LadyCrimson

I dropped briefly by the forum to say hi and check out how everyone's doing. Well, I hope.

Win7-64 runs "awesome" on my rig too. Not slow or crashes or video tearing etc. I run 3 instances of Borderlands at the same time with no lag, which is great fun, hehe. I don't use Sleep tho, so dunno about that. Also don't use Areo. One reason - but not the only one - Win7 uses more RAM...have you taken a look at how many processes run in the background by default w/nothing open? It's quite a lot. I barely have any non-game programs installed and it was still close to 50 (I had my XP at 25ish). I've seen people post they have 80+ going. After fiddling I have Win7 down to 35 and I still that's too many, lol. And, of course, any programs that run at startup and/or sit in the task tray adds to it. Sometimes programs run at startup w/out ever telling you they do so and aren't in the tray so you don't even realize it w/out looking. (mlbtv's nexdef does that and uses quite a lot of MB's, grrr). If you feel adventurous, you can Run/services.msc and play around with them - you can put a lot on Manual/Not Started or Disabled if you want, which cuts down on some of those processes you see. Here's a page that may help with that. I've used it and altered quite a few with no problems, but as always, fiddle at own risk. Changing some may actually slow things down. http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm On the pre-fetch...I read that if you install programs in your own created directory (rather than the default Program Files..) that it bypasses that, but I don't know if that's actually true or not.

A separate train of thought occurred to me, related to one of Hurlshot's questions. In terms of number of smokers/new smokers seeming to drop and then drop no further...it's possible that the longer and harder the anti-smoking paranoia lasts, the more some will rebel against it. I'm not saying it's intelligent or reasonable to rebel against the movement by actually taking up smoking, but well, that's humanity for you sometimes. ...example, I know several non-smokers that with every new anti-smoking law in various cities (no smoking in cars, no smoking on the sidewalk etc), they roll their eyes and exclaim they may start taking up smoking themselves on principle protest. So far (thankfully) none of them have actually done so. But the attitude is there.

Speaking only for myself: I've never met a smoker who argued that smoking is good for their health or anyone else's, and I doubt any anti-anti-smoking attitude is ever about that. What I object to is the degree to which anti-smoking culture is moving towards, which is easily seen in the average anti-smoking thread..the bilious comments about smokers themselves (which has nothing to do with actual health issues either, btw) and such. There is, imo, a difference between reasonable precautions and unreasonable persecution. Even if you say you're not for banning/making smoking illegal altogether, that's what the current anti-smoking culture seems to be heading for...not outright, but by bits & pieces via so many laws that it may as well be. It's the non-guilt way of taking a choice away. Should a law be passed that says I cannot smoke in the house I live in and pay for, on the notion that this 3rd hand smoke may be potentially harmful to some future owner? Should we ban smoking in one's open backyard because the occasional bit o' smoke might stray into a neighbor's window? That to me would be extremely unreasonable and becomes, in my eyes, a case of paranoid persecution. BBQ smoke strays into people's windows. So do many other pollutants. Should there be a law that says I can't drive a car, ever, because my exhaust, combined with all the others, may potentially cause all kinds of widespread health or environmental issues for future generations? Could be wrong, but I think most would likely say "of course not, don't be silly." It's not about shifting blame...by trying to point out examples of other bad habits that we all have (whether useful to us or not), that may contribute to harming others in some round about way, it's about trying to show that there's a line where persecution for one single lifestyle choice is no longer reasonable, it's just...over-wrought paranoia...imo.

I think if you like Past Life type themed shows, it'd be worth a gander. It wasn't a bad show, just not our personal tastes. And I take it back...The Forgotten wasn't great either. Just another predictable solve-the-mystery series. Christian Slater was likable. And if you liked her, the actress who played Sutherland's daughter on 24 looks like she'll have a regular role, maybe?

What Rosbjerg said. And imo, well said.

I don't know how 'new' it is, but we just watched the episode tonight. I'd say...meh. Kind of interesting and I liked the young man having the past life in this one, but slow and not to our tastes. Possibly because we don't believe in that kind of stuff tho...we don't like the ghost/physic hunter series either usually. Could improve tho...if it was the 1st or early episode, shaking the characters out etc. We're now watching The Forgotten and it already seems better than Past Life.

People don't become addicted to toothpaste. It's an interesting question tho. Hubby & I have pondered the nature of addiction off and on over the years, since we're both fairly obsessive people. Maybe I'm wrong, but (outside of the obvious addictive aspect of nicotine) it seems a bit like asking why some people can drink a 1st beer or four, think it's "cool" but are then never interested in drinking regularly or socially, vs. those who drink a beer and decide they really like it and become a 6-pack a night drinker for the rest of their lives. There's no one answer, but many maybes. --some people may be more psychologically or physically easily addicted to anything, a variation of some kind of impulse/obsessive control. --I think many who 1st start smoking tend to be on the younger side, and youth has a tendency to feel that bad things happen to others (I can quit anytime/before it gets bad, trying it once won't hurt, I'll just drive really slow, 20 years is forever, etc) as well as more influenced by peer/social pressure, & of course, rebellious curiosity --there are studies that show smoking can/does affect certain brain workings, that, while not a "high", one can get used to (like the subtle affects of a cup of coffee, perhaps) and makes it that much harder to stop (edit: or perhaps makes it more unconsciously appealing to continue, for some, because of the 1st possibility above). Some people probably more so than others. --and yes, culture/media doesn't help. At this point in time, I certainly think movies/TV could do away with characters smoking, unless the smoking is a central aspect of their character development or to show/define a period culture, perhaps.

But the pollution from the gazillions of cars and factories does get into your house. If it's bad enough in an area, it does affect health of general population over time. Or at least, I can believe it does (I have no data on studies for anyone). I have no asthma, and grew up in the Bay Area (not San Fran, but somewhat south). Many years ago, we had a fairly good air rating (it's a lot worse now tho...). When I was 12, I went to Los Angeles (downtown) for a week, and as we drove towards it I could see the brown smog hovering over the city. As we entered, I felt like I couldn't breathe, would run out of breath faster, and my breaths were a lot shallower in general. That persisted for the whole week. When I was 16, my sister and drove across the US and stopped one night at a friends place in Pittsburgh. Same thing, only a lot worse. I spent the whole night in bed feeling like I was gasping for air, even when I opened a window. I'm sure if I grew up in either of those places, I'd be acclimatized to it and not notice it much. But it does have an effect on people, and I doubt it's good. I'm also sure someone who lives in "cleaner" air might come to my city and feel the same. I have no beef with no-smoking in public buildings/unventilated spaces etc. but turning smokers (the people themselves) into utter social pariahs because it's easy to convince/scare a majority of people to change the laws regarding them (vs. trying to change pollution laws, car/factory efficiency laws, and so on and so on) makes me angry and feels hypocritical. Just because a car is useful and serves a purpose for us, doesn't mean we should completely excuse or ignore the harmful effects it - and all other pollutant-creating industries that make our lives "easier") - create. If you got rid of all smokers everywhere, I personally suspect total carcinogen related diseases of long-term non-smokers wouldn't drop by that much (edit: in today's current stage of advancement). (edit: ie it's easy to over-vilify when change means one has to make no personal sacrifice themselves.)

My husband keeps on playing Borderlands. Save me. ...trying to finally finish Divine Divinity between occasional bouts of killing skags w/hubby.

"I don't care if she's blue & animated, just look at those and tell me she's not hot." (edit: drat, Wrath beat me to it! lol)

I now have tires manufactured in 2009. Much better. Also, I'm in a really good mood. Neither rain or ant invasions or the looming income taxes can dampen my spirits. *happy dance*

Customer to doll: "May I put a bag over your head?" Doll to customer: "If that excites you, my love, then yes." Customer to seller: "I'll take her."

The Hangover was cute I guess. Had some LOL stuff...rather silly but charming. Mom was over the other evening so I saw Up again, since she hadn't seen it yet. I liked Up more on a 2nd watch. It's still uneven, but for some reason when I already knew the story certain things that annoyed me didn't as much.

Today I learned about the DOT year-manufactured code on car tires. Of course I learned this right after I bought new tires during some other auto work I had done last week. When I checked, apparently my 'new' tires were made in 2000. Don't expect 3 month old tires out of shop this day & age, 2-4 yrs would've been fine, but 10 years is a bit much! The funny thing is the guy at the Subaru dealership mechanic shop was chiding me for not having changed my tires in 10 years and how dangerous that was even tho I didn't have that many miles on them/they had tread etc. So then they put 10 year old tires on my car & charge me 450 bucks for em. HAHAHA (that's cryin' laughter...) Back to the shop I go to do some chiding of my own.... P.S. In case you're like me & didn't know, the issue is that even if tires are new in sense of having 0 miles on them, the rubber over time/ even in storage gets old & more easily separates, making them less durable & possibly less safe.

Read that cnet 'exclusive' article, too? Sigh...exclusive or not, it kinda ruined the suspense. Thanks, cnet. I never did play much of Arcanum. I couldn't stand the interface and it wasn't long before I stopped playing because of it. I know, how shallow of me. Always said I'd try it again later...maybe now? Never tried the 2nd game cnet is claiming will be the 1st two available. I don't know what VTMB stands for, but they claim it's Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.

My D.Keeper discs still work on XP just fine...haven't tried on Win7/the new pc tho. I bet the imp sprites on DK1 would move so fast it'd be hard to pick them up or slap them...lol I'm not hoping for any particular game...just that it's a good one. :D

My father bought a Camaro (I think it might've been a '67 or '68 tho)...it was blue and cool. When my brother was 16 or 17 it became his car. Many memories of hovering around while he tried to do tuneups on it and such. But car maintenance is not my bro's thing & he trashed it by not taking care of it & eventually it was gone. :/

Surrogates. Not great. Watchable, nothing more. Going to watch The Hangover tonight, see what the fuss is about.

So you'll be taking the exam standing up, then? ...the iPad is all the rage on Twitter (most of it in the form of absorbency jokes). The concept sounds ok, but for $500+ I'd rather buy a cheap laptop etc. Trendiness is never cheap.

Oh, I do some stuff online, I'm not completely in the stone-ages...couldn't live w/out my banks billpay. But that's using only one website...my bank. I prefer to limit internet credit card exposure when I'm able, and no I don't like Paypal either. Know several IRL who've actually had identifies stolen in recent years as they spent online in ever increasing frequency....One day before I die it's likely they'll be no offices of any kind for such stuff, but until then...I still prefer to hoof it when I can.

He's definitely not a "gamer." He cracks me up when playing, god luv him. Most of it is that he isn't a dedicated gamer (doesn't usually play much so never gets used to it) so he wants something he can just 'jump into', plus he has some mild dyslexia issues which makes him a slow, deliberate reader (hence disliking reading unless it's study-work related). So Quake3, Gears of War, Mercenaries of War2...thanks, I'll check those out.

Never did try Quake 3 I think...we liked the original Doom way back when. Does Left 4 Dead have a LAN option or is it online/single-player only? He might like running around shooting zombies etc.

lol...he tried that years ago, didn't like it. It's too "complicated." He doesn't want big learning curves on options, units, builds and he doesn't like lots of dialogue trees (rpg's). ...he prefers things like Diablo's, Overlords, Tombraiders, certain shooters, and obviously, Borderlands. Not into PvP either. WoW was too "big".

Thanks to my spouse, rainy winter days and marathon long sessions (which I rarely do on my own anymore), I am now rather sick of Borderlands. ...but I did discover a lot more about the way weapon stats, chr. skills & skill mods work, plus found a whole lot of 'hidden' areas & chests I hadn't noticed before. We need a new, easy to play LAN game.