ThunderPeel2001

Well, I did give two specific recent examples of it having an effect on US government... Well that's a very cynical point of view! But this is all a moot point, because however you feel about the questions in the Quiz I linked to, you still get put in one of five categories... Whether you think it's impossible for somebody to ever do any good with those opinions, and little bit of power, is really a separate point. FWIW, I was placed in the "Liberal" category by the Quiz. It'd be interesting to hear where other people were placed.

If it was "Heart of Gold" then let me give you a virtual high-five!

In case everyone hasn't already seen it, Killstar's fortress of solitude is incredible! And right next to it is an awesome Colosseum! They're the best things I've seen on our map so far... I don't know how you make such perfect circles!

Those bastards! Can't they take a break once in a while? I'm still trying to work through games from over a decade ago! Actually, I often feel the same excitement when I see the list of films being released in a given year... but what tends to happen is a lot of them turn out to be pants. Of course, if the image is anything to go by, we should all be pre-ordering Secret Files 3: The Archimedes Code right now!

Wow. I so surprised at this. People dish out "left" and "right" wing criticisms/praise all the time, but it seems nobody can actually agree on what it means. I was being a little disingenuous before when I said, "feel free to correct me", as I happen to know my own definition is correct -- even if it doesn't preclude other definitions. (Although, I didn't word it very well at all.). Right wingers want exactly the same as left wingers: A fair and just society, where we can all feel safe and happy. The differences is that neither side agrees how best to get these things. Abraham Lincoln, considered one of America's finest Presidents, and the man who helped abolish slavery there, was right wing. Winston Churchill, a highly respected British Prime Minister, who took the UK through WWII, was right wing. I respect both of these people tremendously, but they sit on opposite political sides to me. Neither of them were evil, wanted to persecute minorities, steal candy from children, etc. They were honest, intelligent people, who believed that their way of thinking was the best way to help society. Nothing more than that. There is a fundamental core to left and right politics, but also a lot of flowery interpretation and personal additions that go on top of this -- and I think that's where confusion arises. It's also why Satan spawn and hero to morons, Sarah Palin can sit on the same team as the guy who ended slavery. There's a core that they both agreed on: It's not the government's job to make sure there is social justice. They see attempts at doing that as meddling with personal liberties. This core argument tends to affect the extremes of society: The very rich and the very poor. And also how companies do business. An incredibly simplistic way of looking at it is this: "I worked my ass off to earn all this money, why should some of it be taken from me by the government in order to help those who have less than me?" (This is why there is often a class divide between left and right -- the upper classes don't always appreciate paying huge amounts in tax.) The left sees the argument like this: "Society is flawed by nature. Those who need aid, need it due to circumstances beyond their control, so we must address this imbalance by getting involved." The right often sees this as damaging society, claiming that a "pure" capitalistic society, left to its own devices, would sort itself out perfectly (a bit like survival of the fittest), with little need for government meddling in people's personal lives. Of course, this "pure capitalism" doesn't work in practice, which is why we have things like minimum wage. If we, or America, were a "purely capitalist" society, there would be no minimum wage -- the market would set your worth, not the government. The problem is, of course, that countries without minimum wage tend have huge parts of their population being exploited and living below the poverty line (e.g. second world countries). I do think that the majority of both "left" and "right" understand that a balance must be struck though, so minimum wage will not go away, but inevitably that still leaves swathes of grey. Another core argument is how involved the government is in helping businesses, and how much they should restrict business practices. A more right wing country would have less laws governing what business can and cannot do. A more left wing government (like Obama's) attempts to place more restrictions, like more Consumer Protection or Equal Pay for Women (a bill about which was recently blocked by the Republicans in the US). The right wing says that these sort of measures are more harmful than good (I, personally, disagree). Quite interestingly though, a recent study (I think in Reading University, here in the UK) showed that people tend to refer to themselves as "left wing" and "right wing" based on the people in their lives, rather than the actual ideologies behind them. If they see someone they despise belonging to one group, then they're more likely to belong to the other, etc. If they see people they like and respect belonging to a group, then they're more likely to consider themselves as belonging to it, too. It's a bit sad and silly, and it's helped turn politics into a game of personalities. Here's a simple little test that's been around for 40 years designed to help people discover where they really sit on the political spectrum: World's Smallest Political Quiz I think the world would be a better place if more people took it!

Yeah, there were definitely some changes that seemed like they were more Fox than Whedon... for example Eliza Dushku's clothes are suddenly more revealing. The main difference is that it sets up a formula from the get go, whereas the original pilot was a really interesting and gripping drama -- and you couldn't really figure out what episode 2 was going to be like... But you REALLY wanted to watch it, whatever it was. Plus, there WERE some clarity issues... I think by the time it's doing its third or fourth flashback in a row you begin to wonder what the hell is going on. It definitely pushed the boundaries of confusion, at least during one bit.

Yeah, I found it really average for the first five episodes... Oddly enough, the original pilot that's included on the DVD set, I LOVED from the get go. (I actually watched it first by accident, before I'd seen any episodes.)

Good stuff! I will listen to it soon Edit: <title></title> Edit: Wow. That's a lot of music. What are you most happy with, so I can start with that?

No, it got cancelled in its second. It actually got really good after episode 5 of the first season, too. Still, Joss Whedon actually said if he was in control of Fox he would have kept the SC Chronicles going, even if it meant losing Dollhouse -- apparently he was a fan, too.

Minecraft

Hmmm. Not too sure about this, either...

Don't worry about it.

Hmm. Not entirely sure I agree with that... Yes, that's apparently where the terms left and right came from....... but you're taking their standpoints very literally, instead of what they stood for. A right wing person in a country with a long socialist tradition would not support existing the power-structures just because it was "tradition". During the French revolution those ideals stood for something.

Here's my understanding of things: The people who are seen as representing the right in politics (eg. Sarah Palin) don't always reflect the actual ideologies of what it actually means to be right. The right, at its core, is more about helping the lower classes: How much should the State be responsible for those who don't earn/are on lower wages? The right leans towards them being a victim of themselves, the left leans towards seeing them as a victim of society. Anything beyond that start getting into the individual's personal opinions. Feel free to correct me.

Or Long John Silver. I'm AGAINST opening the server up, myself. I don't see the point of it... I don't think it's lacking in vibrancy and I enjoy meeting folks I know there. Plus, if anyone is part of THIS community (ie. the forum) they're easily able and welcome to join the Minecraft server already... Why start inviting folks in who don't at least lurk here? Of course, maybe I'm being paranoid, but really it only take one bad apple to take some TNT to Stairway or someone's house, or just plain steal from folk. Also: Those who have studied Community Theory will know that people feel more open and secure if a community has barriers to entry. This may be solved by a "whitelist", but really, what's stopping the unwashed from getting onto that list? An email request? At least at the moment they have to be part of this community or friends with someone here to have heard about it. That's my 2c, FWIW.

It's 100% a marketing bot.

There's your problem. Exposed wiring. You get someone to take a look at that.

Grouch. That's SO cool. (Although admittedly he didn't build it block-by-block.)

Why hasn't anyone built one of these yet? kn2-d5a3r94

So the guy who made Minecraft is now a multi-millionaire, right? So surely he can start hiring some developers and movie it out of beta, pronto?

Same thing happened to me. I miss that diamond pickaxe ;__;

No kidding. I actually don't want to load it up incase I lose another 6 hours... There's something secretly addictive about it. Sinister almost... Yeeps.

Heh. I kind of found out why it's so addictive last night. Damn!

So, er, I've been playing around with MC in my spare time... It's kind of fun, making and expanding my lair, mining for stuff, killing baddies, and crafting items. I was just wondering: Is that all there is to MC? I think I've crafted nearly everything I care to... I think. If so, what's the dealio with crafting something on a shared server? Is it just random hijinks? Also: How on earth did someone craft all the amazing stuff that's there already (Stairway to Heaven, etc.)? In my single player game, I've managed to build a cave... with some torches and a door. To build all that other stuff must take about 50 million years?! I feel like I'm missing something. Thanks for any help!

There wasn't really any story... but what was there did make sense, I think. What didn't make sense?