Quote from Hankstar :

And we're back to nasty politics
As if there's another kind anyway.

Ahhh...

In our age there is no such thing as "keeping out of politics." All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia.

Guess (or google) who?

I think that Cue-Ball is on a losing side from a practical point of view: although I live in no heaven my town is extremely peaceful and the number of murders related to gun violence - a single episode last year - is more or less the same than in Kirkland with roughly the same population, even more, except for the fact that we don't need citizens to carry weapons to achieve that result. To that I'll add the ability to carry a gun isn't a measure of what I perceive as freedom since I'm living in an environment which is almost free from weapons, except for the American nukes in the nearby Aviano base (nobody wants 'em, take them back!) and for guns entering from ex-Yugoslavia (edit: add to that Italian production too, but it's far more controlled).

It would be a long debate (it already is) and for various reasons I'm only occasionally interested to speak my mind: suffice to say that I'm more interested in the topic than in the off-topic, that our Republic is way younger than the US one and was born from disgust and tiredness for certain methods.

Yet I have to say that Gunn's feelings are quite clear to me: paraphrasizing Fugazi, although regrettable if observed under the light of political correctness his words are spiritually direct. As for their usefulness I cannot judge, but Gunn's always been outspoken about what he thinks, no matter the subject and personal costs, and I'll always prefer his straight and open talk to the hypocrisy of the cowards who can't accept criticism.

Quote from wien :

OHNOES! The democrat mafia got him. Run! Save yourselves! :eek:

That must have been the revenge of his god for a missing capital letter. You know, statistically gods have been very picky about prayers.

All this ballet of numbers without sources is giving me a bit of headache.

Anyway I can talk only about my experience and all things considered I can say that I don't feel insecure when I don't have my gun by my side. Oh, and of course I don't have a gun.

So his point of view is absolutely worthless for you because your brain can't go far enough to understand it. I can accept it, I'm not into your brain. And mind you, I don' mean this post as an insult or whatever.

Edit: I assume you have read Hankstar's words about constitutions. You'll find some useful hints about why I'm able to understand it.

Quote from sgt.flippy :

Your point of view is absolutely worthless.

It isn't. Please take my word for granted since Cue-Ball has been passionate and honest about his ideas and has been respectful. If you don't take my word for granted I'll just explain further, but I hope there's no need to do so.

Kev, prolong an agony or prevent a disaster, or avoid causing disasters. I never said it's easy. For me, it isn't.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Albieg said what I meant, but said it better.

And Orwell, for me, said it best.

Quote from Cue-Ball :

How is it bullshit? It's completely true.

It's not true, it's not false. Freedom is an ideal, generic word when removed from reality, hence the definition of bullshit applies also for me.
Once again I'll quote George Orwell:

Meaningless Words.
[...]
The words DEMOCRACY, SOCIALISM, FREEDOM,
PATRIOTIC, REALISTIC, JUSTICE, have each of them several different
meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another.

Edit: and on Saddam I think you're right, but responsibility goes way back and has to be shared with Europe.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

He brought up the subject of Rwanda and how - after the genocide - things seem to be pretty stable now and developing quickly. He suggested that maybe leaving these regions to sort themselves out is the only real option, and that the lives lost are inevitable.

To some extent I may agree, but intervention is good or bad only if judged by conflicting sets of principles.
For instance, does the same reasoning apply also to a region called Europe during fascism and nazism? Does it apply to the Holocaust?

I have my ideals, and those ideals tell me that Saddam was an evil man. But I also think that when you start a war you do so because you've given up the idea of reasoning with your adversary, who becomes an enemy. Wars are always fought to achieve results, and they are generally popularly judged by the results they achieve. In this the Iraqi campaign has been undeniably bad, and Bush has been a bad president in that respect too.

Woah, DeadWolfBones! I've been literally speechless for a few minutes. These have been busy days for me in this board, and no matter what some may think, they have been good too. Your words (and Maggot's too, of course) are very kind, I consider them almost embarassing. It should suffice to say that respect is mutual also in this case.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

I find it interesting especially that Obama is leading the Dems when he, IMO, has the weakest position on the Middle East situation.

I don't know, I think that Clinton's position on foreign policy is even worse since it seems even more interventionist: take for instance her position on nuclear weapons in Pakistan, which personally I find ridiculous.

If the US don't want to further alienate their sympathies with allies they should recognise the times have changed, and therefore a change is needed.

Last edited by Albieg, Tue, 8 Jan 2008 18:09.

I voted for Massa and Räikkönen since I think that they have the potentially best car and because I think they'll adapt better than others to the new restrictions on electronics.
I'd like Kubica to win though, but I don't think the car is ready yet. I hope I'm wrong

Quote from carmaniac1993 :

i shoke george bushes hand (hahahaha).

Did you remember to wash your hands after doing it? And more important, did you count your fingers?


I've known a bunch of respected musicians but there would be no use in mentioning them since they're not really popular. The last one I talked to was Pierre Bastien (video on YouTube). A lovely guy, just as most of the academic musicians I've met. They tend to be much more available and interested in talking about music than pop stars.

Edit: the most curious scene I've ever witnessed about the refusal of a "star status" happened at Link, Bologna. Scanner (aka Robin Rimbaud) had just finished his performance and a fan went on the stage with a Scanner CD in his hands. They shook hands and talked nicely although the fan clearly struggled with English, then the fan asked Scanner to sign the CD. Rimbaud politely declined to do so but the fan insisted. So he took a look at his watch and signed the CD. He probably wrote the place, date and hour along with his signature, thus rendering the autograph nothing more than a simple document of his presence and not a sign of an achieved fame. The fan was scratching his head and was showing the autographed CD to his friends, unable to understand.

Last edited by Albieg, Tue, 8 Jan 2008 11:41.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Oh, I wasn't implying that he's in on it.

I am sorry, I didn't think my wording seem to imply such thing. My observation is related to what you wrote but wasn't meant as a personal consideration about you. In fact I agree with you: I only added that the amusing white nationalist support for Paul has been often inflated by some tool to obtain an unfair political advantage. I can assure you that I don't include you in those tools, your amusement speaks for yourself. I apologise for not having been clear enough.

But yet I have to admit that Ron Paul's position or ads are appealing to nationalists, so I can understand why he can have the support of white nationalists too.

This campaign is plagued by some smears that attempt to shift the focus to personal issues such as the one I mentioned, or some other one, such as the campaign by Insight magazine to uncover the link between Obama and Islam. So far this campaign has been unsuccessful.

On a more general note, I'm one of those who thought these elections could be interesting for a lot of reasons, including the reaction of the general public to the fact that the two major democratic candidates are a woman and a black man, and neither a woman nor a black man have ever been president of the USA.

For the above mentioned reason and strictly speaking from an utilitaristic point of view since I don't consider myself to be sexist or racist, Obama and Clinton aren't exactly the best candidates to win an election that will be influenced by the enormous foreign policy blunder that is Iraq, but the fact that they are there and Edwards - a white man - is trailing behind them at the moment is very interesting.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

A rifle might've been a decent leveller 100 years ago, but it isn't any more.

Precisely what I have been thinking. Probably there should be some new law to consent the possession of nukes for private citizens in the States to adhere to the true spirit of the Constitution.

But generally laws have to be adapted to times and environments, at least for those who have a contractarian position. I don't believe laws cannot be changed if common sense - and of course general agreement - advise to do so.

This holds true also for a Constitution, no matter how valuable and important it may have been when originally formulated.

For those who believe that laws can't change there's the Bible, it's generic enough to offer a wealth of interpretations so that followers of various Christian religions can have a law that's not equal for all.

Quote from Cue-Ball :

The so-called "insurgents" seem to be doing pretty well.

On their own ground, not in the US. Ask David Koresh if you don't agree. Wait, you can't ask Koresh...

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Also, I find it incredibly amusing that Ron Paul is the candidate of choice for the White Nationalist community.

That's not so incredible and not so credible, but all things considered it isn't so important: you don't have to be a moron to be liked by morons, although it generally helps.

I don't think that Paul stands a chance, no matter if some other moron who maybe thought so forgot some really basic rules about journalism to deal yet another blow to New York Times credibility.

It should, the site is clean.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/sweetim.com/

The downloads are not.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/sweetim.com/downloads/

I'm not over-reliant on SiteAdvisor or on the tons of crappy uninformed reviews you can find there. I can confirm it's clean because I visited the site too with an updated version of Firefox and I heard no ringing bell (metaphorically speaking).

Quote from Bladerunner :

2) The easiest way for Phillip K Dick to see a God would be to look in a mirror (think about it guys and gals )

Quoted for truth. I will never discuss his mastery.

Quote from Electrik Kar :

Go cross eyed for 45 minutes!? Woah. :hypnotize

Philip K Dick said the best way to improve hemispherical balance was to consume massive amounts of vitamin C. He also said that you could see God this way.

Philip K Dick had serious mental health problems in the last part of his life

But you forgot to mention the way to reduce eyestrain:

Quote :

Look at a distant object through two toilet paper tubes (as if they are binoculars) while holding a finger over the far end of each tube so your fingers make a cross in your field of vision.

It will help you reduce eyestrain (but less than wide-eyed vision which has become completely natural to me with time), but it will make you look like a moron. Do this only at home, kids

Leaving it is the best decision. Here's the license:

8. Interaction with Third Party Sites and Services

The SweetIM Software and Service may allow you to interact with third-party Web sites and Web services ("Link(s)"). The Links are not under the control of Macrogaming and Macrogaming is not responsible for the contents of any Links, including without limitation any link contained in a Link, or any changes or updates to a Link. Macrogaming is not responsible for any form of transmission received from any Link, nor is Macrogaming responsible if the Link is not working appropriately. Macrogaming is providing these Links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any Link does not imply endorsement by Macrogaming of the Link or any association with its operators. You are responsible for viewing and abiding by any privacy statements and terms of use posted in connection with the Links.

You are solely responsible for any dealings with third parties (including advertisers) who support the Service, including the delivery of and payment for goods and services.


So it's not spyware or a virus but it is adware, therefore it will probably nag you. Nothing fishy since installing such software would be a willful choice of yours, but probably it wouldn't be a wise choice.

squidhead, I see you agree since Wikipedia's definition is perfectly consistent with my description.

Quote from squidhead :

If two simulators behave differently, then one of them is an arcade...

Not so true... LFS, just as rFactor, isn't an emulator. The concept of a simulator is simulating stuff, so you can have varying degrees of realism because simulators - differently from emulators - don't aim at reconstructing perfectly the inner workings of the machines they try to simulate: by definition they can't.

Quote from Gekkibi :

If I am correct, he means that "Why should I buy a licence for LFS, because I can play it without it. I can't play rfactor demo forever, it has (some kind of) 60 minutes playtime." (or something like that).

Judging from what he wrote, those words can also have a completely different meaning: "I consider LFS to be a better overall offer so if I ever might pay for a sim I've made my decision."

Quote from jayhawk :

Please do not misinterpret me or twist my words.

Please do not misinterpret me or twist my words. I don't like demo users requests, but sensible suggestions may be always welcome, just as tech assistance request to evaluate something.

As I said before, the software industry has its rules, and the only things I'm entitled to are what you'll find written in laws and rules, generally speaking.

I have my ideas and they are quite radical, but I'm not willing to force them down your throat. My intervention was only to ask if one (not even entitled to speak for others) can treat potential customers - all of them - in a bad way. If so, you must have an outstanding product able to sell itself with word of mouth. If it's not so, you can't treat all potential customers badly, you show the door only to those breaking balls.

Saying that demo users - ALL of them - cannot voice an opinion or try to understand how LFS works participating in this forum is just bad commerce practice.

And I'm not the one who says how things work. I just happen to be part of the software/hardware industry, so I took a look at these aspects. I may disagree with them, but generally this is what happens.

Quote from jayhawk :

Something for you to dwell on. When you go to your...I dunno, let's say Tesco's

There's no Tesco where I live, but as a sysadmin I can assure you that there are plenty of people asking me daily to try and buy their software products, and they give me free demos, sometimes even full products for evaluation.

You probably don't even know what M$ is doing for companies involved in partnerships with them, and maybe you don't know what I'm entitled to offer as demos as a partner, or as an MCP.

And you probably think that a slice of bread and digital data are the same thing, since you're comparing apples and pears.