kgambit

dude is just awesome .............

I keep hoping that Alan is going to post a screenshot from his EU IV game.

Correction: In the second quote above, this line: " If you assume a total of 1 to 4% of the female population spread over 50 years (ages 15 to 65), you end up with between 10 and 40 per 100,000.] " should read as follow: " If you assume a total of 1 to 4% of the female population spread over 50 years (ages 15 to 65), you end up with a rate 10 to 40 times greater or a rate of 20 to 80 per 100,000.], " apologies for the error ......

Bonds Loses Appeal for Obstruction conviction http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/23629487/report-barry-bonds-conviction-upheld-by-appeals-court

@licketysplit - Jon Stewart should get the peace prize. Let's hold off awarding those peace prizes until something gets accomplished shall we? a few points: 1) Fox News represents one view and is hardly indicative of the entire US media. Their biased rhetoric is legendary and even die hard conservatives have to laugh about some of it. 2) That being said, there is a lot of skepticism (and rightfully so) that Assad and Putin are serious about this and it's not just a stall tactic. 3) The onus is on Assad and Putin to deliver on their "promises" and make this a workable initiative. Assad and Putin do not get to dictate the conditions unilaterally. Not if they expect the US to back off the threats of attack. 4) I think you underestimate what the US public knows about foreign aid disbursements and particularly the major expenditures to Egypt, Israel etc. Those figures are in the news frequently. So was the running tally for the cost of the Iraq war, the running tally in Afghanistan and the cost of Libya. In fact, Libya was a drop in the bucket (<1 bn$) compared to foreign aid (>72 bn$). I don't entirely agree with your characterization of what is "wasted" foreign aid. My own personal "cut list" would be different from yours. Slightly off topic: I have one request: Can you provide a link to support the assertions about poverty and education in the US? My sources don't agree. US poverty was at 15.1% living below the national poverty line which is less than Germany, Belgium, and Japan and only slightly greater than the UK or Denmark. http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=69 US Teritary education attainment rates for 25-64 year olds are surpassed by only four countries in the world. In the US, the percentage of parents who have not attained an upper secondary education is smaller in the U.S. than in many OECD countries – 17%, compared to 33% across all OECD countries – the odds that the children of these parents will be in higher education are particularly low, at just 29% (odds of 0.29). These odds are below every other OECD country except Canada and New Zealand. The one area the US is behind in the starting age of education. US enrollment of 4 year olds lags, but our education system is geared to start formal education at age 6. http://www.oecd.org/education/CN%20-%20United%20States.pdf

Kaine, I think those sources all lend a little support to your arguments. The under-reporting issue also rears it's head in murder rates: This discussion also reminds of this phrase: "Don't let the truth intrude upon my reality."

Nutria

THIS is how you make fun of foreign policy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oisXKt6A6YU I particularly like the bit starting around 7:55 and this one two days later .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipd3xAv8YJ8

Update 35 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2/posts

LOL This kept popping into my head though ...... one of my favorite star trek moments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6o881n35GU and here's the V'ger clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxAaVqdz_Vk&list=PLFFCFC657E112C8ED

not sure if this is in the right place, Voyager 1 becomes first human-made object to leave solar system http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/tech/innovation/voyager-solar-system/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/interstellarvoyager/

It's a timed quest .........

Finished The Borgias - season 3 3rd season was the best yet but the series ends with way too much unfinished business. One more season would have done it.

I wish someone would butter my crumpets with flagrant abandon once in a while. Ah, yes. Truly tragic how she ended up, but the girl did have more daddy issues than a Bioware game so what can you really expect. From the BBC House of Cards series I presume?

Any word from the devs on whether custom portraits can be used and if so, what are the dimensions?

fantasy rodents: homeland security SNIPER! AIRBORNE! DEATH FROM ABOVE! Pirate Squirrels of the Carribean NINJA squirrel

I follow them fairly often. I just don't always reply to posts. (I rearranged your text a bit to respond) Crafting: I'm not sure exactly what the "fresh" reference is meant to infer but I can guess that it's either a reference to ingredient freshness or a variable chance of failure during the crafting process. And in my opinion a Variable success for crafting is a non-starter. Nothing will foster "save, fail and reload" gameplay faster than a variable chance of crafting failure. Ingredient freshness simply opens the same can of worms relatively to potency and stacking that variable potion expiration did and you've compounded the problem by extending it to two sets of items (potions and ingredients). Hoarding Making potions more useful is something that Josh has said they were shooting for. I don't remember the exact quote but it was something along the lines of not needing potions for most of the combat but needing them during the tougher fights. I know that's kind of vague but I think I understood where he was headed for. People will use potions to varying degrees based on their experience level, the difficulty setting and the degree of challenge offered at various points by the game. There will also be an overprint of preserving potions as tactical or strategic resources to be used when they are most needed. All of that actually encourages hoarding to some degree. I've seen one post before where an argument was offered against hoarding and potion use based on stomach capacity. Actually, bladder capacity would have been a better choice. Using the 1 oz Witcher vials as a standard (which I heartily endorse by the way), instead of the Icewind Dale Big Gulps, would still have allowed the user to imbibe 20 to 27 1 oz potions.

FIFY Liars? No, thieves is a more accurate term. @Osvir, the term you are looking for is rationalize: rationalize, verb: to think about or describe something (such as bad behavior) in a way that explains it and makes it seem proper, more attractive, etc. to create an excuse or more attractive explanation for

Look for something called a "task lamp" they are basically desk top lamps with flexible "arms" Something like this: or this (My wife and I each own of these and the floor version as well) or this:

Time limits? No. No QTEs, no timed quests, no time limits to main quest line. PERIOD.

How do you apply 90% of a +1 modifier? If you start allowing fractional effects, you create the following issues: 1) you have to track the fractional potency of each and every potion that is brewed, bought or dropped as loot 2) potions will rarely stack since each one will have a different "use by" date (only the ones that you craft in a given crafting session might stack) 3) if potion effectiveness is sensitive within the time frame of the game, you can forget about adding potions as loot in certain settings such as ancient crypts or dungeons 4) what happens at 50% potency? do you round the potion effect down? If so that makes a +1 potion modifier worthless when the potion hits 50% efficiency and it cuts the life of the potion in half If Josh's earlier comments hold then potion usage is already controlled via the inventory and doesn't need any further constraints. I've never seen one reasonable explanation as to why potion hoarding is even an issue worth considering.

WTF are you talking about? 'Natural balance'? This isn't a New Age crystal healing seminar. Syria's not at war because its chakras are misaligned. ROTFLMAO That just made my effing day ....... well played, sir

I do believe it, that's not the issue but the perspective it creates for the rebels. It will be seen by most as a representation of the entire rebel movement and enforce GD point about the reasons for not going into Syria. And obviously I disagree with that But look, hold on. You will concede that it is at least possible that the rebels are pretty well all Qaeda fundis. Does that change our response? Yes it is possible (although highly unlikely given some of the known funding sources in this conflict). Should it change our response? No. Not in and of itself. The source of funding is relevant only if a group allows the funders to dictate their fundamental ideology and behavior. If the group is comprised of extremist jihadists does it make a difference if Qatar, Saudi Arabia, AQIP or whoever funds them? What matters is if the group in question retains its original motivation and behavior. Conversely, does it matter who funds a secular opposition group if they remain secular and don't resort to extremist behavior?

Speaking of not getting outside, we added a bunch of stuff to the DVD library ..... Homeland - season 2, Parade's End, Once Upon a Time - season 2, Person of Interest - season 2, Breaking Bad - seasons 1 thru 5.1, Spartacus: War of Vengeance Strike Back - season 2 Walking Dead - season 3 Supernatural - season 8

Shady, that was priceless. LOL