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How to raise money? in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #10
I think you should wait until you're old enough to get a real job...and old enough to enjoy some adult fun. If you're an ugly nerd, $3000 = 100 sassy Eastern European girls. That's a better investment than "dating" some overweight Jesus-sucking redneck pig - not everyone is blessed with Swedish blondes. :P
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
POV Ray Graphics in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #8
quote:
Originally written by Andrea:

I find many sorts of games suffer from 3D graphics, especially RPGs. They're busy and they use pixelspace on perspective that should be used on detail.
I think RTS games suffer most, since you really want detailed units that you can recognize very quickly on the battlefield. Chaotic battles where you don't know what's going on on the other flank may be more realistic, but they're not that fun.

Real-time raytracing sounds interesting, we'll see how it evolves.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Googlism in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #7
http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/film/matrix50.html

PVC problems

If you're going into physical combat, do not wear skin-tight black plastic clothes. The chafing will literally draw blood, as we saw when such uniforms were tried by the French Army.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Googlism in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #3
Try "Bill Gates"... *shudders*
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
0.999~ = 1. Prove me wrong. in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #9
quote:
Originally written by Fear Uncertainty and Custer:

There is no mathematical proof for .x~ - .x~ = 0 for this very reason.
.x~ (in the decimal system) is a representation of the rational number x/9. Each rational number has exactly one additive inverse.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Hip Hop culture in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
What's so fascinating about a jailbird bum jumping, twisting and babbling stuff like "yo man when I wuz a broke ass niggah no chicks looked at me, now they're all after my big mofo car yeeeaaah wooow"? Is that music?

More refined cultures have come up with lyrics for people who are not 12 year old boys (intellectually), and they also created something truly fascinating: melody. When you listen to a remake of an older song, the newer version often hacks the original melody into pieces, replacing it with monotonous drum banging and jungle howls and grunts like "AAAuuuOoUuAah". What do you think? :)
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Dancing animals in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #12
That rabbit lecture made me think of some 'alternative' medicine:
http://skepdic.com/urine.html

Some animals dance lambada:
IMAGE(http://www.montegodata.co.uk/Picture/rhino.jpg)

Some other mammals prefer riding bicycles:
IMAGE(http://www.fostertravel.com/webgallerychina/images/china0128.jpg)
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Your daily routine in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #32
Bicycles are evil and very bad for your man-missile. It goes something like this:
soft seat = hard man
hard seat = soft man

The Chinese Communist Party is using bicycles to enforce their One Child policy. Don't let yourself become yet another victim of the conspiracy. Think of the poor rhinos who are close to extinction just because their horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and hence indirectly...because of bicycles.

[ Friday, July 02, 2004 08:58: Message edited by: Alex ]
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Wedding= Off. in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #15
Perhaps she found a guy with a more expensive car... ;)

Nah, some people just can't make up their minds.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Libyan Rough Justice in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #2
Huh? What motive for the crime alleged in this political farce do you see?

Now that you mention GWB...support for the Iraq war has gone up in the country where most of these medical professionals come from.

EDIT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3692963.stm

[ Saturday, May 08, 2004 08:22: Message edited by: Alex ]
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Koala Cull in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #88
quote:
Originally written by Khoth:

quote:
Kangaroo Island tourist operators say a koala cull would severely damage the island's tourist industry.
They should give the tourists guns and let them pay to shoot the koalas.

Yup, if hunting works for keeping the Swedish elks at bay now that the bears and wolves aren't numerous enough, why couldn't it work for koalas?
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Libyan Rough Justice in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
A good Islamic country such as Libya couldn't possibly have an AIDS epidemic; only sinful infidels get AIDS. However, AIDS has become a problem in Libya anyway. The cause, according to the Gaddafi regime, was a plan of CIA and Mossad, who used foreign medical workers to deliberately infect hundreds, if not thousands, of Libyan children. The conspiracy part was dropped, but the criminal investigations continued. Although independent medical experts found no evidence, confessions were obtained using torture. :rolleyes:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/libya/document.do?id=80256DD400782B8480256E8C005BC5C1
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Spiritual Guidance Needed! in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
If a Christian man of good faith uses his Holy Sceptre, hallowed on the eighth day, a total of ten thousand times during his earthly existence, yet only twice for its true Divine Purpose of fathering Crusaders for the Crusade against Babylon called for by Pope Gregorius Bacchus II, will he burn in the fire that does not go extinct? Furthermore, if the number were other than ten thousand, could a mathematical relation be found between the number of abuses and the duration and temperature of the fires his soul must endure, such that a total of five thousand could correspond to what is colloquially known as a barbecue, whereas a total of twenty thousand would result in a flame that is, as they say in the New World, hot as Hell?
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Ethnic Minority Scapegoats in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
Many societies have a lower class that is ethnically different from the middle and upper classes. This is very convenient for bigots, since they can blame most of their country's problems on an inferior, barely human minority.

I have the following conspiracy theory: Whoever pulls the strings behind the scenes has decided that people would feel worse about the status quo if they saw lots of people belonging to their own ethnic community living in abject poverty. Of course, this has happened often in history - in pre-WWII Germany, say. There are other examples where the "scum" was/is actually of "pure" blood, and it seems to make people feel very bad about the ruling class. Basically, I'm saying that the Establishment uses racism to make people worry less about social injustice ("it's their problem, it couldn't happen to me").

Then again, I'm not saying that the minorities are merely vicitms of the majority (or a conspiracy). Why, for instance, do Americans of Asian origin do better than African Americans? They're both pretty alien to WASPs, aren't they? Couldn't it be a matter of culture - one culture that values education, and another that values physical violence? On a side note, I would like to add that Asia has also gained much from meeting the West - cramming the theories of authorities must be complemented with innovation and empiricism.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Over my rather deceased cadaver. Rrrrrrr. in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #10
Oh, don't worry. The Establishment arranges mock elections every few years, so that you can choose the hair colour of their front-end bootlicker. That's democracy. IMAGE(tongue00.gif)
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Byeeeeee in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #22
Your man? I thought it was a woman... Anyway, you're welcome back.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Dungeons and Dragons? in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #4
Check this link:
http://www.exposingsatanism.org/dnd.htm
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Pants of Sorrow in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
In the year 2084, a supersonic passenger jet lands in the area known as Airstrip One. The flight from Sweatshop Three was quick and comfortable. As I make my way through the security checkpoint, I suddenly freeze. An all-too-familiar plastic cartoon mask stares at me from point blank range with expressionless eyes.

”Welcome, Silver Card Consumer Alex. I am your local Global Cartel Micki Mouse Smiling Happy Friendly Private Guard®.”

”Well met, epitome of private sector efficiency in the security business”, I reply with a broad smile.

“Unfortunately, our scanner has showed that your Lev-Eye jeans do not carry an original Airstrip One Region Code”, the giant Micki Mouse head says. “A bit like the DVD region codes in your youth, you see. Clearly, a $10 pair of jeans marketed in Sweatshop Three do not represent the same value as a $100 pair of jeans marketed in Airstrip One - you're not buying cloth, but a license for using the Lev-Eye brand. Didn't you read the EULA? This falls under the new Homeworld Protection Act, which became necessary due to terrorist attacks in Cyberspace, probably originating from Sirius.”

“Yes, now that Mankind has boldly entered...the solar system, inspired by the immortal words of The Great Prophet George W. Bushmeat, we obviously need terrorists from further away”, I mutter. “I understand that free trade is only something that ordinary people – and the remnants of Commie governments – have to put up with; Big Business – blessed be their suits – can impose as many trade restrictions as they like. The jeans are a gift for my grandson, whose steady job – a great luxury nowadays - was downsized during the worst of all of the recent recessions. Come to think of it, the Sweatshop Two factory uses just as much labour and raw materials as the one that was downsized here, it's just that Big Business gets a bigger slice of the cake, and the workers get less. I'd even be so blasphemous as to say that the resources used for demolition, re-building, transportation and higher health care costs due to lowered environmental and safety standards could have been used to increase production at the old site. And who cares that we get fewer solvent consumers?”

“Have you been taking your Happy Pills lately? Do you roam Cyberspace regularly? With MicroSoma JigShield installed, of course. Those nasty thin blackies aren't what you want to see. They could have chosen to have something to eat.”

“I admit that I have been lax in my duties, since my meagre savings are barely enough to pay for essential medication – when I was young, pharmaceutical companies spent twice as much on marketing as on R&D, and I doubt it's less now. I'm only upper middle class, you see, and we don't have those Commie pensions now, do we?”

“I just consulted the eGovernment low-cost court. Since this is your first act of terrorism against property, you get away with a $50000 fine and a downgrade to Bronze Card Consumer. You may not be welcome in some fancy restaurants, and don't expect to get any credit – politics is dangerous, right? If you get caught again, expect a Happy Brain Implant from Love, Inc. The third time, you'll be downsized. Have a nice day!”

----

Copyright 2004 by Alex. All rights reserved. This includes, but is not limited to, the right to sue your ass off and make love to your mother should you dare to copy even a single letter from this text. My lawyer is bigger than yours.
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
What else do you play? in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #12
The only other full games (demos don't count, do they?) I've played recently are Morrowind and Age of Empires 2 (including Conquerors), both on PC.
As for other gaming platforms, I currently only have my cellphone to compare the PC with...

[ Tuesday, January 13, 2004 09:38: Message edited by: Alex ]
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
I'm straight - isn't that COOL? in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
It's time for my outing, coming out or whatever it's called. I'm too scared to tell my friends or family that I'm straight, so I really, really feel the need to tell everyone on the Spiderweb boards that I'm convex, not concave, so to speak. The only thing I regret is that I didn't first write a topic hinting at TEH GRATE SIKRUT to be revealed on this historical day.

It's awfully hip and politically correct to be straight. Or maybe it isn't, but I'm sure Darwin would agree with me that it's certainly a MORE SUCCESSFUL REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGY than letting other males abuse my digestive tract.

Thank you for your attention. :D
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Free Will in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
Lots of people say they believe in free will, but what exactly do they mean?

Does it mean that my mind is completely non-deterministic...that I have a supernatural self-willed soul that has never ever been influenced by any event in the universe? That the probability that I jump forward would be the same whether I had a nice swimming pool or a lava-filled crater in front of me? :) In that case, one could also wonder how this supernatural self-willed soul could interact enough with the mundane deterministic world enough to control my legs, but that's another issue.

Does it mean that there is some seeminlgy random component in our behaviour that will never be accessible to science no matter how much we learn about the human brain? Some people try to hide behind the theories about quantum uncertainty when they talk about free will.

Many people are content with the subjective feeling that they could have acted otherwise (in a parallel universe, perhaps?). Frankly, that's about as useful as the crude joke saying "if my grandma had b*lls, she would have been my gandpa".

Of course, there's no need to be a dogmatic believer in determinism. Some psychologists claim to have "proven" (any psychologist claiming to have proven anything should make you suspicious) that we have no free will (wow!) by means of an experiment where people were asked to press a button arbitrarily. It showed that the central nervous system had already launched the movement when people became aware of the decision to push the button. Of course, this begs the question exactly how they measured this subjective awareness.

[ Tuesday, January 06, 2004 12:29: Message edited by: Alex ]
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
What are some of your favorite movies? in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #22
quote:
Originally written by USA-se Xenerali-boariku CUSITURA:

quote:
Originally written by Dr. Demento:

Alec? The scene you were looking for was in the BEGINNING of the film. :P

I don't watch many movies, but LotR aside, Shawshank was nice. The Godfather movies are obviously in.

I'd doubtless say the same, except I haven't seen the Godfather series, I don't have any particular enthusiasm for LotR (my favorite character got castrated bad), and I did not mean to accuse this topic of waaaaanking. :P

Who got castrated?

MSW, I didn't know The Hobbit was a popular movie... ;)
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
The Matrix in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #0
There is a steady decline in quality in the Matrix trilogy, although each episode has a distinct feel to it; it's not just more of the same.

They killed the character I liked most.

There's one thing that still bugs me - why do the machines need the humans? The 'Duracell' explanation offered by Morpheus in the first episode is extremely lame. Using their body heat?! How can it be more than the energy in the nutrients they feed the humans with, even if they 'recycle' dead humans?! That's just so high-tech...at least they could use their minds as some kind of computational cluster. If humans were only a heat source, the Architect wouldn't sternly say "there may be a different level of survival we are willing to accept" when Neo asked about the destrucion of the humans and its impact on the machines...or wait, did that refer to Zion only? Even more confusing...

Somewhat on-topic - has anyone here read Neuromancer by William Gibson? Cyberspace...the Matrix...but written in 1984.

[ Thursday, November 06, 2003 12:10: Message edited by: Alex ]
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Christianity and the West in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #15
quote:
Originally written by Mab:

quote:
The Greeks adopted many achievements of the oldest developed societies (such as Egypt), and added an emphasis on freedom and science; Christian theology was a huge step backwards.
So, the people who in Athenas (motherland to democracy) and at 399 b.C. condemned Socrates to death because he "perverted the youth" must have been christians... IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Christianity and the West_files/biggrin.gif)

He was framed for political reasons, since he had influential friends who were viewed as traitors.

Kakashi tends to leave every now and then; I suppose he's a very emotional guy. I was only trying to be provocative and funny. IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Christianity and the West_files/smile.gif) If anyone cares, I'm formally Christian as well.

[ Wednesday, October 29, 2003 05:48: Message edited by: Alex ]
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00
Christianity and the West in General
Lifecrafter
Member # 59
Profile #3
The_Nazgul, I don't know how many millions would have died from starvation and constant tribal warfare without the Pax Romana. An example of "noble savages": Until recently, around 80% of Yanomani indian males died in inter-tribe raids.

X, don't forget the Byzantines, either. And the Turks were not like the Arabs, mainly because they came later, when the rest of the world had already moved on.
Of course it's annoying to many, but...Europe sucked for a thousand years because of religious fanaticism.IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Christianity and the West_files/wink.gif)
The Renaissance and the Enlightenment brought us back in the game, and the Church was mainly a nuisance all the time. IMAGE(Spiderweb Software Boards Christianity and the West_files/smile.gif)
Posts: 950 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00

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