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I just use Spybot S&D.. no problems so far..  the only program I use that it would mess up is easily ignored by un-checking a little box.  I haven't had any virii, excessive pop-ups, spyware or other crap emerge since I stopped letting other people use my PC. (Some dumbasses'll click anything)

And if you're looking for a fairly inexpensive tablet, the Graphire 2 goes for around 100 and comes with PS Elements & Painter Classic (Not sure of what other tablets might bundle).

It's a good concept.. but isn't the handle rather... phallic?  

Well.. here's mine.



I guess it's used for...   dis-arming people.  

Bwa ha ha ha...

Not to detract from the subject anymore... but yeah, I work at LucasFilms..  LucasFilms is the head company, below that are the sub-companies, Industrial Light&Magic, Skywalker Sound, LucasArts.  And, I work at the new site in San Francisco which is under construction until Aug. 2005.  If Mr. C wants to break into LucasArts, it won't affect me as it's about 18 miles away from here.

and if those images are too nude for your work ([i thought you were a security guard? damn if there's ever a time to break into LA [not los angeles, they just let you in] it's when yak's on duty) then i won't show you the other stuff!

I am a security guy.. I patrol hourly but other than that, I can surf the 'net, read, draw, whatever.  Pretty cool gig.. only things that suck are the hours and the drive.

I've got a Graphire 2 (about $99).  I think it's THE tablet to get unless you don't care about price... in which case, I'd say go for the Intuos and make it large.  The size doesn't come that much into play for me, but I have wished it were larger (We are still talking bout tablets here, right?).  Since mine's the 4x5, each square inch represents nearly a quarter of the screen. Still, it's perfectly alright for sketching/painting.  I've heard the main reason to go for a large Intuos-type is that the precision is necessary for CAD work, etc.  

Here's a link to a sketch I did on mine:
Wacom - Angry Fat Man

A couple things I like about it.  It's got the main point, and a 2-button finger-trigger.. and the eraser end (in most graphics programs, it switches to the eraser tool for you.. quite nice).  Also, should you feel the need to trace one of your hand-sketches, it's got a see-thru layer you can lift up.

(BTW, Eric, thanks for sharing the Jes-page.  Amazing stuff..  I think my jaw dropped a couple of times..  PRobably get in trouble at work though because of all the B :o :oBIES)

I gotta go for Wanderlady too..   I had trouble figuring out which I liked best but then decided to go for the one that most resembles an adventure-game Background.

I dunno..  I missed a few episodes after the first few and then lost interest.  I know you can rent them at some Hollywood video stores and even a couple Blockbuster stores.  If you wanna order (buy) them... you could try Suncoast..  they'll get almost anything you want as far as movies go.  I don't know if there's a store in your area but they may have a website.  For that matter, you might try e-bay.

One of the perks of my job.  I show up for my 2nd day of work and get handed a new copy of the Indy boxed set.  I have no idea what the MSRP is on that thing, but it kicks ass to get free shit from work.

I can understand why many crimes go uninvestigated.  There are so many crimes and not enough manpower to check them all out.  That said, I've had the following impressions of police:

They take care of their own (or if you apprehend shoplifters for a department store, they also have a sort of kinship with you).

They are generally unsympathetic.  With good reason, I guess.  You can't become emotionally involved with every victim.  

There are good ones and bad ones..  I've had some great experiences and some not so.  A good friend of mine was married, had a kid and her husband beat & threatened the both of them. (The guy hit a 4 year-old kid!) The police did nothing about it after repeated complaints.  The only thing they did was show up at the house and ask the guy about it.  Of course, he said it was a misunderstanding, an accident, blah, blah...  Turned out later, his brother is a cop on the city's police force.  That's justice for you.  Thankfully, she finally managed a divorce and thanks to a women's shelter, feels relatively safe.

I thought SQ5 was great too, but it did have some frustrating moments..  like when you're trying to escape the bitchy she-bot.  My personal favorite is SQ3 (I also played it through countless times) followed by SQ4.  I think part of my rating is based on the variety of death animations..  sq5 re-used many of their animations..   or just changed the death-text, leaving the same picture from the last death.  Dying is half the fun!  Of course, maybe you shouldn't take my opinion seriously because I also liked the Sq1 VGA remake and enjoyed at least 75% of Sq6.  

I love the EGA one..  but I prefer VGA backgrounds, so the VGA one would be my second choice.  Maybe a hybrid?  Generic plot-line bit: Pirate from EGA-era transported through time, ends up against a VGA background?  Okay, it's a stupid idea, but I would find it kinda cool.. make for lots of nifty NPC comments and the like.

The program I use has an anti-aliasing feature called "Average."  It takes areas of different shades and does some "tweening" to soften the edges a bit.  I've got photo-shop but have been so used to PhotoImpact, I find it hard to switch.  

When people discuss anti-aliasing and wanting to get rid of it...  for the most part they're talking about the sprites.   The reason for hating it when dealing with sprites is that the edges tend to take on the color of the background or character and create artifacts around the sprite.  The sprite itself also becomes less crisp.  As far as backgrounds go, I don't think too many people have a problem with anti-aliasing as long as it doesn't detract from the picture quality.  The purpose is not to make the image blurry but to get rid of jagged edges and harsh lines that draw attention away from the image as a whole.

So you went and played in her Maniac Mansion?  

For Roger's sake! She's underage.  

I love 'im too...

I love his art, his comments and the way he leaps to the defense of the underdog in only the most predictable of ways.  

For instance:

<Chatter234> I hate it when the bassers drive by my house and their bass-cannons make my walls shake and pictures fly off the shelves.

<[eric]> What do you have against bassers?

<Chatter234> I just wish they'd be more considerate about their noise-pollution

<[eric]> Oh, so it's only bassers that cause noise pollution now, huh?

On its control panel, it's got a little camera-icon you can click for a printscreen.  In the settings you can also select whether it kicks it to the clipboard, asks for a filename or automatically saves incremental file-names.. you can also bind it to a keystroke.. I think I've got mine on "C."  

Congratulations, but it's all a downhill slide to death from here.  

I'm 26 and I don't recall anticipating a birthday after my 21st..  time's flown about 10x as quickly since that horrible birthday.

Rename the topic immediately to "Timosity for teh Governor!!"

Issue a plethora of IQ tests & standardize some "Common Sense" testing.  Anyone who shows a constant lack of common sense and has low IQ scores will be deported to...   to..   Rodekill's country.