qeltar

20 minutes for the warning, 5 minutes later it disappears.

It's not really a moot point, though, because you are paying a lot in opportunity cost by camping a rather poor-dropping monster and not getting much XP. Not sure why people still use the MSB when there seem to be much better options.

The absolutely simplest way to get introduced to Thai food is to start with premade curry pastes, which you can get pretty much anywhere now. Put a jar or can in a big pot with a couple of cans of coconut milk, add meat and veggies of your choice -- like potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, cauliflower -- and simmer for an hour. Serve over rice. I make this often and it is pretty much no work at all, but people always rave about it.

Not sure why you are assuming I am a Protestant, but I'm not. I don't really care about Catholic doctrine; it's sillier than some belief sets, less silly than others, but that doesn't really matter. I have a poor opinion of the Catholic Church because everything I have seen of its behavior suggests that it is an organization that is mainly concerned with maintaining its own power, wealth and prestige over all else. In this it is similar to most other large organizations or governments. I also take a dim view of some of the church's policies. I spent the 1990s living in the Boston area and was rather disappointed at seeing how the Cardinal Law scandal was "managed". Finally, the church's history is rather bleak. That said, I do think it has finally taken some steps forward to more enlightened thinking, though it has a long way to go. Yes, and don't forget Gregor Mendel. But these are a tiny handful of exceptions. Overall, when it comes to the suppression of knowledge, science and technological advancement to improve people's lives, there has been no group more responsible over the last 2,000 years than the Catholic Church. I'm sure you're familiar with the story of Galileo, among *many* others. According to what I've read, Catholics do believe that atheists will burn in hell.

So you agree that "under God" being added to the pledge is wrong, but you have a problem with someone who also thinks it is wrong standing up for what he believes in? Why?

Yes, for a religion that claims to be the One Real Truth, you guys seem to have an awful lot of trouble agreeing on anything. How many thousands of sects, versions and cults do you folks have at this point? ;) I wasn't speaking specifically of the RC church, but that was a nice collection of straw men there! The RCC has its own collection of serious problems, which I don't really want to get into. Most folks already know what they are. The RCC is an interesting curiosity for me, though, largely for its creativity in being dissatisfied with the standard Christian mythology and layering an entire additional set of beliefs on top of it. BTW, I've heard far more derogatory comments about Catholics from other Christians than from atheists...

That was an attempt to undo the effort by Christianists to impose their religion on everyone else. It is not an example of anyone trying to force atheism on everyone else. Many Christians seem to think that the mere absence of promoting their religion automatically implies atheism, as if there is no possibility of simple neutrality. If he was trying to get the pledge changed to "under no god", then you'd have a point. He wasn't.

No, and we probably won't for many years, due to the rampant bigotry against atheists. They are one of the most feared and despised groups in the country. In a recent study, atheists ranked as the group most Americans would least like their children to marry -- below all other often-disliked religious and social groups. The point was more what the nice Christian president said, and how there was absolutely NO consequence for him saying it.

Keris is pretty much useless. You get the special every 10 minutes or so. I don't know what they were thinking when they made it.

Funny how Christians always expect atheists and others to "keep their views to themselves", but they never practice what they preach. Last time I checked, it wasn't atheists trying to have "In No God We Trust" put on our currency. It's not atheists trying to erect tablets on public land. It's not atheists who make people swear allegience based on their beliefs. It's not atheists who come ringing my doorbell trying to tell me all about their wonderful belief system and how I should change. It's not atheists who would shut down a prom rather than let someone with differing beliefs participate. It's not atheists who spend the entire month of December just *assuming* that everyone they meet shares their particular mythology. We've never had an atheist president saying that Christians shouldn't be considered good citizens -- but we had a Christian one saying that about atheists.

There have been lots of high level updates over the last 12 months. Very high level players are a tiny percentage of Jagex's customer base. They already get a disproportionate share of updates. It is bad business to spend 50% of your time making content that is used by 1% of your customers.

No, it isn't. And even if it were, that would not be a guarantee that you personally will like every week's update. I just tried this D&D and even though I did poorly at it -- didn't know what I was doing -- I thought it was very cool. Much more interesting and a better addition to the game than yet-another-fish-caught-standing-around-like-a-robot.

What, six whole weeks? FTP3 is delayed, I read somewhere.

I fight them without a fire cape so that's what this is based on. With one it may be a bit different. That said.. they are pretty easy to kill, actually, if you use prayer, which is what I recommend. Best prayer gear, Slayer helmet, your favorite weapon. Don't even need a unicorn, just bring a beast of burden with cheap to moderate healing food. They'll hit you periodically so just heal up. Doesn't take that long to get back if you need to bank. The trick with these is to click them when they are near stalagmites or walls. You can do this 95% of the time and it stops them from digging.

I have to admit that while I don't care about looks, I can understand someone who does wanting colored robes. But I cannot get the point of a colored dark bow when the weapon itself is pointless for all but a tiny handful of special uses. Are people going to slow down training just to show it off? Walk around with it at the GE?

I'm always amused at how much people really do care about things like the color of their robes. Even though I don't care personally, it's a simple way for Jagex to breathe new life into old objects at a minimal cost.

Because they are principled, already make enough money, and are willing to give some up to not give in to the freedom-hating scumbag Chinese government?

You may not have noticed before, but your government consists of power-hungry control-freak dictators. Even worse than ours. ;)

I'm extremely confident that we will either get a new skill tomorrow, or we won't. (If I had a nickel for every silly prediction like this that I've read...)

A distinction must be made between "not believing that gods exist" and "believing that gods do not exist". They are not the same. The latter is a statement of belief, comparable to and counterpositioned to the belief that gods do exist. There is no possible way to show definitively that gods don't exist, and so anyone holding this position must (honestly) admit that it cannot be proven. The former, however, is a simple logical position based on lack of evidence. I don't believe gods exist because nobody has shown that they do. I have no more reason to try to prove that they don't exist than I have to prove that invisible pink unicorns don't exist. If someone wants to convince me that gods or invisible pink unicorns exist, they must profer the necessary evidence (which, by the way, doesn't mean near-prehistoric, self-contradictory, violent scratchings in a silly book). Dieties don't explain anything unexplained. Answering a question with the supposition that a deity did something does not increase knowledge or understanding. Quite the opposite in fact -- it's a copout that allows the uninquisitive to shut down their minds.

Yes, how *dare* those "uppitty" gays object to being treated like second-class citizens, eh? Demanding equal rights and all! The childishness here is on the part of heterosexuals who somehow think their marriages will be "ruined" because gays use the same word. Few realize that nearly EVERY argument used against gay marriage was used against mixed-race marriages 50 years ago.

Blasphemer. Everyone knows the universe spewed forth from the rear end of the Invisible Pink Unicorn.

A good example of how someone can believe something that is utter nonsense, but that doesn't make it true. Where the bible says *what*? Don't know what you mean. And yes, the bible is a collection of myths and fairy tales, interspersed with some history and a few valid moral lesson (outnumbered by immoral lessons, unfortunately). I don't take the bible seriously because the *bible* is so... full of it.

Sorry, I never deliberately post links to the members' side of my site, that was a mistake. You can read the report for free here.

It just so happens that I did a controlled test of the SS versus ZS question at waterfiends last month. The Sara sword is better. Full report here.