Hmm, if anyone's having problems with crashes running 3d modelling applications- I fixed it in 3dsMax by running in their software render mode rather than D3D

I build my new PC about two months ago- the graphics card I threw in? Gainward Ti4200... I don't have a backup graphics card. I don't want to spend cash to run my PC while waiting for a replacement to be sent... and I've been getting a bunch of pink and blue squares while running 3dsMax every so often (although I haven't seen it in any games...) Well, I don't overclock, so maybe it's just that application...

Of course, you realize Walmart won't carry it, and they're only one of the biggest game sellers in the US. Companies change game content just to please Walmart (which is sad).

Obviously you've never seen any of those Japanese hentai games...

Err... I think we're missing the point. In actuality, the Golden Temple is -NOT- present in Hitman 2 in any way, shape, or form. The level which the writers of the petition assume to be the Golden Temple, is, in fact, a hospital/medical clinic.

Yes, parenting is the real problem. No, you can't watch your kids 24/7; nor would you want to- children need some privacy or they will grow up psychologically screwed up.
Far better is to have the kind of relationship with your children that they feel comfortable talking to you about things they don't understand, or that might influence them, and teaching them to be able to make moral judgements for themselves. After all, they'll have to do it for themselves some day, right?
Completely and totally isolating kids from violence is not a good idea, nor is it possible. Giving them proper moral and intellectual context in which to view the violence to which they will be exposed is the best and only workable solution.

Looks like horse manure, eh? Not everything can be UT2k3, and given the graphics quality on most other RTS games, GI Combat looks pretty darn good- free rotating camera, impressive zoom range, gorgeous sky (hell, you can actually -see- the sky, unlike certain other "RTS" games recently on market (WC3 *cough cough*).
I'm not advertising for it though, I haven't played around with it for more than ten minutes myself, but it looks like its worth a try if you like RTS games and can spare the bandwidth to grab the demo.

I've got to agree that the US is the most prudish, yet whorish country around when it comes to the media. It's so screwed up, no wonder the crime rates so high- people don't know what to think. I think part of the reason they can't show guys naked is the politicians are scared their wives will see that someone else has a bigger package than they do...

And, as a public service announcement, please folks, don't substitute a lemon for a condom. Condoms are still the most effective way of preventing STD's. Lemons won't block icky stuff like genital warts, and the study didn't even mention lemon juice's effect (if any) on other fun STD's like herpes, syphilis, and ghonnorea.

I'm beginning to think global email has already passed the 50% spam mark (ie, over 50% of email sent is spam). Our work server (and lots of others) gets hit with outrageous amounts every day; every so often, the barrage becomes so huge they constitute a DoS attack. And since well over half of them come from outside the USA, I really don't think passing any federal laws will stop it. One day, within a few years, the spam, pop-ups, and scumware will become so bad that the internet will just melt down and stop (or no one will use it anymore). Hopefully something revolutionary will happen to eliminate spam before this occurs, but I'm not holding my breath.

On a side note, that black-and-red flashing "Urgent" banner hurts my eyes. It may cause small children to convulse a la Pokemon as well. The last thing I'm about to do is click on something like that. When will those marketting fools learn?

Yeah, but you need a Linux-modified Xbox to run it... How many people do you know who have one of those? It's kind of like a Mac- runs great, but there's nothing to run on it.

Woohoo! About time! Geeze, according to the DMCA, felt-tip pens were illegal.

Let me get this right- you pay this guy for the privledge of his coming out and telling you how to play video games, and which ones to buy? Plus you pay his travel expenses, too? Wendel, you're onto something here...
So, who's gonna pay for my vacation? I'll come over and tell you how to play games if you do. Seriously. Especially if you live in Hawaii or something.

And, dang, that Senate candidate? That's not blue. Now if he'd been blue like those guys in the Intel commercials, -that- would be cool

I recall something like this to reduce the price of gas- a national "don't buy gas" day. It didn't work. The only ones hurt were the little independant gasoline store owners, not the Shell's and Mobils.
Not buying games would have absolutely the same effect. Companies like EA would just absorb the cost, while smaller companies would be hit harder. In the long run, it might actually drive prices up, or at least reduce the amount of publishers putting out games.

I agree on the wireless and online flirting- it might be a good idea, if you can deal with bad grammar and internet "shorthand", and like seeing things like-
"wat r u doing 2nite? Wanna s3X0r?"
...
Now that I think about it, this is probably forshadowing the next wave in porn spam. Just imagine your messager paging you with,
"Hi cutie wanna do me?"
(fifteen second pause, then)
"cum to www.hotkinkyboobs.com!"

Speaking of news, anyone know wtf happened to Portal of Evil? I know some of us Blues readers also read poenews.com because I always see a few of the same news stories in OotB. Last night it went down, today there's some link-fest in its place. Argh! I need my daily dose of sarcasm!

Sigh... tried everything. It just hates my computer and refuses to install. Time to upgrade the ol' home system... if only I had the money

Money talks, and Microsoft has a lot of it. I can just hear the last "advisory" phone call with Bill Gates...
"Hey Bill, our console sucks! No one's buying it, and developers aren't making games for it! What should we do?"
"Easy- buy all the developers."
"What, Bill? All of them?"
"Yeah. We'll have to succeed if no one's making games for any of the other consoles out there."

Yeah, ~ stat fps works well, even averages your framerate over the last few seconds. Unfortunately, my home PC has an average of 12 fps, even at lowest detail (which I should expect, given it's only a P3 667mhz). My work computer, on the other hand, an Athlon 1.1ghz, gets zero fps. The installer bombs out, claiming I've got no video card. Guess it doesn't like my Radeon 7200. I know, the UT site recommends I upgrade to the Catalyst 2.3 drivers. Too bad they didn't MAKE those drivers for Win98. Guess I'm SOL till I upgrade my home PC.

I, for one, am positively ecstatic that my parent's satellite connection was down when I was visiting them the week of last September 11th. I didn't have to -see- all the crap on TV, playing the crash again and again, just for the shock value. CNN had the nation in the palm of their hand.
I don't have cable. I don't watch TV. I don't get a newspaper. What I learn about the world comes from the internet sites I choose to read, and the 15 minutes of KCBS I listen to while driving to and from the train station for my daily commute. Even then, I think I might be turning off the radio in disgust at the trivialization and schmaltziness of the whole damn thing tomorrow.
You know, I'm in the vast minority- if I tell people I don't have cable, I don't watch TV, more often than not they look at me like I'm some kind of freak. That's how much sway the media holds in America- almost everyone goes home at night, sits on their sofa, and has their opinions spoon-fed to them by whatever channel they watch.
If you really want to remember the titanic events that happened almost a year ago, then turn off the TV, pray to whatever deity you believe in (or just quietly reflect, if you're an atheist), and don't even bother to give the media giants the satisfaction of reaching their target audience. "Friends" can wait till Thursday, they're all in repeats anyway.
Maybe you'll actually enjoy it enough to stop watching TV once and for all, and stop giving in to what other people want you to think. Lord knows the programming's gone to hell anyway since they cancelled Cheers

Actually, Bronco, most states in the US -do- have a "consumption tax", except it's called a sales tax, and we pay it in addition to the taxes already garnished from our wages by the State and Federal government.
And, while, no, it's not necessarily fair for the rich to pay more taxes than the poor, the -really- rich get away with paying almost nothing (relatively speaking) due to various loopholes they take advantage of (many of which aren't even avaliable if you don't have a certain amount of money already.) I don't know, I can't think of a solution that's fair from all sides- anyone who can would be an economic supra-genius. Besides, I don't think people would be really happy with a "fair" solution. From what I know about human nature, most people think along the lines of, "Okay, that's a fair payment, now how can I make it so it doesn't apply to me?"