Jahled

TIE fighters not having shields is something so daft that has grown up with this dreadful expanded universe, it is something I have doctored out of my games. I can't play with the original TIE fighter if you examine it's obvious target profile in comparison to rebel ships, supposed 'agility' aside, it's simply stupid, given the greater expense is the training of the actual pilot and it's value with field combat experience and training the new unlike what the Japanese did in WW2

Yes, long term blockading neutral systems does have a lon term effect on their political stance, incredibly. Which is where the game brakes down rather dramatically. I can almost grasp the concept of being blockaded by a Star Destroyer, 'it's potential to reduce the surface of an unprotected planet to molten slag' it's added fighter complement not least, rather blindly, but in the game, any ship has the same economical effect, which makes utterly no sense whatsoever, especially when it it is one of the original game's unarmed transport ships. Logically, to blockade a system completely should require the drama we saw with the Federation's blockade of Naboo in an interstellar age, not with the simple orbit of a Corellian Corvette or Bulk Transport. Sort of thing

I just ordered The Call of Cthulhu DVD because I loved the trailer a google search should bring up, loved the tale, and am a sucker for B-rate horror

Ta! The PC is nine years old at home, but was the beast in 1999, and cost me £1400 then; but has endured all this time well. It's still almost as quick as the other PC in the house which is far newer and with far more virtual and physical memory, which seems a bit odd, but there you go. It's due for retirement in the next couple of months, given it simply can't cope these days with the demands of the internet, gaming (been a while since I enjoyed any of that on it), and most importantly image manipulation, which is a bit critical given I can't run easily unshopped images through it for work. How computers move on; but nine years isn't a bad run for my money I guess! Anyway, it should be obvious now I am a mad, genetic scientist, currently obsessed with breeding Golden-headed Tamarin monstrosities: http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/9805/1205875466/GoldenHeadedVultureb3ta.jpg Variation here another here http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/9805/1206308163/macacoflavifronsb3ta.jpg Something less fluffy here All in Photoshop 7

I would love to help E, but simply have not the talents with vectors or drawing stuff, the more so at these scales!

Ah yes who can forget that Colombian goal keeper's antics that world cup. Nice to see Happy Toast's work doing the rounds with the pylons, I actually know the guy, and sent him tickets for the Zoo a month or so ago

Not entirely sure, simply a 39MB .tif I found lurking on our servers I can't express to you how much my PC moaned when I tried fireing it open in Photoshop

J, your "European liberal" and my "Republican liberal" aren't equivalent. I'm glad you have no problem working with a gay guy, I have no personal grudges against gay people at all; it's their choice. Republicans aren't black/white stormtrooper types killing all those that are different. Observed, I think we agreed our use of the word differs each side of the pond, though it does make me frown if 'being open to change' is something so radical if you look at the definition of the word. Surely this goes against economic entrepreneurs in the spirit of capitalism? Our interpretation of the word differs somewhat, I guess For the record I would like to point out Michael ate half the Swiss Roll I bought for the office today, before I remembered I brought it in , so my stance on standing up for his rights took a dip at five this afternoon

Hahahahahahahaa And this did have to make me check Wikipedia: Killer Rabbit That's some nice artwork there, Eagle! Have a Humming Otter: http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/9805/1205604953/Hummingotterb3ta.jpg

Who, J? YOU EVIL FIEND! BTW: I cant remember if I posted this before, but Winnie the Pooh does have some historical background: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/Jahled/scan0002.jpg and this is the original Animal Card for the bear AA Milne based his tales on: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/Jahled/RecordCardforWinnie-the-bear.jpg Something to show your kids as you tuck em up!

The Cheetah-headed Tamarin: http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/9805/1205692201/CheetahheadedTamarinb3ta.jpg Click here for absolutely vast

Yesterday, where I work, I got to meet some fluffy, feathery people: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/Jahled/IMG_1950.jpg The html code for thumbs isn't working btw

A Meer Cat: http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/9805/1205526493/MeerCat.jpg Edit: Oh, and for some truely strange creatures, that just happen to be real: http://www.thedeepbook.org/

Mostly because they're conservative, especially compared to today's liberal Democrats. Today's Republican party is not the Republican party like back in the days of Ronald Reagan. Today's Republicans practically look like yesteryears Democrats. So that should show you how much today's Democrats have slid to the socialist left. I believe the Federal gov't should be as small as possible, and concentrate on the things that impact the country as a whole. The states should take more responsibility for their citizens, as they should know the needs of their own people better than the national Congress back in D.C. People need to be more responsible for themselves and not rely on the gov't to take care of them (gov't officials only care about their power, money and getting re-elected; and people want them to take care of their welfare when they get old? That's crazy). How did this country survive all of those years before FDR started Social Security? They did it with hard work, good family, friends and community. Now people are lazy getting welfare, collecting unemployment and waiting to get their Social Security. Why work hard, when others will work hard for you (meaning they work hard, get taxed to high heaven, and then the gov't gives their money away)? Social Security should be privatized into IRA's; Disability & Medicare should be scaled back. I know not every single person in the country can survive on this plan, but the majority of these people can fend for themselves but they don't want to. Today's liberal Democrats want to tax the rich to pay for their programs to take care of the poor. The poor in turn receive all of this and in return vote liberal Democrats in power; that's the only thing needed to "repay" them. The more you tax "the rich" (people and companies who work their arses off) the more likely they will leave this country for somewhere else. A lot of businesses are moving overseas because the taxes are cheaper. When they leave, the gov't gets the tax on zero company revenue, plus people are now laid off from their jobs. Not smart in my opinion. Currently the top 1% of wage earners pay 39% of the taxes; the top 25% of wage earners pay 86% of the taxes; the top 50% of wage earners pay 97% of the taxes; and the bottom 50% fo wage earners pay 3% of the taxes! And the Democrats want to RAISE taxes on the rich! The "rich" are the people who buy things, spend their money to keep the economy rolling. They get higher taxes, they slow down spending on buying things, then stores have layoffs and everybody suffers. Basically it comes down to personal responsibility (Democrats don't want you to have it, and Republican do), and this country's citizens need a good dose of it. Sorry for the rant. No apology needed Tex, fella! It's a hard post to reply to, given I am not a North American, but feel I do not necessarily share your perception of your own nation's political climate. I have huge admiration for Reagan, given he more or less bankrupted the old Soviet Union in economic terms by being steadfast, and ended the twentieth centuries ideological argument between capitalism vs communism. The 'glorious party' lost, mainly because humans do not want to be treated like some kind of collective for the good of the masses given we are ultimately individuals in life, and have our own unique ambitions, potentials, and capabilities. For the likes of Pol Pot, Lenin, or Mao to deny that to populations was an evil, and a scar on the twentieth century. Life is not going to be some kind of Star Trek Federation utopia for a fair while yet, try and enforce it on a population and they will in time turn to hate it, like they have the communist world over, or be silenced with that lovely thing called the unique individual human brain, brainwashed into suppression in places like North Korea. I like the word 'liberal,' and for the record regard myself as one. I work with a gay guy which I don't find a problem with, seem to find an influx of skilled Eastern European immigrants better than the UK's own useless working class (who by and large should seek permission to breed by filling out a long and lengthy form before they can reproduce, given all they seem to is refuse to do an once of work and live off the state smoking dope and drinking super-strength ale.) What I don't like is the language I hear from right-wing 'shock-jocks' concerning politics from North America, Neocons, and the religious right that seems to have swept into the Republican party, at the very least as a major influence factor. That is where one perception of when you said: 'Today's Republicans practically look like yesteryears Democrats' seems so alien. The rest of the democratic West recoils at the antics of these contributors and factors in the Republican Party. Most of Europe didn't want to go to war with Iraq, because it didn't feel any actual risk from these non-existent weapons of mass-destruction, despite their populations being much closer than North America's, and any logical reason why Saddam would unleash mass destruction on economies he was dependent upon, not being a religious nutter. Anyway, i'm getting lost. I don't like a lot of what I see on the centre left, especially anti-war muppets who go on and on about Iraq as if nothing can be salvaged from this grim afair, and don't seem to be out yelling loudly about Sudan or anywhere else especially if it doesn't involve USA or Israel, being muppets. But am very uneasy with what I presently perceive the Republican party as. Despite McCain. Which is what is quite ironic.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/save-the-whales-how-moko-the-dolphin-came-to-the-rescue-of-a-mother-and-her-calf-795025.html This is a fluffy tale. Apparently a dolphin came to the rescue of a distressed pair of whales and led them to safety, seemingly commuicating with each other. Woo stuff!

I'm not wrong here in recalling at the end of Revenge of the Sith the captain of the Blockade Runner orders only C3-P0 to have a mind wipe? This would of course allow R2-D2 to come out with whatever excuse he wanted to contact Ben, especially to some teenage farmer on some backwater planet..

I remember reading about Chewie's death in one of the UK's 'serious' newspapers first, in a half page feature, for some reason. I have no idea why I remember this

About the oddest first post I have read since the web was all grass and fields.. Unless I am missing something, this is locked

Not really, given this is a public forum. If you think about it for a sec, Mith, I don't really think the precedent in discussing exchanging possibly cracked software on these forums, would be a good idea. I was merely stating what might possibly be a scenario in my own personal life, outside the boundaries of this site. Plus none of it has arrived yet

http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/9805/1205268423/fluffylethalthingb3ta.jpg I have a vast version of this I am going to send to a British tabloid to try and create a sensation

Bad luck matey, but it sounds like at that age she had a good crack of life's whip! I just got a letter on Saturday informing me I have inherited 1/3 of my recently departed, also ninety so and so great-uncle's estate, which according to the letter, and my knowledge of quite how wealthy the guy was, should revolutionize my life. This was a guy who even in his late eighties would send post cards from some safari in Africa, or the far-east. I can only admire his physical endurance and zest for life! I hope I will possess the same

Nothing. I have an exceedingly rich friend who's business is based in China, who sends me stuff at home for free, or he is being sold utterly over-priced Adobe software on the cheap in Beijing which I have no moral problem in installing on my home PC. Select option A or B. So not even the postage. Class

That would be pretty awesome, but maybe better a miniseries, like ten episodes per season and only two seasons. That way the story is rich without being dragged out. I would worry (A LOT!) if Lucas were the one to make it into anything. The Thrawn trilogy was about the last bit of expanded Star Wars I could read and take on par with the original trilogy of films, before the prequals, and Jedi turning out to be Superman, faithful enough to the original films to be the logical continuation. But what SOCL says, I think GL has lost the plot somewhere along the line; Peter Jackson?

I was in tears as well when I first read this thread, despite never getting around to meeting Paul. He didn't post particularly that much, I never got around to knowing him via msn on account of me either being up a tree, on a bike, or completely overwhelmed at work in an office, like I am at the moment; yet somehow got to know him through email. Treasure your time fellas, as you get older it seems to pass ever more swiftly with age, and when things like this happens you regret all the things you never got around to saying. It was always on the cards with Paul though, but still. I'll drop this here, but you lot here are, and generally always have been, one of the best bunch of dudes i've encountered on the internet, for diversity in all aspects of things, but ultimately giving these forums a thoroughly 'welcoming home feel, whenever I have time to return.' I think Paul would approve of the sentiment.

A healthy spring clean, fella!