It lacks in every category imaginable: overdone, boring, drawn out fights, CG that makes "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" look good, pointless character cameos, and the worst performance in the history of film by Brian Thompson as Shao Khan.
"Foolish... [searches for line he forgot mid-sentence] child! [Looks back at production crew, checking if they're going to cut or not] You sorely test my patience!"
or
"The Earth was created in six days! So tooooo, shall it be destroooooyed!!"
No offense, but I've never experienced a hyper-realistic fighting game, and I hope I never do. Ordinary fighting is lame, unless we're talking about Kendo or some other art.
The best fighting games are the ones that balance some element of realism with some really cool specials/supers. Street Fighter and King of Fighters come to mind. (Although Guilty Gear is kinda lacking in the realism department, and I hear it's a blast.)
Well, I'm certainly not going to disagree with you when I say that Matrix Reloaded tends to polarize people's opinions. However, it really is "hard to get" for a large number of people, especially the explanation of the Systemic Anomaly and how that ties into the existing control structure of the Matrix. It's mostly that concept, along with the emergence of Smith as a vastly important character, that makes me like the movie.
Buffy is different. There's nothing to "get". What you don't "get" is how people can enjoy it, and I'm in the same boat as you. That show always struck me as monstrously overrated and stupid. Poor acting, terrible fighting, and so forth.
Buffy fans in the audience forgive me, but I think the majority of that show's fanbase is composed of A) teen girls who think "Girl Power" is a blonde throwing fake punches, and B) Harry Knowles' demonic brood of fanboys.
In this context, your post is a little funny, but the flagrant abuses of Tibet that China has perpetrated since the 1950s are inexcusable. The fact that China is even allowed NEAR the United Nations is a gross mockery of justice.
I know I'm evangelizing here, but people need to know that one of North America's big trading partners uses techniques every bit as brutal and inhuman as Saddam Hussein's.
You need to read about Harry Anslinger and Du Pont chemical, and the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act hearings. Yes, there was a conspiracy.
Some test studies are also required reading, I think. You've been sucking up too much government propaganda. Haven't you ever heard of medical MJ? Marijuana doesn't have a lethal dose, doesn't cause brain damage as claimed so often, and besides short-term effects doesn't really do anything negative at all. (Smoking-related effects aside, again.)
Do some Googling around, too. There is a LOT you need to learn about marijuana. The hemp industry, unbelievably as you have pointed out, was destroyed because of shrieking moralists, greedy industrialists, and a bevy of other cretins. The Drug War is the worst idea in the history of America, and excuse me if I sound condescending, but I'm glad I'm helping you see through the veil of lies. Most of the arguments against cannabis stem from a vicious cycle of circular logic, reaching back to the fear-mongering of Reefer Madness.
And as a final note, in a reference back to your original mention of the Assassins, I would like to point out that cannabis use is still booming in the Middle East; the Quran prohibits alcohol but allows marijuana. You can find it in almost any teahouse, I assure you. The reason cannabis is so reviled by the UN is because of the impact of religious conservatism and U.S. policy in its affairs.
Well, for starters, it wasn't modded up. It's called a karma bonus, and those of us with a history of valuable posts are granted it.
As for the definition of deadly, I submit:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/36/D0053600.html
Specifically, I would like to point out that marijuana has never (as far as I know) caused a single fatality as a direct result of its consumption (Discounting lung-disease as a result of combustion, et cetera; combustion is not the only means of consumption.), while alcohol-poisoning deaths are extremely common by comparison. Additionally, certain aspects of the intoxication caused by alcohol are much more dangerous than marijuana intoxication, namely the trend towards physical violence.
Everything is deadly, in great enough quantities. That truth in itself makes the word "deadly" meaningless, except in the context of some substance which has a pronounced ability to cause death. Alcohol therefore fits the criteria better than marijuana, which is the point of my argument altogether. Bringing mathematics and the misleading (and for that matter, somewhat surreal) pork vs. arsenic argument into a conflict over linguistic semantics is pointless.
"Deadly hashish"? I think you should re-assess the dangers associated with common recreational drugs before you call it that.
Alcohol has killed many, many more people than marijuana and its derivatives ever have. And hash isn't known for its violence-inducing properties. I believe the reason the original Assassins killed so fervently under the influence of hashish was because they perceived visual hallucinations as images of the afterlife, a paradise they would be conveyed to for their actions. (Much like the 5 virgins or 7 virgins speech the suicide bombers hear these days.)
Oh, and by the way, all MMORPGs I've played are like that with censorship. I couldn't tell a merchant to come "closer" to me since it contained the word "loser", which is completely valid. Oh well, it was Ragnarok Online anyway, which descended rapidly into the pit of suck.
As a matter of fact, that strikes me as the way things are going to go on the Internet; the conversion of conventional access into a television-like medium. Port 80, plus IM and email service would largely restrict power users and pirates (not that they're in the same league at all), thereby satisfying the media giants.
The general populace might never see the difference. Increasing site-operation costs (thereby eliminating small niche sites), government regulation of our activities on the Net, and other factors seem to be dooming us to a repeat of the ClearChannel experience. Maybe I should get out the tinfoil, but I don't see how the powers that be could possibly want us to have unrestricted access to such an empowering (hate that word) medium as the Internet.
Isn't there also a responsibility that computer users need to take, given their connectivity these days? If we need certification to operate potentially dangerous complex machinery, why not some minor courses on basic security so you don't have Cleatus and Grandma saturating the world in spam?
I guess that's pretty authoritarian, and there are better ways to beat spam. Still... the elimination of the luser is a shining grail for us all, no?;)
The American army is not invincible. Bush is pouring money down the toilet like it was going out of fashion. Look up the cost of each American cruise missile vs. the cost of Iraqi buildings. Look up the news item regarding how the Pentagon misplaced a trillion dollars. Look at the U.S. economy.
A person I know works with a major U.S. military contractor, on a vehicle project, in the 20 ton range. These things have huge pneumatic shocks; almost no natural force on Earth can touch 'em. And just the other day, they had to scrap a $2,000,000 vehicle because some asshole American grunts were joyriding the fucking thing off a cliff, for kicks. The troopers who pulled this stunt got off scot-free.
America is going to go down, hard, if they don't shape up. Their commanders don't understand cost-effective warfare. The Roman Empire fell because it alienated its satellite states, misused the legions, and because its leaders were mad with power and decadence. It can happen again.
China learned its lesson about communal farming after the Great Leap Forward turned into the Great Leap into a Pile of Dead People. 30 million dead from famine, if I remember correctly. Chairman Mao believed that by planting crops three times closer, you'd get three times the yield for your land.
I disagree with many, many aspects of modern Chinese life, but there are some factual errors in your post that need correcting.
On the one hand, I recognize that yours is a valid point, especially with things like this happening. (For those lazy ones among us, it's about the Everquest suicide)
On the other hand, I have this diabolical urge to snicker when I think of some Harry Knowles-clone bawling his eyes out when he loses his +5 Muu-Muu of Sloth. I've played MMORPGs and I've never been THAT attached to a bunch of data.
For all you doubters out there, here's flagrant abuse, in addition to all the other links people have already submitted, of government databases. And these ones aren't anywhere near as juicy as TIA!
I don't mean to sound too critical of your opinion here, but if we ditched American DNS servers, American registrars, American backbones, American routers, etc, etc, just how much would there be left of the Internet?
There'd be Nigerian bankers, Taiwanese spam relays, Korean battle.net servers, the Chinese firewall, and what else?;)
Well, if you're using an HB pencil, doesn't the old rule apply where you have to fill in the whole space? You might find, given the lack of voting prowess say, the people of Florida exhibit, that a lot of ballots get tossed aside just because of a minor mechanical error like that.
Of course, you could always have a human backup for those ones.
Alternatives exist; thanks to the spread of independent music over the Internet (much of it free), you can make excellent compilations to listen to in the car on a very small budget. There's even radio alternatives, like satellite radio. Of course, no one really wants to pay for radio, but then again, perhaps that's why Clear Channel decided to destroy the stuff you get for free: to force the discerning music listener to pay.
Maybe I'm wrong, given that there's no pay-to-listen alternative to MuchMusic (Canadian MTV) up here, and they still insist on showing the same Avril Lavigne and Nelly videos on a loop for 24 hours a day.
Someone please, please tell me there are perjury-charge meriting falsehoods in the documents filed by the spammers. The claims that Spamhaus is a commercial organization and is maliciously blocking traffic are particularly suspicious.
Ahh yes, the obscure third purpose I couldn't put my finger on. Thanks.
Obscure perhaps isn't the best term though; cheat prevention is a very, very important thing. I don't even play Counterstrike anymore thanks to hacks, and I fear that the official Valve release of DoD could be the beginning of its end too. Ah well.
Well, it's not as though you'd get a different response from Nintendo, Sony, or any other console maker, for that matter.
One way or another, for Microsoft, your installing a modchip is A Bad Thing. Either you do it to turn your box into a PC, therefore very likely forgoing games (which they make all their profit from), to actually pirate games, or to use it for some other obscure purpose which I can't think of at the time being.:)
You'd protect your interests if you were in MS' shoes. If you're looking for someone to hiss at for unsavoury practices in the industry, take a look at some of Nintendo's early-nineties antics.
Slashdot Mirror
It lacks in every category imaginable: overdone, boring, drawn out fights, CG that makes "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" look good, pointless character cameos, and the worst performance in the history of film by Brian Thompson as Shao Khan.
"Foolish... [searches for line he forgot mid-sentence] child! [Looks back at production crew, checking if they're going to cut or not] You sorely test my patience!"
or
"The Earth was created in six days! So tooooo, shall it be destroooooyed!!"
No offense, but I've never experienced a hyper-realistic fighting game, and I hope I never do. Ordinary fighting is lame, unless we're talking about Kendo or some other art.
The best fighting games are the ones that balance some element of realism with some really cool specials/supers. Street Fighter and King of Fighters come to mind. (Although Guilty Gear is kinda lacking in the realism department, and I hear it's a blast.)
Sounds to me like the agency was doing its job admirably when it wrote that database:
"This database will self-destruct in five seconds..."
Mr. Phelps would be proud.
Of course, I'm still an atheist in the sense that I don't believe in God. Dependent origination and all.
Buffy is different. There's nothing to "get". What you don't "get" is how people can enjoy it, and I'm in the same boat as you. That show always struck me as monstrously overrated and stupid. Poor acting, terrible fighting, and so forth.
Buffy fans in the audience forgive me, but I think the majority of that show's fanbase is composed of A) teen girls who think "Girl Power" is a blonde throwing fake punches, and B) Harry Knowles' demonic brood of fanboys.
I suppose I could make myself comfortable in the robes of a High Technomage.
In this context, your post is a little funny, but the flagrant abuses of Tibet that China has perpetrated since the 1950s are inexcusable. The fact that China is even allowed NEAR the United Nations is a gross mockery of justice.
I know I'm evangelizing here, but people need to know that one of North America's big trading partners uses techniques every bit as brutal and inhuman as Saddam Hussein's.
Time to watch "The Second Renaissance" for a list of things NOT to do to our soon-to-be computer overlords. ;)
Some test studies are also required reading, I think. You've been sucking up too much government propaganda. Haven't you ever heard of medical MJ? Marijuana doesn't have a lethal dose, doesn't cause brain damage as claimed so often, and besides short-term effects doesn't really do anything negative at all. (Smoking-related effects aside, again.)
A Drug War Christmas Carol - See this one above all else.
The Conspiracy, all joking aside.
New study about MJ and brain damage.
Do some Googling around, too. There is a LOT you need to learn about marijuana. The hemp industry, unbelievably as you have pointed out, was destroyed because of shrieking moralists, greedy industrialists, and a bevy of other cretins. The Drug War is the worst idea in the history of America, and excuse me if I sound condescending, but I'm glad I'm helping you see through the veil of lies. Most of the arguments against cannabis stem from a vicious cycle of circular logic, reaching back to the fear-mongering of Reefer Madness.
And as a final note, in a reference back to your original mention of the Assassins, I would like to point out that cannabis use is still booming in the Middle East; the Quran prohibits alcohol but allows marijuana. You can find it in almost any teahouse, I assure you. The reason cannabis is so reviled by the UN is because of the impact of religious conservatism and U.S. policy in its affairs.
As for the definition of deadly, I submit:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/36/D0053600.html
Specifically, I would like to point out that marijuana has never (as far as I know) caused a single fatality as a direct result of its consumption (Discounting lung-disease as a result of combustion, et cetera; combustion is not the only means of consumption.), while alcohol-poisoning deaths are extremely common by comparison. Additionally, certain aspects of the intoxication caused by alcohol are much more dangerous than marijuana intoxication, namely the trend towards physical violence.
Everything is deadly, in great enough quantities. That truth in itself makes the word "deadly" meaningless, except in the context of some substance which has a pronounced ability to cause death. Alcohol therefore fits the criteria better than marijuana, which is the point of my argument altogether. Bringing mathematics and the misleading (and for that matter, somewhat surreal) pork vs. arsenic argument into a conflict over linguistic semantics is pointless.
Also, "deadlibility"?
Alcohol has killed many, many more people than marijuana and its derivatives ever have. And hash isn't known for its violence-inducing properties. I believe the reason the original Assassins killed so fervently under the influence of hashish was because they perceived visual hallucinations as images of the afterlife, a paradise they would be conveyed to for their actions. (Much like the 5 virgins or 7 virgins speech the suicide bombers hear these days.)
Oh, and by the way, all MMORPGs I've played are like that with censorship. I couldn't tell a merchant to come "closer" to me since it contained the word "loser", which is completely valid. Oh well, it was Ragnarok Online anyway, which descended rapidly into the pit of suck.
The general populace might never see the difference. Increasing site-operation costs (thereby eliminating small niche sites), government regulation of our activities on the Net, and other factors seem to be dooming us to a repeat of the ClearChannel experience. Maybe I should get out the tinfoil, but I don't see how the powers that be could possibly want us to have unrestricted access to such an empowering (hate that word) medium as the Internet.
I guess that's pretty authoritarian, and there are better ways to beat spam. Still... the elimination of the luser is a shining grail for us all, no? ;)
The American army is not invincible. Bush is pouring money down the toilet like it was going out of fashion. Look up the cost of each American cruise missile vs. the cost of Iraqi buildings. Look up the news item regarding how the Pentagon misplaced a trillion dollars. Look at the U.S. economy.
A person I know works with a major U.S. military contractor, on a vehicle project, in the 20 ton range. These things have huge pneumatic shocks; almost no natural force on Earth can touch 'em. And just the other day, they had to scrap a $2,000,000 vehicle because some asshole American grunts were joyriding the fucking thing off a cliff, for kicks. The troopers who pulled this stunt got off scot-free.
America is going to go down, hard, if they don't shape up. Their commanders don't understand cost-effective warfare. The Roman Empire fell because it alienated its satellite states, misused the legions, and because its leaders were mad with power and decadence. It can happen again.
I disagree with many, many aspects of modern Chinese life, but there are some factual errors in your post that need correcting.
On the other hand, I have this diabolical urge to snicker when I think of some Harry Knowles-clone bawling his eyes out when he loses his +5 Muu-Muu of Sloth. I've played MMORPGs and I've never been THAT attached to a bunch of data.
Especially for all those important, unique, or sensitive documents of yours...?
State Monitors War Protesters
I don't mean to sound too critical of your opinion here, but if we ditched American DNS servers, American registrars, American backbones, American routers, etc, etc, just how much would there be left of the Internet?
;)
There'd be Nigerian bankers, Taiwanese spam relays, Korean battle.net servers, the Chinese firewall, and what else?
Of course, you could always have a human backup for those ones.
The article
Bon appetit.
Maybe I'm wrong, given that there's no pay-to-listen alternative to MuchMusic (Canadian MTV) up here, and they still insist on showing the same Avril Lavigne and Nelly videos on a loop for 24 hours a day.
After all, they got Capone for income tax.
Obscure perhaps isn't the best term though; cheat prevention is a very, very important thing. I don't even play Counterstrike anymore thanks to hacks, and I fear that the official Valve release of DoD could be the beginning of its end too. Ah well.
One way or another, for Microsoft, your installing a modchip is A Bad Thing. Either you do it to turn your box into a PC, therefore very likely forgoing games (which they make all their profit from), to actually pirate games, or to use it for some other obscure purpose which I can't think of at the time being. :)
You'd protect your interests if you were in MS' shoes. If you're looking for someone to hiss at for unsavoury practices in the industry, take a look at some of Nintendo's early-nineties antics.