Randox

Moscow is on a river. Moscow is quite large I think (it's up to like 10 or 11 people by now). It occurs to me than when I left, Japan outgunned me because I had just lost a siege and much of my army. Still, my siege army is not sustainable (actually, right now I can afford the road I half built or a standing military force of any kind. That's why I needed Japan's money). As a thought, if there really is only the two iron on the continent, Russia gets double the available iron that anyone else would (that's our ability, and it works on horses and uranium too). Given that Japan keeps asking for horses when we trade, I suspect that I might control the pony trade too, or at least a lot of it. Being Russia, I effectively control 4 horse resources right now. So I have the resources to wage war, I just can't really afford it. I'm also assuming that if Japan has my horses and we go to war, they don't get to keep cavalry units made from my horses right? Or do they keep the cavalry but are just unable to rebuild them except with their horses? No espionage in the vanilla version. People are still happy (not for long, I know what happens when I annex). The upside for me is that I've spent a lot of time watching Civ 5 being played (Zemalf, who seems to be pretty good at it).

Got Civilization 5 (thanks to a kind donation). I'm pretty sure I am getting my ass kicked something fierce. Playing as Russia, and while Moscow is doing fantastic, at least in terms of wonders, it's my only City because I have 3 city states right next to me, and Japan managed to claim the other third of the Continent (Moscow is singlehandedly beating almost every other empire at research, and it has 3 wonders). Right now I am making trade deals with Japan so they might be less likely to squash me, and actually to keep my budget in the green to support a war effort against a city state controlling one of two known iron deposits (without iron, I'm not even going to be a speedbump if Japan decides to kill me). Really wish I already had iron so I could build siege weapons. I might immediately go after another city state before winding down my tiny war machine. I'm torn between Venice who has land that I want, and the hostile one that is pushing against my borders. I think I am going to be on good terms with the hostile one (they wanted me to wage this war, so all good), so they might be the last to die. That's going to be an ugly war either way. I dunno, I think I can stage a comeback (most of the Galactic Civilization games go like this, where I am a tiny bug on the wall in the early game and an indomitable powerhouse in the late game). I just need to keep Japan happy for another thousand years or so. When we go to war, it's going to be spectacular though. Unless they do it soon, in which case it will be hilarious (for them).

I live in southern Texas. Our winter is everyone else's autumn. Well then it's not crazy and your heating bill doesn't make me cringe. If I lived in Texas, I'd probably want to keep the house warm too. Got way colder outside today, didn't think to adjust the radiator. Probably should have, but I'm used to it now. Been watching some Digimon on Netflix, a show I definitely wanted to see more of when I was target audience age. On the one hand, there is some level of consistency and logic in how powerful creatures are. On the other hand, some (all?) of these kids have crippling emotional/judgement issues, and it's actually kind of annoying (not issues themselves, but the yo-yoing between perfectly fine and frothing lunacy).

It's crazy if it's winter outside. Your heating bill is making me cringe.

Snowboard Cross and Bobsled tomorrow. Don't know what Snowboard Cross is, but hoping its cool. Fan of the bobsled so looking forward to that. Was also watching some curling today. Good fun (watched the end of Canada beating Russia, which was pretty close in the last end).

I was in the states during part of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and I noticed the negativity thing back then. The Canadian coverage can get pretty dry (not all events have a lot of conversation points, and not all former athletes are skilled commentators), but it's upbeat and fair. They're always happy when someone does well, and I would find it much harder to be happy for the athletes of other countries who beat the athletes from my country without that third party influence. Really enjoyed the Skiing slopestyle (womens) this morning/last night even if I didn't get to see it live. Found it more interesting than the snowboarding versions, so I'm glad they added that in. Haven't seen as much of the Curling as I would have liked so far, though I did stay up for the first bit of our mens first match. I'll watch hockey when we get to the medal game. Tomorrow looking forward to the women's halfpipe and downhill, and maybe some doubles luge because I really want to see how that works. I'm actually trying to get up to watch an hour of live early morning stuff before going back to sleep. Not ideal, but I do get to see a bit more live coverage. Also hoping that if it goes up well above freezing again that they'll delay events like slopestyle and halfpipe until the evening when it cools back down. Warm snow gets roughed up really quickly, and it absolutely kills your ability to maintain speed, which is really bad for these events. I know the slopestyle finals would have been a lot more impressive, and I'm sure halfpipe too, if they weren't all running in what is practically slush.

My issue with what I am going to call conventional medicine would be that most of the funding comes from profit oriented groups. If the companies don't think they can make a profit, they aren't motivated to fund research in the first place. I'm not saying there isn't a fantastic amount of bull flying under the alternative medicine. What I will say is that in the years after being diagnosed with UC, I've found out that a terrifying amount of modern medicine is based on knowledge that is out of date, outright false, or comes from research funded by people with a massive financial interest in lying. When I was diagnosed with UC (ulcerative colitis), I was told point blank by the doctor that diat had nothing to do with my condition. In the few short years since I was diagnosed we have made major progress on that point. More than half a decade later medical science has acknowledged something I figured out years ago, and other people figured out decades ago. Side note: the fantasy that food doesn't affect a GI condition is just absurd. I have to imagine it took them so long to get around to some more studies on food and UC in part because the guys with the most money to fund this kind of research are the drug companies, and if I can manage my condition with a diet instead of drugs with an annual 5 figure price tag, that's less money for them. The other side of that is that some of the studies were done, decades ago, but it's very difficult for all these smaller potentially very useful studies to compete with well funded pharmaceutical reps. Side note, we've done studies to prove that allowing drug manufacturers to conduct exclusive testing of their own drug is a terrible way to get unbiased results. Because apparently we needed a study to figure that out. Ultimately, even if everyone were honest and motivated by saving lives instead of money (why I think private medical systems are terrifying in a nutshell), medical science is very slow to change. It takes a very long time to be sure of something to the point where someone isn't going to sue you into oblivion. There is also the fundamental issue that we assume what we know to be correct is infact correct. We've been falsely making that assumption for thousands of years, and continue to do so despite thousands of years of evidence telling us that we are probably half right at best. Add that to the fact that we know very little about how the human body works (and when it comes to the brain it's pretty much trial and error), and it's not unreasonable to assume that at least some of the ideas outside recognized conventional medicine have merit.

I watched Gopher play through the Amnesia games. I think that was enough for me (I'm actually regressing with the Deadspace games. The more I know what to expect, the more I dread moving forward, especially knowing 3 has all the ubermorphs). I think it was enough for him too. By his own admission, he got through the games by drinking a lot of rum. Maybe that's my problem with Deadspace 3. Not drunk enough.

I've never played the Civilization games. I do play Galactic Civilizations which is similar (though there are some pretty major deviations in gameplay), as well as Endless Space which is in turn similar to Galactic Civilizations. I usually go for a side that has a lot of research ability, since I prefer technological supremacy to inherent combat bonuses.

That's weird. A thought though. Wouldn't making any claim to be a reliable source raise the question as to why they are sending you creepy letters rather than talking to the police? Anyway, that's creepy. Also, I'm sure your parents were absolutely thrilled. CBC has the olympics now here. They stream live. The funny part is that the online streams don't cut back to the studio, and they don't seem to ever turn the mics off (they weren't for skiing at least). So when the TV version isn't focused on the event, you can hear them talking, like making jokes and planning the next segment. It's kind of neat, but I hope someone told them the mics are always on. I do always forget about the time zones though. I'd rather be watching things at night, which is difficult when the Olympics are 8 hours ahead of you. I mean, I still can watch at night, but I do like to watch some live coverage as well. On the upside, I am getting feed of some of the warm up now since they are so far ahead, and that's kind of cool too. What I'm saying is that all Olympics should be hosted on the West Coast of the Americas for my convenience :P Saw The Lego Movie tonight. Absolutely brilliant.

I am strongly disliking having courses with two midterms now. Also, I don't feel that you can even pretend to call them midterms when you have two of them but that's neither here nor there. I am disliking not having TV right now with the Winter Olympics (my favourite, because I live in the country of ice and snow obviously). Will have to explore my options for internet viewing. Think we changed to CTV for Olympics from CBC. Hopefully they stream commentary. I think CBC only put up highlights and and raw footage which was kind of irritating for trying to watch anything you missed. Thinking of BSOD's, I've noticed that every once in a while my computer forgets which HDD it's supposed to boot off. My guess is one of my computer programs, or maybe a USB port withg a memory stick, is confusing Windows. It only happens when I hibernate the computer, and I'll get the NTLDR is missing message. Computer reboots, I go to setup and fix the boot order, reboot again and it comes out of hibernation. It's a 30 second fix, but kind of irritating. That said, if having a harmless quirk is enough that it doesn't need to go for anything more harmful, I can live with that.

Yes, provided you aren't trying to pass yourself off as the author of course.

Finally got around to giving Arma 3 a go on singleplayer. I'm not sure if it's better than Arma 2, or if I never gave single player a chance on that game. Anyway, like it well enough in this one, though the learning curve is one of the steepest I have ever seen. The controls are even more in depth than Arma 2, though I have to admit, once you get used to all these controls existing (like being able to control if you keep your gun shouldered or lower it when walking), it's actually useful and intuitive. Just, until you know what controls exist, it can be confusing or frustrating (for example, hitting S while holding W makes you walk slow and prevents sprinting or lowering your gun). Also, the game engine has much much better physics now, and general vehicle detail. Only gripe is that the removed the mouse aim driving. Using the mouse to drive now is how you crash, since it's much too slow, and I dislike the keyboard. I've settled for using a controller instead when driving trucks. 10 minutes into the game I found myself alone on the side of a hill being shot at from multiple directions. It's really hard to see people at 200m, and I am hoping that playing single player will sharpen my spotting skills a lot. At least in that case I was too far away for anyone to hit me as long as I moved a bit, and it was certainly a tense few minutes trying to spot them all and shoot them. Playing a combat simulator is definitely a different experience. It still takes some shortcuts for playability to be sure, but the action is definitely different.

Today was weird. My left hand is sore from using the computer, so to give it a rest I spent pretty much all my time where I wasn't in class writing. I mean, I get stories in my head from time to time, and sometimes I try writing them down. Pretty sure this is the first time I came back to a story though. Definitely the first time I drew a freaking map (I am not a skilled Cartographer, but it's enough to keep things strait in my head). It's an absolute mess, since I only bothered to figure out the most bare bones plot arc possible while still calling it an arc, so every page or so is redefines the pages before it. On the upside, it leaves enough work that I probably wont mind typing it all into the computer (always do your first creative run on paper. Being able to correct everything is infuriating, and beds are more comfy than computer chairs). 12 sheets of paper (well, 6 sheets, 12 sides) single spaced of story so far (10 today). Another two (sides) outlining some of the characters and plot so that I don't wake up tomorrow forgetting all my great ideas (doesn't matter, tomorrows ideas will be better), plus the map (that was a solid hour to whip up). I figure I'm writing about 360 words per page, so 4300 words today, give or take. Anyway, I'm proud of myself. Finally managed to think up an original (if inspired) world and story. Original ideas are hard, so go me.

Not a downloadable, so the vetting process doesn't apply. Tip.It has no control over external sites. Data!

This isn't a downloadable tool, so the normal vetting process doesn't apply here. As always, we have no control over external sites. Welcome to the Tip.It forums RSGuides.

Hehe yeah, the controls are...interesting. That single joystick era is a problem, though I will say that Goldeneye had a pretty good autoaim system. If you wanted the multiplayer experience with modern controls, try Goldeneye Source on steam. It's a pretty nostalgia inducing recreation. But no, it's definitely not as timeless. I would only give that to Mario 64, and OoT/MM really, because there is something to those games that is just different (keeping in mind that Mario 64 is the last mario world game I actually played, so maybe it doesn't stand up to modern incarnations).

We hadn't really considered WIP programs. For now, I have no issue with them being posted as if they were complete. As the program is updated, you would just send me a PM and I'd check the new file and update the moderators post to point to the new version. You will also be able to edit the download link without our say so at your leisure, with the understanding that we have only checked the links that we include in our own posts. I am not adverse to working out a better system if there is a need, and if there is enough demand, I would be happy to add a WIP subforum as well. As for false positives, I would generally expect a program not to. I think for now, we are going to stick to it and say that you have to clear every program, with some potential if you only flag one, depending on what you get flagged for. In the future, this policy might be subject to change depending on what results we are seeing. And I've corrected the permissions for the forum, guests should now be able to view the forum (and let me know if not).

This is how I would view it. Same with Goldeneye 64 for me. It showed everyone what multiplayer shooters could be, and I'd hazard that graphics notwithstanding, the game still holds up alright to games that aren't more than a decade old. The same thing for Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask. These are games with gameplay and depth (in 3D no less) that while certainly not the most amazing thing ever by contemporary standards, still hold up alright even 14 and 16 years later. Doom, Goldeneye, Super Mario 64, and Ocarina of time are games that blazed a new trail. Doom pretty much created the FPS genre. Super Mario 64 was one of the first 3D games ever made, and is a game that had a serious impact on game design that followed. Goldeneye brought shooters to the console, and proved that multiplayer shooters could be fun. Ocarina of Time brought the even more open world, massive story, and gameplay mechanics that serve as the forerunner to games like the Elder Scrolls Series. The games are firsts (or at least the first that was popular), and had a massive influence on games that followed them. That is why they are special. I've obviously left out a couple, with Pong being the most obvious one I can think of.

People who say hashtag _____ in everyday conversation. I find it physically impossible to take someone who does this seriously.

If you dry the razor, they'll last longer than you think. It's water that damages them, not use. Alternately, you can do as one of my highschool friends did (he suffered from 5 o'clock shadow) and just stop using shaving gel altogether. Do that twice a day and you can blow it clean, and without seeing water, I bet the blades last for like a month easy. It sounds like using sandpaper. I figure it's like using a cheese grater on your face for the first week or so, but after that I guess it's alright. Or you can use the mental image of shaving dry to make you okay with the idea of buying new blades :D

Today we announce a new Tip.It pilot project and accompanying new board - Community Created Tools! This new board, as you may be able to guess from the name, is for people to share links to RuneScape tools they have created and uploaded to the internet. I strongly advise reading the How This Board Works sticky, but to summarize: RuneScape Rules Still Apply - Tip.It will not support programs that violate the RuneScape official rules. Any program found to be in violation of the rules will be denied/removed. New Topics Are Moderated - New Threads must be approved by a moderator before they become visible, to allow for our approvals process. Once a thread becomes visible, posting works as normal. Our Vetting Process - In an effort to weed out the bulk of the malware that a project such as this will inevitably attract, all programs will be uploaded to https://www.virustotal.com/ prior to approval. This site uses several Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs, and any programing found to flag any of the scanners in use by this site will not be approved. This process is not 100%, and Tip.It makes no claim that a program is safe to download, only that the program has passed this vetting process on the date of the scan. As an additional measure, all approved topics will have a post by a moderator or administrator reminding users that this is not a 100% process, the results of the scan, and a link to the download. This is done primarily to prevent thread creators from changing the download link after the topic has been approved, and we highly recommend that users download from the moderators post only. We Encourage Source Code - It is much easier to see that a program is on the up and up if people can see how it works. We will not force users to post their source code, but we strongly encourage that you do. Again, we cannot guarantee that the programs we allow are safe to use. Right now, this is a pilot project to evaluate the feasibility of allowing this sort of advertising on our forums, as well as gauging community interest in such a program. If this is successful, then we will look at potential changes to our vetting process to make it more thorough. Our aim is to give people who spend time creating legitimate RuneScape tools a place where they can share their programs with the RuneScape community and see their work recognized and used, and to give our users a place to look for such programs with what we hope is the bulk of the malware laden garbage already filtered out. Please feel free to let us know what you think of the idea and what, if anything, you would like to see us doing differently in regards to this project.

Guess I kind of got caught up in being back to school. The weather is alternating between suck and miserable, so that's nice. Also not feeling on top of the world myself since Sunday, so hoping that passes soon. Met up with a couple old friends I haven't seen since High School graduation on Saturday though to start hammering out a friends new D&D club. It's been far too long since I've been involved with stuff like that, so quite excited on that front. I also have the same professor for a couple classes this term, and it's awesome. The man is an absolutely brilliant teacher, which is always welcome. I've also gotten a bit into World of Tanks. I'm still steadfast against World of Warplanes on the grounds of hitpoints, and I still resent the Wargaming pricing sheet (it's not a cheap game if you want to give them money) I enjoy it though, so I'm willing to put up with that, and give them a little of my money.

Welcome to the Community Tools Pilot Project. On this forum, and this board, and this board only, we are allowing our community to share RuneScape related programs they have created with the rest of the community. It is our hope that this will make it easier for people who put a lot of work into these kinds of programs to get them 'out there' and provide a place for our community to find new and useful tools to help them with RuneScape life. Because of the nature of this forum, we have applied special rules and procedures to this forum, detailed below. RuneScape/Jagex Rules Still Apply: Not an exception from the rest of our forums, but this bears repeating. Any program posted to this forum must comply with the RuneScape official rules! Tip.It has zero tolerance for any programs that automate RuneScape play (bots/macros), or programs that infringe on Jagex intelectual property (decompilers, etc.), and we will remove/refuse any program we deem unacceptable on these grounds. New Topics are Moderated: This means that new topics posted to this board will not become visible right away as they do on the rest of the forums. All new threads are subject to approval by the moderation team before they become visible. No threads will be allowed, except those created to share a RuneScape related program. Once a thread becomes visible, posting on that thread will function as normal. However, posts made in this board will not count towards your total post count. Our Vetting Process: The major reason a board like this has not been allowed up until now is because we cannot guarantee a program is safe to use. This is still very much the case. We make no claim that the programs we allow to be posted are safe. What we will do is run prospective programs through the site https://www.virustotal.com/ which will scan the program with a number of Anti Virus and Anti Spyware programs. Any program flagging potential issues on any of the scanners used by this site will not be allowed, and it is our hope that this system will weed out the bulk of maleware that people will attempt to share with our community. In addition to this, a moderator or administrator will add a first post to the thread with a reminder that we do not guarantee that a file is 100% safe, the result of the virus scan, and a link to the download. This is being done primarily to prevent people from editing the download link after a thread has been approved. We highly recommend that if you chose to download a program posted here, that you do so from the moderators post, not the thread creators post. At this stage in the pilot project, we will not guarantee that we will run the programs prior to approving them. For our safety, this needs to be done with a virtual machine, so this is subject to availability and volume. We Encourage the Posting of Source Code: We encourage anyone who wishes to post a download link to this board to include the source code. It is much easier to convinced people that your program is on the up and up when people can see how it works. However, we understand that not everyone wishes to share their program in this way, so it is not currently a requirement. If at any time posting source code does become a requirement, any programs shared before that point will be grandfathered under the old rules and not be required to include source code.

Back in my own house. Feels good, though I have to admit, I was really enjoying being out with my parents. Mom and I went sledding on the hill down to the lake (~45 ft high, two 90 degree turns. It's quite fun). I haven't had a sled on that hill in a couple years at least (it takes a fair amount of snow. Such as the Blizzard we had). Dad came out and took some pictures. First try with the camera I almost ran him over because I went wide through the first turn. Also had the dog out for some exercise. Just a tonne of fun. Classes start up again tomorrow. Can't say I am super pleased with that. I prefer it like the fall term where we always start on a Thursday (which gives you every class once, and then a weekend). A nicer way to get back into it versus a full week. Also don't have my Tuesdays and Thursdays clear anymore, though all my days are lighter as a result. Loved that schedule though, minus the part where I had two classes at the same time (just sat in on a different prof).