BlueLancer

:lol: I played the Pokemon Diamond Bootleg, it was basically a mix of red yellow blue green gold silver and whatnot The Pokemon Games i own are yellow red blue silver gold ruby I have about 200 Hours on my silver, all legit, all pokemon level 80+ Amazing fun when your going on long trips 8) Actually, it's a whole different game called 'Telefang', and instead of using pokeballs you'd call the "pokemon" with your cell phone. But yes the graphics and the system are extremely similar to Pokemon in that game. Pokemon "Diamond" also has a lot of profanity and poor translations which makes it fun to play even if you get bored of the game itself. Literally every second or third person you talk to in the game will curse at you or use the sh.. or f... words or just say something extremely rude. And the "gym leaders" will try to provoke you with words. It's definitely not a game suitable for kids...

The only people who call Pokemon a 'kiddie game' are little brats who try to act like they're mentally superior just because they don't play video games, or they tried playing the game and didn't understand what to do (congratulations). If you ever even bothered playing the games, you'd see they're pretty good RPG's as a whole. I've watched several episodes of Pokemon on TV as well, and I must admit it's not even nearly as good as the video game, the stories are usually ever so thin and not very interesting, with a few exceptions. Pokemon is one of the first mainstream anime shows to air in the USA. Somebody on this thread hit the nail on the head when he/she said the early episodes were better than the new ones. I'm no big fan of anime but it's fun to watch once in a while. People shouldn't make assumptions about Pokemon if you don't even know what it's about, if you just want to bash it. It may not be Steven Spielberg class but it is far more original and better than the new crap like Yu-gi-oh, Digimon (no comment, this show is a horrible rip off), Duel Masters (though this show makes the occassional anime critic/ funny/ironic remark about 'how come you can afford applying two bottles of hair gel for every episode but you can't afford a train ticket?", stuff like that) Yeah, it competes in a whole different category. 8) This one is definitely not a kiddie game as it is nearly impossible to beat the Pokemon TGC without really using your brains. It also contains many unique cards which (I think) can't be bought in stores, such as the Mew with a PPower that makes it invulnerable to evolved stage pokemon attacks. I do think the real-world TGC is a rip off and it's designed to steal money from kids that get addicted to it. A booster pack containing 8 cards of paper with pictures should not cost $5.

Yeah, if you want the link for the news story, it's in my last post. And it's officially issued by the Vatican advising the fellow believers so it's an important document and yet another 'good' step. No, you can never remove religion totally, and I don't even think it's necessary. A lot of people have put up with great amounts of crap during their lives, and it's better that they have something to believe in than not having anything at all to believe in. And other types of personalities may just want a sense of security in their lives. This is religion at it's best, when it heals people's souls. As long as it's used for peaceful purposes like this, I say let christianity, islam, judaism, buddhism or whatever expand further. If the religious "authorities" of these religions on the other hand want to use the religion for suppression, ruling, torture, reduction of freedom, spreading false beliefs and pseudo-science as truths, I think any educated person in the world would agree that in this case religion does more harm than good. There's the difference, I have experience about it: Talk to an educated christian and when you eventually ask him does he believe God created the universe, he'll say yes, but he will also admit evolution was a necessary thing while creating the world (but that does not shut off either possibility). An uneducated person that hasn't unfortunately got educated at all or doesn't know how to read (this is very common especially in third world countries), will take everything their religious community leader or the holy book says as divine truth, and if you try debating evolution with them they will not know a thing about it or call you a blasphemer in the extreme case.

I'd have to agree with Darkrick, religion and advancement do not go hand in hand. Look at every country in the world that is very, very religious (even bases it's law code possibly on religion). Take a look at The Ayatollah's Iran, take a look at Afghanistan, take a look at medieval Europe, the current Arab nations, Egypt, Syria, ... Wherever in the world religion has a strong grip, freedom of speech is limited, people are tortured on the shadow of a religious book, poverty is high, terrorists emerge, education is low etc. Then take a look at the world, particularly post classic europe, when scientific theories, ideologies and inventions started getting place in the society. Even though it would still take until about 1900, employees started getting paid well, one by one countries started getting wealthier and the freedom of speech was increased, the right of free assembly was granted, tyrannies were overthrown, people's dwellings became more comfortable, technology enabled things people a few hundred years back could've only dreamed about (hey, not even the mightiest king or emperor in the year 1300 could've even thinked about traveling to the other side of the world in a matter of hours whereas today we take it for granted. Western countries are not very religious, in America alone 13% state their religion as "none", practically the amount is about the same in wealthy European countries (as well as other OECD countries). If we speak in the terms of improving the quality of life and the freedom of people, serious science is definitely a better option than religion.

Oh yes, the "media lies". Congrats for just learning something related to this subject in school today, I can clearly see you're applying your knowledge the wrong way though. New York times isn't just read in the States, it is internationally recognised (besides, I don't think I even linked to one single site that points to the NY Times... Did I?) and has readership in Europe and Asia too. Yes, media criticism is needed but you need to know how to analyze stories. Even if I quoted the NY times, it is nearly impossible that they would state inaccurate info. It would be all over the news in the rest of the world and ruin the publishing company. Besides, I found this story in a British newspaper, not an american one. I can also give you a bunch of other reliable newspaper sites that have written about this subject. This is recent news (correct me if I'm wrong but some of the news quoted here are just over a week old), and I don't think it's 'bull' at all. As said above it's a rather brave step towards a more realistic perception of religion than a 'negative' thing. There's only so much time in the world you can try to live under a rock, and it's spectacular that an institution so conservative as the catholic church (!) would finally take a giant step towards finding a real truth.

Thanks for the idea Hannibal, I changed the subject to a more appropriate one. 8) About that issue in Texas: I don't think it's even worth debating. This stuff is so stupid there are no limits, who to blame then when americans don't know anything about science? I seriously doubt any american teacher's association has a higher word on this, and cardinals and archbishops have already said the creation story or the Bible should not be taken literally.

I saw an ABBA tribute band a few years ago, they were really great. The blonde one was hot too ^_^ ABBA were probably one of the best things to come out of Eurovision, as well as Sir Cliff Richard of course 8) Have i got my facts wrong or were they not once offered 1 billions pounds to get back together or something? Not that they needed the money or anything... :P I think it was even 1.2 billion pounds (or maybe that was just the amount in euros), but yeah that's true. And that money was supposedly just for *one* more live performance, wow. However they said they're not in it for the money, besides the fact that they would "disappoint the fans". I think it's a good choice too, they aren't really in the best condition right now and their public image would be really affected because they are all like 60 year old now.

I know 25% of americans are catholics so this should be quite some news. http://www.stnews.org/commentary-2087.htm Further reference:

I don't really play WoW anymore since I got max level ages ago and my clan has got bored. I found this game, a free server of Ragnarok Online: http://www.vanserver.com/vanro/index.php It's great fun and you don't need to train 24/7 to have fun. 8) It's PVP everywhere so once you get to the max level, which you can get on the high rate XP server easily in a few days, it will be fun. While it doesn't have really any rules bots and scamming are prohibited. The best thing about it is as I said, you can play it casually and it will still be fun butchering newbies, lol. Also, I'd say check out http://www.darkandlight.com, the open beta will begin in a week. The graphics are very professional but that's as far as my knowledge goes at the moment. But it's definitely worth a shot, and everybody has a chance of getting recognised and strong because it's still yet to be launched.

I have nothing against the Micro but disappointingly enough there's nothing to distinguish it from a pure cash cow. No new releases were made for the Micro, no specific features, etc... Just the design has changed. If you want to play GBA games, go for this one if you don't have a 3rd generation gameboy yet. If you want to play all kinds of Gameboy games including the forthcoming releases, buy a DS. I'm not saying this wont sell, it's the opposite actually. What I'm saying is that this console was not made to please the customers or "create innovative new products", this one was made with a 100% intent to only grow the bank account of Nintendo Corporation.

Google has some 200 million unique visitors daily, and tens of thousands of advertisers. Some very popular keywords might even cost $75 dollars per click (!) to the advertiser, such as 'asbestos lawyer', and so on. They have also said over 95% of their revenue comes from internet advertising, the rest comes from 'other sources'. So while it does not cost you, the client, anything to search, don't think it's all innocent and free. Google is a huge corporation. In fact, if I remember correctly it's market cap is higher than that of Ford Motor Company and Warner Bros combined together. So when you next time click a sponsored ad, remember you are paying google money (theoretically, but actually the money comes from the advertisers pocket)

A set which I found on IGN.com a while ago ATI Radeon X1800XT (512mb) (625MHz) 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz Intel EE 4.0GHz Dual Core processor 1TB (1000gb) System Drive 7,200 RPM w/32MB Cache 52x32x52x CD-RW Drive Logitech G5 Laser Mouse 2000-dpi 64mp/s G15 Gaming Keyboard Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24" LCD Monitor This might cost a bit (and you will need quite a few coolers), but it will easily beat the graphic quality and gameplay enhancements of any console or computer. In fact, I think playing MMORPG games/Fps/etc on a computer like this would give you a really unfair advantage compared to casual players. But I'm very certain, even though I'm yet to try such a computer, that you would be astonished how much better this computer would be compared to a console. Besides, with these 'configs', I doubt you'd need a new computer for the next 5 years...

Haha, I can imagine the producers of the show banging their head against the wall, they didn't expect to pay out that much cash to a single player. But that's what they get for luring people in the show. Congrats to that guy for winning.

Yeah, Samsung has had one of these for quite a while too. I agree it's much more useful and cost effective to just use a beamer, but this is sure one of the coolest TV's ever if not the coolest. :) The bad news is that this little toy weighs over 4000 pounds...

"USA can't support poor countries with medicine" is a lie. Vaccinations for the most common causes of death in poor countries cost $0.40 each to produce. To prevent the 700 million or so people that could die because of malaria, etc. in the next decade or so, a total of $280 million dollars would need to be forked out for vaccinations. Sorry, but if the USA can spend $101 billion on useless crap like traveling to the moon, I'm sure it also could save the world for less than a percent of that price. How many people were saved because people walked on moon? Did mankind 'advance' in any way because of it? And yes, it's very much a matter of money being channeled to the right places instead of living space running out. Why is most of China still poor even though the country is industrialising at a great pace? Simple: The people living in the farms are too numerous, they can't afford to live in a city. Once more and more companies open, they will get jobs, get wealthier, even if it's a mechanical job they need to operate. It's really the same issue as it's with America. A long time ago most americans were farmers, now 100+ years later they're the minority. This will eventually happen in other poor countries, very likely during our lifetime, and the economies of african, middle eastern and asian countries will be very powerful and they will be able to support their own people. Until then, they need help. Hohto, I think it's sick to say you or I can decide "Who can live and who can't". There's no such thing as a "useless life" as you say, I can't believe I heard that from such a respected tip.it/scapeboard person like you. Those children that are born in poor countries are worth just as much as your child if you ever have any. It's not their fault they were born in a poor place and definitely we can't judge them. We should be happy we were born into western countries and we have a great power of capital (by donating money) to save human lives. If you make $5k a month and donate just 1% of that every month (or the government makes it mandatory), that's still nothing to you and your lifestyle wont decrease. Instead, you will feed tens of people.

I don't mean to be rude, but "millions dead because of avian flu" is a blatant lie. At most, and it is true, millions of chicken have been butchered.

Pepper spray would be a lot more useful in a real situation with somebody robbing, mugging etc. you than a taser. Why? Because most people just assume "I have the power of temporarily paralyzing him. I'm unbeatable". That's not the case. I don't want to answer any questions on how I know this personally but it takes at least 4 to 10 seconds to really stop a person from moving, and even during that time the robber could easily break it or interrupt by punching you. If you just think you'll "fire a shot", then forget it. I guarantee you it wont work even on a dog. This device is meant to be used by people who know what they're doing, for self defense, I really wouldn't suggest it.

Refining+shipping+taxes+price negotiations with gas stations+export tariffs (if drilled outside of the US)+employee wages+equipment= Barely $4 per barrel. They might make good profit, but definitely not in the scale you are assuming. I hope you now realize they don't just drill it and sell it straight away. (And no, they don't store it literally in barrels)

I think the gas prices rock whatever happens, people should be happy they're getting it so cheap. Ever looked at the european prices? It costs about $1.6 (1.3 euros) per liter, which is 0.25 gallons, making the price per 'gallon' (they don't count gas in gallons in Europe though) $6.4. Americans are usually paying less than half of that and still the whining continues. Accept the fact; American gas is still too cheap. :)

And also, I'm just pointing out to those of you that probably didn't notice, if you throw a ps3 controller the right way, it comes back :shock: It can also be used as a 2-way d!ldo for all of you l3sbos out there :D People please! Don't judge us humble xbox fans on this idiot here! We are not all as stupid and childish as he! umm... that wasn't me being childish...you see.. I'm from the USA where I can express my opinion freely and not get shot for it like you would in your country..... but if you want childish, I can be childish, but for now.. let me express my opinion the way I want, now go eat your crumpets or cats or whatever food you eat over there Haha, nice... Or not.. Wait, I forgot, his country is the origin of the language you are right now 'expressing yourself freely' with. Sorry, I also forgot it was his countrymen that founded the country you are living in now, a few hundred years ago. Not to mention the English people, especially the queen, eat cats all the time. Not being childish? I can clearly see where you're coming from, you're a racist, making a clear remark on a certain country/countries where they might eat different food, thinking it's amusing. On the issue of the controller: I searched through a few large message boards, and I can't believe how many people are saying it looks 'crap' or 'I liked Nintendo before but now it's g*y'. I don't think it gets any more childish than that. You can't judge something before you have even tried it. Good job all you little sherlocks.

... Wow. Care to elaborate? Sorry if motivating myself, broadening the topic slighty and commending the topic author offends you.. Yeah, I didn't quite get it at all either. I read it several times, but it made no sense. Wyrm, are you sure you're replying to the right thread? 8)

Watch the video, it gives you a fairly good image of what it will be like. I especially liked the sword fighting scene. Who said that you should swing a sword just by pressing the A button? It should be exactly this way: Lazy players can't play the games. And no more complaining about kids getting fat because of playing video games, after your kid has played Medieval War for a few years, he'll have biceps the size of a big stone. But seriously speaking, I think this will get a lot of slander from the unskilled fanboys of all 3 major consoles (including Nintendo). Why? Because now, you will actually need skill playing video games. No more hitting the golf club by holding down the B button while you eat popcorn. No more close-range sword combat by tapping the A button rapidly, you will actually need to learn sword techniques, agility and medieval battle tactics to complete games. This is just the way video games should be: Tough. No more [kitty]ing around, catering to the needs of those who complain "we should be able to save every two steps and finish the game within 6 hours". Sure, we play video games on our free time, but major titles should no longer be easy to finish. We want video games that take months to complete, who wants to pay $60 for a game that you can finish in a day? And this way, there will be no more "walkthroughs" for incompetent players. You'll actually have to do something yourself; i.e. play the game. Games weren't made so that you can tell your friends you've finished it in a day.

It's possible there could be a supernatural being that created the universe, but instead of creating a lot of personless clones to keep him company, he (or she) is sending souls down to Earth to experience stuff, so that when they die, each one will be different and he/she can relate to them since he/she created them in the first place. But, I don't think it's very logical. It doesn't matter how depressed or happy you are, most people deep down wish their life had an ultimate meaning other than viewed from the biological point of just 'surviving'. Not that you should underestimate surviving... You guys are alive today, you should respect your ancestors a lot because they survived very, very harsh conditions and in some points of history they survived cold climates of (estimatedly) at least -66celsius during the ice age, daily. During generations and generations. Rationally thinking... :) It's obvious nothing really happens to us, we just decompose or taking the 'burning' option your ashes could be passed down as a family heirloom for hundreds of years. And it's more than likely that 'soul' is just a taught concept, it just means your consciousness.

Most good AIM usernames are obviously taken since you could register them way before even the dot.com "bubble" began (around 1997 up to 2000), and it only makes it worse that AOL does not purge old usernames. My friend is very lucky to have the screennames Gandalf and Boromir, which he registered pre-2k (LOTR was a bit less known back then because the movies weren't out yet... Yes the books were very liked and popular even back then but not to the extent of millions of 10 year olds copying the names from the books to online screennames). He, though, sold 'Gandalf' for $1800 dollars. So it seems obvious good names for AIM are in high demand. :) So the next time a huge corporation like google starts giving out gmail accounts or a second AOL giving screennames, be sure to register early. People are already offering thousands for [email protected], but don't worry... Gmail wont go public for a long time and there's plenty more time to register good screennames.

Do you have the slightest clue as to what you're talking about? :? I think he might've been kidding. 8) But yeah, fat does NOT convert into muscle mass. Have fun eating those 3lbs weight-gain supplements which are 100% carbohydrates or 100% fat, you wont get anything else than a huge beer-belly eating that stuff every day.