Yratorm, LightMage

When the going gets tough, that's when the tough get going..Okay, a cliche, but it's true. I understand exactly how you felt when your team-mates let you down - I was part of a massive game development team recently, and we had a major game almost 90% complete, and then our lead programmer walks off because a large company 'bought him off' with a big salary, perks, etc. Now this guy let a lot of people down - there are over 50 people on our team, but hating him doesn't really heal anything. He was a friend of mine, and he's still a friend. Just because someone let me down doesn't mean I can't try to understand - I happen to know that he had a lot of problems and was under intense pressure from his family.Basically, each person's point of view differs, and when you understand that you go a long way towards understanding the people around you. Just remember that what's important to you might not be as important to the other people working with you - so try to find people to put on your team that are as dedicated as you are.And make concessions for human weakness - humans aren't gods, we're still human - and humans make mistakes, they fail, they are afraid sometimes - all these things are part of being human, part of the process of GROWING.Your experience DOESN'T have to be a total loss - not if you LEARN from it. Learn to look at people with new eyes, choose people for your team who believe in the SAME dreams that you do, and are really and truly willing to put in their best towards achieving those goals, and then work with those people towards your common dream. And then, if you find such people, help them when they fall, don't turn away from them. And you'll find that what you get out of this is more than just people working with you, but perhaps some true and life-long.. friends.Hey, long post Take anything from it that will help, and disregard any part where I happen to be talking nonsense And take care!!

LOL, nice intro - welcome to the club Great to have you around. Bhavesh has explained the system very well - of course you can go on vacations etc. you just need to have enough credits in hand to tide you over. If you post regularly on any topic you're interested in, you'll accumulate the extra credits without even trying.

I think spiderman 3 wasn't as good as spiderman 2 - Doc Ock in spiderman 2 has a lot of charisma, and the plot line is better. As for the romance in spiderman 3, yes, I think it's overdone a little. I think Harry as Goblin jr was facinating, though - wish they hadn't killed him off, would have liked to see more team ups along those lines. The sandman was very convincing I thought - but venom wasn't. He's not half as powerful as venom's supposed to be, and a lot less fun.An okay movie, but not in the league of the previous one in the series.. oh, and I wouldn't mind seeing a spiderman 4, so long as they reduce the romance a bit - it's getting a bit tiresome seeing the two lovebirds break up and make up again - and again - and again - and again.

Hey, seems it's a lot more common for dads not to teach their kids how to drive than we think - mine didn't either, I learned with friends. Perhaps some friends of yours will help you out - guys who already know how to drive, I mean? Or perhaps you could ask some decent older person on your block to help you out with this problem? You know, if you have a problem, there's always someone out there who can and will help you with it. Is there a 'nice guy' on your block who you can just walk up to and say 'see, I have this problem, can you help me out.' Hey, if he refuses, ask someone else, until you find someone who WILL help you out. Ask people you know well, preferably - do you have any uncles/aunts who could teach you, for that matter? I agree that there's no sense in paying for two courses, but there's no sense in waiting for your dad to 'do his stuff' either. I'd say that if you can't climb the mountain, then find a way around it.

I'd say don't get yourself killed or seriously injured - putting your life on the line for kicks is d**ned dangerous. Even if you break your neck and are 'only' paralysed, you'll have to spend the rest of your life being turned over by your nurse to prevent bedsores, and trying to bear with the sympathetic looks of the people around you.My brother was an adrenalin junkie of sorts - he passed away recently. Violently. At high speed. You get the picture.

Au revoir - the world is round and you can ride, rumble and splash to the other side.. and back again. You'll be back... I hope Till then, take care, and for now, simply Sayonara

Actually, in reference to colliding galaxies, we don't have to wait 3 billion years to see it, there are galaxies colliding right now that we can examine at our leisure. And when we examine colliding galaxies, the strangest thing we find is that when two galaxies 'collide' they DON'T really collide - they pass THROUGH each other and move on. Sure there's some elbow rubbing, the destruction of the odd starsystem, an exchange of a few stars, some stars going rogue, but all in all, it's actually a far less catastrophic scene than what one might expect. Rather than a gigantic explosion or anything of the sort, most of the stars in each galaxy.. just pass through the spaces BETWEEN the stars of the other galaxy.. and vice versa. You get the picture.

I have a major strategy game with all the art, the music, sound and special effects, voices, everything needed complete - it's a game we developed independently, and production came to a halt when our lead programmer was 'bought off' by a major company. If you're interested I can send you screenshots, etc. If you're interested we can discuss the game concept in more detail. All the art etc. is equal to industry standards. As I said, if you're interested we can discuss the game concept in more detail - when we discuss the concept, and if you like it, you can either develop a brand new engine of your own, or complete the game's present engine, which is about 70% done, I'd say. PM me for more details if you'd like to hear more. Good luck, and take care.

Hi unstoppable, I practice ninjutsu (not the style made popular in the west), also karate, including strikes, nerve attacks, combat-effective throws and some kansetsu holds - we train for about four hours per day on four days a week - different kinds of training aimed at hand-eye co-ordination, balance, power, speed, reflexes, evasion, etc. One day in the week is devoted to running, half of which is sprinting and half reasonably fast 'cruising'. Two days are devoted to weights - one to upperbody weights and one to lowerbody weight exercise. No belts in our ryu - you progress if you can stand the pace, which is gruelling. Not many last the first week. The first two months are devoted to massive conditioning, improving the various systems of the body, striking capability, etc. After two months, you can take out any single attacker - then the real training begins. It's amazingly interesting and fun. Small off-topic note to unstoppable (my apologies, all): Don't do weights everyday, that ruins the effect of the weight training - weight training should be done just once or twice a week (say just the upper or lower body) and around ten sets for each exercise that you do - that and careful control of diet and rest should give you adequate results for muscular development, if you'd like that. Note also that you CANNOT do ANY other type of exercise on the day you do your weights, this causes catabolic reactions in the body that prevent muscular development - no martial arts, no aerobics, no running, nothing else. On the days you do weights, do ONLY weights, on other days you can do your martial arts/combat routine, whatever appeals to you. Good luck. If you'd like any more info, PM me.

Having been around the world, I'd say that racism has no logical basis at all. Everywhere I went, I found people had the same strengths, the same weaknesses, the same potential for cruelty and callousness.. and the same potential for kindness and compassion. I haven't detected the slightest superiority or inferiority based on race.In most cases what's perceived as racial inferiority is more a case of lack of opportunity, or of education. But among people of different races that had the same level of education, etc. there was very little difference.And in some cases I'm comparing people on opposite sides of the planet - like whites in america and chinese in china - and if people on opposite sides of the planet have basically the same HUMAN nature, it means that we are all HUMAN. And our minds work the same way.. or, put far more simply, if we bleed, our blood is red.So racism HAS NO basis, therefore only the unthinking, the foolish or the ignorant indulge in it. I don't think any form of racism can be justified - when will humans learn to look beyond the externals, beyond the surface, beyond race, or the way a person dresses, or the way a person looks (handsome,sexy,etc.) to a person's MIND and HEART?Racism is only one expression of a flawed concept, that what we are on the outside matters more than our talents and thoughts and aspirations and dreams. And I think that racism, even standing alone, is inexcusable, because anything that tries to put another human being down is inexcusable.History is full of one set of people climbing higher by stepping on the heads of another set of people. But what the racist doesn't realize is that if we all work TOGETHER, the very stars might be within our reach.Lets not all keep making the mistakes of yesterday. If we want to move into the future, we're going to have to leave issues of race and sect and creed behind.

Which just reminds me, I got one of these 'chain-emails' from a friend of mine who said that microsoft would give him $10000 if he managed to get that email forwarded to a certain amount of addresses - yup, ridiculous that he could actually believe that, isn't it? Anyway, he desperately wanted to believe that, so I agreed to forward his e-mail - I just forwarded it to several of my own email addresses (I have quite a few) and so he was happy and I didn't bother anyone with the e-mail either.Of course it was very silly and he didn't receive any cash - how could he even believe something like that?? Anyway, it's not for me to say anything, experience teaches best, I think. The next time a chain letter pops into his inbox, no matter what it promises, he's going to be more wary of it.I'm just surprised people haven't learned yet. Makes you think of the 'millions in Nigeria' scams that still make the rounds. Wonder if people fall for those as well - I guess they do, arrgghh.

I suppose I'm just against the whole 'external appearances' attitude. Well, I suppose one should be clean, well-groomed etc. up to a point, but I think there are limits to how far one should go to look good externally. I think it's your mind, your thoughts, your attitude and your personality that should count - both with you and with others.Plastic surgery for people seriously burned, disfigured, etc. I can understand. But cosmetic surgery, I'm wary of that. I have friends who don't necessarily look 'optimal' but that doesn't affect my attitude to them - they're wonderful people to be around, and I like them, and that's what matters, not what they look like.As for age, everyone ages, it's nothing to fear, and there's nothing bad about it. I once read an interesting article that said that as you age, your character is written on your face, the lines tell the story of your life, of your good times and bad, of happiness and sorrow, of love and sunshine and joy and pain.And I think that that character makes old people beautiful. How sad to wipe the slate clean just to look young again.Besides, no matter what you look like outside, I think that how young you are is really decided in your mind and heart, in your attitude to life. There are those who are young at heart at eighty, and there are those who are old and conservative at twenty-five.Can age be a state of mind after all??

Well, I have these glasses which are virtually armor plated - well, that is, you can drop em, you can step on em, and they still survive. They'd make me look dorky, but as I do the martial arts and lift plenty of weight, I guess they don't - well, at least people don't make an issue of them. They're very convenient.I do have lenses, but I wear them rarely - I generally rely on the glasses when I'm going to be using my eyes for long periods.

Well, as I see it, Velma's asking how many people DO get into heaven.If we assume that all religions are right - well, I'd say no one. Because if you're a Christian, you're da**ed to hell by some other religion, and if you belong to some other religion, you're sent to hell by Christianity.There are some who talk of many paths up the mountains (that is, all religions lead to the same end) - if this is so, then if you lead a good life I suppose you have a pretty good chance of getting into heaven.However, by the strict codes of some religions - no way - if you belong to another faith, you burn in eternal hell fire.On the other hand, perhaps it's the more interesting specimens that go to hell?? Well, I'm just kidding, but since I'm pretty unreligious I suppose I have to take an optimistic view of the matter, arrgghh. No, no, just kidding.Velma has a very interesting point, really. I hold that all religions send each other's followers to hell and no one gets to the 'good place'.