Most of us foreigners struggle with the notion of the state, seeing it as different from the nation state. We look at America and consider the place to be one country, and certainly the rampant patriotism and non-stop right wing popaganda encouraging that view point even gets aired over here (Rupert Murdoch's empire does cover much of Western Civilisation afterall).
What we often forget is that the states in the union are still countries - they just aren't independent countries.
The same sometimes works in reverse of course, with Americans frequently viewing Europe as a country and it's member states as not too different to their own states - but that couldn't be further from the [current] truth.
The reality is that we have different frames of reference when discussing these things.
Having said that, Canada is absolutely not a part of your union. Except the Alaskan bit, which isn't Canadian.
Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, America is not (which is mutually agreeable). Both have seats at the United Nations, and neither of these things are of any consequence now that we're all owned by China.
Always use private browsing mode when shopping on travel sites. This removes the cookies which that industry is notorious for using to track your visit and increase prices on subsequent visits to the site (when your "profile" as a consumer shows greater interest).
As for the healthcare debate, this isn't really the thread for it. Otherwise I would point out just what a diabolically awful laughing stock the American healthcare system is (in which I am told by a friend training as a doctor in the US that foreigners get preferential emergency treatment because they almost always have insurance so the hospital knows it will get paid! And this is the system that the RIGHT WING invented... *laughs uncontrollably*).
As for the healthcare debate, this isn't really the thread for it. Otherwise I would point out just what a diabolically awful laughing stock the American healthcare system is (in which I am told by a friend training as a doctor in the US that foreigners get preferential emergency treatment because they almost always have insurance so the hospital knows it will get paid! And this is the system that the RIGHT WING invented... *laughs uncontrollably*).
Only in the same sense that American national sports are a "world series". You can't own the capital of everything y'know
Brighton is widely regarded as the gay capital, but I guess Amsterdam would be well up there for gay men - and I believe The Very End is already intimately familiar with Amsterdam :PI can't offer much tourism help for America, I've no personal experience. Short of that as far as I understand it is customary to leave a tip when eating in a cafe - which to a Brit like me sounds a bit alien but I gather that is the done thing there.
Yeah going capitals helps a lot, but it was Christmas Eve and I had 20 minutes or so to spare whilst waiting for dinner to cook so I only took it so far. It was a prank afterall, not an enterprise standard software solution!
Oh I already did an IP tracking pixel to switch off someone who was annoying me ages back, but it's difficult to tie up IP addresses to forum users. You're best bet for accuracy is to send your tracking image to 1 specific person and that way you know you've targeted correctly.
As a general rule I don't hack any more, I keep my nose clean and focus on developing new software products - but on very rare occasions someone deserves it.
For the reassurance of everyone, it should be noted that the techniques involved here are crude and no significant data can be harvested from images in this fashion. Geo location from IP is not accurate, giving at best a nearby town and in most cases a town that just happens to be in the same country.
The technique is used on websites to ensure the correct regional catalogue is being shown - or the right currency is displayed as default - and stuff like that. There isn't enough data to infringe privacy.
Nah, the IP country database I used just doesn't have your IP in it.
Hahaha!
Take another look at my post, you'll see an image. That image connects to a script on my server which reads your IP address and checks against a database to see what country it was issued to.
I then write the name of that country into the image and deliver it into your browser. You saw United States, someone in Sweden would see Sweden.
If I was being racist then I was doing it to the entire planet at once. Win!
Trollolol.
Also, I'm only 1/4 part Welsh. Sadly i cant show all my flags so I just picked one, i woud need 4.
I thought about doing a cartoon of Cheerio underneath an ****.
*shrug*
I couldn't be bothered.
*shrug*
I couldn't be bothered.
One up manship, a bit of mocking, some light hearted horseplay - it's all fine amongst friends.
But I think Scawen is right when he says the line is short of someone asking a question about Arab drift and a reply being given saying "Arabbbbbbbbbb". That is not only unnecessary and pointless - it is unwelcoming. As a response in a conversation it does not qualify as sporting discussion. It isn't discussion at all - it is simply name calling. It simply isn't reasonable nor justified.
It's entirely justified to call a close personal friend a "stinking arab", it is even acceptable to use the N-word (which I have written thusly on the assumption that it wont get through the swear filter). What isn't acceptable is to use these terms in a derogatory fashion.
When someone you don't know asks a question and you respond with one of these terms, then we have a problem right there.
It's about intent and implied meaning.
As for the discussion on machismo on forums. Sure, knock yourself out but don't make people feel unwelcome with it.
I'm quite fond of my superiority complex myself and I'm often very quick to point out flaws in others when I can find a humorous angle to mock people with. There's no malice or ignorance involved, I'm just an ****.
Woah!? We where talking about mild racism. When the hell did computer games come into anything that happens around here?
The topic is about being mildly racist to someone when they introduce themselves, or what passes for an introduction on a forum. I was commenting only on the events and Scawens comments, not on "the problem with racism in the world today". Which frankly, as equal rights campaigns go, is still a huge issue in Western society but it is not the greatest injustice in our society.
Have you not seen the success of the Battlefield game?
Is this an argument that game forums needs to maintain a level of machismo or men - incapable of forming judgements without observing the testosterone limits in others - will wander off believing the game to be crap?
You know on Christmas day one of the things I gave to my brother was the Senna documentary: He jokingly said he was going to watch it now which would annoy my mother and sister - and my niece actually wanted him to put it on. This is a girl who is 22, a pole dancer and model, about the girliest girl you have ever met - and she likes motor sport... Because it's a family sport, because it doesn't have a testosterone fuelled environment surrounding it. Because this sport of ours is clean family fun and even allows women to compete in the same races as men.
I'm not saying that if there isn't testosterone then women will play instead - I am saying that it isn't needed in motorsport, never has been. Men who like "men's men" play battlefield and call each other gay all day.
How hard is it to add a single line of CSS to stop the forum from breaking when large images are posted?
All that is needed is something like
#posts .page img{ max-width: 100% }
Any forum that doesn't consider width of user uploaded content must in my view be... wait, NONE of the forum software does? *bangs head against wall* Why is the world so broken! WHY?
I believe in equality.
You all have the same opportunity to demonstrate how much of an **** you are.
The point Scawen raises about being welcoming is more valid than any discussion of right or wrong. By being unwelcoming, you're making the most of your opportunity to be an ****.
You all have the same opportunity to demonstrate how much of an **** you are.
The point Scawen raises about being welcoming is more valid than any discussion of right or wrong. By being unwelcoming, you're making the most of your opportunity to be an ****.
*deep bow* I've been chuckling to myself all night whilst waiting for the ban hammer :P
I believe the appropriate term is:
trololol.
That's the problem with people from 
, they're all the same. 
I'm about to buy a house with a garage but I'll never park my car in it.
I have a TT which is a small car, but it's 3 door so there is no pillar which means the doors open wider than the jaw of a teenager being asked a maths question. So like all British homes built with a garage after the 60's there is 0 possibility of me ever being able to open the doors.
Here in the West people are beginning to assume next day delivery as standard and are surprised when we have to pay for it. Worse, it's becoming harder to compete with the big guys who are able to do it with orders up to 9 or 10pm. You can even buy white goods on same day delivery.
Unless of course you are Scottish, which may as well be Siberia as far as internet delivery goes.
Do you have evidence of that? Because usually when parked off road or in a garage the premium comes down because insurance only covers you when on a public road - on private property it comes off the property insurance. This is why you see so many "At your own risk" signs about in car parks and what-not.
I've never had a car park crash myself but I did have a guy have a go at me once whilst turning around and reversing the back of my car onto his drive, he came running out and started ranting about some bloke who crashed into his wall 6 months earlier doing a similar thing and who then claimed on his house insurance which put his premiums up.
People are ****s.
I had whiplash. I got rear-ended whilst waiting to turn right by someone doing about 40mph. I heard him locked up just before impact so came off the brake to reduce the judder and looked into the rear view mirror to see his somewhat surprised face looming ever closer.
Whether it was the impact speed (my car was 2" shorter afterwards) or because my torso and neck was turned slightly whilst I looked in the mirror, I got whiplash.
It was a constant feature of my life for several years, and it caused me some discomfort when trying to sleep. To this day I have never gotten used to sleeping on my side again (hey I could blame it for my snoring!).
I got a couple of grand payout for the injury, but I never got the replacement value of the car out of them - despite it having lost over half of its value a month or so earlier when Rover went bust. (It was worth over £4000 two months previously, I got £1100 and £100 of that was for the tow hook!)
Nowadays it rarely bothers me, but I do sometimes get a stiff neck. Although that might be routed in the injury, my general middle aged lack of health doesn't help!
So whilst I do agree there are spurious whiplash claims I think it's a bit misguided to say that it barely ever has happened. That impact was roughly 40mph.
Having said that, I was shocked when they recently announced a ban on whiplash payouts for accidents where the speed was under 5mph! Bumpers absorb that speed effortlessly!
My first car was a Fiat 126 which was swapped for a microwave.
My first accident was a week later. Not my fault, but older and wiser me would have been able to avoid it easily.
I really wouldn't bother spending much cash on your first car, the freedom of having a car in and of itself is great - it doesn't need to be a great car to give you that, it just needs to have some wheels and an engine.
My first accident was a week later. Not my fault, but older and wiser me would have been able to avoid it easily.
I really wouldn't bother spending much cash on your first car, the freedom of having a car in and of itself is great - it doesn't need to be a great car to give you that, it just needs to have some wheels and an engine.
I could approach this from a number of angles but what I think I will do is tell you about me with the confession that many years ago I used to be a cracker.
This isn't new news as I've mentioned it here and elsewhere before. Those I knew in "the scene" who didn't get out were all subjected to police raids and whatnot so it was an interesting time but I am able to talk freely about it these days because although I never got caught there is this wonderful thing called the statute of limitations - and I am referring back to a time when the internet was in it's infancy and us nerds where using BBS' - direct dialing modems over telephones to servers with usually 1 to 4 phone lines.
Because the number of lines on servers was limited they would restrict downloading so people could not "leach" endlessly for hours. For a novice user every byte you uploaded you could download 3, or 4 bytes, depending upon the BBS - you could grow your membership level by becoming known in the scene or buying memberships and this would give you a better ratio. At the top level were the elites, people who no longer needed to worry about download ratios. This was how software was distributed in "the scene".
I used to take security protection off of games, and friends I knew would distribute those games to the BBS scene. In return for which I was given "elite" status and able to download at my leisure from almost any BBS I went to because of my reputation and the fact I would be vouched for by other elites, and my overall status within "the scene" as someone high up in the worlds largest piracy group at that point in time.
The reason I did it wasn't for status.
I didn't even do it for the download ratios because I actually bought the majority of my games in local shops and was happy to do so, although the cost of games sometimes bothered me. The option to pirate games I wasn't overly excited about but "wouldn't mind trying" was nice, but I rarely did it and usually only for games I missed or simply didn't have the money to buy at the time.
I didn't do it for the reputation or my status in "the scene".
I didn't do it for the ego boost.
Simply put: I did it because I could.
Why do people climb Mount Everest or walk to The North Pole?
Why did America send people to the moon?
Why do governments tax the poor to feed the rich?
Because they can.
And that is all there is to it.
---
What happens to "the victim" or the disruption it causes isn't part of the equation. It's not considered. The target of a DDOS attack is completely irrelevant, in the same way the authors of games where irrelevant to me back in the day. (Although in the case of piracy it's proven time and time again to help marketing and spread word of mouth and has an overall positive impact on the industry.)
You could argue that this lack of consideration for the victims is sociopathic, and you would likely be right. But at a young age - especially for a nerd with few friends and a near-savant skill at computing as I had - these things are still developing.
I was socially difficult throughout my teens and into early adulthood - and sure I was the victim of some pretty extreme abuse in my school years and you could argue that was a cause, but I rather think bullying is a by-product of underdeveloped social graces.
I was always a very kind soul and naturally very empathic, but my social skills were behind average - I went to public school but was brought up a toff so the other kids and I didn't relate. I still have difficulty now and whilst I can be a huge extrovert when comfortable if I find myself in an uncomfortable situation then you won't get a peep out of me.
To teenage me games where made by "companies", something I had no connection with or relationship to at all. I didn't relate. I didn't spare them a second thought. It wasn't about them at all, heck their emotions or financial well being where not even remotely important to me and I had no concept of them. After all games companies where all rich anyway.
Nowadays I write software for a living. Even my OS is [begrudgingly] legal. I buy legit software ... because I can. I can afford it, and I want to support my fellow developers.
When it comes time to release my next game. I'll release the pirate version myself.
This isn't new news as I've mentioned it here and elsewhere before. Those I knew in "the scene" who didn't get out were all subjected to police raids and whatnot so it was an interesting time but I am able to talk freely about it these days because although I never got caught there is this wonderful thing called the statute of limitations - and I am referring back to a time when the internet was in it's infancy and us nerds where using BBS' - direct dialing modems over telephones to servers with usually 1 to 4 phone lines.
Because the number of lines on servers was limited they would restrict downloading so people could not "leach" endlessly for hours. For a novice user every byte you uploaded you could download 3, or 4 bytes, depending upon the BBS - you could grow your membership level by becoming known in the scene or buying memberships and this would give you a better ratio. At the top level were the elites, people who no longer needed to worry about download ratios. This was how software was distributed in "the scene".
I used to take security protection off of games, and friends I knew would distribute those games to the BBS scene. In return for which I was given "elite" status and able to download at my leisure from almost any BBS I went to because of my reputation and the fact I would be vouched for by other elites, and my overall status within "the scene" as someone high up in the worlds largest piracy group at that point in time.
The reason I did it wasn't for status.
I didn't even do it for the download ratios because I actually bought the majority of my games in local shops and was happy to do so, although the cost of games sometimes bothered me. The option to pirate games I wasn't overly excited about but "wouldn't mind trying" was nice, but I rarely did it and usually only for games I missed or simply didn't have the money to buy at the time.
I didn't do it for the reputation or my status in "the scene".
I didn't do it for the ego boost.
Simply put: I did it because I could.
Why do people climb Mount Everest or walk to The North Pole?
Why did America send people to the moon?
Why do governments tax the poor to feed the rich?
Because they can.
And that is all there is to it.
---
What happens to "the victim" or the disruption it causes isn't part of the equation. It's not considered. The target of a DDOS attack is completely irrelevant, in the same way the authors of games where irrelevant to me back in the day. (Although in the case of piracy it's proven time and time again to help marketing and spread word of mouth and has an overall positive impact on the industry.)
You could argue that this lack of consideration for the victims is sociopathic, and you would likely be right. But at a young age - especially for a nerd with few friends and a near-savant skill at computing as I had - these things are still developing.
I was socially difficult throughout my teens and into early adulthood - and sure I was the victim of some pretty extreme abuse in my school years and you could argue that was a cause, but I rather think bullying is a by-product of underdeveloped social graces.
I was always a very kind soul and naturally very empathic, but my social skills were behind average - I went to public school but was brought up a toff so the other kids and I didn't relate. I still have difficulty now and whilst I can be a huge extrovert when comfortable if I find myself in an uncomfortable situation then you won't get a peep out of me.
To teenage me games where made by "companies", something I had no connection with or relationship to at all. I didn't relate. I didn't spare them a second thought. It wasn't about them at all, heck their emotions or financial well being where not even remotely important to me and I had no concept of them. After all games companies where all rich anyway.
Nowadays I write software for a living. Even my OS is [begrudgingly] legal. I buy legit software ... because I can. I can afford it, and I want to support my fellow developers.
When it comes time to release my next game. I'll release the pirate version myself.
NOOOOOOO Uke's are the best thing ever!
I dared an Italian gothic metal band called Heretic's Dream to use a Uke on their next album last night and the bassist seemed up for it - so we'll see
I have four of those, but Ukelele are awesome. You should get one, plug it into a guitar amp, crank up the feedback, and die happy knowing you did everything worth doing.
I bought a new instrument today, and it's the best thing ever!
It turns out you can amplify and distort Ukelele's, WHO KNEW !? I never thought about it until I saw one in a music shop, and straight away it made perfect sense because It's already the best instrument in the world - and now it can play heavy metal!
I've only had a Uke for a couple of months and as it was an acoustic so I just played happy little plinky shit with it - but now I have an electric one I solemnly pledge to figure out some heavy metal with it
Amplify all the Ukes!.
Go get yourself an electric Ukelele, otherwise no matter how much you think your life is sorted - you actually haven't discovered what fun is yet until you've distorted a Ukelele.
It turns out you can amplify and distort Ukelele's, WHO KNEW !? I never thought about it until I saw one in a music shop, and straight away it made perfect sense because It's already the best instrument in the world - and now it can play heavy metal!
I've only had a Uke for a couple of months and as it was an acoustic so I just played happy little plinky shit with it - but now I have an electric one I solemnly pledge to figure out some heavy metal with it
Amplify all the Ukes!.
Go get yourself an electric Ukelele, otherwise no matter how much you think your life is sorted - you actually haven't discovered what fun is yet until you've distorted a Ukelele.
Useless to you maybe... :nut:
You won't believe this, but I've never had that issue SINCE I left XP and went to 7 & 8
If it's a wireless printer, burn it - they almost always need reinstalling every time you use them and should be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. Otherwise your experience is quite ... alarming.
That seems odd. So I imagine it must offer the extended screen as a different adapter? So you would need to open that too and create a second viewport there? Or does DX fall over when dealing with VP's across multiple adapters?
Combined with windows + up key and "throwing a window to the top with the mouse", the BEST thing to happen to Windows ever. It's the little things...
Some things I dislike though: Copy/Paste on a Windows touch screen well... Windows touch support is still only on par with iOS 1! Metro is nice if you only have 1 screen. Shame it doesn't do anything useful. It's diabolical on multiple screens and should be cast into the fiery pit of whatever deity you think is responsible for hot and painful places. Browser touch detection in javascript has alternatively been on/off in Windows 8 in every update. It has never yet reflected on whether you have a touch screen or not, it's just random depending upon who fixed their bit of code last... And updating to windows 8.1 killed all my hardware drivers for a week and the update removed all pre-8.1 restore points... Hardest week of my life!
Install drivers before connecting printer, problem solved.
An evil made necessary by Microsofts insistence to continue using a centralised registry.
In a way it's like doing su in Linux, Macs do a similar thing too. It's right that core files should be protected - but Microsoft made 3rd party software into "core" files which resulted in training people to click OK without really knowing if it was okay to do so because the default install path is considered protected. Absolute Madness.
I can't check full screen on multiple monitor support atm (after I've moved house). I would be very surprised if its a problem. It sounds like something which would have gotten fixed.
Hehe yeah, I was going to ask if you fancied a 7% pay cut
Physics are a moot point without an environmental simulation.
In the real world there is no such thing as as a perfect setup or a perfect lap. Conditions constantly evolve lap by lap and hour by hour. A perfect setup at midday can be half a second off the pace in the evening.
This is why the push for better tyre physics has never really interested me. I would be more interested in a Donington style airport next to Blackwood, or some greasy corners under overhanging trees at Fern Bay.
The problem with a static environment like LFS is that it is possible to achieve "perfection by repetition" and for me this in no way reflects the reality of doing a days racing.
Weather and localised environmental factors mostly come hand in hand with the ability to represent them in the graphical engine. There should be a local nuance to every circuit - Aston feels exposed and should be windy, Westhill is supposed to be on a hill in Britain and so should be exposed to the elements. South city should have drain covers and tarmac patches that affect the grip differently in different conditions - and the conditions should always be evolving.
This is what a simulation needs to be. All sims seem to focus on tyres and I've never felt that LFS was lacking in this department, environment always gets overlooked.
The aerodynamics model in LFS has always been the weaker, go look at downforce cars at club racing and you'll note that the cars in each train of cars generally follow each other at more or less the same distance apart.
In the real world there is no such thing as as a perfect setup or a perfect lap. Conditions constantly evolve lap by lap and hour by hour. A perfect setup at midday can be half a second off the pace in the evening.
This is why the push for better tyre physics has never really interested me. I would be more interested in a Donington style airport next to Blackwood, or some greasy corners under overhanging trees at Fern Bay.
The problem with a static environment like LFS is that it is possible to achieve "perfection by repetition" and for me this in no way reflects the reality of doing a days racing.
Weather and localised environmental factors mostly come hand in hand with the ability to represent them in the graphical engine. There should be a local nuance to every circuit - Aston feels exposed and should be windy, Westhill is supposed to be on a hill in Britain and so should be exposed to the elements. South city should have drain covers and tarmac patches that affect the grip differently in different conditions - and the conditions should always be evolving.
This is what a simulation needs to be. All sims seem to focus on tyres and I've never felt that LFS was lacking in this department, environment always gets overlooked.
The aerodynamics model in LFS has always been the weaker, go look at downforce cars at club racing and you'll note that the cars in each train of cars generally follow each other at more or less the same distance apart.
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG