Topics

Right, so... I'm feeling rather awkward explaining why I'm even asking this.

Well, a friend of mine recently moved, and we figured since we couldn't geographically be together, it would be easier if we chatted, but she absolutely refuses to use msn, so I downloaded yahoo messenger.

Of course, interest got the better of me and I ventured into the chat rooms. It was purely to check the place out, and see if there were as many "63/m/cali hairy dads" as are rumoured. I popped into a gay chatroom and - amidst all the "c2c?" and "wanna be tied up?" invitations which I kindly turned down - I actually got chatting to 23 year old guy, and found out he only lived about an hour away from me.

This only happened on Friday night, and I talked to him again last night. Both occassions we were up chatting into the wee hours of the morning. Now, don't get me wrong - I was purely looking for friendship, and I'm not trying to get this guy to fall in love with me or whatever whatever. This is not to say I am against the possibility of anything happening, just that I'm not about to pretend I'm in love with a guy I barely know. We exchanged numbers and he called me just to say "goodnight".

Anyway, this wasn't meant to turn into a love story (it ISN'T, let me stress. Again, all I'm there for is friendship). I'm just interested in what other people have learned from 'net relationships'. Have you had a good experience? Been badly burned by them? Not looking for advice, just hoping to hear someone else with exciting stories...

Right about now the Australian Health Care system is beginning to really displease me.

I found out a little while ago, but I just didn't mention it because I was so confused. And now I'm over the confusion and just damn pissed off.

Got a phone call (whenever it was) asking me to come back to the clinic where I had the original blood sample drawn from, where I had a "no obligation" meeting with the head doctor. First off he asked me how I'd been, if I'd been feeling ill at all, if I'd had any side-effects to possible medication I might have been taken? "Good, no and no".

He then apologizes for the original screw up where they somehow contaminated my blood sample, and so had to do a redraw. "Yeah, that's fine. But I've got my result now - that's all I'm worried about." He gave me that sort of look a five year old might give you that says "Please don't hit me for being a bad boy. I really didn't mean to spill all that chocolate sauce down my mouth, and flush the car keys down the toilet - although it was a great hoot, you must agree."

I said "Wassup" (not quite like that), to which he replies,
"We may have given you some misleading and/or confusing results."
"Wtf?"
"The results we gave you for your blood sample weren't actually yours. It appears your sample was somewhat delayed, but your processing number did not, and so it got attached to the incorrect sample. We've just found the right sample, and the results have come back to say INCONCLUSIVE."

"What does that mean."
"It may mean you have HIV and our machine just can't pick it up at this point, or it could be just a false reading. We'd like to do another redraw to be on the safe side."
"What if it's another inconclusive result?"
"Then we'll take another sample later. And keep on doing so until we get a conclusive reading."

At this point I'm about to fall off my chair - not out of terror or anything, just because this stupid system is so screwed up, and I'm thinking CRAP CRAP CRAP - could I have passed it on to someone else in the meantime? I keep remembering every single time I've cut my finger recently, trying to figure out if anyone could have been in contact with my blood - crap like that. Crap I wouldn't have to think about if things hadn't got effed up this badly.

I've decided to wait until the six-month mark before I do another blood sample. By that stage, there's a 99.99% probability that I will get a definitive result one way or the other. I just don't want to keep giving blood only to get an inconclusive result.

And so in the meantime I'm trying to not kill any person affiliated with our health system.
I feel like I'm being quite generous...

That's right folks.

Got the results of my HIV test back, and as far as the doctors can see, I'm in the clear.

Of course, this has only just hit the three-and-a-bit month mark, so I'll have to go again around 6 months just to confirm it, but yeah.

YEAH!!!!

Nobody has to pretend to be nice to me anymore. You can save your pity for people who deserve it!

My god, I feel as though I could run around the word right now...

... or maybe you totally did.

Anyway, as you would have known, I've been away for a bit, mainly to think a lot of things in my life through.

And one thing I've decided is to "come out of the closet", so to speak.

And if THAT didn't give it away, then I hope this does...

I'm gay.

Did you get the hint?

Yes, yes yes... alright, throw away those "BUT HE'S SUCH A CHRISTIAN!" ideas you have. They're wrong. Well, I'm not ANTI-christian, so don't ask me to join your cult (although that AGS religion does sound appealing), but yeah, I'm gay.

Um... that's all I think...

[/end rant]

okay, my parents aren't really stupid, but sometimes you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

My mum was in the supermarket yesterday (or the day before), and she was telling me about a woman she saw while she was there. She was describing her awful dress sense, and then said "plus, she had dyed her hair blonde, and she was a bit old for that, so I think she's a prostitute!"

I was gobsmacked. Completely gobsmacked! My mother - who claims to be the least judgemental woman in the world (and normally IS) - said that a woman was probably a prostitute because she had bottle-blonde hair!!!!!! (those extra !'s demonstrate my complete disbelief). I have several friends who have dyed their hair blonde, so I said "what about them?" and she said "but that's different!" and I said "why?" and she said "you're just trying to argue with me for no good reason, so shut up."

WTF?!!

And then there was an Australian politician who took her boyfriend on a tax-payer-paid holiday, when she was living with someone else (I think her ex-husband who is also the father of her children). I mean, sure, I was angry - I don't want my money paying for someone else's holiday, but my parents said: "Obviously they have no morals or principles." I mean... okay... fair enough... most politicians come across as fairly uncaring and uninterested in the common person, but to make that kind of judgement on someone just because they took their boyfriend on a holiday? That's a bit rough... isn't it?

[DEADLINES WILL ALWAYS BE THE 25th OF THE MONTH!]

Okay, so here it is again. The Monthly Writing Project!

This is basically a STORY version of the MAGS competition, except instead of making a game in AGS, you'll be writing a short story. If you're new to the project, or still unsure about some rules, check the previous project; everything's explained clearly there.

DEADLINES WILL ALWAYS BE THE 25th OF THE MONTH!

Please email completed entries to: writing_project@fbc-bettendorf.com

PDF or RTF formats are perferred. TXT is acceptable only if you don't have any specific formatting.

Please be sensible with your formatting. Times New Roman \ Arial (size 12) are the most common fonts, and don't double space just to make your story look longer  

Also, please be sure to include your full name and forum alias in the document aswell.

__________________________________________________

Okay - that's more than enough formalities! ON WITH THE SHOW!

This month's theme:

"Hidden Truths..."

- The main character attacks (not necessarily kills) someone, but it is not done for the reason people would expect.

- During the story, someone discovers a book or article has been written about them.

- A character pretends to be someone else to get what they want.

- An important character will turn out to be traitor.

Most importantly: HAVE FUN!

Any Q's, just ask, and I shall answer as promptly as I can. If you decide to enter, however, be prepared! I may choose you to host the NEXT project (or LGM might, depending). It's not based on quality of the story, since there is no 'winner' - so everyone's eligible!

Now go and write  

[Topic for this wonderful week :]

Well...

there's not much to say really.

I won the last contest by default, so I don't feel too honoured ( ) but I guess it means everybody's been really busy (myself included).

With this in mind, I've decided that this week, the idea shall be simple and quite broad, so that there's little pressure.

Topic for this wonderful week :

FAIRYTALE SOUNDTRACK!

That's right: just pick one SINGLE moment from your favourite fairy-tale and orchestrate it. I don't necessarily mean for you to write a score that details the whole bloody storyline (though you're more than welcome to, if you really want) - Just pick a single idea, and write something fitting. For example, you might think of the giant climbing down the beanstalk (from Jack and Beanstalk), and write a brief piece that allows the listener to imagine it in his/her mind.

Just be sure to say WHAT your inspiration is when you post it

God-speed.

Peter S Thomas

It's true.....

Check this out for completely screwed up.

My bro is an electrical engineer, so he builds and assembles computers..... he's in the process of building our family's new computer, and he's instaling Window's XP.

He's installed the basic Device Drivers, and now XP, and Norton Antivirus detected BLASTWORM.exe!!!! as well as three other viruses.....

Since there is NOTHING on the computer except what he got from the (legally bought) cd's from microsoft, it means the virus MUST BE ON THE CD! He's formatted and re-formatted about five times.

how freaking stupid is that?!

Okay. This is really beginning to tick me off, now.

I can only open ONE internet explorer window at a time! Whenever I open a second one, the first one just closes! This means I can only be at one site at a time (which does waste many minutes), I can't click on LINKS in posts, because it just closes the window, and then I have to open it up all over again....

Another strange thing is that the computer says my recycle bin is FULL, even though it is completely EMPTY.

How do I stop this, so I can once again return to my multi-tasking ways?!

[I'm 1.85 metres tall (6"1' for the yanks...)And 73 kilograms (160 pounds)And a ravenous bounty of luscious, luscious MALE!!]

Right - Release the Frogs (who recently changed his name so that it in now way allows for a cool acronym, despite it's catchy and slightly humorous undertones) suggested it; someone endorsed it (sort of... I dunno...they said SOMETHING like 'do it') and I did it (because I'm bored... what? it's not a crime).

The title says it all, really. I want your fat and soul POSTED ON THE NET FOR MILLIONS TO SEE! It probably wouldn't be bad to post your gender as well, since there's a fair weight discrepancy between guys/gals.


As for me...


I'm 1.85 metres tall (6"1' for the yanks...)
And 73 kilograms (160 pounds)
And a ravenous bounty of luscious, luscious MALE!!

I can see this thread getting locked... but hey... I'm alone and bored, and I don't look at porn... what do you WANT me to do?!

Yay! As of today, it is illegal to send spam within Australia!! This maketh me happy, because most of the crap I get is internal!!

"This is the day, that the lord hath made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it!"

[So.... what do YOU hate?]

Hmm.....

Well..... right now..... I'm hating my inability to not post while I'm in a 'strongly-opinionated' mood.

I've been reading some of my latest posts, and when I read them I think "damn... I come across like a real smart ass in that post." It's just that when I get fired up about something, I have to post IMMEDIATELY to express my thoughts.

On other forums, I used to be able to NOT reply until I'd collected my thoughts together, but lately I've become an emotional-poster....

So.... what do YOU hate?

P.S I also hate J Wess and Chingy and Ja Rule. They should eat glass. Lots of it.

Okay - I need some serious help here

I'm meant to be late-night cramming for an exam tomorrow, but I can't seem to stay focused very well. I've shut down all my 'chat' programs, like msn etc, and I turned off the T.V and radio (primarily because my brother is in bed and he'd poke me very hard if I woke him). I tried to close AGSforums... but I can't do it...

So..... given that I've got rid of nearly ALL distractions, how is it that I can't concentrate, and how do you guys MAKE yourself concentrate.

If you're interested..... anyone who wants to write a three-page essay on Beach's Five Theoretical Perspectives and Thompson's Six Steps of Response mixed within a reader-centred approach to literature will be hailed by all. Just send me $50 dollars and I'll let you do it for me  

internet abbreviations??

You know - words like 'lol' and 'brb' and 'gtg'. I'm just curious as to what different people actually hear inside their heads when they see the words on the screen.

For example, when someone types the word 'lol', I actually say "lol" inside my head, whereas with 'gtg', I hear the words "got to go", but strung together really quickly like "gottago". I put together a brief list of the way I say words. I was just wondering you you say them:

Lol = lol

Brb = Brrrb

gtg = Gottago

imho = In my humble opinion

j/k = sometimes 'joking', sometimes 'just kidding', sometimes 'J.K'

roflmfao = roff=ell-maff-ow

stfu = stuff-you (said really really quickly)

n00b = N-oooooo-b

So..... how do YOU say?

[USEFUL]

Okay - I was just suddenly overcome with a wave of wonderment, and I MUST post, to see if I was insane at the time of thought, or whether it genuinely is a good idea.

So the point is this:

Someone logs out, and then signs in as a GUEST. They use a name COMPLETELY unrelated to their member's name (i.e - If I were to sign in as a guest, I'd use a name like Banana Smoothie, or Frequent Flyer, or even Not-So-Frequent Flyer)

You REPLY to this thread, giving FOUR USEFUL facts about yourself.

Example for Me:

1 - My Forum name is my REAL NAME
2 - My Avatar should be well known to cartoon fans
3 - My birthday falls on the same DATE as christmas, but in a different month.
4 - I enter most Tune Contests.

Of course, the clues could be a LITTLE more obscure, to make the guessing harder, e.g

1 - My Forum name is TWO WORDS
2 - My avatar is ANIMATED
3 - You won't find me posting in the technical archive
4 - I share a common interest with: Ghormak, Geoffkahn, Mills J Ross and Boyd.

Then, other people post and try to GUESS who this anonymous person is (without cheating, by the way).
Once person 1 has been figured out, ANYONE can become person 2. No one can post a new problem until the PREVIOUS PERSON has been figured out.

So, tell me.... is this a good idea?

If it is, someone START!! (obviously I can't start, because that would be a TAD too obvious).

If it's dumb, then flame me for all you're worth.

Not impossible, but it might as well be...... I was TEARING MY HAIR OUT over this thing!!

You've probably all seen it anyway, but I was sooo frustrated I just felt compelled to post it. I don't want to be the only insane person today  

http://server-admin.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/motas/mystery/testgame.htm

Edit: Important to note. This is made with Macromedia Flash and I STILL like it (The only Flash I will ever truly love is MX 2004)

Okay, apologies for taking so long  

Trails accidentally put Geoffkahn's name in the last comp instead of mine, and it took me a while to catch on. Silly me...

Anyway, On with the comp!!

I was originally going to post a picture, but decided against it, thinking that perhaps words can allow for more creative juices to flow.

Your task (which you absolutely MUST accept) is to write a song based from the title:    

"The Crystal Empire"

So basically any genre you want, as long as it reflects that kind of mentality. Only restrictions are that you must have two bars of an irregular meter in your song. (ie - if you're in 3/4, put in two bars of 4/4 or 6/8, or even 5/8) Just don't do anything sneaky like one bar of 4/4 and then another in 2/4 (thus equalling two bars of 3/4). They must be audibly 'different'.

And of course nothing over 1.5mb

Hope you enjoy! I'll answer any ??'s as quickly as I can.

EDIT: For some reason .ogg files have been playing up on me for the last couple of days. Send em in if you want, and I'll try and figure it out, but if you want to make me REALLY like you, send it in midi or mp3   (or wav... blah blah blah...)

Well??

Apparently Steve's pretty big over in America, and his fan base has suddenly died because of his stunt with his son. Well, at least that's what OUR news reports say.

As an Australian who was AT that demonstration, I think the media have put it totally out of context. They've only shown the bits of footage that have Steve, the baby, and the croc in them. No mention about the seven spotters who were two steps away at all times... I don't know if anybody else saw this, but they certainly didn't broadcast it in Oz.

I know, I know, it was a stupid thing to do nevertheless, and I wouldn't do it personally, but Steve's not that stupid to put his son at risk if he truly thought there WAS danger. In a 2 minute interview I saw of him, he said that there were more children mauled to death by dogs each year than people attacked by crocs in the past 5 years. It's just 'perceived danger' and it causes a lot of paranoia.

I was just wondering what the rest of you think of him, and what should happen to him.

P.S - when I say 'what do you think of him', I don't mean as a person, because I'm sure as hell convinced that he's NUTS in the head the way he goes on and on about how beautiful everything is. I mean what do you think of his defence?