Messages

I was going to say it reminded me of a church hymn that's still vaguely in my memory.  It doesn't seem to follow any set music theory but more of a "by ear" rendition of one instrument in a song.  I've got no clue.

I actually caught a bit of that..  I walked in when the intro credits were just about over.  I actually don't see it as that much of a downer.  It gives me a reason to re-watch it later.  Same thing happened with Dawn of the Dead, my sister made me 10 minutes late so I missed most of the first scene with the boyfriend turning on one of the main characters.  I dig campy horror movies and zombie movies in particular.  Now that some of them are starting to have large budgets and attract real actors, it's only gotten cooler, with less cheesy distractions from the goings-on.   This might be a good time to warn potential movie-goers that LoD is pretty damned gory with many cringe-worthy scenes.  If you've got a weak stomach or are sensitive to this sort of thing, keep in mind that this one's roughly 2-3 times as brutal as Dawn.  I didn't have enough notice before seeing it.. I wanted to geek-out and go wearing zombie-styled clothes or a homemade "Zombie in the making" t-shirt.

One other bit.  I'm curious about your thoughts, LGM:

Spoiler

This was one of the few zombie movies (especially as of late) with a zombie protagonist..  I couldn't help but cheer on the service-station zombie.  He and several of the "more evolved" zombies just friggin' rocked

[close]

I'm looking forward to the game.  The ability to play with a friend, have them potentially turn into a zombie and then having to make the same choice they face in just about every zombie movie..  that kicks so much ass.  Romero's rant about the game is 99% pure niftiness (-1% for the stupid weapons, like "void bombs").

As for the movie.. I loved it.  Unfortunately, I was running late and missed the first 5 minutes but it was pretty spectacular as far as zombie movies go.  Dennis Hopper made an excellent overlord sort-of-person, and the environment was very fleshed out.  No real explanation as to how, but it's a fairly believable post-apocalyptic society.  It follows Dawn of the Dead quite nicely.  My only real disappointment was with the ending.. I thought it fell a little bit flat and much preferred DOD's ending.  Regardless..  I'd give it a 9/10 for zombie flickishness.

Well...

I so envy your commute.Ã, 
Live Here:

Work Here:

And the drive to work:

[Edit: That's 42 Miles (67.6 KM), 1 hour there, 1.5 hours back (Or 1.493 European hours)]
I like this site a lot more than the satellite sites I've checked before.Ã,  For stand-alone applications, though, I like Worldwind (NASA).. free, has several view modes, 3D heightmap views, and weather/event tracking capabilities.Ã, 

My name is also Michael Rittenhouse so I've already stolen the poems.

It has my hearty recommendation.  I've used it for some diagramming work projects, some basic photoshopping, and some minor sprite-work.  It's still got a few bugs and quirks (some stuff not working how it's supposed to and some stuff that should've been put together better).  If you're looking for a free MS-Paint replacement with Transparency, Layering, Palette, Basic Filters, more overall image control and better .GIF, .JPEG & .PNG implementation, this ought to be right up your alley.

Just one idea
In a small space using brain
is not crass as joke

It's just such a convenient thing to believe that people put ethics and common sense on the shelf.

Agreed.  Too many arguments about whether or not something is legal stem from a more basic question of, "What can I get away with?" 

I've got a gray-market view of it, myself.  If I can't acquire the software through reasonable means (purchase from store, site, e-bay) then I see nothing wrong with downloading it, at least in the case of older games. Maybe that's just more self-justification but it's less questionable than somebody asking where they can D/L Doom 3.

There are some countries where software copyrights aren't recognized, right? I'm assuming a lot of the world has similar laws to the US concerning creative works, but Flukeblake could be from Tibet where the mountain monks play Mario Kart ROMs from dusk till dawn without worrying about kharmic retribution.

What irresponsible comic characters. Half the time they are about to be run over by trains

Let's get to work on making them more responsible and bringing that efficiency up to 100% of the time.

That Nintendo link, EldKatt, was a useful/interesting read but your assessment isn't correct, according to the site itself. Ã, It doesn't say that they're always copyright infringement. Ã, It says that it's always illegal to download a ROM (without being specific as to whether it's for backup, play, distribution, or whatnot). Ã, However, using a backup device to make an archival copy of your data is not illegal, provided you (the current license-holder) maintain possession of it and only use one instance of the program at a time. Ã, So, downloading Super Mario 3 would be illegal even if you own the cartridge (though the distinction between backup methods probably couldn't be proven in court), but using a backup device would not (unless that particular device was made specifically illegal). Ã, Playing the backup on your PC (even if you didn't play it on the NES) would be questionable as there's probably a distinction in the EULA concerning the hardware used for the software. Ã, 

Additionally, emulators typically aren't illegal but they often require copies of the BIOS ROM from the console. Ã, Copying and modifying or distributing this proprietary information is illegal. Ã, Using an SNES emulator to play a public domain, non-copyrighted ROM would be legitimate (provided that calls specific to the SNES BIOS aren't used). Ã, I don't understand all the confusion since the rules make common sense. Ã, You can safeguard what you bought but getting something for free isn't legal unless the company is offering it or the author has given it as freeware, public domain, etc. (The same goes for trialware used past its trial-length and so-called abandonware). Ã, Whether or not these things would be enforced, and whether or not I personally violate the above is another matter. Ã, 

Of course, since you've divulged the fact that you'd be using the emulator to play illegal software, anybody providing information could be considered an accomplice. Ã, Regardless, this particular request is answered (per usual) by a quick google search. www.snes9x.com appears right at the top.

Ninety percent of
everything is crap with
no culture exempt

Ah, Japanese art
furries and cosplay et al
all Japan stuff rocks

Yep, CD-Audio is handled different ways by different file systems.  For XP/NTFS, the .CDA files are just shortcuts to the RAW data.  If you were to copy the CDA's from an audio CD, you'd end up with a dozen KB of useless files.  In other OS's, the CDA's might be displayed at their actual RAW filesize but it's still just a designator showing the different tracks and the space they take up. 

CDA-burning isn't determined so much by the initial size as the time of play.  If I have a full 74 minutes of crappy 64Kbps .mp3s, and the same 74 minutes of 192Kbps files, it'll be the same space consumed on an audio CD, at the same khz (44.1), stereo & 16-bit..  the 64kbps files will just sound crappier.   If you need to backup the music just for archive purposes, it ought to fit neatly on 2 cd's.. otherwise, the number of discs will be determined by the total length (time) of the tracks.

Glad to hear you've resolved the problem somewhat.  I've got a different model, but the same basic camera (I think).. it's a MiniDV .. can't remember..  HC40?   Anyway, I had a bit of frustration with connectivity/USB and the fact that it didn't come with a firewire cable was BS..  after going through the same thing you did, I spent the extra cash for the cable.  My result was instant functionality though. 

I've changed PC hardware and reinstalled OS so it might not be so smooth this time.  Regardless, if you run into more problems, post another zero-reply thread and I'll see if I can help in any way.  The thing's damned fun but I haven't enough of a life to record anything worthwhile (I've got a drive across the Golden Gate bridge to work and some skunk wildlife footage..  that's it).  To second LGM, as long as the firewire device driver (i.e. basic XP port drivers for whatever hardware) is okay, it's about as plug-n-play as it gets.  Any capture program should recognize the streaming video without a problem.. even windows Movie Maker doesn't screw that up.   

It's brilliant. Ã, Critics caution artists against using filters for the same reason they say you should avoid lens flare and gradients. Ã, Improperly used, it looks like Uber-Crap (TM). Ã, I wouldn't say your usage is perfect (you've actually abused them a bit) but the end result is fantastic. Ã, It's very moody and the different texturing adds to the overall feel of the place. Ã, If you can do other backgrounds and characters that fit with it, it'd have a very unique feel to it. Ã, 

I'm definitely with Scotch on the lighting. Ã, This bg has such a bumpmapped polygon look to it that volume lighting looks out of place. Ã, A fairly hard-edged conical light would fit much better.

Being a picky bastard: The light for the neon sign blurs the lettering a bit so Fireview wasn't as clear-reading as it could be. Ã, It'd also be fan-friggin'-tastic to have exaggerated bluish lighting for the neon. Ã, The wall furthest right looks the most 2-D of all of them since it's picking up light only on the extreme edge. Ã, If you got rid of that highlight (except where the building is right on the edge), it might work better. Ã, Also, the aliasing is a little distracting.. everything's got a sharp-edged but smooth look to it except for a couple walls/highlights where it's very pixelish. Ã, The thick outlining looks a little out of place and detracts somewhat, making it look less like joining surfaces and more like thick creases.

This looks a lot like stuff I used to do in Photoimpact using the pseudo-3D web-button tools, very damned cool (pun was unintentional, but it's staying now), even if you don't touch another pixel on it.

Typically, something is posted in this area in order to be critiqued and improved upon. 

If you've got a background you're working on and haven't figured out the best way to add grass, why not try posting it and see what happens? 

Some general advice - avoid using photoshop (et al) textures/filters - they tend to make the picture very flat-looking.  If you're using something like Photoshop or Paint Shop pro, hunt for a brush that looks like a lot of isolated dots and try streaking that in short lines upwards.  If you're using MS Paint, the options are to hand-draw each blade or use line tools.  A couple people have recently posted tutorials that have bits about grass, try searching the lounge, or maybe they'll be kind enough to drop in and post a link.

HE LOLOKS LIKE BEGING DRAWN BY A AUTISTIC CHILD!!!!!!!
his headf looks like a potato!!!!!
and he's crooked tpo the left!!! what a loser!
PLUS HE has black borDERS Around hi shands and legs and everything

How did you manage to spell "Autism" correctly while butchering nearly every other word in your post? Your statements add nothing useful, merely pointing out discrepancies when others have already done a more eloquent, constructive, and thorough job.  The others are at least listing ways to improve the picture and work on his skills.  The only point you've made that was new was concerning the black borders.  I can only assume that you dislike the borders since, otherwise, the sentence (?) was just stating the obvious.  In either case, I'd put that down to personal opinion and think it would be better if he worked on things that seem to have been universally noted. 

<Sigh> Why bother?  Just go away, you're obviously not capable of interacting with others.

Just a couple aethetic notes: He is looking rather older than teenaged (partially the moustache but also shapes in general).  The sword at his waist seems to be a practice saber (With the small sphere at the end preventing penetration of the skin).  There should be very little of one's collar area visible from straight-on at the side, if you rounded off the shoulder bit and gave him a more protruding neck, it'd make him look a touch less hunchbacked (and also match the other views better). 

Also, for consideration, your calculations appear to assume that you're using MSN 24 hours a day during that month.  Unless you are, a more reasonable 16 hours a day would work out to 578 M per month, and (unless you're an IM-addict) a more likely 4 hours a day yields less than 150.  If you're being that nit-picky, you could find out whether your ISP is using real Megabytes as the limitation or the new, rounder 1,000,000 marketing standard.

If yahoo's got no overhead, then it would seem something to consider, but MSM is far less a culprit of bandwidth waste than a myriad of other things you do on the web.   

[some where in]

Monkey, I'm not picking apart your corrections so much as adding a differing viewpoint.  Primarily, I'm toying with yours because I'm too damned lazy to start from scratch (not that there was all that much to correct).

"I've posted the same request some where in this board, but no one has answered me except Pablo - but I think it's too little though. I'm copying its text and adding a few new words:

Maybe a different person should jump on this for each thread.  The differences in correction can be confusing.  The second "but" is unnecessary in the above.  The dash designates an interjected (often emphasizing or contradicting the preceeding) statement.  So, it should be either 'except Pablo, but . . ." or, "except Pablo -- I think it's too little, though."   The sentence, overall, is clumsy due to it being a run-on.

"One of the reasons why I've decided to sign-up and join this community is to improve my English skills, so... If you have a time and alacrity, please correct my utterances (it might be best as quotes), where it's necessary. I wish you do that with every post that I will write, but it's probably impossible... "

"sign-up and" is redundant as common knowledge dictates it's prerequisite to joining, but -- in any case -- shouldn't have "sign-up" hyphenated.  I can understand your reasons for doing so, since it does clarify the term, but without the hyphen is the widely-used and acceptable term.  "I wish you do that" could be seen as correct only in more classical English.  In modern English, the phrase requires an infinitive: to do. "I wish" is overly classical as well.  It's correct, but "I'd like" or "I ask that you do".  The trailing dots are a common way of noting a pause, but are more comic-influenced or derived from elipses.  Also, the colon and left parenthesis are out of place.

"I always strive as best as I can when it comes to English, but... you can't win 'em all.

Again, overly poetic for spoken English.  "Trying the best that I can," or, "trying my hardest," would be more common but strive is seldom used and usually carries a strong connotation of physical effort and carries adverbs to emphasize that (e.g. I strive long and hard to accomplish my goal).

"Anyway, I don't want to impose upon you, so I count only on your good will.

Should be "count only upon your . . ." instead.

English evolves (or sinks back into the abyss, maybe) constantly so any person's corrections might be accurate.  Some are unanimous - others could be due to differences in opinion.  I heartily agree that Skurwy's English is outstanding.  It's better than about 90% of what I've read from my American peers (not exagerrating there).