TheFirstMonk

I get that message too sometimes (server enforcing map consistency), but once I get booted, I just join the server again, and the map downloads.

EDIT: Whoops, didn't see that edit in General J's post. My bad.

Aw, that's really bad.

Hope you and your family are safe though.

Hey,

I was wondering what kind of graphics card to upgrade to. I currently have a BFG Technologies 7600GT that I bought 2 and a 1/4 years ago (roughly) at $163.99. I was looking at a BFG 9800GT below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814143151

I've read articles that say that the 9800GT is just a slightly modified 8800GT card that's a little cheaper, but I'm not an expert.

Here are some things I'm using as criteria:

1. I'm not looking to buy more than one graphics card (no SLI).

2. I don't overclock either (there's a BFG OC version of the 9800GT on newegg too. It looks cheaper at first at $99.99 after the mail in rebate, but shipping is added so it's only $108.24 versus $109.99 for the non-overclocked version with no shipping charge.).

3. I'm not looking to spend over $200.

4. I have a small monitor (15inch LCD with 1024x768 max resolution), so I won't need maxed out settings for a 17inch+ monitor or widescreen or anything like that.

5. I don't upgrade often (hence the old 7600GT), so I'm wondering what kind of card to get that can "adequately" run games for the next 2 years or so (maybe).

If necessary (I don't think it is, but I could be wrong), here's some of my specs:

Pentium D 820 2.8 Ghz

4GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-4200

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

ASUS Motherboard

250GB Samsung HD

PC Power and Cooling 470W Silencer

I'm kinda new to this section, so I don't know a lot about computers like some posters here obviously do. If I'm missing some info, let me know. I also have never built a computer before, so if you think I should do that before or with a new graphics card purchase, let me know that too. The above computer was actually an HP Pavilion a1440n desktop before I swapped some parts; I replaced the graphics card and power supply and added 2 GB of memory. Yes, I can hear you laughing...

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/11/03/Tee...90361225751268/

Haha.

I love the look on his face in the photo.

This story reminds me of this story I read recently:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...s-prove-it.html

WARNING: The article has a photo of the guy's head with stitches. Not graphic or bloody, but not exactly pretty-looking.

Now that's a guy that should be tested for steroids.

Lol, I'm in the same boat as exile.

I keep watching videos of the game on YouTube, until I can try it out next Tuesday. I call the Uzi! (It probably stinks in the game, but I have a reputation to protect.)

I was surprised a thread this old got revived. Kinda sad to see that some of the stuff that soul (and probably some other supporters) wanted to see in Bush's second term didn't really come true.

It'll be interesting to see how the middle school/high school requirement of 50 hours of community service will be enforced. I did around 15 hours of community service in high school for a partial qualification for the honors program senior year, but I don't know how middle and high schoolers will react to having to do community service without a similar form of incentive. (Of course, some students might end up doing community service because they want to.)

On the other hand, this could just be an early version of the plan. It might undergo revisions before it's implemented in an Obama presidency.

Cool vid, Jackie.

What do you think of the game so far? Looks like I'll have to wait a couple days before I can download the demo. Save me a spot!

You must have voted for DRE 700 then, ilovetomatoes.

http://www.noob.us/humor/voting-machines-e...n-as-president/

(I kid.)

Found this video today, don't know if it's been posted before. It's kind of a silly movie that makes fun of political stereotypes. Considering that the election will be over very soon, I thought it might lighten the mood.

(There's one or two spoken swears, but the major one is bleeped out. They're heard in the "If McCain Wins" segment.)

http://www.noob.us/humor/if-the-other-party-wins/

Cool stuff.

Looks like your haunted house was put together very nicely. Hopefully, you didn't get alot of hecklers at your place.

auggy, I wasn't implying that you didn't "sympathize with a woman who is raped or whose life is being directly threatened and has 3 other children with no father," or anything of that sort; again, I think my posts unintentionally come off as antagonistic for some reason I'm not aware of. I also don't think that all abortions are always performed with as much deliberation as they should be; I actually heard a story from a relative years back about a high school girl in their class who casually mentioned to some peers that she got an abortion in Mexico.

From the way she was portrayed in the story, she may have been thinking less about her health complications (although that can be a danger for young girls too) and more about avoiding responsibility for her actions. I think that cases like these might be what you mean when you say not all abortions qualify. Stories like hers bother me as I'm sure it does you and a number of people in this thread, so I'm not for "throwing the baby out with the bathwater," which I assume to mean that I don't consider the baby at all in any given situation.

Again though, I think that if this individual had received a better health education, or put the child up for adoption, or decided to keep the child with the support of friends and family and the community, etc., then the outcome would have been significantly better. I think that's something that both sides of the issue can agree on.

In response to mookie's post, I'm a bit unsure what you (mookie) mean by "no standing to say what's right and what's wrong." I interpret it as you believing I am a pro-choice individual because I don't believe I can tell someone what to do with their child due to my inaction in not helping the mother, and that I have chosen my position by default, rather than being pro-choice or pro-life by exploring the issues and coming to a conclusion; I believe the "copping out" to be in reference to either "defaulting" towards one side or in reference to my own inaction preventing me from considering a pro-life position (which it doesn't).

In response to the first possible meaning, I have said before that I respect the arguments made by both sides of the issue. I take both viewpoints into consideration in studying the issue, so I haven't "defaulted" to one side (whichever one it may be).

In response to the second possible meaning, my own inaction/ the need for greater participation on my part is not the only thing I consider in determining my current beliefs on abortion. Maybe it seemed like I emphasized my personal responsibility ("my role") in the matter as the only factor affecting my decision because I talked a lot about actions in relation to the ideas Obama mentioned instead of the other reasons I have that explain why I feel the way I do. If that is the case, I apologize for not being thorough enough in my post(s); I can see how you would be offended by the idea that I appeared to be pro-choice by way of apathy (not doing anything) instead of attempting to understand the nuances of the issue.

mookie, when I said "I can't tell a stranger what to do," I meant literally myself, not you or anyone else. I'm also not telling you to "sit down and shutup;" I don't know where you got that from.

I spent most of the post criticizing myself for not helping out more, and that I should focus more on what actions I can take. That's what I meant when I said that I respected both sides of the issue, but I'm concentrating on what I can do for the moment.

The part where you compare my approach to allowing a man to beat his wife is kind of cruel. I proposed in my post that we help women who are having a hard time deciding by supporting them as a community in order to prevent the need for abortion; if we all helped out, these single mothers or women who have been raped may not feel so alone. Your analogy is understandable in the sense that you assumed I wasn't willing to defend someone who couldn't defend themselves. I was arguing though, that we can help both the mother and the unborn child by surrounding them with a group of supporters who can make the situation less daunting for her, thereby reducing the need for abortion.

I don't know; I'm trying to give a respectful tone as the forum rules asked, but maybe my posts aren't coming off that way.

I thought the skit got better as it progressed. It was a bit long like YoMamma said, but it gains momentum after the halfway point, so I wouldn't cut out the later parts.

Part of Obama's response to the abortion issue in the third Presidential debate:

"The last point I want to make on the issue of abortion. This is an issue that -- look, it divides us. And in some ways, it may be difficult to -- to reconcile the two views.

But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, "We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby."

Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that's where we can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation."

I understand auggy's (and everyone else's) strong feelings on the subject, but I think there are certain things we can all agree on about unintended pregnancies, regardless of who gets elected president. I don't see anything objectionable to what is proposed in the above statement if they are implemented (sex education, adoption, assisting single parents, etc.).

The last suggestion, I think, is especially important. I know there are people who protest civilly outside of abortion clinics; they don't yell at or berate the pregnant women walking inside, but they do try to convince the person not to get an abortion. If I was one of those protesters and managed to convince someone to keep their baby, I'd be proud to have "saved" a life.

But I wonder what the depth of my dedication is to that life. Once that person walks away to their car, do I still care? Am I going to help that woman? For all I know, the father might have left, and that woman doesn't have the means to care for that kid. Maybe she was raped and doesn't feel like anyone's going to help her. Not every woman will fall into these categories, but many do. I'm not saying it's our personal responsibility to take that woman's kid to school or pay for his/her medical bills when the kid gets sick, nor am I saying that abortion is the only valid option when a person faces these kinds of isolating situations. If we consider ourselves and that woman and that child to be part of a community, however, we should band together as one by supporting one another.

In college, I would occasionally see a pregnant student who was fairly young. I never lifted a finger to help that person or to talk to them. I sometimes wonder what kind of person that makes me. I am one less person that helps that girl, who might need just one extra person to support her. That's why I can't tell strangers what they have to do with their unborn child if I'm not going to be there; saving that life is difficult but raising it is even harder. I respect people who occupy both sides of this issue, but for me, the issue boils down to what my role is in it, rather than what I'm going to determine what other people do.

P.S. Per auggy's post, if the mother's life were at risk and the baby was saved but the mother was not, can one make the claim that the woman's life is considered more expendable than the child's? If I'm a doctor and know there is a strong possibility that the woman may die giving birth but allow the process to proceed, can one make the claim that I have committed a form of matricide when she passes away? These are just some things to think about; I'm not attempting to ridicule or bash auggy's line of thought.

Too late, Shaftiel!

I read all your posts about me, and I'll say this:

Heh, jk.

Lol.

I love the part where it says you can add it to your profile in facebook; too much information, I think. Let your friends (and everyone who views your profile) know when its that time of the month!

Hey,

I don't know if this has been posted on here before (date on it looks fairly recent). Found it on www.newgrounds.com, a Flash Animation website. The page says that the author is Wei Xing, so I hope I'm attributing it to the right person. It's kind of a funny Flash, and it should at least have 1 or 2 laughs in it.

It has some language in it that might be offensive; most of it is in print, not really spoken.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/465817

(You have to click "Watch movie" in the upper right for a popup window.)

Great. It's already disturbing to me that our domestic and international calls are being monitored by the NSA, and now this. Chances are, this technology will be abused by personnel just as much as the wiretapping. See below for example:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/09/wireta...whistleblowers/

My guess is someone will use MALINTENT to blackmail somebody eventually. Think that female flyer is attractive? Tell her to sleep with you, or you'll alter her readings and report her as a potential threat. Need some money? Do the same thing to a wealthy CEO who comes through your checkpoint.

This might seem far-fetched and humorous to some, but I'm betting this is more likely to happen than not; someone is going find out how to manipulate the system. By the way, I love these sentences:

"While FAST's batting average is classified, Undersecretary for Science and Technology Adm. Jay Cohen declared the experiment a "home run."

--Yeah, we'll just have to take their word that it's better than 50% accurate.

"Burns noted his team's goal is to "restore a sense of freedom." Once MALINTENT is rolled out in airports, it could give us a future where we can once again wander onto planes with super-sized cosmetics and all the bottles of water we can carry  and most importantly without that sense of foreboding that has haunted Americans since Sept. 11.

--"Yeah, I can carry my cosmetics and water! I also now have less privacy rights than I did before! Hooray!"

P.S. Sorry if this seems like an angry post. I just get frustrated at things like this. We're essentially waging a surveillance initiative on ourselves, and it bothers me especially when it's misused.

Thanks for the replies. I heard about Dead Space too, but I've read the PC controls might be hard to maneuver...

http://whatifgaming.com/dead-space-pc-vers...ot-fluid-enough

Hopefully, it's not as bad as the article says it is. If the controls are that bad, I'd have to find out if I can adjust to them before buying.

Still not sure about GTA4 or Saints Row 2. I'm leaning towards Saints Row, but we'll see.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170182

Link to news about PG-13 cut and a Rated R DVD version. Not very specific, just a little bit of information. It may or may not affect whether or not you watch the film. Most reviews I've read about the film haven't been very encouraging.

Has anyone played this game yet? It's not really gc material in terms of being "clean," but I was wondering if anyone tried it out. There's supposed to be a PC version coming in a couple of weeks, but the console versions should be out already. I'm (possibly) waiting for the PC version.

I've read mixed reviews, mostly positive but with some hangups. Supposedly the game has some graphical glitches and has crashed sometimes for reviewers. On the other hand, it's open ended and has some crazy stuff for the player to do. Some people compare it to GTA, but I haven't played the GTA series, so that doesn't really matter to me.

Any thoughts?

LoL.

I wasn't saying they should divert money to charity with the money they have. I was talking about one man's experience with spending money on ads during his run for a position in public office. His opinion in the film isn't definitive on the subject of campaign spending, though it does ask an open ended question. It's probably better that way, since documentaries are hard to pull off in terms of being unbiased. The question is really for the audience member to think about.

Yeah, this situation kinda reminds me of a specific scene in the documentary "Taking on the Kennedys (Joshua Seftel, 1996)." It follows Kevin Vigilante, a guy who ran against Patrick Kennedy for a public office position a while back. As you can imagine, the guy was against impossible odds.

Anyway, Vigilante promised as a part of his campaign that he wouldn't run negative ads on his opponent. Of course, with the media clout that a Kennedy has, negative ads were run about Vigilante despite his conduct towards Patrick Kennedy. Not to spoil the film, but Vigilante does eventually run some negative ads on his opponent. (There's a lot more interesting stuff in the film, so if you're still interested in watching it, I didn't reveal much, FYI.)

At the end of the film though, you hear him lament about the amount of money wasted on the ads, and that the money could have been spent on more important things (he's a doctor that has helped underprivileged people receive medical care, I believe).

It's too bad that the candidates are wasting this much money on political ads, as Gond has pointed out. I personally don't see the ads appealing to anyone at this juncture in the campaign except maybe undecideds. Even then, they'll probably still be undecided.