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I just installed Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and it looks great. I like the fact that it hasn't changed much (in the UI). The browser is probably the most used software so change in the UI isn't too good. As far as the extensions go I lost one... Fasterfox. It seems it isn't yet compatible with 2.0. After some search I found and update for my theme Qute. As far as I tried it the user can swap between languages with a simple click. Yeah of course at first you'll only have the English dictionary but you can download your language dictionary (well my languages dictionary is on the download list, but it seems it is only compatible with the beta versions). Lol is very used phrase but you can't find it anywhere in the normal dictionary, so why should it be in Firefox. If you ask me the greatest feature of the new Firefox is the spell checker which I hope will improve my spelling . I'm not joking... I realize I make a lot of spelling mistakes so its a very welcome addition. I used to keep an online dictionary running when writing on Xisto and I still had a few mistakes. Looking forward to the launch of Mozilla Firefox 2.0 in my own language...

Well I have already seen (and eaten) Ice Cream in cookies. In fact it wasn't in a cookie, but in a doughnut. Not in a american style doughnut, but in a full doughnut, it's hard to explain... in a larger american style doughnut but without the hole in the middle (here is a picture). Anyway ... they have a special way of baking it since the ice cream in the middle does not melt... maybe they just bake it very fast, I really don't know. But last time I ate one I had the very smart idea of going for a swim just after finishing it... Let's just say that when you're parents tell you not to go swimming after you eat, trust them and don't do it.

Well the USA almoust owns the world so why not own the space too; maybe one day they will rent it to us... Buy one get one free ... Now serious- I'm having my doubts that the USA has even got to the moon (not as if they couldn't do it with todays tech, but 40 years ago that might have been a problem and we all know how much they wanted to show the russians how good they are... so if you can't get to the moon why not fake it?), but saying space is someones territory is just crazy. Yeah of course it is the best place to put nukes, but it's not like the USA don't have nukes on the orbit. Im sure there have at least a couple of nukes "just in case".This is a typical case of: 'I control the world, we do it my way or no way!'. It's not like the first time they do it...

Yeah but you see... if there wasn't for the competition only weak emperors would have ruled Rome. Not as if there where a lot a great emperors... only a few could be in the hall of fame. I have read somewhere on the internet another theorie that I would like to discuss with you. It is said that the Roman Empire fell because it's economy was based on plunder and slaves. Those two things were of course provided by conquest. That wasn't a problem until the empire became to big to defend and to weak to conquer further. Romania, the place where I live, is the old roman province of Dacia, the last province to be conquered (it marked the very peak to territorial conquest) and the first province to be abandoned. So you see everything was well until they could not conquer anymore... the enemies where to many, the frontiers to large to defend, the army to small and ill prepared to further conquer. As nomore plunder and slaves came to Rome the economy started to decline, starting a chain reaction that would end only with the Empire's fall. This theorie suggests that the Roman Empire was doomed from the very beginning, because it was built like an extremly efective war machine (maybe the most efective of all times), but once it was stoped there was no way to start it again. But why did it stop!?

I can olnly say I like the fact that Google is getting stronger and stronger everyday. It seems that Microsoft is starting to get a large piece of the Internet market and it is good to know that they will have some serious competition. Google should keep up the good work!

Well I just read on Yahoo! News that the UN has finally taken a decision regarding what do to with the North Koreean situation (for more details on this subject Click Here). It's nothing major... like the open war USA wanted, but it is good to know the United Nations still have some power left. Of course I don't really expect that some economical penalties will stop North Koreea from developing nuclear weapons. Indeed the worldis having a huge problem right now. Well besides the fact that North Koreea is a comunist country I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to use nuclear weapons. I mean USA, Great Britain, France, etc... has them so why should them be suprised that somebody else also wants the bomb. And it isn't fair that since the USA has the nuclear bomb they should just: "Why should you have it?". In other words I have a candy, why should you have one. Of course I don't approve putting a weapon of mass destruction into the hand of a crazy leader, but the USA and the rest of the world should remember that they also have the nuclear bomb and until they will not destroy them they won't be able to say "Disarm!" to other! It is, of course my point of view...

I've talked with my history teacher on this subject... I asked her if she thinks the decline and fall of the Roman empire has anything to do with Christianity. She said that thru the provinces of the empire any religion was permitted as long as the people would swear faith to the emperor. Some people even adapted there own faith to that of the empire and imported some gods from the romans. When Christianity came... well the christians weren't that eager to swear faith to an emperor which was not God or did not have anything to do with the church. The religion prohibited this... What happened? Less and less people obeyed the orders of the emperor, the trust and respect for the emperor diminished and with it came the Empire's collapse, of course on top of many other problems. It seems a pretty valid theorie.What nobody can attack is the fact that the collapse of the Roman Empire was a severe blow to menkind. Dark Ages followed and so on... We can say that menkind lost 1000 years of progress due to the collapse of the empire and "thanks" to the efforts of the church. I can only imagine where we would have been now if is weren't for the Dark Ages...

I really don't understand what is happening in the USA. Every now and then someone takes hostage or just goes to school and starts a massacre. I think the guverment should do something. It simply isn't something to be tolerated, even more forgiven. This time the killer isn't another kid, but still this is a horrible crime. I don't think so. What if everybody just started forgiving everyone for every crime ever? I could go out in the street and kill someone, but that's okay! Everyone forgives me. Criminals should be punished. I totaly agree with you. Forgiven isn't good at all. If his morality hasn't stoped him from killing all that inocent kids at least the law, by it's punishment, should give an example. Capital punishment would be the right thing to do. By forgiving you are just encouraging more rampages like this one.

I would stick with Azureus... I have used it for over a year and I didn't have any problems with it. I heard people complaining that it eats too much RAM, but I can tell you I ran it for over 36 hours on my old computer (with 256MB RAM) and I didn't have any problems with it. I also have friends who use BitComet so if you decide to switch gto for BitComet.

Well it would have been nice if I were to get a free computer. Sadly that wasn't my case Well I was in the 5th grade (my parents long promised me a computer once I'll be in the 5th grade). They didn't have all the money for it and as we don't like borrowing money from banks, they started buying my computer piece by piece. And for almoust half an year every month they bought some part of my computer. The funny part of my story comes now... as the computer's parts where all on my sofa I was eager to see it working that everyday I used to hug and kiss the computer's components. Yeah that was stupid, but I was 11 years old and there wasn't anything on the world that could make me happier then my own computer. And, even though I have changed it a few times since I bought it 8 years ago, I can say I still love it.

I was really sad when I heard the news. It seems his brain has taken some damage but the doctors are optimist about his recovery. I know him more for Brainiac then for Top Gear...At least, as keri-j wrote, he crashed doing the thing he loved the most - driving. It makes me remember how Steve Irwin died, doing the thing he liked the most. Really sad stories...I hope Richard Hammond will recover and I'll see him on Brainiac again as fast as possible.

But I think you will agree with me when I say that the death of the Gladiator is the cherry on the cake. If they were to make another movie they would probably say that thru a miracle he somehow survived. The whole point of the first movie is that he belived in something ("What we do in life echoes in eternity!"). The idea was that thru his sacrifice The Roman Empire could become a republic once more. Bringing him back would ruin that effect. It's just like making Titanic 2 and bringing Di Caprio back... A lot of people cried when they saw that he died so it would spoil the first movie if they would bring him back. Ok...no one will bring di caprio back but it is a good example for what would happen if they were to bring gladiator back. A prequel would make much more sense in that matter... Yeah same opinion here... A new Terminator movie without Arnold would be a total disaster. No one could say "I"ll be back!" just as he did. But I don't think he has that much work to do that he couldn't make a movie. I think he has plenty of time to spare. The million dollar question is "Does he really want to make another Terminator?"

I'm a programmer and I started working on a new project. It's not very big or famous, but I intend to make it as professional as I can. I'm looking for someone who wants to help me by creating an icon (a series of icon with different resolutions) for my software. I have to tell you that there is no reward for this other then my thanks and of course, you will be mentioned in my open-source software. The software is called Enigma CS (Coding Software... for details CLICK HERE). I have a picture (jpg) and I need a series of icons from it (The same one at different resolutions). What I need is to make it transparent (no white background) and to add the initials "CS" in the back of the circle. If you are willing to help me please send me a PM so I will give you more details. Thank you!

That is great news. When I saw the ending of Terminator 3 (which by the way I saw about 5 times) I said "they have to do another one!". I really really loved the way Terminator 3 ended even if they couldn't stop Judgment Day. I wonder what is it going to be about... I'm looking forword to a SF war movie! Hope Arnold is still up for the challenge!PS: Off topic... I found out a few days ago that Ridley Scott is thinking to do another Gladiator which, he sais, is going to be a sequal, but will still have Russell Crowe as the main actor (strange thing since The Gladiator dies in part one.

Yeah humanity is a big problem, but not because of it's nature, simply because we are too many. In the animal kingdom a so succesful predator (as we are) would ony have a very small number of individuals. In other words as you go up in the food chain the number of individuals of the same species declines. So basicly there are 10 rats for every human on the planet, but that is because a lot of animals eat rats, and other animals eat that animals, etc. As succesful as we are in killing others (animals or our own) we should only be a few hundred thousand (look at our closest relatives the apes... we don't see billions of apes do we?). But something has gone terribly wrong and the human species has much more individuals then it should. That means it needs more resources to survive and as nature isn't built to sustain such a huge population it is only normal that it is starting to degrade. The huge number of individuals also explains the killing of our own kind. Many animals have there own territory and when that territories collide they fight and some even die. It is just what happens to menkind. Individuals form nations, each with their territory. Wars happen and lots of people die. Once again everything happens just ike in the animal kingdom, but on a much much bigger scale.Should humanity be destroyed? No person will destroy humanity, but humanity will destroy itself. And even if it doesn't nature or some comet will take care of that. You'll laugh, but menkind is like Neo in the Matrix, a glitch, an exception which the Matrix wants to correct. And I'm sure there is an oposite to menkind just as there is Agent Smith to Neo, and sooner or later those two opposits will anihilate each other.

That is a very good explination. In other words we could say that the Roman Empire fell because of its own succes. Caesar legions very strong, well trained and disciplined, but as the Empire grew stronger and stronger and as there were no more enemies to fight the army was reduced, the fighting spirit died and insted of Roman legions came Barbarian mercenaries. When Rome enemies realised the decline they started to attack the (now weak) border. So as I see it once you get to the peak of something there is no other way then down. It is just what happened to the Roman Empire.Concerning the "did Christianity have something to do with the fall of the Empire?" problem I already stated that, in my opinion is one of the main reasons for the decline in discipline and fighting spirit and on the long run for the decline of the Roman Empire. On the other hand Christianity did something good. Once the Western Empire fell in the 5th Century the barbarians were well into converting to Christianity. And even thought for 10 centuries the church has closed the eyes of the world to science and culture (thus the Dark Ages), the church was the only institution which managed to preserve the science and culture into the chaos that followed the Empire's fall.

Yeah it is very much true... One of the main reasons why the Roman Empire started to fall is the lack of good emperors and generals. What I want to discuss is why there were no good emperors. I don't see how the lead theorie could explain that! I'm saying that the Roman Empire fell because, in time, they converted to Christianity. If you look into the timeline of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire you will see that after Constantine ("first Christian Emperor", fully legalized Christianity in the Empire) there were no good Christian emperors anymore... just a very long line of emperors who did not care about the good of the empire, only for the good of themselves. It also happens that the last pagan emperor Flavius Claudius Iulianus (also known as Julian the Apostate) was, even though he enjoyed only a very short reign, one of the best after Constantine. Before Christianity was adopted in the Empire people would, for example, consider military service a sacred duty for which they expected some sort of reward from the gods. When Christianity was adopted in the Empire people became unwilling to kill and careless with their life, no longer praticing the ancient (virtues. That is why I consider Christianity to be one of the main reasons why the Roman Empire fell; the conversian had a much greater influence in all aspects of life in comparison with other reasons.

It has been two weeks since I returned from a trip to Rome (among other cities). It was one of my dreams to visit the eternal city of Rome, the city that was once the center of the civilized world. Many of my friends didn't like Rome, because, as they said: "there are only a bunch of stones to be seen". I totally disagree with them. It's hard to express what I felt when I saw the Colosseum, the Imperial forums or Trajan's Column, so much history and power in a single city. It is amazing to think that I stood on the same spot where, 2000 years ago, stood the emperors of the world. It was also hard for me to understand, seeing today's italians, how they managed to conquer most of the known world.In recent years I started having a passion for history. For my history is made up of 3 parts: Alexander The Great (considered one of the most successful military commanders in history and the world's biggest empire builder), The Roman Empire (the world's biggest empire and the most important of them all) and The Third Reich (Drittes Reich, Tausendj?hriges Reich "Thousand-Year Empire").As I stood among the ruins of ancient Rome I started thinking... how could the italians conquer the world since they are like my own people, the romanians (we are half latin) - very lazy and uncivilized (at least compared to some other countries). But the roman 2000 years ago couldn't have been lazy or uncivilized, they were the flower of menkind.What follows is my very own opinion... it is not to be considered professional or 100% true. It is just my opinion!There are a bunch of reasons why the Roman Empire fell. I will discuss them in the order of their importance:1. Tyranny - When Julius Caesar killed the too corrupt Republic he had replaced a form of bad government with one, which at that time, seemed good. On the short run (~180 years) the empire was better then the old republic, but on the long run it was to be the core of the rotten empire. A long series of emperors had nothing to do with the well-beeing of the empire, they only saw their own interests and vices. Internal crisis weakend the imperial army which was no longer capable of defending the empire.2. No more practice of virtues. In the time of the republic the romans built the empire step by step, discipline was a common word, law and order reigned everywhere. The barbarians where not (yet) afraid of the mighy legions. When the republic turned into the empire, it was near its peak. Pace came and there was no more need for a well disciplined army or brillliant generals; people mixed and the roman blood was no longer pure (it is strongly related to the difference I wazs talking about: ancient roman- modern italian). The barbarians where now afraid even when they heard the name of the Roman Empire. So on the base of peace and prosperity (the Pax Romana) the empire started to slide downwards. Soon the barbarians started to realise that the mighty roman army was not what it used to be. While they were attacking the boders of the empire the internal crisis decimated the flower of the roman army. And the fall was only at the beginning. Diocletian was the last good emperor to realise that the empire could no longer be governed by one person... At this point there was no turning back...3. Christianity - some may not agree with me but I (and other people way smarter then me) think that Christianity is one of the most importnat reasons of the decline of the Roman Empire. Christianity told people that the life on earth is, for the most part useless. The material world is only temporary, so people no longer practiced the virtues and simply waited for the kingdom of heaven. The army was no longer considered a priority, because God will not reward the brave man of the legions. As I see it Christianity corroded the very pilars of the Roman society. As there was no more wish to fight, the end was no longer a problem of if, but of when.I should state that I have been impressed (and probably heavly influenced) by Edward Gibbon's (arguably the most influential historian to write in English) History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a book which I strongly suggest reading to all those interested in this topic.Hope you had the patience to read my long post. I would be happy if you would post you're own theories or even theoriesthat you have heard and agree with. Criticism is also welcome!

Considering the recent events I don't blame the terrorists... Some of you may freek out saying: look someone who supports terrorism. I don't support terrorism, but I don't see why killing inocent civilians is such a bad thing on this side of the world and it isn't on the other side of the world. Why in Europe and in the USA everybody points the finger on the terrorists for killing inocent civilians and when the jews kill 100s of inocent people in Lebanon only a small part of you are against it. In other words for the americans this is terrorism, but in Lebanon its just pure justice. This is the great democracy of the world, this is the power that rules the world. People are so ignorant... a 9/11 is just what is takes to blind the american public.So people... please consider all the facts not what the propaganda machine shows you because there is a strong propaganda machine even in the west. Don't be narrow minded, put youself in their situation and you will see that you would do the same thing. I totally agree with you. The fear of terrorist attacks is 99% fake and it is only a cover up to blind the public opinion. When people don't agree with you just close your eyes on a bombing and puff just like magic everyone agrees with you SO YEAH DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED WHAT YOU SEE ON TV... IT IS (NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY TRY) ONLY ONE SIDE OF THE STORY

Well for the past month I have been away and I didn't have an internet connection so I couldn't post on Xisto. I have watched the ongoing conflict with a lot of attention right from the beggining and I want to express my point of view. I am sure many of you share it...I used to joke with my parents when I came back from a long trip I always asked them "Any news? Did a war start as I was gone?". Of course this time it was no longer a joke. A war has started, inocent people die every day. As you have seen the UN has no power to stop it (I will discuss that later in my post) and the only country that has the power to stop it does not wish to (I will also discuss that later in my post)...I had a shock when I heard a war has started. I thought "What the h*** are the jews doing this time?" (I was already angry on them because a few days before I was in Prague and I wanted to visit the jewish quarters; as I have never been in a synagogue I said why not visit one... but thy asked me to pay to visit a synagogue... I wonder where in the world does anyone ask for money to visit a church?!?).So in my opinion this war is 60% Israels fault and 40% Hezbollah fault. The war started from a kidnapping, but as everything in the Middle East is has a history of conflict. Why do I say that it is Israels main fault? Because 50 years ago they did not have a country and they stole one... not only thy stole one (I really mean the word "stole" when I used it), but they stole one from the people who's conscience and religion provides them with a powerful weapon of revenge. The Palestinians are still opressed in their own country and I don't blame them for wanting their land back. In conclusion I am strongly against what the jews did and I am also strongly against the way the arabs decided to reclaim their land.But in this war I can't overlook the inocent people that died. Hezbollah has no conscience to stop it from using inocent people as human shields, but the jews have the choice to stop the bombing and let diplomacy resume. But they did not make that choice and the war goes on...But what really makes me angry is the the jews have an indirect control over the world. The so mighty USA is just like someone dancing on what somebody else sings. I think most of you know the fact that 90% of the richest people in the USA are jews so basicly the so great USA are controlled by the jews. If you would have told me that a month ago I would have said that you're not in your mind, but this war made it clear to me. I can remember Condoleezza Rice smiling in Kofi Annans face, I can remember the way USA has rejected that public statement that said it was a deliberat attack on that UN outpost. And more important I can remember the way they rejected and still do any ceasefire that would save the life of so many inocent people. I have heard on CNN how the syrian ambasador said that they do not like the new middle east order that the USA and Israel (two contries that have 200 and 50 years of history, he added) want over contries that have over 600 years of history. I agree with him... Hezbollah is a threat and should be disarmed, but a ceasefire is the way to do it. What I hate the most is that the UN has no power even if all the countries in the world (except USA of course) agree that a ceasefire is crucial. The USA had the responsability, as the world's biggest power, to end this conflict and let diplomacy resume. But after all that has happend they still don't do it.IT IS AWFUL TO SEE THAT MONEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THEN PEOPLE'S LIFE.The Bush administraton was right ... a new world order is necessary, a new world order that would bring peace and stability to the world. I really can't see where is the place of USA in this new world order.If I have offended some jews, it was not in my intention to do so and I am sorry but this is the way that I see a war that could have been avoided or at least shortened.

It's not much, but I'm sure that if everyone would donate as much as they can it would make a difference. Maybe OpaQue could open a topic for this and maybe he could write there the ones who donated and the amount. Just my thoughts...I'm going abroud for a month (maybe you have noticed the huge amount of posts I had recently) and I won't have internet, but as soon as I will be back I'll contact OpaQue, if he won't post anything be then.

Well I don't think I'm missing the big picture. I'm not an american so I can't understand how they really feel, but the USA today has nothing to do with the nazi. Yeah everyone sais that USA is the biggest democracy, but the in truth USA has also the most easy to control people, a bomb and some victims somewhere and they will vote for anyone that promises them revenge. So the big democracy may just be smoke and mirrors. Yeah the actions of Bush may resemble Hitler's, but we should not forget that (for the time beeing) USA rules the world... it may be cruel what I say but somehow they have the power (and thus the right) to do what they like. There is no one to stop them. It is the plain truth... It is the rule of the strongest...

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(I dont know if anyone else had an idea like this... if it did please excuse me)I have read Xisto's Story in the General Section and since I'm a member for over an year and a half and I'm very pleased with Xisto I want to donate a small amount of money (what I can spare). As a gift not as any fee or something... It is a way to express my gratitude to Xisto and it's admin.Xisto has over 19.000 members now and if only 10% of them would donate 10 cents it would still be over 190$.It would be great if the admin could open some donation accounts at different online payment processing websites like paypal, egold, etc.I'm sure there are a ot of members who would like to donate!So what do think?

I have been a member of Xisto for over an year and a half now and I am sure that day I made the best possible decission. In this year and a half I never thought about changing to another host. Xisto IS THE BEST.Well didn't know the story of Xisto until today when (I admit) I accidentally saw this thread. I read it twice so I wouldn't loose anything...It is nice OpaQue to see someone make something great out of a passion. I think OpaQue will agree with me when I say Xisto is a huge success today. I also hope that today or someday in the future you'll make some profits out of Xisto... you deserve it fully!PS: I just had a suggestion about this, but I'll post it in the right section...