Reveilled

You had a house at sea? "

Hayseed Dixie - Highway to Hell I was at their concert tonight. A damn fine bluegrass band. Most of their songs are better than the originals.

That is fracking brilliant. All proper medieval-period RPGs should have a black death. (w00t)

Caledonia - Dougie McLean I don't know if you can see, The changes that have come over me, In these last few days I've been afraid, That I might slip away. But I

I live in one of the wettest cities in the UK, but aside from the occasional flood every few years, natural disasters are unkown to us. Plus, Glasgow is a very hilly place, so property damage is minimal even when we do get floods. On the other hand, Life Expectancy is higher in Baghdad than it is in Glasgow (I am not joking), and we're the most dangerous city in Scotland, so what we lack in acts of god, we make up for in acts of criminal, and acts of deep fat fryer.

Why not list the minimum length on the back? Instead of listing something like "Approx. 40+ hours!" as the game length, you could list "15 hours minimum length; over 50 sidequests!" Thus, you'd get some appeciation of the length of the main plot, you could get a rough idea of the total length (which might actually be more useful, as you can guage the total length based on how long it takes you to complete an average sidequest, as opposed to some faceless statistic), and get a measure of the game's linearity. You might find "Approx. 40+ hours!" on the back of BG2 or FFVII, but you'd get more information from "20 hours minimum; 30+ sidequests" and "30 hours minimum" on each respectively. Thus, you learn that both are long games, but BG2 is lengthened by its sidequests, while FFVII has a very long and very linear storyline. The best way I think to determine the minimum length would be to have the developers play through it, skip all sidequests, but not skip dialogue and movie clips, which are things a first time player is more likely to watch and listen to, even if they ignore other things.

One of the saddest songs ever written: Harry Chapin - Cat's in the Cradle My child arrived just the other day, He came to the world in the usual way But there were planes to catch and bills to pay, He learned to walk while I was away And he was talking 'for I knew it, and as he grew He said "I'm gonna be like you, dad, you know I'm gonna be like you" And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little boy blue and the man in the moon "When you commin' home dad?" "I don't know when, But we'll get together then, You know we'll have a good time then" My son turned ten just the other day He said "Thanks for the ball dad, come on let's play Can you teach me to throw" I said "Not today I got a lot to do" He said "Thats OK" He walked away but his smile never dimmed, It said I'm gonna be like him, yeah, You know I'm gonna be like him And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little boy blue and the man in the moon "When you commin' home dad?" "I don't know when, But we'll get together then, You know we'll have a good time then" Well he came from college just the other day So much like a man I just had to say "Son I'm proud of you can you sit for a while?" He shook his head and he said with a smile, "What I'd really like dad is to borrow the car keys, See you later can I have them please?" And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon Little boy blue and the man in the moon "When you commin' home son?" "I don't know when, But we'll get together then, Dad, We're gonna have a good time then." I've long since retired, my son's moved away I called him up just the other day I said "I'd like to see you if you don't mind," He said "I'd love to dad if I could find the time, You see my new job's a hassle and the kids have the flu But it's sure nice talkin' to you, dad, It's sure nice talkin' to you." And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, He'd grown up just like me My boy was just like me And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon Little boy blue and the man in the moon "When you commin' home son?" "I don't know when, But we'll get together then, Dad, We're gonna have a good time then." :'(

Well, I imagine the rationale is that on a 128k connection, downloading 30GB of data would take so long that it wouldn't put any stress on the ISP's servers or their profits, whereas downloading 30GB of data on a T1 would be quick and easy, which would create problems if all their customers were doing so. I know that I don't use 3GB right now (because those 50mb trailers are too big at the moment), but once I had the connection, I'd be mighty tempted to use up my 3GB limit in just a week. I think, then, that'll I'll stick with what I've got. I can afford to wait overnight for a 300MB download to finish.

Ah, you misunderstand. I have a 30GB cap on my 128k connection. If I upgrade to a T1, I'll have a 3GB cap. 4 episodes of Battlestar Galactica a month already takes me to over 1GB.

My internet provider has given me the opportunity to upgrade my broadmand from a 128k connection to a T1 connection for no extra cost. Which is all well and good, but the tenfold increase in speed comes with a tenfold decrease in the cap. At present, my download cap is 30GB. I don't use anything close to approaching that amount (in fact, I wasn't even aware there was a cap until I got this offer, since I'd never come anywhere near it). I usually download about 1GB of stuff a month (not counting webpages), which would be well under the 3GB cap, but if, for example, I wanted to download an entire series of a show (hypothetically, you understand, as I would of course never condone such an illegal practice ), I would have to spread it out over several months. Basically, that's not too much of a problem, but only if I'm going to get something tangible in return. I can usually afford to leave my computer on at nights to download large files on my slow connection. I don't play any online games. Other than downloads, pretty much the only thing I use the intrnet for is to surf webpages and read forums. Will upgrading my internet connection provide any noticeable speed increase in the downloading of webpages? Any advice from people with fast connections and download caps would be appreciated.

Another good sandbox-on-a-ship game is Uncharted Waters 2 for the SNES. Just get yourself an emulator. It can't quite be completed in two hours, but the stories are more or less peripheral (with the exception of two characters who have intertwined plots), and you have the option of being a trader, a pirate, or an explorer (or all three). A wholly enjoyable game that you can play for as long as you like (simply by not going to whichever port is your final port of call in the plot, thus never reching the end of the game). Extremely highly recommended.

Arr! We don't do those sorts of things on this ship! If ya wanna do that, join the blasted navy! On pirate ships, we keep our friends close, but tha busty tavern wenches even closer! Yarr.

I hope ye landlubbers be rememberin' that it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So ye had best make with the Yarrin' and the Arrin', or ye'll have ta walk the plank!

The books on my top shelf are all mostly things like Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Diсk. But then, my Bookcases are alphabetised. " My favourite books would have to be: For Want of a Nail - Robert Sobel Island in the Sea of Time - S.M. Stirling Soul Music - Terry Pratchett Probably some others too which I can't remember right now.

I'm pretty sure the swastika has been developed independently by several cultures. It's not like it's a particularly complex symbol.

I like your style, but what were you gonna do with the axe? Decapitate God? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Maybe it has something to do with the Norse Gods? Though I reckon that trying to engage Odin in an axe fight would be a Bad Idea

Well, if we don't need three consoles, why do we need two? I can't think of a single reason to buy an Xbox. Maybe the best thing for all parties is for Sony and Microsoft to stop putting out home consoles. "

Certainly, sir or madam! With our special discounted salvation package we can provide you and your family with an all expenses paid salvation in elysium for the low, low price of acceptance-of-a-greek-deity-as-your-saviour! Yes, Mr. or Mrs customer's name, with our plan you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your eternal place in the afterlife is assured, and that you are covered against all eventualities, such as Great Old Ones, Monotheistic Borefests, and the dreaded land of Thud! Have you ever read the Principia Discordia? The true word of the Goddess is a far more interesting read than any boring book like the Bible or Quran. Plus, it's one of the shortest holy books around. After all, you'd expect a deity to have the ability to be concise. ^_^

Meh. Their beer might be good, but they're all very violent drunks. The greek gods were quite a bit better, by comparison, since they were just bitchy and horny drunks. Of course, neither group invited Our Lady to the parties, and that is why she created mankind, so as to have some friends of her own to party the night away with. ^_^ <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You got a point there, I guess. However the Vikings weren't shy, though, Valhalla was quite the party as well, mixed with a good portion of immortality (immorality? ") and eternal battles. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, but the battles are what turn me off to the idea. In Elysium, the party only stops for the orgies.

Meh. Their beer might be good, but they're all very violent drunks. The greek gods were quite a bit better, by comparison, since they were just bitchy and horny drunks. Of course, neither group invited Our Lady to the parties, and that is why she created mankind, so as to have some friends of her own to party the night away with. ^_^

Well, I know she's a bit of a mean drunk, and she might have ruined a few parties, but I think loathing is going a bit far...

What did she ever do to you?

I got as far as green belt before I gave it up. If there was a jojutsu class available anywhere in Glasgow, I'd take that up. But alas, there is nary a one to be found.

I study and make flags and maps, often those with alternative history themes.

Wow. That's an impressive little thing there. Especially what it was saying about the FPSes. I've never much liked them, but if the controller mechanism would be that easy...