Randox

I'm holding out that we might someday start building hybrid neural/binary computer systems. Some interesting things could be done with a computer like that.

I seem to recall there being some city that anually gets swarmed by some species of insect, numbering either in the hundreds of millions or billions (it's pretty much all of that insect currently on the planet) for a day or two of mating, after which they immediately drop dead. They have pictures of them using snow plows to clear the streets of dead insects. A bit much for me. My head is very full of math right now.

I get to enjoy this while it lasts. Day started at 3C and raining, and is steadily going for 'don't need a coat' as the afternoon goes on. Fantastic.

So YAY, the guy who did a tutorial for calc last term also does do one for the course I am in now. The only downside is that it's tonight, which means I am going to be tired a bit going into this on account of a lack of sleep. Oh well. It's a neat thing he does. The course teaches you what you are doing, but he teaches you how to write the exam. Looking forward to this, even if my brain is going to become mush after running through 3 months work in 4 hours. Sometimes I wish I had one of those matrix implants at the base of my skull where I could plug myself into the electric grid and literally recharge.

It snowed inside once when the massive snowdrift outside overcame one of the doors. And it snowed here yesterday. Last year it was shorts and tee-shirt weather around this time, which was a bit warmer than normal. Still, this is a bit unusual for us, it should not be quite this cold.

It is interesting to look at the advice we give. There is probably some room for us to answer the questions people ask, even if our experience dictates we give advice a step up from that. Or rather, keep giving the advice we give, but also answer the actual question asked on their terms. It hit's me that this is the only place where I rarely do that, answering on other people's terms (which is possibly a backseat issue to the fact that multiple friends on RuneScape have come to me for relationship advice despite the fact that I have never once brought the subject up myself). I wouldn't mind us going at maintaining relationships for bit myself. It's an interesting subject, and ultimately I think a very important one.

I took a look at that, and the best guess I saw is that Microsoft are simply letting the rumor mill spin so they can gauge the reaction. A cursory glance informs me that the console users have cottoned on to how much always online sucks, and are foaming at the mouth appropriately, so I wouldn't expect to see that make the cut. Not until all the consoles do it, or at least not without Sony doing it too.

Ha, never looked up the prices of any of the kits before. That's quite pricey. Not that this is the cheapest of sports anyway.

I have asked other people with automatics how much ammo they go through, and the average seems to be about double what I use. It's not as bad as I once expected, but it's still more than I want to pay. Certainly leaves me at a bit of a disadvantage, but I don't really mind. On the other hand, I'm a reasonably good shot, and people take more chances against a semi than they do against automatics, so it might actually be easier to score hits with my setup (personally, I don't think I have ever taken a shot from an auto that didn't hit my gun or face, because they really don't inspire you to not have good cover). There is a guy floating around with a gun done up as a mock M249 (SAW). It's not practical, becuase of the way you hold it, and I think it likes to break it's own balls, but it looks scary and it sounds terrifying. I think it's owner normally uses his sidearm though for actual killing though.

Season 3 of Hawaii Five-O is not done yet. This annoys me (15 days to season finale).

Hmm, I think LAN parties are something that is practically from another era now. I got my introduction to Red Alert 2 that way, when I came across it on my brothers computer after he played it at his school (my Brother playing computer games is a really hard image to imagine too, I've only ever see him play games on the computer maybe 3 times in my life). I'm actually trying to think if my current PC has ever partaken in a LAN party, of if the last one was with it's much older predecessor. That computer had a good run, five years long with one fried GPU. It's amazing what was pretty much the top of the line then would be so underpowered now (2.4GHz, Radeon Excalibur 9800SE, lasted 2002-2009). This computer needs to see at least one LAN party before it retires, not that it's due to leave service any time soon. LAN parties are great though. Also, we always did it so that enemy teams couldn't see each other, but could see allies. Mostly Age of Kings: Conquerors, Diablo II LoD, Red Alert 2, and Baldur's Gate II Shadows of Amn (notice a numerical theme to my childhood :lol:). Not sure what the party would be now. Need to find a larger group of PC enthusiasts.

Started watching Hawaii Five-O. It does stretch the suspension of disbelief a bit, in such areas as some of the time lines, and that every single case they do wouldn't be thrown out of court for rights violations (Five-O operates with immunity, but this wouldn't allow their evidence to stand up in court). That said...there is credit due to a show where interrogating a suspect looks like this: http://youtu.be/-d9Oj0e8WRs To me this is sort of like bad boys crossed with procedural cop drama, and if you don't think about it too hard, it's quite good. Also, if you don't catch it, he said hanging a guy from a roof and throwing a guy in a shark cage, a couple of previous techniques to encourage people to talk.

That makes sense. A lot of stuff costs a bit more here because of all the importing, which has actually led many people to shop as much as possible from south of the border. The assumption is that if joe homeowner can ship a small quantity across the border and still be paying less, that the stores must be trying to rip him off, and frankly that conclusion makes a lot of sense. It should be cheaper for a retailer to do it because they can presumably get some bulk shipping discount going. I can't remember the reasons some of them have given for it, or if any of the reasons are good, but it's becoming quite popular among the more furgal. Anyway, the price of paintballs certainly puts a bit of a damper on the guns use. For casual target practice at home, I have an air rifle which costs fractions of a penny to fire, rather than several.

Should I just add "(and console/PC debate)" to the title? My second question, am I seriously the only person who appreciates both? For me, myself, I am probably done with the console because most of the games I play do so better on a mouse + keyboard, and because having a gaming capable machine is a given so I don't need the added expense. That said, I talk about games with my PC friends, and maybe we show each other some things. With my console friends, I actually play games while getting in some face time. It's the one thing I really miss about not even having my xbox (actual xbox) with me right now, is that it's not there for company. I don't get the wii because that belongs to my parents. Someday I will probably have both, and I can be like that person who still has an N64 (I wish I still had an N64, but I offloaded it years ago when the controllers disintegrated).

Sounds about right, though I don't understand money issues. It's just a matter of killing enough dragons and selling them off to fund your exploits. You need to stop by the Skyrim thread though :P

That looks pretty fun, and not too different from what I am used to, though I am used to a few more trees for sneaking through, or in the case of off field play, there are a couple islands near enough where I live to be quite good in combination with camping. And are American fields super cheep to play on or something? $25 is perhaps a bit more than I am used to, but still not even half the cost of a day (ammo).

Wouldn't chain mail just make the bullet more lethal? Chain mail has no way to actually stop a bullet and would instead only serve to increase tearing damage (such as by sticking a chain link on the nose of the bullet, or causing it to deform a little extra), reduce penetration so that it doesn't come back out (requiring surgery), and potentially fragment the bullet entirely increasing the chance that the bullet will actually hit something important. You might as well just paint yourself with Tannerite.

Yes, this was done as an April fools. I do realize it was certainly different from our usual style, which you can perhaps blame on the person who wrote it who comes from a culture which loves the serious style of prank where you aren't sure if they're joking or not.

Contrary to the temporary post, the moderation team has elected to lock this thread permanently. At least at present, we do not believe that a calm and rational discussion is possible; too many things have been said already and tempers are already too high. While this topic is certainly going to be allowed to crop back up in the future if people wish, it will have to be a fresh start on a new thread, where hopefully things will be a bit calmer. We have not yet had to issue any warnings on this thread, and for once it would be nice to see one of these arguments end that way. So good job on making it this far, but it's time to take a rest.

Moderators Note: First I am actually going to lead off that despite the tension and passion involved in this debate, the lack of trouble people have gotten into over it has so far been commendable and dare I say surprising. However, it does seem to be inching along further and further into grounds where moderation will most certainly be happening, and in this case I expect that moderation will necessitate that the debate itself be ended forcefully. Keep in mind that only posts and opinions are fair game, and only so far as without implying insult to the people behind them. Attempting to edge around the rules with implied insults only raises tensions further, and only shortens the life of this debate. The expectation here is that people can voice their own opinion, withing the rules, and expect not to be attacked personally for them. Also keep in mind that the more passion people bring to this, the less likely the other side is to listen. This is not a formal debate, there is no judging panel that will decide how well each side has presented their argument and who has won. If you are to convince other people, you should avoid putting them on the defensive, and are best ignoring anyone who enters the argument with passion out of the gates as they only act to the detriment of both sides by causing a chain reaction.

To each their own. Still, if your not hurting anyone I don't really have a reason to give a rats ass, so power to you. You're living enough for all of us in a way :lol:

Snowboarding/Skiing is quite fun, and surprisingly good exercise. I favor skiing though myself. Partly because that's what I learned first, but also the utility. Around here being able to handle short uphill sections and level ground is a pretty big bonus, and you also have more ability to navigate the forest if you get bored. I never got particularly good with boards. Some great memories of having a lot of fun on the slopes. Also a few memories of being scared out of my mind, though it's all good in the end.

For me, the trick is generally to not plan it out or even think about it overly much when I actually speak the invitation. I trust my brain to put together a short coherent sentence without sounding weird or spouting giberish, and once the ball is rolling I can take it form there. Works best if you eaither lead off with that, or wait for pause long enough to mentally take a deep breath and take the plunge, so to speak.

One of my nice pairs of jeans is fraying at the heel. Guess they aren't a nice pair anymore, which is fantastic because that leaves me with just the one really good pair (here good pair means pair I don't use while working, supposedly to protect them from getting really dirty or getting ripped). Not bent out of shape for casual use, but it still makes things...difficult. Oh well. In other news, it apparently takes a (big) toe nail more than a year to grow. I dropped something heavy on my foot (aparently) last year sometime I guess in the early summer, and caused trauma to the part of my big toe producing the nail causing it to be discoloured (or rather, strained red and blue like a bruise), as well as a bit bumpy and very brittle. When it cracked, not wanting to be short that much toe nail I figured I'd just glue it together, and it's making pitiful process. I have maybe about half a healthy nail now, and I'd kind of like to ditch the broken parts before summer. It doesn't look nice, and not being attached properly is a fairly substantial issue when trying to swim. In happier news, a first last night. I have never before in my life had a drink with my parents that wasn't a glass of wine when we have had company over. It was a very lovely moment, one of those things I suppose you get to do once you start to head into an adult relationship with your parents rather than just being their child. I was also looking at my phone and realized I currently have a bunch of music on it. This must actually be the original memory card I used with my former phone, since the music is the stuff I was listening too about 4 years ago. A nice trip down memory lane (I normally have a different memory card in it with more american dad and less music). When I get back home, I need to pull some of it since I don't actually have a lot of this on my PC, it's still all on my laptop, and I don't think I could get too excited about trying to loot it's hard drive right now, if I never cleared this stuff out.