Ahhhh, the illusion of choice and progress. The only good thing that ever came of an election was a free cup of Starbucks coffee.

I didn't do it...

You damned kids!

Life!

Left for boot camp in 2002, came back in around 2007, I think? Bots had overrun everything, that's what I really remember. I played two more sets, left again, then came back in a few years ago.

Some guys in my JROTC Battalion were playing it and convinced me to join in. We played in game B, and I got recruited into game A by Tonya from Mercenaries Inc. I doubt I would have kept playing if not for the the 1A community.

Marketing the game might show some actual results. That, and a few updates here and there...
Bottom line is, we can't stop a-holes from being a-holes even with an Early Wimps Protection Pact, or whatever. Tough gamers are even harder to come by these days.

I've said it before, I think the game has a solid game-play standard, but if it's going to continue it needs to build up into being graphical. That kind of game takes a team of devs, not just two guys doing it on the occasional Sunday. Not sure we could scrounge that up.

This, and what ford said. I've been to several gun shows, in several states and have even been denied a sale because the address on my state ID did not match the one on the form I filled out (in New Mexico). In my opinion, there is no 'loophole' to speak of just a media fluff fit deflecting the real issues.

Welcome to the wonderful world of tracking cookies.

Mediocrity might be a bit too much credit...

DoD uses far more or ULA's services than NASA. Without competition, the rates always go up. Sprinkle in some government corruption and next thing you know you're paying a 600% markup with a lot of lockouts.

https://www.youtube.com/...h?t=855&v=gZl_rnHuw4w

I'm not sure how it will play out either. I have several concerns about it, but I'm sure the government, or at least certain paid parties, will get themselves involved to keep it 'in house.'

VTOLS from space do exist. Space X has been working on it for quite a while now and have had quite a few landings end in explosions. But, I think they finally got most of the bugs worked out. Next on their list should be getting those launches away from the government companies/contractors that jacked up the rates so much it made space travel to expensive. It's time we had bigger goals as a species once again.

That would be nice. I've been working on my employer about getting TVs for me and the other programmers instead of monitors. Not sure I could get away with 55" but I might be gaining some ground for something smaller (40ish?).

Not sure how to approach the recliner chair/whiskey situation, but I'll come up with a proposal. Thanks for the idea!

A lot of evidence about our ancient history was and still is suppressed. Even theories about it have been. It's ironic considering the fight we had against the church to allow the level of free thought to discover what little we do know at this point. Now, many scientists are being just as dogmatic in their approach, locking away evidence or discounting any hypothesis that doesn't fit the present theory.

I'm not too sure about the 'humans 300million years ago' idea, but I'm also comfortable with the fact that we really don't know fluff (as in, there's maybe some possibilities there). Too many regimes in the past and in the present had a vested interested in keeping us dumb by whatever means necessary.

When it comes to the pyramids and the ancients that built them, I think they may have been primitive and simple, but not stupid. Never underestimate the power of a few 'smart enough' individuals at the helm. Add in an abundance of slave labor, take away the bureaucracy and you can have yourself a lot of progress in a short amount of time. I don't think it's at all unreasonable they would have worked 24/7/365.

When it comes to the precision of the math, at the universal constants it aligns to, I believe it's safe to say these people knew more than we think. Unfortunately it appears they recorded a lot on biodegradable materials. Pity.

https://i.ytimg.com/...TLyywj8/maxresdefault.jpg

Could have three.

I'm in web dev/dev ops so I'm linking into a few areas. My current setup is two mismatched monitors, but both are good quality so it doesn't bother me too much. Ideally, I would like three identical 17-24" with above average resolution. Most of what I work with is Linux terminal (CENTOS), and Windows (with vim/sublime as editors respectively).
I have multiple R & D machines both physical and virtual so I like to have the terminals, editor, browser/test unit open on separate screens depending on what I'm doing.

I guess it all depends on what you're up to, but if it were me I would replace that failing monitor with the exact same type you have that is still working. I prefer the 'concave' setup over a flat front setup which is what you get with a single big monitor setup.

So, we're assuming, in this particular case that a point particle has volume? 9.4×10^−44 for the electron, eh?

Also, what standard data storage estimate are we going by? I've got them ranging from 670+ EB to +/- 1 Zettabyte.

I have some fuzzy math here, but I'm sure I'm a hair off. For starters, I used decimal, not binary. I'll hack at it later;
Cool question... I've been looking for an excuse to dig into the scipy library.

I think I need netting lessons. I struggle for 100m, but I admit I only play once every couple of days in most sets. I lost a ton of turns this set, still managed 102m. *sigh*

But, nice work on the 400m+, anyway.

Most likely I fat fingered the keys and added a number. First time I'd seen it, and first time I'd moved that much loot at once so I figured they were related.

Onto my next complaint:

QUANTITY_MORE_THAN_CAN_SELL is a fluffty error message.

Might not be a 'glitch.' We may not know this time around. I have no reason to move that many at once for the rest of this set. I'll see if I can trigger it again next set.

Might fire up IRC and chat with qz about it if there's time this week.

Nah, I have done that before. You get this error message:

'You must select some goods.'

...seriously.

Anyway, I attempted to sell 580+ million bushels. No typo as I copied/pasted from calc. Maybe qz should be informed an error handle isn't firing properly...?

Nope. Only thing that could have done that was an SO. None of those have fired in 1.6 days.

I think it was the fact I tried to move over 500m bushels at once...

This is a new one:

Some of your goods could not be placed for sale: QUANTITY_MORE_THAN_CAN_SELL

I didn't know there was a sell limit...

My laptop is about 5 years old and I run most of the stuff you're showing there without any issues. The only things that seemed to slow it down a bit was running NEAT and Peachtree (accounting software). I have three VMs on here, two servers and one linux dev machine, and it doesn't slow down noticeably even when running all three. I run SQL manager, python apps (with some massive queries, too). Most of my work is done in python and JS/Node but I have run Visual Studio and done some work in C, TypeScript and VB as well. I usually use Sublime Text, even for SQL queries, as I can run new builds right in the program and check my output for bugs without having to switch to a separate command line program. I also have a WAMP setup on here for a sanbox but I don't use it too much. All is handled just fine.

Point being, you won't need a $1k laptop for what you're going to be doing. Way overkill. $200-400 would be reasonable and you can pick it up from Best Buy during the holiday sales. You'd even do well to get one a generation back and really save yourself some extra money that way.

I've had good luck with Asus and lenovo. Terrible luck with anything HP or Toshiba (lots of HD failures and hardware issues). If you are hell bent on spending big dollars, Apple does make good dev machines (linux kernel) that will perform very well for you and come with most of the tools you need built in. Windows takes a lot more setup time as a dev machine. Just some food for thought.

Anyway system specs for my setup:

Intel i5 2.5Ghz, 6GB RAM, 64-bit architecture, 500GB HD 17" monitor ( big laptop. :-), Windows 7, Home Premium Edition ).

Boom.

My tech support helper was a Nigerian Prince! I donated an extra $500 on top of the more than reasonable $1500 dollar service charge for removing the viruses so I can get my gold out of storage! Even my porn collection was restored!...well, at least the 3.5 minutes of it I have re-watched so far. ANYWAY, what luck we have to know such smart interesting individuals who serve all of mankind!

Hmmmm, I would be suspicious of that...

This post has merit.

Maybe because I'm drunk...or tired...or both, but that one made me laugh so loud my neighbors dog started barking.

Been considering going that route as well. My current computer is a bit old and not really great for gaming, unfortunately.

I played the fluff out of Battlefront II. Loved it. I don't own a system currently so I won't be part of the beta, but sometime in the future I'd like to have a console again.

Fallout from game mechanics. Cerbs gone crazy, too.

2019? Seems presumptuous...

I think the current measures are fine. Almost every mass shooting we read about is done by some individual(s) who showed plenty of warning signs that something was about to go off the rails. We have a responsibility to intercept these people, with a high degree of empathy, and get them help before they feel it's necessary to go ape fluff in a public place.

These places need armed guards, or their own internal police force. There's lots of veterans in need of a job and these institutions have plenty of cash to throw around.

I think the sheriff had the right idea as well: don't even mention the guys name. He was looking to get noticed, as most of these gunman are. If we stop acknowledging the perpetrators I think we'll stop creating them.

Yeah, us Mainers love that classic rock...

At around week 4 to 5 I was getting three to four quakes a day with about 200A lost each time. Adds up quick.

I can agree to this theory, although I think we're flip-flopping individual vs. alliance responsibility when it's convenient.

Ideally, imag (and other 'joke' alliances) would refine their retaliation methods in an intelligent manner that doesn't lead to escalation. Passive aggressive grabs after a set time interval, for instance. I know this is asking a lot...

The real issue here is the message of intent from the Imag member. Had he said something like, 'friendly grab, mate, enjoy the rest of your set!", mrford would have had nothing to rant about (though I'm sure he would anyway) and no recourse other than a retal of his own. As it stands, with the current accepted political doctrines of retal responsibilities and procedures, mrford has every right to be pissed in this case.

I would rather see a fire at Capitol Hill will all parties secured inside until the screaming stops. We need a new batch of managers.

Just my $.02.

Honestly, one of the reasons I refrain from grabbing most sets is because I know it's a matter of time before some dipfluff goes after another Monster since they can't retal me directly...

Who's doing all the raping?

http://www.thewrap.com/...ump-Don-Lemon-620x400.jpg

Is there a check box for "none of the above" that counts for anything in voting?

I'll buy $25 bushels...

poor people need tools, too.

That's your own damned fault. Don't make the rest of us suffer for it.

@braden: poor people need tools, too.

Yes, Marshal, but should it be?! SHOULD IT BE?!

It took me 4 tries for Win8.1. I'm just glad it wasn't on my computer...

But seriously, if you want a free OS, just get a Linux distro. If you have some familiarity with that type of OS, you can get Red Hat, Debian, CentOS, Mint, etc. (seriously, quite a few to choose from). If you kind of like the Mac OS feel, grab Ubuntu. Usually works pretty well right off the disc. Super easy, well documented and very well supported. I think Ubuntu pledges support for 5 years after stable release date.

If you have some older computers around the house just collecting dust and windows had dropped support for the OS that is on it (like XP, Vista, etc.) you can install a Linux OS and have a useful computer again.

Or, just crash the market...Ugh.

Trust, but verify. If I can't verify it somehow myself, I don't trust it. Since I don't have the means to follow up on everything, I'm on a constant 'news diet.' I don't pay much attention to it. Anything important will likely be discussed at the water cooler at some point and I'll hear about it there.

Still, in your case, that's a lot of time wasted reading about fluff you can't do anything about (other than have a strong opinion, maybe?). I know you've been laid up a while, but maybe you need a news diet, too?

That's a lot of Koolaid to take in.