General Chat

[Binky The Rabbit]

Not a fan of wasps. I put them in the same category as midges and cleggs as 'creatures I don't care for and would rather not have to deal with'.

 

But I guess it's part of the package when you come fae Scotland.

[Jeb_CC]

Vappy is a wasp whisperer. XP What a title!

 

Now, I don't really know if maybe my experiences are just invalid cause I'm Australian, but we've had vicious bits of everything. XD My cousin was just sitting on the couch, wasp was on the top of it (feet away from each other) and decided to give him a nip on the neck. My mother was out working on the garden one day and got attacked by bees... >.> Apparently the sweat made them do that, from my mother working... makes them a bit more aggressive? That's according to the pest-controller guy who had to sort them out, and there was a nest inside of our wall...

 

But who knows. XD Maybe... Just... Australia. But I've never actually met people who swat at them... My friends usually run away and I just laugh as I let them buzz around me.

[Psychotic Ninja]

 

 

 

We've had a couple of wasp nests near our house, I've been stung by multiple bees (or wasps, never got close enough, never want to) because I was mowing the lawn, and apparently, their home was in the ground, and well the loud mower pissed. them. off.

[Jeb_CC]

Boxing kangaroos... Hahaha! No, no, no. They kick you into rivers and keep you down till you drown. :3 They may also harm your pets and loved ones.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2406515/The-shocking-moment-Kangaroo-tried-drown-dog-tried-play-it.html

Of course, most of these animals are just defensive. XP So it's cool. We love 'em.

Oh, but don't forget about the piss-angry ants. Jack jumpers hurt like a bitch.

 

OT though: Bees might not be forwardly aggressive, but you can piss them off by accident and get a nasty sting. And that's annoying. XD It's like; "Hey guys, let me just mow my lawn, don't worry about anything."

"Look guys! He's fucking mowing the lawn. Let's get him!"

[BTGBullseye]

I have never had any issues with bees, wasps, or hornets... They all have a very distinct body language.

 

For one, wasps will rapidly zip back and forth in front of your face (they will try to put themselves between the nest and you, but in your field of vision) if you are threatening to them. To correct the problem, just simply walk away. Usually 10-15 feet away will pacify them, as it usually occurs when you get too close to their nest. (they are generally docile in other situations)

 

As long as you aren't being aggressive towards them, any iridescent colored hornet will be docile. (I actually had a 3 inch long iridescent green one that would greet me every morning by sitting on my shoulder for a few seconds when I worked as maintenance at an apartment complex in Arizona, and a blue one that like scaring the girls at my tech school in Utah) Black hornets are almost always hostile though.

 

Honeybees are universally docile until the hive is threatened, or one of them is killed. Just ignore them if you see them. (or play with them, your choice) They like the taste of human skin, and are well known for drinking your soda while you're not looking. (check your straw before taking a gulp next time you're picnicking)

 

Africanized bees are almost universally overly aggressive, and have been known to kill people. This is usually reported in the news as being "without provocation or warning", but that is extremely inaccurate. I know (from a LOT of experience) that even Africanized bees will warn you away before attacking, but the warnings are very short in duration, and usually go unnoticed by the average person. The first warning is similar to what I already mentioned about the wasp, and the second is when they start divebombing you. If you miss the first, you won't miss the second. If you see them do either, LEAVE THE AREA THE WAY YOU ENTERED IT, AND MOVE QUICKLY! If one stings you, you are effectively marked with their 'death' pheromone, and they will not stop attacking you until either you are dead, or they are all dead. (you'll die long before they run out of drones, and they will linger in an area to try and kill you, they are even known to actively try to get inside a sealed house to try and get at someone they have targeted) I have actually managed to use these observations to get close enough to an Africanized nest to be able to insert a bug-bomb without needing any protection. (it thoroughly amazed the specialist that arrived shortly after I started my approach, he thought I was a goner, and had even called an ambulance to take away the body)

 

Things that are seen as threats to these type of flying insects:

1. Very loud noises. The vibrations in the air can actually cause them to partially lose the ability to navigate, and this panics them. Panic = attack the source of the panic.

2. Water spray. DO NOT SPRAY WATER AT NESTS!!! Bees and wasps are not water soluble, so they do get pissed if you try to turn them into a slurry.

3. If you see their nest, best to just walk away. These insects are very protective of their nests, not unlike us... Imagine a giant walking towards your house, yelling and stomping, effectively shaking your house to shambles with your spouse and children in it, and tell me YOU wouldn't be pissed.

4. Death of their own. Imagine watching the previously mentioned giant squash one of your friends/siblings, just because your friend/sibling was annoying it, and then tell me you wouldn't try and do something about it.

5. Strong female human pheromones. Female human pheromones are extremely similar to female insectoid pheromones, and as such appears to bees and wasps as the pheromones of a competing 'queen bee'. This results in more aggressive behavior towards females than males, even to the point of outright attacks. Male pheromones affect them negatively as well, but nowhere near the same extent.

 

Just a few observations, and pieces of information about some of your neighborhood's flying insectoids.

[Seattleite]

Physical in ten minutes...

[Zaraki]

Yesterday was my first anniversary since I joined this forum.

No celebration? No congratulations? No nothing?

[Reverend_UshankaCat_]

Oh shit, I didn't even realise!

 

Happy anniversay, Zaraki! Wow, you're only 11 days "older" than me.

TIME TO PARTY!

[Binky The Rabbit]

I'll tell ya something, the 'Rifle Range' mission in GTA Vice City is a prime example of the advantage a mouse has over a gamepad in terms of accuracy and sensitivity. You could easily get the required 45 points with point-and-click. But with a PS2 dualshock, I could be at it for hours. My controller is either so elderly that it's lost its sensitivity (I got in 2002), or I'm so used to more modern gaming with fast processing and therefore less latency.

 

If there was ever a PS2-compatible mouse that could recognised as a dualshock, it would be perfect for that one mission.

(as far as I know, there is a mouse and keyboard that works with PS2, but only for certain specialised games)

[Psychotic Ninja]

Uhh... Jeb? Is this normal?

 

rRddLDynsCs

[Jeb_CC]

@Zaraki: Happy first forum anniversary! Sorry, the forum notifies of birthdays, not anniversaries.

 

@Binky: I don't even know how you can use a controller at all. XD I suck at GTA V, just cause I can't control snot. I'm so bad... So, you get +10 points from me, just because you play console games. XP

 

@Ninja: Haha, I guessed it was in NSW and I was right, oh the buggers are always doing something weird over there. I also love how this guy had the patience to just stand there and record for 5 minutes too. XD

But yeah, where there's kangaroos, sure, that's normal. X3 Roos gotta fight. I'd have to say though that this was hard to watch, wasn't upside down. That's the not-normal thing about it here.

[Binky The Rabbit]

@Binky: I don't even know how you can use a controller at all. XD I suck at GTA V, just cause I can't control snot. I'm so bad... So, you get +10 points from me, just because you play console games. XP

Controllers (in my experience) tend to be opposites of M&K, in the sense that they are good at doing what M&K aren't very good at doing. For example: movement. Analogue sticks potentially allow a much more natural flow of character movement - typically it's WSAD to jog in four directions, with Ctrl to walk and Shift to run. Analogue sticks let you move in any direction, with speed determined by how far from neutral you tilt the stick.

 

Now camera movement/aim, that's a home run for the Mouse, because sticks have to return to neutral before data input stops. You therefore have to repeatedly 'nudge' the stick to get the same accuracy as a mouse. To top it all off, older controllers have 'play' in the sticks - the stick can move, but no input is registered.

 

Going back to Vice City, my Dualshock 2 has a LOT of play, so much that I think I'm tilting it halfway to full before anything registers. So for the shooting challenge, I'm using the D-Pad, which is also pressure-sensitive. A proper press will send the crosshair flying, and a quick tap may not even be registered.

 

More advanced technology means this is less of an issue now, but a mouse will always be more accurate.

[Psychotic Ninja]

Yeah, when I'm playing GTA games on PC, I'm using a controller (like with some other games), with some exceptions. Like in any FPS moments in the games, I'll switch to keyboard and mouse. Now with Vice City, controller on foot (at least with a generic controller) is next to impossible, seeing as how it registers camera control/movement. However, driving is fine. So I'll be switching between the two whenever the mood strikes me into replaying the game.

[Binky The Rabbit]

^ I've been tempted to buy Vice City on Steam on many occasions for pretty much that. But I dunno, part of me feels I'd be admitting defeat - I got the game in 2003, I should probably fight on to the end for old time's sake!

[Blightmare]

I play GTA V with both M&K and controller. M&K on foot and controller when driving/flying etc. Though that's annoying in it's own right since GTA V's controls are confusing and easy to forget for both so trying to learn and remember them for each takes a lot of time and errors.

 

I really don't like controllers for FPS's because of the stick thing. Some people swear by it but I just feel sluggish and restricted and like I have tunnel vision.

[Binky The Rabbit]

I used to swear by it when I was younger, but a turning point happened when I got Steam, and the Orange Box. I can still enjoy gamepad FPS, but M&K is a whole different league.

 

Also, I feel bad for reply after reply. Soz.

[Blightmare]

Also, I feel bad for reply after reply. Soz.

No need to apologize, I don't see anything wrong with that. O_o A discussion is a discussion regardless of participation order. If you got something meaningful/on-topic to add then it's 110% acceptable imo.

 

But yeah I did swear by it back when I couldn't even run Oblivion on my pc without console disabling grass just to run the game smoothly and I had games like Red Faction on my PS2(Which i've probably sunk several hundred hours into. Was also the first game i ever played with joysticks since like almost no ps1 games used them). I guess the more exposure I had to PC based shooters the more I started to like the fine-tuning it allowed. Though I still prefer controller for driving, platformers, and hack-n-slash style games.

[Alyxx Thorne]

I used to swear by it when I was younger, but a turning point happened when I got Steam, and the Orange Box. I can still enjoy gamepad FPS, but M&K is a whole different league.

 

Also, I feel bad for reply after reply. Soz.

I've always used mouse and keyboard cause I grew up as a PC gamer. I only use joypads for platformers.

[Seattleite]

Another year, another birthday I don't give a shit about.

[Blightmare]

So when i went to the dentist office today I got what I was expecting, the "you need to floss more" routine despite flossing everyday.

 

What I was't expecting though was to be on the phone with 911 after my dad's asthma decided to give everyone the biggest scare of the year when his throat closed up completely for 15 seconds. It opened on it's own before the paramedics even got there but fucking hell I was so frightened I was shaking and nearly in tears. I was so panicked I couldn't even remember the name of the office or even what street I was on and that sent me into a deeper panic. Thank god they were able to figure it out from my phones location itself and were right up the street.

 

I was just supposed to get a teeth cleaning not be fearing for my own fathers life. Just glad that it's over and everything was fine.