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I'm working harder because I also have two hellspawn that I have to police while trying to push out assignments and give feedback. Good times.

I'd say stage freeze in the nude before Robert Pattinson while out in the rain.

I have no idea what you guys are taliking about, and I think that is for the best.

Yeah, a number of friendly local game stores weren't sure if they should remove the "friendly" from their description when they saw that Though I also had one person for years try to convince me to convert an army based on that.

Mind you, I did grow up drawing stuff like this: https://www.deviantart.com/melkathi/art/Unicorn-826524266

I think I mentioned it way back when but because I often work from home I find that I tend to work more when I WFH because that normal work/life boundary disappears. When you work from home then you live at work.

https://imgur.com/gallery/xsBfv

The good thing is that once people see you actually follow through with a few conversions they thought silly, they start showing that grudging hobby respect because silly as they may have thought it would be, you did pull it off (though I have yet to make teddy bear marines)

this is the actual problem. typically, when calamity strikes, the nation looks to the President and the fed to take the lead. europeans, in particular, is dismissive o' widespread displays o' american patriotism, but is such shared sense o' community which results in americans inexplicable overcoming the practical issues related to decentralization and intentional systemic inefficiency. we usual get a slow start and then US ingenuity and community kicks in surprising quick. unfortunate, we don't have leadership. what we are getting is salesmanship. sell folks what they wanna buy. folks want everything to be ok and they want covid-19 to be under control. trump is selling americans what they want, which is good business, but is getting tougher and tougher to gaslight when death totals and images from overwhelmed hospitals become fixtures in daily news stories. we had months o' warning. were not a, "nobody knew" situation before hospitals started to become overwhelmed. when crisis became obvious, this President, instead o' leading, were focused on selling. US problem is different this time 'cause o' lack o' leadership. the near reflexive rally-to-the-flag response o' Americans were a small and weak compared to previous national crises. too much division and distrust. this time all we got as a guide is fear, disorganization and distrust. we also have dr. fauci, so is not a complete loss, but he is informing as 'posed to leading. 'course rally-to-the-flag is also dangerous. unfortunate, if situation gets bad enough, fear results in same abandonment o' reason w/o any o' the benefits which woulda' come from better organization. is a uniquely fubar situation for Americans. HA! Good Fun!

https://www.deviantart.com/melkathi/art/Teddymarines-547408369

It is clear Trump has lost the Mandate of Heaven.

I had two My Little Ponies as a kid. Bought them from my pocket money because they were so awesomely cute. One of them was pink. Still turned out a straight white male.

Hmm, let's see what the Donald Trump of 8 years ago has to say about US Presidents attacking Iran... Truly, a prophet of our times.

I know what I'm playing when I get home from the road (and into quarantine) in a week and a half.

Transformers, more than meets the eye. Alternatively, play Emerson Lake and Palmer while viewing the above gif.

I love that Tie Fighter! Some amazing details on those minis overall!

Okay, the LED thing is actually amazing. Very creative. Hats off to you, sir. People like you make the hobby awesome.

There is a LED in his cigar. That was a pain. Not as much a pain as that lightsabre, but still a pain. At least it works well though. Unlike the lighsabre which only really lights properly in complete darkness.

Is... is one of those goblins wearing a Wario hat? Nice one! Also, I love how you converted the WHFB River Troll models. Sweet team!

Haha, no, now you've got my attention Oh, yeah, or even suggesting it! Not really, though from what I've read the massive hormone treatments and similar renders you a muscle monster to the point where the only difference between a female and male base subject would be that one would have male genitalia and one would have female genitalia.

Try converting a female Space Marine army and watch your Friendship Meters go from 100 to 0 in the blink of an eye.

Thats actually one of my nits to pick. My head keeps swiveling right to the non-existent second monitor, and its a pita to juggle all the documents I may have open. Im getting paid though so I cant really qq.

Exactly, I wholeheartedly agree. That's precisely why I avoid working from home if I can.

I would have a hard time believing someone married to the chairman of the Intercontinental Exchange wouldn't be insider trading in general, the fact that she is a senator who received briefing(s) about Covid-19 well before it was considered a nationwide crisis and invested in things like telecommunications and medical supplies makes it undeniable that she was insider trading. Anything less than absolute misery for the rest of her life is too kind, but at most her and hubby will get a slap on the rest or a stay in club fed.

So, Resident Evil 3 is out on PC tomorrow I think. Can't wait to battle the T virus while the actual C virus is outside my door.

If the port is of the same level of quality as Nier: Automata I think I'll pass. Yes, I'm still bitter about it deciding my savegame was not worthy enough to be kept around.

I wouldn't call myself a misanthrope but I'd probably be closer to Gorth's sentiments than not, and I've been like that for decades. I've always said I like, admire and care for individuals, but am not a huge fan of humans as a species nor hopeful regarding human species longevity. eg I expect us to fall by the wayside far, far sooner than some other past earthly populations/species. But it doesn't mean I actively wish "bad" on humanity. I simply don't see humans as more deserving/worthy over anything else, is all. I think about the honey bees dying off, and other such things, just as much, if not a tad more, than this pandemic, if that makes any sense. ================= My original reason I was going to post in this thread: Chris Mann did a not-funny video with a thank-you-workers theme. I don't think it's the best thing ever but I read a lot of the comments/stories under the video, many from those "essential" workers, who were glad/grateful for his expression, and *those* are what touched me. Individuals, and the smaller but meaningful social impacts between them. Those are the bits that occasionally give me hope that we - as a species not just the current era of "civilization" - might at least last yet a while longer. Minus a giant asteroid impact.

No, I don't think they'd shoot themselves in the foot like that. It'd be enough to simply build or upgrade an infrastructure that uses "New IP" for peanuts so no reasonable government would choose the competition, with assurances that an implementation of dual stack or whatever will guarantee compatibility with the wider net. It's all speculative at this point of course, because there isn't an RFC as far as I'm aware, and some of the things I've seen reported are simply idiotic ("devices within the same network communicating without going through the internet"?). But I doubt they'd just work on something they know has no chance of ever being adopted outside of China -- if even that. And I'm aware that NSA spyware-laden hardware is not a better alternative. %country% spyware on top of a network protocol with built-in censorship and surveillance features for freedom-loving democratic Western governments to exploit is something I'd much rather avoid.

am an existentialist and have been silently quoting nietzsche since senior year in highschool when we realized quoting nietzsche aloud results in (deserved) stares and concern. perhaps counterintuitive, the realization it is all meaningless and quite possibly hopeless is what prompted us to get more involved in charitable efforts. why Constitutional Law instead o' something which might, y'know, pay? choice. is our choice and that is what gives meaning to our actions. am not concerned or hopeful 'bout civilization. am not able to ignore people. HA! Good Fun!

Ten Tips From Scientists Who Have Spent Months in Isolation "“The lesson that I learned there that was very useful on the Space Station was you can’t pick your team, and spending any time wishing your crewmates were different is a waste of time,” she says. "Useful words, perhaps, for those of us stuck at home with squabbling roommates or nit-picking mothers-in-law." some o' the advice is obvious-- most is. worth a look regardless. HA! Good Fun!

When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? people in 1886 were so much more enlightened 'bout gender roles than they are today, which is why there were so much less gender discrimination in the previous century. *insert eyeroll* like it or not, humans are sexual dimorphic. because humans is intelligent, and crazy, notions o' what attracts the opposite sex will change depending on cultural norms, but there will be differences resulting in broadly recognized gender ideals. period. kids is 'bout as smart as an average labradoodle but less smart than an adult border collies. just as the labradoodle learns by watching behavior, so too do children. doesn't matter what daddy says or what kinda doll he gives his child. what matters is how daddy interacts with and treats women, and how all the other adults is interacting with the clear obvious opposite gender. we don't blame the dog if it doesn't learn how to behave 'round people. we blame the dog owner, yes? two dog owners may give exact same commands to their labradoodles and the dog responses will be different depending on what those dogs has observed during and outside o' training. why we expect children to be complete different than labradoodles is baffling. dolls? *snort* this generation likes to get in a twist over the least important stuff while all too often ignoring the genuine vital. HA! Good Fun!

I wonder if I'm really an evil person or some kind of xyz-opath, or maybe it's just growing up on the front line between Nato and WP and surviving The Cold War that does it, but I think I really stopped caring about the survival of "civilisation" as we know it a long time ago. Not my preferred way of fixing the overpopulation problem, but all I can do these days is watching what's happening with a head scratch and a feeling of mild annoyance at the inconvenience. Walking around the streets in the city now, brings back childhood memories of a world with less people (and way less cars) in it and feeling less claustrophobic. Maybe I'm just a cynic and a grumpy old bastard (and self proclaimed anarchist).

My second line was a joke, Bruce A bad one to be sure but I thought it would be funny to reply that to you

Everything I've heard about Half-Life: Alyx is overwhelmingly positive. I'm still not dishing out a cool grand for a Valve Index, but this seems to be the closest thing VR has to a system seller.

If there was ever need of more proof to how massively the government blundered this whole thing, imagine trying to instigate another war with the Middle East in the middle of a pandemic and economic collapse.

Howdy! Normal difficulty is good for the first time PoE player who has some experience with other RPGs. The mechanics are rather complex but on Normal they are forgiving enough. Keeping micromanagement low for most party members can help to focus your attention on your main character who then can be fun even if he needs to be heavily micromanaged (often casters need to be taken care of more than "simple" melee character). Classes with potentially low micromanagement are Fighter, Paladin and Chanter. Chanters are great - but they feel rather slow on normal difficulty. They don't feel that way on Path of the Damned difficulty since fights last a lot longer there and that's when Chanters start to really shine. On normal diff. often fights are over before the Chanter gets a chance to fire off an invocation. But once he reaches lvl 9 that changes. Because he can get a chant then that's very powerful. Also because chants become a bit faster with every 4th level. Before that one can get the feeling he's lackluster (on normal diff). Fighters are easy to play and start strong. Their power curve doesn't climb like casters' though. Fighters can be used to hold the line and tank and to be reliable but not fanstastic damage dealers. Easy class to play Paladins are a bit similar but have more healing and support capabilities. While fighters do consistent damage, Paladins can deal pretty high spike damage but then fall off. Easy to play. Rogues do a lot of single target damage with weapons but are quite squishy. Thus they require more babysitting. Playing a ranged rogue reduces the babysitting. Rogues start strong in terms of dmg output but don't climb like casters. However: on normal there are less enemies and that doesn't shift the focus to Area of Effect abilites (like spells) that much. Meaning that rogues do better on normal than on higher difficulties. Nor difficult to play but needs attention. Rangers are less squishy compared to rogues but not as sturdy as fighters or paladins. They also come with an Animal Companion that has to be steered. So you get two bodies which is very powerful in itself - but steering two bodies means increased micromamangement of course. As with all classes: playing mostly ranged increases your survivability as long as you have party members who can take the heat. Their role is a bit like that of rogues. Easier than rogue but needs attention, too. Barbarians do automatic area of effect damage called "Carnage". They start off pretty underwhelming because they have low accuracy and low deflection which lets them a) miss often and b) die quickly. That leads many beginner to the impression that Barbs are bad. They do start bad but climb a lot steeper than the other martial classes (except Monk, more below). The Carnage ability of Barbs transfers all weapon effects from single target to Area of Effect. That means that if a weapon causes stun on critical hit it will do in an AoE with a Barb. That can unlock crazy powerful passive crowd control and disabling. Also Barbs gain a lot of heralth and endurance per level. After some levels they squishyness is gone. They are beter against trah mobs than gainst bosses. Hard to play in the beginning, easy later on. Monks are the most powerful martial class in my opinion - but they requite deeper understanding of the mechanics and a lot of micromanaegement in general. They start strong and stay strong. Wizards can be great Crowd Controllers and disablers and/or nukers and/or even great frontliners (using self-buffs). They have a steep power curve - mostly due to the fact that they start with abysmal values and only have very few spells per rest. but with every unlockes spell tier they can use more and more spells in a fight and that has a huge impact. Also the more self buffs you unlock the lesser the bad starting values matter. However, althoug they start weak with few spells: some lvl-1-spells are insanely good. If you know them you can have an easier time in the beginning of the game. Not easy to play but nice as main character. Priests are the strongest class if you play with a party. Their buffs impact the performance of the party so much (once you get certain spells) and later they also get very good damaging spells. Having a priest in the party makes a playthrough easier - I guess nobody would argue against that. They can also heal but are not the only class that does that well. At buffing they are top notch though. They have the same shortcomings as wizards: start weak but grow strong. They have some hidden gems that one should use. Easy to play if you focus on the party buffs first. Truly shine when also used as damage dealer later on. Druids can be a mix of melee + casting. They can be very good at both if build right. Due to their shifting ability they don't suffer so much from the lack of spells in the beginning. spell-wise they are a bit like Wizards. Less self-buffs but Spiritshifting instead. Ciphers turn weapon dmg into spells basically. They require a bit of experience and have to beed both good at weapon damage as well as casting. They are quite effective and have a solid power curve. They tend to struggle a bit in boss fights because they rely on weaoon damage to be able to cast spells - and bosses usually don't get damaged as easily as trash mobs. The early official companions are Wizard, Fighter, Priest and Chanter, a bit later Ranger and Paladin, then Cipher and Druid (you can rush to all of them after the early game so this is not a fixed order). Rogue, Barbarian and Monk only come with the White March DLC. Maybe a Rogue would be a good fit for you. Not only is a Rogue handy to have because he's the one with the highest mechanics skill (search secrets, search & disarm traps and pick locks) but he's also fun because his dmg output is high - and if you watch out a bit it's not too hard or complicated to play. Just don't try to build a glasscannon. But multiple instances of the same class in a playthrough is no problem at all - so you couls also pick Fighter or Paladin or whatever. I'd say stay away from Barbarian, Chanter and Monk for now. I prefer them, but they need a bit of experience to value their strength and circumvent their weaknessen.

No conspiracy theory is credible to me if: It requires a high level of intelligence to conceive If it requires the cooperation of a disparate group of people to achieve. Now I WILL consider them if the theory is describing success by accident. A serendipitous blunder that comes out well despite all odds. I'd far more believe the moon landing was a botched attempt to reach Mars that got lost rather than a hoax altogether!

I've been replaying Prototype...I'm a horrible person.

Considering how much of a beating Lara can take in the cutscenes I had to laugh at Roth dying from that little axe hit in the back. He really should have had her tank the hit.

Out of curiosity, did you like The Fountain? I have always loved that movie. Still, I have also recently discovered that, apparently, people and critics alike didn't really think much of it.