DodgyPhil

A lot of people seem to be comparing Marijuana to Alcohol and Nicotine: it doesn't even come close. Alcohol is so much more of a societal problem, yet it is still promoted as a fun thing to do. Being wrecked is considered comedic, and people regularly boast about being 'blotto'. I live In a suburban area of London where late night revellers regular throw up on public walkways and women get sexually assaulted. Moreover, I have a friend who lives opposite a pub that closes at 1am- it's a very rich area, yet his car has been repeatedly broken into, and his porch is littered with Indian takeaways and cans of Stella Artois. My dad is a former Alcoholic, who was forced to quit drinking at the age of 29, due to the destruction of his liver, a serious case of gout (crystals growing between the joints of the toe-- excruciatingly painful) and the fact that he now needs to take five pills a day to survive (luckily it's all paid for by the government, because Alcoholism is obviously not the fault of the user- yet the government constantly promotes drink awareness). I don't know what it's like in other countries, but Alcohol is a massive social problem here in Britain. It's the number 1 cause of domestic and street violence. Drinking in public is legal- yet we Brits don't know how to handle it. The racial stereotype would suggest that the Poles should be falling over drunk in the street- yet I've seen a huge number of Polish builders drinking from bottles of Vodka without punching passers by and throwing up. We Brits can't handle our drink- and have some of the worst rates of Alcoholism, and the lowest age of drinkers in the whole of Europe (including Russia)! As for Nicotine. My grandmother died at the age of 65 thanks to the god awful stuff, and the whole of my family smokes like nobodies business. My dad attempted to quit, and managed to stop smoking cigarettes for over 4 years- but he regular enjoys Cigars on special occasions (everyday). I'd like to see the amount of violent crimes caused solely by Cannabis-- almost every report on "Cannabis induced violence" centres around young males who also took Cocaine and skipped meds- yet the fact they took Cannabis is somehow the main argument in the story. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/boy-on-skunk-cannabis-butchered-a-grandmother-7195977.html (read this article in its entirety and question why Cannabis is the main blame??) I'd also like to see how addiction to Cannabis compares to the likes of Nicotine (the most mentally addictive substance on the planet) and Alcohol (the only physically addictive drug next to heroin). Short answer: it doesn't. British marijuana is some of the cheapest in the world- only 3/4 as expensive as America and 1/2 as expensive as Holland. Unsurprisingly, we have some of the largest 'abuse' rates in Europe. In fact, almost twice as many people smoke Marijuana in England as in Holland!

Very recently "mephedrone" was made known to the British public, and thanks to the power of the hysterical, uneducated masses- it was banned. "Mephedrone" was sold online under the guise of being a 'plant fertilizer'. When snorted the drug could deliver a heavy hit of Euphoria, and a boost in energy: similar to ecstacy. The drug became incredibly popular amongst British teenagers from all walks of life, as it was cheap, easy to order, and legal. As to whether it was safe or not- there are still few answers, but there were several reported incidents involving the drug: - An 18 year old Swedish boy died after taking a lethal dosage, prompting the drug to be banned. - A British boy took the drug, and suffered an 18-hour long hallucination: prompting him to tear his own scrotum off- thinking it was covered in centipedes. - A 17 year old British boy committed suicide while under the influence of the drug. Now, it's easy to read Newspapers and make blithe judgements. Sure- Mephedrone definitely played a part in all of these young people's deaths, but the vast majority of cases have been linked to mixing the drug with other substances (something the media are less to keen to point out). Keep in mind, the same news media that is reporting on these incidents and making statements calling for the banning of these 'legal highs', is awash with Cocaine use! Indeed, the British press has one of the highest levels of drug use after the Nation Health Service. And yet, we feel obliged to listen to these journalists taking the moral high ground. I won't lie: my friends and I have all taken Mephedrone- and I can attest it is very strong. In fact, at least 50% of my school has ingested the drug. However, I am in no way supporting it. It is dangerous, and it is addictive. The real argument I want to put forward here is "why are kids taking these new things"? Mephedrone is reckoned to be the best alternative to MDMA, yet MDMA has been responsible for a minuscule amount of deaths (mostly due to dehydration) in comparison to Mephedrone. "Spice Gold" was another legal high that delivered a hit, similar to Marijuana- yet it was later proved to be far more dangerous and addictive- yet Marijuana has very few addictive properties, and absolutely no recorded deaths. Kids are taking 'legal highs' because they want to get high- but remain within the law. The USA and Britain are launching a war, no longer on drugs, but the users themselves. Possession of Child Porn in Britain can warrant a maximum sentence of Five years in Prison. Causing a death on the road due to intoxication, can warrant a sentence of Five Years for manslaughter. Possession of Marijuana in Britain can warrant a maximum sentence of Fourteen Years in Prison (if you're suspected of supplying). The classing, and criminalization of certain drugs in Britain is inexplicable. People have been calling for the reclassification of MDMA/Marijuana for a long time- while children are turning to far more dangerous 'legal' alternatives. People will always want to get high, and people always will get high. Almost every society for the last 10,000 years has had access to some sort of widely used mind altering substance- and this won't change. The government's real problem is not fully understanding the problem.. As part of the war on drugs, campaigners always like to blame certain factors for drug use, accusing users of starting a habit because: They were depressed They had parents who took drugs They were affected by peer pressure Ask the average Marijuana/MDMA user, and he'll probably answer "none of the above". Users take drugs, because they enjoy drugs- and unless an alternative can be found, they will keep using. All of these Public Service Announcements try to suggest that friends, family, playing sports, eating good food can compensate for drugs- but they can't. A single hit of Crystal Meth can deliver over a hundred times as much Dopamine (pleasure hormone) as eating a mouthful of good food. I have no clue how to solve the problem of hard drugs, but I do think a distinction should be made between hard and soft. Tobacco and Alcohol alone cause more deaths (simply from ingestion, and not due to crashes) than all other drugs combined, and yet Alcohol is promoted as a 'fun drug' everyday- the Alcohol industry supporting anti-drug initiatives to try and make a distinction between good drugs (alcohol, nicotine) and bad drugs (marijuana, MDMA.. Boo)! And the last thing I'll say as part of this incredibly long winded post: I hate alcohol. Other than the loss of inhibitions- it provides me with no pleasure. I cannot do anything creatively, nor enjoy things more- my mind is simply fogged up and moving my limbs becomes difficult. If you ever smoke Marijuana, you'll soon learn that Alcohol is a terrible, worthless drug- and I'd whole heartedly support it being criminalized.

Ha, well, it wasn't my choice to give up. Some of the guys from Uncyclopedia called me on my podcast (episode 6) and got royally burnt.. Since then they've been completely silent. Excellent. Yeah, I decided to get rid of the side bar and just use the top menu. I've decided the categories into 'sections' so it should start to make more sense.. This was a dilemna. I'm a big fan of anonymous textboards as it takes pressure off of people. Whoever wants to can post when they feel like it without having to register. However, most of these textboard scripts are brutally functional and have no aesthetic merits. It's a compromise, but it doesn't seem to bother people too much. Ps, Thanks for the feedback!

I agree with Anwiii, I felt cut off from the community when the shoutbox was gone.. This may be a big ask, but it'd be nice to have the last three messages in the chatroom where the shoutbox used to be. That way, people can easily see who's posting and how the discussion is going without having to join.

I started cracking up after the 20th time he said 'Zombo Com', he was just getting more intense.. I don't know why but I have a real fetish for ridiculously clustered websites. You know there's thousands of pages worth of content- with links to each one on the homepage! It's exciting. HavenWorks.com is a perfect example. Here's a good one: http://www.lingscars.com/ I think this site actually works well though. The creator is now one of the most successful car leasers in the UK. She went on 'Dragons Den' (like American inventor only classy) and was a really hyperactive Asian girl with a two-hour lecture's worth of things to say about her business: it seems only fair that her website is as sparky as her.

I'm about to write an article about this for my website (potentially going into greater depth), but seeing as no one goes there, I'd really like to strum up some discussion on this terrible terrible topic.. I'm always amazed at how dreary and bland most of the popular webcomics are. Video Game humour is tolerable in small doses, but using cookie cutter comic-formula to lash out at things which were designed for the sole purpose of having fun strikes me as inane.. I'll be bold and say that anybody over the age of 20 who plays videogames fanatically has taken a serious wrong turn in their lives, and probably shouldn't be exporting their brand of humour in the form of a comic in the first place. CAD tries to break up there seriously weak content with a long running drama that even the most hardcore fans couldn't care less about. Penny Arcade uses cutesy characters as masks for the depressive rantings of two middle age men- inserting swears (lol) while attempting to destroy a certain game. Inevitably there'll be a sexy female character who lives with the protagonists, puts up with their misogynistic views, doesn't seem to notice their infantile obsession with videogames and is also a hardcore gamer. Real life humour comics are the worst offenders of the group. Rather than copying sitcoms, and injecting surreal humour into mundane event, they simply copy paste scenes from the creators' lives. Just as with the videogame webcomics, fictional women (read: sexual objects) are inserted into the story, and the protagonists make deadpan observations about ridiculous things. There are too many of these webcomics to name main offenders, and unfortunately most of the creators seem like really nice (if not a little dull) people so I don't want to offend any of them.. Zany comics have great potential. They don't rely on regular characters, but rather employ surreal humour. I should like them as they do away with conventional hurdles (such as backdrops and stock characters) and rely solely on wit. Unfortunately, most take the 'zany' too far, and leave the 'humour' behind in the process. No one will agree with me, but I despise Cyanide and Happiness. Almost every strip involves a vaguely dirty joke, but uses no subtlety- most of the punchlines are words such as 'anal bleeding' or 'forced sex'. When they're not promoting their brand of charmless smut, their punchlines are incomprehensible.. Webcomics have so much potential. With no media input and total creative control, you'd think we'd be exploring strange new realms of comedy- but most of these strips could've appeared in the New Yorker 40 years ago (ignoring the token cultural references to iPods and Tiger Woods that it's the law for modern webcomics to include). My question is, what's your take on the subject, and have you found any web comics that seriously absorb you! I'm not just a hater, I actively try and enjoy new things, so will happily try and get into any of the webcomics you suggest- I'm just sick of the most popular ones at the moment.. Thanks!

Just a fun fact to make you despair at the world: 25% of pornography distributed online is Child Porn.The internet has made a huge impact on the porn industry. Honestly, why pay for porn when I have a lovely array of websites that provide 25minute smut-films at no cost? (Other than those party poker ads that know just when to pop up, if you know what I mean).

I was in no way supporting the BNP, I was simply highlighting the fact that a party that supports corporal punishment is the only alternative to no punishment at all. Maybe I shouldn't have talked about statistics. What I'm more interested in is the morality behind top judges and a legion of lawyers who always seem to get their way. It's a good point about the definition of crime, and I'm sure a large portion of crime isn't reported. However- Britain has the worst violent crime (assault) record in Europe in terms of number of crimes per capita. You seem to be under the misconception that crime only affects the lower rungs of society. In London there is little geographical divide between rich and poor. I live about two blocks away from a council estate (quite a nice one) but only a few roads further and you enter one of the most deprived areas of London, where very poor immigrants share a majority of the population. Most middle-class people experience crimes such as burglary or theft far more frequently than the poor, while they experience far fewer assaults. I won't pretend (as a middle-class person) that I understand the perpetrators, but I've come into contact with them on more than one occasion, I've been mugged three times in the last six months. While I'm sure the tabloids pour on a certain amount of shock over these cases, they're far from rare. The tabloids aren't lying about the outcomes of the cases, or the matter of the crime; they're just sensationalizing it. Anyway, I'm probably not speaking for the whole of England. I notice you're from Devon, so I have no idea how crime is where you are.

Some of you may/or may not know of Britain's current situation. Like many other European countries we have been moving more and more towards a socialist state. Our policies have become more and more liberal, to the point where criminality is rewarded and those who live by the law suffer. Our political parties don't seem to care either? -The conservatives, once a hard-line party determined to decrease taxes and stamp out crime, has become limp-wristed and adopted 'green' policies to fit in. -Labour, once the working man's party, has been in power for over 10 years and has destroyed the working-class (and our country). -The only party not to change much is the Liberal-democrats: they were also a joke. -The BNP (British National Party) are quite a troubling force. They plan to practically cease immigration and kick-out swathes of legal immigrants from the country. They also want to introduce corporal punishment for petty-crime. While they're the only party to come close to tackling issues I care about, they're far far too extreme. -UKIP (UK independence party) is a party based around separation from the European Union. They're basically the conservatives, only slightly harder and less legitimate. They're the only party to touch on the subject of the European Union (to whom Britain pays ?40,000,000 a day for membership, and only receives ?100,000,000 in grants per year, while Spain receives closer to ?1.5 billion), and the only party I'd consider voting for. I'm not into politics much, and the only area I really care about is crime. The British have become the most criminal nation in Europe, and London (my city) is the most dangerous place in the EU. As stated, none of our political leaders are willing to tackle crime, and Britain has adopted RIDICULOUS policies towards it. Some may surprise those from foreign countries. Britain's crime is mostly youth-centric. People between the ages of 12-17 commit a majority of petty/street-level crime. To highlight our problems I'd like to bring forward a few cases: In all of these cases, the police had the ability to act and punish. But they failed to. All of the victims suffered beyond comprehension, while the perpetrators recieved minor sentences. There are thousands more cases like this, but these were the first three that sprung to mind. Next month Britain will be electing a new leader, but I very much doubt any changes will take place.This isn't a regional affair, so I feel justified in putting this topic in 'general talk'. It's a serious issue affected many European nations: a surge of liberal attitudes. Immigration in Sweden is another issue I could cover, but I feel I've talk enough.. It is for this reason I am angered when parties push 'environmental' issues. F--- the environment, my entire nation is at risk of killing itself...

I'm sure you've heard many people saying this before Ash, and I don't doubt that you probably have ten times the experience as I do: but may I recommend finding a nich? topic for your board. 'Technology' forums come and disappear in droves every day practically. If you really want to have a vague-genre forum then it has to be excellent: and I'd say IPB is up for the job- but you'll probably want a very individual theme, name and some good modifications to separate yourself from the crowd.This is completely offtopic but I found a forum that employed 'spy' tactics for users. Posts were converted into points (like MyCENTs) that could be exchanged for the ability to read others Private Messages or read other's emails. At a certain level, I believe you could even change other's signatures and names (but that was too extreme).Anyway, if you are starting another technology-centred forum then good luck with it!

Sorry about double-posting, but I've recently changed my entire site (both design and concept). Rather than waste space by creating a new topic I thought I'd reignite an old one. Firstly, I've removed a lot of the pre-loaded Joomla mods that I'd used before. I also created an infinitely simpler design using Artisteer. To fit with the design I've made the site largely text based. I've also moved a lot of my older articles into an 'archive' section to differentiate them from my newer, slightly better ones.. The biggest change so far is my introduction of a Bulletin Board System. It runs using Kareha (similar to Wakaba, but purely text based). It doesn't require registration, and is very stripped down. Originally I'd planned to use an Imageboard (anonymous forum with image uploading capabilities) but I realized I had too little diskspace to allow it, and anonymous image-posting posed a risk (not just the posting of images that broke Xisto TOS, but the law as well). With so many new features (and the removal of a lot of old ones as well), I'd be interested in some people's opinions. I'd also be happy if you made a few posts on my BBS, keeping in mind that only the posts by "alex#UZwhdD8HLI" are by me. Anyway, the links again in case you missed them: DuckApple DuckApple BBS

I love Berlin! I'm learning German at GCSE level, and have quite a few German friends so I've been all over. I found Munich a little too historical and dull, and Hamburg was alright (even though there was literally nothing but shops and harbours), but Berlin was one of my favourite cities! You've described it perfectly. When I was there I visited a huge music shop by the 'lipstick' (a bombed cathedral from WW2) and on my way out I passed by 20 kids doing kickflips in the middle of a square.. The food was also pretty good, particularly the 'Asia' food halls (slightly vague name seeing as Indian Curries were on the menus next to Pad Thai and Sushi). One thing I didn't like was the British food though, I believe Germany has yet to master the 'fish and chips' we have in London. With that said, I now have a craving for more Currywurst: particularly the dirt cheap stuff you can get at Kiosks all over the city. Delicious! Anyway, if I play my cards right and get chummy with the guy who took me over I hope to visit Berlin within the next few months

I want to install a textboard written entirely in Perl (no need for a database). After uploading the script to my CGI-Bin and running it I received a 500 Internal Server error. Assuming there was an error in the script I looked at the configuration but found nothing askew.So I ran a basic Perl test: #!/usr/bin/perlprint "Content-Type: text/html\n\n";print "<html><body><h1>Perl is working!</h1></body></html>"; And recieved the same error message. I was running the file within CGI-Bin, and have double checked the path to the Perl directory. Any suggestions? ;)P.S, I've searched the subject in the forums and found nothing, and have tried a few other solutions from other forums.

Yeah, probably should've researched these names further than the first five hits on Google. Watchxanime sounds a little odd to me, the X is placed so it sounds like it has some significance.. Better to have the random letters (like X and J) and the end of the start. Watchanime on it's own is a good name, but it's undoubtedly taken

(Was going to suggest Janime, but that's taken..)If you want to make an anime download site there are a few main pointers: J usually indicates anime/japanese culture based site. X usually indicates a download site. Animex and J-Anime are already taken, but what about: AnimeJ - Notice rhyming Xanime Mangax .etc. A bit corny but the names stick. Whenever I want free episodes of something, I usually type in the show's name followed by an X before I go on torrent sites. Just an idea.

I like what everyone is saying. Particularly Baniboy's point:I'm really at a loss for where to post some days. Often it feels like the only up to date topics are the one liners:"Do you think Obama will end Global Warming?". No, he probably won't.. Next.But then, people seem to appease such posters by offering reams and reams of scientific evidence and questions of morality. It'd be great if it were a genuine discussion, but there's not a hope in hell of the original poster returning, and the topics are always ruined when someone goes: "I like Obama, he's great". A good opinion, but a waste of a post to the extreme..However, I'm often amazed by how good the Tra- sorry, Xisto community is. For post-to-host site (and believe me, I've experienced some real crud on my journey here) a lot of the regulars aren't here for MyCENTs, and many new members simply want a place to talk.That's the kind of place I want to join, and if I happen to get free webhosting for making friends and replying coherently and intelligibly, good!As of late, I've started to ignore my MyCENTs counter, knowing that I've been posting enough (and more), even when I don't need to. Good times..

Relax, people need time to absorb the site.. Which was really great! Seriously, I know there are a lot of technology based 'forums' (I see what you mean now), but your's was actually pretty good. Not being very technologically gifted myself, I was less interested in the content- than the theme. Very very Web 2.0! Couldn't see Times New Roman anywhere on the page! Web-arts did a fine job. With that said, the site seemed very useable- and the use of red to highlight unanswered questions really attracted attention to where it was needed. Kudos.

I know the second is a firm favourite, but Trolls 1 was practically the same film. I literally couldn't believe people had funded its production. The whole film had an eerily unrealistic atmosphere (even at the beginning, before any kind of 'horror' took place).I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I despise Juno. I was at risk of going to the cinema with a group of very macho-guys to see it, before I remembered I had it at home (don't ask, my dad votes on films). While this saved ?7 that could've been spent in the cinema, it didn't save my mind from being melted into a gloopy mess of twee, self-centered, 'zany' crud.. I know some people adored the film- but I really hated it.

Exactly. I also hate the way Steam pre-loads new games (or at least, the bad ones it's trying to flog) onto my not-installed list.. That, and everything else Steam represents, like forcing players to go online to play offline games, and overcharging wildly for products when bought separately!

Exactly. As much fun and freedom as you may grant people, your server is at risk of becoming a safe-haven for auto-aimers.etcWith that said I may check this out. I'm more of a surf fan myself, and as a player coming back to the game for the first time in two years last weekend- I'd like to get to grips with basic controls (which I used to PWN at) before trying one of the whackier mods.

I myself use a pirate copy of Windows Xp. A lot of people tell me I should upgrade to Windows 7, but I simply don't have the specs for it.. Also, for what I'm doing: Windows XP is fine.As for Linux, I'm an ex-user. I used Ubuntu, followed by Fedora for about a year and a half in conjunction with Windows, but I accidentally destroyed some important data while using Gparted (my fault). I reinstalled a few months later, but found my latest hobbies weren't really supported by Linux (graphic design and music editing). Try as I might, I simply couldn't get comfortable with Gimp, especially not after so many years with a powerful tool like Photoshop: not only an industry standard but a potentially limitless tool for creation..Also, there is little music software for Linux. What was there was almost impossible to use, or didn't support previous files (like Vst plugins, and Midis). Apparently EnergyXT is on Linux, but it's very expensive and more suited to DJ work.I also had trouble using Wine. The only programs I successfully ran were Counterstrike 1.6 (very old video game, capable of running on anything) and Publisher as nothing similar/ nothing as good could be found in OpenOffice.Anyway, with that said, I found Linux very comfortable to use as a whole. After about a week I became confident with the console and found installation challenging yet manageable. I'm sure people who only need basic office utensils and a media player would find Linux the best alternative, but it simply doesn't have the media creation facilities many would find on Windows/Mac..

Well done! Reminds me of an old topic from Worth1000, where an array of cute animals were mutated into beasts. One quibble: try turning the hue on the photoshopped mouth, that way it'll blend more easily! @deadmad7 - You've been in a bad mood for the last two days haven't you?

I personally like the name change, even though some have pointed out that the 'sutra' suffix is eerily close to 'kamasutra'..It certainly does sound more professionally, and you can't really argue that it doesn't sound like a 'hosting website' name, as neither did "Xisto". The knowledge part of the new name will hopefully entice new members: with the impression that the staff know what they're doing.Also, slightly offtopic: but I really love the potential flash site! A showcase of members' sites would certainly set Xisto (I mean Xisto) apart from a lot of the other hosting sites!Anyway, this isn't just a *bottom*-kissing post, I sincerely support Opaque's decision. (Maybe some more bandwidth my way should be in order, as a reward)

I've been making music for about two years but haven't really released any to the public. I shift around genres a lot depending on what I'm currently listening to. Mostly I make Hardstyle and UK Hardcore, but I often play Progressive House on my CDJs I bought a year ago. My favourite DAW so far is definitely Ableton Live as it gives users the most creative freedom. I started off with Fruity Loops, but other than playing samples- it doesn't offer as much creative control.. Anyway, for some samples of what I've made, here you go: Hardstyle: https://soundcloud.com/dotcommarsquare/demo-sunun ProgRock: https://soundcloud.com/dotcommarsquare/demo-unnamed As for some of my really old stuff, (made when I was 15 and genuinely thought I was destined to be a dance music prodigy): https://myspace.com/browser