Vapymid

Well, I expected this vote to go massively towards FM, so I went for Civil Protection instead. Someone must support the underdog, right? Regarding Youtube - it is interesting... The real question is - do they charge advertisers by the real clicks while paying uploaders for the "culled" views? Or, do they use the reduced numbers on both sides? If it's the latter, then the advertisers are really the ones who profit from this "bug" and Google are the schmucks here. Regards

Open my eyes, just what I needed this morning... bGYHSfxI16w Regards

They must surely be this year's Darwin Award contenders: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26123074 Regards

Yes! I second. I would also propose to consider any/all of - Descent (1/2 or 3) - LHX - F29 Retaliator - Loom Regards

A long and straight rockiness... nn0WkFjwHRk Regards

Did you mean Chateau d'Isaster? KQQzsw21Lew Regards

That's pretty impressive! Looks fairly pro to me. Regards

Sorry if I came across as insensitive. Was not my intention - just wanted to cheer you up a bit. The main thing is you are who you are. People who matter won't care how you arrived there. As long as you do like and respect yourself there will be people who would like and respect you, just do not let the funk to set in... Regards

As I began reading your post, for a second I thought you'll be confessing to be a 3-headed martian omni-sex being, stranded on Earth and forced to copulate with trees in the meantime... So the actual thing was pretty anticlimactic, when I reached it. How disappointing Regards

Well, we won't exclude beer (and cider) and wine! And of the spirits - vodka is not the only one (although being one of the most misunderstood and misused ones) that exists - whiskey, gin, cognac/armagnac, bourbons, liqueuers, bitter vodkas, bitters, sake, to name but a few. Not to mention the myriad variations and different flavours of each one... If the main purpose of these drinks was getting drunk there would have been only two varieties - cheap (with a guaranteed hangover) and expensive. As for expanding conciousness - I personally stay with Science Fiction (to borrow from Arthur C Clarke) and music Cheers! P.S. Rum! I forgot about rum. How could I forget rum!? Arghhh! Shiver me timbers...

Whatever's your timezone Regards

Perhaps... or, am I? Just because a percentage of humans is confused and believes that the main reason for drinking alcohol is to get plastered does not mean that they are the ones who are right. I admit, maybe "taste" was too narrow a definition and "culinary" is a better description, as it includes direct consumption, use as an ingredient, flavouring or a preservative etc. Regards

There is a very thin line between "bad" and "evil"... From your description your "evil" seems to be "quite bad" + "immoral". And for me immorality basically equates to breach of trust, so, your friend's definition of "corruption of love for a gain" is quite close, except I would still use "trust". As a very simplistic example, one soldier shooting another during a war is not immoral, because there is no trust relationship between the soldiers of the opposing sides. On the other hand, an adult shooting a child is immoral because children trust adults not to harm them and the shooting breaches that trust. But then there is still the underlying question of where do the trust relationships come from and we have to go back to the fundamental or absolute good and bad (and I mean absolute as somethings that exists in the Universe regardless whether humans are there or not). Regards

Err, rap's not my cup of tea, so to say, so I have no idea whether it's good or bad, sorry... ubPDWJ1l-LI Regards

On purely theoretical basis I decided long ago that evil is what leads to an increase in entropy and good is what deminishes it. The trouble is that with such complicated systems as the biosphere and our human society it is awfully difficult to foresee what would do what after you take into consideration the possible consequences. Therefore, personally we look only at the immediate effects of an action and may consider it good or evil, yet, others, perhaps in the future and with the benefit of hindsight or better informed and having the luxury of seeing a bigger picture - they may judge the same actions differently. Just my 2 cents... Regards

That's almost precisely my own sentiment on this except that I have no problem with Israel being there as a country - I was thinking about Jerusalem, because it is that place that is at the core of the problem. Until Jerusalem status is not sorted there will be no peace in the Middle East. The trouble is that the Israelis don't want to settle it as they are happy with the status quo, think that they can maintain the situation by force and are prepared to tough it out with the Arabs indefinitely. So, as long as there is no *real* international pressure on them, any Israeli talk of negotiations and agreeing peaceful solutions with the Palestinians is just a lip service and a deception. Regards

For me, drugs are something stupid, unnecessary and idiotic that one just should not do in their lives... Alcohol and tobacco not included. I know, people on both sides of the argument like to lump them together with drugs (either "Alcohol is a drug, just like cocaine, yet it is allowed, so cocaine should be too" or "Alcohol is a drug, just like cocaine, yet cocaine is banned, so should be the alcohol") but I disagree - both alcohol products and tobacco have their primary function of being consumed for their taste, rather than their effect. Having said that, I believe that banning the drugs is the main factor that supports and finances the illicit drug industry because, without the illegality, there would be no economic base for drug cartels, opium farms etc etc. These drags can be mass produced dirt-cheaply and the only thing that makes them expensive is the risk premium for illegality. So, no, I don't think drugs are a good idea and, yes, I think they should be legalised. Consider me inconsistent but that's that Regards

So you play sax? I don't but I love that instrument. And not only in Jazz (Sydney Bechet is probably my favourite player) but I think it's an essential Rock instrument too - just listen to Mel Collins (King Crimson, Camel, Caravan) or David Jackson (VdGG). Regards

Interestingly, both feminists and masochists, no, machoists, err, no... whateva... Anyway, they all like to resort to a strawman argument, which they then dramatically demolish to prove their respective points. Even more interesting is that they use the same strawmen in the process. It's usually about the numerical equality - the feminists would claim that you must have parity in numbers in any and every aspect of human affairs in order to achieve equality, regardless of objective differences between genders. The anti-feminists (like Akeuw here) would claim that, because of these obvious objective differences, the numeric parity - and therefore the equality - isn't possible and would be undesirable even if it was. They are both totally wrong, of course, because equality is not about numerical parity. It's about equal treatment of males and females with all other factors being equal. In the case of Akeuw's mobile sanitary unit the fact that there are fewer women meeting the body size/strength requirements does not matter at all. What matters is would a woman who meets the all requirements have an equal chance to be selected? So, when you remove that pseudo-equality strawman (in this case the woman-candidate is as strong and skilled as men and no lowering of standards is needed), then it's down to the ridiculously unconvincing "can't piss in a bottle" thing (hint: they can, Akeuw, they can ). As to whether we have equality now - no, clearly we have not. And I am not talking about how many women are allowed to beat the crap out of men in front line army units. But when you have a woman doing the same job as a man but paid 30% less for that - I believe that it's not right. And contrary to Akeuw's another suggestion, I do not think that this is because the woman in question has spoiled her own chances by being in a "victim mentality" funk, either. Regards P.S. "What the fuck, you look at a battle field, lets say in the harshest conditions like Stalingrad or Leningrad and you think women should be fighting there?" - this really made me wonder, are you jesting? Of all theatres of war, the Russian front in WWII and these cities in particular are the prime examples of untold number of women fighting alongside men on the front-line. And a huge %% of sanitars and corpsmen in the Soviet Army were women as well...

"I am the suck of air you take That you've had many times before I am the blow you try to fake But which still throws you out the door I am the air that fills your lungs But leaves you emptier below I am the void that you can't explain But which is where you want to go Flame sucks between the balls of steel Nothing moves, the air itself congeals Look at the flame if you want to Hear the sharp crack of the fission Smell the brief vapor of ozone Feel static motion I am the love, you try to hide But which all can understand I am the hate you still deny Though the blood is on your hands I am the peace, you're searching for But you know you'll never find I am the pain you can't endure But which tingles in your mind Flame sucks between the balls of steel Nothing moves, the air itself congeals Look at the flame if you want to Hear the sharp crack of the fission Smell the brief vapor of ozone Feel static motion I am the joy you really pay for But which comes completely free I am your God on the final day For the truth is you and me." Regards

It occurred to me that this game uses the same engine as "LHX" helicopter shooter, playing which was one of my favourite pass-times some 20 years ago VC3OUrgf1Lg I think it can still be found as abandonware and run with Dosbox... Maybe one day Ross would review it and compare the two? One can only hope! Regards P.S. And it has the best PC-speaker musical intro I've ever heard!

Who's the boss in the factory? y1XpBLsNgHs Regards

There is a great Polish movie, called "Sex Mission" which shows what happens when an idea (of feminism) is turned into an ideology: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088083/ It's absolutely hilarious but very witty and clever at the same time. Unfortunately, I can only find Polish and Russian versions on YouTube, but there are DVDs with English subtitles available on Amazon... Regards

Regards

I saw Gravity the last weekend. A bit schizophrenic. Great cinematography and CGI and I was looking forward to it trying to be as authentic as possible. However, it quickly degenerated into a bit of a farcical Hollywood roller-coaster ride with physics and realism going totally out the door... Then there was that: Regards