Gorth

So explicit sex. Okay. "Witcher level adult", as in "teenage boy wanking to video game characters". The juvenile boob cards... very adult Yeah, very immature game in many ways. I think I feel like playing it again. Something about the first game just made it appealing to me in a way the second game completely failed to do (and no, it wasn't the cards). It's that hard to define thing that VMBL had too. Maybe the constent sense of oppressing darkness in the world.

I missed that While I did preorder it as soon as it was available, I was abroad working in France when it finally did get released. I guess they fixed it before I got to that part the first time. Sounds a bit like halfway through the Jedi Knight story With my friends mostly gone from the game now, end game that isn't worth the time investment, pvp getting shot in the foot with the god awful new combat systems (class balance being not just its usually skewered towards flavour of the month classes, but completely non existent now), I figured all that was left was to start over leveling up some new toons and enjoy class stories again (at a slower pace). This time on servers with less lag for me. In case anyone plays on Shadowlands or Red Eclipse, honk!

Not quite, I say this specific case should not be the reason (the rest is something for those seriously into that kind of research to work out, thats way beyond a casual observer like me)

Because no matter how loathsome you and I may find an individual, those individuals sometimes still have a social network. Relatives, gang members, fellow inmates etc. I've got no illusions about there not being sympathisers who sees his actions as an outlet of their own anger and frustrations at the injustice of life. Some turn to gangs, some turn to hooliganism, some turn to drugs, and yes, some turn to ideological extremism. Yes, even a small place like Denmark has it's share of people who looks for something to blame for their misery, whether that misery is inflicted or self inflicted.

Nice theories! A few facts. The guy, despite having a "middle eastern" name, was born and raised in Denmark. He had a history of violence and gang related crime. In fact, he had only just come out of jail (serving a few years for a stabbing incident). If anything, he should have been institutionalised a long time ago for mental issues. He was really just a ticking bomb looking for an excuse to explode in violence. It just so happened that recent events in Paris most likely inspired him, getting him killed here and now instead later in gang related shoot outs.

Is that better or worse when being offensive is considered politically correct? ... Oh man, that was deep thoughts. Too much coffee again.

You are doing just fine I had a look at the site and starting browsing through motherboards. Sheesh, I've been out of this game for too long already. How many legs exactly do the chips have these days??? Socket size 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2011-3 (no idea what the -3 is for). Not to mention 3 different chipsets, z97, z87, z77 and x99. I guess I have some catching up to do on my reading.

I miss music from the 80's Kim Wilde - Cambodia (a pox on German television for never releasing that particular concert on dvd/blu-ray/anything hd) http://youtu.be/sic4LKoCPfI

Thanks Samm, I'll give gh.de a try. Yes, I do speak German, or rather, I speak it well enough to land a good job halfway across the world and move here

I know I posted these a long time ago, but for me this will always be the craziest flyby by some Argentinian madman. http://youtu.be/UntN_cZUQg8 Exact same flyby (slightly longer video) from the planes view: http://youtu.be/z1G-RrZbTL4

Back in Australia, I sort of knew what the good online places were to buy hardware, through years of trial and error. Being "new" in Europe, I wonder if anyone has any special recommendations, particularly good/reliable online hardware pushers? Im mostly just looking for motherboard/cpu/ram that isnt too expensive (and can carry me over so to speak) until new generations of motherboards (seriously, sata2 and usb2 is about as contemporary as IDE drives) become available and off the initial high prices. My old PC has started to show stability issues, so my hands are a bit forced, about 12 months sooner than I had hoped for.

It's a bit like the old idea of letter of the law and spirit of the law (or business statistics, which may an even better allegory). You can have facts represented "creatively" to further an agenda. It's entirely possible that a piece of fact gets out from some area and all news agencies jump at it, reporting it in each their own way, confirming their own bias. Hypothetical example, Ukraine: Ukrainian leaders claim Russian troops are operating in the east. Russians deny russian troops are operating in those areas. Most likely scenario, Russian troops have been encouraged to "volunteer", leaving their official trappings behind and support the rebels where they. Both sides are right, none of the are lying. The full truth just being something that neither side has told, because both sides have an interest in also pursuing the media/PR war. Most news media, I would expect to act in the same way. They may have access to facts, but sometimes how those facts gets delivered and in what context can make it a completely different story. Honestly? None. I read BBC for general coverage, Al Jazeera to get a second opinion, CNN for the "Poular Science Magazine" approach to the news and on rare occasion Fox News if I'm bored and need a good laugh. The trick in my opinion is to know what the presenters bias is, then see if you can filter out the noise. Even better when getting alternate versions of a story and see where they overlap/differ.

Trust mainstream media at your own peril. They are as self regulated as a board of directors or the groups of lobbyists infecting the parliamentary system. The only "regulation" they seem to do is balancing their special interest groups agenda with the bottomline of their balance sheets. Sometimes the one get prioritized higher, sometimes the other.

Hey, recycling is all the rage these days. Very eco friendly But agreed, at least the Nihilus / Emperor comparison was very hard not to make. Not that i would mind if they also re-introduced Visas Marr (no, I don't think she's hiding under Darth Marrs mask)

Decided to give the "new" HM Flashpoints a go, just to see what they are about. Hadn't really bothered with them until now, as I found their tactical (yeah, what a misnomer, zerg rushing counting as tactics???) counterparts mindnumbingly boring and had only completed the Forged Alliance series like thrice before 3.0 (that is, 3 times out of 20 characters, simply couldnt be bothered with the 17 otheres). I thought Ilum and Makeb was boring after 1 playthrough, but those 4 fps take the prize. HM Korriban Incursion was easy enough, went through it with 1 team member dying once in the first droid fight. Also took out the "bonus" boss (some unnamed elite officer). HM Rakata Was even easier (including bonus boss) except... badly designed mechanics meant that both the tank and the other dps got killed by the wookie dragging blue circles everywhere which sucks when we were an all melee team. My scoundrel ended up facing the second guy and tanking (yeah, medium armour is awesome!) him from 70% health and ended up winning. Kudos to the healer, that was an outstanding job healing me through that. HM Manaan... Jeebus, tediousness took on a new dimension. We only made it past the first boss, Sarissi or some such, before the healer decided real life was more fun and tank didn't want to hang around waiting for a new healer (left 10 minutes after healer). No idea if the remaining boss fights are similar tests of stamina and patience more than anything. HM Tython... Didn't make it past first boss. Two of the guys in the pug just couldn't get their heads around the mechanics. Mind you, I caused the first wipe by misunderstanding the instructions, drag circle to shield droid and make it stay there. Oh, I made it stay there alright, the orbital bombardment killing both me and the shield The 6 following wipes were caused by the other dps and healer not going anywhere near shield droids with the circles, nor did their subsequent replacements and people left, arrived, left, arrived etc. not getting the mechanic. In the end, tank and i both left. Enough misery for one day. From the adventures of Gorth the Scoundrel.

No idea, I preordered it, so had it since release

For those flashpoints where solo mode exists, you can now pick it when talking to the "quest giver". Like in the past where you picked Normal or Hard mode at the entrance, some of them now has a third option, solo mode. You get a buff that makes you and your companion stronger and you get a GSI Combat Droid as extra team member. The droid is a DPS/Tank/Healer that makes Treek look weak by comparison. Heck, even my well geared tank got a guard slapped on him by the droid while it proceeded to wreck the place and me trying to keep up

Solo vs. group... While there are many things wrong with 3.0, they did actually make it easier for solo players. Previous tactical flashpoints (minus the CZ ones) are now available in solo mode, so you can play them as part of the new planetary story. The only thing you cant solo is the operations and traditional flashpoints, and you you really only want that if grinding or testing your skills constantly (or your patience in the case of pugs) is your thing. Bugs notwithstanding (and they are legion now), its perfectly possible to play through the class stories, Ilum, Makeb (which now has a bolster funktion too, so you can play from level 47 there), over the preludes to the Shadow of Revan expansion, ending at level 60 without doing group content, just saying

Agent was my favourite story lines, but as a matter of taste etc. I quite liked the trooper story. Completely unrealistic of course, but it's a bit like the game version of The Dirty Dozen (or half dozen in this case). Plot spoiler warning: Chapter 1. Chapter 2 & 3 No idea if you care about in-game romances, but the most interesting one was the one you couldn't get (as a male trooper). You'll know when you get there.

Yeah, life is played in "Iron Man" mode

Because the best way to deal with a security risk is to add another security risk into the equation. Once upon a time, I had some petty fun by replying to email scammers, forging my own address to be that of other email scammers, telling them that "i" (the other scammer) was interested in getting scammed. I sometimes wonder if it ever resulted in scammers trying to scam each other. The only online store at the moment that has my billing information is Amazon. You could argue it is one too many, but nobody's perfect. As for other online stores, I do regularly change passwords because i keep forgetting them (not using the same password everywhere has that effect) and ask for a reset password email when forgotten.

We might just have to disagree on that one. Governments don't provide "legitimacy". Or would you classify Pieter Bothas apartheid regime as "legitimate", or the Chinese governments crackdown on Tiananmen Square? The Iraqi governments use of poison gas against Kurd villages? "Legitimacy" is just a buzz word, used by the spin doctors to justify actions. Same thing with "Democracy". Want to start a new crusade for land, resources or market shares, sell the idea that you are bombing the enemy into proper compliance with "Democratic" ideals. For better or for worse, the western world is a collection of plutocracies and the world is governed by "Realpolitik".

I can land a Boeing 737 in my old hometown in Microsoft Flight Simulator X. I wouldn't try that in real life

The one I remember best from my younger years, often being headline news: Baader-Meinhof Gang (aka Rote Arme Faktion) "The Red Army Faction existed from 1970 to 1998, committing numerous operations, especially in late 1977, which led to a national crisis that became known as "German Autumn". It was held responsible for thirty-four deaths, including many secondary targets, such as chauffeurs and bodyguards, and many injuries in its almost thirty years of activity. Although better-known, the RAF conducted fewer attacks than the Revolutionary Cells (German: Revolutionäre Zellen, RZ), which is held responsible for 296 bomb attacks, arson and other attacks between 1973 and 1995"

Spent the weekend building my new Ikea kitchen. Well, started on it. I don't have all the parts yet (I'm militantly opposed to financing), but got most of what I got put together. Still a lot of work to do and I noticed that I forgot to buy silicon for the making the area around the kitchen sink water tight. I'm also going to get a professional to hook up the stove to the wires in the wall. I can handle normal 220v stuff, but this was just too many cables that needed connecting, 5 or 6 or so for the 2x16/32 ampere stuff.