Enoch

Clearly, the is making you believe that.

Heh... Reminds me of the double-barrel background checks I went through when I took the bar exam and started working for the feds in the space of a month. Had to list every address I lived at for the last 10 years, and then find someone to confirm that I actually lived there. And those people, of course, couldn't be family members or people who I had already used as character references. And I didn't get a gun or a badge or anything! I could get some business cards, but I never got around to ordering them, and now I'm 6 months away from eligibility for a new promotion, so I think I'll hold off until I get the shiny new title. (See how I save the taxpayers' money!) This past weekend was busy. The future in-laws were in town to help take care of wedding planning stuff. But at least we now have the flowers, cake, invitations, and big venue planning meeting out of the way.

Herbie Hancock -- Dolphin Dance Tune features a fascinatingly beautiful harmonic progression. Several chord changes jump out at the listener as unexpected and yet also quite fitting.

As Aram mentioned, "typical CIA repertoire" is nothing more deadly than rubber bands and paper clips-- the vast, vast majority of CIA employees work behind a desk. Even in the Clandestine Service, the number people who actually possess a CIA-issued weapon is probably miniscule. And the people who are issued weapons ain't talking to no game developers.

I'm with Tale on the "feeling old" thing. My first CRPG was Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum. Anyhow, FFVII is one of those games that the internet tells me was really popular but I can't remember ever seeing anyone actually playing it (including myself). It came out when I was just starting college; I owned no gaming console and occupied my gaming time almost exclusively with Civ2. The only console game I remember playing at the time was Mario Kart. Actually, the only FF games I have played for more than 10 minutes are the first 2, as part of the more recent GBA "Dawn of Souls" release. (And I can't imagine playing them as anything other than a time-waster on long flights.) By the way, when did the FF game switch from being all medieval-y to being all modern-but-swords-still-kick-ass-for-no-good-reason?

Go to eat here: http://www.pierces.com/ Of the touristy stuff in the 'Burg, I like the reconstructed Jamestown settlement best.

Hmmm... Spies and shoes... What does that remind me of??

No, that was there to refute your point that J-Load had "done a good job as a backup." The evidence I presented that he sucks was my subjective observation on his throwing motion. Plus, have you seen the guy? No player in the NFL looks more like some dude who won a contest to stand on the sidelines during a game. And there's no need to get so defensive. My disagreement with you over this particular acquisition was in no way intended to impugn your overall knowledge of the world of professional American football.

Gorgon's observations about some of the questions have some truth to them. It's been a while since I've taken that test, but I usually end up somewhere within spitting distance of -1 economic and -4 social (depending on when and if I use the "strongly" agree/disagree).

Beatles -- Savoy Truffle

Really? You're standing up for the Hefty Lefty? He played in 2 games in '07, was 4-of-8 for 28 passing yards and a sack, left the game hurt, and was demoted to 3rd QB. Bottom line is that he's physically limited in what he can do. He has a big arm, but also has a ridiculously slow wind-up and release on his throws. That's not the kind of thing that coaching can correct at this point in his career, and it probably dooms him never to be a productive starter. Sure, he runs the sneak well, but by no means do I ever want him throwing a pass in a non-preseason Giants game again. Carr, on the other hand, has all the physical attributes to be an excellent starting QB. If he can recoup his confidence, leadership, and understanding of the game with a new team and a new offensive system (and, most importantly, behind a strong offensive line), I'd be reasonably confident that he'd do OK if he has to fill in for Eli for a game or three. Sure, he wants a shot to start-- that's why he only signed a 1-year deal with NY. But I don't see a team that is going to be willing to give him that shot this season.

Wow. Talk about a slow news day-- CNN running a story on "Child Suspended for Violating School Rule." What's next-- "Local Man Finds Nickel on Sidewalk"?

Based on how he's played over the past 2 or 3 years, who would sign David Carr to be anything but a pure backup? When you split time with Matt "who-dat" Moore and the dessicated corpse of Vinny Testeverde, and come out looking like the worst of the three, nobody is going to sign you to lead their team. From the Giants' point of view, he's a better backup option than the Battleship U.S.S. Lorenzen. If they can rebuild his confidence a bit, he's got all the tools.

Ha! The Newark Star-Ledger is reporting that the NY Giants will shortly be signing... David Carr! So, the 2002 #1 overall pick will be backing up the 2004 #1 overall pick! The move makes sense in at least one way-- the Giants' QB coach is Chris Palmer, who was Carr's Offensive Coordinator for a several years in Houston.

Heh... I was the opposite-- the team that just snuck into the playoffs and proceeded to upset several 2 more highly-seeded teams. My team was decent, but not dominant: Hasselbeck, Addai, J. Lewis (drafted specifically because of his cupcake playoff schedule), B. Jacobs, B. Marshall (a brilliant waiver pickup around week 3), K. Winslow, Gostkowski, GB and Tenn Defenses. My problem is that the league starts 3 WRs, and apart from Marshall, I had crap: L. Coles, L. Evans, S. Moss, and (late-season pickup) A. Gonzalez. I ran up against our league's juggernaut team (Brady, Tomlinson, Owens, Houshmandzadeh, Jennings, et al.) and lost a squeaker in the finals.

Today we did a "test run" of the commute to a house we're looking at making an offer for. It adds a little over 15 minutes to both of our commutes (most of which is walking and some of which is subway), but that's the cost of going from an apartment to a house. Well, that and a half-million dollars in debt. Now I think I'm going to play some Civ IV.

I hear that. Although I still haven't gotten paid for my 2nd place finish in my brother-in-law's league...

Jones and Washington were non-existant last season because the OL stunk, Pennington has no range (thus, the safeties had no reason to not play close to the line of scrimmage), and the defense kept letting opponents score enough to put them in pass-first situations. They've addressed the OL by overpaying a pair of old (but very good) Guards, and Pennington might well lose his starting job to Clemens. With the #6 pick, they can get a potential franchise player on the defensive side of the ball, where it will do them much more good. Yeah, DEs or LBs don't bring as much "excitement," but the difference between a top rookie at one of those positions and what they have now is greater than the difference between McFadden and their RBs.

True, Oakland's RBs are no great shakes, but a blue-chip OL would help their running game far more than a top-flight RB would. (If Adrian Peterson had gone to the Raiders last season, nobody would be considering him as one of the top backs in the league.) The Jets already have Thomas Jones, Leon Washington (whose style is quite similar to McFadden's) and Jesse Chatman-- no room there. I see your point about KC, but, despite LJ's injury risk, he's paid so much that giving a top-5-pick salary to another RB would throw their salary cap calculus even further out of whack. McFadden would do well in NE, but Belichick and Pioli have shown that the only positions they like to give big money to are QB and Defensive Line (with OLB considered as a quasi-DL, given their 3-4 base). Plus, they used a (low) 1st round pick on Maroney 2 years ago, and it doesn't make much sense to double-up on that investment, especially given the pass-first nature of their offense lately. By the way, I do agree that GB is well-situated to sit out the early free agency period. Some good decisions on draft day(s) would go a long way toward filling most of their needs. Then it all depends on Rogers and the gods of injury luck...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painstation

The word is it would take both picks and Barber Depends on how long McFadden stays on the board. I don't really see a team in the top-8 with a big need at running back. And, even then, it'd be a very dumb thing for Dallas to do. RBs have high injury rates, don't have a particularly long shelf-life (very few backs are productive for more than 4-5 peak seasons), and the difference between a star RB and an average one is less significant than it is at other positions. Investing so much draft and salary resources at the RB position might help them for a season or two, but, long-term, it would make the team worse. Sure, they were a FG away from being the NFC Champions, but that doesn't mean that they didn't have some weaknesses. They could use some help on the interior of the OL, and depth in the secondary is another immediate need (whoever their nickel corner was this past season, he wasn't good). Another rotational DT to replace Corey Williams would be nice, too. More long-term, their starting CBs and OTs are getting rather long in the tooth, so it would make sense to get some young developmental players at those positions (most likely in the draft).

Because games have failstates. Well, sure. The film, of course, is of the final runthrough after you've reloaded six time figuring out how to do it correctly. But the central premise that all non-fatal injuries can be "walked off" is, I think, an improvement over the "medkits that instantly heal bullet holes" mechanic. Both are unrealistic, but so is taking on the hoards of machine-gun-weilding generic badguys that both games and movies throw at their heroes. It's part of the fantasy.

Also, I agree with whoever it was who posted that non-combat solutions should be emphasized. If I wanted a game that's all about strafing, cover, and grenades, I'd go buy one of the bajillion WWII re-enactment games out there. Gunplay should be a rare event.

I have played none of those games, but I think I agree. Hit Points are not representative of your character's actual health, they are representative of your character's action-hero mojo. Especially in a modern setting where 1 bullet would realistically mean incapacatation or death, the health bar makes little sense. If John McClane can fall six stories and get punched in the teeth a dozen times with nothing to show for it but a dust-covered sheen of sweat and an attractive scratch on his left cheekbone, why shouldn't our RPG characters?

Agreed. As a Giants fan, I was always relieved to see that they were playing Jones instead of the far more frightening Marion Barber. He'll end up backing up Maurice Morris in Seattle. The other RB acquisition that I liked much better than this one was the Jets signing Jesse Chatman. It was only a 1-year deal, so he probably came pretty cheaply, and he has shown that he can be a solid starter. They needed a strong #2, since their change-of-pace guy, Leon Washington, isn't really built to take 20 carries every week.