Steve Schacher

quote:but at least I didn't pay Don't fool yourself. You meant that at least you didn't pay more. You've been paying all year.

quote:America has been created to generate profits. I thought America was created to allow each individual to rise to his/her own potential. quote:But since the 'great experiment' has failed... I thought the American Constitution was the Great Experiment. quote:The primary reason that the Federal Reserve was created was to CONTROL money. The Federal Reserve is a Private organization that has almost complete control over the American GNP. This was created so that investors could charge an interest on monies loaned to the federal government. Monies generated through TAXES. The Federal Reserve sets the minimum amount of holdings that a bank must reserve from deposits. This is usually around 20%. These holdings are deposited into the Federal Reserve Bank, a "banker's bank." This means that for every $1 that you deposit, the bank must keep 20 cents and can loan the other 80 cents. Now, if a borrower takes that 80 cents and deposits it back into the bank, the bank must keep 16 cents and can loan the remaining 64 cents, and so on and on. In other words, each $1 deposited can generate an additional $5 in loans ($1 divided by 20%). This is the money multiplier. The Federal Reserve also sets the discount rate for interest from loans. This is money that the borrower pays to borrow the money. The interest income you receive from your deposits is what the bank pays you for the right to loan your money to others. The difference between these rates is profit for the bank. Higher loan interests rates means that money paid by borrowers is taken out of circulation and is not available for spending. This is how the Fed controls the money supply. Here is some information on the Federal Reserve from the Information Please Almanac: http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/bus/A0818388.html quote:If you notice, most liberals scream about rights and freedoms, but if you don't agree with their view-points, they want you banned. Free-speach ONLY if you agree! AND, additionally, ALL liberals are interested in TAXES! They want MORE taxes! More government spending, more reallocation of wealth. Hear! Hear! No arguments here. quote:(which amounts to MORE government loans from the FED, which means more PROFITS from interest rates.) I believe that this comes from general taxation, not the Federal Reserve. quote:In order to CREATE profits, you MUST have a poplace that has a 'disposable' income. In order to have a populace with a 'disposable' income, you must create JOBS in which they may earn that income. I think you miss the mark here. The profits are created. They are just being stolen through excess taxation. You can increase disposable income simply by lowering the tax rates. quote:You cannot sell weapons if there ARE NO WARS. This is why the latino, the asian, and black counties have not been developed. They maintain a curtain of WAR in which the arms-trade can exist. What do you call the tribal slaughtering in Africa? What do you call the rebel uprisings in Indonesia and the Phillipines? How about the Chinese taking of Tibet and the Falun Gong? North Korea? India vs. Pakistan? The Nicaraguans and the Contras (okay, that was the 70's and 80's)? There are plenty of wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America. I don't think it's the arms trade that is the largest source of government income. It is taxes. Take a serious look at the taxes we pay: Federal income tax, State income tax, payroll tax, sales tax (state and city), gasoline tax, property tax, phone tax, probably some utility tax, tolls, airport departure/landing fees, park fees, etc. When you add it all up, you are talking about a serious percentage of your income.

If you want to try your hand at geopolitics in the nuclear age, try Balance Of Power - 1990 Edition by Chris Crawford, available at www.theunderdogs.org. See if you can go two terms as the US president without blowing up the world. I loved this game. I still play it occasionally when my brain doesn't hurt enough. [ 04-13-2001: Message edited by: Steve Schacher ]

In the past, repeat hackers have been given creative sentences from judges like barring them from using computers for X number of years (as a condition of parole). Something like that would make an effective sentence for this kid. If he violates that, then harsher sentences would kick in (as it would be considered a parole violation).

Yeah... that's what I meant.

Charles is right. Denial of service attacks are being taken very seriously by corporate America these days. It is part of a larger issue that we are now calling Information Protection. My company has made it the number one I/T priority. The other problem with this kid is that he is a kid. He's still at that age where he doesn't think that what he does has consequences, or that if he "feels" that he didn't do something wrong (or that the laws are stupid), then he shouldn't be held liable for his actions. I love it when they start tossing out free speech arguments and call for the ACLU. I wonder how many Napster files he downloaded.

You say that you set the color depth to 16 in the config files. What about on your desktop? That should be 16 also.

I have mixed feelings about radar ranges (as if that means anything), but I lean towards the SC's position. My fear is that radar ranges as a fog of war element will turn BCM into, basically, a submarine game. Passive sonar, active pulses, find the enemy before (s)he finds me... that sort of thing. The basic sub game simulates long periods of inactivity with brief moments of panic -- not what you'd expect when the year is 3010, the technologies are interstellar, and the distances are measured in light-years (nee parsecs). If you want stealth, use your cloak. Otherwise, scanning technology will find you. After all, the basic principle of travel is to not go faster than your headlights will let you see -- if you can travel fast, you should be able to see where you are going. So, I can see you, but so what? Are you a threat? Don't know... yellow alert. Did you make an aggressive move? Red alert. Otherwise, stand down. But then the question is... what is the plan for the active/passive radar option (the R toggle key)?

Some advice to demo players: BCM is not BC3K. It took the beta players a while to get over the differences in play between the two and how it affects strategy and such. Play the game a little bit and let it grow on you. That's what we did.

In the online/multiplayer game, you could become blockade runners if your planet is being seiged, or fleet supply ships bringing valuable supplies up from the rear to the front lines as the capital ships start running out of vacpacks and missiles. Hostiles might try to disrupt supply lines in order to weaken enemy forces.

In the online/multiplayer game, you could become blockade runners if your planet is being seiged, or fleet supply ships bringing valuable supplies up from the rear to the front lines as the capital ships start running out of vacpacks and missiles. Hostiles might try to disrupt supply lines in order to weaken enemy forces.

The beams are only hard to see if you are far away. If you get closer, they will be bigger.

That'll get somebody fired today. When I was in college (77-81), we were still using punch cards. Very few classes used the limited terminals for special timeshare classes. One classic story was that someone wrote a program to simulate the logon process. They would leave the program running and a student would try to use the terminal for class. After typing in their ID and password, the program would simulate a crash and the student would walk away. The programmer built up a database of IDs that way.

You don't need a hex editor for that. There is a PLAYMOD utility in the downloads section that will allow you to do that using parameters in a controlled way. HOWEVER, it is unsupported, and if you experience any oddities after using it, it is your own fault. Hex editing is forbidden, and you will be sternly warned if you encourage this activity.

quote:you could also use this shuttle to tow the bc to save even more money At some point, you will figure out that saving money is not the point of the game. You will find that after an hour or two of buying low and selling high, you will have more money than you can spend in your lifetime. At that point, you fill up your gas tanks to the max and head on out for fame and glory, with your shuttles in their bays and your dignity intact. [This message has been edited by Steve Schacher (edited 03-12-2001).]

quote:Bleedin' heart liberal, would apply here, I think. I prefer Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy.

I love how Eminem supporters claim that he is creating a "character" for social satire and commentary, but that the real Marshall Mathers is not like that at all. Does anybody remember when Andrew Clay tried that excuse to justify his Diceman "character?" Nora Dunn quit Saturday Night Live instead of perform with him and he was essentially banned from performing for years.

It seems to me that the liberal Democrat tactic like the article you quoted has less to do with the issue (of welfare) and mostly to do with the politics of personal destruction, which is all that the liberals have left since their savior has delivered the White House and both houses of Congress to the Republicans. Whom in the administration do the liberals consider to be fair game today? They tried to smear John Ashcroft during the AG confirmation hearings. Even though he appointed 24 of 26 African-American judges to federal positions, named Scott Joplin's home as the only Historic Home in Missouri, and saved the first African-American college from destruction, they tried to call him a racist. Robert Byrd, a former KKK member, uses the N-word on national television but because he is a Democrat nobody says anything. Ashcroft doesn't drink, swear, or dance, so they call him a religious extremist. How about the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and Minister Farrakahn? How about the devout Joe Lieberman? Has anyone called them religious extremists? Then you have Secretary of State Colin Powell. He's African-American and a war hero, so he's off limits. National Security Advisor Condi Rice is a woman and African-American so she's doubly-untouchable. Remember when they went after Linda Chavez? They said she was a fake Latino because she married a Jewish man and raised her kids to be Jewish. Then there is the Secretary of Education Rod Paige from Houston, who is African-American. Donald Rumsfeld at Defense is as experienced as Cheney. Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey, is a woman but they are after her for racial profiling on the highways between New York and New Jersey. So, who's left? You have Tommy Thompson who is a white male from a mostly white state. I call that a "safe target." Out here in California, there are rumors of Arnold Schwarzenegger running for governor against Democrat Gray Davis. Did you wonder why there are suddenly stories of him beating his wife and hitting on women? Has anyone ever seen Maria Shriver with a black eye? Do you think the Kennedy's would stand for it if Schwarzenegger were guilty of what he's accused of doing? No, it's a warning shot across the bow of what to expect if you get in the political ring with Democrats.

quote:I would just like to know what kind of liscense are we given with describing the races and their culture. Has there been any formal description of their appearance, or a detailed description of their culture? The manual has pictures of their leaders and a brief description of their culture and political leanings towards their neighbors.

The soundtrack is what it is. Would you tell Beethoven that his 9th Symphony sounds really good, but where he goes da-da-da-DUMMMMMM da-da-da-DUMMMMMMMMM it would sound a little better if it were da-da-bading-bading-DUMMMMMMMM da-da-dadobeedobee-DUMMMMMMM? Well, of course not. Beethoven's dead. And the tracks are recorded. Now, what you're really getting at is the mood that the music sets while playing the game. Reserve judgement until you hear the rest of the soundtrack. BTW, you must be a guitar player since that's what you focused on. I don't play any instrument myself... I was just curious, so I asked.

quote:Teamwork is the key to success. If we stand united, we will succeed and defeat our enemies. If you are getting beaten badly, you can try to combine your forces by ordering your BC to ESCORT another friendly capital ship that is attacking your enemy. I've noticed that when I order the BC to ATTACK a hostile, the hostile targets me in return. If instead, you ESCORT a friendly who is attacking the hostile, the friendly might get the brunt of the attack but you still attack the hostile. Also, if the friendly circles away, you will move towards the friendly to regroup. If you are both ATTACKing the hostile, you would be left alone if the friendly moves away.

Or just get into the habit of backing up one page. It only seems to happen on the first click.

Yawn....

All that I can say is that I've had funny stuff like that happen now and then. My rule of thumb has been that if it consistently crashes when doing something like that, then stop doing it. Scavenging debris fields does work, but I have seen it where a particular field at a particular point in the game does weird stuff with no explanation. I'd say to skip the field for now and maybe try it again later, or try a field in another region and see if that one crashes. There's nothing special about one field over another -- they are all generated dynamically when you enter them.

I recently saw a copy of BC3K 2.0x marked down to $5.99 in a Babbages at my local mall. Look around and you'll find it for the same price as the old patch.