I agree with your point, but I'm afraid it's irrelevant. That is, the Pledge of Allegiance will (and should always) continue to include the phrase "under god." NO matter what you do, the original is sitll the original -- you can't change it. But the point is that no one should be forced to say it that way.
If there are situations where someone must say the pledge, such as when becoming a naturalized citizen, then there should be an alternate, godless version. Not unlike the way "Do you swear before god to tell the truth, the whole truth . . . so help you god" became "Do you promise or affirm . . . . " with no god reference. We need people to take an oath promising not to lie when testifying in court, but we shouldn't make them swear to God for that. In fact, if they don't believe in God, it sort of invalidates the whole schmeal, to some. So, it's proper to provide a godless option.
That said, the question is whether or not kids needs to say the pledge every day (or ever) in school. I think the answer to that is "yes", and therefore, I think we need to have a godless pledge option for those who do want to "promise or affirm" their allegiance to this country, without making them involve a god in which they don't believe. Some may argue that kids don't have to say the pledge, but in practice, that's just not true in many (most? all?) cases.
Tradition is fine if taken in moderation. Now is the time for some moderation. Note that slavery was a firmly-held tradition in the South for a long time; few lament its demise.
You, or someone using your account, wrote "Sites like FileFront [slashdot.org] and GameTab [gametab.com] are the fuuuuuture, Marty. These sites are really only useful as an initial index source you can trust".
I would have noted it were it true. Read the note again, then ask anyone that downloaded (such as myself), the files were available from fileplanet.com, though you would have to search for them if you didn't link in from planetannihilation.com
I'll save you a click and the approximately 45 ad impressions you'd suffer as you try to scroll down to read the relevant entry at that link:
From planetannihilation.com:
Virus Warning, Thursday, June 19, 2003
If you've downloaded the Cavedog maps from Fileplanet (all except Tropical Islands) I suggest that you scan them for viruses. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this, I can't remember which virus it was, something to do with Kazah however and was not very harmful to you rmachine. I recommend downloading something like Norton Antivirus Trial Version if you are not sure or don't have one. The maps have all been removed to prevent similar accidental infections from happening, until we can reupload them, only Tropical Islands is available since it was originally in.UFO format rather then the.EXE setup file which was infected.
I'll be enforcing the mandatory scanning of all files being uploaded to Fileplanet and the TADC ftp due to this.
Posted by: Zxythe
Emphasis mine. Note the future tense in reference to the scanning of uploading files. Then note the date. Gametab is no better (and neither are most everyone else, really). You need trusted checksums/MD5 hashes for the source file, then it doesn't matter where you get it. (Except you may have to download it again if you get a bad, broken, or infected copy, but that's still better than not knowing and having to double-click that.exe, scanned or not -- there are new viruses, after all, so scanners will fail at some point . . . )
Because whenever you download an executable from Kazaa, it contains at least one, possibly two trojans.
Heavy exaggeration at best, complete lying FUD at worst. C'mon. Every one? Not in my experience.
With file planet, you can at least insure that the files are not being tampered with.
How's that? They don't give you any sort of MD5 or cksum. And they let 15-year-old sub-site admins upload files directly to their fileserver. And, of course, there have been many cases of viruses and trojans found in files on Fileplanet, just as with every other shareware/mirror/filedump site. [Hopefully funny grammar-pun: you can insure it all you want if you can get an agent to give you a quote for a no-virus-fileplanet-download policy, but you can't ensure or even be sure that a file you get from fileplanet is any safer than a file from anywhere else.]
BitTorrent is an exception, because it hasn't taken off yet (lil billy teh h4xxor isn't using it)
An exception to what? It's nothing like fileplanet, and very little like Kazaa. Do you mean an exception to having viruses or trojans in executables you might download using it? You do realize that bittorent doesn't check for viruses or trojans, right? See, whether or not a file you download (from anywhere) includes a trojan or virus depends on whether or not the source file was tainted to begin with. AFAIK, there is no "download stream interceptor" virus that adds a virus or trojan to an otherwise clean file as you download. I guess it's possible though, and I've just let that meme out into the wild, sigh . .
So, in terms of virus protection, bittorent, kazaa, and fileplanet are equally useless -- you need a secure source file, without viruses. Note that you're more likely to find viruses when looking for illegal or fringe-legal files (the **AA like it that way) such as those you often find via Kazaa. You are less likely to find viruses when looking for legal files seeded by a known source, such as those you often find via bittorent.
With fileplanet, you never really know. They do try to scan incoming files, but the definitions are a little dated. In any case, if I must use fileplanet, I always wait a while and check the file comments first. More often than viruses, I see incomplete/broken files (and again, no cksum available to check), or files followed by a replacement (updated/fixed) patch versions. You can download twice, or read about it in the comments first and download the final.
Better, download it the fastest and easier way, but be sure to get a good checksum (MD5 or whatever) from the trusted original provider or one of the many "secure file" lists available on the internet, and compare it to the file you download. If it differs, the file is either trojaned or broken, thus deletable/redownloadable.
Mods for UT2k3 will be binary compatable with 2k4.
Mods for UT2k4 that don't involve any of the fun new stuff (like vehicles) will likely be compatable with 2k3
But according to the Red Orchestra "features" page:
All new high detail environments in World War 2 Eastern Front settings.
Experience famous battles from 1941 to 1945.
The Wehrmacht and the Red Armies are the two core fighting forces.
Complete arsenal of intricatly detailed uniforms, equipment and weapons used in battle
Branch System
Limited Reinforcement System
3d Voice Communication (UT2004)
Multiple weapon functions.
Realistic damage system
New multiplayer gametype that brings Area Control to the next generation.
New scoring system, putting objectives and squadplay at highest priority.
New Machinegun and Sniper Rifle systems.
Vehicles used for transportation and combat purposes (UT2004)
So, I'm confused. Does this mod work with ut2k3 or not? I mean, it has vehicles, but we all know ut2k3 doesn't support vehicles (you don't have vehicle support until you can drive them yourself, preferably with friends riding along, as you can in bf1942 -- note that "vehicles" stuck to pre-set tracks have been around for a long time, and no one cares anymore). But it also says "(ut2k4)", so maybe the vehicles magically work with ut2k4 (which isn't out yet), but disappear from the maps (or don't work?) in ut2k3.
In any case, this mod includes no vehicles, yet wants to be a good WWII FPS. It failed before it even began -- bad engine choice. Vehicles are integral to WWII FPS action, and if the Red Symphony maps are playable without them (as they must be to work with ut2k3), then the vehicles aren't very integral to the gameplay, which means it sucks. If it does include vehicles (and therefore doesn't work with ut2k3), then this news is premature, since no one can play the mod until ut2k4 is released. (That would make it rather amazing pre-cognitive coding, though.) In that case, let's wait for real vehicle support to get into UT (2k4 -- we promise!), then wait for the furor over the lag they add to die down some, thena few dozen patches later we can talk again about it. So, I'll meet you here in mid-2005 to discuss this further:)
[it's disrespectful] to reduce WWII to a first-person shooter
Hmm, OK, so you're not trolling, but it may be even worse that you actually believe what you said. That is, I think it's far more disrespectful to actually think that WWII can be reduced by anything. It was what it was and is what it is no matter how many videogames, movies, books, or whatever are created using WWII as a setting.
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a movie about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to write a book about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to sing a song about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a board game about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a videogame about, or set in, WWII?
I think the answer to all of the questions above is "no."
If you answered "yes" to any of those, I believe you're either confusing the map with the territory yourself, or grossly underestimating the average person's ability to distinguish symbol from reality. And I'll go out on a limb and assume that even most UT players can probably do that:)
How, exactly, is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a mod based on WWII battles?
I've heard a lot of complaints from vets that people forget about their sacrifice, which I think is somewhat true, but I've never heard any complaints about wargames set in WWII (remember the old SSI games? I know vets that loved playing those themselves).
Are you a WWII vet and are offended by this? If so, please tell me about how it makes you feel. Or, do you just know some vets and assume they'd be offended? Or are you just trolling? (DING DING DING - we have a winner!)
Doesnt this add to an already overblown selection of World War 2 based FPS's?
No, not at all. In order to add, it would first have to meet, then somehow exceed the current offerings. Or at least bring something significantly different to the table.
Note that this mod include no vehicles. It says it will include vehicles for ut2k4, but that's not out yet, so with this, you get no vehicles. So what we have here is a WWII mod for an FPS, without vehicles, introduced into genre ruled by Battlefield 1942, which has planes, tanks, jeeps, ships, and every other kind of vehicle you'd expect. That you can really drive (and ride in while someone else drives).
So, this doesn't even meet the current standard (bf1942). Maybe before bf1942 this would have been interesting competition for MOHAA or RtCW, but now it's just one more of the same old. And how is this News for Nerds or Stuff That Matters?
Is/. now going to turn into planetslashdot.com? I can't wait for the ourly announcements such as "]00l dude wants you all to know that they just managed to get a new model to compile for their upcoming uber-l337 killemall mod. Here's a screenshot of the new model with a plain grey skin. Kewl, eh? Oh, and they need coders and artists, so check 'em out!!!!!!"
I didn't say he was. Feel free not to like Bush and I won't call you crazy at all. There's a lot about Bush I don't like as well. But please do try to use some argument that makes sense instead of spewing sheer juvenille ad hominem attacks and name calling in the process as the author did. Did you read his inane site? Or are you just jumping on the Bush-Bashing-Bandwagon?
Bush opposes dealing with ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Bullshit. Back it up or shut it up.
In Iraq and Afghanistan the best description of the management is that Cpt. Klutz is in charge.
Ditto.
It goes on and on.
Yes, your supply of unfounded, unsupported bullshit does seem to.
Domestically the Bush team thinks that Free Trade means dismantling our domestic laws and causing Americans to have to tarriff their wages 150% while competing with foreign persons and goods which pay no such taxes.
I have no idea what you're trying to say here ( "Americans to have to tarriff their wages 150%"? WTF?) and clearly, neither do you. Please try to cite something that's written by someone with a clue, maybe then I could understand what you think you mean.
The Bush Team is prosecuting Grandma for buy Medicine out of the Country . . .
Bullshit again. Cite or STFU.
. . . but has withdrawn the FBI From Drug enforcement. I know! I had a case to call the FBI because Drug terrorists were destroying my neighborhood! The FBI doesn't even answer their answering machine on Drug related cases!
The DEA is in charge of drug offenses, not the FBI. Get a clue asshat.
There might just be a real reason to hate Bush without being unreasonable.
Again, you didn't read (or understand) my post. I didn't say it was unreasonable to hat Bush. The author just didn't give any reasons (all ad hominem), and it was a sneak-attack political rant disguised as (bad) humor.
He refuses to corral corruption, defend the country
I'm getting tired of your stupid, unfounded claims. Again, try to back up some of these wild allegations or please shut your stupid pie hole.
I know this is post is vociferous of me, but I'm taking out on you all my frustration and disdain at all the morons who posted below you. You deserve some of it, but others are much worse (and even more clueless, as hard to believe as that is). If you want to go off on crazy tangents in reply to a reasonable post that started at +5 funny and ended as flamebait, you're going to get some wrath. Have a nice day.
Close, I am saying that I don't think President elect Bush and his "cabinet" are a bunch of crooks and liars. I also don't think it's relevant to the article, and not unlike some of the arguments regarding product placement in another recent thread here, it's a dishonest sneak-attack political rant. I also think the article was pretty poor, and not funny. Worse, I think the author is also clearly a racist. Read his site. Paticularly the "Ethnic Pride" section at from http://www.dvorkin.com/yinotjew.htm.
You've "mis-understood" a lot, obviously, regarding Cheney, Halliburton, Rumsfeld, and "half-crazed ultra-rightwing nut cases from the Project for the New American Century" whatever the hell that is. Unless you want to try to back any of that nonsense up, you should shut your stupid fucking mouth you psychopathic liberal socialist moron.
Hey, if I'm going to get a flamebait mod for something that clearly wasn't, I'm going to come back and get my mod's worth. After all, I paid for it with my Karma, I might was well get some real flames in, right? Suck it down, liberal mods from hell.
Did you even read my post? Where did that extra stuff come from? I never mentioned the evils of the agnostict or athiests (there are plenty, but it's offtopic in this little thread of ours), never compared the evils of the sacred vs. secular, never claimed that religion or the religious never did anything good, and never even came close to the absolute, black and white extremism of which you accuse me.
Funny how you put words in my mouth to try to shoehorn my relatively specific comments into a broad, sweeping judgment where all is black and white, then accuse me of failing to see the shades of gray. Maybe you ought to work on that beam in your eye before worrying about my speck of dust.
You didn't even address the points I made, at all, not even a little bit. You just made up some of your own that you're comfortable attacking. Sigh.
It was kinda fun for a minute, and I thought we might be able to have a decent discussion about this topic, but I'm done trying to keep you on some sort of logical path that makes any sense at all. Thanks anyway.
The article runs the gamut, from the mildly amusing:
Some of those benefits are obvious, and I could have anticipated them even before a supervisor tapped me on the shoulder and said he needed to talk to me about something. ("Do you have a minute?" he asked. What would have happened if I'd said no, that I was too busy?)
To the not at all funny but trying really hard (Snuffy Smith! Egads):
There was a character in the Snuffy Smith cartoon strip of many years ago who retired but would still get up at the crack of dawn and go down to the mill every morning just so he could thumb his nose at the place as the get-to-work whistle blew.
It does include a few good, creative ideas useful even for the gainfully emplyed:
Back in the glorious paycheck days, I used to think about telling [telemarketers and salespersons] I'd just lost my job. Actually, sometimes I really did tell them that, because I'm a cowardly kinda guy and it's easier to fib than to be firm. Now I don't have to fib. When I tell them I'm unemployed, they hang up or back away quickly, terrified of infection by the job-loss virus.
As well as a few really stupid comment that make me wonder about this guy's sense of self:
My Beard
It's still growing!
Well, of course it is, you say. Let me explain that, on an emotional, irrational level, I still feel relieved every morning when I realize that I still need to shave.
It's still growing! Despite the way I frequently feel, I haven't really been unmanned.
But, it also has quite a bit of offtopic, annoying, and really rather insulting partisan political nonsense:
These [fake-job advertising scammers] are rotten enough to be members of George W. Bush's cabinet. Encountering them has taught me something about the depths of human nature.
But perhaps the greatest benefit of being unemployed is this. I now feel absolutely free to despise George W. Bush. Oh, of course I despised him before I lost my job. But now I know I'm not alone.
And it closes with a really stupid anti-Bush link. Sigh. Bring a salt shaker if you're going to read it all.
This is a great story which I genuinely enjoyed reading. I laughed out loud more than once.
That said, please be very careful if you choose to follow the "Let's Get Brutal" link provided at the end of the linked site. Do yourself a favor and resist all temptation to click on the "Rodona Garst Breast Size" link there, as it is only a little less offensive than goatse.cx.
It really isn't obligatory at all. Really. I swear. In fact, it's highly discouraged nowadays since it's not in the least bit funny anymore.
Only a slashdot poster such as yourself can pound a joke so hard and for so long that even a great Simpsons' line makes me queasy when I read it. But I have to hand it to you -- you, my friend, are clearly the master of pounding it long and hard. But please don't feel obliged in any way.
You can take a rest any time and no one will miss it. Except for possibly your local Kleenex(TM) and/or hand lotion distributors.
How about make it possible to send more, but you have to demonstrate a need and ask for the privelege, thereby making your identity much easier to establish should you suddenly start abusing the system a la herbal-viagra-toner-university-diplomas? In any case, there would be, in 99.999% of cases, an upper-limit on the number of emails anyone could ever reasonably need to send in one day, and I'm guessing it would be under 1e6 in almost every case. If you have 10k employees, I don't think anyone would be terribly miffed if you broke that up into two batches of 5k/each over two days. Or one batch at 11:59pm and another at 12:01am if you really have to be fair, such as, oh, I don't know -- when sending out the company scavenger hunt list?:)
Seriously though, don't be so quick to shoot down a fairly-reasonable suggestion that might be workable after a little thinking and tweaking.
[the links] failed to differentiate adequately between those things that God commanded to have done, and those things that people did anyway
That's the problem with dying. You can't control what nuts will put in your mouth. And, it's also the problem with trusting a heavily-interpreted, censored, selectively-propagated ancient work. You have no way to know what's legit and what's been invented for some other nefarious purpose that the originator may have never intended or even dreamed possible.
It's possible that someone recorded his message wrong, but the following 300 years had quite a bit of scrutiny on those writings which claimed to be from Jesus' disciples, and we can hardly do better ourselves.
Ah, but were it only scrutiny (and would that we could actually know!) and not the aforementioned comandeering and prostituting of what was probably a pretty decent collection of books at some point. In any case, if you trust the bible as it exists today, that site is quite clear in pointing out how god provoked, commanded, or reacted to each incredibly barbaric action in His name (or, at least, whoever allegedly wrote whatever He allegedly said at the time -- He was much more glib back in the day, no? -- which brings us back to the credibility problem outlined above).
You can be a deluded nut and still be a pretty decent guy -- just like Jesus!
And that was exactly the state of the religous leaders in Jesus day.
And, in a sequence of events that we can see replay itself throughout history, the revolutionary underdogs (who rely on being good, or at least decent, to succeed) cast off thier chains and overthrow their opressors through persistance and martyrdom, much to the glee of the onlookers who were previously afraid to do anything. This newfound glory inevitably yields followers, then more followers, increasing the extent of the overthrow. More and more power is acquired by our previously opressed heroes, until the absolute certainty of the corruption than comes with power rears it's ugly head.
And then our underdog heroes become the entrenched authority, drunk on power and control, constantly gripped with the paranoia that comes with knowing that their own mighty power-base was but one nutty eccentric with charismatic populist appeal away from the same fate they brought to the previous power-brokers.
And so the cycle continues. Escalating ever upwards, reaching new levels of horrific behaviour with each power exchange.
Being dead (resurrection fantasies notwithstanding), old JC and the rest of the trinity-that-wants-to-be-one was powerless to control the abuses that were just beginning to be perpetrated by the newly-installed despots. In time, the power grew until the once-underdogs were committing acts of a heinous nature that surpassed even their predecessors' remarkable achievements in the highly-competitive field of evil.
Sucks, for sure. But it's nothing new. It happened again with the Protestant revolution, and even the resurgence of fundamentalism that we're getting a nice, biley taste of today.
Anyway, enough of all that. My original post, to which you replied, was not an effort to show my brotherly love. On the contrary, I endeavored to smack down a rabid, tithing retard. And, IMHO, succeeded quite beyond my initial modest hopes.
So you agree that no one should ever help the weak? That goes just as far off the Ayn Rand deep end as any fanatic might go off the Christian deep end.
No, I didn't say that at all. Please re-read my post a few times until that's clear to you.
I think a lot has changed since JC's time with respect to abuse of religious authority, corruption, excessive power, condemnation, hypocrisy, and seperatist attitudes. Maybe it's just my take, but modern xtianity, especially in organized/corporate form (God, Inc.), seems to have way too much power and sway over the cluless, frightened massses, and it's abused enough to make me distrustful of almost all forms of organized religion.
Read some of my recent posts on this topic such as this one -- I'm all for helping the unfortunate, in a way that really helps (locally, with lots of oversight and the requisite "tough love" when the help is abused or taken for granted).
I had a problem with the TheNewerGuy's offensive, fire-breathing, damn-you-for-not-tithing self-righteous diatribe against Malakai who simnply had a problem with the socialist views spouted in the article. How you jumped from that, to "never help anyone" is not clear to me.
Oh, and I didn't say the grammar was wrong, just that it sounds funny. Like Yoda, it sounds to me:)
That's funnny as hell. With the way mods slop around +1 Funny's, I can't believe you haven't been modded up. Not that it would help your Karma (or that you care), it's just funny.
Maybe it has less to do with a problem with Jesus, who by many accounts seemed like a pretty decent guy, and a not-bad philospher to boot, and more to do with the insanity that has surrounded the bible and organized religion since the poor fella bought the farm.
So why don't you share it with us instead of some inane incomplete comment? I mean, I see it too: he has a clue, he sees through the sham, he's not falling for the Tilton-Swaggart-Bakker bullshit money-milking legal-scam reverse-evolution nonsense that is organized religion. Since you fail to state otherwise, I must assume you're thinking along the same lines. Glad to have you with us -- the fewer drones that support the Xtianity opression-machine the better.
Peace to you too, but what's up with that funky yoda-speak "be" shit?
You may have a point about interest rate manipulation; I'm not sure. I've never heard any such allegations, and to me the whole system seems far too complex to allow any sort of fiddling that would provide any reliable or predictable advantage to anyone. I could be wrong -- as an R. A. Wilson fan I have a deep distrust for The Fed, so this claim warrants further investigation. Any references or tips to help would be welcome. In any case, I appreciate your presenting this without hyperbole or silly emotional appeal.
That said, I am a kid from the projects. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida in the Blodgett housing project. Look it up -- it's not much better than Compton, and a lot worse in some ways. Mine was one of two white familys there, my dad never made more than $12k/year, and my mom never worked, though she was always there for me and my sister.
I dropped out of school in 10th grade to help make ends meet when my dad got sick. Within two years we had a falling out and I left. I spent almost three years wandering the US as a miscreant -- sometimes following the rainbow family or the Dead, sometimes hacking it on my own. For almost 6 months I lived in a tent in Talladega Nat'l Forest. I worked at truck-stop diners to make a few bucks to buy sacks of potatos from local farmers, which was my only form of sustenance for longer than I care to remember.
Eventually I realized that I did not ahve to follow the path that was laid out for me. So I hiked my way back to Florida (it was the only place in which I could prove any sort of residency and thus get the realtively-inexpensive in-state tuition). After 2 years of community college, 3 years getting a BSEE from UF, and $18k of debt (thanks to Uncle Sam, who will loan money to anyone to go to school, though I could have done it for free with no debt had I been any sort of minority), I got a job with NEC near Boston.
Golden stepladder indeed. I'm sure you meant no offense (you seem reasonable), but you fell off that limb here. I can prove every claim in this post.
Now I have a cushy job making ASICs, a beautiful Japanese wife, a nice house near Boston, a new car every two years, a ski house in New Hampshire, and I'm pretty damn happy.
Moreso than would have been possible were this all handed to me somehow. In fact, I owe a lot of this to my shitty childhood and lack of a golden stepladder or silver spoon (especially the 4.0GPA, which got me the job opportunity out of college). I easily pounded the rich kids in school because I wanted it so badly and had lived the alternatives. They called me the curve-wrecker, and some kids would leave classes to go drop when I walked in on the first days of each semester. It wasn't hard because I was hungry to learn, and I wanted to make something out of myself. I didn't give a fuck about them, I just wanted to be able to control my own destiny, live a bit nicer than I had been, and I didn't whine because it was hard or because other got a better chance than I did by virtue of family wealth or minority status (OK, maybe I did to some friends, but I hung in there).
If you don't think the opportunity exists for everyone, you haven't tried. This country, for all its faults, and the people in it, for all theirs, will go way farther out of their way to help someone who wants to succeed than you're giving credit.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with your point, but I'm afraid it's irrelevant. That is, the Pledge of Allegiance will (and should always) continue to include the phrase "under god." NO matter what you do, the original is sitll the original -- you can't change it. But the point is that no one should be forced to say it that way.
If there are situations where someone must say the pledge, such as when becoming a naturalized citizen, then there should be an alternate, godless version. Not unlike the way "Do you swear before god to tell the truth, the whole truth . . . so help you god" became "Do you promise or affirm . . . . " with no god reference. We need people to take an oath promising not to lie when testifying in court, but we shouldn't make them swear to God for that. In fact, if they don't believe in God, it sort of invalidates the whole schmeal, to some. So, it's proper to provide a godless option.
That said, the question is whether or not kids needs to say the pledge every day (or ever) in school. I think the answer to that is "yes", and therefore, I think we need to have a godless pledge option for those who do want to "promise or affirm" their allegiance to this country, without making them involve a god in which they don't believe. Some may argue that kids don't have to say the pledge, but in practice, that's just not true in many (most? all?) cases.
Tradition is fine if taken in moderation. Now is the time for some moderation. Note that slavery was a firmly-held tradition in the South for a long time; few lament its demise.
You, or someone using your account, wrote "Sites like FileFront [slashdot.org] and GameTab [gametab.com] are the fuuuuuture, Marty. These sites are really only useful as an initial index source you can trust".
That's how.
I would have noted it were it true. Read the note again, then ask anyone that downloaded (such as myself), the files were available from fileplanet.com, though you would have to search for them if you didn't link in from planetannihilation.com
... FileFront and GameTab ... are really only useful as an initial index source you can trust
.UFO format rather then the .EXE setup file which was infected.
.exe, scanned or not -- there are new viruses, after all, so scanners will fail at some point . . . )
:)
You trustfileplanet?
I'll save you a click and the approximately 45 ad impressions you'd suffer as you try to scroll down to read the relevant entry at that link:
From planetannihilation.com:
Virus Warning, Thursday, June 19, 2003
If you've downloaded the Cavedog maps from Fileplanet (all except Tropical Islands) I suggest that you scan them for viruses. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this, I can't remember which virus it was, something to do with Kazah however and was not very harmful to you rmachine. I recommend downloading something like Norton Antivirus Trial Version if you are not sure or don't have one. The maps have all been removed to prevent similar accidental infections from happening, until we can reupload them, only Tropical Islands is available since it was originally in
I'll be enforcing the mandatory scanning of all files being uploaded to Fileplanet and the TADC ftp due to this.
Posted by: Zxythe
Emphasis mine. Note the future tense in reference to the scanning of uploading files. Then note the date. Gametab is no better (and neither are most everyone else, really). You need trusted checksums/MD5 hashes for the source file, then it doesn't matter where you get it. (Except you may have to download it again if you get a bad, broken, or infected copy, but that's still better than not knowing and having to double-click that
Who do you trust, again?
Because whenever you download an executable from Kazaa, it contains at least one, possibly two trojans.
Heavy exaggeration at best, complete lying FUD at worst. C'mon. Every one? Not in my experience.
With file planet, you can at least insure that the files are not being tampered with.
How's that? They don't give you any sort of MD5 or cksum. And they let 15-year-old sub-site admins upload files directly to their fileserver. And, of course, there have been many cases of viruses and trojans found in files on Fileplanet, just as with every other shareware/mirror/filedump site. [Hopefully funny grammar-pun: you can insure it all you want if you can get an agent to give you a quote for a no-virus-fileplanet-download policy, but you can't ensure or even be sure that a file you get from fileplanet is any safer than a file from anywhere else.]
BitTorrent is an exception, because it hasn't taken off yet (lil billy teh h4xxor isn't using it)
An exception to what? It's nothing like fileplanet, and very little like Kazaa. Do you mean an exception to having viruses or trojans in executables you might download using it? You do realize that bittorent doesn't check for viruses or trojans, right? See, whether or not a file you download (from anywhere) includes a trojan or virus depends on whether or not the source file was tainted to begin with. AFAIK, there is no "download stream interceptor" virus that adds a virus or trojan to an otherwise clean file as you download. I guess it's possible though, and I've just let that meme out into the wild, sigh . .
So, in terms of virus protection, bittorent, kazaa, and fileplanet are equally useless -- you need a secure source file, without viruses. Note that you're more likely to find viruses when looking for illegal or fringe-legal files (the **AA like it that way) such as those you often find via Kazaa. You are less likely to find viruses when looking for legal files seeded by a known source, such as those you often find via bittorent.
With fileplanet, you never really know. They do try to scan incoming files, but the definitions are a little dated. In any case, if I must use fileplanet, I always wait a while and check the file comments first. More often than viruses, I see incomplete/broken files (and again, no cksum available to check), or files followed by a replacement (updated/fixed) patch versions. You can download twice, or read about it in the comments first and download the final.
Better, download it the fastest and easier way, but be sure to get a good checksum (MD5 or whatever) from the trusted original provider or one of the many "secure file" lists available on the internet, and compare it to the file you download. If it differs, the file is either trojaned or broken, thus deletable/redownloadable.
Mods for UT2k4 that don't involve any of the fun new stuff (like vehicles) will likely be compatable with 2k3
But according to the Red Orchestra "features" page:
So, I'm confused. Does this mod work with ut2k3 or not? I mean, it has vehicles, but we all know ut2k3 doesn't support vehicles (you don't have vehicle support until you can drive them yourself, preferably with friends riding along, as you can in bf1942 -- note that "vehicles" stuck to pre-set tracks have been around for a long time, and no one cares anymore). But it also says "(ut2k4)", so maybe the vehicles magically work with ut2k4 (which isn't out yet), but disappear from the maps (or don't work?) in ut2k3.
In any case, this mod includes no vehicles, yet wants to be a good WWII FPS. It failed before it even began -- bad engine choice. Vehicles are integral to WWII FPS action, and if the Red Symphony maps are playable without them (as they must be to work with ut2k3), then the vehicles aren't very integral to the gameplay, which means it sucks. If it does include vehicles (and therefore doesn't work with ut2k3), then this news is premature, since no one can play the mod until ut2k4 is released. (That would make it rather amazing pre-cognitive coding, though.) In that case, let's wait for real vehicle support to get into UT (2k4 -- we promise!), then wait for the furor over the lag they add to die down some, thena few dozen patches later we can talk again about it. So, I'll meet you here in mid-2005 to discuss this further
[it's disrespectful] to reduce WWII to a first-person shooter
:)
Hmm, OK, so you're not trolling, but it may be even worse that you actually believe what you said. That is, I think it's far more disrespectful to actually think that WWII can be reduced by anything. It was what it was and is what it is no matter how many videogames, movies, books, or whatever are created using WWII as a setting.
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a movie about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to write a book about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to sing a song about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a board game about, or set in, WWII?
Is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a videogame about, or set in, WWII?
I think the answer to all of the questions above is "no."
If you answered "yes" to any of those, I believe you're either confusing the map with the territory yourself, or grossly underestimating the average person's ability to distinguish symbol from reality. And I'll go out on a limb and assume that even most UT players can probably do that
How, exactly, is it disrespectful to WWII vets to make a mod based on WWII battles?
I've heard a lot of complaints from vets that people forget about their sacrifice, which I think is somewhat true, but I've never heard any complaints about wargames set in WWII (remember the old SSI games? I know vets that loved playing those themselves).
Are you a WWII vet and are offended by this? If so, please tell me about how it makes you feel. Or, do you just know some vets and assume they'd be offended? Or are you just trolling? (DING DING DING - we have a winner!)
That's odd, the single biggest complaint I've heard (and mine is really only one) is that it sucks.
Doesnt this add to an already overblown selection of World War 2 based FPS's?
/. now going to turn into planetslashdot.com? I can't wait for the ourly announcements such as "]00l dude wants you all to know that they just managed to get a new model to compile for their upcoming uber-l337 killemall mod. Here's a screenshot of the new model with a plain grey skin. Kewl, eh? Oh, and they need coders and artists, so check 'em out!!!!!!"
No, not at all. In order to add, it would first have to meet, then somehow exceed the current offerings. Or at least bring something significantly different to the table.
Note that this mod include no vehicles. It says it will include vehicles for ut2k4, but that's not out yet, so with this, you get no vehicles. So what we have here is a WWII mod for an FPS, without vehicles, introduced into genre ruled by Battlefield 1942, which has planes, tanks, jeeps, ships, and every other kind of vehicle you'd expect. That you can really drive (and ride in while someone else drives).
So, this doesn't even meet the current standard (bf1942). Maybe before bf1942 this would have been interesting competition for MOHAA or RtCW, but now it's just one more of the same old. And how is this News for Nerds or Stuff That Matters?
Is
This Guy is not crazy to not like the President.
I didn't say he was. Feel free not to like Bush and I won't call you crazy at all. There's a lot about Bush I don't like as well. But please do try to use some argument that makes sense instead of spewing sheer juvenille ad hominem attacks and name calling in the process as the author did. Did you read his inane site? Or are you just jumping on the Bush-Bashing-Bandwagon?
Bush opposes dealing with ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Bullshit. Back it up or shut it up.
In Iraq and Afghanistan the best description of the management is that Cpt. Klutz is in charge.
Ditto.
It goes on and on.
Yes, your supply of unfounded, unsupported bullshit does seem to.
Domestically the Bush team thinks that Free Trade means dismantling our domestic laws and causing Americans to have to tarriff their wages 150% while competing with foreign persons and goods which pay no such taxes.
I have no idea what you're trying to say here ( "Americans to have to tarriff their wages 150%"? WTF?) and clearly, neither do you. Please try to cite something that's written by someone with a clue, maybe then I could understand what you think you mean.
The Bush Team is prosecuting Grandma for buy Medicine out of the Country . . .
Bullshit again. Cite or STFU.
. . . but has withdrawn the FBI From Drug enforcement. I know! I had a case to call the FBI because Drug terrorists were destroying my neighborhood! The FBI doesn't even answer their answering machine on Drug related cases!
The DEA is in charge of drug offenses, not the FBI. Get a clue asshat.
There might just be a real reason to hate Bush without being unreasonable.
Again, you didn't read (or understand) my post. I didn't say it was unreasonable to hat Bush. The author just didn't give any reasons (all ad hominem), and it was a sneak-attack political rant disguised as (bad) humor.
He refuses to corral corruption, defend the country
I'm getting tired of your stupid, unfounded claims. Again, try to back up some of these wild allegations or please shut your stupid pie hole.
I know this is post is vociferous of me, but I'm taking out on you all my frustration and disdain at all the morons who posted below you. You deserve some of it, but others are much worse (and even more clueless, as hard to believe as that is). If you want to go off on crazy tangents in reply to a reasonable post that started at +5 funny and ended as flamebait, you're going to get some wrath. Have a nice day.
Close, I am saying that I don't think President elect Bush and his "cabinet" are a bunch of crooks and liars. I also don't think it's relevant to the article, and not unlike some of the arguments regarding product placement in another recent thread here, it's a dishonest sneak-attack political rant. I also think the article was pretty poor, and not funny. Worse, I think the author is also clearly a racist. Read his site. Paticularly the "Ethnic Pride" section at from http://www.dvorkin.com/yinotjew.htm.
You've "mis-understood" a lot, obviously, regarding Cheney, Halliburton, Rumsfeld, and "half-crazed ultra-rightwing nut cases from the Project for the New American Century" whatever the hell that is. Unless you want to try to back any of that nonsense up, you should shut your stupid fucking mouth you psychopathic liberal socialist moron.
Hey, if I'm going to get a flamebait mod for something that clearly wasn't, I'm going to come back and get my mod's worth. After all, I paid for it with my Karma, I might was well get some real flames in, right? Suck it down, liberal mods from hell.
Did you even read my post? Where did that extra stuff come from? I never mentioned the evils of the agnostict or athiests (there are plenty, but it's offtopic in this little thread of ours), never compared the evils of the sacred vs. secular, never claimed that religion or the religious never did anything good, and never even came close to the absolute, black and white extremism of which you accuse me.
Funny how you put words in my mouth to try to shoehorn my relatively specific comments into a broad, sweeping judgment where all is black and white, then accuse me of failing to see the shades of gray. Maybe you ought to work on that beam in your eye before worrying about my speck of dust.
You didn't even address the points I made, at all, not even a little bit. You just made up some of your own that you're comfortable attacking. Sigh.
It was kinda fun for a minute, and I thought we might be able to have a decent discussion about this topic, but I'm done trying to keep you on some sort of logical path that makes any sense at all. Thanks anyway.
The article runs the gamut, from the mildly amusing:
Some of those benefits are obvious, and I could have anticipated them even before a supervisor tapped me on the shoulder and said he needed to talk to me about something. ("Do you have a minute?" he asked. What would have happened if I'd said no, that I was too busy?)
To the not at all funny but trying really hard (Snuffy Smith! Egads):
There was a character in the Snuffy Smith cartoon strip of many years ago who retired but would still get up at the crack of dawn and go down to the mill every morning just so he could thumb his nose at the place as the get-to-work whistle blew.
It does include a few good, creative ideas useful even for the gainfully emplyed:
Back in the glorious paycheck days, I used to think about telling [telemarketers and salespersons] I'd just lost my job. Actually, sometimes I really did tell them that, because I'm a cowardly kinda guy and it's easier to fib than to be firm. Now I don't have to fib. When I tell them I'm unemployed, they hang up or back away quickly, terrified of infection by the job-loss virus.
As well as a few really stupid comment that make me wonder about this guy's sense of self:
My Beard It's still growing! Well, of course it is, you say. Let me explain that, on an emotional, irrational level, I still feel relieved every morning when I realize that I still need to shave. It's still growing! Despite the way I frequently feel, I haven't really been unmanned.
But, it also has quite a bit of offtopic, annoying, and really rather insulting partisan political nonsense:
These [fake-job advertising scammers] are rotten enough to be members of George W. Bush's cabinet. Encountering them has taught me something about the depths of human nature.
But perhaps the greatest benefit of being unemployed is this. I now feel absolutely free to despise George W. Bush. Oh, of course I despised him before I lost my job. But now I know I'm not alone.
And it closes with a really stupid anti-Bush link. Sigh. Bring a salt shaker if you're going to read it all.
This is a great story which I genuinely enjoyed reading. I laughed out loud more than once.
That said, please be very careful if you choose to follow the "Let's Get Brutal" link provided at the end of the linked site. Do yourself a favor and resist all temptation to click on the "Rodona Garst Breast Size" link there, as it is only a little less offensive than goatse.cx.
You have been warned.
It really isn't obligatory at all. Really. I swear. In fact, it's highly discouraged nowadays since it's not in the least bit funny anymore.
Only a slashdot poster such as yourself can pound a joke so hard and for so long that even a great Simpsons' line makes me queasy when I read it. But I have to hand it to you -- you, my friend, are clearly the master of pounding it long and hard. But please don't feel obliged in any way.
You can take a rest any time and no one will miss it. Except for possibly your local Kleenex(TM) and/or hand lotion distributors.
Good point.
:)
How about make it possible to send more, but you have to demonstrate a need and ask for the privelege, thereby making your identity much easier to establish should you suddenly start abusing the system a la herbal-viagra-toner-university-diplomas? In any case, there would be, in 99.999% of cases, an upper-limit on the number of emails anyone could ever reasonably need to send in one day, and I'm guessing it would be under 1e6 in almost every case. If you have 10k employees, I don't think anyone would be terribly miffed if you broke that up into two batches of 5k/each over two days. Or one batch at 11:59pm and another at 12:01am if you really have to be fair, such as, oh, I don't know -- when sending out the company scavenger hunt list?
Seriously though, don't be so quick to shoot down a fairly-reasonable suggestion that might be workable after a little thinking and tweaking.
You're kidding right? That's no better or worse. I mean, what's wrong with the four possible correct options?:
Where is my hovercar?
Where are my hovercars?
Where are the hovercars?
Where are our hovercars?
Subject-verb agreement: It's not just right, it's a good idea.
[the links] failed to differentiate adequately between those things that God commanded to have done, and those things that people did anyway
That's the problem with dying. You can't control what nuts will put in your mouth. And, it's also the problem with trusting a heavily-interpreted, censored, selectively-propagated ancient work. You have no way to know what's legit and what's been invented for some other nefarious purpose that the originator may have never intended or even dreamed possible.
It's possible that someone recorded his message wrong, but the following 300 years had quite a bit of scrutiny on those writings which claimed to be from Jesus' disciples, and we can hardly do better ourselves.
Ah, but were it only scrutiny (and would that we could actually know!) and not the aforementioned comandeering and prostituting of what was probably a pretty decent collection of books at some point. In any case, if you trust the bible as it exists today, that site is quite clear in pointing out how god provoked, commanded, or reacted to each incredibly barbaric action in His name (or, at least, whoever allegedly wrote whatever He allegedly said at the time -- He was much more glib back in the day, no? -- which brings us back to the credibility problem outlined above).
You can be a deluded nut and still be a pretty decent guy -- just like Jesus!
And that was exactly the state of the religous leaders in Jesus day.
And, in a sequence of events that we can see replay itself throughout history, the revolutionary underdogs (who rely on being good, or at least decent, to succeed) cast off thier chains and overthrow their opressors through persistance and martyrdom, much to the glee of the onlookers who were previously afraid to do anything. This newfound glory inevitably yields followers, then more followers, increasing the extent of the overthrow. More and more power is acquired by our previously opressed heroes, until the absolute certainty of the corruption than comes with power rears it's ugly head.
And then our underdog heroes become the entrenched authority, drunk on power and control, constantly gripped with the paranoia that comes with knowing that their own mighty power-base was but one nutty eccentric with charismatic populist appeal away from the same fate they brought to the previous power-brokers.
And so the cycle continues. Escalating ever upwards, reaching new levels of horrific behaviour with each power exchange.
Being dead (resurrection fantasies notwithstanding), old JC and the rest of the trinity-that-wants-to-be-one was powerless to control the abuses that were just beginning to be perpetrated by the newly-installed despots. In time, the power grew until the once-underdogs were committing acts of a heinous nature that surpassed even their predecessors' remarkable achievements in the highly-competitive field of evil.
Sucks, for sure. But it's nothing new. It happened again with the Protestant revolution, and even the resurgence of fundamentalism that we're getting a nice, biley taste of today.
Anyway, enough of all that. My original post, to which you replied, was not an effort to show my brotherly love. On the contrary, I endeavored to smack down a rabid, tithing retard. And, IMHO, succeeded quite beyond my initial modest hopes.
So you agree that no one should ever help the weak? That goes just as far off the Ayn Rand deep end as any fanatic might go off the Christian deep end.
:)
No, I didn't say that at all. Please re-read my post a few times until that's clear to you.
I think a lot has changed since JC's time with respect to abuse of religious authority, corruption, excessive power, condemnation, hypocrisy, and seperatist attitudes. Maybe it's just my take, but modern xtianity, especially in organized/corporate form (God, Inc.), seems to have way too much power and sway over the cluless, frightened massses, and it's abused enough to make me distrustful of almost all forms of organized religion.
Read some of my recent posts on this topic such as this one -- I'm all for helping the unfortunate, in a way that really helps (locally, with lots of oversight and the requisite "tough love" when the help is abused or taken for granted).
I had a problem with the TheNewerGuy's offensive, fire-breathing, damn-you-for-not-tithing self-righteous diatribe against Malakai who simnply had a problem with the socialist views spouted in the article. How you jumped from that, to "never help anyone" is not clear to me.
Oh, and I didn't say the grammar was wrong, just that it sounds funny. Like Yoda, it sounds to me
That's funnny as hell. With the way mods slop around +1 Funny's, I can't believe you haven't been modded up. Not that it would help your Karma (or that you care), it's just funny.
Maybe it has less to do with a problem with Jesus, who by many accounts seemed like a pretty decent guy, and a not-bad philospher to boot, and more to do with the insanity that has surrounded the bible and organized religion since the poor fella bought the farm.
So why don't you share it with us instead of some inane incomplete comment? I mean, I see it too: he has a clue, he sees through the sham, he's not falling for the Tilton-Swaggart-Bakker bullshit money-milking legal-scam reverse-evolution nonsense that is organized religion. Since you fail to state otherwise, I must assume you're thinking along the same lines. Glad to have you with us -- the fewer drones that support the Xtianity opression-machine the better.
Peace to you too, but what's up with that funky yoda-speak "be" shit?
You may have a point about interest rate manipulation; I'm not sure. I've never heard any such allegations, and to me the whole system seems far too complex to allow any sort of fiddling that would provide any reliable or predictable advantage to anyone. I could be wrong -- as an R. A. Wilson fan I have a deep distrust for The Fed, so this claim warrants further investigation. Any references or tips to help would be welcome. In any case, I appreciate your presenting this without hyperbole or silly emotional appeal.
That said, I am a kid from the projects. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida in the Blodgett housing project. Look it up -- it's not much better than Compton, and a lot worse in some ways. Mine was one of two white familys there, my dad never made more than $12k/year, and my mom never worked, though she was always there for me and my sister.
I dropped out of school in 10th grade to help make ends meet when my dad got sick. Within two years we had a falling out and I left. I spent almost three years wandering the US as a miscreant -- sometimes following the rainbow family or the Dead, sometimes hacking it on my own. For almost 6 months I lived in a tent in Talladega Nat'l Forest. I worked at truck-stop diners to make a few bucks to buy sacks of potatos from local farmers, which was my only form of sustenance for longer than I care to remember.
Eventually I realized that I did not ahve to follow the path that was laid out for me. So I hiked my way back to Florida (it was the only place in which I could prove any sort of residency and thus get the realtively-inexpensive in-state tuition). After 2 years of community college, 3 years getting a BSEE from UF, and $18k of debt (thanks to Uncle Sam, who will loan money to anyone to go to school, though I could have done it for free with no debt had I been any sort of minority), I got a job with NEC near Boston.
Golden stepladder indeed. I'm sure you meant no offense (you seem reasonable), but you fell off that limb here. I can prove every claim in this post.
Now I have a cushy job making ASICs, a beautiful Japanese wife, a nice house near Boston, a new car every two years, a ski house in New Hampshire, and I'm pretty damn happy.
Moreso than would have been possible were this all handed to me somehow. In fact, I owe a lot of this to my shitty childhood and lack of a golden stepladder or silver spoon (especially the 4.0GPA, which got me the job opportunity out of college). I easily pounded the rich kids in school because I wanted it so badly and had lived the alternatives. They called me the curve-wrecker, and some kids would leave classes to go drop when I walked in on the first days of each semester. It wasn't hard because I was hungry to learn, and I wanted to make something out of myself. I didn't give a fuck about them, I just wanted to be able to control my own destiny, live a bit nicer than I had been, and I didn't whine because it was hard or because other got a better chance than I did by virtue of family wealth or minority status (OK, maybe I did to some friends, but I hung in there).
If you don't think the opportunity exists for everyone, you haven't tried. This country, for all its faults, and the people in it, for all theirs, will go way farther out of their way to help someone who wants to succeed than you're giving credit.