blue

I just finished that. An incredible, moving work. I hope and expect it moved you too, and I encourage others to read it too. For those who don't know, Svetlana Alexievich, the Nobel-winning author, is a journalist by trade, but she prefers to call her reporting documentary fiction. Sigrid Nunez, another writer I enjoy, describes Alexievich's work this way: "Alexievich makes it possible for people to be heard, to get their stories told, whether they can write beautiful sentences or not." (That's a quote from Nunez' beautiful novel _The Friend_, the book I finished just prior to picking up _Voices From Chernobyl_. )

fyi, and merry christmas: Passions over 'prosperity gospel': Was Jesus wealthy? By John Blake, CNN December 25, 2009 http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/1...esus/index.html

Film critic Kim Morgan concurs. Marvin also makes her badass old guy list. Also: Harvey Keitel: Tura Satana:

Apparently some joker missed your memo.

In the spirit of agreement, I suggest we retitle this thread "Wishful Thinking - let's try to take it seriously."

I mostly agree. Croshaw's shtick depends upon contempt. It's a style that relies on ridicule, audience insults & puerile humor, and his frenetic delivery is trying too hard. Speed satire has been done before (and better) by commentators like Charlie Brooker and Ze Frank, and Croshaw's editorials sometimes feel excessively derivative. Still, he's mastered a niche. His fame might not last for more than 15 minutes of broadband time, but for now thousands of gamers enjoy his cartoons -- which are at least zany if not thoughtful or funny. And he's not entirely pessimistic. On occasion he shares an enthusiasm that tells why he (and I) should persist with gaming: Portal review @ 3:53 -- "Absolutely sublime from start to finish and I will jam forks into my eyes if I ever use those words to describe anything else ever again." Psychonauts review note: fixed url

Yes, I'm curious. (I've enjoyed some of yr previous commentaries, inc your long-ago react piece on KotOR1). Don't you play all your games that way? Speaking of Obsidian member game commentaries .. thanks Crashie. Your enthusiasm for STALKER was infectious. I've not been especially fond of shooters, but your raves (and ravings) helped convince me to play. Am liking vy much.

Did you post reactions/capsule review? If you've a link handy, I'd appreciate.

Customers looking to resell games (as I often do) weeks or months after purchasing products will be affected by activation caps. I've experienced similar problems when considering the sale of legitimately purchased software. So while resales are a long-term consideration, this is not a far-flung future. Anti-piracy technology sometimes restricts 2nd-hand market opportunities; this is real not hypothetical. For the record: I'm more curious than worried about SecuROM, and I support anti-piracy protections and intellectual property rights. I'll accept Bio's decision and adapt my practices to a changing market. Also, Gromnir, I appreciate your common-sense perspective re: replay opportunities, but I'm little puzzled how you interpreted my comments as an "argument to use to forestall a developer or publisher from trying to protect themselves." Perhaps you're speaking generally, because if that last comment was directed at me, your paraphrase is a bit of a stretch. Acknowledging the concerns of hardcore gamers is not the same as arguing that a gaming company should not protect its creative product. You could have interpreted my statements as argument that there are better ways to implement anti-piracy technology -- if not for this game then the next -- but I wasn't explicit about that either. Worries voiced on gaming boards have been made by the same hardcore fans most likely to seek out workarounds & support. These are also the folks most likely to experience replay problems (we're back to incident rates ), and I don't think their speculation lacks legitimacy. Complaint boards such as this are often the seeding ground for applications that -- in the absence of an official fixes -- allow hardcore fans to play legacy games. Perhaps this very thread is the beginning of your hypothetical "there will, no doubt be some workaround or fix."

Customers looking to resell games (as I often do) weeks or months after purchasing products will be affected by activation caps. I've experienced similar problems when considering the sale of legitimately purchased software. So while resales are a long-term consideration, this is not a far-flung future. Anti-piracy technology sometimes restricts 2nd-hand market opportunities; this is real not hypothetical. For the record: I'm more curious than worried about this application of SecuROM, and I support anti-piracy protections and intellectual property rights. I'll accept Bio's decision and adapt my practices to a changing market. Also, Gromnir, I appreciate your common-sense perspective re: replay opportunities, but I'm little puzzled how you interpreted my comments as an "argument to use to forestall a developer or publisher from trying to protect themselves." Perhaps you're speaking generally, because if that last comment was directed at me, your paraphrase is a bit of a stretch. Acknowledging the concerns of hardcore gamers is not the same as arguing that a gaming company should not protect its creative product. You could have interpreted my statements as an argument that there are better ways to implement anti-piracy technology -- if not for this game then the next -- but I didn't explicitly say that either. Worries voiced on gaming boards have been made by the same hardcore fans most likely to seek out workarounds & support. These are also the folks most likely to experience replay problems (we're back to incident rates ), and I don't think their speculation lacks legitimacy. Complaint boards such as this are often the seeding ground for applications that -- in the absence of an official fix -- allow hardcore fans to play legacy games. Perhaps this very thread is the beginning of your hypothetical "there will, no doubt be some workaround or fix."

You're right; most new product purchasers will be unaffected. Thinking long-term, however, I suspect more than one in 10 million customers will encounter problems. Posters here have raised legitimate concerns about resales & replayability.

Over the last quarter-century, thousands of popular and peer-reviewed articles have discussed Twain

Tolstoy wrote that "All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." My childhood was unique. Today I am unexceptional.

I agree with what you're saying. Brush clearance and construction can mitigate damage. But fire resistant is not the same as fireproof, and true fireproofing is impractical. Many homes destroyed in the past weeks used fire-wise construction: tile roofs, sealed vents, ember-resistant eaves and so on. Unfortunately, even the best modern structures can't withstand 50-foot high walls of fire hot enough to melt steel. A bigger factor is location and ecology. Laguna & Malibu McMansions are built in secluded canyons surrounded by dry chaparral. Homes sit in the middle of fuel traps, and moistureless Santa Ana winds sweep down canyons creating (to quote historian Mike Davis) a "blast furnace effect at the other end." Build fire-resistant homes in these areas and some will inevitably burn.

Such incidents are comparatively rare; the disaster of Danish cuisine is a constant. You lose.