MajesticTreeFrog

First, you need a good name. You can use one from an old clan of mine if you like: The War Against Terror. Not only is it a name applicable to CS, but it will impress and intimidate opponents, especially if you have a good Tag. The tag should be as impressive and overblown as the name, yet simple and easy to distinguish. I used the acronym, then a space like {|} and then my name. THAT was an impressive tag, let me tell you. People would gasp in disbelief at how awesome the tag was, ask we what it stood for, and even kick me from servers out of fear. Thus, It is the perfect name to get you started, help you stand out, and attract members who are easy to amuse and therefore easy to manage. If you start the clan, let me know. I would love to see someone wear the tag once more!Till then, TWAT {|} MajesticTreeFrog salutes you.(yes, this was meant to be funny, and yes, I wore the tag for a while. Also for humor. It was awesome.)

I go by the name MajesticTreeFrog, as you can probably guess. The name comes from a few factors. Its first use was totally random, as a way of mocking a friend I was playing in Q3. I jumped around the map all the time, causing him to miss a good number of shots. He yelled, "Stop that!" and I replied, completely out of the blue, "You cannot defeat me for I leap like the Majestic Tree Frog!". Who the hell knows where that came from. Anyway, fast forward for a bit. I listen to this talk show thing about the goth subculture. The female goth subculture in particular. In it, the author of some book on the subject talked about how the best goths wear pink, not black. This is because it is much harder and thus much more impressive to look dark, morbid, and depressing wearing pink than black. So, getting to it. When I decided I wanted a permantent name to use in online gaming(For natural selection Clan use, specifically), I had to make a choice. I chose MajesticTreeFrog for a couple reasons. 1. It was neat and original and random. 2. It was very distinctive. 3. It was a pink goth name. A lot of people online use names like RapidFyre or DeathTrappa or some such mocho thing. It is supposed to strike fear into the hearts of the opposition or some such. But striking fear into the hearts of enemies while being named MajesticTreeFrog, now THAT is impressive. So I used it. And I kept on using it.

Its true that NS is very non-friendly to new people, mainly because it is so complex. If you are marines, you kill aliens, build structures, and eventually try and kill the alien hive(when you can). To do this, you work together and follow the orders of one of the players called the commander, who sits in the command chair and has a tactical overhead view of the entire map. If you are an alien, you start as a skulk. A small, doglike creature that bites things(marines). Your job is to kill marines and try not to die. You can also mutate into other aliens such as the gorge(builder), Lerk(flying alien), Fade(broken badass class that needs fixing), and Onos(giant rhino type alien, also broken, but less so than the fade). Aliens have hives. There are three on each map. You start at one of them randomly, and will want to colonize the other two(getting more hives means you can build more upgrades for the aliens). Aliens have chambers, of which there are three types: Defense, Movement, and Sensory. Each Chamber unlocks 3 abilities, of which you may choose ONE per life. You may choose one power from each of chambers you have built. Finally, each chamber has 3 levels, which is determined by the number of chambers built anywhere on the map(level 1 for one chamber, level 2 for two chambers...etc. More than 3 do not add levels). In addition, each chamber has some effect on the surrounding area. Defense chambers regenerate health, Movement regenerate energy(sorta like ammo) and can teleport you to the farthest hive or, if one is under attack, to the attacked hive, and Sensory cloak any nearby aliens(making them invisible). Marines build structures. Infantry portals spawn Marines. When you die, you will respawn wherever an infantry portal exists. Marines will spawn as many at a time as there are infantry portals, up to 3. The next relevant structure is the armory. The armory can be used to get ammo for weapons and may be upgraded by the commander to allow better weapons such as grenade launchers and Heavy Machine guns. There is also the Observatory. The observatory gives the marines access to a number of upgrades: motion tracking (allows you to see aliens anywhere on the map if they move by a blip on your screen), Distress beacon (immediately either spawns or teleports all marines to the marine base), and Ping (used to guide seige cannons). The next important structure is the arms lab. The arms lab allows the marine commander to purchase upgrades to armor and weapons. These are permanant upgrades to existing weapons, not new weapons (unlike the armory). Thus, your bullets do more damage and it takes more alien bites to kill you. Finally, there is the prototype lab. The prototype lab gives the marines the best technology they have available: Heavy Armor and Jetpacks. Heavy Armor is a thick exoskeleton of armor with self contained breathing aparatus(thus making you immune to spore clouds when wearing it). Wearing HA, you are VERY hard to kill. The jetpack allows limited flight with a recharging jet booster on your back. This allows a marine wearing one to move very quickly and agily provided he can control the jetpack. You can either wear a jetpack or the HA, but not both. Victory is achieved when all of the members of one of the teams are permanently dead. That means everyone is dead and there are no spawning structures in existence (infantry portals or hives). Hope that helps

My biggest problem with Norton is that it is a resourch hog. That, and I feel I really shouldn't have to run it.Grrr.

Natural Selection is a half life mod. It combines real time strategy and FPS games in an awesome world of aliens vs space marines. I played it basically non-stop for two years before taking a yearlong hiatus. Now I am playing again, so I thought I would tell you guys about it.http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ a fantastic game, with exceptionally good art and graphics(puts all other HL engine mods to shame). If you play, I go by the name.....(you guessed it) MajesticTreeFrog.Try it, I promise you will be hooked.

What I don't understand is why people must take things to extremes. No drugs, booze, or sex is just sorta... ok....Granted, I essentially live a straightedge life by your definition, yet I don't see myself as straightedge. Why? Because I simply have no interest in most booze(it tastes bad), most drugs (my biology is weird, so most drugs don't work or work badly anyway), and I have a girlfriend so I have no interest in casual sex. What I am saying is: why the need for the hard rules? If you are with friends, have a tasty drink. Eat some steak now and then. Enjoy a non-addictive drug in a responsible and well informed manner on the weekends if you like that sort of thing(like most psychedelics).My experience with straightedge folks is that living in moderation is hard for them. So, they take the healthy extreme rather than the crash and burn one. Which is a good choice. Still, being able to cope with more ambiguity seems a better objective(after clearing yourself out of the junk).

Lol. While I agree with you that most rap is crap, I think you are rather full of yourself when you put your musical tastes at the top of things that require musical TALENT and SKILL. From what I have heard of both progressive metal and hardcore, they aren't any more demanding than rap, other than you have to learn instruments. TALENT on the other hand, seems to be the same.And the exact same thing can be said of other genres of music, or film, books, etc. 90% of everything is crap. That means that there is a good chance that some of what YOU like is crap as well. The same goes for me.If you don't like rap, don't listen to the radio. I don't, and it works wonders.

I think the modern interpretation is that the absolution only counts if you TRULY repent your sins. Otherwise it was a false confession. However, you are correct(as far as I know) in that what you described was how it used to be.

I understand GCC 4 is a big improvement, with significantly better code optimization

I agree that they are a bit cluttered, but they still look nice. What program do you use and how do you go about making those wallpapers. I notice lots of art like that and I wonder how its done.

First, for what I want in a game, go play Ultima Underworld 1. What I liked about it was how well thought out, consistent, and integrated the world was. It wasn't just scenary that was there just to sorta look neat but be otherwise pointless or silly(FF cough). Really, I haven't found a game that has matched it since. You should play it, if you can find a copy(its an OLD game. The first 3d RPG I think).Second, I want ACTUAL role playing. As in your actions matter. Unlike say, FF or many others where its basically a story book with some random combat, I want actual role playing. If you are mean, ACTUALLY MEAN, and not just the stupid dialogue option decisions most games use to fake it, then there are repurcussions. This means that you may not only be not liked by villagers(the usual fake answer to this), but may also be offered a job by the local mob or gangs. Similarly, there shouldn't be just multiple endings, but multiple storylines. I once did a thing (in a tabletop) where if the characters went north instead of south, everything would be different. Time would go by even though the characters weren't at place X yet, and they would show up, say, after a battle instead of in it. This REALLY enhances replayability. Most games (like Deus Ex-which was good, but still a case in point), just have the same missions but different ways of going through them. This is really, well, gimp. At this point, doing all this should be standard. Sadly RPGs have stagnated at just making the plots more surreal and having better graphics than actually innovating on gameplay. I personally think the surreal plot thing is just an excuse to not actually think through something more real and convincing.

gmail is definitely king of the free webmail services right now. Not just in space, but also user interface and general friendliness. Even their POP service is free(though I prefer imap, especially with all the space they give you). However, they aren't the only people to give a gig of mail. Spymac.com does as well.

CS had a bunch of nice things for photographers and such. CS2 has more straight up image editing features, such as the perspective filter/effect. It also has lossless resizing and a number of other very nifty features. Really, its a much much better upgrade than CS1

I have always been a big fan of tekken(other than 4) and Soul Calibur(especially the first one. The second wasn't as good, IMO). Street fighter got old, then got stupid.

If he uses a mac(or really anything, but a mac), he should check out python. Its one of the most powerful AND one of the most easy to learn languages. In addition, through PyObjC, he can talk to OSX directly with it and access cocoa libraries(very very handy). Just a thought.Also, the next version of java for OS X is coming out with Tiger.

This is true, but unsurprising. Organizations as a general rule try to protect themselves and their members. This seems really bad, but realize that if an organization has a tendency to go after and investigate its members, it rapidly falls apart. Granted, it SHOULD go after something like pedophilia, but the tendency to self protect is not that good at differentiating between offenses.

The current issues around intellectual property are larks. The problem is not that people are engaged in piracy or that people have file sharing. The problem is that for a long time a few organizations/cartels controlled IP distribution around the world. They did this because there was no more efficient, decentralized manner of doing this. As a result, artists had to go through gatekeeper organizations like record labels and movie studios to get their work seen or heard by a large audience. Now that this has changed, the large labels are no longer needed. As a result they are screaming and whining about the new world that is consigning them to the dustbin of history.Nothing to see here, move along.

All I have to say is, YAY! I have been waiting for this for a while. I can't wait to install it on my ibook.

This is why wikis usually have a CVS system with them to allow eraseing of unwanted changes, as well as maintainers who keep stuff like that under control. This is why wikipedia is so good.

Cheerwine

Its not like the romans were the only people to use crucifiction you know. Assorted groups in europe used it. Rome lasted for a long time, and had tremendous influence on the region. Refering to the hands is only a necessary clue if you have no idea about crucifiction. If you do, then what it is refering to is obvious, and there you go.

Actually, yes. If you are down it is more likely that you will go up, simply because of the law of averages. If you had prayed and nothing had improved, would that mean that nothing was out there? You can't have it both ways. Well, this image occurs because there are people who DO run around with a bible and shove it people who call themselves christians. Since there are many types of people who call themselves christian it makes it hard to differentiate using only that word. Well, I don't think they are covering their eyes so much as pointing out inconsistencies and problems with the validity of the answer, but I can't be sure since you gave no examples. Yes, most people who are rebels and such form their own normality. However, this may include you. As for throwing stuff back in your face, you seem to have a very "us vs. them" mentality. It could be that some people are just pointing out what they see as inconsistencies in your beliefs. Chances are, some are just being *BLEEP*s and some are simply being logical and happening not to agree with you. Recognize this, and realize that part of the problem may also be that you can't tell the groups apart. I am listening, so I hope you do me the same courtesy. However, realize that my disagreeing with you is not me considering you a loser or anything like that. If you read my posts, I am harsh and critical when it comes to logic. Its not about you. As for why to bother(not sure what you mean by the whole why bother thing, but I will take a stab at it), I bother because I decide to enjoy life. Because I enjoy the people around me, because it beats the alternatives even. A clump of cells(a human) feels guilt and sadness and such because of evolved higher brain function. It is usefull for the group, but that is a bit off topic. Of course, you probably want a more spiritual answer, so here goes: We feel because the people we meet in life add something to our own. While people walk around with the concept of *I* we are at least as much a product of our interactions with others as any other factor, if not more. When those around us are hurt or dye, then we are hurt or a part us dies. This does not mean that all emotion is really selfish, but instead that the best of life is to be truly selfless. Harboring things to oneself is to commit a form of suicide. You know that saying about never saying never..... Anyway, I think you are misunderstanding the point others are making. Some feel that religion is bad because it divides mankind and has been responsible for terrible suffering. Part of what they are now realizing is that it can also ease suffering. It is less about religion or christianity in particular but about how to get the easing of suffering without the killing and division. The part about the crutch should be interpreted as so: "religious people" (usually far right christians) these days are proclaiming things that are known to be false. Silly stuff that really doesnt have to be part of christianity and sometimse just straight up isn't. The interpretation given to these events is that the "religious people" just can't handle the truth(about whatever small thing is the focus) and that religion is their excuse, their crutch, for this fact. This isn't the only reason for the crutch sentiment, but its a rather central one and the others are pretty similar.

Considering all the damage we do to one another because of our concept of self and feelings of superiority, I am not sure that is an advantage. A programmed ego would also not necessarily be static. In fact, it almost certainly would not be. Programs can self modify, both in response to input as well as randomly or according to any given algorithm. Also, ego has nothing to do with adapting to an environment. You can build all types of adapting things with no self awareness at all.

I would say that you are not so much using windows so much as just using the games. Very little of "windows" is relavant in a game. The only thing being used is directX(if that. Games that use openGL basically just use input and sound drivers and such).

Actually, ebola (as it currently exists) will never be a worldwide epidemic precisely BECAUSE it is so virulent and deadly. Ebola kills of populations too quickly to effectively spread, especially in the face of modern disease control methods. The effect is sorta like an impact crater. Someone gets it and brings it to an area, it acts, and the original host and everyone nearby dies, but the killing happens to fast for continual spreading. The danger is in mutation to a SLOWER acting and less deadly form.