Vapymid

The whole North-East Africa looks like a delayed-action bomb to me... Regards

Rationally, one would think that the last thing the Israeli would want right now is more trouble in Lebanon. Regards

Never heard of them before and now pleasantly surprised. Beautiful melancholy... 5YF9fEGbTLA Regards

Yes, it appears so... Well, having thought about - it seems plausible. Seeing how stuff was always breaking and leaking at Black Mesa, perhaps upgrading the PCs and monitors was not a high priority. Regards

Ah, was my misunderstanding... but thanks, guys. But now I'm all blushing like a little girl... Regards

Do-no-evil Google is still building their drone-soldier invasion army... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30919098 Regards

CXEQZ3gh6iI Regards

I found the book. It did not anything much clearer. In the original plot-line there were supposed to be additional locations, such as Air Exchange and Weather Control, which suggest that Combine has started a long-term terraforming program, as well as plundered some of the Earth resources, such as water and O2. That concept was later dropped and/or diluted and for the better, if you ask me... In addition, there were other locations, showing various plants and factories manned by humans. These were also dropped but simply because they did not contribute anything interesting to the gameplay. Regarding timeframe for HL1 - I think it took place earlier than mid '00s because all computers in the Black Mesa facility still had CRT monitors. I would say - mid '90s look more likely to me. Regards

Ahem, I did not mean to be. Apologies if I managed to insult anybody by my post. Regards

v I'm apalled, miss. Your choice of words seems rather unbecoming of a lady. I agree with both Collective Foal and the ThePest179 on the subject. JFK actually hated the space program and if not for the USSR, the US would never have bothered to go to the Moon. They'd be talking about it in the same way as they are now talking about Mars "sure, we can do that! Money? What money? No, no, no, now is not the time to spent so much on flights of fancy..." Actually, I think that without the USSR and the Cold War, there would not have been a proper internet even (as it was originally developed by DARPA for the event of war with the USSR). Regards

@BTGBullseye: yes, for me too. I have three favourites - Ohio, Southern Man and this: O69L2mO9y-4 Regards

Personally, I prefer to think that RPG is a somewhat misguided romantic idealist rather than some kind of a misanthropic sociopath wishing for the destruction of humanity. I also seriously dislike the way the technology is being abused by governments, intelligence services and corporates like Apple & co. But we simply don't have an option to go back. If you want that - it's OK, but it will have to happen in your dreams. Watch movies, read the period books, play games - write your own, perhaps. The reality, however, will move on. No technology is intrinsically bad - it's what people do with it that acquires a moral content. But once a technology has been invented it's impossible to uninvent it back and the only way is to learn to leave with it and find a way how immoral uses of it could be contained or suppressed or undermined. It's the old game of a few who hold the power against many who don't, but when the many unite, they acquire a counter-power. On war and weapons - yes one can draw a conclusion that the purpose of any technological advance seems to be in creation of new weapons. That will be a mistake though. The driving force of life is to decrease the entropy within the space it occupies by consuming free energy from outside. In order to sustain itself life must always expand (because the energy supplies are finite) and to expand it must multiply in numbers. Because of that we will always try to command more and more energy as a civilisation and weapons are simply a reflection of that. But war cannot be a purpose in itself as it is a net expense of energy, rather than an acquisition. War is a tool and it only works in moderation and if you misuse it you pay dearly in the end. Regards

AFAIK, there are 2 cases, which require wearing of a sling: a) when you are an actor in a movie and the script says you have been shot in the head and b) when you actually broke a bone. In the place where I'm from (Russia) a sprain is usually treated with an elastic band and keeping the joint warm. Painkillers? We reserve them for when our fighting bears get injured. In the UK, where I live now, the doctors say "let's leave it as is for a couple of weeks - either your arm will fall off then or you'll get better". Regards

That seems to be a standard operating procedure for every Western government now (I don't add Russia because there the government is too lazy for lies - they just get what they want without them). TRE9vMBBe10 Regards

@BTGBullseye: hmm, some curious things there... I take most of the stuff about the global conspiracy etc with a pinch of salt but it looks like the government machine may really be worried about the potential for civil unrest. @HLPrincess: ah, well, cleavage. Now that you mentioned it - yes, her dress does raise her assets' valuation elevation a lot. Back to music: initially I was not impressed with this song but after a few listens I began to actually like it. Fz2nYmeG7R0 Regards

I have a copy of "Raising the Bar" somewhere - I'll try to dig it out and see what it says on the issue... Regards

My pleasure! Regards

I hope for his sake he does not mean it as criticism. He'd be beyond hope then. You look beautiful. Regards

The Earth is just a part of a bigger game for the Combine. It is clearly important strategically for their future plans but not immediately. They are planning to do something here but it requires time and labour and that's why they have striven to keep part of the population alive and healthy and not simply exterminated everyone. On the other hand, this is a project that, while being important, is not yet critically so and thus they've put human collaborators in charge, as opposed to managing everything hands-on by themselves, which was a big mistake. The Combine is clearly involved in a long term (existential?) war with another Power, which, while being as powerful as the Combine itself, is not in a position to contest Earth in an open engagement. Yet. That Other Power, instead, is using special operators (G-Man, Freeman etc) to disrupt and delay the Combine's project, positioning themselves for a decisive action. However, the Other Power has unfortunately suffered a serious set-back, having relied on Valve to progress matters further on their behalf. Not having dealt with people before, they have completely misunderestimated the power of procrastinators like Gabe Newell to, well, procrastinate. As the result, with the Earth cut off from the Combine and Valve doing bugger all about Half-Life, the Combine and the Other Power are locked in a stalemate which is likely to last forever and 3 days... Regards P.S. Oh, also, the Combine's main forces could have wiped all humanity off the face of the Galaxy but that would have left them to do all subsequent work themselves, which is not ideal when you may need the labour resources elsewhere, with a big war going on and all that.

In the UK there is a government-guaranteed scheme where a student takes out a loan and then repays it in the future if his salary exceeds a certain threshold level (and if it doesn't - the loan is being written off after some long period of time). But you are not in the UK, are you? Regards

lP7nvVm6iSU Regards

An analysis piece on ISIS from an LSE Professor: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30681224 Regards

Music from the land of HLPrincess and Ross Scott... mLSx2CddDZI @K4_Kydure: this got plenty of pentatonic and double-harmonic oriental and Arabic-sounding stuff. While not metal by any count, it does get quite heavy in the second half, so maybe you'll like it... Regards

That one was quite good, I agree. I saw the original BBC version (it was set in Manchester, England, England instead of NYC as in the US adaptation) a few years back. Regards

Hear, hear! Regards