Walsingham

I've been reading about Iran this morning, and also caught an article about gun control, and something struck me. 1. Nations that are large and disparate have a pronounced tendency to resort to authoritarianism in order to achieve political mobilism, and governmental action. 2. Authoritarianism can easily slide into dictatorship where there is no political 'long stop'. 3. One could argue - and as I say I am now convinced - that free gun ownership represents a (pretty weak, but still tangible) long stop. 4. Without this long stop the USA might have long ago descended into overt authoritarianism, and possibly dictatorship. I have therefore changed my mind on gun control. That is despite the manifest problems it causes, and the bonkers qualities of many gun owners, a non-fascist US is worth it. Having said this, I would emphatically reject the notion that handguns are of any use whatsoever in ensuring freedom. If people are to own weapons in order to fight, then they should be weapons of war. I would also accept, given my thesis, that an alternative would be nullifying the size and disparate quality of the USA. But given this would lead to a MASSIVE global pwoer vacuum to be filled by the Russians and Chinese i don't think this is worthwhile.

By the sound of it MSyesyoulooklikeabitch.exe

Thanks for the comeback. I'll go ahead and trust it then. As for the separate OS, I was told over the weekend by a friend that driver conflicts etc are so bad on modern hardware that it's not worth worrying about. I therefore intend to have an old PC to play on instead.

But there was no mention of a satellite in the preview demo: the laser was coming from the tower itself. Second, i still can't see the connection to the FartMan. Helios One is a game location, most likely with some quests attached, with a prewar tech solar laser that can be remote controlled. Fat Man is a Big F*ckin Gun with nuclear ammo that you just come across somewhere in the game. I don't understand how these two are comparable. A solar laser makes sense in a post nuclear world, while mini nukes just don't. Even if there is a satellite involved, it makes more sense to have awesome super-destructive prewar tech forgotten in space than in some mudcrabs' lair or a raider's locker or something like that (where Fat Man ammo was typically found). I agree. What is far far more confusing and atmosphere breaking is finding ammo containers with a handful of rounds scattered quite literally EVERYWHERE, and the way that in spite of many many years having passed no-one's done anything with the mess, even in settled areas like the Radio Station. But I won't start down that road or I'll start frothing. As for realism, Fallout follows an apocalyptic war! Given that orbital arrays are already a (potential) reality - plane based arrays already exist - then I don't see what your problem is. ~~~~~ Total change of tack: Waiting I wouldn't like to remove waiting for obvious reasons, but if we're going realistic with bottled water etc I think we should have two resources - Disposable media gives you hours of enjoyment. I'm thinking Black Cat magazine vs Big Book of Science, possibly depending on character type. Radio gives you up to an hour before you get bored. Maybe kids games like jumping jacks for low intelligence. - If you make friends then you can chat away to them while you wait.

Worst babysitter: minesweeper. Boring AND deadly.

WTF? Jay-Z got booed and bottled off at Glastonbury a few years ago. Has he not learned his lesson?

Happy Birthday, fellah. One year closer to freedom.

Hang on, Monte. I steadfastly maintain that - accounting for leaning - you can't do better than the Grauniad for political coverage, and you can't do better than the Torygraph for (basic) defence news. Thinking about it, I'm sure I once saw a magazine which did translation of foreign news media. Can anyone remember such an object? EDIT: How about a blog? Maybe there's a blog out there which would present a limited countercase?

I'd give them something like Portal. Gets them thinking. I dunno tho. You'd probably come home to find the back of the microwave off, and the cat stuck through one child's kneecap.

As an experiment I ate a raw turnip with soy sauce for dinner. Well, I was bored. So far it's been quite filling, and no doubt relatively healthy. Plus it tasted pretty reasonable.

I don't mind an agenda, provided the analysis is good. The Financial Times is unequivocally on the side of feelthy capitalists, but it's always good to read.

I've been startled by the overtly partisan nature of Marwan Bishara's political editing for some time, but this 'defence' piece was the final straw. There wasn't a jot of analysis in the whole thing. It sounded like a propaganda video put out by the Pakistani government! Can anyone suggest a sensible English language media source as an alternative? I had been using Al J as a mild and admittedly incomplete counterbalance to my usual BBC/Stratfor/Financial Times/Guardian round.

Indeed. May your continuing years include some time to make me great games so I can kill my own time more effectively. OK, that came out wrong.

I used so much monowire entanglement on that game that I can still hear the little voice saying 'monowire'. My god, I used a lot of that stuff. HUGE beds of it, interspersed with detwire. So the opposition would struggle through the mono, only to get blown backwards through it and have to do it over again. Then four cyborgs with sniper rifles, like a miniature version of the film 'Zulu'.

I don't see how the TV analogy works, tbh. It's one tiny bit of the game, not a whole game based around orbital lasers. Like if a music show is mostly awesome, but for some reason they occasionally play Celine Dion. No, wait, it isn't even that. Because that would imply it interrupts your gaming. YOU choose whether to bring it into play or not. Presumably. Which brings me to my next point: We don't have the first clue how it will work, when it will work, and how cool it will be when it does. Which brings me to my next point: what the hell kind of joyless buffoons have we become if we object ON PRINCIPLE to having huge shooty death laser arrays? Orbital laser arrays are one of the few things I'd give my eye teeth for. "Trust a wop to bring a knife to an orbital laser array fight!"

Sweet Jesus. I hadn't thought of that. but then I don't think most parents would leave a kid with that kind of game.

Charlies? That's a.. uhm.. well... I never heard that euphemism before. Nice to learn new ways of saying.. you know.. charlies. It's certainly the most friendly term for them I've ever heard.

There are some things which are best done by hand and not trusted to cylons. I mean scripts. Well if you code it yourself, or verify the source before using it, you'll be fine :D Or if I carved it out of the purest unicorn horn...

You know the argument that parents use videogames as a babysitter? And that's why they get so mahdi if the games violate tehir preconceptions about what is appropriate eg violence etc? It just occurred to me to wonder what things would be like if games had the similar exposure effects but were real people babysitters rather than games? What kind of person would each game be, and what would you come back to find them doing to amuse the kids? Would you come back to Duke Nukem to find your kids being taught how to chew gum, and kicking a large pig around the living room?

I know I'm an Obsidian fanboi, but this sounds absolutely SPOT ON. Particularly the VATS adjustment, use of water, and storyline changes. *Does a tiny dance in his chair* EDIT: If you don't want to use the laser tower then don't use it! Jesus. My guess is that it wil be expensive to use, and difficult to get. Sheesh. You'd think you were anti-fun. And orbital laser arrays are the definition of fun. Sub-EDIT: OK. OK. Orbital laser arrays crewed by a personal army of amazon warrior techies is the definition of fun.

If we want good AI we need to have some rating scale so games can boast "You liked Bigbang Shoota 3, and our new game has THREE TIMES the AI!" Nerds like numbers.

What has changed in the last ten years? Er... games on download. Publishing no longer means you have to go via the high street. I don't think there's anything particularly awry with the industry. They go with mass market shiny stuff because they want to make bucks. Playing indie games is just something which consumers need to get their heads around. And that means getting their heads around shorter games with lower production values but significantly greater innovation.

Thai junta gets strategic plan right.

The day I fail to respond to nerd chicks with tremendous charlies is the day I die. No... it's the day we ALL die, gentlemen.

I also like it. I actually hadn't realised it was Public Enemy till you pointed it out. Although I did recognise it. Fear Of a Black Planet was one of my first ever records.