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I was in a very similar (still am, actually) situation.  A lot of the people I know are party animals.  The only thing that matters to them is getting drunk, getting high, and sleeping with as many people as possible.  They brag about how drunk they got, or how high they got and how the hallucinated.  

I'd watch my peers running around late into the night, whooping it up and being wild, and I felt like I should be doing this too.  It seemed there was something wrong with me that I wasn't doing this stuff, and that I only had a limited amount of teenage years to enjoy myself, and so on.  Being a teenager is hard, and I've hardly enjoyed any of it.  There's a lot of pressure on you, telling you who you are, who you should be, and who you will be.

Eventually I learned not to worry about what other people think of me.  Drinking yourself stupid isn't something to brag about.  They're being very shallow when they brag about it, and you're better off if you're deeper than that.  

I would much rather spend an evening talking late into the night about intellectually stimulating topics than to run around getting high/drunk, making trouble and partying.  

You should be proud to not be like that, to be different.  You sound more mature than many your age, and that's a good thing.

It's okay Obi, let it out man, let it out.

Hey Zeking and Zelord.

Are there really two of you or do you just have a split-personality disorder?

Did you (both of you) read the rules before joining?  And the three goldren rules? 

Just some helpful hints:

If you're having a technical problem, do check the manual for answers first.  If you're still having problems, post in either the tech forum or the beginner's tech forum (I'd recommend the beginner's forum,) and provide a detailed description of your problem, any errors you're receiving, and what it is you want to do.

It's okay if English is not your primary language, just as long as you try your best to make yourself clear, 4nd 4b0\/3 411, 4\/0id 7ypi|\|6 lik3 7|-|i5.  (If you can read that, you know what I mean.)

Take some time to lurk around the forums and get a feel for how people act and behave. 

So, welcome to the forums! 

I tend to strongly agree with RickJ and Shbaz on this one. 

I personally don't find the news of these shootings surprising in the least.  When Virginia Tech happened, I was like "Oh, that's sad," but it really didn't shock me in the least.  I'm just used to hearing about it.

And that's all because the educational system and culture in America is so screwed up.  "OF COURSE they shot up their school!  What did you expect!!?," is generally what runs through my mind when I hear about these things. 

What DOES shock me is what RickJ said, about the elimination of competitive sports and red ink, and so on.  I mean, I knew that they're becoming more and more sensitive to anything that might suggest aggressiveness, but I guess I just couldn't imagine that it's gone this far.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21224357/ (School shooting article)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15111438/ (School shooting myths)

Why does this keep happening?  Granted, school shootings are not as rampant as they may seem, what with all the media attention they draw, but they still beg the question, why.


What's pushing these kids to do these things?

Why are so many of them male?

Why don't the kids who know about these plans in advance say something before it happens?

Are there any plans in the near future to take action against these shootings that will actually be effective, and still leave personal privacy and individuality intact?

There are no direct answers, but this kind of thing is so confusing I can't help but ask the questions.

At least nobody was killed in this round of shootings.  (That they know of yet, anyway.)

Remember those games that came on cardboard sheets that you installed on your kitchen table, and there was no sound and your hands WERE the input devices?  You know, you'd move those little pieces around and land on events and stuff, but events wouldn't happen automatically, you had to make it happen by reading cards and stuff?    Board games!

I love computer games as much as I ever did, but recently, I opened up the board game cabinet and dragged out some of my old favorite non-computer games.  "Life," "Monopoly," "Payday," "Risk," all a lot of fun even after so many years since I played them last.  And just like it was back in the day, nobody will play with me!  So I end up playing with myself a lot.  (Get your minds out of the gutter!  You knew what I meant.)

So what are some of your favorite board games?  What types do you like the best?  Money managing games?  Strategy?  Logic games?  Trivia? 

Man, it's weird to talk about these things outside the context of computers.

When we were little kids, I and my sister used to go to the same little church as a pedophile who molested his own daughters went to.  Ironic yes, that a pedophile went to church, but imagine how easy it would've been for him to get to me or my sister. 

Now, we were friends with these girls, and later on when we found out that he was doing all the sick stuff to them, we were shocked when we found out that they WEREN'T going to testify against him in court, and therefore he got away with what he did.   He probably threatened them, or guilted them, saying it was "their fault."  Whatever the case, he's still a free man as far as I know.  (They moved away a long time ago.)

Now a lot of people's reactions might be "CUT HIS BALLS OFF!!1," or "GIVE HIM THE CHAIR!!," but I don't honestly think that's the best course of action.  I know an eye for an eye is a popular philosophy, but it just seems that if we can't settle these issues in a humane way, we're in worse shape as a race than I thought.   

I'm not sure if there is or isn't a direct solution for this problem, or any other issues like these.  I haven't researched pedophilia as much as I have other criminal-types, like serial killers and so on.   But I still find this an interesting debate, so carry on!

Maybe a giant asteroid will strike the Earth and end complex issues such as these. 

I could see everything just fine prior to the Windows XP startup screen. 

I have an ATI Radeon card. 


I called Dell, and they said that the only menu to access are the startup menus (F2, F11,)

I'm using my VGA cable for now, and I guess it's okay. 

***NOTE***
I finally solved this problem by simply running system restore.  I still don't know what caused the problem in the first place, but it's fixed now.  Thanks for your help all!



My Dell Flatscreen monitor has been working great for the past year since I got my new computer.  Then, this evening, I turned my computer on, and it booted up just fine.  Then, where the Windows XP splash screen should be, nothing!  Just blank.  Then my desktop loaded (I could tell because of the sound of a little message popping up in the corner alerting me to update my virus stuff which I uninstalled.  Happens all the time, so I know the desktop loaded.)  Still, the screen was blank.  I used the Windows tab on my keyboard, and hit "U" twice to shut the computer back off.

After some experimenting, I unplugged my DVI-D cable from the computer and monitor and hooked in the VGA cable.  It worked!  However, I want to use my DVI cable, not the VGA. 

Does anybody have any idea why my DVI-D cable stopped working all of a sudden?  How can I get it back to working?  I can use my computer with the VGA, but it's only a temporary fix.  I WANT MY DVI BACK!!!11!1!  :'(

Any help will be appreciated.  (And yes, I've Googled the problem with few results.  It's happened to others, but their solutions don't seem to be working.  One provided a fix by altering the BIOS settings, which I would like to try, but the only menu I know how to access is the boot menu.  Is this the same thing, or is there a specific BIOS menu I'm not knowing how to access?)

When I clicked the link just now it said, "Look at what you made me do!  There was never a baby, you got fooled, no money was collected. 200,000 people got pranked.
Suck it."

Apparently the joke was up today.

I remember talk of these chips.  And I remember a lot of preachers getting their panties in a bunch, saying that this was it!  The Mark of the Beast!  The end of the world!  Jesus would be showing up in the sky with his angels any day now! 

Then, it gets put in an email with instructions to "foward this to everyone you care about!"

Like Terran said, lots of these kind of things have been talked about but never came to pass. 

I guess I completely missed the point on the whole parody thing.  What's the point of them again?

Maybe I'm still just traumatized from "Date Movie."

I do have OCD, and it got to be a bit serious after a while.  Mainly I am concerned about contamination and such.  Like, I don't wash my hands obsessively, but I was on the verge of getting there before I started learning about what OCD is and how to cope.

If any of you have really bad OCD, there's a book called Brain Lock that you oughtta read.  Definately helped me out.

...I just don't see a difference between cutting a polygonal characters head off and raping a polygonal child. Both are revolting and in both cases there is no victim.

My apologies to you cobra, I misread the above post as reading, "I just don't see a difference between cutting a polygonal character's head off and a real person's head off."

You posted it while I was writing another response, and I was trying to include all of the most recent posts in my own.  Just misread it.  

Child pornography is illegal because it involves abducting, exploiting and abusing young children who have not consented to do any of what they're doing. 

The only victims in a violent video game are finely textured polygonal models being controlled by an AI.

By your own definition here, a game where you'd play a child abuser and had to make money by selling the videos you make of the abuse would be okay, because the only victims would be finely textured polygonal models being controlled by an AI.

Your reasoning seems faulty.

Well, personally, I wouldn't think that game would be "okay," I think it would be disgusting and horrible.  However, my opinion has no effect over whether or not it is legal, or should or shouldn't be.  But on what basis could be legally prohibited?

Progz raises an interesting point in asking WHY the games are being made.  Who plays them, and why?  Personally, I'm not sure why anybody would want to.  I haven't played any of these kind of games, so I can't answer that.  


Cobra,

The difference between cutting off a virtual character's head off and a real person's head is that you are depriving one of his life, and the other isn't even alive to begin with.

I can only repeat what others have said, censorship is a slippery slope, and I'd rather have a little too much freedom than a little too less.  Let the individuals decide what is right for themselves.  When it starts infringing on others, then it's gone too far.

Cobra, child pornography isn't the same issue as a violent video game.

Child pornography is illegal because it involves abducting, exploiting and abusing young children who have not consented to do any of what they're doing. 

The only victims in a violent video game are finely textured polygonal models being controlled by an AI.

How are these two things even comparable? 

Now let's take for instance, a snuff film.  Why should a snuff film be banned while movies like Hostel are hitting theaters?  Because Eli Roth just threw a bunch of latex and fake blood on the actors and told them to scream.  Nobody was hurt to produce the film.

I remember reading a quote somewhere that went something like, "Freedom of speech means nothing until it protects the speech that is offensive."

I think that sort of applies to this.  Who needs the protection of freedom of speech when all you're doing is saying nice and lovely things that everybody agrees with?  What would be the point?  Free speech is for the offensive and ugly things.  Don't ban violent video games, regardless of the content.  As evenwolf wisely put it, simulations aren't ever going to become "realer."

I for one do not believe that video games/music/movies create twisted, messed up kids.  I think you're really simplifying the human mind if you think that something like a video game can make you capable of something as complex as murder, rape, or whatever it is they're currently claiming the entertainment industry is doing to our kids.

Sorry to hear about the passing of your Sim. 

Also sorry to hear about how upset people are about the original title of the thread.  Gee, don't bother to open it and see what it is, or check the news, or even Google it to see if it really happened.

Come one, come all, let's talk about astronomy.

I've always been fascinated by the cosmos (credit that to early influences of SQ )

One year, my dad bought a 10" Orion telescope.  Well, I think its safe to say its crap, because the only object that can be really seen through it is Jupiter, and even then it's a tiny dot with barely visible bands of color on the planet.  Saturn appears, at best, as a tiny white dot. 

Because my interest in astronomy has come back recently, I can occasionally be found lugging that old telescope into the backyard to see whatever I can.  But I want to invest in a better one, this time from Meade, as I understand Orion isn't always the best company.

So anybody else here own a telescope?  What can you see?  Any recommendations on models and brands? 

Anyway, we can talk about skywatching tools, experiences, or just talk about space and all the wonders that are out there.  Do you think there's intelligent life beyond our Solar System?  Will they ever contact us?  Will we ever find them?  Have we/they already?

Oh yeah, and if you're a space enthusiast, you MUST have Celestia.  It's a FREE, open-source, 3D space simulator.  You can cruze the cosmos and see anything you want up close.  If you really want to enjoy the sights of space, you'll have to download a lot of extras and stuff, but it is TOTALLY worth it. 

http://www.shatters.net/celestia/index.html

Hehe, I had an interest in ghost hunting for a time.  I was reading up on it and such.  Then one night I drove down to this old church that was built in the 1800s with my camera and decided to take a few snapshots.

As soon as I pulled up, I took a pic.  I viewed it on the view screen, and there were orbs everywhere!  Then I took another and there were fewer orbs... then I took another and there were even fewer orbs!  Then when I got home, I took a handful of dust and threw it in the air and took a picture of the dust cloud, and guess what I saw.......  more orbs than I could count! 

Orbs are just dust particles and such. 

I don't really see a face in the window, I see a bunch of smudges.  You can find anything you're looking for in that kind of stuff.  I could post the same picture saying that if you look at the window just right you can see two people having sex.  And given the number of dirty minds, I think many would see it.

I'm a skeptic as far as this kind of thing (or anything supernatural) goes.