Enoch

The Red Queen wasn't in Alice in Wonderland. The queen in that one was the Queen of Hearts (playing card theme). Through the Looking Glass (chess theme) had the Red Queen. But, assuming that you meant the Alice books as a whole, I'll take Humpty Dumpty. Because, when I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean, neither more nor less.

Morrowind's setting is generally more interesting than Oblivion's, but to me that's where the advantages end. Oblivion's gameplay is vastly superior in how it handles stealth, bartering, and enchanting. I think O's quest design is generally more interesting. The level scaling is a mixed bag-- it eliminates one of the biggest problems in Morrowind (lack of a challenge in the mid-late game), but replaces it with a pile of other problems. The combat changes are a matter of opinion. (In brief, the 'to-hit' roll has been eliminated. Instead, physics determines when there is a hit, and character skill affects only the damage done. There are also 'speshull mooves' you can get with high skill and some button-mashing.)

I'm working my way up to becoming pure evil incarnate. Seriously. I'm studying for the Bar Exam in July. And then in August, I'll become that truly evil combination of attorney and government bureaucrat. Pleased to meet you.

If a book gives you a bonus, it'll do so the instant you open it. So there's no reason to read a single word, or turn past page 1. I only click on books with interesting titles (i.e., not "A Brief History of the Empire, v. 4." "The Biography of Babayaga, v. 3," etc.). The only book I found with useful information in the text is the one that describes the varieties of daedra.

U.S. courts have upheld and enforced click-through contract terms. To the courts' view, the buyer is taking the product on notice that there will be some restrictive contract terms within the product (either a printed version inside the shrinkwrapped box, or an on-screen one on program installation). This can be analogized to a 'terms-later' contract, such as you often see in insurance (i.e., you buy a policy from the agent, and recieve the minutiae of the coverage later) and warranties. That doesn't mean the every term in the EULA is automatically enforceable. Courts regularly construe contract terms against the party who drafted them. Furthermore, if there is a term in the fine print that would cause a reasonable non-drafting party to walk away had they known about it, most courts will refuse to enforce that term. As to the restraints on the further sale of a product, software is licensed under the copyright and trademark laws. These laws have always allowed the sale of limited-purpose licenses. (I.e., there are no restraint of trade problems with the seller barring or limiting the futher sale of the product by the buyer.) Edit: I now see that the wiki's that Astrocreep linked had most of the EULA info.

I had a series of onboard stuff until 2002. 2002-2006: GeForce 3. Last 3 weeks: 6600GT. Edit: Forgot the laptop. I got it in late '04; it has a Radeon Mobility 9000.

Egad! Why on Earth would you buy anything that expensive and not list it on your homeowners' or renters' policy?

Should be fine ... one of the E3 presentations mentioned that the minimum video spec was Shader Model 2, which is well within the 6600's remit. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I certainly hope you're right. I just spent $250 upgrading my RAM (to 1 gig) and video card (to a 6600GT, which also required a new PSU). I really don't want to be barred from playing NWN2 because of a processor that's only 2 gigs.

I meant like Mario... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I've got Mario 3 and Mario World for the GBA. Good games to play on the can. I'll probably pick up Mario 2 at some point too. Of other older games, I'd say the only one that is a must-buy is a Link to the Past. Zelda 2 is also good-- I haven't bought it only because I replayed it on an emulator a few years back.

I've finally finished my upgrade (more memory, new PSU & video card) and got Oblivion to test it out. It's been running pretty well on 'medium' settings (what the auto-detect told me to use), with a tiny bit of lag in some outdoor areas, particularly if someone is holding a torch. Anyhow, I'm 20 hours or so in, and having a blast. I'm playing a Breton archer-mage-thief (Major skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Illusion, Light Armor, Blade, Marksman, and Sneak) and I'm up to level 9. I've followed the main quest up to the monastery in the mountains near Bruma (I did Kvatch at about level 5-6). I've also done a handful of Mages guild quests, and just started the Thieves guild line. I imagine that the game will eventually get tedious like Morrowind did (although the insta-travel will help with that), but for now it's got me hooked. My current annoyance (beside some vampires pretending to be vampire-hunters) is that I've been unable to find a mortal and pestle better than the "novice" one you pick up in the tutorial.

obsidianites? hmmm... just not got the right feel. obsinaties... yeah, that is something we could see on a bowling shirt. HA! Good Fun! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I prefer "Obsidianista."

Finally, a game that combines the pulse-pounding excitement of art museums with the non-stop action of solving anagrams!!

In my defense, I was a senior in college at the time of the '01 inaugural, living a whole 5 blocks from the parade route. If there was anything non-inaugural on TV at the time, I probably wouldn't have gone.

That means you agree with 68% of this country's population. Big deal... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm not wearing it as a badge of honor or anything. I just wanted to make sure that people didn't take my light mockery of some extreme Bush critics as a statement of support for W. I didn't stand around in the January drizzle for hours protesting his '01 inauguration for nothing! (Well, now that I think about it, it was for nothing... Except maybe a badge of honor )

I know that Charles Rangel (a house member who represents part of NYC) has brought it up. His argument was that, since going volunteer, recruiting has been concentrated in poorer communities (often minority communities). Thus, it has become easier for the elites running the government to justify sending troops off to war because they don't regularly associate with the type of people who will be most affected. IMO, there's something to his concerns, and they should be discussed, but the draft isn't the answer. As for Bush, I'm sure there's some quote out there where he was directly asked the question and his response was less than a flat-out promise to never use the draft. That's all some of his more irrational critics need. (Note: I'm no fan of the president's politics, or the Iraq war.)

Which is exactly why the draft is a pretty bad idea. Involuntary soldiers often tend to be pretty lousy soldiers. And lousy soldiers have a way of making the other soldiers around them lousy as well.

I'd imagine the main advantage for the company is that the customers lock themselves into buying from their stations. They gain market share because they offer an ancilary service that the other stations don't. They hedge their bets by buying futures (offsetting assets & liabilites makes them essentially neutral to fluctuations in gas prices) and fund the overhead of running the whole program with a modest increase in their prices.

Yeah-- it's called the social contract. Violent action is reserved for the State only (save in emergency situations). The State hires people to protect its citizens from crime, invasion, and the like. In return, the Citizen, freed of much of the concern for his or her physical well being, can more efficiently pursue the trade of his or her choice (and remit a portion of their productivity to the government). The only thing I see stirring up controversy in your post (which seems to be your goal) is the gender-specificity.

By "try to stay out of" I assume you mean "don't walk into a recruiting center and volunteer for." Ever since the U.S. Military went all-volunteer in the '70s, it hasn't taken much effort to "stay out of" the military. Hard to judge people for not doing something that is entirely optional. Or are you talking about people who evaded the draft back when it was in full force? That's an entirely different question. (In my case, the answer is still "No," simply because I don't feel as if I have any particular moral high ground from which to judge them-- I can't say I wouldn't be tempted to do the same thing were I in their shoes.)

It's dumb. No group should have the right to tell someone else what to think or how they should think it. That's how I view them. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They're not telling anybody how they should think. They're just a review board that decides what label gets put on a game's package. It's about informing the consumer, not censoring the games. It's no different than having nutritional content on the packaging of food items. (Except that there aren't many supermarkets that refuse to carry food with more than 900 Calories per serving... But that's a different issue.)

Well, there is no right for the public to know any of this because there's no governmental involvement. It's a voluntary effort by game producers' trade association to comply with public pressure and avoid potential regulation. Movie and TV ratings are done the same way, and for the same reasons.

Tease. <_<

Dad plays lead guitar, runs the drum machine, and probably writes most of the music. The boys play guitar & bass, write the lyrics, sing, and do the cover art.

Eyeball Skeleton - The Smokey Turtle. You can hear the track on their Myspace Site. Lyrical sampling: In the garden, he was running all around When his shell made a sizzling sound. Someone made eggs on his back 'Cause they're hungry for a really good snack... The Smokey Turtle, he was so smokey, When he came around, the people chokey, chokey. The next verse is even better-- it's about the turtle's breakdancing skills.

Charles Mingus: Boogie Stop Shuffle