metadigital

Well, for soliders in a war zone, the whole rationalization is that you have a significant (variable on the theatre, of course) chance to die in the short-term, so the long-term ramifications shrink, proportionately. I think it would be wrong to ascribe any stress-relieving benefits to it; in fact research would indicate the exact opposite (even if people would feel the reverse).

Wow, that would be interesting to hear about, when (if) you can say more. It pleases me that people of this stature are in the games industry.

I must have been using the CE cloaks, because I played with them years ago ...

All the fastest-run Half-Life videos have the player running past (most of) the baddies, as that is much quicker than emptying weapons into them.

eah, but I'm kinda not wanting to install it yet (it was on special) until I get an

True, I like to manage the game's protagonist without having to put myself into the character's shoes.

You are free to not participate if that is how you would like to register your support, or otherwise, of the new name.

LCD uses full power to create black (twist the crystals into a perpendicular aspect and prevent the backlight from penetrating); also the specs for LCD seem to suggest that they are much better than plasma, which is patently not the case (brightness, refresh, etc). Plasma has a MUCH better viewing angle, too. If you can afford it, go plasma: it is the best option (for large screens). Not as sure about the exact threshold between plasma and LCD ... certainly the smaller size is the domain of the cheaper LCD. Rear-projection is a nice option and also overhead projection (if you have a dedicated entertainment room) ... but the plasma will give you the brightest screen. More technology is on the way (in the next five years, etc), too, like OLCD (Organic LCD), which allows for flexible surfaces ... so a PDA will have a roll-out screen (Philips have text models now). Best advice: spend a few dollars and buy a few "Large TV" / "Home Cinema" magazines and read their advice. Best to invest a few dollars before you spend a few thousand.

Couldn't the writers think of a better beginning for She-Hulk than as a cousin of Banner?

I didn't mention the Nazis!

Saudi Arabia is actually a very repressive society, and it is not surprising (to me) that there has been such a radical response (as soon as it was able to rise): no wonder extremists like Osama bin Laden can ferment civic violence, when an autocratic family uses it's wealth to maintain an iron grip on the common people ... The more you tighten your grip, Tarquin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers ... Interesting. No matter how total the dictatorship, hope and human rebellion will survive. I found out the other day that the Victorians used to have up to six mail deliveries a day: the postcard was their version of the text message. Still, the practitioners might be distressed to know that all the text message data can be/is stored on the central telephone servers ...

No. True competition is with oneself: the elite athlete wants to achieve a PB: a personal best. Just winning is not enough, being the best you can be is the goal.

And those animals never engage in heterosexual relations, under any circunstances whatsoever? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Correct. Exclusively homosexual.

Remind me how She-Hulk is related to Hulk again? (And mating with cousins is not regarded as incest in a LOT of cultures ...)

More important to penalise people driving one-handed ... either on a 'phone or smoking or eating ... or reading a book, like one woman caught on the M1 a couple of years ago ...

Teleport Without Error for dwarven Danny De Vito-alikes to pop out of nowhere!

D-Day: when we go from Omaha Beach to Berlin!

You know, they even could implement something like oinking (mix of Gorilla and pig), and the more you turn yourself into a monster, it starts growing more loudly and more often.... with no option to turn it off. This might make the player completely nuts, but at least they could sell it as a "realistic feature". <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Is that like caffawkling?

A sufficiently obscure character to the general public to prevent hordes of game public from thinking it is a technical service for the latest Obsidian game release. You might try reverse alphabetical order ...

Polar Bears have black skin and hollow hair.

Did the mountee try to stop the mounter?

So you would not save the busload of children if you had to choose whether to save them or a busload of senior citizens?

Spelmar is particularly cross with your lack of vocabulary, Calax:

Not really. There are many medical conditions that are caused by an inactive gene becoming active for some reason, for example. And some of those conditions are much more lethal than homosexuality (harlequin ichtyosis comes to mind). Also, and given the biochemical mechanism by which the parents' DNA is combined (the same mechanism by which brothers aren't identical), it could be some kind of error during the first stages of DNA replication. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Furthermore, my understanding of the latest research (although I haven't checked it since we last had this topic, about six months ago ) is that there is MORE THAN one gene involved. In other words, (let's say) there are six genes, and they all confer some sort of benefit, though if they are all turned on (which happens in approximately ten percent of the population) then the person is prone to homosexuality. This doesn't preclude environmental factors (though they are irrelevant for this point). I don't think strict homosexuality exists in nature (besides human beings, that is). There's plenty of sexual interaction between animals of the same sex, of course, but never exclusively. All animals are bound to get some heterosexual lovin' now and then. I could be wrong, though. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You are. There are many documented instances of homosexuality in nature, from chimpanzees and dogs to whales.

Just watched A Scanner Darkly. Very pedestrian; Keanu did his best (threw his whole toolbox at the part, including "Whoa.", "No way." and a few tetragrammatical invectives), though Downey and Harrelson helped even the score. One point it did underscore was that you don't need photo-realistic graphics to tell a story: the entire film stock was overlaid with graphic-novel-like drawn effects. I think it was mainly meant for people under the influence of something, because the various deep insights and plot twists, etc, were all very obvious. I expect this is because it was based on a short story (although I'm not sure about that, but Dιck wrote a plethora of short stories as well as novels: perhaps someone else can confirm? *casts summon Baley*).