TikiPrincess

My friend turned me onto this website weffriddles.com. It's not those silly riddles that you used to read in your Highlights magazines as a kid. The answer to each level is the url for the next level, so it's less likely that you could enter a random letter or word and get to the next level. In fact, the answer isn't always necessarily a word or letter. Though the first few levels are rather simple, the further your progress requires you to do a lot of "out-of-the-box" thinking and go through multiple steps to reach the next level. Right now, I'm on level 43. They've got a forum to give you hints and push you in the right direction, but they try not to give spoilers because the whole fun of solving the riddle is figuring out the answer.

When I was 16, I thought I knew what was best for me. I was a good kid. I didn't do drugs, drink, or go to wild parties. I was a good student, respectful to adults, well-informed on world affairs thanks to my dad always listening to the news or NPR, and considerably well-read compared to many others my age. Despite being a rather well-behaved youth, I still cringe now when I think how naive and foolish I was at that age. However, I understand what you mean. You're in that awkward in-between stage where you're old enough to explore your own beliefs and ideas, to think and act independently and be responsible for your actions, but you're still in that youthful boundary testing phase where most kids do stupid things to find out how far they go without being punished. It's probably worse for you than most others because you're intelligent enough to reason each side of the issue. You know why adults treat you like this, but you also know why these stereotypes and restrictions shouldn't apply to you.My suggestion would be to prove that you shouldn't be lumped with all the other kids your age. One of the first steps to establishing independence is to get a job. If your parents won't let you or no one's hiring, then try volunteering with an organization like the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, or something like that. This will show others your level of responsibility, earn you some extra cash that your parents can't have any say over, and give your college apps a nice padding.

Saint-Michael:5Will.Allison:0
Mich:1

I'm gonna have to go with Mike's on this one. The render is much cleaner and clearer than Will's. I also think that the text is far too plain. It works fine, but nothing spectacular or eye-catching. With Mich's, it just didn't seem to pop out to me the way Mike's did. I think it would have been a nice effect to have the "BEACH BUM" text follow the curve of her leg, or to mute some of the colors and make the blue in her bathing suit really saturated, kinda like in the movie Pleasantville or those Hallmark cards.

The two of you shared something very special, not just because he was your first, but also because you supported him through a very difficult period as you described it. It's a bond that you'll always have. Based on what you've written in your post, however, there seems to be a good deal of co-dependency in your relationship. Possessiveness is never good as that lumps you in with all of the other things he "owns." For him to become paranoid like that, to become possessive of you and calling you so frequently, shows a great deal of insecurity that needs years of therapy to even start to overcome. Your admittance of sleeping with other men purely on a sexual basis reveals certain insecurities that you need to deal with. I'm a big advocate of sex, I think it's a wonderful thing, but sex without emotion is empty and unfulfilling in my opinion.It seems to me that you probably both have issues that you need to discuss with each other, but rekindling the flame doesn't seem like the best idea right now. There's no doubt that he's left an impression on your soul and he's inextricably a part of your past and helped shape who you have become, but maybe it's time for you to discover who you are as an individual, without his influence. Knowing yourself is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself and your partner, whoever that may be.

[1]I live in the states as well, but i don't care about laws that prevent justice.

[2]This is where blood drives and [3 (my response to it)] would help.

[2:2]This is one of the reasons why i took up the assumption that the interest in the child's life is not short lived, because i know that child has little to no hope in receiving justice after death (if not found alive) in this life.

[3]I did not say to compare and contrast the child with their parent(s).

While I do not always agree with law and I admit that the justice system is flawed, I would think it a violation of my rights for the government to be tracking its citizens' DNA. We don't even have everyone's fingerprints in the database, we don't need to be tracking DNA. That kind of information can so easily be misused. I also think that there aren't enough people donating blood that we don't need to scare away more potential donors by asking the Red Cross (btw a private company not affiliated with the government) or other blood drive operators to test for DNA. Their services and resources are much better spent doing what the organization intended to do. As for your third point, I'm sorry, I misread your original post. However, not all babies are born in hospitals and most hospitals are overworked and understaffed as it is. And my response to your second point would suffice for this as well. We don't need to scare away women giving birth by the threat of reporting them to the police. The whole point of this law is that she is allowed to give up her baby, no questions asked. You have no idea what their thought process has or hasn't been or the anguish that she may or may not have experienced. It is not our place to judge, only to give her the compassion she needs.

[1]I beg to differ

Not everyone believes in a soul, and there are some who believe it exists, but are not concerned with it. There are a multitude of beliefs in this world and many of them differ from yours.

[1]The only difference i see is that one living being is inside an enclosed area and the other living being is outside that area. In the end, they're both a living being. This decision and law, of which i already knew of, does not have a good excuse.

[2]You can't save without making some kind of judgment.

The debate on abortion is on another thread, but that is neither here nor there. Whether you agree with the law or not, the law is still in effect and abortion is an acceptable practice in the eyes of the law. Anything else is between each person and his/her god or gods. That being said, I will not discuss theology with you because I choose to honor and respect the beliefs of others. I have spent too many years exploring my own beliefs and coming to terms with the religion I was raised to believe to disrespect someone else's.

[1]Wait, what doesn't? You've lost me here... And context doesn't help.

[2]Yeah, your friends were lucky from their experience, and you provide their story which proves the first part of my statement. For everyone needs a reason to do something whether or not their intentions were pure.

For clarity's sake:

Either these people are rich or are "rich" now.

The rich that you speak of will not give families the financial support that's necessary to raise children. They're costly little beasts :XD: Honestly, though, the adoption process is flawed as is the legal system; however, it would take a lot of money to cut bureaucracy and make the necessary changes to make them both efficient and effective. But some of the more deserving parents simply cannot afford to go through the process financially while someone like Angelina Jolie and Madonna can simply pick up a child from some third-world country. The joys and pains of parenting shouldn't be reserved for the rich who can afford to have children.

[1]Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that it was limited to T.V. alone. I just mentioned what i thought was widely used or, to be more precise, what i have found to be most effective (but this is limited to my observation).

[2]Unfortunately, the ones that are willing to cause a change for the good have no power, and if they did, they may become corrupt or taken out of power.

IMO, advertising and music is much more pervasive than TV perhaps because, like you, I rarely watch it. Advertisements are much harder to escape and must encapsulate an entire message in a single image for print or 30 seconds of air time radio, tv, etc. Unfortunately, money makes the world go round, we cannot exist as a society without placing economic value on things, whether it's beads or coins or cattle. Appealing to someone's moral sensibility won't sell nearly as much as appealing to their base desires. Kudos to those who can rise above it, but for the rest of us... we are only human.

 

@Mermaid - As much as I am grateful and appreciative of your support, I urge you to make your own informed decision on the matter and believe what your heart tells you. I do not claim to be right. I only state what I believe to be right for myself, and I have spent much time discovering my beliefs and choosing the path that I want to live. Perhaps that will change as I grow and learn more, only time will tell. But truefusion has many good points that I choose not to agree with because of my own experiences and filters from my knowledge base. Be a free thinker and believe what your heart believes.

Yes, there's a chance that these people may not go and this process may take long, but this may help get a large amount of people to give out samples and cases tend to take a while to solve anyways. But you may not really need a DNA sample. The hospitals should have records on how the child looks and who was the parent that gave birth.

I'm not sure where you live, but here in America, it's illegal to take a sample of DNA without consent unless it's from a crime scene. Not everyone can afford to go to the doctor for check-ups, nor do labs code DNA for routine blood samples. And have you honestly seen a baby after it's born? Children sometimes look nothing like their parents. My friend's baby was pale skinned when she was born, but my friend and her boyfriend are black. The baby didn't start getting her skin tone until a few weeks after being born.

[1]This law doesn't necessarily mean that they won't suffer the consequences, it just means they won't suffer any consequences from the designated places. For they may never hear the end of it from their families, and who knows if this'll look bad on their Judgment.

I'm guessing that the kind of woman who could do this isn't concerned about her soul. However, having a child out of wedlock seems to be much more accepted in our main culture. For a woman to "dispose" of a baby in a trash can or down a toilet means that she was desperate and couldn't afford the means to have an abortion or was too afraid of what would happen if someone found out. Some women don't have the fortitude to withstand the judgment of narrow-minded people.

[2]Err, isn't abortion similar to leaving the child in a dumpster? Isn't it the same as flushing a baby down the toilet? You're doing the same thing: you're putting an end to the child's life at the will of the parent(s).

According to the decision of Roe v. Wade, abortion is legal in the United States. Aborting a fetus or embryo is considered an acceptable practice since it cannot exist outside the mother's uterus. A baby is a living, breathing being that can exist without the mother's support by means of formula and care from someone else. In the eyes of the law, these two things are different. Anything else is between the woman and her god or gods, and it is not our place to pass judgment.

It appears that people are both willing to take in children from third-world countries and the black market and from foster care centers whether or not these people care for the child and whether or not there is paper work involved. And if legal work that goes with adoption is a financial burden on those who want to adopt, i would expect it to be worse if the system were to improve. For that may mean more taxes to provide for these improvements to these services and or more money out the the pockets of those who want to adopt. But i'm not sure how much of a financial burden it really is for these people, i mean, take a look at Mermaid's quote. That family has 7 foster children. Either these people are rich or are "rich" now.

That doesn't put food on the table or a roof over their heads or clothes on their backs. If you have not been through the process or been with someone going through it, you can't know how frustratingly painful it is and how tempting it is to just shuck the whole thing. My friends were lucky enough to have one child naturally after many, many attempts, but after the wife miscarried for the fourth time after their little girl was born, she couldn't take the heartache anymore, so they looked into adoption. They were almost awarded their child, but at the last minute, the mother changed her mind. It was like having the miscarriage all over again.

The media isn't restricted to TV. It's in books, magazines, movies, and advertisements. Women are told to act and dress a certain way and men are told to treat women a certain way. I fully believe that if women were not so objectified, then they would be cherished and respected and we would have less cases of rape, less underage sex as girls try to secure the affection of a boy because that's what they've been told gives them worth, and a much more happy society. Unfortunately, sex sells and since men aren't willing to objectify themselves and women have been conditioned since before time began, then our sex must suffer.

Sent you something to ease the burden :XD: Good luck on the move and we'll see you back soon!

@truefusion - FYI, DNA tests only work if you have a sample to compare the child's DNA with, but people can refuse to give a DNA sample, which certainly indicates some sort of guilt, right? And that's somewhat easier to do if you're in a small town, but in a metropolis like Los Angeles, there are hundreds of thousands of people in the surrounding areas, so how would they test everyone?I don't think that this law is a very good one because as Mermaid indicated, it allows women to go through the entire process of pregnancy and birth without suffering the consequences of that action. There are low-cost abortion clinics and family planning centers that distribute free condoms and low-cost contraceptives, but women are too ashamed or unaware of these centers. We have also had a string of unwanted babies found in dumpsters in my area, including a college student!, or that infamous prom attendant that had the baby in the bathroom stall and tried to flush it down the toilet. While I disagree with the law, it does seem much better for the baby to be handed to a hospital or public serviceperson rather than simply being left to die.I know I'll probably get chewed out for saying this, but as much as our society has improved concerning orphans and unwanted children, it is still far from the desirable situation for a child to grow up in. The foster system is still subject to abuse and mistreatment of children, the majority of whom never get placed with a family. Aside from that, the adoption process is so lengthy, in-depth, and costly that people are much more willing to buy a baby from a third-world country or on the black market than go through the proper channels. While I agree that there should be restrictions and such in place to ensure that the child will be going to safe and worthy parents, there should be some sort of happy medium where the people only have so many hoops to jump through; otherwise, the system deters people who would be great parents but can't necessarily afford all the legal work that goes with adoption. So if we're accepting this law, there should really be more improvements to the Social Services bureaucracy. But I think that's a given.As to the problem of girls becoming sexually active at a young age, I believe the change needs to come from other places besides school, which is so bogged down by rules and regulations that sex ed is rather laughable. For the most part, education starts at home, but girls get mixed messages because their parents and religion tell them one thing, and the media and popular culture tell them another. And when they get to puberty and adolescence, most kids have stopped listening to their parents and have started to explore their own boundaries and begun to think more independently from their parents' conditioning. If the media changed, then we would see girls' behavior change as well.

Oh Mike! That's an awesomely evil vector sig. Thanks sooooooo much! It's a wonderful surprise to come back to after being away for so long. I don't think I ever mentioned the shrunken head I've got stashed away under the bed. :XD: I'm surprised you found out about him. Of course, I do let him pop out every once in awhile... but only when I'm feeling very evil.

Well, I guess that all depends on what your post-graduation plans are. Although a GED is supposed to be equivalent to a high school diploma, in many cases it isn't. If you're planning on attending college, then most would take a high school diploma over a GED. If you just want to go to a community college or technical school, then a GED should be okay. But you'll probably be taking a lot of the same classes that you would in high school for the first year or so. If you're planning on going straight to the workforce, then expect to work minimum wage jobs if all you've got is a GED. But you could possibly work your way up to a managerial position.

I've had all three and like robocz033 said, they're gonna break eventually. Flip phones are perhaps the most easily broken because the hinge is the weakest point and can be broken by too much pressure on either side. On the other hand, the screen is more protected from scratches and I didn't make random phone calls whenever I was digging around for something in my purse because I accidentally hit the buttons. Slide phones also have a weak point where the two parts of the phone connect together, but it's usually smaller and there's no hinge, so it's not being pushed in different directions. For the most part, the screen will probably be scratched up. I also had to change the settings because I would accidentally hang up on people when the slide part closed. And a regular phone is a regular phone, but it's cheap and easy to replace if you break it.I personally like my flip phone, but I'm not a big phone person anyways. I usually can't wait to get off the phone.

Happy Birthday Borda! Now blow out your candles and make a wish, but can I be the one to unwrap your package? I promise I'll be gentle with it. :PSeriously though, I'd usually toss a few credits your way, but you're not hosted, so I can't send them to you! I guess I'll just have to be more creative...

Can you clarify on the defintions for the words "head" and "brain" that are used here? If i'm not mistaken, in common speech these two mean the same thing.

I could, but I'm just trying to use euphemisms here so that I can imply what I mean without actually going out there and saying it. Although I do understand that it might be difficult for people who may have learned English and it's not their primary language, I figured it might be harder for some of the younger Trappers to understand the meaning as well.

However, you can't rule out the possibilities of that moment. (Matthew 5:28).

We are all only humans. Though we try, we are weak and sometimes fail. The best thing to do is show acceptance and forgiveness rather than berate or admonish someone for being only human. Love is not love without an open heart.

Pranks are like covering someone's yard with toilet paper. My husband did steal his friend's stuffed animal and sent ransom notes and left messages on her beeper of the stuffed lamb baaing (because when I was growing up, only the really rich people had cell phones, weighed about a pound). And his friends' found out his password and changed the greeting message on his voicemail. But none of these things really harms or damages anyone in a significant way. Yeah, toilet paper is hard to get off the lawn sometimes, especially if it's a wet morning, but it doesn't really hurt anything or anyone. My husband's friend laughed histerically over her stuffed animal's "kidnapping" because it's an inanimate object and something that didn't really affect her. And changing someone's greeting message can be annoying, but otherwise harmless.I had some "friends" in high school that thought it would be really funny to chat with some guy online and pretend that it was me. I was hilarious until he showed up at my house and wanted me to do all the stuff that I had supposedly been doing with him online. Thank god that my parents and brother were home at the time because things could have gotten ugly very quickly. I could have "pranked" my friend back, but I decided that she just wasn't worth the effort and if someone is willing to do something that horrible to me, then she doesn't deserve to be called a friend.What your "friend" did is sadistic and cruel. It's completely mean-spirited and, as he stated, done to inspire hate. I would seriously reconsider a friendship like that.

Every rose has its THORN!

Sorry, I'm a fan of the 80's power ballads. Anyways, welcome to the Trap! As requested, here are some handy links for important stuff: Xisto Readme, Board Rules, Shoutbox Rules, and the Pre-Signup FAQ. Those have everything that you need to know about rules and stuff.As to the hosting credits, there is a cap on how many credits you earn per post. Right now, 10 credits is the max you can earn per post, and you have to write a LOT to get the full 10 credits. Usually you get that when you write a really lengthy tutorial, roughly the equivalent of about 3 pages, single-spaced on Word. But you can post on lots of different topics. I think Saint_Michael's more than enough credits to maintain hosting for the next couple years without needing to make another post.
As to how they can offer free hosting without using ads, there's a handy little thread about that somewhere here.

Oh, my post isn't about starting a relationship, just the differences between what turns men and women on. Because women need emotional or intellectual stimulation, it's harder to pinpoint what women want from men.

After reading several sob stories and pleas for advice from other posts on this forum, I thought I might share some of my experiences and knowledge. Though I've had my fair share of relationships, I also like to people watch and I always seem to be the friend that everyone turns to when they need a shoulder to cry on. It's interesting what you can learn just by watching other people.

First of all, you have to accept the fact that men and women are, for the most part, wired differently. There are exceptions to the rule, as always, and it's not clear whether these differences are genetic or conditioned through the environment, but men tend to think differently than women.

This is significant because even though both sexes value aesthetic appeal or physical beauty, the emphasis on these traits differs. For example, most men are visually stimulated. Guys don't do a very good job of hiding this fact, and women can quite easily exploit it, hence the large number of "paper bag magazines," movies, internet sites, etc. that make a fortune off of this very idea. Women, on the other hand, usually need more than just visual appeal. It's a fallacy that a woman knows whether she'd have sex with a guy within five minutes of knowing him. Most women need to connect intellectually and emotionally with a guy, which will often outweigh the physical attraction (or the lack thereof). When you consider the long running popularity of soap operas and shows like "Grey's Anatomy" or "Sex in the City," it seems that women really do enjoy the complexities and multiple levels of relationships. It's not that they need drama, but they enjoy plot twists or romanticizing about the whatif's and other possibilities. Brad Pitt, aside from being the hottest guy on the planet (IMO), is also a humanitarian and active in wildlife preservation, which only adds to his hotness rating. If he were a complete jerk, the way Russell Crowe can be, then he would drop down on the list.

So how does this play out in the real world? Well, you guys need to realize that we women know exactly what you're looking for and that we will try to make you think with your head rather than your brain to get what we want. You've been warned. Aside from that, men need to understand that they can't use the same tactics on women. Yes, gorgeous and sexy men will appeal to more women, but if you can connect to a woman on an emotional level by appealing to her intellect, then sometimes it doesn't really matter what you look like. As for women, well, we just have to accept the fact that guys are turned on by hot women. If he turns his head to watch Pamela Anderson go by, it doesn't mean that he doesn't think you're attractive or that he doesn't love you. Even though my husband's pretty good at just turning his eyes and not his head, I'll usually say, "Wow, she was hot" or something like that. He's smart enough to say, "She was wearing too much makeup" or "They looked fake to me" rather than denying he saw her.

Of course, all this is just based on my opinion and experiences and, again, can't be applied to everyone. Feel free to take this post with a grain of salt or voice your disagreements.

Sacramento And some places in Ukraine where I used to live, like Zaporozhye.

Sacramento is only slightly better than Fresno, which is only marginally better than Bakersfield. Points added because it IS the state capitol and has such beautiful and regal architecture, points down because it's the residence of the last two governors and because it's the state capitol and filled with greedy politicians and lobbyists.I think if I were to rate my favorite areas in California, San Diego would be #1, followed by Santa Barbara, then maybe San Francisco, then Carmel, not just because it's absolutely gorgeous there, but I think it would be cool to say that Clint Eastwood was Mayor. Anyways, Los Angeles is actually at the bottom of my top 10, but as I said before, my family's here and like most Filipinos, family is everything to me. And between my husband's family and mine, I've literally had to go to 6 different family functions for Christmas, 8 if you include Christmas Eve. Maybe moving wouldn't be such a bad idea after all...

Thank you very much for your suggestion, but you might want to take another look at the Board Rules in the Xisto Readme. The first line specifically addresses languages, stating,

Languages (warning): All posts made must be written in decent English. This means you will at least try to write grammatically correct sentences and be a little careful at what you're trying to say. We're not all psychic, so if you want to make something clear, do it the right way. Should a post be made in another language, you should at least add an English translation to it.

If we had a foreign language forum, we would need a moderator fluent enough in each language under the subforums. Since English is still the lingua franca, or dominant international language, it is a much more reasonable request to have that as the required posting language on the forums since the mods and admins will be able to catch any posts that are questionable in content.

However, please feel free to post any other suggestions that you feel would add to the quality and activity on the forums.

Welcome to trap kadak! You'll love it here. Will loves to speak in the third person as well. And actually, you were speaking in the second person when you said "Did he already mention that?" But anyway, welcome, have fun, and post.

Actually, he was talking about himself in the third person because he used "he." Second person would be "you" or "your," while most normal people refer to themselves as "I" or "me," whereas royalty refer to themselves in the plural first person using "we" or "our." For example, the Queen of England might say, "We are displeased with your performance."

Anyways, I'm very happy you've discovered our little niche. It can be quite comfy and fun if you follow the rules. We value quality over quantity, so if you put a little effort into your posts, you'll be able to earn hosting more quickly. We also have a number of tutorials on HTML, CSS, and PHP under the tutorials forum while the sub-forums under Programming often have tips for specific problems and you can also post there if you're having trouble with a particular aspect of coding.

Since you're into FPS games, you should check out TimeShift. I think it should be coming out later this year, around November. My brother's been working really hard on it!

Welcome to the Trap and I'll see ya on the forums!

For those of you who are still debating on whether you want to buy a PS3 or a Wii, you might want to check out this YouTube video for another perspective. It's a spin on those Mac vs. PC commercials. Of course, they're appealing to a completely different demographic.
I'm sure most of you have probably seen this before, but I couldn't find it, so I figured I'd post it here.

Uhh, I think you're missing some vowels :P6/10

I disagree with your rating. Whenever I see it, I think of that guy Arnaz from that show 'One on One.' He was pretty hot.
Of course, nothing could be hotter than demonfire. And having enjoyed Ghostrider despite the fact that it stars Nicholas Cage, I'm gonna say 8/10. Points off for weird capitalization without being 1337. d3m0nf1r3 would have been cooler.

I think that calomine lotion is supposed to help. Of course, you'll end up a lovely shade of pink after applying it, but it's supposed to soothe the itch. If you can, try to escape the heat as much as possible. Go to the movies or the mall around noonish when it gets really hot. That way you don't have to pay for air conditioning. It should cool down enough after 5 or 6ish. My house doesn't have air-conditioning either, and I'm in California. It usually climbs above 90 and sometimes over 100 sometimes. But we don't have the humidity that you guys get in Indiana, so sweat usually dries off pretty quickly. Other than that, I think you might just have to wait it out for the rash to heal.

Apparently Jason Bourne isn't the only one lucky enough to survive being adrift at sea. Vacationers at a Dutch resort saw something floating in the ocean, so the hotel employees dragged it back to shore. Beachcombers and sunbathers alike were treated to an 8ft tall LEGO man model, complete with yellow arms and head, red pants, and blue shirt. You can read the story here.
I'm assuming it's some sort of artistic commentary considering that the words on his torso say "no real than you are." I'm wondering who the artist is and where it came from. An eye-witness says she thinks it was coming from the direction of England. Of course, I'm sure LEGOland will be trying to snatch that statue up sometime soon if they haven't made an offer already. I prefer their other lifesize statues made entirely with LEGOs you'd find at Toys 'r' Us.

Jim, I hope you've seen The Princess Bride since it's an awesomely fabulous movie, but more particularly, I'd like to do to you exactly what Westley says to Prince Humperdink in the final scene. "To the Pain!" :PI know that if I moved, I wouldn't have to pay ridiculous prices for a house or deal with all this crappy traffic or smog or earthquakes or the dozens of other things that I deal with on a daily basis for living in Los Angeles. But it's where I grew up, and all the people I love most are here. It's a trade-off I'm willing to make for near perfect weather all year long, surfing in the morning and snowboarding in the afternoon, exotic cuisines from all over the world authentically prepared and only a few miles away, bargain-shopping at the garment district, theme parks galore, and the hundreds of other reasons why people choose to stay as well as the thousands of other people who keep moving here. Honestly, there are better beaches out there, there are better mountains, better deserts, better metropolises, but where esle in the world could you find them all within a 2 hour drive from each other.