Gorth

The two obvious things from top of my head are the requirement to be male and to be a land owner have been taken off the table.

Not sure if I'm much of a fan of Athenian democracy... I guess it was nice. If you were a wealthy, white, old, male. Otherwise you were excluded from the decision making processes. I would like to think humanity had progressed just a little bit in the millennia since. But, then I look a modern societies and realize, we probably really haven't evolved much the last 2500 years, still being a bunch of primitive savages

Not sure if coffee ever had any military application (other than helping sentries staying awake), but the microwave oven is one of my favourite pieces of military hardware spin-offs Edit: I know the internet is also a by-product of arms race and military technologies, but you could argue whether or not it's really beneficial for humanity. At least it gives a place to worship cats if nothing else.

When you say it fast... at least as a non-native English speaker... the name sounds like Spa-sex Time for a cold shower I think: Run, A68. Run! You were born to be free, not some "On The Rocks" for a cheap whiskey swilling bogan! World's biggest iceberg makes a run for it https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51389690

Congrats and well done I guess was part of the story behind the user name

Ask yourself, who owns the media? Especially the popular ones. Last time I checked Rupert Murdoch owned a **** load of the worst ones and is a rabid Trump supporter, hence a situation a bit like Berlusconi's grasp on power in Italy for a long time (he owned most of the media, hence, there was never really any "fair" election campaigning going on). Something the Russians at least seems to be aware of, using bots and teams of dedicated "influencers" to manipulate popular opinions, if not outright writing their favourite on the ballots, then spreading out some wide nets trying to catch the stagglers and fence sitters to make them vote fodder for their preferred candidate. Trump is your classical High School Bully. Full of insecurity and complexes, he reacts with the only thing he knows, violence. Whether physical or just verbally abusing people. Similar to the teenage bully, he loves the adulation of the masses. Hence why once in a previous politics thread mentioned, he would have felt completely at home on the podium of the Nuremberg Rally. Good thing for Poland that it's Greenland that is the next neighbour to the east... His vanity is alto the key to control him... if you're smart. Netanyahu, Kim, Putin etc. are smart. Khamenei, for all his flamboyant rhetoric is not smart. The former knows how to play on his vanity. I don't know all the domestic movers and shakers in the US, but wanna bet? There will also be a share of smart and not so smart people, those who plays Trump like a fiddle and those who ends up just being on the receiving end of his abuse. Edit: @MedicineDan haha, thanks for the kind words mate, you've been missed for a long time Edit2: I think it's safe to add Modi and Boris Johnson to the list of heads of state that Trump gets along with splendidly.

You can almost hear the tap tap tap sound of Happy Feet dancing on the floor from Putin and Kim... as I'm fairly sure both prefer a predictable and easy to manipulate president (and yes, once you know his quirks, he's so predictable you can set your watch after him and gullible enough you point him in any direction of your choice once you pull his trigger) Edit: Just appeal to his vanity and constant sense of insecurity.

Nationalism... this appeal to the lower brain functions seems to be a universal thing. Maybe it appeals to some inner, tribal instinct in humans? World War I + II says hello. Why work to improve your lot in life when you can go out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing life and limb for the privilege of inflicting atrocities on your fellow man, because something as abstract as a country demands it of you? (that was a trick question, the people that runs the country wants YOU to die for them, but it's an easier sell to the gullible masses who are all flag toting and anthem singing, switching off higher brain functions at the same time).

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die" No, haven't changed my mind since my original contribution to this thread edit:

I'll probably end up ruining @Gromnir's fun, but from memory, the people in front of us were an elderly Indian couple (guessing on my part, I couldn't honestly tell if they were from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, whatever, but "South Asian"). Sort of adorable in their affection for each other, hugging, obviously caring for each other and sharing a plastic bowl of what looked like home made curry. With one spoon, taking turns. Anyway, the couple were sort of the "short and round" type, guessing mid 50's to mid 60's of age, wearing, if not traditional, something that looked inspired by traditional clothes, the woman wearing a head scarf. Covering her hair and shoulders, but not her face. The guy didn't really need anything to cover his head as he was mostly bald Edit: My Serbian friends and I got lucky with the weather at The Open, not too hot and not too cold, just perfect for hanging around with a few handful beers throughout the evenings...

From Gorth's "shaky cam" mobile phone... Edit: Yeah, apologies for the terrible audio. You just can't capture stuff like that decently on a phone.

Sorry Gromnir... I just checked the other pictures from the night, unfortunately none of them shows the mystery object from a better angle

I went back to the Australian Open yesterday evening, not to watch tennis, but to watch Billy Idol who were the evenings entertainment on the AO Live Stage. He still got it. In fact, I found him great and deserving of a much better audience than a bunch of tennis goers just expecting to be entertained. Bunch of lobotomized wet noodles all of them (me included). I caught a few songs on my phone, which I'll see if I can't get uploaded to youtube a bit later.

Somebody needs to arrange an "accident" for whoever currently has the license to make WH40K video games so another studio, like Obsidian, can have a go at it. What's not to love about role playing a Slaanesh cultist???

Why would anyone run around with 500K worth of jewelry in their backpack???

I'm just too worried, that if I ever slow down, age will catch up with me. I have to keep running! As mentioned somewhere above, got to spend the day at the games. A slightly one sided affair unfortunately, where are the marathon 5 sets when you finally get a chance to watch it??? Djokovic won, outcome wasn't really much in doubt after the first two sets. Still, it was great to try a new experience. Taken with my phone... edit: Those serves... sheesh. display at the far corner says 224 km/h

And the IG Nobel prize goes to..:

Sorry, I accidentally messed up the thread title.... I hope it's recognizable

I'm just not a fan of big cities. Too many people, too many queues, too cramped, just generally too crowded everywhere (and the weather sucks) I need green stuff and wilderness within close range to feel comfortable. But, while I'm still here, a Serbian friend of mine asked me if I didn't want to join her for the Australian Open quarter finals tonight, since her country man Djokovich is playing. Not having been to a tennis match before, it's going to be fun to experience (I hope)

Besides the regular Guild Wars 2 gaming and the occasional Killing Floor 2 games, I've picked up Shadow of The Tomb Raider on a Steam sale. There *seemed* to be some consensus that it was trying to be a bit more about, well, tomb raiding. I hope that means more exploration and the odd puzzle solving rather than a crappy corridor shooter like the previous Crystal Dynamics offerings in the franchise. I only just started, so still too early for me to have an opinion on it.

Blender has a bit of a learning curve, but once mastered, it offers a Swiss Army knife of a tool box with more features than you can shake a stick at. It gives the commercial products (like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D etc.) a run for their money, offering some very competitive features for zero dollars. (edit: assuming you're a "hobbyist" and don't need the more powerful "pro features" of the commercial products) (edit2: Blender is not an image editing package, but a 3D modelling and rendering package) You do need to invest the time in learning it though. For image editing: Gimp was already mentioned. I remember using another one once upon a time called Paint.net. Nice features, doesn't scare the living daylights out of your wallet (it's free) and might be worth just to give a try at least.

There is never a wrong time to call out misogynists and rapists. Why do you suddenly feel so protective of a celebrity?

I wonder if your gallery includes O.J. Simpson? Speaking of which, wasn't it his lawyer that now defends Trump?

Not really sure if it should go here or the funny thread...

I guess I've been living more than a year in Melbourne now... too long. Time to cross borders again. Although only interstate. International relocation is even more expensive than interstate relocation, besides I'm busy getting through the citizenship application process. Would hate to see that wasted