metadigital

This is why you shouldn't date geeks ...

Oh dear, it looks like I have been h4xX0rzzD!

Sorry, I'll send some in when I get a chance; might not be until Monday night, though.

Results posted.

Just processing orders now ... apologies for the delay ... give me a couple of hours ...

You might like to send in (provisional) orders for this turn, especially as the deadline is tomorrow at noon UTC ...

I have encountered posters on the Experts Exchange and I can see where the confusion might come from ...

... Just clone yourself in fifty years, and transfer your soul into the clone ...

To: Internet Right, that's one

What!? Only Darth Flatus would be so bold ...

The post of shame!

You mean there wasn't one lucky phalanx ? "

I heartily commend all George Orwell's novels, especially his last (and arguably greatest): 1984. Therein one will discover the realities of Big Brother!

If I have mistakenly accused you of forfeiting, then I apologise (I've been a little pre-occupied lately). Please forward the email that you sent to me, I shall check my records.

Kobayashi Maru It is entirely possible that eternal life is within a generation of practical application to humans (as predicted by Arthur C Clarke in his Profiles of the Future sixties prognostication). To explain: the ageing process, where the Hayflick Limit is directly associated with the underlying telomerase genetic end sequence chromosomal "cap", that is evetually used up until the actual genetic material is lost in the process of cell reproduction. Currently, some forms of living tissue are indeed eternally rejuvenating. (You may have heard of them, they are collectively known as cancer.) For further reading, you might like to research something called the Singularity (which is not the quantum phenomenon, but the point at which humans transcend biology), as first postulated by Stanislaw Ulam (whist referring to a discussion with John von Neumann, the father of information theory) in 1958 and publicized by Vernor Vinge in a 1983 article for Omni, his follow-up presentation to NASA in 1993 predicting that "within 30 years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended." See also the recent article in New Scientist, 24 September, pp32-37. So I do not hold with your proposition. I have a counter-proposition, though. What if, instead a limited amount of time, humans had a limited amount of good deads? "Only the good die young," and the rampant selfishness of the "me generation" seem to give some credence to this ... The Force confides that every being will do their duty ...

They want our bodily fluids ...

No, this is COMPLETELY different. We're fighting TERRORISTS, see? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! They're everywhere! We need protection from them! (I wonder how long it will be before some "researcher" digs up the homocide rate in the Soviet Union, behind the Iron Curtain, and compares it with the "debauched" USA, and then this is used (by a totally unrelated "researcher") as evidence to support the control of all subversives in the US ...

My favourite is they die in a final spurt of the-universe-is-bigger-than-my-life self-sacrifice (either for light or dark ends) to save the PC.

Yeah!

Updated.

Hmmm ... molto interessant

Lazy bastards! *disingenuous supercillious looks*

Yep, that's just you. They're dead, Zed.

The advantage of the single-prerequisite system is that now there are lots of different research paths. You don't get the Civ3 problem where every Civ on the planet is always researching in unison (and the tech trading rate has, I believe, been toned down). You make your own unique technological path rather than follow the same path in every game like in previous Civs. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I still think a balance between the two options should have been struck. I would have preferred it if there were a few more bottlenecks in the tech tree, such as writing, which one would have to research eventually to progress. For instance, there is already going to be one in Electricity, as all the techs for which electricity is an obvious requirement (like Computers and Radio), all ultimately have Electricity as the only prerequisite at some point in their tree. I'd have liked something similar with Writing. Looking at the tech tree, though, a lot of the technologies have symbols for other technologies on the right of their infoboxes. Perhaps these symbols show technologies which are actually required for the discovery? It certainly appears to make sense that way (Banking has the symbol for currency on its right, which is certainly a requirement for banking), and if so, it would mean that some technologies (like writing) would be required for advancement. If that is the case, then I have no problems with the system. If not, I'll simply cut the links at Feudalism, Theology and Guilds connecting to the Writing tree, since the game should be that customisable. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Assuming that is the finished tech-tree, I think it has merit; writing is a pre-requisite for: code of laws Feudalism and Theology but not for: Priesthood metal-casting, or animal husbandry all of which lead to worthy advancements for the civilization, but not to information technology. There was a very good article in the New Scientist dated 24 September, 2005, by Ray Kurzweil (page 32-37). In it, the author reflects on the exponential pattern of information technology, and he confidently predicts that the point of singularity

But then I'll just end up with a sore back from bending over to look at the monitor. ... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You mean your inconsiderate so-called "friends" haven't bought you a projector and mouse pointer? For shame! Go out and show them by buying it yourself, now!