dreus

Well, the pity stems from the fact that despite a poor choice Landis might have made (he's still claiming that his body was biologically capable of producing the testosterone and will try to prove it scientifically ), his career and life is pretty much ruined.He'll always have a shadow of doubt following him whenever he competes professionally (if he even decides to) and will always be regarded as "the guy who cheated in the Tour the France and soiled the yellow jersey".Worse still, he's the first rider that the tournament has ever stripped the award away from. He might be a "cheater" but in the eyes of the public, he'll have that title attributed to him wherever he goes - even if he does win the legal & scientific battles.**As much as I admire Lance, I have a strong feeling that he too was using some form of performance enhancing drugs... it's just that the levels didn't exceed the limits set by the UCI. I'd hate to be the one saying it, but it's almost a good thing that he retired sooner rather than later as analytical methods for detection of banned substance is getting better and better with each passing year. Nonetheless, he is still a champion at the sport and an American hero indeed.

Your participation in the Xisto forum i.e. making good quality posts that are not spam, plagiarized, (read the forum rules for more on this matter as well as to gain a better understanding of the system) will allow you to collect "credits". Credits are not assigned based on quantity but rather on the quality of your posts. Once accumulated, they can be used to redeem for free web hosting. 10 Credits -> smaller package with less hosting space 30 Credits -> larger package with more hosting space After you have requested hosting and have been approved, you'll have to remain active on these forums to keep your free hosting. If the number of credits you have dips below 0, your account will be suspended. Be active, contribute good and meaningful posts and have fun in the process. And yes, this is legit.

It pretty much comes down to the individual themselves and what technique they find most useful when it comes to learning something new. I used to learn by putting the material into different groups e.g. all the provinces and states that start with a particular lettre. Gradually, I tried a peg-word method and learned/memorized by creating a story with my peg-words. E.g. hypothalamus --> ball, brain --> hand. So a "ball in my hand" would be just like saying "hypothalamus in my brain". Acronyms and other mnemonic devices are usually really good for memorizing hard facts (such as when you're studying for courses like biology... or preparing to write an MCAT). Some of the mnemonics are just plain fun e.g. "Kinky People Can Often Find Good Sex" (a taxomist's nightmare when grouping living organisms into Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species) or how about Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (E, G, B, D, F are the names of the lined notes in the treble clef of a music staff) Putting new knowledge into the form of a song does work as well. However, I have yet to create a song to remember stuff that I deem worth singing. Perhaps you'll have better luck. But yeah, relating back to the original question about learning lyrics vs studying, I believe that lyrics are easier learned because it's something we're interested in - and as such, we care about. Will we have so much enthusiasm when we have to learn quantum physics (sorry if I offended anyone, but that stuff really isn't my cup of tea)? If that were the case, however; I'm sure it would be as easily learned as the lyrics to one of Fiddy's songs. Oh and one more thing, text books usually have a lot of fluff material in them. Practice in getting to the material that is important and worth learning. It'll be sure to save you some time and make the learning process a lot more fun and not to mention, rewarding.

I play the piano quite a bit. I started with the classical material and have gradually progressed trough jazz, ragtime and now to more contemporary pop/rock styles (I've pretty much gone from more to less technically demanding) And yes, I rely on the damper pedal as much as I would rely on oxygen and food to survive.I can't really think of any effects with the pedal that haven't already been mentioned... I mean, it's used to sustain sounds, make legatos sound more fluid and give a piece a more cohesive feel. I guess the real technique lies in when to hold & release the pedal to create the right sound and the right cutoff. It does take a while to master (and I can't even say that I've fully mastered it myself) but it surely improves your coordination.For all the pianist out there having trouble coordinating the pedal drop immediately after the key is depressed, you should give kit drumming a shot. Learning how to play a drum set will surely give you an upper hand when it comes to limb independence.

And if convicted, he can face up to 3 years in jail... which will probably amount to some charity work and community service.Strange how celebrities get off so easy eh? *sarcasm*Producers are also urging a boycott of Mel's movies and some of the projects that had been associated with him have already been dropped.That fella really pushed it too far. If you've had a chance to see some of the "party photos" when Mel was under the influence, he was completely plastered and his complexion actually looked 'grey' in the pictures.

Yes, it's confirmed. Landis' B sample tested positive so being stripped of the title is pretty much inevitable. Worse still, he was fired from his Swiss team (Phonak) and will probably be banned from the tourney for the next two years to come.I do feel a certain degree of pity for him though (then again, his comeback was pretty surreal). Whatever pride, hapiness, honour that he had is now forever tainted by this incident.Well, I guess I'll just stick to high altitude training then... I'll probably never be able to ride at the Tour de France level but completing a full triathlon comes close enough in my books.

I beat Indigo Prophecy (for PC) in one sitting, the night after I had written my final exam.In my opinion, it was a spectacular game. The control system was very original and the whole "play the game as if it were a movie" system was very engaging. I must say thought, this is one of those games that would be more fun to watch someone play than to play yourself.Yes, the storyline did take some crazy turns but because of how short the game is (wrapped it up in about 8 hours - yes, my eyes burned afterwards) I barely noticed just how twisted it had become. I was just absorbed in Lucas' story and kept playing to find out more.My neighbour also gave it a whirl and it is to my understanding that there are multiple endings? I'm guessing that it's based on what you choose to do with the little girl.... Jade, was that her name?

Heh FL Studio may seem low end but that program can really do quite a bit. I was a bit skeptic when I first tried it out - it didn't give the same hardware look as Propellerheads Reason and the sound quality wasn't the best. But after reading the 'getting started' guide and toying around with it for a few hours, I soon discovered just how powerful Fruity can be. VST support, importing audio tracks... the list goes on. And just tweaking a few knobs will give the sampled sounds a much more realistic feel. I guess Image-Line's (maker of FL Studio) only downfall was to initially call the program "Fruity Loops"... which they've changed - for the better.

Well, for one, I think that it'll be real useful for the tourism industry. What better way than to take a whole bunch of snapshots of one area, reconstruct it in 3D to give potential tourists a walkaround of their potential vacation spot? I think it'll make for great advertising.Neat concept.

Heh. As long as both give me the results I want, I'm happy. I couldn't care less if one took up to 23 seconds longer than the other.

Studio in a box I would suggest to start with the Fl Studio Producer Edition. There really isn't anything that you can do on other programs that you can't do in Fl. It's pretty much "out of the box and you're good to go". The Producer Ed. also allows you to handle vocal tracks and has a lot of VST (virtual studio technology) support. Propellerheads Reason offers modules and synths that ressemble real hardware but the cord patching can leave you in a tangled mess. A MIDI controller is also strongly advisable. Samples have much better sound quality but there is no vocal track support. Ableton Live has the best sequencer I've ever seen. A lot of digital djs rely on this program. I haven't invested much time into it yet but Darude's music gives you a taste of its capabilities. If memory serves me right, the popular club track "Sandstorm" was built on Live. Accessory programs worth considering or to use in conjunction with boxed studios Propellerheads ReBirth is a program designed for creating techno beats. If loop based music is your thing, try ACID made by Sony. It's the easiest program to use but don't expect to become a full fledged dj with it. Also, expect to shell out cash to buy loop packs - not worth it, in my opinion For editing and producing only, go with Sound Forge. I personally accept no substitute. Steinberg Cubase has the steepest learning curve I've ever seen. I gave up on in for the time being. Perhaps you might have better luck. Programs that are also worth considering but that I've yet to try cause I really don't have that much time or money ProTools, Cakewalk, Nuendo... that's all I can think of for now. My final verdict Start with Fl Studio and see if this is what you really want to do. As you get more into song writing/editing/producing or dj'ing, you'll learn that hardware is the way to go and that no matter how close programs come to the real thing, a real drummachine or synthesizer is just in a class of its own. Good luck

Wow. iPods are taking quite the heat on this thread eh? I bought a 3rd gen iPod, I guess a few months before they exploded on the market, and have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, its simple yet sleek look is quite attractive (in my opinion, at least) and the 40gb storage was absolutely phenonmenol at the time. However, its downfall resulted from its shoddy battery life and well, how pricey it was (I think it was around $700 back when I bought it - the reasons being a)It caught my eye B)I had saved up enough money to splurge a little for myself c)I'm a dj and was at that time going through a phase of hardware-to-digital, using the Pod as opposed to lugging around vinyls and cds). Despite popular belief that iPods and iTunes go hand in hand, there is another widely used program out there that works really well for Windows + iPod users. Winamp! (you do need a 3rd party plug-in), in my opinion, works swell with the Pod. Musicmatch Jukebox isn't too bad either (heck, that's the program that came with the iPod before iTunes was made available for Windows). And of course, there are a lot of other really well designed 3rd party apps that make the Windows/Pod combo a successful one. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see what the "Zune" has to offer.

That should come in real handy once I have to send compressed files to my friends who are neither computer savy nor want to add on the extra burden of installing (and learning how to use) winzip. Trust me, they really don't like computers and would much prefer things to be as simple as 'click and go'.

It looks interesting but I'm still a big skeptic.I read a comment by a person who had tried this product and was "shut down" by their ISP. The ISP (Roadrunner) detected the program as a "modem uncapper" which is apparently "illegal".If I do end up trying this program, my comments about it will be posted here... if Rogers doesn't "shut me down", that is.

Well, in cases of financial difficulties, perhaps the easiest answer is also the harshest: forego DSL and stick it out with dial-up until the financial situation improves.Having more food on the table, in my opinion, is much more important than setting up your own webserver cause the former is what keeps you running - there's no point in taking care of a webserver if you can't even take care of yourself first.I also think that it would be a good idea to really spend some time in having a heart-to-heart conversation with your father. It's important for you to let him know what and how you're really feeling. To me, it doesn't sound right when he's "spending a lot of money for some crap" and only returns home on weekends. Not to mention, his reluctance and whining when you (and I'm assuming the rest of your family) asks for money for things that are necessary. Also, talk to him about how moving houses will benifit the family - increased income? Is it really necessary? Financially, how will that affect the family (cause a house is not cheap, no matter how big or small)?Anyway, that's just my though. I wish you all the best.

If you're an aspiring music producer or just want to learn more about audio editing/producing/mixing and such, Sony Sound Forge is a program that is definitely worth checking out. It does, however; have a steep learning curve and is quite pricey. If I remember correctly, it was over $250 when I bought it (a few years ago). But before shelling out your hard-earned cash, try the demo to see if this is really for you. The demo can be found here: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ The trial version gives you 30 days to play around with the program but you can't export to mp3 format (shouldn't be a problem cause .wav files are more flexible when dealing with digital music and can easily be converted to mp3 format if need be) A quick rundown of some of the more basic things you can do: Add fades Crossfade features to mix tracks (great for remixing) Time stretching/compressing (useful for beat matching but sometimes, the sound quality goes to hell) Add effects (chorus, flanger, reverb, to name a few) Pitch bending (from britney spears the chipmunk to darth vader) Time markers & cropping features for sampling and creating loops and I believe the most recent version even supports virtual studio technology plugins (many of which are free to download and try) Give the Sound Forge demo a shot. You won't regret it if this is something you want to get into.

Choosing to tack on bumper stickers is a personal choice. Thinking that they are pretty/vulgar is an opinion. What's my take on all this? Bumper stickers neither need to go nor will they be seen on the bumper of my car.

Neat! Now I know what a Shemagh is Brainless, more out of curiosity than anything else, but what inspired you to get one?

lol. The laptop looks like my 5150 and I must say, that baby does get hot after a while. Will it explode with flames permeating in and out of it? I sure hope not. But yeah, if this was really a big concern, I'm sure Dell would have made a more public recall (as I don't remember hearing about anything of the like on the news). It's probably just an isolated case.

Although Joshua's comment might not have the greatest applicability in the case of the "guy watching a satellite stream of MTV in his hut" as you put it TheArrow, I do believe that there is a lot of truth in what he had said. The whole idea of sexuality is very overplayed, particularly in "more developped" countries. Just consider how much sexual or at least suggestive material can be found in most forms of media from television, movies, music...Everyone is going to have sexual impulses/desires. Now I'm not going to go into a psychology rant but I just wanted to support the notion that this "society's overemphasis of sex" does play a role (direct/indirect or even both) as a stimulus for sex offenders.In the case of the 9 year-old who gave birth, I really do feel sorry for her. Her innocence, childhood... are all gone - thanks to the *insert harsh profanity* f**k who had raped her. Is (western) society's heavy inclination toward sexuality to blame in this case? Probably not. But the problem of uncontrolled sexual impulse leading to sexual assault (a psychological problem) is.It's even more unfortunate when this is a such a deep-rooted problem with seemingly no resolution.

That is unfortunate indeed.My desktop and inkjet printer were both manufactured by HP. The desktop has lasted a good four years now and only recently has it started to act up. The printer, however; died about one year after I had bought it - yes, shortly after the warranty expired. I later learned that the printer model was just poorly designed, such that one of the gears controlling the sliding ink cartridges would snap rendering it useless. Worse still, it was irreplaceable.At the time, I felt that HP was intentionally making crappy equipment that would only last for the period of its warranty. Soon after, it'd break down and you'd ultimately have to settle in shelling out more cash to buy another of their products. But come to think of it, there may be another reason(s) why your HP product may not perform up to par (of course, it could just be that your laptop was a lemon) .LCDs can get spoiled for a number of reasons. I'm not a computer expert (far from it, actually) but I've seen a fair share of LCDs burn out just because of use. Especially with laptops, a lot of people tend to leave them on for long periods of time and soon after, notice fried transistors (those little dark dots) and what not. And yeah, those buggers are expensive.Perhaps it might be wiser in saving up to buy a new laptop then. And hey, it never hurts to give other companies a shot...Best of luck electron.

I have to admit, despite how impractical 'push up' underwear seems, the idea itself is pretty hilarious. I guess the concept revolves around the whole "if women can wear something to augment their physique, why can't men do the same"?Like previous posts have noted, you never know... This idea could very well materialize sometime in the future (especially with how fashion never seems to run out of outrageous ideas).I can already see the sale tags reading "Hanes Pride Push-Up Boxers, 20% discount"...

Yes hujtec,When I started up Skype a few days ago (I haven't used it in a long while), I was a little suprised and kind of caught off guard when seeing the update patch to fix 'security problems'. But then again, it's no different than hopping on WindowsUpdate to see patches and such that address security issues.Just update to the newest version. Can't hurt.

lol Albus. T'was harsh. She has well-defined abs though... I like a girl who takes care of her body. Anyway, that's enough out of me.I'm rather new to the world of Sigs (I believe this to be my first post in this category) but heck, I liked the sig DjLuki. It carries the whole 'bling bling' vibe pretty well. I could, however; see the 'rijad b' slightly higher and in a different font though. Don't get me wrong, it's elegant but yeah, I'm not exactly sure that it's the perfect match for the pic.I've noticed a lot of Djs tend to go with sigs that are, as Avalon had put it "raunchier". Anyway, that's just the flavour I get from my numerous visits to EAKeep up the artwork!(p.s. any euro adrenaline fanatics on trap? or electronic producers, for that matter?)

Heh, in fact, I was just about to start a thread with regard to the 'Incredible Machine' series of games. Good thing I searched up this post first The original Incredible Machine has to be one of my favourite all-time computer games. Back when CDs first came out, I remember my dad borrowing this game from a colleague. We would spend hours on end trying to figure out the puzzles and nothing could be more satisfying than being able to solve the challenges as well as spending quality time with Pops.The premise of the game is really simple: build a machine that will serve some kind of purpose. Purposes range from getting a ball into a basket, a mouse into a trap, guiding a kid (good 'ol Mel) back to his home, lighting a candle... the list goes on. However, the magic in the game lies in its open-endedness, particularly the way in which you build your machine. Most levels can be solved in a multitude of ways... ideally, you would want your machine to be simple (levels come with timed bonuses, the sooner you figure it out, the more points you get) by laying down as few parts as possible. At the same time though, the game never holds you back from being creative since you can make your machine as complicated and 'incredible' as you would like. Sometimes, it would seem rather idiotic to make such a complicated machine to perform such a basic task but rest assure, nothing can be more satisfying than watching your creation do it's job (and do it successfully) after hitting the 'run machine' button.I feel like I can go on forever when talking about how ingenius this game is (and how much I love it for that matter) so rather than hear me blab on, be sure to check it out. I can almost guarantee that anyone would be instantly hooked by how much fun such a simple game can be, not to mention how profound of an effect it can have for any aspiring engineers, gadget builders, or anyone who has ever asked the question "I wonder if that were possible..."