Gorth

These incisions points towards something large... like an axe

Went to visit a micro brewery with a bunch of colleagues. They have this "brew your own beer" thing going, which was quite interesting. Got a few finished samples of other recipes (i.e. beers), while waiting for the various mixing stages of the batch. Quite fun watching it on such a small scale

Yet it seems like the only thing that explains the odd behaviour. To nobody in particular... In the BG2 example, some are capable of making up their own challenges, others need to be spoon fed and handheld, because they either lack the skill or determination to make their own challenges. I'm no psychologist, but isn't that the entire purpose of the "you are the chosen one" schtick (sp?) in the first place, trying to make the player feel warm and fuzzy by everybody gushing over you, telling you what a great and awesome person you are, girls swooning in your arms when tell them "nice dress... lets have sex?" etc. Some kind of very basic reward response for people doing what the game expects you to do, like a well trained and adjusted gamer on a leash. Achievements is just the latest addition to give you little bells and jingles when you do what the game wants you to do. Pavlov would be proud. I still remember feeling like my breakfast coming up again halfway through NWN2 when everybody from Lord Nasher to some woman was fawning over me, telling me what a great guy I was and I knew it was as sincere as a politicians lies, scripted and obvious as it was. Maybe I'm just a sceptic.

You usually get more room for your legs in a bus. I would be insulted if I were a bus by being compared to those meat containers (Boeing and Airbus both).

Bought the Magicka collection (main game plus a bundle of DLC's) from Gamersgate. It looks interesting. If it turns out to be an utter disaster, I've lost $8.5 (less than a junk food meal).

Maybe there are indeed things in the Universe that are best left untouched. Maybe native Aussies and Kiwis just have some kind of genetic disposition towards the game. I look at the screen and see nothing, yet they (the natives) will go Ooh!, Yay! and Ahh! simultaneously, like some kind of secret handshake or message passing between them >_

Almost figured out Cricket today. A colleague spent more than half an hour trying to explain the rules and scoring system for me. I almost grasped it, but in the end it eluded me. Now what was that about "overs" again?...

Getting past the magic mark... Getting a new start

Start of old thread End of old thread News of today: No new news about Carmageddon: Reincarnation yet

Faster-than-light neutrino experiment to be run again In short, the guys at the LHC project, having fun flinging particles left and right (and sometimes in circles), still have no clue why something appeared at the target ahead of schedule (like, it was supposed to appear at the speed of light). Now they are trying to restructure the experiment and see if a) it re-occurs and b) doesn't destroy the universe in the process.

I don't even know if I have any dx11 games The ad on Amazon said I would get a digital download version of some Arkham game as part of the offer. I noticed too that it (this particular model) is out of stock again I'll probably end up getting IP banned, thinking I'm a hacker for constantly refreshing the tracking info (it should arrive on Friday, Aussie time)

Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before finding the right match. Never give up hope Makes you wonder about the origin of the term "french kissing".

No, it usually requires a product of some sort to change hands too in exchange for the money. Otherwise it's called Tax It may not be what you are looking for, but it is the traditional understanding of the customer/supplier relationship. You can add a number of "qualifiers", like it has to be a voluntary transaction (as opposed to blackmail) etc. but in the end, it's still an exchange taking place. Maybe you are looking for "clients" instead (i.e. buyers of services from service providers)? Semantics, but it sounds nicer somehow, especially when using healthcare as an example

Qantas frequent flyer points

*Points finger, making screeching noise* You corporate fat-cat... just wait until the starving masses sets up camp, demonstrating at your door step, singing "We shall overcome" and "Kumbaya"

Whee!... got an email from Amazon that they expect to deliver my card sooner than first promised. Like shipping tomorrow and arriving early November (which is an improvement over late December) >_ Well, I'll save the true celebrations for when the card is securely fastened in my PC.

I belong to the culinary challenged Bought this pair of Hoki filets and had to look up on Google whether I was supposed to grill or bake it Ended up throwing some Piri Piri and a bit of Dill at it and bake it in the oven. Not too shabby with a bottle of Chardonnay. I like simple food I like sea food and would prefer to get it more often. Not many good sea food places around (Fish&Chips doesn't really count)

Not exactly headphones, but I'm looking at headsets. I have this most awesome Sony set (DR-220) which I've worn out those little "foam pillows" (whatever those thingies covering the speakers are called) and I can't find any replacements in this Odinforsaken part of the world, so I may have to, reluctantly, buy a new set. I went into an electronic store and bought a set, called Sennheiser Something (set me back $50-$60 or thereabouts), just to bring them home and discover they had the most awful flat, tin can like sound. Into the rubbish bin they went and I'm looking again, using the old set with bare plastic against one ear and torn foam tatters on the other. Anybody got any good ideas for lightweight (important too, the Sennheiser junk felt very heavy by comparison) and quality audio (both speaker and microphone)?

That was very... orange I don't really celebrate Halloween, but some good offers and sales on spooky stuff usually shows up at this time of year

When I applied for permanent residency here, I needed police records from all countries that I had lived in for more than 12 months the last 10 years. Danish police said sure no problem, they sent copy in an envelope. New Zealand police said sure no problem and sent an envelope with a printout. Australian police.... we can do that, but it will cost you $40. So I guess that makes me a customer of the Federal Police

When I played DA:O the first time, I was very surprised not to run into Nurgle, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Khorne in the fade. It was so much a cut and paste from Warhammer that it felt uncanny

Without having read the readme (anybody ever read those?), does it in any significant way alter the gameplay experience? I.e. it changes looks/convenience not actual gameplay mechanics/difficulty? If I can drop it in the middle of a game without restarting, I might just try it out before finishing my current game. I'm a slow player

You could always pull a "Britney", just play back some computer generated voices without straining your own vocal chords in the process

He really has a strange approach to "reward psychology"

Awesome stress relief Life is currently a balancing act between work and a bit of spare time. The latter usually spent staring at some empty space feeling like my skull is full of cobwebs. Using miniature painting and FO:NV to keep my mind doing something at least, even if it feels low on battery Wondering about how Tarna is doing too. Considering investing in one of those big tomes of Active Directory to finally get it read and hopefully get a broader understanding of some of the underlying mechanisms and design philosophies.