Gorth

...on the PC platform

Sure, just take the side of my traitorous keyboard, that one didn't like it either

Drowned my new, precious DAS Keyboard in red wine Accidentally pushed the glass, tipping it over spilling the content the only place I really didn't want it to go. Keyboard went "Glug Glug Glug...", Gorth went "Eeeeek!", PC went "Windows is shutting down, please wait for the following applications (essential work related stuff) to close" and proceeded to shut down. The electrical insulation properties of Sauvignon is vastly overrated. My parents has always taught me not to cry over spilled wine, but at that moment I did feel a bit peevish. Of course the keyboard didn't work afterwards, so I've tried to give a nice lukewarm soaking bath in demineralised water to see if I couldn't loosen up the sticky keys (pun unintended). Otherwise I'll have to go shopping again for a new keyboard

Leave it. The banks need that money so they can loan it out to people to buy houses at bubble prices. Dear Sir/Madam, I'm the only surviving family member of a former North African ruling family. I'm in need of help transferring a significant sum ($fantasillion) out of the country, but I can only do it with your help. Your reward will be a substantial part of the money saved from rebel hands. Please contact me at saif.al-islam@yahoo.co.ly

Return to Mysterious Island. Great fun so far. At least a pace I can match Puzzles aren't too bad either. Only the *&%$ struggle to figure out how make a fish hook though. Wasted a lot of time trying every possible action with every possible item at every possible action location. Except that, most of the problems you can solve through reasonable logic. Raise hands all those who knows that acacia thorns turns hook shaped when heating them up?

Why didn't you just say so right away Joking aside, I think I get it As a lover of history, I do very much care about those "behind the scenes" things though, trying to understand not only the what of an event, but also the why. Things always happens for a reason. It may not make sense in hindsight. It might not make sense when compared to contemporary thinking. But at some point in time in a particular context it made sense to somebody deciding to do something. Those are the bits that I often chase

That's what Playboy is for Maybe I'm dense, but I'm not sure I "get" your Hiroshima/Nagasaki example I mean, we all know it happened, the discussion being about the necessity, i.e. was it more for the benefit of intimidating the Soviets? Is it the implausability of some of these "alternative" motivations that irritates you?

Hehe, like when romantic literature portrays Richard "Lionheart" as a just and altruistic ruler of the English

I see email them and please forward 100$ to my account as a token of appreciation for this awesome advice. I say do a reverse trace on that email, find who sent it, steal their identity and clean out their bank account. Now that would be irony! Before I got tired of it and just send the info to spamcop.net I used to track the real source email addresses and "cross the wires" with my own fake email headers, sending scam mail from scammer A to scammer B and pretend to be interested and vice versa. Let them try to scam each other

*rage* And what if the energy expended in making these biodegradeables is 5 times that used on existing materials? There's far too little attention paid to systems thinking in these ostensibly 'green' ideas. No offence, Gorth. it's not like you're king of industry and are about to launch into this concept. I make Software, not Tupperware So what if the energy cost is 5 times higher? What are the long term costs of doing versus not doing? I sometimes wonder about companies that whinge about recession and lower sales in the wake of continuous rounds of outsourcing of labour to "cheap labour" countries. Did the thought ever occur to them that the long term cost of saving cost is going out of business because what they save is the workplaces that should have provided consumers? I'm not a "systems theoretic" (whatever the correct form of somebody who worships system theory is), but in my own little world as an analyst I sometimes wonder about peoples focus on short term problems. If a process is inherently unsustainable, how much resources is it worth throwing at it before changing into something with better long term prospects? Somebody with an appropriate degree would be able to put up a (probably wrong) equation and tell, X marks the spot when the pain threshold is reached and I'm not the one. I'm just an inquisitive mind observing my surroundings rather than trying to reshape the world

It would be too optimistic to hope for genetically engineered microbes that turns it into alcohol?

Chinese government makes beer. Budweiser are competitors. I guess. Pretty redolent example of what full state control results in. Oh come our glorious revolution, eh? Actually, it is Pakistan that is banning "Budweiser". Probably a bit protectionistic, clinging to their own Murree beer. Not like the Pakistani beer market is that big to begin with.

We need more plastic eating microbes. We've got half the Pacific turned into a pseudo plastic landmass to test it on. It would be nice if more effort was put into bio degradeability (is that a word?). Unless it is meant to last until explicitly destroyed (like a bridge or a house), it should be a requirement that materials used in the daily household decomposed into harmless components after an amount of time. Imagine the space saved on landfills if the bulk of the stuff there degraded over 2-3 years.

Take the blue pill! No expert in dream "interpretation" but it sounds awfully familiar, like the burden of leadership and responsibility. You know what is going on and you can't share it. You have to make decisions that affect everybody and you can't delegate it. The allegorical bloodbath that is the inevitable collateral damage. It sucks sometimes

On a completely related note, we should ban the use of Hydroxyl Acid Dihydrogen monoxide: * is called "hydroxyl acid", the substance is the major component of acid rain. * contributes to the "greenhouse effect". * may cause severe burns. * is fatal if inhaled. * contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape. * accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals. * may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes. * has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients. Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used: * as an industrial solvent and coolant. * in nuclear power plants. * in the production of Styrofoam. * as a fire retardant. * in many forms of cruel animal research. * in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical. * as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products. And even worse, it's sold in plastic containers creating mountains in landfills and using up valuable energy reserves in its manufacture.

It occurs to me that maybe you were poking fun at yourself and I took you seriously. My bad! That's what I suspected too, especially remembering this little golden nugget Stereotypes should only be served accompanied by humour. My favourite of the kind is "Eurotrip" (Unrated version)

Nah, it's just all you convicts have built up a stronger tolerance to bacteria living in the the real world equivalent of Mad Max's world. He's *Austrian* Hurlshot... not Australian

My thoughts went more along the lines of "Oh look, the Earth isn't flat after all!" I hope they are correct. The universe would be a stale and dull place if the standard model actually applied to it. That's why I keep checking in on the FTL communications and cryptology studies in that Austrian university every now and then to see if they discover anything new.

Yes

Vote where? Here. I've done my part. Voted. Done my part

Was 8 (or VIII or whatever) the one that had a demo PC version? I remember trying one of them and besides the instant turnoff that was the horrible control scheme, it had this emo kid with all attitude and no redeeming qualities that you wanted to put over your knee?

Not always Never made it past the prologue. It was all action and nothing interesting going on. Dead Island is more fun, because you expect it to be all action and little else. With Witcher 2 I expected something different.

Probably some Tibetan foothills if Chinese logic is anything to go by >_

Sometimes you just have to love Aussie news TV. Equally funny was the guy caught watching scantily clad Miranda Kerr pictures on his PC in the background during a financial news update

Hmm... I wonder, does Texas and California have an extradition treaty for something as trivial as breach of NDA's?