We previously reported on the apparent exterminate-ion of the lovable pepperpots from this new version.
Am I the only one here who first thought of Monty Python pepperpots when I saw this? You know, the 'middle aged, middle class women' who first demonstrated that you can't tell the difference between Wizzo butter and a dead crab.
The most disturbing thing for me was trying to figure out where these pepperpots might have appeared. I mean, on one hand they'd certainly make a powerful adversary for the poor doctor, but on the other hand can't you just see a couple of them following him around as sidekicks?
- Look, Mrs Conclusion! The Cybermen and Daleks have united againstus!
- Oooh! Well I never. And they used to be such nice people. I mean, society today. Young people. Ooooh. Tut tut tut.
The valves in most/many veins would still be used. Blood doesn't travel all the way through the body based solely on pressure from the heart; it travel up the legs, for example, largely due to normal small muscular contractions that squeeze the veins, pushing the blood through the valves. This is why standing without using your muscles (eg. through locking your knee and leaning on something) causes varicose veins; the blood pools above a valve but doesn't have the impetus to continue, thus expanding the vein.
Of course, the fact that the blood pressure is constant might result in anomolies since it's not getting a push every once in a while. Also, I'm sure it would have effects on the blood vessel's elasticity, but I'm no doctor (I just play one in class).
The main problem with region encoding, for me at least, is (as I've said before) that you get different extras on the disks in different regions. For example, the best region 2 version of Life of Brian has a documentary and (I believe) audio commentaries, but the region 1 Criterion Edition also has deleted scenes and some hilarious radio ads from when it was first aired.
I also heard (though have yet to confirm) that the extended edition of The Two Towers has Gollem's MTV award acceptance speech, but only on the region 1 version. No fair!
One caveat, though. As El Reg pointed out, Microsoft have neither acknowledged they have no claim nor apologised.
The danger is that once the hype about this settles down, they resume the case knowing that it's now old news and won't get anything like the previous publicity.
Final point: there's very little that's less funny than someone talking in technical terms about why something is funny.
Funny you should say that <ahem>. Last night I was thinking exactly the opposite while watching Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The sketch where Graham Chapman is lecturing on the history of the jape is hillarious.
I suppose it just goes to show anything can be funny
It's not in any available screenplays, but I heard that the original screenplay for Holy Grail called for 'an intermission long enough for the first person in the back row of the cinema to reach the door to the toilet'.
I (obviously) know nothing about this, but do you define a mouse as something that emerged from a mouse's womb? Surely by applying this recursively you could slowly genetically alter a mouse into, say, a tortoise that lives 100+ years... in theory, at least.
This is exactly why I'm looking forward to the patch so much... the fact that they're separating out ladder characters. It doesn't matter how much the game/economy has been ruined, everyone starts with nothing in ladder play. This means that even if it does subsequently get hacked and items are duped beyond belief, everything's back to normal at the next ladder reset.
From the looks of releases such as the ign review, it really does look like it's real Starcraft. The characters and vehicles are all from Starcraft, haivng all the Starcraft abilities (eg. Yamoto and seige tank strikes, vulture bikes). Also, the personalities and for the most part voices look like they are straight out of the original.
Taking just the Ghost herself, her abilities inclue ALL the ghost's abilities from the game including lock-down, the shotgun, and the ability to call in a primed nuclear strike. Yes, she has more abilities/weapons, but without these the options and tactics would severely limited.
Add to this the history of the Starcraft universe, and what looks to be an appropriate story tying in the large-scale battle background, I don't see how much more Starcraft you can get.
I personally don't really do console games, but this looks about as promising as it gets at this stage.
I play a fair bit of Diablo II online and I've developed a technique for dealing with cheats: I don't care. If someone were to steal a valuable item from me somehow, through my naivity or otherwise, I just wouldn't care. I've built up my character, and I can do it again. I'm playing the game to enjoy myself, not so I can be 133+.
I don't know much about MtGOL, but from what I've read here virtual cards will be redeemed for real ones (or at least their value). Because of this, people with good collections of genuine Magic cards can only lose. Their collections will be as valuable as the dupers' fake collection.
This is the equivalent of a government allowing virtual money in an insecure environment. If it is possible for someone to cheat the system and print their own money (or dupe their cards) with no legal recourse, it will happen, and the value of every holder of that currency will lose out.
To end this semi drunken rant, I will summarise by saying that anything's value is in the eye of the receiver. Be it cash, a Grandfather sword, or a Black Lotus card. If you can't trust the printer of the currency, don't invest in it.
Cheers, Noims.
PS. please excuse my spelling, grammar, and keyboard (my E doesn't work right)
I think part of the problem with getting extra footage for the DVD is that it's already used elsewhere.
First off, there's the laserdisc that has additional commentaries and the like.
The real gem, however, is the game 'monty python and the quest for the holy grail' released by 7th level in 1996 available for Windows only, afaik. Not only does it have an animated version of the King Brian the Wild sketch, but also several hilarious cinema ads. No real extra footage though.It features voice acting by several Pythons (Michael's stuff is what I remember most), but this is general bizarreness aot anythin to do with the movie (eg Micheal just saying "don't tempt me, Betty" when you click on a curtain in a tent in one of the scenes).
If you're into all this kind of bizarreness, there's also a Meaning of Life game by 7th level with a lot of similar stuff. An excellent buy. Otherwise there's "Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time" which is based on the series.
It's actually quite famous. It's an added 'meta'-scene in the castle Anthrax between where Galahad meets Dingo and where they walk together into the room to talk about spankings.
I won't post the entire text of the scene,but it starts off with Dingo saying how she does like this scene, and goes on (for 24 seconds) about whether or not they should include the scene in the film, ending finally with "Get on with it" shouted by all the soldiers from the near battle at the end.
It's been shown on Channel 4 in England a couple of times, and is on a recent-ish (ie ~6 years old) VHS release.
I actually totally disagree with your second point there. In fact, that's the main point that I can't see a defence for.
I can see an argument that They don't want people seeing movies on DVD before they're released in the cinema. I may not agree with it, but I can see a case. As for worldwide cinema releases, I don't think that's practical, but maybe that's just me.
What I can't see a defence for is releasing the same movie on DVD with different features in different regions. For example, if I get the region 2 version of Crouching Tiger (I'm in Ireland), it has the movie and nothing else (more or less). The region 1 and region 3 versions have extra interviews, commentaries, etc. This means I have a choice between a sub-standard copy, or an 'illegal' copy.
Incidentally, there are dvd players out there that get totally around RCE. They have several region modes: you can set them to a specific region or set them to auto-detect.
disclaimer: maybe I'm wrong about CTHD, but there are plenty of cases like this, so I don't need to be corrected, thanks.
I've had lower back pain for many many years now; it's hardly acute, but it's annoying as hell.
About 6 months or so ago I took up Tai Chi which has helped a hell of a lot. Most of the direct help I've had have probably been from some of the 'stretches' we've done, but more than that my posture has changed for the better, my muscles relax a lot easier, and I can tell when something I'm doing it going to aggrivate my back. The most prominent example of this last point is when I'm lying in bed, I find I naturally twist my back. From the stances I've done in Tai-chi I know that twisting the body like that puts strain on the lower back, which is bad (m'kay?)
If you're interested (I should be getting commission for this), I do Wu style Tai-chi, and my teacher's teacher's website is at www.energyarts.com. I know he (B K Frantzis, the teacher) totally smashed in his spine and apparently it was Wu style that got him back on his feet. I believe he has a list of certified teachers on the site.
Incidentally, while I'm here, my teacher (in Ireland) has a pretty cool website at www.taichi-ireland.com.
The problem with this is that there's a difference between evolution and adaption. There is a hell of a lot of evidence for adaption out there, and I've known Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, who have acknowledged adaption as fact.
Evolution, on the other hand, involves one species becoming a totally different species. Because of the time frames involved, it's extremely difficult to find examples. Yes, it's just an extension of the same principle, but it's certainly not evidence of evolution.
The other point of note, and something that's bound to come up in centuries to come, is that most of these group argue that we didn't eveolve, not that it's not possible for us to evolve.
Once you get to that stage, given that the only evidence we have of pre-historic life is in fossil or similar form, it becomes pretty much impossible to argue your point.
Actually, in the half second that the earth was, say, further from the sun, the sun's gravity would exact less force than usual allowing the orbit to change slightly. When the people then drag the earth back towards them (and vice versa) by landing, there will be a net change because of that half second change, even though the force the people have applied nets to zero.
Several times I tried looking to what was supposed to be good code. I just found it really hard to grasp it all practically.
Then I happened to be looking through the source for Nethack, which I was playing like a junkie, and kept spotting neat tricks, several of which I subsequently used in the project I was on at the time (I always knew playing Nethack in work would do some good eventually).
Anyway, I found that by choosing something I was really really interested in, that's very optimised and generally well written, it held my interested and I still pick up wee gems.
Slashdot Mirror
Am I the only one here who first thought of Monty Python pepperpots when I saw this? You know, the 'middle aged, middle class women' who first demonstrated that you can't tell the difference between Wizzo butter and a dead crab.
The most disturbing thing for me was trying to figure out where these pepperpots might have appeared. I mean, on one hand they'd certainly make a powerful adversary for the poor doctor, but on the other hand can't you just see a couple of them following him around as sidekicks?
- Look, Mrs Conclusion! The Cybermen and Daleks have united againstus!
- Oooh! Well I never. And they used to be such nice people. I mean, society today. Young people. Ooooh. Tut tut tut.
Noims
The valves in most/many veins would still be used. Blood doesn't travel all the way through the body based solely on pressure from the heart; it travel up the legs, for example, largely due to normal small muscular contractions that squeeze the veins, pushing the blood through the valves. This is why standing without using your muscles (eg. through locking your knee and leaning on something) causes varicose veins; the blood pools above a valve but doesn't have the impetus to continue, thus expanding the vein.
Of course, the fact that the blood pressure is constant might result in anomolies since it's not getting a push every once in a while. Also, I'm sure it would have effects on the blood vessel's elasticity, but I'm no doctor (I just play one in class).
Noims
Eminent biologost Ricky Martin has studied the lake and found the organisms in it to act extremely eratically. He even wrote a song about it:
Life in Lake Vida loco
Noims.
Since both rovers are working well now, it really does seem to have been a very common problem:
The Spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.
(As stolen from rec.hunor.funny from beore the problem was discovered)
Noims
The main problem with region encoding, for me at least, is (as I've said before) that you get different extras on the disks in different regions. For example, the best region 2 version of Life of Brian has a documentary and (I believe) audio commentaries, but the region 1 Criterion Edition also has deleted scenes and some hilarious radio ads from when it was first aired.
I also heard (though have yet to confirm) that the extended edition of The Two Towers has Gollem's MTV award acceptance speech, but only on the region 1 version. No fair!
NOims.
One caveat, though. As El Reg pointed out, Microsoft have neither acknowledged they have no claim nor apologised.
The danger is that once the hype about this settles down, they resume the case knowing that it's now old news and won't get anything like the previous publicity.
Noims.
The Pulpit pub in Waterford (Ireland) solves this easily. There's a silhouette of a cat on one door and a rooster on the other. No stereotypes there.
Noims.
Final point: there's very little that's less funny than someone talking in technical terms about why something is funny.
Funny you should say that <ahem>. Last night I was thinking exactly the opposite while watching Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The sketch where Graham Chapman is lecturing on the history of the jape is hillarious.
I suppose it just goes to show anything can be funny
NoimsIt's not in any available screenplays, but I heard that the original screenplay for Holy Grail called for 'an intermission long enough for the first person in the back row of the cinema to reach the door to the toilet'.
Now that's just evil *:)
Noims.
I (obviously) know nothing about this, but do you define a mouse as something that emerged from a mouse's womb? Surely by applying this recursively you could slowly genetically alter a mouse into, say, a tortoise that lives 100+ years... in theory, at least.
Noims the ignorant
This is exactly why I'm looking forward to the patch so much... the fact that they're separating out ladder characters. It doesn't matter how much the game/economy has been ruined, everyone starts with nothing in ladder play. This means that even if it does subsequently get hacked and items are duped beyond belief, everything's back to normal at the next ladder reset.
Noims
Surely, given that AOtC happened a long time ago, should Thomas Burgh not be crediting the Jedi Masters?
Noims
From the looks of releases such as the ign review, it really does look like it's real Starcraft. The characters and vehicles are all from Starcraft, haivng all the Starcraft abilities (eg. Yamoto and seige tank strikes, vulture bikes). Also, the personalities and for the most part voices look like they are straight out of the original.
Taking just the Ghost herself, her abilities inclue ALL the ghost's abilities from the game including lock-down, the shotgun, and the ability to call in a primed nuclear strike. Yes, she has more abilities/weapons, but without these the options and tactics would severely limited.
Add to this the history of the Starcraft universe, and what looks to be an appropriate story tying in the large-scale battle background, I don't see how much more Starcraft you can get.
I personally don't really do console games, but this looks about as promising as it gets at this stage.
Looks to me like they've done a good job so far.
Noims.
Or, to quote Monty Python's Life of Brian:
Everyone's queuing to be healed by the new 'saviour':
"Ah, incurables... you'll just have to wait for a few minutes"
I play a fair bit of Diablo II online and I've developed a technique for dealing with cheats: I don't care. If someone were to steal a valuable item from me somehow, through my naivity or otherwise, I just wouldn't care. I've built up my character, and I can do it again. I'm playing the game to enjoy myself, not so I can be 133+.
I don't know much about MtGOL, but from what I've read here virtual cards will be redeemed for real ones (or at least their value). Because of this, people with good collections of genuine Magic cards can only lose. Their collections will be as valuable as the dupers' fake collection.
This is the equivalent of a government allowing virtual money in an insecure environment. If it is possible for someone to cheat the system and print their own money (or dupe their cards) with no legal recourse, it will happen, and the value of every holder of that currency will lose out.
To end this semi drunken rant, I will summarise by saying that anything's value is in the eye of the receiver. Be it cash, a Grandfather sword, or a Black Lotus card. If you can't trust the printer of the currency, don't invest in it.
Cheers,
Noims.
PS. please excuse my spelling, grammar, and keyboard (my E doesn't work right)
This is one of the things included in the game as well (see another post of mine). It is excellent.
I didn't know the mandarin was correct tho'. Cool. Thanks.
Cheers,
Noims.
I think part of the problem with getting extra footage for the DVD is that it's already used elsewhere.
First off, there's the laserdisc that has additional commentaries and the like.
The real gem, however, is the game 'monty python and the quest for the holy grail' released by 7th level in 1996 available for Windows only, afaik. Not only does it have an animated version of the King Brian the Wild sketch, but also several hilarious cinema ads. No real extra footage though.It features voice acting by several Pythons (Michael's stuff is what I remember most), but this is general bizarreness aot anythin to do with the movie (eg Micheal just saying "don't tempt me, Betty" when you click on a curtain in a tent in one of the scenes).
If you're into all this kind of bizarreness, there's also a Meaning of Life game by 7th level with a lot of similar stuff. An excellent buy. Otherwise there's "Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time" which is based on the series.
That should keep y'all busy.
Cheers,
Noims.
It's actually quite famous. It's an added 'meta'-scene in the castle Anthrax between where Galahad meets Dingo and where they walk together into the room to talk about spankings.
,but it starts off with Dingo saying how she does like this scene, and goes on (for 24 seconds) about whether or not they should include the scene in the film, ending finally with "Get on with it" shouted by all the soldiers from the near battle at the end.
I won't post the entire text of the scene
It's been shown on Channel 4 in England a couple of times, and is on a recent-ish (ie ~6 years old) VHS release.
In gernal, it's quite good.
Cheers,
Noims.
This sketch was actually filmed as an animation and used in the game 'monty python and the quest for the holy grail', released in 1996.
It's quite good, but it actually reads better.
I actually totally disagree with your second point there. In fact, that's the main point that I can't see a defence for.
I can see an argument that They don't want people seeing movies on DVD before they're released in the cinema. I may not agree with it, but I can see a case. As for worldwide cinema releases, I don't think that's practical, but maybe that's just me.
What I can't see a defence for is releasing the same movie on DVD with different features in different regions. For example, if I get the region 2 version of Crouching Tiger (I'm in Ireland), it has the movie and nothing else (more or less). The region 1 and region 3 versions have extra interviews, commentaries, etc. This means I have a choice between a sub-standard copy, or an 'illegal' copy.
Incidentally, there are dvd players out there that get totally around RCE. They have several region modes: you can set them to a specific region or set them to auto-detect.
disclaimer: maybe I'm wrong about CTHD, but there are plenty of cases like this, so I don't need to be corrected, thanks.
Cheers,Noims
About 6 months or so ago I took up Tai Chi which has helped a hell of a lot. Most of the direct help I've had have probably been from some of the 'stretches' we've done, but more than that my posture has changed for the better, my muscles relax a lot easier, and I can tell when something I'm doing it going to aggrivate my back. The most prominent example of this last point is when I'm lying in bed, I find I naturally twist my back. From the stances I've done in Tai-chi I know that twisting the body like that puts strain on the lower back, which is bad (m'kay?)
If you're interested (I should be getting commission for this), I do Wu style Tai-chi, and my teacher's teacher's website is at www.energyarts.com. I know he (B K Frantzis, the teacher) totally smashed in his spine and apparently it was Wu style that got him back on his feet. I believe he has a list of certified teachers on the site.
Incidentally, while I'm here, my teacher (in Ireland) has a pretty cool website at www.taichi-ireland.com.
... so about that commission...
NoimsThe problem with this is that there's a difference between evolution and adaption. There is a hell of a lot of evidence for adaption out there, and I've known Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, who have acknowledged adaption as fact.
Evolution, on the other hand, involves one species becoming a totally different species. Because of the time frames involved, it's extremely difficult to find examples. Yes, it's just an extension of the same principle, but it's certainly not evidence of evolution.
The other point of note, and something that's bound to come up in centuries to come, is that most of these group argue that we didn't eveolve, not that it's not possible for us to evolve.
Once you get to that stage, given that the only evidence we have of pre-historic life is in fossil or similar form, it becomes pretty much impossible to argue your point.
Noims.
Is it just me, or does the fact that the public effort finished just days before the private one look familiar?
I think someone paid the extra 180 energy units to rush the project when they saw the other faction was about to complete it.
... or maybe I've just been playing too much Alpha Centauri.
Noims
Actually, in the half second that the earth was, say, further from the sun, the sun's gravity would exact less force than usual allowing the orbit to change slightly. When the people then drag the earth back towards them (and vice versa) by landing, there will be a net change because of that half second change, even though the force the people have applied nets to zero.
So there *:)
Cheers,
Noims.
Several times I tried looking to what was supposed to be good code. I just found it really hard to grasp it all practically.
Then I happened to be looking through the source for Nethack, which I was playing like a junkie, and kept spotting neat tricks, several of which I subsequently used in the project I was on at the time (I always knew playing Nethack in work would do some good eventually).
Anyway, I found that by choosing something I was really really interested in, that's very optimised and generally well written, it held my interested and I still pick up wee gems.
CHeers
Noims.