Humodour

I hope that kid brings about the downfall of McDonald's.

Hahaha. But Alanis's satire made up for it, no?

First off, watch the Hy Humps video by Black Eyed Peas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbZc7j6A230 Now watch Alanis's parody:

I attempted to read one of Le Guin's books a few months back, but found I could not summon the attention to continue reading, which is actually somewhat rare for me - I've read LOTR twice, but perhaps more through willpower than interest the second time. Would somebody care to suggest a good starting point for her universe? I can't guarantee I was even reading the first book.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

I also have it, Tale. I made this thread to see what popular thought on the subject was amongst a fairly educated crowd, and to see if anybody else here also has it. I've found that on internet message boards there is a higher incidence than one would expect given the percentage estimates of the general population with ADHD/ADD (average 5%). I think perhaps one of the most interesting and anecdotally testable aspects of ADHD is that described here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_caffei...o_an_ADHD_child Essentially, for people with ADHD, some stimulants known to cause hyperactivity in "normal" people do the reverse on those with ADHD. I did not know caffeine was one, but I did always wonder why coffee and energy drinks made me calm and drowsy unlike with most people. The more interesting ones, perhaps, are medications prescribed to those with ADHD. I used to know somebody at school who would sell his tablets instead of taking them. Those who took them essentially became hyperactive, whilst for us they are depressants. Personally, Ritalin and dexamphetamine sulphate (a cousin of speed) made me very apathetic and nihilistic towards the world, which is the main reason I stopped taking them back in year 10. Interestingly, my dad and my half-sister have it, and I firmly believe my sister has it, but she's got other mental illnesses, which would complicate any diagnosis - ADHD in girls is often under-diagnosed, as opposed to supposed over-diagnosis in boys. Anyway, point is it's highly heritable. The most consistent feature of ADD/ADHD is a dopamine imbalance - a testable deviation for all those who would claim the disorder does not exist. Another quirk of ADHD is the ability to "hyperfocus", which is actually a trait of the wider range of right-brain "disorders" such as the unrelated Autistic spectrum, where those with the disorders have an increased ability for intense focus. This might seem contrary to attention deficit, but the key is that it is only controllable so long as the topic/task in question remains interesting or immediately personally important, or at least that's what I've found. In general, those with Autistic disorders or ADHD/ADD, have a stronger right hemisphere than a left one. This isn't a bad thing, IMHO, since it gives us a different perspective on the world - a more holistic and creative one. I personally believe that it is the reason I can learn maths and programming so easily, as both require a holistic, creative vantage point.

The US - now 97% freedom free!

It's already 2008 here. Morons, tch.

I'm no gardener, but I thought they are no exception, cyanide even smells like (bitter) almonds (or the other way around ). Anyway, magic > natural posions samm: Almonds have trace amounts but as somebody who has hogged out on 1 kg bags of them before, I can attest that the cyanogens will never build up to lethal levels from almonds. Walsh: Just because I know how to make poisons and explosives and own a variety of medi

That's too much effort. Easier just to summon a Glebrezu.

What do people know of it?

Well poison potions are easy. I could concoct one in 5 minutes if I visited most people's gardens. Basic toxins: Rhubarb - Contains oxalate crystals. The same compound which is the reason for spinach being a poor source of iron, as all the iron is actually bound up by oxalic acid. The base of the plant also contains the compound found in foxglove. Probably won't kill. Potato - When sprouts form or the potato turns green, it contains unsafe levels of solanine and should not be eaten. Known cases of death from solanine in potatoes exist. Deadly Nightshade/Belladona - Looks like potato and tomato because it is a close relative, one berry will kill a kid, 2 or 3 any adult - I've seen it growing wild in various locations around Bathurst, Canberra, Syndey and the Blue Mountains - including at a kid's waterslide. Solanine levels are amazingly high in this plant, and the small berries change from green to black when ripe. Some species have berries that resemble chilli peppers, probably since chillis are also part of this family. In general don't eat anything from a wild tomato, eggplant, potato, chilli or capsicum bush, including leaves, stem and roots. Oleander - The entire tree is extremely lethal, yet you see it growing in every 2nd garden here. No functional uses in food, but due to its ubiquitous nature and high lethality, thousands of poisoning cases occur each year. One example is where a woman used oleander wood in a cooking instrument and died because the oil seeped into food when the wood got hot. Foxglove - Sort of like snapdragons - AKA digitalis. Causes heart attacks by making the heart race. Extremely lethal. Used in medicine to treat heart-related disorders. Sometimes kids die by drinking vase water that's had digitalis flowers in it, other times people confuse it with Comphrey which is sometimes used to make tea. Sweet pea - I actually used to eat these as a kid! Oops. They contain a neurotoxin. Rose family - roses, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, nectarines, cherries etc - all the seeds contain cyanide (obviously almonds are an exception), so eat the fruit, never the seed. Yew - seeds kill, but leaves do more so. Daffodils - the bulbs are poisonous. My grandparents accidentally ate these once because they thought I was growing onions and had ran out of them. Luckily all they did was complain of upset stomachs. Hyacinth and pretty much any Lilly, really - bulbs almost always quite poisonous and oft times leaves are too. Honeysuckle - vomiting and diarrhea mostly.

Some stats (with about +/- 1 percent error): IE use 3 years ago: 85% Mozilla/Firefox use 3 years ago: 7% IE use now: 55% Mozilla/Firefox use now: 37% You're going down, Microsoft. Reference: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Gorth's correct. It was good back in the day. Is Opera still around?

I tentatively agree whole-heartedly with that statement.

Vodyanoi? Where have you come across them? Lionheart, if anybody ever actually played that game.

The module the Rogue Dao team planned a year ago bears only passing resemblance to the currently in production version of Purgatorio. For example, original plans called for no custom music or voice-over, currently the soundtrack is 3.5 hours long and all of the cutscenes will be voiced over. Another example, no custom creatures were planned, now there are going to be many. The length/breadth/scope in every area of production have been dramatically increased over the interceding year. The quality is also a lot higher I am happy.

I prefer Holy Freeze paladin. Only about 2/3 of the dmg, but what's 1000 to 1500, really? Besides, it is more consistent dmg, and you get the slow, which can boost your longevity considerably. If you ever want a LAN game, give us a holla.

Had lunch with some cousins from the Bohemian village of Sydney.

Example of a productive use of modern technology, which I would miss were electricity to fall:

Yeah, because deadly bacteria pandemics come through once a month and if we don't all take our antibiotics, it's one foot in the grave! But I agree, farming and agriculture are definitely backwards; it's a sign of civilisation when your people are too stupid to be able to figure out how to deal when things get rough and they can't buy at a supermarket anymore. Both my parents renew their gun licenses. If anybody is doing the pillaging, it'll be us! I don't believe overly much in the doomsday, tribal, devolving to primal animals predictions of what would happen after an apocalypse. At least not the the extent people in this thread are romanticising about it, and certainly not to the extent Fallout did. Fallout was fun because it was playing out an extreme worst case scenario which focused on the most primitive aspects of humanity more than anything else. I'm picturing something more like Dark Angel, or Jericho at a pinch.

Replaying BG2 and Dungeon Siege 2's xpack.

I'd recommend the following: No anime.

I like variety. It'd get boring if we had fantasy, realworld, or scifi RPGs only.

Haha my mum's got a bloody backyard that supplies eggs and greens all year round, and fruit in their respective seasons. Not to mention all the books and past experience my family has had with self-sufficiency. You'd be surprised how many people are into that sort or thing, or could work it out.