I see. And you have the plot of Halo 2 in your hands? If you do, I know a few (thousand) people who are going to lay siege to your house in the next few hours. Hehe.
Seriously? We don't know how ILB may or may not tie directly into Halo 2. What it's doing, for now, is fleshing out the background universe, which is always a valuable thing. And who knows? Janissary James may turn out to be a resistance leader in New Mombasa you work with at some point. Or our bestest friend Melissa may show up in game. Probably not, but WE DON'T KNOW.
The last ARG the people behind ILoveBees ran, The Beast, gave background information on the world of A.I. and detailed what happened to Martin Swinton, David's brother, after the movie. And so forth. Maybe it didn't relate DIRECTLY to the movie, but it was very interesting and helped flesh out the world.
I wish there was a more moderate Libertarian party- one which, in general, favored less government but didn't take their more extreme positions. Failing that, however, this is where my vote goes.
In fact, it's been shown that it is impossible to solve it analytically, for any level of technology you care to name. It's too easy to tip into chaos.
I see this possibly as the DOE saying to Congress, "Okay, you neoluddite twits, go ahead and deny funding to ITER. I dare ya. Then the US will be the only country save freaking TOGO that doesn't have fusion reactors and plentiful, cheap power in 2040."
Probably won't work, Congress is too short-term-focused, as elected officials tend to be. But it's a spirited attempt.
Just let me add my voice to the parent poster. OCRemix is an absolutely wonderful site to browse around on whether you're a techno fan, orchestral fan, jazz fan, or so on. So many genres, so many games.
And yeah, the grand kahuna 1200+ song 80 hour or so playlist is on Winamp right now for me.
Bigger? Without dispute. More loyal? No objective way to tell unless some mental-defective suits try to cancel *your* show. Then we'd be able to compare fanbase loyalties with some kind of accuracy.
The only good thing is that since Farscape's a miniseries now, it can't be pushed back an hour to make room for back to back episodes of Stargate every freaking week.
Insert "America is so stupid they elect the criminal bush LOL it's lonely being smarter than everyone:( I wish the girls would touch me kekekee!!!111" rant here, only expanded across 3 paragraphs with multiple allusions to whatever the hell the 'in' cultural figure of the day is.
There, I've saved 2 dozen people the need to write whinges. Aren't I nice?
Ion propulsion is, as of right now, The Way to move things about in space. With a nuclear reactor pushing it instead of solar panels, congratulations: You now know how the next and probably second and third generation of probes to the outer planets should be propelled.
As for ground launch, we don't have anything better than chemical propulsion because we've spent the last century refining it to the point where the primary limiter on how good we can make chem rockets are the laws of thermodynamics! You can only have N amount of energy stored in chemical bonds. As a result, we're pretty much at the top of the game there- and deservedly so. It's the simplest, most cost-effective method of producing large amounts of thrust quickly there is except for detonating a nuke off your arse.
As for different methods, well, low-thrust is really the hotbed of research right now. It's easier to get a hysterically efficient low thrust engine than a passably workable high thrust one. That said, once NERVA-derivative nuclear thermal rockets can figure out a light way to keep the exhaust from being radioactive, there'll be a sudden new technology that's good for lifting things off the ground.
Mostly because they've seen so many whiny "Waaah, waaaah, this game doesn't have teh swastikas lolz!!!11 u all suk" that they have collectively 'snapped' as a community. It's natural.
The thing to do is buy Paradox games 2-3 months after release. They're usually great games, they just get released before all the bugs are quashed. (EU2 1.08 is like an entirely different game, as is the latest HoI patch, Victoria patch, et cetera)
I've always loved Paradox's games, ever since the original Europa Universalis (I was one of the first Yanqui Pigdogs (tm) to get hold of EU!) and I'm still a rabid fanboy. This is rather disturbing..
I've been a Libertarian supporter since I was old enough to figure out that neither the 'Pubs or 'Dems were my bag of chips. Pounded pavement for them in 2000, got called a traitor and communist for not voting for Dubya. Quite entertaining.
Firstly, as you say, yes; the problem of Muslim extremists does exist, and does have to be dealt with. However, you earlier claimed that the atmosphere of fear (I won't say terror) is being created by the US government. I would make the case to you that the atmosphere of fear was created on September 11th, that it sent very large and very real ripples through the very social fabric of the country, and even with no government prompting and no further attacks, will take decades to get back to 2000 normal.
Then you claim that the greenies were right all along. Well, not precisely. They've been right on some things, wrong on others, just like every other group out there. Global cooling, anyone?
As for the rest of it, I was going to go point by point, but I realized you were indulging yourself in a masturbatory elitist rant against the stoopid masses. Which are, quite frankly, a dime a dozen on this site, on Fark, on just about any forum you care to name. It IS being said, unlike the earlier replies, and it is being said ad nauseum. If you don't have anything new to contribute, this post is basically a 7-paragraph "Me Too!"
My suggestion? Learn that popular doesn't mean stupid.
If it's a game I finish playing in a weekend, it's a game I made a mistake buying. I rarely buy games, and when I do I'm pretty certain they're going to give me months if not years of entertainment- Europa Universalis 2, Alpha Centauri, Unreal Tournament for those times when I just wanna Blow Stuff Up... I make very few game purchases, but I make them last.
This is an irrelevant comment at best, and misleading at worst.
Just because someone is personally afraid of something does not translate to that thing being bad for people. I personally am terrified of bees, but that doesn't mean I won't eat honey!
Oh, go on, please reduce it even further. I'm whinging about having to pay a bit over 2 cents an hour! How crude, how thrifty, how parsimonious I must be!
So, say I have 200$ a year for entertainment.
Either;
A: I buy and play an MMORPG
B: I get two regular games (100$), a few DVDs (20$ each), and maybe go the the movies or the bookstore.
I think Option B gives more entertainment bang for the buck.
Slashdot Mirror
And in the 70 or so years until it starts being feasible to people who don't see the world through rose colored eyes?
Well, with this weeks axon set... No spoilers, please... but I can really see Jan 'snapping' and becoming evil.
I see. And you have the plot of Halo 2 in your hands? If you do, I know a few (thousand) people who are going to lay siege to your house in the next few hours. Hehe.
Seriously? We don't know how ILB may or may not tie directly into Halo 2. What it's doing, for now, is fleshing out the background universe, which is always a valuable thing. And who knows? Janissary James may turn out to be a resistance leader in New Mombasa you work with at some point. Or our bestest friend Melissa may show up in game. Probably not, but WE DON'T KNOW.
The last ARG the people behind ILoveBees ran, The Beast, gave background information on the world of A.I. and detailed what happened to Martin Swinton, David's brother, after the movie. And so forth. Maybe it didn't relate DIRECTLY to the movie, but it was very interesting and helped flesh out the world.
I wish there was a more moderate Libertarian party- one which, in general, favored less government but didn't take their more extreme positions. Failing that, however, this is where my vote goes.
Wouldn't the nearest Agent simply be able to manipulate the JPL computer consoles into giving out the right numbers?
"What you must realize is that there is no probe."
Most of the 'hard' SF writers like Niven lean heavily to the libertarian-flavour right, IIRC.
In fact, it's been shown that it is impossible to solve it analytically, for any level of technology you care to name. It's too easy to tip into chaos.
And it appears I'm the first poster to actually have played the game. Well, here goes, any questions about it ask me...
Overall, it's a fun game to play a few times, but it gets old with astonishing speed.
I see this possibly as the DOE saying to Congress, "Okay, you neoluddite twits, go ahead and deny funding to ITER. I dare ya. Then the US will be the only country save freaking TOGO that doesn't have fusion reactors and plentiful, cheap power in 2040."
Probably won't work, Congress is too short-term-focused, as elected officials tend to be. But it's a spirited attempt.
Just let me add my voice to the parent poster. OCRemix is an absolutely wonderful site to browse around on whether you're a techno fan, orchestral fan, jazz fan, or so on. So many genres, so many games.
And yeah, the grand kahuna 1200+ song 80 hour or so playlist is on Winamp right now for me.
Covert Action should be a case study of why random can be fun. Every mission, heck every BUILDING is completely random-generated, and it's a blast.
The Playstation hits! The Playstation hits!(more)
You hear the howling of the CwnAnnn...(more)
The Playstation hits! You die...(more)
Do You Want Your Possessions Identified?
*shakes spear*
Freedom! YE OLDE FREEDOM!!!
Bigger? Without dispute. More loyal? No objective way to tell unless some mental-defective suits try to cancel *your* show. Then we'd be able to compare fanbase loyalties with some kind of accuracy.
The only good thing is that since Farscape's a miniseries now, it can't be pushed back an hour to make room for back to back episodes of Stargate every freaking week.
Not that I'm bitter.
The best part of the movie is the offensively rare footage of the only nuclear detonation ever to occur in space.
Insert "America is so stupid they elect the criminal bush LOL it's lonely being smarter than everyone :( I wish the girls would touch me kekekee!!!111" rant here, only expanded across 3 paragraphs with multiple allusions to whatever the hell the 'in' cultural figure of the day is.
There, I've saved 2 dozen people the need to write whinges. Aren't I nice?
Entirely incorrect.
Ion propulsion is, as of right now, The Way to move things about in space. With a nuclear reactor pushing it instead of solar panels, congratulations: You now know how the next and probably second and third generation of probes to the outer planets should be propelled.
As for ground launch, we don't have anything better than chemical propulsion because we've spent the last century refining it to the point where the primary limiter on how good we can make chem rockets are the laws of thermodynamics! You can only have N amount of energy stored in chemical bonds. As a result, we're pretty much at the top of the game there- and deservedly so. It's the simplest, most cost-effective method of producing large amounts of thrust quickly there is except for detonating a nuke off your arse.
As for different methods, well, low-thrust is really the hotbed of research right now. It's easier to get a hysterically efficient low thrust engine than a passably workable high thrust one. That said, once NERVA-derivative nuclear thermal rockets can figure out a light way to keep the exhaust from being radioactive, there'll be a sudden new technology that's good for lifting things off the ground.
Mostly because they've seen so many whiny "Waaah, waaaah, this game doesn't have teh swastikas lolz!!!11 u all suk" that they have collectively 'snapped' as a community. It's natural.
The thing to do is buy Paradox games 2-3 months after release. They're usually great games, they just get released before all the bugs are quashed. (EU2 1.08 is like an entirely different game, as is the latest HoI patch, Victoria patch, et cetera)
I've always loved Paradox's games, ever since the original Europa Universalis (I was one of the first Yanqui Pigdogs (tm) to get hold of EU!) and I'm still a rabid fanboy. This is rather disturbing..
I've been a Libertarian supporter since I was old enough to figure out that neither the 'Pubs or 'Dems were my bag of chips. Pounded pavement for them in 2000, got called a traitor and communist for not voting for Dubya. Quite entertaining.
Oh dear, oh dear. Let me see.
Firstly, as you say, yes; the problem of Muslim extremists does exist, and does have to be dealt with. However, you earlier claimed that the atmosphere of fear (I won't say terror) is being created by the US government. I would make the case to you that the atmosphere of fear was created on September 11th, that it sent very large and very real ripples through the very social fabric of the country, and even with no government prompting and no further attacks, will take decades to get back to 2000 normal.
Then you claim that the greenies were right all along. Well, not precisely. They've been right on some things, wrong on others, just like every other group out there. Global cooling, anyone?
As for the rest of it, I was going to go point by point, but I realized you were indulging yourself in a masturbatory elitist rant against the stoopid masses. Which are, quite frankly, a dime a dozen on this site, on Fark, on just about any forum you care to name. It IS being said, unlike the earlier replies, and it is being said ad nauseum. If you don't have anything new to contribute, this post is basically a 7-paragraph "Me Too!"
My suggestion? Learn that popular doesn't mean stupid.
If it's a game I finish playing in a weekend, it's a game I made a mistake buying. I rarely buy games, and when I do I'm pretty certain they're going to give me months if not years of entertainment- Europa Universalis 2, Alpha Centauri, Unreal Tournament for those times when I just wanna Blow Stuff Up... I make very few game purchases, but I make them last.
This is an irrelevant comment at best, and misleading at worst.
Just because someone is personally afraid of something does not translate to that thing being bad for people. I personally am terrified of bees, but that doesn't mean I won't eat honey!
Oh, go on, please reduce it even further. I'm whinging about having to pay a bit over 2 cents an hour! How crude, how thrifty, how parsimonious I must be!
So, say I have 200$ a year for entertainment. Either;
A: I buy and play an MMORPG
B: I get two regular games (100$), a few DVDs (20$ each), and maybe go the the movies or the bookstore.
I think Option B gives more entertainment bang for the buck.