IneptGuard

A method to the madness, Most of us have heard these words in the form of a question. However, in my Army years I would frequently here them in the form of an answer, reassuring us that there is always a reason that things are done a certain way, even if no one seemed to know what that reason was. I find these words fitting the question asked by this thread. Nothing happens without some kind of trigger, no cause without an effect and vice versa. Is it so difficult to believe that there is a reason behind it all? In short, the universe is such an amazing and complex thing, that I can't begin to imagine that it's all just one big mistake. Perhaps life doesn't have a meaning in the traditional sense but that doesn't mean that it is without reason. Rest assured, there is always a method to the madness.

Released on September 28 2004, Evil Genius was a fun game that flew under the radar for most gamers. it's release was over shadowed by the well known Half Life 2 a little over a month after EG's release. While this game isn't that old, i have found that the vast majority of PC gamers have never heard of it. Basically it's an RTS / simulation style game similar to Dungeon Keeper. Basically, you start out with $100,000 in gold bars on an island of indeterminate location. You have build a secret base recruit minions and henchman to carry out your evil bidding and ultimately try to take over the world while defending your base against the forces of justice. Here's the Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Genius_(video_game) The game was added to steam several months ago and is currently $9.99 USD. This game is not for every one so I advise you to watch some game play videos before buying the game. In my opinion it is a great game and a lot of fun so if you like what you see, I highly recommend it.

I believe you, it seems like everyone's been getting sick lately. I guess it's just that time of year. Just drink tons of water and direct all your anger towards healthy people and you'll get better in no time.

I'm not that educated on the subject however, I've always seen communism as something that looks great on paper but just doesn't work when the human variable is factored in. I don't think a communist government can work as long as there are people making decisions. I actually think that the exact opposite would work, where humans are governed by computers and policed by machines. Although even then some asshole in his garage would find a way to hack robo-prez and ruin it for everyone. Humans are competitive, corruptible, greedy and untrustworthy by nature and while I don't believe that that makes up the majority of the population, all it would take is the right man (asshole) in the wrong place (A place of power) to bring this house of cards crashing down. While I know that this is true of most governments I feel like a communist government is more likely to fail due to people screwing it up because of it's focus on equality. Sorry if this is poorly worded, I'm really tiered and about to take a much needed nap.

If you have complex brushwork with multiple faces or displacement work that is invalid and you alter the light map grid on that particular object, it can cause Vrad to crash.

Looks very nice, the texture work is very impressive. The only thing I noticed is that the floor lamps seen at 4:18 don't blend well with the rest of the map. I remember I tried to use that model once as a light source and had the same shadow effect, I just don't think that model is suited for that role and the texture doesn't feel like it belongs in the environment. Just my opinion, great work though.

I actually do think of myself when I see this picture. I can picture that thing popping out of my sock drawer with a knife, I think I would shit myself.

That's Dog's dumpster which might be a prop_dynamic if it has animations. Not that it matters now but I thought that I would mention it anyways.

I recently bought the game but I just got it running last night. I'm running on an older system and those fancy particle effects are brutal but I finally got the settings balanced out and the game runs decent now although there is still the frequent drop in frames when the effects get heavy. So if your like me and you are fairly comfortable in you knowledge of PCs but are still convinced that yours is evil or you are currently running on older hardware that barely meets the minimum requirements your going to have a battle on your hands but in the end it's worth it. First impressions: The default controls are not the norm as FPS titles go and you will most likely find yourself rebinding your keys within the first few minutes of the game. That being said the game controls can feel a bit sticky and or clumsy at times and take some getting used too. After the intro / tutorial level the game starts of nicely and continues at a fair pace. There are plenty of side missions and tons of areas to explore. In fact, one of the unique things about this game is the level of freedom given to the player. for instance at the beginning of the first (post intro) mission you are given the option to chose what weapon your going to start with, whether you want to go lethal or non lethal and choose a close or long range weapon type. Although you don't have to stick to this if don't want too, the game is all about freedom. There is almost always more than one approach to every challenge. Meaning that you can hack the lock on the fence gate or pile up some boxes and climb over it, kill every guard in the room or sneak around them, there is enough freedom here to make this game worth replaying. The AI can be hit or miss, at times they will seem to be on point but there will be plenty of moments where they will behave stupidly or just plain disappoint you. It would have liked to see the AI have more human reactions to their situations. For instance, I just killed 5 out of 6 guards with out so much as being shot at and the last guard alive, while alarmed shows absolutely no concern for his situation. AI also seem to lack a sense of self preservation, it’s not uncommon for guards to funnel into a room that they know isn’t safe even after seeing their friends mowed down in the doorway. Overall, the AI is good but it’s not great which at times can feel almost out of place in a game so polished. In closing: Over all, I love the game. Messing with the enemies and the people on the streets is a blast and the freedom in the missions makes the game interesting and fun. I recommend you watch some let's play footage on youtube to make sure this game is for you, that's what I did. PS: Cheaters never win ; )

Zaxxon table top, I found it in a box in my basement in the early 90's. I was pretty young at the time and thus I to this day don't know where it is or in what condition it is in. It's somewhere in the house, I only wish I had known how much of a treasure it was.

chocolate covered ants, a chicken heart and a pig's eye. Don't really know which one is the strangest but the eye is by far the worst tasting of the three. The ants where a bit sour with the mix of chocolate. The chicken heart was very chewy but other wise good and the Pigs eye was nasty but the trick to eating an eye ball is to try and either swallow it whole or chew and swallow as quickly as possible. If the eye juices hit your taste buds it's vomit city. In case your wondering the eyes where done on a bet at a pig roast and I had plenty of beer to wash it down.

Bad Company 2: Vietnam DLC last night, at least until EA's servers shit the bed around 4:30am eastern time.

Killing Floor,I only discovered this game a few months ago and I have to say it's pretty fun.

Alright, I feel like I need to toss in two cents here. There is no valid reason for this guy's actions. Religion has nothing to do with this tragedy. This man is clearly a psychotic individual who went unnoticed by friends or family and simply had to much time alone to develop paranoia and delusional thought patterns. It's not uncommon for people with mental illness to hide their symptoms and do so very well. I recently had my own experience with some one I know who went from perfectly normal to full blown schizophrenic within a few months, allot of the time people left alone with these kinds of issues tend to blame religion, government or other major factors in society and sometimes even the people closest to them for all their worldly problems and their failures. I remember one guy I worked with was convinced that if he could invent a new language, all the worlds problems would be solved. The point I want to make is that whenever something like this happens the first question on every ones mind is "why?" While I understand that, I feel like the longer and harder people try to answer that question, the more they justify the actions of one disturbed individual in the eyes of other just as disturbed individuals. There by increasing the chances of a "copy cat" surfacing and trying something just as crazy. Also I just get plain tiered of people trying to make sense out of a senseless act. As for this Breivik guy, I think they should be branding him as a lunatic, lock him up in a padded cell and keep him near comatose for the rest of his life or just kill him. Doesn't matter if they can prove he's insane or not, no sane person would justify what he did, there is no place in society for this man.

Hardest game I ever played, Red Faction on hard difficulty. The game was challenging enough on normal but on hard it was dam near impossible. Though I have heard of people beating it on hard, I never did.

I'm pretty new to programing myself, I work with C# so I have a limited knowledge of C++ though there are a few similarities as far as I can tell. If developing programs for multiple platforms is what your after you want a CLI or (Common Language Infrastructure). If you want to learn more about what that is, here is a wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Language_Infrastructure . Basically your looking at developing for .NET or Mono, .NET will allow you to run your program on any windows platform that that has a working and up to date version of .NET Framework installed. Mono supports Macs and Linux from what I've read. As far as learning to read data from websites, you want XML, here is a wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML If you want to see some XML right now. Go to the top of your browser and click on the "View" Menu and select "source" or "page source", depends on what browser your using. a window should open up containing the XML code fore this web page. While this looks overwhelming, this is actually simple human readable code. If you'd like a nice quick video explaining XML, try this: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/bb308812.aspx I know that it's for a C# lesson but this video focuses primarily on XML and will help you understand the basics of the Syntax. If you want to write a program that can read web data your going to need to understand the basics of XML before you can write code that can read and translate XML in your program. I wish I could provide more help but I'm still learning myself.

GTA 4 I'm sorry but I don't understand why so many people loved it. It was as if Rockstar North believed that all the game play advancements that where made in Vice City and San Andreas where meaningless and didn't need to be carried over into future titles. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a bad game but it wasn't the game that I was expecting.

Driving a car is not a right, it is a privilege. A privilege that can be revoked in the blink of an eye by most law enforcement agencies, state or federal organizations. They can do this because there is no constitutional law that says you have the right to drive. The 8th and 9th amendments are the only ones that come close. So I suppose one could try to convince the supreme court that the right to drive is protected by constitutional law but I'd say that you have better chance of winning the lottery. I'm sorry if that came across as complaining as I didn't intend it that way. I don't have a problem with the purchasing process. I only wished to give the people here that have never gone through the process an idea of whats involved so that they can draw their own conclusions. I believe that the laws that are in place are more than enough, perhaps even too much. Well, you have the right to vote but you can only do so after registering with your town hall. That sounds reasonable right? Now what if I told you that there is a $200 fee for registration process? Suddenly voting doesn't sound like a right anymore does it? The US was practically founded on the right to own firearms. We where born from the fires of a revolutionary war and as a result we saw fit to create laws that would ensure the protection of our rights from our own government. Our gun laws are less restrictive than some others because guns are part of our history and are deeply rooted in American culture.

Sure, Infringement: an encroachment or trespass on a right or privilege. Also defined as: a breach or infraction, as of a law, right, or obligation; violation; transgression. Like it or not, forcing people to register their guns or lose their right to own them is infringement. Forcing people to attend training courses that they will be paying for out of pocket just to obtain permission to purchase / own a gun is Infringement. While I said that I agree with training let me tell you what I had to go through just to get my class A license. First I had to fill out the application form my local police station, then I had to pay to attend a one day training course ($100). After that I had to present my certificate as well as a $100 check to the town in ordered to start the process. I was interviewed by a detective, fingerprinted, photographed and had to be added to the FBI's database. after which I was given the license on the spot and sent on my way. Now let me tell you what buying a gun is like. Drive to the store, the guys where I shop are very friendly and polite. browse a bit and make your choice. then you have to fill out an request for purchase form (Can't remember what it's called) on it you go through a barrage of questions and after that has been filled out the store clerk fills out his own section on the form and then you have to place your finger on the electronic scanner, your print is instantly sent to the FBI's national criminal database and a thorough background check is run. If you have a single arrest or any criminal history for that matter, you have to wait five days or more to collect you firearm while they run a more extensive background check. If no criminal record is present then you can leave with your purchased weapon. Considering all that one must go through to acquire a gun I don't believe that more laws and restrictions would have any real effect on crime. If you feel otherwise ask yourself this: Is punishing the majority for the crimes committed by a few the correct way to deal with crime?

Well, history will always provide the answer. April 19, 1775 a bunch of farmers and city boys took on the most powerful military empire in the world. American Civil War (1861–1865), though the Confederacy lost, the war itself changed America forever. 2001 - Present, A bunch of farmers have been doing a pretty fine job of fighting one of the most powerful military alliances on earth for the last 10 years with little to no training and sub par weaponry. A government isn't some invincible all knowing machine. It's clumsy, slow and unstable and all it takes to change every thing, is for the voice of the people to be heard and if their voices aren't loud enough, then the sound of their guns will be. While I agree that people should have training, it's difficult to enforce that policy as it violates the second amendment. In fact most gun laws do, registration included. However I understand the need for such laws. Times have changed and people are more ignorant then ever. I agree with the training and the need to register, I just hope that what happened during Katrina incident never happens again.

I know that all of you aren't Americans, but as an American, a veteran and a firm believer in the constitution, I believe that people have god given rights that must be respected. One of those is the right to defend their family and their land by any means necessary. "Amendment II: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." While this may not apply to anyone outside the US, some of you might find it to be interesting as there are good reasons for its creation. Unfortunately it's not very well worded and that has led to massive debates concerning it's interpretation. However one cannot deny it's meaning. Here are the primary functions that I gather from the 2nd amendment: 1. It gives the people the ability to protect their country, their friends and families, and their freedoms from enemies both foreign and most importantly, domestic. To quote the movie V, "A people should not fear their government but rather a government should fear their people". It is the one and only insurance policy that will protect our way of life, be it form an invading army or our own governments. Draw your own conclusions but I will always believe that the people have a right to own guns, be it a machine gun or pistol. that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be laws that regulate the ownership of firearms in the interest of preventing crime and keeping order but striping every one's rights is not the way.

I loved this game, it was sort of a skynet style story line only with the WOPR computer trying to take over the world. you could play as either side and operated several vehicles and could switch between them in real time and command you AI comrades. during game play, the defcon meter would slowly count down from defcon 5 to 1. You could give your self more time by killing enemies and accomplishing objectives as doing so pushed the meter back up. If you reached defcon 1 bombers would try and destroy your units and your base (& they usually succeeded). It was apparently released for both PC and PlayStation though I heard they where slightly different. Here's the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames:_Defcon_1

Raise the roof (no pun intended), I'd say about 16 - 32 units, measuring from where the roof meets the top of the wall on the left of the image. Most structures be it a house or a commercial building, have crawl spaces in between floors or in this case the roof and the ceiling or where the ceiling would be. These spaces are reserved for insulation, pipes and electrical wiring amongst other things. 16 units for a house and I'd say 32 - 64 for a commercial building. By raising the roof up and adding a wall 16, 32 or 64 units high (and placing it on top of the wall on the left) would give you the space you need to move the heavy cross beams up, on top of the original wall. EDIT: To be honest if you want a simple answer, just change the wall texture to one the doesn't have that 3D effect with the molding at the top. that effect is nice but when you have beams and that fence pressing against it, the effect is ruined. Then again I'm a perfectionist which is why I had so much trouble finishing maps in the first place.

I have had a LogicTech mouse since 06 and it has served me well. To be honest I don't remember the exact model and the mouse I have is so worn from use that I can no longer read any of the markings or stickers. I do however know that the newer version of this mouse is more or less the same, here's a link to the user reviews page: http://reviews.logitech.com/7061/5743/logitech-corded-mouse-m500-reviews/reviews.htm Based on a quick Google search it's priced anywhere from $29.00 - $40.00, I got mine for $30.00, I wouldn't pay any more than $35 though. It's tough comfortable and it works. PS: You know what they say about big hands? ... Big gloves.

Those of us that grew up in the 90's might remember playing this game in the computer lab at school. Gizmos & Gadgets released in 1993 was one of those rare educational games that was actually a lot of fun to play. here's the a wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizmos_%26_Gadgets game play video: