Humodour

Mortality rate increases rapidly around mid-teens. I just did some digging and it looks like the Spanish flu also had a 5% mortality rate and was a swine flu.

This isn't a media scare. It's following exactly the same pattern as the Spanish flu which killed 50 million people (more than WW1). Avian flu is bird-to-human. Swine flu is human-to-human. That's a massive difference. Moreover, normal human flu has a 5% fatality rate among hospitalised populations. This flu has a 5 to 10% mortality rate amongst ALL infected. With 8 billion people in the world, that's almost a billon potential dead if this spreads. Normal flu kills elderly and children. The Spanish flu killed young and middle-aged health, fit people by triggering a cytokine storm in strong immune systems. Guess what? This flu is mainly killing healthy young people. Exhibit a: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:W_curve.png Oh, and did I mention we have modern air and rail systems now and far denser populations?

You're right: universal healthcare is a pipe dream. Why did all those silly countries-that-aren't-America bother implementing it? The fact that's it's been working for decades now is an illusion. Soon the debt fairy will come to collect all in one lump sum!

Well, I wrote it off as that at first, but the people I was playing it with are console fanatics, so upon hearing them complain about it also, it got me thinking.

I don't know... I understand that Obsidian have to use (at least in part) existing franchises for business reason since they still haven't got the marketing power of a Blizzard or a EA... but why translate in real time a rule system that was tailored for miniatures turn based game? If they want to make a fantasy game and to use an existing IP for marketing reasons, why don't they try to acquire the right to famous IP like A song of Ice and Fire or Wheel of Time, and create a ruleset that is indeed good for real time combat, instead of trying to make an interpretation of the D&D system that in most case is bound to be pretty artificial? Preaching to the converted, mate.

In a way it is. To the point I was initially confused it was even an issue in America (any Australian politician who complained about universal healthcare would be crucified). No, it's not perfect, but it is better than America's current situation in many, many ways, no? Monte Carlo's post was interesting. It seems the British model is different (inferior? ) to the Australian model, so of course one's mileage may vary when it comes to government-run healthcare systems. For reference, about 50% to 60% of Australians have private health insurance alongside Medicare. Myself included.

a) I've almost always used the public health system and rarely ever had a problem with wait times. Certainly I've never had a problem with coverage. b) What's your point? Any coverage is better than no coverage for the people this affects. c) Public healthcare keeps private insurance costs down. Health insurance in America is twice the cost it is in almost every other Western country, and the biter is that in America, government expenses spent on health insurance as a percentage of GDP are identical to countries with universal healthcare! So it's not like Americans even get the benefit of smaller government spending by not having universal healthcare. Well, as long as it's mandatory that could work. I haven't looked into it.

How does the macs design consistancy relate to stability? Easy. You could have read it above, but I'll repeat it for you: closed systems are orders of magnitude easier to QA than open ones. Apple computers are known for being rugged? http://i.gizmodo.com/5204395/apple-private...s-crack-problem Yes, rugged. Problems such as the above are extremely rare and that one only occurred because of the specific polymer (plastic) they were using. A failure of materials science, certainly, but that's why they switched to aluminium (the aim was light-weight design). Gorgon: not really. You can keep ignoring any positive aspects to Macs but that doesn't mean they don't exist. What I cannot fathom is how a thread about eye-opening business trends for two major tech companies ended up as a "Macs sux lol" thread. Has nobody else observed that Microsoft is following the same path IBM did in its downfall?

Obsidian's latest two titles were both their own rulesets and essentially their own IPs (Aliens is half-half). I think it's fair to say they certainly want to do their own thing. But given circumstances, there's a fair chance this next unannounced project won't be their own ruleset/setting. Actually, there's a fair chance it will be their own setting too. How about a coin toss?

You sound like my friend when I told him they were butchering DX2. Still, it's a bit different now since I'm hoping for a better game than DX2 (easy to do), not a game as good as DX1 (hard to do), so I'll still buy I'd say.

I was asking about L4D, as I've only played the demo on PC. I was talking about L4D. Well your theory falls apart because we found it boring (or at least, certainly far less fun and engaging) on the consoles and exciting on the PC (short as it is). You can try and say we found the combat 'experience' boring and not the game, but that sounds a bit silly. Basically: if it plays differently between platforms, then that's effectively a different game, regardless of whether or not the source differs greatly.

That's like saying Left 4 Dead on the 360 and PS3 is the same game as on the PC. What's different about them? Um, if you've played both versions and see no difference than I can hardly explain it to you. My mates found it pretty **** to play on controllers, though, certainly. Goes for most FPS's on controllers, really. Very unwieldy, and less precision than a mouse, plus fewer hotkeys.

Welcome to Flash. I doubt it's Civony's fault, except that it makes liberal use of Flash (and perhaps some poor coding). Solution: get a better computer.

Warning: technical (politically) post ahead. Source: http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2009/Sena.../Apr25-s.html#4 My 2 cents: Re the bolded bit, I simply can't believe insurance companies in America are allowed to do that. It's insane.

I would not buy a Mackintosh either, so I am with you here. That said, I guess the explanation for some people buying Macs is probably threefold: 1) They view computers as fashion statements rather than merely working/entertainment machines. Most computer users probably don't do this, but some might and there is nothing inherently wrong with doing so. 2) They don't know much about computers and think that futuristic-looking computers like Macs are automatically better than standard-looking ones. 3) Customer loyalty to Apple, hate for Microsoft and a bunch of associated ideological reasons. Sometimes the three can operate in combination with one another and other times they work separately. More than likely it's none of the above for a large chunk of Apple users, though.

Shuttleworth said it would be, but there's plenty of time for that to change. Now, you could have provided a link instead of making me trawl Google. Eh, so what's the gist of it samm? Is this perhaps what you refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext4#Caveats

That's like saying Left 4 Dead on the 360 and PS3 is the same game as on the PC. I've played both. It certainly damnwell isn't (at the very least because of the controllers on consoles). Anyway, I'm gonna try and buy this! I just got a debit mastercard and I can't pass up on this! It's probably because Episode 3 comes out soon. Edit: oh wait, this is a digital download, isn't it? And I can't play it without Steam? So I need to connect to the internet, do checks, etc? And if Valve goes under (OK, not gonna happen), I lose it? Edit2: And if I forget my Steam password like I did for my original HL2 purchase, I lose the game forever?

keep in mind it is not just the US nor just the bush administration. this was just the period in time in which specific methods (and those involved) were actually uncovered and discussed publicly. taks Oh, I'm fully aware there are far worse bodies out there (both in terms of methods and frequency of use) - especially North African states, Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, etc. Still, it's disconcerting that a US administration would have a hand in any sort of torture. It makes it a lot harder to criticise the aforementioned states for the same, for instance.

This thread is excellent! So many games to look forward to! Who is making Thief 4 these days?

Hmm. Good Old Games doesn't stock it. Have you tried ordering it in at various computer stores? You don't need to play DD1 to enjoy DD2, I can tell you that now (just judging by what info has come out). It's a fun game, though. Morgoth: You need a demo before you'll buy a game? Doesn't that cause problems for you since most games don't have demos anymore?

Here's a more accurate assessment of the electoral politics as a result of this thing: http://www.norwinter.com/2009/04/25/pirate...te-bay-verdict/ And there's even more dirt turning up about the judge. Apparently he kicked out a 'jury' member (assessor) for having links to an artists group (i.e. potentially biased), yet he fails to see the problem with he himself being a member of FOUR copyright lobby groups.

OK, well besides those two above, what are some good ones to try? Preferably a mix of new and old (with the old ones designated). Thanks!

People still play adventure games? Considering I never have, would it be worth starting now?

Um, that link doesn't back up your claim at all (driver glitch for ATI cards). Did you provide the wrong link? And what 'extreme design' would that be? It's fairly self-evident that a closed hardware system is far easier to control and QA than an open one, hence decreased likelihood of stability issues.

Add Divine Divinity 2 to my list.