Grand_Admiral_Thrawn

Fresh blood is always welcome here, it dilutes the slight taint we get from Tofu .

There's always another option: Lucas didn't sit down and figure out the exact dimensions of the SSD model in comparison to the ISD model, and so analysis of footage from the movies cannot be used to calculate it's true size. Basically, Lucas said "Make something that's a lot bigger than those", and it was so. Based on GL's adherence to consistency, I think anyone saying "I looked at the movies and figured out how long it is" can provide us with only bollocks. The site says 19km, and so it must be.

While I voted that I do not support capitol punishment, I think that there are some isntances where is should be used: serial killers, pedophiles, mass murderers and the like. I think that on the whole it's just not the best way to go.

I think it might even be larger than that Def. The sun doesn't even show on that diagram.

There was another YTMND that compared the Earth to all the other planets in the solar system, then to the sun, then compared the sun to all the other known stars in the universe. When comparing Earth to the Sun we were but a spec, perhaps a pixel in size. This image simply blew my mind.

From time to time I come accross a YTMND that isn't your standard fodder or mindless piece of hilarity. Every now and then there is a YTNMD that actually makes me sit back and question a belief or look at something in a new way. Today I found such a YTMND. I won't link to it as there are far too many links to that site as it is, however I will give you the jist of it here, along with the important pieces. In 1990 Voyager 1 was turned around for one last look at home. At Earth. When that image finally made it back we were presented with a very humbling portrait of our planet. http://www.bigskyastroclub.org/images/pbd_sm.jpg Those two lines are to the left and right of Earth. Earth is that pale blue dot. It accounts for less than one pixel of the image. As though the image alone wasn't enough to huble one into rethinking this planet of ours, Dr. Carl Sagan gave a talk on the photo. In this talk are two of what I think are the most eloquent and truly telling paragraphs written in recent history: "We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam. The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

I'd like to take German, but I simply haven't the time. I suppose I could grab one of those teach yourself CDs... but I doubt they're very effective.

For which letter. I only know for "o". If you hold Alt and press 0246 on your num pad you'll get "ö"

When if comes to my experience in Windows, it's very basic. I change my wallpaper, add a few cusom sounds. The only thing that makes my computer definitively "mine" is a) the drivers I use for my video card. Dell never updates their mobile drivers, so I'm using custom modified desktop drivers, and b) assorted tools that I use for school like IP changers, MAC Addres spoofers, e-mail tracking tools, password crackers, file recovery tools, firewall penetration tools etc. Probably what makes my laptop stand out from others is the install of the Auditor distrobution of Linux that I can boot from. Most people use SuSE, Red Hat, or Slackware. I use this because it has everything I need for school (the tools I listed for Windows, and then some). Oh, and there are some fun LEDs on the outside that I can change the color of...

Classical music, some rock (I'm picky about bands though), indi rock (a band called The Spades especially), one or two country songs. Really the only thing I can't stand is rap.

I personally will stick with my original copy of the movies on VHS. That's the way it was meant to be watched. Want to hear everything better? Turn it up!

Hmm, looks like it's there still. Thank goodness, I'd hate to have the world destroyed and not know about it!.

Depending on the nation it's called rallying on the reserves, or simply forming a square. I would slap on my officer's jacket (I hear zombies have a hard time seeing red), grab my sword from the wall, rally my re-enacting regiment and work my way to the local armory (which is just downtown). I would think that thirty armed men should be able to hold out against some zombies for a while.

I would just tell him to switch to Firefox. It's good to be back here at the site... but I was so closeto 2000...

It was interesting at school today. All my friends and I were talking like pirates all day. We got some strange looks...

Definitely the Rogue Squadron book(s). Most of the Tales books have one or two good stories in them, but you're left feeling a little short when it comes to plot and characters. The Rogue Squadron books give you people you can learn to like (or hate) in a story you can enjoy from start to finish.

Wow, I just read through all ten pages of this topic, and what a roller coaster ride! @SOCL: That's a tought situation indeed my friend. I've recently (about a month ago) gone through a break up (though initiated by me), and I'm certainly glad nothing to the extent of what has happened to you has happened to me. I know that the legal system will exhonorate you. It's also good that your educational life seems to be getting back on track (I think I read that somewhere in there ). (This post has been brought to you in colour to make it easier to read) @Mitth: It seems I can sympathise with you as well Mitth. I've gone through similar experiences over the past decade or so. It's always hard when you get caught between two sides of your family . To bring this slightly back on-topic, I work for Island Inkjet. We refill empty printer cartridges for a fraction of the price (usually about 50-60% cheaper than an OEM cartridge). It's not a half-bad job for a student as it pays $9.00/hour with about 40 hours/week.

Very interesting. It reminds me of some CG animated shorts that a TV station up here used to play between shows. It's really quite impressive what you can find with Google Video.

I've been popping in and out, just haven't seen a topic that I thought needed some sanity added to it . Good to see you back SOCL.

Very interesting, though I'm inclined to agree with SOCL. I think it's a satire. Adding it to my sig though.

Happy birthday Mad, hope you don't have too nasty a headache come Monday .

You might be waiting a couple more months for the College to get back to you. They won't start sending out acceptance letters until some time in May.

Well, your 26,000 Euros would give you $36,500 Canadian. As a foreign student they may charge you more tuition, but at the same time you would be able to work while you study (I also know that each Province has a Student Work Program that allows students to get on-campus jobs worked around their vocational schedule)

Hmm, there are some disturbing key words to the right... I've decided to remove it until I can find an... erm, cleaner copy.

I was fortunate enough to stumble across *EDITED*... at 1:30 in the morning. Certainly not the best special effects, but it kept me amused for four minutes.