taks

that's the point that you're missing... the fact that someone could "know all" would mean that there is some information that allows someone, or all of everyone, to know something, which requires more "knowing" which means there's some information that allows... ad infinitum. not only is it physically impossible, it is philosophically impossible as well. again, bone up on goedel. there are many concepts that are thought to be true, or untrue, but we can never prove them (the fact that these truths are unprovable has been proven in many cases). if there is ONE thing that is unprovable, your entire thesis on the subject fails. there are many, and a simple bit 'o wiki searching will reveal that. QED taks

that you disagree but are unable to prove your case proves mine _almost_ by contradiction. you need to bone up on your logic skills, sand. look into goedel's incompleteness theorem while you're at it, which is all the proof i need to make my case. taks

it is conceptually impossible to "know everything" from an information theoretical standpoint. the knowledge of something creates more information, which then requires more knowledge to understand, and subsequently creates more information, etc. there are also many things that are simply not knowable, such as what is the energy/whatever that makes people sentient. essentially, you cannot observe the box from within the box. there are many things that are unprovable as well, and the existence of an omnipotent being falls into that category (the only way to know for sure is to die, at which point communicating such information to the land of the living becomes impossible, and even death may not reveal such an answer in the first place). taks

wiki says 1.8% of the human population is blonde, which includes all the various hues. my son, for example (my avatar), is considered blonde. my hair color is similar to his, at least after some time in the sun (normally it is a touch darker), so i am as well. taks

given that the majority of human population is of middle eastern, indian or asian descent, true blondes are most certainly a minority, and even moreso redheads. perhaps this stems from an assumption of irish descent, and they are being persecuted as a result? taks

i watched Deja Vu last night. interesting and entertaining movie. scientifically speaking, they really blew the "time travel" mechanism, as well as some of the implications, but that's OK. i'm just a stickler for such things. either way, the tv guide info box gave the movie 3 stars and i concur. it was enjoyable, and denzel washington is as good in this as most of his other movies. taks

i would've just edited my first post with a "nevermind" and hoped not enough of us would have read it. instead, prepare for heckling. taks

tutu = hit and miss. could be that you're not playing enough, could be an issue with tutu, could be something completely unrelated. i played tutu a few times and had enough problems with it that i stopped. the one i was looking forward to was icewindgate, but due to a lack of time and resources, weimer could not complete it. i'm starting to miss BG again... taks

i've always found that add-ons that claim to work with existing saves seem to screw up other things. you might then have a conflict between two add-ons. some just aren't compatible, or require installation in a certain order, and they end up overwriting each other. taks

i might add, btw, that i often don't finish games that i start. i'll get to the end battle and, knowing that all the stuff i enjoy is pretty much over, end it before the battle. winning is almost anti-climactic. the nice thing about pen and paper is that you can simply have an open-ended campaign in which your characters slowly wander around the land searching for damsels to rescue, or treasure to uncover, etc. i.e., there doesn't have to be a point other than adventuring for the sake of adventuring. that's very difficult to do in a computer game, crpg or otherwise. taks

none of which i disagree with. in fact, you aren't just a big part of that story, you _are that story_ in every respect. no matter what the game is, ultimately your character (or whatever) is the focus in one manner or another. not in the BG games, nor torment. your destiny in BG is to dethrone sarevok. that's the only way to win the game. in ToB you actually get to pick one of a few options in the end, which merely results in a slightly different text scrolling across the screen, but your destiny is to defeat all the bhaalspawn and melissan. there's no real way to write a story in which the outcome, i.e., winning, isn't pre-determined, at least with more than just a few outcomes. which is immaterial to the point i made. the only difference here is that they, the story writers, have chosen a character without any real customization capabilities for you to role-play. if you don't want to play those kinds of games, i.e., role-play somebody else's character, than you don't buy the game (i don't, btw). above, as in the BGs, which is a direct result of the rules system, you can customize your dude. in the end, you're still trying to beat some bad guy or save the world from some evil (that they may give you and option to join said evil is largely immaterial to my point as well). my problem with the J versions of said games is that i'd rather play my own dude, even if he is "chosen" or whatever. all the stuff in the middle, after heritage and prior to ultimate destiny, is what i enjoy. the J games don't have that much for me as a result. taks

is this with new games, or games that were already in progress? IIRC, existing saves are usually not affected by pack installs. taks

yeah, that's how i treat them, though the touchy-feely, lovey-dovey text gets on my nerves. taks

realistically, just about any game in which you have a character constitutes "role-playing." in the narrowest sense, even pac-man is role-playing, though the role you play is extremely one-dimensional and not in any way modifiable (you're just a dude running from some strange beasts with an overwhelming desire to eat dots). certainly i'd never refer to pac-man as a crpg, so any of you purists out there, please don't get your panties in a bind. the differences among different genres come down to a) is the role your own, or already forced upon you b) in either case, how much control do you have over that role and c) how much impact does your character have with the rest of the realm in which you are playing and finally, d) there are probably at least a few other important facets that i'm too lazy to write about. even most pen and paper games, the ultimate in a role-playing experience, place _some_ limits on your chosen role simply because game mechanics cannot allow for infinite everything (such as real life). pen and paper can probably be seen as the maximum flexibility in any definition of role-playing. computer games then represent differing degrees of each the above options. the FF games seem to force option a, but the upcoming witcher game will as well. torment forces a as well, so do the BGs to some extent (your heritage, for sure, and your destiny as well). taks

i've completed BG1 probably 8-10 times and BG2 nearly 20. ToB only a few, however, as i always lose interest towards the very end. i agree. in fact, most aspects that delve into sexuality, whether "alternative" or "normal," i'd prefer be left out of crpgs. the real-world versions of these things are much more satisfying. running around slaying high-powered magic users, or solving ancient puzzles buried in some dungeon, however, is not possible in the real-world. hence the "fantasy" aspect. i was not a fan of the romance options in BG2. it felt forced. i almost had to be mean to spurn their advances, which was counter to my typical character. i am unable to detach myself from the real-world enough to feel any bond with a few pixels on the screen and pre-written text. taks

i'm using firefox myself, though not at home yet. no reason other than the fact that my system is a brand new build and i haven't worked other kinks out yet. not sure that i won't wipe and start over anyway. taks

the owner of the company i work for is a VT grad. my thesis co-advisor, william tranter, is a professor there (he moved shortly after i graduated in 1995). through DRS (former company) i also got to meet a lot of VT professors and several of their students, all top-notch in my opinion. i highly recommend that school if you're intending to pursue an engineering degree. taks

my favorite is the fear that using a cell phone while pumping gas can cause an explosion. at least with a cigarette there is an off chance that a stray ember could drop down near the opening and just happen to waft through the right mixture and cause an explosion. by off chance i mean extremely minute. cell phones, however, have no such off chance. it has happened, from what i've read, about 180 times, and nearly all of them as a result of women that get in and out of the car during the pumping process without touching the frame before going to the pump, i.e. static electricity discharge right at the opening of the tank, which is the only place you could reasonably expect the mixture of gas fumes and air to be the correct ratio. taks

no, but stupid CDMA phones will continually search for a network and burn themselves out in the process... grrr. razr = crap. taks You could not give me a Motorola phone suxxors. uh, is that proper leet speak? taks

was your robot the standard bending unit? taks

i wonder if this is in any way related to "the nude bomb" with don adams aka agent 86. taks

thief was not one of the classes i recall being good to solo BG2. mage had a few issues in places, cleric was easiest, IIRC. i found some of the mods a bit too hard. not impossible, but just hard enough that i'd have to reload here and there which i got to hating. taks

uh, probably 192.168.0.1 or similar. 192 is a reserved # for "local networks." there are others, but most that i've seen start with 192. taks

no, but stupid CDMA phones will continually search for a network and burn themselves out in the process... grrr. razr = crap. taks

guard dog is pretty much dead on with his analysis. really it depends upon which systems are in place on the plane. also, the biggest problem is NOT the ground cells, since their signals are present regardless of whether you have your phone on or not. the phones are actually the bigger problem as they're putting out a few hundred milliwatts, and they're doing it from less than 100 feet from the systems that are at risk. since a phone at altitude is going to be nominally well beyond the typical cell range, it will have to boost its power to the maximum level to operate. taks