ArwenDarkblade

[ QUOTE ]
Awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

PETA asks The Pet Shop Boys to change their name.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Just because they named their new CD "Yes," does not mean that British electro-pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys, will agree to just about anything.

The band has turned down a request from an animal rights group to rename itself the Rescue Shelter Boys.

The organization, the People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA), sent a letter to Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe acknowledging that its request, at first blush, might appear "bizarre."

But, by changing its name, the band could raise awareness at every tour stop of the "cramped, filthy conditions" that breeders keep animals in before selling them to pet stores, PETA said in its letter.

The duo, which has performed under its current name for more than 20 years, reproduced PETA's written request in full on its Web site.

The musicians said they were "unable to agree" to the request "but nonetheless think (it) raises an issue worth thinking about."

The animal rights group said it was pleased the Pet Shop Boys had drawn attention to the issue by posting its letter so prominently on the band's site. Talking about its campaign on a blog entry, a PETA staffer wrote:

"I think I may have to stick "West End Girls" on my iPod right now to celebrate."

"West End Girls" is one of the many hits the group has had in its long career.

PETA is no stranger to oddball campaigns. A recent one was aimed to re-christen fish as "sea kittens"

Arc Name: Plastics Revenge
Arc ID: 16692
Morality: Neutral
Creator: Abraxxus
Difficulty Level: Could be easily soloed. No EB/AV fight
Arc Description: Little Steven seems to have a very big problem.
Arc Length: 1 mission (sadly - I want more!)
Why you think it deserves to be played/discussed: Brax has a custom enemy group in his mission that I find really adorable. I don't want to spoil anything, but the combination of the enemies, their dialog, and the plot brought back a lot of crazy childhood memories. Apparently there is more coming, and for that I'm excited.

Arc Name: Papal Supremacy
Arc ID: 1174
Morality: Neutral
Creator: Borts
Difficulty Level: Some EB/AV fights. It's difficult and a nice challenge, but it's not overdone. Not easily soloable, but it's possible. If you're tired of cakewalk arcs, this is a great change of pace.
Arc Description: Borts has a thing for popes, especially those that cause trouble.
Arc Length: 4 missions
Why you think it deserves to be played/discussed: The writing and dialog in this arc had me laughing the entire time I was doing it. It's quite funny, but not pointlessly so. Borts did a great job making custom enemies. They look great, and have interesting power combinations.

Arc Name: Blitzkrieg
Arc ID: 3416
Morality: Hero
Creator: @Mekkanos
Difficulty Level: There are a few EB/AV fights, but nothing over the top. Mekk also makes sure you have some help. It's entirely soloable on heroic, and a good challenge at higher difficulty levels with a team.
Arc Description: A simple investigation into Malta Group activity turns into a fight for the freedom of heroes everywhere as you uncover the sinister Project: Blitzkrieg
Arc Length: 5 missions
Why you think it deserves to be played/discussed: Mekk takes a canon villain group, Malta, and expands on the story we already have in game in a way that is intriguing and interesting. Mekk does an excellent job of capturing the voice of Crimson, the starting contact, as well as capturing the spirit of the Malta Group. I normally avoid Malta like white shoes after Labor Day, but "Blitzkrieg" made me a fan.

Arc Name: Fall of the White Plains
Arc ID: 2248
Morality: Hero
Creator: @talia rayvyn
Difficulty Level: There are some EBs/AVs, but it's easily soloable, and is even a bit too easy on heroic (as most arcs currently are).
Arc Description: In the final days of the First War, the city of White Plains is under attack by the invaders known as 'the Rikti'. It is up to you to aid Tessa Rayvyn in rescuing her family.
Arc Length: 5 missions
Why you think it deserves to be played/discussed: In "The Fall of White Plains," Talia has done exactly what I wanted from the MA - she is telling a story using the canon story line, but with characters that are all her own and in a way that doesn't make any of them Mary Sues. Tessa Rayvyn and her family fit seamlessly into the story of the Rikti War in a story that is engaging and interesting. Talia's writing gives you a real sense of urgency to help do your part to save the people of White Plains, and uncover some other nefarious plots. She weaves together the plot lines beautifully while reminding us of the full impact of the Rikti War.

[ QUOTE ]
I put the word 'screw' into my mission text, as in "Don't screw this up," and I was told that I was a naughty boy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I got smacked down for the word "crap."

I had an attacked mob say "Oh crap." It's funny in context, but oh well.

[ QUOTE ]
Was Captain Dynamic Ed Robertson from Barenaked Ladies?

[/ QUOTE ]

I was just coming here to ask that! That would be like an extra layer of awesome icing on an awesome cake.

That video was simply terrific. Loved everything about it! I'm glad to see the videos branching out and doing new things!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
when I pull this page up, I get two hotfixes listed. Do I install both and if not, which one?

Fix245313

and

Fix233686

[/ QUOTE ]

It should be pointed out (as I believe it has been elsewhere) that Firefox users should switch over to another browser, such as IE, to get their hotfixes as Firefox is incorrectly reporting what system you have. I'm on a 64-bit box, but it thought I was on a 32-bit and only gave me the two (Oct and July) hotfixes for 32-bit systems. But copying the link over to IE, I was able to get the 64-bit hotfix... which, after installation, is jamming up my 64-bit Vista w/ 9800 Nvidia system even faster than before. Booyah!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ohms, you have saved my subscription and my sanity. Thank you, a million times thank you!

I have been applying hot fix after hot fix trying to resolve this issue, and yes, I'm a dedicated Firefox user. I have been pulling my hair out over this, and even went so far as to uninstall my video card, wipe out all the drivers, and start again. And still nothing.

But then I saw your post, and I downloaded this hot fix with IE instead of Firefox, and now everything works perfectly. And I was thisclose to unsubscribing for a while until an official fix came down the line, not because I don't want to play the game, but because I couldn't play the game in an enjoyable manner for an acceptable length of time. But I was able to play all day yesterday with no problems at all, and it was wonderful.

Again, thank you for that extra info about the browsers. I think that should be included in Ex's original post.

[ QUOTE ]
That made me cry.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me, too.

I really dislike the turn this thread has taken.

I LOVE that! Riz is amazing.

And I love how she got your face stubble on our RL self.

I only read 52 because Batwoman was in it. I'm quite happy to read this.

[ QUOTE ]
My new background for my main gaming computer, on which I play a =lot= of Left 4 Dead, is this.

--NT

[/ QUOTE ]

That's creepy and I LOVE it.

[ QUOTE ]
Actually, it means you can SKIP taking the first or second power in the Travel Power Pools and, at level 6, pick the travel power immediately. No pre-requisites.

[/ QUOTE ]



I love you guys. Seriously.

Can it be August now?

[ QUOTE ]
More good stuff.

So I hear these are by StoneFalcon, who also brought us The Revenge of Dr. Mechanico and The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Mechanico.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had never seen that second one. LOL! It's a riot.

I love the Mac ads. Great work Stone Falcon! These are, bar none, the best videos that have been made for CoX.

New York Times article concerned about the hackability of presidential Blackberrys and pants.

The High Security Risk Attached to Obama’s Belt

Why can’t the most powerful person in the world keep his BlackBerry?

President-elect Barack Obama, who will take the oath of office next week, has repeatedly acknowledged a strong attachment to his Verizon BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone, a k a the BarackBerry. But in an interview last week, Mr. Obama lamented that the Secret Service and his lawyers appeared to be winning the battle to deny him this electronic link to friends, family and news of the larger world.

“I’m still clinging to my BlackBerry,” he said. “I don’t know that I’ll win.”

No doubt millions of e-mail-addicted thumb jockeys can sympathize. But there are several compelling reasons to separate Mr. Obama from his beloved device.

The first is security. Research in Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry, boasts that its devices and network were designed from the bottom up to protect the data that passes through them.

When companies (or the White House) install R.I.M. servers on their internal e-mail networks, their employees’ BlackBerry messages are heavily encrypted before they are sent to one of R.I.M.’s network operations centers and passed on to other devices or networks.

This means that if someone were to intercept a message, it would be virtually impossible to unscramble the contents, R.I.M. says.

The F.B.I. feels comfortable enough with the technology to give BlackBerrys to its employees, although it does not allow agents to transmit classified information over them. The National Security Agency, which is responsible for evaluating device security, said last week that nobody was available to discuss whether it had approved the use of BlackBerrys to send classified military information.

But Mr. Obama would be an extraordinarily juicy target for hackers, spies and other snoops who could try to exploit any kind of error made in configuring the device or the White House BlackBerry server to read Mr. Obama’s e-mail.

Bruce Schneier, an expert on encryption and security, does not believe that the security systems at R.I.M. — or at any other company — are completely safe, because of the inherent limitations of the humans who design and use them. “If the BlackBerry was completely secure, it would be the first time in the history of mankind,” Mr. Schneier said.

Then there’s the question of whether Mr. Obama’s BlackBerry could give away his location — perhaps to people trying to harm him. Every mobile phone continuously contacts the nearby towers in its wireless network when it is turned on, so that calls and data can be routed to the phone.

It is technically possible that someone with access to a cellphone company’s systems could use those contacts to roughly track Mr. Obama’s movements, although this would not be easy.

Of course presidents, with their large entourages, do not move about with much secrecy anyway. The biggest security vulnerability of the BlackBerry — and of any technology, for that matter — may be the people who use and administer it.

Mr. Obama is unlikely to leave his BlackBerry in a taxi or choose “Michelle” as his password. (And even if he lost the device, it could be remotely shut down and erased.) But with so much interest in the president-elect and his communications, privacy invaders would be poised to capitalize on any security slip.

The president-elect’s next set of BlackBerry naysayers are the pesky lawyers, who worry that Mr. Obama’s impromptu thumb-tapped conversations could become subject to legal battles.

Lawmakers, historians and open government groups routinely request all presidential communications under federal laws like the Freedom of Information Act. Under the 1978 Presidential Records Act, administrations are required to turn over their communications to public archivists, who make them public starting five years after the end of a president’s final term.

The Bush administration made a novel effort to avoid disclosure by using Republic National Committee e-mail accounts for some of its communications, which a judge in Washington recently called an “apparently flagrant violation of the Presidential Records Act.”

Since Richard Nixon and his infamous tapes, all presidents have argued for their right to withhold some governmental communication under the mantle of executive privilege, and have resisted disclosure of their personal and political correspondence.

But these privacy claims can be hotly disputed, and judges may decide them on a message-by-message basis.

“In this day of inevitable investigations, any time you have written documentation of what the president is saying on any particular subject, then in that investigation, these records may be requested and could be obtained,” said Elizabeth A. McNamara, a lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine in New York. “Then you’ve got the president in the thick of it.”

All this bodes rather poorly for the president-elect’s continued relationship with his BlackBerry, but perhaps that is not so bad. After all, do we really want the leader of the free world taking time off from the problems of climate change and economic collapse to manage his spam, or play a quick game of BrickBreaker?

Then there is the fashion concern. Mr. Obama is known to sport his BlackBerry in a holster on his belt, which to many is the sartorial equivalent of wearing socks with sandals. Ridding the president of the phone could avoid legitimizing that look.

The BlackBerry no doubt endears Mr. Obama to one element of his core constituency: hard-working, tech-obsessed professionals whose fingers are painfully cramped from trying to type on small keys. In a sense, then, the BlackBerry is no different from the accessories that other presidents used to help them relate to their political base, like Ronald Reagan’s cowboy hats and jeans.

But those fashion statements seem less risky than a BlackBerry; it's harder to hack pants.

[ QUOTE ]
Well now ... not sure if I would be insulted by such a course beeing offered in my program or first in line to sign up ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Same here. That's one geek stereotype that I, sadly, fulfill completely. I am utterly terrible at flirting. I couldn't be more awkward if I tried.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
QR

Ok, ok you're a Mac and I'm a PC. But are you hero or villain?????

Welcome to CoH/V Macsters!

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjXVhA86Vr4

I am a Villain!

Ex

[/ QUOTE ]

Ex, that video is AWESOME! I absolutely love everything about it. It's funny, very well done, and quite possibly the best CoX video yet. Love it!

Ski Badges - If you achieve the gold level without getting the other two first, wouldn't it make sense to award them all at the same time? I mean, if you can do it at the gold level, you can obviously do it at the other two.

Suggestion:

How about adding a practice dummy at the top of the ski slopes so Kins can use it to Siphon Speed?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Trainers (or a single co-op trainer) in Pocket D would be nice for when someone levels up during all the BNY grinding, and/or during the Valentine's day stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes! Please put a trainer in Pocket D even if it is just temporary for the events.

[/ QUOTE ]

And a Wentworth's/Black Market kiosk too! That would be great.

[ QUOTE ]
The kids had a 2 hours delay because it's like 9 degrees and gusty.

[/ QUOTE ]

They're not on break yet?

Like Karo said, it's bitterly cold here, and completely snowless. If I have to put up with the cold, I should at least get some snow out of it.

On top of that, we had a power outage last night because of the ice storms (freezing rain and ice coupled with very gusty winds), and the house got very cold very quickly. Thank goodness for the fireplace!

I really hate the 30 piece max storage. I mostly hate it because of the Halloween salvage. In my SG, we had one rack for Halloween salvage. Amongst all of us, we managed to collected about 60 full sets of the salvage and had them in the storage bin. When I13 hit, we were woefully over clocked. We now can not add any more to that bin, and have to be careful when removing a set since we can't put it back. I see us running into a similar situation with Candy Canes.

Please remove the 30 piece limit, even if it's only a special one for holiday salvage.

[ QUOTE ]
There needs to be some way to earn CCs during the rest of the year, because it now has a lot of stuff tied to it that is of real use for the rest of the year (for example, the auras and IO sets) and having those items restricted to one month out of twelve seems unnecessarily harsh.

[/ QUOTE ]

You mean like Halloween salvage?

You can farm and store Candy Canes, though with the 30 piece limit for base salvage, it could be more frustrating than it's worth.

Personally, I don't care that they're time limited. To me, that just makes them more special.