dwarfie76

Ah, therein lies the problem. You view the objective of the game as being to accrue as much pixel wealth as possible, while I view the objective of the game as being to expand your skill levels and explore all the game has to offer. Ideological stalemate. At any rate, it costs precisely 0gp to mine a rune ore, precisely 0gp to mine 8 coal ores, 0gp to place the ore and coal in a furnace, 0gp to hammer it into an axe on an anvil, 0gp to mine some rune essence, and another 0gp to convert that rune essence into nature and fire runes. Yet high alching a rune axe yeilds 7,680gp. The fact that this might annoy those who (falsely IMHO) believe that the aim of the game is merchanting is of little consequence. One person handing out a free rune axe in no way disadvantages the next person who is making them for money. Your arguments are flawed. The runescape "economy" is not the issue.

You won't notice any difference in day to day computing, but RAM intesive processes such as applying photoshop filters etc might be noticeably faster. But then, if you were using photoshop on a regular basis you'd be running more than 1G RAM.

Wander up and down your street and see if any of your neighbours want their cars washed or their lawns mown, that sort of thing.

Again, you're confusing statism with private philanthropy. Nationalising resources has a deleterious effect because, in simple terms, no-one wants to get up at 6am to milk the state's cow. Access to the means of production is not analogous to communism, but we can blame Marx for propogating that particular confusion. Statism leads to a "tragedy of the commons" effect where each individual tries to maximise their own share of the common resource to the detriment of the resource as a whole. What you are saying would be true if we were proposing to tax high level woodcutters and redistribute some of their logs among low level wood cutters. But that's not what is being discussed. Which is fine if facilitating production was an entirely selfless act. However, by facilitating production we increase competition and lower prices meaning that society at large benefits. Not quite. In the absence of any tax system at all, the Reagan model of trickle-down economics has to be put aside in favour of a more philanthropic model where the effect of people achieving success are passed down freely to others enabling those others to achieve success as well. A free axe is not going to make someone successful unless they have the will and dedication to get out and use it.

I highly doubt that you possess the intellectual capacity to second-guess the actions of a "real" doctor. The main function of contraceptive pills is to control the levels of specific hormones which control the female reproductive cycle. The very same hormones that can contribute to acne in post-pubescent females. While I couldn't give a rat's rectum about whether you believe it or not, others may find the following reading interesting: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Citation http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Citation http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Citation http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract Now until you can provide credible evidence that you actually own and use a functional brain I'd suggest a slightly meeker approach to tackling subjects you have absolutely no knowledge of. :)

Ah, there's nothing like a good abortion debate.... well except maybe an "Is there a God?" debate or anything to do with Politics. It's an interesting argument. If you are against abortion and take the line that all human life is sacred on anything other than theological grounds I'd be very interested in hearing the arguments. Without the overriding say-so of a supreme being I find it very difficult to be anti abortion. If my conscience can allow me to kill a cow just so I can enjoy a hamburger, it must allow me to allow someone else to kill a fetus so that they can live their life in the manner of their choosing. My head tells me that there is nothing inherently morally or ethically wrong with abortion, but my heart and stomach tell me otherwise. But then I'm a happily married, thirty year old man with two happy, healthy children and a vasectomy lined up. I've never been and most likely never will be a thirteen year old rape victim. I can't say how I'd feel if that was the case.

Most libertarians believe that the sole function of a government is to protect the rights of it's citizens against those who would do it harm. A purely libertarian society would be overly vulnerable to attack from external sources. Although there would be some measure of protection - the richest members of the society would be able to hire security forces to protect their interests, which would then have a deterent effect and protect the interests of others to some extent, it would not be as efficient or as effective as having collectively maintained police and military forces. Good work. I'm a member of the Australian Libertarian Society and the Liberal Democratic Party

There is no need for people to "make a living" in Runescape. The game, unlike most MMORPGs, allows you to train all skills available making self-sufficiency a very real part of the game. That would be the case if it were mandated, as it would be under a communist system. When the items are freely given by the creator it's philanthropy, not communism. Those who work hard are rewarded, with the experience and levels that enable them to create and obtain the most sought-after items in the game. That alone encourages anyone to further their skills. By putting the means of production into the hands of people starting out, you encourage them to go out and do something useful. Good read, but I can't help thinking you may have missed the point of it. Ayn Rand rightly suggests that communism and socialism in it's many guises stifle individual creativity and create a disincentive to contribute to society. What she doesn't do is suggest that individual philanthropy has any such effect. No-one is forcibly redistributing the wealth of high-level players here. Simply giving low-level players the ability to forge ahead and succeed. It's trickle-down economics at it's best and Ayn Rand would be proud.

Well I had a very enjoyable time handing out 100 sets of full iron to the newbies. I'd load up with armour, scimmies and kites and head to lumby. But rather than hang around the steps I wandered around the goblin areas looking for level 3 - 7 players trying to take out goblins. I'd wait until their fight was over and say "Here, try these instead" and give them a full set. The gratitude was overwhelming. you could almost see their little animated eyes light up. Only one person had anything negative to say to me, and that was a level 35 I refused to hand over items to when he saw me giving them out and started following me around begging. Quite a few of my little iron warriors came back up to me to tell me about their accomplishments. I'm back at the furnace now, grinding my way to 65 smithing. Should have a few more sets to hand out soon enough.

Maybe you're the one who isn't cool enough for the runescape music. :) At any rate, I play on low detail so it's of little consequnce to me, there's always a solid rotation of classic hard rock from the seventies, eighties and nineties on my pc.

I'm lucky if I can find my car keys these days.

Explain to him that your rules are really in order to ensure consideration of others rather than to impose arbitrary restrictions on him and offer him independence in line with the effort he's willing to put into looking after himself. If he has a job, start allowing him out later according to the amount he's able to put away in a savings account - that sort of thing. If he shows you that he's capable of acting like an adult, you start letting him feel like he's being treated accordingly. Sit down with him, discuss the concessions that you're willing to make and what you expect of him in return. I'm sure that if you're both fair in your expectations then you'll be able to come to an agreement pretty quickly. After all, living at home is a pretty sweet deal, even if your ex-marine father does run a tight ship. If all else fails and he decides he really wants out then there's nothing much you can do except make sure he knows that, as your son, he has your unconditional love and will always have a roof over his head and food on his plate if he wants to return. The other thing - depending on your situation - is if you have a bungalow, loft or basement that could be converted into a more independent environment. Where he could be more independent, but you'd have the reassurance of knowing that he was still under your roof.

Says who? Allowing like minded individuals to congregate and self govern is pretty close to most libertarians idea of utopia. The subjugation of individual liberty to a higher power runs contrary to libertarian philosophy. I'm not sure who you've been hanging around, but if they told you they were libertarians they're mistaken.

Where do you get the idea that libertarians feel the need to rely on a nationalist government? Most libertarians I know are for minimalist government in all areas. People who want to rely on big government are 'statists' and they're the antithesis to libertarian ideals.

Well that's all fine and dandy, but I fail to see how pornography objectifies anyone any more than any other occupation. Even if you were to class having someone to wash your dishes and mow your lawns as a 'necessity' (wish I could afford those sort of necessities... I'm stuck on groceries and home loan repayments) There are plenty of situations where people take on work that they would otherwise not do just for someone else's gratification. The only reason anyone would object to pornography, and not say... street musicians, is because music doesn't offend (as many) people's puritan sensibilities.

And if I was truly satisfied with my life I wouldn't be trudging into the office to write software each day either. Does that make it morally wrong for my customers to use my work, that they're taking advantage of the fact that I have a family to support to make me degrade myself? Not many people grow up chasing a dream of washing dishes or mowing lawns for a living either. Does that make it morally wrong to employ someone to do those things just because they can't get anything better and are willing to take what they can get? When freely made and enjoyed by consenting adults there is nothing morally wrong with pornography either.

I disagree. A full kit of iron armour means that the newbs go into battle against those lvl5 goblins as a more than even match. Meaning they're not as likely to die and lose everything and end up begging for a new tinderbox on the lumby steps.

Yo, good call. I'm in the process of grinding some smithing levels smelting and hammering iron. I was just going to make plates and alch them but I think I'll knock out a hundred or so sets of full iron and make a few newbie's days.

I've had three genies today.

Yes, birth control pills are often prescribed to teenaged girls and young women to control acne.

I see absolutely no problem with this idea. If a bunch of people want to move off and live their lives as they see fit within the provisions of state and federal laws then good on them. While I believe everyone has a right to contraception, abortion on demand and the ability to determine their own masturbatory requirements I also believe that they have the right to live away from such things if they choose to. As for those born into such a community, they can either respect their parents decision to move there, or move out. Besides... I'm sure the bus fare to the nearest den of vice isn't too prohibitive.

Until you feel you're big and scary enough to fend for yourself out in the real world, putting a roof over your own head and food on your own plate you're probably best off just gritting your teeth and toughing out the conditions your parents place on living under their roof and eating their food.

190 for me. Desert Treasure, Devious Minds both started but incomplete. Mournings Ends 1 & 2 not yet started.

Up until very recently it said "Thou shalt not kill." This was quickly revised to "murder" when some smarty pants pointed out the quandry this would create for any good old fashioned southern baptist who happened to favour the death penalty.

There is one in the farm buildings north of Draynor, south of Falador. One in the farm buildings north of Ardougne... they're the two that I know of, but I've seen plenty around.