metadigital

Right: something to talk about! No, I was suggesting that the Isolationist policy of the US didn't work and won't work. Even George Bush realised this in his first term; you will recall he was elected on a isolationist policy, but 9/11 changed his thoughts about the (long-term) efficacy of it. To be clear, I made the Isolationist comparison because you are advocating a unilateral withdrawal of all coalition troops IMMEDIATELY from Iraq, presumeably because you conclude that they are doing more harm than good. This is in direct contrast with THE WISHES OF THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ, who have asked for the coalition troops to remain and are quite capable and prepared and aware of their right to ask the coalition troops to leave. So, either you are ignoring the wishes of the democratically elected government, or you are indifferent to them. Or you think you can interpret the wishes of the Iraqi people better than their own government. Any of these alternatives is completely unacceptable to me.

Nah, I predict that North Corea will be bent over and reamed hard; already this morning China has said it will back sanctions against them. The UN needs to show that it isn't a toothless tiger, and the Japan has made up with China, and the US, South Corea and Japan and even China are all talking the same talk, even Russia is making angry noises! It's actually helped stabilize the area, in effect: my enemies enemy is my friend ...

Hope it was as much fun for you as it was for us all here.

OR you could craft your own weapons and stick them in a hakpak.

Yeah, could probably play it, and even a better with a smaller resolution, but it feels too claustrophobic. I'll play it (and Lara, and Quake IV, and etcetra) when I buy my new system ...

^ Yeah. And what basis do you make this assumption? It seemed perfectly plausible to me. To b e quite honest I thought it was a nice touch. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Go listen to it again, and take the socks out of your ears this time.

See, I didn't get more than half-way through that one, because my poor laptop was struggling at 800x600 I deemed was necessary to play it.

So stories that deal with unattractive concepts and unlikeable anti-heroes aren't fit for films? What a grey life you must lead.

I meant with each other.

It's alright, he didn't get it.

You might want to provide some proof, rather than just spouting opinion. Regardless, I see you are advocating the old Conservative policy of Isolationism. Excellent backward step! Placing the head (including the ears) firmly up the alimentary canal should prevent any of those pesky countries outside THE US of A from being heard. I see. And leaving would provide a power vacuum, as the Iraqi government are not in a position to keep civil order; remember that the majority of the violence in Iraq currently is sectarian. And the US should never have entered either World War, because it was a "European Internal matter", too. You would have no trouble getting a job with the Chinese foreign diplomatic service. The coalition provided the means for the first democratic elections in Iraq since Saddam Hussein became satrap-in-chief. Yep, well, that would be an "internal US matter".

Excerrent. For continued conversation, please go here.

Don't worry, Jimmy: it's just because you are regarded as a timeless character! And, to head off further remarks denoting out-of-joint noses, I shall now draw a discreet close to this thread.

Changing the cooler will void the waranty, but if you are bothered by the noise then it's a small risk.

I'd settle for game developers to use OpenGL ... "

That is an underused game mechanic in DnD plots: the charmed unwilling party member.

I saw it on the official page, but have been reluctant to coff up the sheckles in case it was just like the others. And I have not had NwN installed for many moons. Good review, I am almost tempted to get it ... :D

Absolutely. Prior to the Ring, little girls were hardly ever the focal point of horror movies. Besides, I don't really consider them to be particularly creepy. They are certainly vulnerable, but when the little sisters refer to a big daddy as Mr. Bubbles, I'm not really getting the vibe that they are supposed to be creepy. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The entire dialogue track used in the first video was extempore, so I doubt the little girl will actually refer to Big Daddies as "Mr Bubbles" in the game. Little girls are meant to provide a stark choice for the player: should they be killed? I assume their death will have significant benefits for the character, in proportion to the reluctance to hurt a vulnerable little girl (which is a symbol for defenceless innocence, even if they have become corrupted), that ought to be present in people; further pose the ethical question, to wit: is it kinder to kill the monstrous little girl-creature? This little girl bears no resemblance to the character in The Ring.

About the only significant difference between the AI detection in Splinter Cell and Deus Ex is the "countdown limit", by that I mean that when Sam Fisher trips an alarm, there is a record of it, and too many alarms will result in mission failure. This is absent from Deus Ex. Also, if I may just make a point in defence of Deus Ex, the AI detection and subsequent reset is perfectly plausible when not in a confined building, say, when Denton is trying to get to the Church. The alternative, as Crashgirl pointed out, would be to have an overwelming force brought to bear on little Denton as soon as he was detected. Perhaps the Splinter Cell model might be more plausible, but it wouldn't exist without Deus Ex to blaze the trail beforehand. The last one is a real resource hog, with all those shadows.

The eyes look like something Terry Gilliam would paint. :D

The stock cooler can be simply replaced with a quieter, more efficient and more powerful one.

With any luck some enterprising soul will port DirectX to linux, and I won't need to install Windoze ever again ... :D

Tom's Hardware Best GPUs in October, by price Cor 2 Du Quadro versus Core 2 Duo mobo stuff I'm just dragging my heals through the latest Custom PC issue, which details the best DDR2 RAM.

And to think those dancing accompanyists spent so much time and effort on their outfits only to have such little camera time ...