Messages

We had an incident in the US where a tazer killed someone.  A big stink was made about how the company claimed they were absolutely non-lethal.  I believe the victim had heart problems before the incident.  Somehow, people here jumped on the company/police force for discovering that tazers aren't 100% non-lethal but rather 98% or so, yet ignore the fact that every time one is used, it probably prevents the use of a firearm with a much higher lethality rate.

Ah, someone else said it.  After seeing it, I just tried to put it down to him having a very unusual butt.

[edit: scumm...  eh? Not me.  Lowest form of humor, that.]

Alright, but make sure all the games are in English.

/end facetious statement (edit: joking, whimsical, not to be taken at face value)

It's good to see someone take the torch for the French community, I've noted the presence of German support forums for some time now.

I'm one of those people who believe that the atmosphere of a forum is created rather by a handful of strong individuals, than by the majority of the members or the very theme of the forum itself.

I disagree - well, somewhat.  I think it's a combination of factors.  The above-mentioned prerequisites for the AGS' appeal in combination with some damned good moderation.  Every moderator has their own style and sometimes it can be rather tactless.  However, even the perceived wrong decisions get backed up by the community.  I think we've got a wonderful conglomeration of a great administrator, good moderators and above-average users.  Myself, I wouldn't bother with the forums at all if the attitude were different but from my very first posts on EZBoard, each statement was taken on its own merit - not mine. 

Of course, if the forums were hostile, I'd probably have gotten a game out the door by now.   I maintain my disagreement because I've been very impressed by the maturity level of some of the younger members and have often been surprised to find out just how young some of our active participants are (despite the apparently overwhelming amount of 25-28 year-olds).

I realized that other countries didn't regularly use guns but didn't realize there were countires considering switching over. 

My impression is that the US has more gun-toting criminals that pose a threat to the average citizen than some of the countires that haven't required firearms.  An US update: San Francisco votes this year on whether to have a gun ban or not.  I don't recall the specifics of the deal but I think it's an all-out private ownership ban. 

Matchew, I've heard anecdotes about citizens being killed by policemen but these seem to be fairly rare news stories.  As far as accidental (non-warranted) shootings, they don't seem to happen often.  Policemen are merely people and as with all people, you have some that can behave responsibly and some that are more prone to violence or errors in judgement.  If I had my choice, we wouldn't have any guns in the US (criminals, citizens or otherwise) but I realize it's not realistic at this point.  So, I'd rather the people enforcing our rules and protecting the citizens are able to defend themselves.  If Ireland's got policemen unable to cope with the criminal element, then perhaps it's time.  If so, it's a regrettable necessary evil.

A number of signals come across strongly enough to affect speaker magnets, regardless of whether or not the device is powered.  I'm not pretending to know the answer to your quandry but relating my own observations.  We use hand-held radios at work and it's a little unnerving that they cause the alarm clock/radio to blast static.  Even more so, it's strange that one particular radio causes the alarm to blare its beep-beep-beep alarm tone.  I'm nearly guaranteed reproductive damage - 1 more victory for evolution.

RAM matters somewhat depending upon your board choice.  I got some Kingston value RAM initially for my board.  However, the motherboard didn't specifically support that particular model and Kingston hadn't tested it with that motherboard.  So, I was up s__t creek without a paddle.  I ended up getting some Corsair XMS (400 Mhz, 6,3,2,2) that kicks some ass. 

RAM matters in several instances: Whether it'll work with a dual-channel board in dual mode, whether it's registered or non-registered (The first A64 motherboards required reg), and if you have system instability.  If everything's smooth, you'll notice little performance increase but better RAM unless you're an overclocker.

If you've got an nVidia card with 64 megs on it, I'm assuming it's a Geforce 2, perhaps GTS or ultra. . . potentially a low-end Geforce 3.  Graphics cards have come a long way so your card would be your current gaming bottleneck.  A budget upgrade from the GF2 or 3 series would be a Radeon 9800 Pro 128M.  Running around $130-150 online, they still hold their own for Doom 3 and Half-life 2.  Avoid the GeForce FX series, the newer generation is much better with fewer headaches.

English teachers are odd that way.  Strangely enough, mine never had us read anything by George Orwell so I was ignorant of his writings until a couple years ago.  Then again, never had to read To Kill a Mockingbird but did so on my own time as well.  I did, however, have to read The Canterbury Tales in both English and Olde (TM) English.

Having just finished HL2 a couple days ago, I can't help but read everything in Redwalls postings in the doctor's voice.

Alright, I'll agree that Mamet isn't nearly as horrid as Boll but he still gets the ultra-stinky award for not learning from his mistakes.  Spartan was his most recent (last I checked) and earns my pick for crappiest supposedly non-B-list movie of the past few years.

Watch Glengarry Glen Ross or Wag the Dog and then eat my balls.

That's what makes me detest the guy so much.  Hannibal was watchable and I loved Wag the Dog.  So, seeing those titles in his filmography confounded me.  His other recent films, Heist and Lifeboat I've yet to see but don't particularly want to after Spartan.  The comedy I was referring to was State and Main.  I tried watching it but the dialogue twisted my intestines and I found myself unable to continue due to flashbacks from Spartan.  And the dialogue style is intentional! Val Kilmer's nothing great (minus Top Secret, of course) but he did a better job in Real Genius. 

Worse yet, David's 'Unique' approach to dialogue is to have the actors deliver it as unrealisticly as possible and have the most inane comments possible.  If it were parody, I could understand, but trying to foist BS upon us in the name of genius with fans crying, "You just don't -get- it" is asinine.   I will, however, give Glengarray Glen Ross another shot if only because of your recommendation and the 2 DM films I've seen that haven't blown the proverbial goat.

Edit: And Farcry? WTF? The game with decent gameplay that gets monotonous towards the end and having one of the worst plotlines of 2004? (Bloodrayne's is worse, however, but at least enjoyable in a b-movie way)

I felt that way about Cheerleader Ninjas.  From the cover, it had some potential to be a good parody/b-flick but they avoided any type of subtlety and used every crappy stereotype imaginable.  Very nearly unwatchable. 

A Lord of the Rings parody would have some potential, one would think.  However, a straight-to-video movie entitled Lord of the Strings (packaging actually disagrees with the movie.  The movie calls itself Lord of the Gstrings) was an utter POS.  It was pretty much an excuse to make a lesbian softporn.  The only thing mildly amusing was an alcoholic version of Gandalf called Smirnov - and- I swear, that's the funniest bit . . . just sad.

It makes me want to watch Eight-Legged Freaks again, a b-movie parody done well despite (or maybe because of) using David Arquette.    The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera was a nice b-flick parody but it tends to drag a bit too much to watch repeatedly. 

Hmm, I liked the Bourne Supremacy.  At least, I liked it to the same level I liked the first.  Both have too much feeling of the director tugging your sleeve and whispering, "Isn't this so cool?"  The camera shakiness in Supremacy didn't bother me a bit, I found it a touch more immersive for the dramatic moments than a distant steady camera would've been.  If for no other reason, I enjoyed Supremacy because they killed off Marie.  Granted, I'll probably never watch either film again. 

Man on Fire, now that movie kicks much ass.  That means a bit since I've gotten quite tired of Denzel.

I was, in fact, thinking about Buster's (or is is Baxter?) adventures all wrong.  The divorced or abuse parents scenarios probably wouldn't fit into the happy family setting that they were probably trying to show.  I suppose it would be a lot more beneficial to show a happy and functional family with two moms than to address it as a "here's what you should do if..." kind of thing.  For all I know, there might very well be a bi-racial family that he comes across, I stopped short of doing the research.  <Yak pulls the lobsters out of his pants and attempts to relax a bit> 

I just assumed since you mentioned both in sentences that run one after the other and linking them with the phrase "It would be far more realistic if" that you were making a comparison . . . gays, alcoholics, race, religion) and have shows where six zany-but-normal white people hang out at a zany-but-normal coffee shop every day and do zany-but-normal white people things like dance around zany-but-normal fountains.

Very well, it was a comparison if you'd like to simplify it.  It was a greater than/ less than comparison but not a statement of equivalence.  The assumptions made are so asinine that I'm not even sure how to reply.  I, personally, have zero problem with the episode in question. 

I was stating that it seemed strange to introduce children to a situation that isn't all that common rather than choosing to introduce them to one that is.  I've had the kids come home and say things like, "My friend's dad drinks too much and I don't want to spend the night there anymore,", "My friends parents burned her hand on a hot stove for coming home late, I'm glad my parents aren't like that," , "My friend's mom has a drug problem," etc., but I've yet to hear anything about a parental couple my kids came across that were of the same gender.  Perhaps it's more common in other parts of this wonderful, wonderful world of ours but I haven't encountered it personally yet. 

Why this particular issue? Have they already covered divorced familes, bi-racial marriages, substance abuse or the other issues that just about every kid in the US (if not world-wide) will come across on a regular basis.  Making the assumption that I want white-bread edutainment that's devoid of any sort of diversity or critical thinking is way beyond the bounds of what I was expressing.  I just was explaining the I could understand why they yanked the program and knowing there are many people that would find it offensive.  I, for one, would not.   I just think it's "more realistic if" a kids' show covers issues that might actually affect the average child.  If you're going to use up your might-offend-some-folks-currency on such non-issues as homosexual couples (really, what the fuck does it matter to a kid what gender their friends parents are), it seems a waste when you could explore an issue that might actually save that TV-zombified kids life or one of their friends?    Alright, admittedly half the reason I'm pissy is that I'm running quite a fever but people's assumptions about my views have become the equivalent of schoolyard drama.

Excellent quality background, it also reminds me a bit of the one InCreator was just working on.  I've only got a couple nagging items: 

The fog's obviously rather thick as it cuts out your view of the grass only a few feet back.  However, wouldn't it be a little more visible in the foreground?  Some cloudy wisps at knee-height or so would help add some volume to it and show that it's very misty out instead of appearing as though it's merely a device to avoid drawing some of the details.

Building 17 is rather narrow.  I can understand a 1-door width for an entrance but only if it opens up later into something larger (unless that's a massive door).  The trees as well seem to be hugging the building a bit too closely.  I'm sure even in the future they're worried about roots causing structural collapse.  One is also left to wonder whether the trees were there first and they built a very skinny building in the space between or whether they coincidentally grew parallel so closely without being removed.  I think an ideal solution would be to eliminate one tree and extend the building's width that direction and possibly (if it's not too much trouble) move the other tree away a few feet. 

Again, great work and I really like the style you've done it all in.  The combo of black outlines and no outlines does throw me off a bit though.  Maybe if you replaced the buildings black with dark shades of their primary color?

Excellent point.  The adventure genre isn't dead, it's authors are just suffering from a touch of technophobia.  The Longest Journey was quite engrossing for me and it played quite a lot like some of the older adventures, but without looking outdated. 

3D doesn't always have to be used, but when it is, it should be used to its potential.  The designers of GK3, for example, seem to have crafted a game that could've been done equally well in the GK1 format.  They had 3D just for the sake of having it.  It would add greatly to the immersion if they used 3D to accomplish things that couldn't be done as easily in 2D (dialogue on-the-go, buildings turning evil very slowly before your eyes, action sequences that feel suspenseful without requiring FPS reflexes). 

I may be suffering from a touch of that good ol' adventure nostalgia but I refuse to agree that all games need to be more fast-paced and cater to a short attenion-spanned crowd that can't sit still for some good story-telling.  The DVD format of the newer consoles and DVD's being very common in PCs means that they can easily have all spoken dialogue, fantastic soundtracks and breathtaking cutscenes without having to make compromises with available space. 

Well, I live near A bay.  And by near, I mean that the average distance is more near than Colorado.  And as for that TV program - I was young, I needed cash.

You mean, like watching "The Blob" for a laugh?

Or better, watching Son of Blob for a bigger laugh.

How is it that Uwe Boll continues to con studios into letting him direct anything over then the parking lot traffic? 

I feel much the same about David Mamet.  I watched Spartan (perhaps the worst movie I've seen, at least the worst with any kind of budget) and was amazed to find he'd done Hannibal (which I enjoyed..  mostly).  I later found a comedy he'd directed that had the same thumbprint of evil upon it. 

What are your current specs?  It makes a bit of difference since it would seem you've got two good choices at the moment.  For example, I've got an Athlon XP 2800+ on an Asus a7n8x mobo, with a GeForce 6800 GT.  I wouldn't see a whole lot of improvement going to an Athlon 64 3000+, at least not enough to justify the expense.  However, I may consider going to a decent socket 939 with PCI-E SLI support so I've got a good upgrade path for the next year or two. 

Unless you're really hurting on processor speed, there's no point in not going for a nicely upgradable setup.  However, if you're still running in the 1800 Mhz range, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad cost/performance choice to go for something like an Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard with a 3000+ Athlon 64.  You could snag a mobo/cpu combo for $285-$300 online and be able to upgrade to an Athlon 64 FX-55 after prices drop.