 18 2005 23:15
Profile
PDFs can handle pictures and non-standard fonts and everything pretty well. They seem to work well for a lot of the physics/math/astronomy papers/lectures I look at. Looking at that kind of stuff in other formats (at least the ones not made for scientific stuff) can be problematic. Though I don't know what kind of advantage that is to normal writing! [ Wednesday, May 18, 2005 23:16: Message edited by: cfgauss ] -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Capitalism ho! in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Wednesday, May 18 2005 22:33
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quote:I hope so. [ Wednesday, May 18, 2005 22:33: Message edited by: cfgauss ] -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Capitalism ho! in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Wednesday, May 18 2005 21:49
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quote: quote:$10,000? No one I know in college has that much money! Less by a factor of 10 at least! In fact, I believe most of us actually have less than no money. quote:Uhm... I think by definition it's not... -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Accident! Eagle, in pain! in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Monday, May 16 2005 05:52
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I am not an optimist. I have also never broken any of my precious bones! Nor become seriously injured, except for falling once when I was very little and needing stitches. I am a physicist, though, and I can tell you there's not a chance in hell you'll see me going that fast on a bike unless I'm wearing a specially made suit of armor to protect me! -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Accident! Eagle, in pain! in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Sunday, May 15 2005 20:49
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30 kph = 18.6 mph Here in Seattle I see people going 30 mph (= 48.2 kph) all the time. I've also seen them about this (' ') close to being killed by cars all the time, too. Also, remember when you're riding a bike, that red lights mean stop, and stop signs mean stop, when you ignore them, you get splattered by the bus going through the intersection who couldn't stop in time. And your helmet is not going to protect you from that! -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Quick question about a game (AoE II) in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Friday, May 13 2005 23:58
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RoN could have been really good, but it kinda sucked. I think I played it like twice after I bought it. This goes along with my feeling that for every game I buy, I should get like 15 others for free, because so many games end up sucking. If you want a *real* game, play Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross (the latter is for SNES, you can get it off the internet and play on an emulator). These have to be my favorite games ever. If you want ones actually made for computers, play the Monkey Island games, my gods they are awesome! Though niether of those are RTSes. AoE actually wasn't that bad. I liked it, though I never got all that great at it. I played it with my high school calculus teacher and he kicked my ass at it every time! AoM was pretty fun, too, but IIRC the computer cheats like a son of a bastard outside of the campaign. Sadly, this is something most computer games to now-a-days. How I long for the days of the first Command and Conquer, and Red Alert! Giant ants and dinosaurs! It was crazy, I tell you! -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Recommended Reading in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Thursday, May 12 2005 19:12
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If you like sci-fi, "Ender's Game" and "A Mote in God's Eye" are both really good books. Edit: Ooh, I can't forget to mention the books about the video game Halo! If you've played Halo, there are three books that are really good that everyone should read! [ Thursday, May 12, 2005 19:13: Message edited by: cfgauss ] -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| The single most annoying part of (Spidweb) RPGs in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Monday, May 9 2005 22:50
Profile
quote:Unless they learn that they can set things on the ground for a minute... -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| From AOL News 2 in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Monday, May 9 2005 16:04
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quote:Also a great way to get lunch, evidently. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| The Reanimation in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Monday, May 9 2005 06:10
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quote:Haha, what a great lack of tact! Cracked me up. Makes my tired, annoyed morning a little bit better! quote:Shortly after death the lack of blood to your brain causes connections in it to start to break down, causing severe (well, you *are* dead at this point...) brain damage. So even if you could "revive" someone, after too much longer than a few minutes there wouldn't be much left to revive. That's part of the reason we can have people who are "alive," but braindead, and will never really "wake up." -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Sunday, May 8 2005 15:41
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The needeler is cool, I've always liked it. It can be useful for taking out elites who are hiding up somewhere where you can't get to. I liked the fuel rod gun, too, it's pretty cool. HaloPC has a flamethrower you can use in multiplayer that's pretty cool as well. The pistol is pretty bad-ass, though, but not against the flood. Otherwise it's like a mini-sniper rifle death-machine. Halo 2's pistol isn't as great, but I haven't really used it that much. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Saturday, May 7 2005 14:22
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You don't have to read the books to understand anything mentioned in the game. There's nothing the games specificaly reference that's in the books but not the game (that is, what it does reference you don't usually notice until you know it's there). The books only expand on the game, and fill in the details. Bungie did a good job of making the games completely self-contained so that people who have not read the books won't feel confused as to what's going on. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Saturday, May 7 2005 13:04
Profile
You don't *have* to read the books to understand the game, they just elaborate on it. You're more than able to play through the game without any idea of what's going on. And there were pleny of other console FPS games before it, off the top of my head, they had Doom and Quake for N64 a long time ago, as well as Turok, Perfect Dark, some other james bond one I can't remember at the moment, and a few others. They had a bunch for the playstation, too, Syphon Filter, Resident Evil, etc, etc. Halo was hardly the first console FPS. It wasn't even the first good console FPS. And in no other game have I heard my enemy talk about his grunty thirst, and how he can't wait to get back to the food nipple on the ship :) . And yes, yes, GTA is great even though it doesn't have a plot! The big doors are presumably for badass mech-like things that can kick a whole lot more as than you can in measly armor. [ Saturday, May 07, 2005 13:06: Message edited by: cfgauss ] -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Friday, May 6 2005 23:00
Profile
They weren't too bad, actually. They were better than I expected, and actually have a lot of information in them, enough that you have to read them carefuly to get subtle things. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| From AOL News in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Friday, May 6 2005 19:44
Profile
From my understanding of it, it's thought that genetically you can have a predisposition for it, but it isn't absolutely determined by genes. So genetic and enviornmental factors are probably both important. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Friday, May 6 2005 19:20
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I've played half-life and never wondered any of those things before, but I can't exactly use that as proof that the game sucks, can I? And it's sort of a Biblical reference. But not quite. And does half life have three books written about it? I didn't think so :P . And Halo 2 broke sales records before it was even released! Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha. But if you want to complain about a game, complain about Doom 3: Boiler Room Simulator. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| The single most annoying part of (Spidweb) RPGs in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Thursday, May 5 2005 15:46
Profile
What's wrong with carrying a wheelbarrow or wagon or something out of a dungeon filled with loot? It seems to me like that'd be the obvious thing to do. Or send someone back to a town to hire a guy with a horse and cart to come bring everyting back to town to sell! Or just to make it easy, a spell to turn stuff to gold would do fine. You can't tell me the great X in the tower of Magi can't come up with a spell so simple as that! I also don't like being encumbered based on how much I'm carrying (as opposed to how much I have on me, as in armor, boots, etc). It seems to me, that if someone starts attacking me, I'm going to set my bag full of extra plates of armor and swords down instead of carrying it with me. Then again, maybe I could just hit the attacker with the bag... -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Thursday, May 5 2005 15:35
Profile
If you think the plot sucks, you haven't been paying attention! I mean, the game, like any other FPS is made so you don't have to pay any attention to the plot, and can just randomly go through it without paying any attention to it, but that doesn't have anything to do with the plot being bad. I suggest you play through it again and pay attention to the plot this time. You also get a lot more out of it reading the books, too. After you read the books it's good to play through again, because you understand a lot more of what's going on that isn't necessary for the in-game plot, but is still hinted to in the game. Notice the little details. These things aren't answered directly in game, but some can be inferred from it. Why is there a yellow (yellow armor = high ranking = ship/fleet master) elite standing behind the door in Silent Cartographer? Why are there very big doors in the library? How did the Pillar of Autumn find Halo? It wasn't an accident... Why is Covenant technology so much like stuff you find on Halo? Covenant, Flood, Halo, see the pattern here? Though it's not known how far this pattern goes. I could go on and on, and on and on... but there are already pages and pages and pages and pages of information about the plot, in various levels of detail. There is one page that had a very detailed and absolutely massive encyclopedia of everything known in the story, but I can't find it at the moment. There are also easily as many pages speculating about parts of the story that are only hinted at in the game. Though most of those people don't know what they're talking about, some of it is not that bad. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Halo in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Thursday, May 5 2005 06:09
Profile
Halo is awesome! Halo 2 is pretty cool, too. I also really like the story, and really, what other FPS has a real story to it? Most of them are just generic demons from hell, random aliens, etc. You should definately read the books if you can, too. I liked them. They aren't the most well-written things ever (numerous typos, and some grammar-os...), but for books about an FPS, they're really good! Lots of weird stuff going on that they only hint to. Bungie even has a whole (very secret) "Halo Bible" with all kinds of plot stuff in it that's only hinted to in the game and books. If you're interested, try googling for "the cortana letters" and "ilovebees" to find out more cool stuff about it. Also, check out the (old) Marathon series by Bungie, there are a lot of paralells between the games. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| The single most annoying part of (Spidweb) RPGs in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Wednesday, May 4 2005 06:00
Profile
I have a problem with carrying too much stuff, too. I mean, who knows when you're going to need that cool thing you just picked up? Particularly in the beginning, and when you need money. You should at least be able to buy a backpack or something that increases how much you can carry. But what I actually find more of a problem with limiting the number of items, and not so much with the weight. I end up with things like spellcasters who are carrying hardly anything weight wise, but can't actually carry another scroll or wand or potion because they have too many things. That can make things annoying sometimes. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| cresent valley cooter in Blades of Avernum | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Tuesday, May 3 2005 06:02
Profile
You can actually do it with more than just them in Fallout 2 if your stats are high enough, or if you're a woman. God I love those games. Especially the dialog. I love to introduce myself to strangers by proclaiming that I am the Chosen One! -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| Combat in Canopy Poll in Blades of Avernum | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Monday, May 2 2005 22:25
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I liked Canopy's combat, but I think it can be fun to play through with a way too high level party sometimes, just to be able to see everything in a scenerio, or to go through just to see the story, or to get to some part of it quickly to check something out or something. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| picking a job in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Sunday, May 1 2005 13:38
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As a math and physics major, I say math and physics! Physics is a fairly broad area, too, so you have a lot of options in what you can do. Personally, I like relativity and quantum mechanics a lot, and plan to work on things along those lines, including quantum gravity/string theory. You don't have to do things that are that involved and theoretical to be a physics major, though, there are plenty of experimental fields that are good, too. If you end up finding physics too hard, though, it's easy to go to engineering from there. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| cresent valley cooter in Blades of Avernum | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Saturday, April 30 2005 21:29
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Adult?! Clearly none of you have played the classic Fallout, or Fallout 2! -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |
| The Universe in General | |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Sunday, April 10 2005 21:14
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We know there's no (significant) antimatter in the universe. There're various ways we know this, the most obvious being that we don't see huge bursts of radiation caused by clumps of matter interacting with clumps of anti-matter. There are also other ways, such as the isotropy of the cosmic background radiation, that indicate there is no anti-matter, too. There are other things that tell us this, too. Any anti-matter found in the universe would be created by recent (that is to say, not from the big bang) processes, like radioactive decay, and won't be found in large (as in, bigger than small collections of molecules) quantities. [ Sunday, April 10, 2005 21:15: Message edited by: cfgauss ] -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |