Scrivener

The whole time I thought this leak buisness was *gasp* yet another HL2 conspiracy/hoax. When the story cropped up on CNN (a far more reliable source than GameSpot, IGN, or the Weekly World News) I decided to check my sources. Lo and behold, it's actually true! But Valve has been covering up exactly how serious the leak was. There are huge playable chunks of game in there. But this raises another issue, the ATI/NVidia debacle. There's a special mode for Nvidia-based cards, and a generic DX9 mode (For 'everything else', see: ATI). Now here's the funny thing, I'm running on GeForce4 Ti4600 and some of missions I booted up with the 'special' Nvidia Shaders actually ran WORSE... significantly worse, and with dramatic loss of image quality than when I was running in 'normal' DX9 mode. I have a Radeon 9600 as well (generally a slightly slower card than the GFTi4600 - but according to Valve and ATI is supposed to perform about 20% better than the Ti4600) in a near identical computer (Same specs, different Mobo). GF4Ti4600 AMDXP2000 1.5GBPC2100DDR 1280x1024 DX9 Nvidia Shader Mode = 19fps 1280x1024 Dx9 Standard Mode = 25fps RADEON9600 AMDXP2000 1.5GBPC2100DDR 1280x1024 DX9 Standard Mode = 18fps Now I don't have access to any GFFXs or RAD9800s so there could still be some other differences I can't address. But as it stands, Valve's special drivers really just slow down the faster card (Nvidia) to the level of their whore's card, but with lousier image quality. Seems like that conspiracy theory, at least, was true. Or did Nvidia hide tweaks in their drivers for the HL2 leak?

Well, Bubba Ho-Tep was visiting Edward University Irvine, so I took the chance to see it - twice - and meet director Don Cascarelli and actor Bruce Campbell (For the fifth time) while I was at it. If you're even a little bit of a fan Don, Bruce or the Evil Dead films (Or, at least, Army of Darkness) then you'll love Bubba Ho-Tep. For the uninitiated, the movie is about a geriatric Elvis (the REAL Elvis) who is currently eking out a sad, humble, and humuliating existence in a rest home. Apparently he played 'prince and the pauper' with one of his impersonators, who died... thus noone believes his stories about him being the real Elvis. He then teams up with an old black man who thinks he is JFK to solve the mystery of a Mummy in cowboy duds, who is sucking out people's souls through their butts. Elvis finally resolves to make something of himself and give a new purpose to his sad existence by fighting the Mummy with JFK. Sound weird? It's actually a very serious film, most of which is spent dealing with issues of old age, impotence, being unable to care for yourself, being considered a crazy old coot, and feeling bad that your kids never come to visit you any more. You laugh, you cry, and you BELIEVE that Bruce Campbell really IS a depressed geriatric Elvis. A MUST SEE 10/10 Note: Kill Bill opens next week. Like this one, though, serious fans of cinema only need apply.

quote: The government stance has nothing to do with atheism but rather the stance that there are many religions and beliefs and in being fair should not support or show support for one religion over another. Precisely. The idea is for the government to be agnostic rather than atheistic. The current trend is to dissalow all religious ideals (although there tends to be more bias against christian religions than non-christian religions) which puts a damper on not only free speach but also the free flow of ideals... two of the most prime principals on which this country was founded. The fair and reasonable alternative would be for the government to support or at least take a more neutral non-interventionist stance on religion. The implication is that it's just as acceptable for a judge to display a pentagram as it is for him to display the ten commandments. quote: Please do not take this the wrong way but this seems a dangerous stance to take. You may be using it in moderation but do remember that the law does forces ideals on individuals. It tells us it is wrong to steal or murder, for instance, and enforces consequences on those who do not comply by the ideals it has set forth. Yes it does. In some cases this is good in others it is not so good. Theft and murder obviously impinge on the rights of others and so are logically unacceptable. As for legal consequences - by commiting a crime you waive all of your rights and place yourself at the mercy of your peers. As for criminal punishment, the current model is based on revenge/justice. Rather, the emphasis should be placed on protecting the public from that individual and his actions. The goal should not be to punish the criminal but to protect the public. It's an ideal with more subtle implications. For the most part, I look at the world and see so many narrow minds. People who are unwilling to think things through on their own. We are taught to never question authority, that there are only two answers to any question (right and wrong - there are no creative solutions). To expand your mind try some of these things: 1. Take a different route to work/school - one you've never taken. 2. Change the radio station - spend some time listening to something you've long claimed to dislike. 3. Always ask 'why', not to be rude, but out of honest curiosity.

I tend to be far more libertarian than either liberal or conservative. My views are guided by observation, and logical conclusions independantly reached. For the most part, I believe in the sovereignty of the individual. That noone has the right to force an ideal (or anything else for that matter) on another person. If *I* come to a conclusion I accept ALL of the implications. If you are offendable, skip the rest of this post. I don't care what you think your political affiliation is, my ideas can be highly controversial. A very sensitive topic, as an example: Abortion. I believe that a woman has a choice... BUT... that choice is made when she decides to have sex. Life begins with the decision, not just the act. An abortion impedes on the rights of the unborn child. Rape is another matter... the woman had no choice. In this instance (and while I don't like the following implications, I accept it as a fair and absolute conclusion) it is actually the unborn child who is impeding upon the rights of the woman (although not by choice). While in this instance I feel the woman should be encouraged to bear through the pregnancy and offer the child up for adoption (making someone else's life better despite the horrible nature of the situation), should the decision be made to abort, I would find it regrettable, but reasonable. Another huge problem with today's society is that discrimination only works one way... it's become a weapon of hypocrites. You are legally obligated to allow a woman to join Boy Scouts but it is completely unacceptable for a man to join Girl Scouts. If you have it one way, you MUST have it the other. In this way, discrimination is a necessity of fair and just society. If some cops (of various skin colors) rough up an uncooperative black drunk, the white cops were racist and unjust while the black cops were not. The government is not supposed to support any specific religion... so it supports atheism (a religion). Supporting 'no religion' is, in fact, supporting a religion (a set of beliefs). Firing a gay schoolteacher is discriminitory, firing a christian schoolteacher is not. That's Liberalism for you. If you're curious about my stance on anything or would like clarification/elaboration on something, feel free to ask. Rest assured I that would ask you if I saw something *I* disagreed with or didn't understand. [ 09-01-2003, 03:08 AM: Message edited by: Scrivener ]

If you're using WinXP, then just download VDMSound. It works like a dream with every DOS based game.

quote:Charities would be fine if enough people donated enough money to them! And people would be more likely to donate if they had more money, and people would have more money if half of it didn't automatically go to the government. quote: Once upon a time, running costs were so low that galleries could make enough money from donations and other sources to break even. Unfortunately those days are no longer with us. Since art galleries aren't really businesses in the general sense, they have no real way of being able to break even in today's conditions, and therefore need extra funding to remain open. In europe they're still quite popular and, even, profitable. Art has been so discouraged by the government and government-run educational instituitions that not enough people in america CARE enough any more for them to be self-sufficient. The idea that government sponsers them at all astounds me. Government is the reason that such institutions cannot be operated independantly of the government. quote: The difference between taxes and ATM fees is that the people who collect taxes (ie. the government) are representatives of everybody (or at least everybody who voted for them), the people who collect the ATM fees (ie. the bank) are not.Taxes are very often innappropriately used, or used in ways that large chunks of the population may not agree with. IMO, there is no such thing as a representative government, because there will always be a minority who does not agree. ATM fees are merely capitolism at work. quote:No, but AIDS can be countered by funding of programs that increase awareness of it, provide free condoms, etc.Blood transfusion contamination and inheritance (born with it compliments of infected parent) aside, this disease would not and could not spread if people would choose and keep only one sexual partner over the coarse of their lives (widowing remairrages notwithstanding). Sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility is SOLELY responsible for the continuuing spread of the disease. quote: We're talking about Iraq here, right? Well, i think anyone with access to a fair and balanced news source (laughs at FOX), would realise that Iraq wasn't in a position to attack anyone. Intelligence "failures" this big just don't happen - it must've come from the top. Because of that, Tony Blair's in the poop, Jos├® Maria Aznar is in the poop, John Howard is in the poop - the only reason Bush isn't in the poop is the Democrats aren't pursuing the issue (*makes chicken noises*)There were a multitude of reasons for attacking of Iraq. Liberals would have you have believe that there was but one, and it was incorrect. Saddam harboured terrorists, opressed (and even murdered) his people, was a continuing threat to our allies (including Isreal), and had an ongoing weapons development program. quote: Well, would you want an idiot who jumps to the wrong conclusion with his finger on the button? uh, actually... nah, i think you already know itWhat wrong conclusion was that? Were Bush a liberal the same crowd that is slandering him would be applauding him for his bravery and strength. See above, but I restate: "Liberals would have you have believe that there was but one, and it was incorrect." quote: ALL of them?? i don't think anybody genuinely thinks that every last generalisation is false. However, it's extremely hard to make accurate generalisations - if you get it wrong, you're very very out of position and will look really dumb Generalizations are not, and never were, meant as absolute statements. Generalizations are (sometimes metaphorical) statements are USUALLY[/} true - or true for the majority. Ex: "People who drive slow and keep too much empty space in front of them are usually asians or old people." This statement is a generalization because it is usually true... but there are ALWAYS exceptions. Liberals also like to twist words, for example A liberal would quickly twist the above statement into "Old people and asians drive too slow and keep too much space in front of them" and accuse you of being and racist and sexist, when that is an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STATEMENT. quote: Logical judgments are far better than moral ones - emotion should have no role in a judgment since it automatically gives a judgment bias.Moral conclusions are based on logic. However, the liberal does not like the implications of said moral conclusions and so by branding a moral ideal as religious zealotry, a liberal can ignore the logic behind it and invent his own. For instance... (using the aids argument) 'having lots of sex partners is good, so instead of abstinance, we'll just promote 'safe sex' and hand out condoms.' For sooth, the safest sex is none at all. quote: Politicians create the conditions for the economy to work in with their policies, then the entrepreneurs will do their thing - it's about 50:50Conservative politicians create the conditions for the economy to work... liberal politicians serve their own interests... making money and staying in power. Buisness creates economy, when politicians make buisnesses to expensive to turn profit, said buisnesses leave... taking with them the revenue that the government was leeching. It's simple buisness... you can charge more and sell less, or charge less and sell more. If you charge too much, you sell nothing and lose customers... and definately don't win over any new customers. Greed overcomes logic and the bad buisnessman raises prices to gain more profit, but in terms of competition is shooting himself in the foot. That's why California is in such deep stuff right now. quote: It's true in the sense that business try to hire workers for a small a wage as possible - employers don't seem to realise that if a worker is worrying about making ends meet (or has to take a second job), he/she isn't going to be as productive due to physical and emotional stress. Employers also don't seem to realise that providing a good healthcare plan is an investment - workers receiving good healthcare don't need as much time off when they fall ill therefore are more productive and are less likely to inadvertently spread any illness to coworkers.Many buisnessness just can't afford it any more. Due to fees, taxes, and government programs like worker's comp, many buisnesses just can't afford to affer those extra benefits to their employees. It's not always a matter of greed, with our government it has become a matter of survival. quote: I can't speak for everyone, but fish stocks in the North Atlantic have fallen to dangerous levels - fish aren't being given enough time to reproduce and there's a danger they could be completely wiped out.Actually, I completely agree. This is a situation where greed has conquered common sense. In the fish market, companies KNOW that they're fishing fish out of existence... but they don't care. Right now, the popularity of seafood is at an all-time high... especially with the popularity of sushi in North America... and so it's extremely lucrative. Seafood is already very expensive, but if it dosn't exist at all in ten years everyone loses. Part of the problem, too is polution. Oil rigs are relatively clean... in fact, sea life thrives near oil rigs (I hate hearing people say otherwise, as it's absolutely the opposite of true). Most of the damaging polution in the ocean comes from gas-powered boats and toxic runoff from the mainland. In just a few hours of opperation, a boat produces 2x more polutions than an SUV does in a year. quote: Are you saying we should all drive SUVs and pump more fumes into the air? The weather's gone pretty off-kilter in the last few years in parts of the world - cyclical, documented changes in the earth's climate are gradual to the point where they are almost inperceptible - they aren't sudden like the human-induced climate changes Let's just hope the EPA leaks the section of the report on global warming the White House removed This is another liberal lie, but slightly different than you may expect. Environmental changes are NOT slow or imperceivable as many would have you believe. Often, environmental changes are rapid and sometimes violent. Pollution and exposure to UV rays (a result of eating a hole in the ozone) will cause cancer and irreversible genetic damage in humans and animals... but has little to nothing to do with global warming. For all we know, earth's orbit could be slowly degenerating closer to the sun! quote: Nobody's saying they're bad, but a bus put out about as much pollution as two cars, and when full, holds about 50 people, it's like taking 25 cars off the road (assuming nobody's sharing a car) A train will hold about 1,000 people when full, and depending on their power source, produces as much pollution as about 10-25 carsSubways and electrical trains are an ideal means of transportation. Buses, which are stastically NEVER at full capacity (if you consider all buses nationwide), produce an extraordinary ammount of pollution. Pollution actually helps plants thrive, but it's horrible for living creatures. IMO, people need to carpool more often, and drive and take the bus a LOT less. This would decrease traffic congestion AND polution. But as I've already aluded, I'm more concerned with boats than cars. quote: Uh, can somebody give me a pointer on this one? NFC quote: I see where the confusion occurs on this issue Forest fires are a natural occurence, and have happened long before there were humans think of it as like a PC that progressively gets slower (like most PCs nowadays) a forest fire is nature's reset button, and allows new plants to replace the old onesAgreed. quote: Two things: firstly, the environmental point - most OPEC countries are in deserts, so the environmental impact is minimal secondly, not all Moslem nations are like the Taliban (i detect a bit of a racist tone in that quote) - many are democratic and have adopted western values alongside their Islamic traditions (Qatar is a good example)Drilling for oil has very little or no environmental impact on the environment whatsoever. We're not turning forrests into fields of oil wells here... in the case of ocean drilling, the effects are actually POSITIVE rather than negative. The real problems come from ships, especially old decrepit ships that , from time to time, spill oil and destroy entire ecosystems. quote: Most of it is - that's why companies need to be more efficient with their energy usage (besides, efficiency = reduced overheads)Population expansion is a major problem. I don't ever want myself or my decendants to live on a giant city-planet out of Star Wars. We're destroying far too much of the environment for building houses... it's destroying beautiful forest, plains, lakes... either for the wood or space to build new condos. It's wrong. quote: First part - it's true that most rich countries are blessed with lots of exportable natural resources, but i don't think many people would disagree that freedom, opportunity, foresight and work have their part too. Second part - nobody should feel guilty for making a truckload of money - unless they did it illegally, or simply screwed everyone as closely to breaking the law as possible. However, i feel that the rich should pay extra tax since they can afford it and aren't going to have trouble making ends meet (unless they happen to go by the name of Mike Tyson ) On a side note: I believe that entrepreneurs who built up a large fortune instead of inheriting it or gaining it via a windfall should be eligible to a lower rate of taxAgreed, agreed, agreed. But the problem is that the middle class ends up getting the oppressive heavy heel of the government as well. If you are considered any level of middle class in america, you will find that 1) The government will tax you more and 2) The government will help you less. For instance, a middle class family may find it difficult, if not impossible, to send their child(ren) to college, whereas a lower class family will often have no problem - as the government foots the bill due to their lower income. It's actually more difficult to make ends meet at a middle class citizen than a lower class citizen! quote: Doesn't the church preach that too? Depends on the church. quote: One of the advantages the government has, is being better able to see the big picture. Also, the government, since it represents the people, should be able to act in their best interest, if that means sacrifice, then so be it.The government rarely acts in the people's best interests. The government acts in the best interests of those who RUN the government... to ensure that they stay wealthy and in power. The problem with government today is that they never see the big picture, they see interest groups and percentages... focus on popular issues... little pieces of a much, much, much bigger picture. quote: Hmm, sounds like the "liberals don't like freedom" rant - they like freedom just as much as everyone else does goddammit!Yes, liberals do like freedom, so long as their in charge of the status quo. Think about it, who invented the term 'politically incorrect?' Who argues that kids get taught evolution, but nothing else? Who wants to take your money if you like it or not? This all rolls back to the idea that liberals are powermongers and want to control you. Since they're at the top of the food chain, they can enjoy all the 'freedom' they want. quote: Isn't that a bit simplistic? I guess conservatives aren't used to complicated solutions for complicated problems I'd say precisely the same thing about liberals. The issues are always more complex than they like to believe. Liberalism can be a blind religious zealotry more potent than islamic extremism. quote: So taxing the poor IS a bad thing after all?Taxation in general is a bad thing. To some extent, however, it's a necessary evil. But a population should want to support it's government - as when this country was founded. At the moment, the US takes a little more than 50% of a middle class families income when all is said and done. That is WRONG. quote: This situation would never have come about if the corporate-backed right had not blocked attempts to shift away from dependency on fossil fuels Ohhh, sneaky... that is, if you know what you're saying. Corporate america is neither left nor right. They serve their own interests. I think we should be shifting over to alternate power sources like hydrogen fuel cells and electric or kinetic power... but that's (1) Not an immediate switch and during wartime we need oil NOW and (2) Not at all lucrative as everything is in place to harvest & distribute fossil fuels... it's a cash cow... switching costs money and *gasp* we can't have that. quote: Schools aren't private businesses!!And they should be. Buisnesses that don't perform go out of buisness. quote: Hmm, depends on what you're tolerating or not toleratingAnd that's the problem, selective 'tolerance'(and the left does the selecting). quote: Is that your way of saying you want education funding cut, or are you just pissed that so many well-educated people lean to the left, leaving the right with all the hicks who can count the number of days at school on one hand, even if they're missing fingers Another shameless attempt at discrediting an opposing viewpoint. You have just used the 'liberals are smart and conservatives are dumb' and 'you're just jealous' arguments... both of which will get you crucified in a debate class. Calling all conservatives hicks was a sweeping generalization (which I covered earlier) and an invalid argument. In fact, conservatives are generally more highly educated than liberals due to a much higher rate of private schooling. HOWEVER, like all public institutions of education, virtually the entire college and university system leans heavily left. People who are raised in such a system, and told the same story their whole life, are programmed to be liberal and narrow minded... not to think for themselves or question authority. To accept the ideals of party, blindly, and faithfully. Truely intelligent people... free thinkers and philosphers... artists... they tend to be the conservatives. quote: Is that a veiled attack on affirmative action? Well, it's sad that minorities are still disadvantaged - affirmative action attempts to put that right However, i don't believe that universities should have to reach quotas of minority students - i think the affirmative action system can work in a better way than that.Affirmative action is a greater wrong and disservice to society than cross burning. Giving someone an advantage based solely on the color of their skin (or hair, or eyes) is WRONG no matter which way it swings. And yet grants, jobs, etc are given out to less qualified individuals just because they happen to be a woman, black, hispanic, etc. Being a white middle class male has become the most oppressed minority in america. quote: Well, all cultures are precious and should (not must) be preserved - and it's not about the fact we say so, which is just another sleight against the left - as i've said several times, the left cherishes freedom as much as the right I think that people should be free to live any way they choose. If they bind themselves to a particular culture then they can do so. The problem here is forcing that culture onto other people, which, IMO, violates the fundamental rule of freedom... impingeing on someone else's freedom. If I don't like the way someone else chooses to live, I am just as free to feel that way as they are free to act that way. AND I am also free to spread that oppinion at my leisure... but if I am directing my opinion at someone who dosnt want to hear it, I should redirect it... that dosn't mean I have to shut my mouth... just that I not direct it expressly at them. quote: Ha ha! So you have a problem with everyone having a voice? That has absolutely nothing to do with the point. The point (and you knew the point) was that the liberal's idea of diversity is exclusively liberal. quote: Well, the big businesses who fund those studies see them as an investment - and that means they'll make their money back and then some just like when they support a political party or candidate Yup. quote: Well, if you don't like the progression to more liberal values, which stop would you get off on the reverse-progess train then? the days before the Clean Air / Clean Water act? Nearly doubled the cost of gas/fossil fuels. quote: the days before Medicare?When medical care was exponentially more affordable? Now we're at the mercy of greedy HMOs and PPOs who don't like to pay the now super-inflated prices set by other greedy companies who know the other big companies can afford it. quote: the days before the Voting Rights act? That's going back a long way to where the political climate was entirely different than it is today. No modern political party can claim responsibility. quote: the days before the Civil Rights act?See above. quote: the days before the Fair Labor Standards act? See above. quote: the days before Social Security? Are you serious? Social Security is a disaster. First of all, SS is not a living wage, and hardly matters as a suplemental wage. Secondly, there's more people currently drawing off of SS than are paying into it... and more people every day. With the SS depleted by 2030, youn folks like myself are paying a reasonble chunk of their paycheck for a benefit that THEY WILL NEVER SEE. quote: the days of "seperate but equal"?This holds true today. Hence, seperate restrooms for guys and gals. The fact is, that 'seperate but equal' isn't always a bad thing. quote: the days of legal child labor?There's nothing wrong with a kid working to help supplement his families income. If that law extended to the household, chores would be illegal. I can imagine parents being put in jail for making their 12-year-old wash dishes or mow the lawn. Sweat shops and coal mines are one thing, but we've replaced work with school, which dosn't always (in the case of the public school system: hardly ever) help them on the road through life. You may object based off your pre-programmed principals, but if you think about a bit, you'll see that what I say makes sense. quote: Uh, you do know that liberals believe in freedom of speech, right? So long as it's not religious speech or anything else that dosn't agree with their liberal views. quote: that everyone who believes in civil liberties is a big-government liberal (or if we know better, we still don't want the general public to know about libertarians), Liberals aren't so much for civil liberties as much as forcing their views of civil liberties on others, then declaring them 'haters' when they protest or disagree. quote: Yeah? well everyone who supports the Patriot act is a cheap-labor conservative!Huh? The Patriot act gave local and foreign policing agencies more power to locate and dissasemble terrorists at home and abroad. What does that have to do with cheap labor? quote: Who said that? that's the first i've heard of it*shrugs* quote: Hey! that was Robert Mugabe - dictator-pretending-to-be-a-socialist of Zimbabwe (and someone who appears to have a Hitler-moustache from certain angles) Mugabe isn't interested in helping out the poor Zimbabweans, even though he says he does - he is interested in holding onto power using whatever methods needed, and giving his cronies the land that should be going to the poor he is no leftistOh contraire... that is the very definition of a leftist: Hold onto power by whatever means necessary while pretending to care about the poor and the oppressed, but only if doing so protects ones own interests. quote: I think the communist government in China realises that starting World War 3 isn't in their best interest, however, i don't think some hick would realise that shooting his wife/best friend over the last beer wouldn't be in their best interest either China isn't THAT stupid. N Vietname, maybe... but CHina, no. That last bit sounded like another derogratory and slanderous shot at conservatives... except that it dosn't really make sense. quote: Where the hell did that statistic come from? Did the guy just pull that one outta his ass? There is NO way anyone can gather a statistic like that Agreed. But if everyone carried guns, those two Columbine kids would have been down in less than 10 seconds. Theres lots of stupid people out there, but even more smart ones... and ten good guys with guns will win over the one bad guy any day. On the other hand, the bad guys will carry guns anyway, and if the good guys are unarmed... it's an extreme viewpoint, but gun excessive regulation (to a liberal, regulation means 'BAN') is NOT the answer. Buying a gun should be more like buying a car... you should have to meet certain qualifications, background checks, be licensed, etc. quote: I guess that means that restrictions on firearms are working then! Restrictions on firearms have NOTHING to do with child firearm accidents. Hightened awareness has led to parents being much more careful. Preventing parents (or any reasonably intelligent adult) from buying a firearm is unconstitutional, unsafe, and stupid. quote: Well, natural resources ARE finite! anyone with a brain can figure out that oneIn one sense, yes. But matter is neither created or destroyed, only rearranged. So there will always be some type of raw materials to work with. In another 50-100 years we will have finished developing a universal constructor and 'finite' will no longer apply to any resource. quote: *laughs his ass off* Liberals and Communists aren't the same thing! now write that 200 times! Yes, yes they are. If you havn't realized it already, you might want to start seriously looking at your political party. High taxes ( even higher penalties for prosperous people) in addition to big spending = reallocation of wealth = socialism. On top of the whole behavioral control issue... ie, 'you can hang this on a courtroom wall, but not this' quote: Businessmen have only one prority - the bottom line Also, you can't vote out businessmen Government and buisness are very nearly the same thing... and you *can* vote out a buisnessman... you stop doing buisness with him, and his buisness goes under. quote: Damn, even my dead pet rabbit wouldn't swallow that You've already exhibited the trait - 'corporate-backed right had not blocked attempts.' You associate corporate buisness with conservatism... because they have power, sometimes even in politics... and you feel that the government should have unequivocal, unquestionable power. The leftist mindset again... power. quote: do a search on the right's position on Dred Scott v. Sandford and you'll see how much respect they have for the consitution if you can't be bothered - read about the 1984, uh, Patriot act (sorry - couldn't resist!) The Dred Scott case happened in the mid 1800's! In that political climate there were two stances on slavery: for, and against. In fact, President Lincoln was a very conservative man and took the stand against slavery that kick started the Civil War. Therfore, if Lincoln was conservative, and opposed slavery, then it must those of liberal mind that supported it. But no, the truth is that modern left and right can not be correllated directly or indirectly to any of those events, and so the point is absolutely moot. quote: So does that mean the right is pro-dictatorship then? It means exactly the opposite, this is you purposely misquoting and disagreeing with the misquote. It implies that the left plays the public like puppets... and is, therefore, a dictatorial entity. quote: Not everybody on the left is a Socialist - that's like calling everyone on the right a Nazi!We've been over this... but the Nazis were semi-socialist. quote: You guys don't really want smaller government - you just want the social safety net for the poor removed so they're desperate enough to work for peanutsThe majority of conservatives are middle classed. Nearly everyone in the lower class is capable of an oppressed middle class income... but while the liberals are handing out free rides... why on earth would anyone want to? Nothing holds anyone in poverty but lack of ambition. quote: huh?? Ditto. quote: There's that goddam Democrats=Communists comparison again - does anyone really believe that? (i know lots of people WANT to believe it, but that doesn't mean they really do) Because it's absolutely true! Those who believe in social, economic, and, ultimately, individual freedom without opressive presence of Big Brother are called libertarians. It's a group that both the left and right would rather you forget about, and do their best to make it invisible. Look into it, it may open your eyes to years of brainwashing the leftist have done to you. quote: Let me just point out five things: 1 - He presided over the biggest economic expansion in US history 2 - He helped broker peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East (although the latter unfortunately fell apart 3 - He successfully reversed the Reagan/Bush Sr budget deficits and created budget surpluses so big there was talk of paying off the entire national debt in a decade 4 - He is the only president not to send a soldier into battle that never came back - Bush Sr sent the soldiers into Somalia 5 - Clinton's private life was not the business of the entire world - cheating on your wife isn't against the law 1. Economic expansion was already happening when Bush Sr left office. Bama Bill had nothing to do with it. 2. I have a feeling there won't be peace in the Middle East till some serious blood is shed. There's millenia of religious conflicts and inbred hatred over there and it's not going away. Clinton had nothing to do with the peace process in Northern Ireland. In fact, I'm almost offended by suggestion as half my family is Irish. That was an internal matter on religious discrimination and was solved internally. 3. Reagen/Bush deficits? Reagan was one of the most economically successful presidents the US has ever had. Then there's Bama Bill stealing Bush's financial limelight as well. 4. After desert storm thousands of soldiers returned with medical conditions instigated by Iraq's chemical weapons factories. My best friends big brother was in desert storm, and his tear ducts were permanently damaged by fumes from a burning chemical weapons facility. He now has to use an eyedropper every 5 minutes for the rest of his life. Of course you'll never here about that since Clinton's cause was just and the liberal media didn't want to give him any bad publicity. 5. Clinton held a PUBLIC OFFICE. When you enter into a PUBLIC office, the people OWN you. You're life is EVERYONE's buisness. Should he have been impeached for lying about it? No. But it was still stupid and shouldn't have lied to the american people about it. Papers in the UK had a field day for months... even moreso than ours. quote: it's good actions based upon good intentions that are needed!A kid wakes up one morning and decides to make his mommy and daddy breakfast in bed. He gets out some eggs and bread, turns on the stove, tries to scramble some eggs on a paper plate... and burns down the house with his mother and father inside. Good intentions... but he really didn't know what the heck he was doing. Same story here.

I hated the SWG beta with an intense passion reserved for few games. Mostly because it was in such a poor technological state that it hardly functioned on my computer. Now let me explain a few things before I state my shocking conclusion... I've played virtually every MMOG since Ultima Online. That's a helluva lot of bad gameage (Esp EverChat). And of all those MMOGs, I still maintain that Asheron's Call was the best. Many of my reasons were arguble matters of taste... but there's one thing noone can argue with... Asheron's Call had a living, breathing, ever-evolving world. Landscapes would change, volcanoes would erupt, giant floating pillars of death would wreak death and destruction, during the winter it would snow. You could throw snowballs. At Halloween you could collect masks, dress up, and go trick-or-treating if the fancy hit you. To date, it is the only-only-only game that offered such a believable and changing world to play in.... and unlike *some* RPGs, these updates were almost always free. I kept my subscription until Asherons Call 2 was released (Which I promptly returned to the store) and the updates slowed and stopped. 1) Ultima Online - One of the best all-time MMORPGs. When the devs started running out of ideas, the updates started getting a little weird (rideable beetles). 2) EverQuest - The worlds biggest, most expensive chat room. 3) Asheron's Call - Already stated my case. 4) Dark Age - Not much new content, thus no staying power beyond a certain point. RvR gets old. 5) Shadowbane - The entire game is dominated by large guild mafias. Some good ideas and epic battles, but no new content and no fun without friends in high places. 6) Anarchy Online - One of the more diverse and developed online worlds. Anarchy had a lot more staying power than many other games in this group. Alright, the shocker... I really like Galaxies... it incorporates (some would say 'steals') a lot of AO's more successful ideas, but the developers seem intent on making sure the world evolves like Asheron's Call. Power struggles, politics, invasions, and the monthly story update on the status of the world. Each month the story advances (just like AC) taking into account all that has happened in the last month. Darth vader has even been seen wandering around on Tatooine with a small army.... killing anyone who dares address him as anything but 'Lord Vader.' (Try calling anakin, see what happens). Yes, Galaxies can run very poorly if you get feature happy... but the graphic settings are scalable to the point where I can run it on my weak little laptop. Turn down vis, turn off shadows.... turn off bump maps. Etc. IMO, Galaxies comes HIGHLY recommended. Just cancelled my Anarchy online account... Playing on Bria server, Imperial Wookie Artisan. Go by the name Veraxus and usually hang around on Tatooine.

OMG! Pllleeeeaaasseee support Live! Between Steel Battalion LOS and a BC game for XBox, I'd never leave my room!

Yes! Stephen R. Donaldson's 'The Gap' series is also very good. As are his 'Mordant's Need' books. Definately one of my favorite authors. Just finished reading 'Good Omens' by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Great book - but, like Hitchhiker's Guide (Or for that matter anything Adams or Pratchett) not good to read while in class - frequent outbursts of laughter are a dead giveaway. Now working my way through 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. Very, very odd... but thoroughly entertaining so far. Next week I'm going to finally try the new Don Quijote translation by Burton Raffel. Another great book of note is 'Beowulf: A New Verse Translation,' by Seamus Heaney.

I got tricked into seeing this one (albeit for free)... and it's one of the few times I actually agree with the critics. OMG, it's horrible. It tries really hard to be witty but in the end it's really just 90 minutes of 7th-grade level dialogue... most of which dosn't make a bit of sense. Actually, now that I think about it, Gigli might have been hillarious if all the actors were replaced by monkeys. Seriously, remember those monkey skits they used to play on TNN? That would have been great. IMO, Gigli is the worst film since Hi Fidelity. 0/10

quote: ....and expect some big upsetting (depending on how BC gamers take it) news sometime around the end of September (or earlier). Uh oh, I'll bet it has something to do with those bastards at Dreamcatcher. I always felt that those guys were no good.

I just finished the entire series of Thomas Covenant books (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever & The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever) and they were FANTASTIC. Now reading Farseer: The Assassin's Apprentice and it's also very good, though depressing. As in all threads such as this one: "Song of Ice & Fire" (beginning with A Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin is the greatest series of fantasy novels ever written.

I saw this thing on the news last night for the first time. Apparently it works pretty well too. Maybe I'll have to get myself one =) http://store.yahoo.com/greatoffers/truster.html

Lately we've been getting about 1 good adventure game per year. Most of what Dreamcatcher spits out is utter garbage. 1) Longest Journey = Greatest game ever. 2) MYST 3 = Very good adventure from PRESTO (RIP those gods of adventure gaming) 3) Blade Runner = That's a few years old. An absolutely fantastic adventure game, though. And lots of replayability at that. 4) Syberia = IMO, was just blech. It's story was written specifically as an excuse to justify the ridiculous mechanical-based puzzles. One of Dreamcatcher/Adventure Company's better games, but still ultimately lame. Thank God the future of adventure gaming isn't looking so bleak these days. Just a few of the games we can look forward to through 2004: 1) Sam & Max 2 2) Full Throttle 2 3) Runaway 4) The Longest Journey:static With any luck, we'll have an english version of Runaway in the U.S. by the end of August. Aside from TLJs, this is one of the games I'm currently most exited about. Also of special note to fans of a good adventure: 1) Gothic (Available) 2) Arx Fatalis (Available) 3) Gothic 2 (UK Available) 4) Call of Cthulhu (2004) While not traditional adventures (Actually, they're more like light-RPG/Adventures) fans of exploration and puzzle solving will get a great kick out of these offerings. Gothic 2 can sometimes be imported from GoGamer.com or Chipsbits.com. If you can't import it, you can wait another month or so for the US version.

I just got out of a preview of the new movie about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. I'm not really supposed to talk about it but by the time it finally gets released it is going to be one of the most influential films of this century. The whole film is in aramaic without any kind of translation (No subtitles), and it makes you feel like you're *there.* It's very sad and disturbing, and I garauntee noone will walk out with dry eyes.

Of course! Cancel the good, promising games and keep making the crappy ones that never sell! What an absolutely BRILLIANT financial decision. Seriously, CDV needs to stop funding garbage like Grom and Blitzkrieg and put *more* money into projects like Galaxy Andromeda. Why not cancel some of those low-budget XBox titles?

SciFi channel, I love you, but you ruined Galactica! I'm GONNA KILL YOU 8@$t@(^[)s!!!!

In the meantime, I highly suggest you all check out the new Spider-Man animated series on MTV. Tivo (bless its 'art) turned me on to this one and, after getting over the weird 3D animation, I love it. It's definately a lot more edgy and mature than you might expect, hense the prime-time MTV slot.

C'mon guys, it's not like this movie just came out of the blue. Fans have been waiting for this to get the greenlight for years. Yes it will be hokey and it caters to the nostalgic... but it's going to be a fun movie nonetheless. Like Jason X. Stupid, but entertaining. On a similar note, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake is going to be absolute crap. The director apparently toned down the gratuitousness quite a bit to make it more 'Blair Witchy' as he 'opposes violence in the media.' Why the hell is he remaking one of the most disturbing movies of all time, then? At least we have the House of 1000 Corpses Special Edition DVD to look forward to this October.

And now for a cynical opinion from the guy who hates everything: The quick hit is that Pirates dosn't suck. I've really been looking forward to this movie for some time. The fact that I don't feel too dissapointed means that 99% of the population will love it. If that's good enough for you, stop reading now. At some point Pirate's script was obviously meant for an animated film. It stunk all over of Disney cartoon, complete with comic duo cliche and initially tumultuous but always reconciled romance. This fact gives the movie a very confused feel, there were obviously multiple revisions to the script by writers with very different takes on the subject matter. Blood, whores, and merciless massacre is haphazardly combined with your traditional comic relief - goofy undead pirates whose eyeballs keep falling out of their rotting heads (think Rasputin from Anastasia). In conclusion, PotC isn't quite sure if it wants to appeal to the kiddies with it's stupid infantile humor, or the adults with its frightening scenes of near-rape, murder, and undeath. When mixed together they ruin what would otherwise have been a fantastic piece of filmaking. Final score: 6/10

In addendum to my earlier gripes, considering the exorbitant monthly rate, I'd take my Tivo subscription over Galaxies any day. Not much of a chance of my even trying it again at this point. Maybe in 12 months... when they're giving away free Galaxies discs... and I don't have anything better to do... then I might give it another chance.

It looks like some kind of giant Jellyfish. Maybe it had a thyroid problem? That's where I'd put my money.

It'll probably take me a week to finally make up my mind on T3. I think it's got to hold some kind of record for the most car explosions in a single movie, though. There was a LOT less philosophy and depth in this one than either T1 or T2... plus it suffers from NSS (Nostalgic Sequel Syndrom) - a problem that has sunk such movies as Jurassic Park 2 & 3, and Men in Black 2, but to a much lesser degree. Self-deprication abounds as this installment doesn't even make a feeble attempt to be as serious as the last two films. One liners like "She'll be back" and "Talk to the hand" abound. T3 also relied extensively on CGI to achieve most of it's effects... James Cameron is on the record as saying that he would'nt have used CGI for T2 if he didn't absolutely have to, unfortunately Cameron wouldn't touch this project. That means none of that o-so-authentic footage that Cameron films are renowned for. The new director went George Lucas-CGI-happy (Translation: The creative and artistic style that made movies like T, T2, and the Abyss so memorable has been replaced by the "Hey, since digital explosions are so cheap... we can blow EVERYTHING up!" state of mind). Seriously, I don't think there's a vehicle in the movie that dosn't go mushroom cloud at some point. For instance (No spoilers), the bad Terminator may plow the wall in a big truck... so Arnold will plow the wall with an even BIGGER truck (And always follow up with a half-recycled Arnold one-liner)! If a mindless action flick is what you want, this is the ultimate mindless action flick. We've got nekid female Terminators, Arnold Shwarzenegger, plenty of car chases, lots of gunfights, campy one-liners a-plenty, and more explosions than all the Bond movies past, present, and future... combined. IMHO, T3 falls into the same mindless category as Charlies Angels 2... but with (arguably) less ass. Score 5/10

Actually, as cynical as I am, I'd agree with pretty much everything said in the Guru review. SWG Galaxies is, essentially, where Anarchy Online was during it's first stage of Beta. That's really how bad it is. Maybe in 6 months to a year it will be almost playable... SWG is the biggest disaster in the history of MMOGs.

OMFG. In a word, amazing. It's not an action movie by any means, most of the story is about relationships and how Banner & co deal with the strange issues they're presented with. It's actually kind of sad but I found myself digging my fingernails into the arm of the seat on numerous occassions. The editing is VERY comic-like. Cuts will sometimes pull back far enough to show the pages of a comic book, with real video in place of normal comic cells. The whole move was treated with great love and respect to the source material, and the whole thing felt REAL. Blows Spiderman and X-Men clean outa the water. It'll probably be one of the best movies out this year. 9.5/10