Roderick

Orvidos, do you really think cows have no sentience? If we follow the dictionary's description of sentience as the capacity for sensation or feeling, then you should learn that especially cows, pigs and other mammals that are extremely close to us on the evolutionary scale have it. Both physically (they have a complex nervous system) and 'culturally'. You need only hang around with a cow (or any mammal for that matter) for a day to see this for yourself: they have character, they have moods, they have complex relationships with each other, they feel pain, they feel fear, sorrow, anxiety, tranquility, playfulness. And not just basic emotions too: I've experienced rabbits fake being offended and sulk to gain emotional leverage over others or their keepers. To claim that these animals do not possess sentience is naive. Now, you might be able to claim they are not self aware, which is quite a different thing. You might have somewhat more of a point there, but like Miffy said, there are really no hard boundaries to that. The article I linked to is a sure sign that science is only just figuring out what goes on in the inner lives of animals, sparking very real and very legitimate questions about whether we should give legal rights to whales, dolphins and chimps. Not owning up to the existence of this science and treating animals like objects (who cares if we kill them and eat them?) is like denying evolution: you're sticking your head in the sand for your own convenience. As for the topic of eating meat: morality has everything to with that. There are many instances in both the animal and human kingdom of cannibalism. If it's natural to them, why not do it yourself? You say 'humans are off-limits', which is in itself a purely moral decision. That's where the line lies for you. This line can shift in either direction to envelop more species or even less. Pescetarians like myself have chosen that the line lies with fish, vegetarians choose not to eat any animals and vegans have decided even animal products are a no-go. The argument that eating meat is OK because our ancestors did it is poppycock. Eating meat was necessary for survival back then, and is necessary for survival for many animals today. For (most) modern humans, however, eating meat is a luxury and easily done away with because the tradition is superceded by philosophical, scientific and moral insight. We now have the choice of eating meat or not, and the nasty thing about having a choice is that it always goes along with the obligation to make it consciously. That means understanding what the choice is, what the moral implications are and squaring it with yourself. Miffy; if I'm reading this correctly, you are halfway decided that you'll be a pescetarian or vegetarian in the future and you're just waiting for some fresh day where you'll wake up and get a sign from the clouds. Why not just say 'fuck it' right now and follow up? For the record; I'm not proselytising here. People may eat what they want. I just get the feeling you need a nudge towards what you've already thought of yourself. I stopped eating meat just out of the blue one evening and never looked back. I liked meat just fine before, but I never miss it now. It hasn't been a struggle at all, it's just flipping a switch and you start viewing meats as 'inedibles'.

I don't really understand what you're getting at, Ben. In any case, Twig, I think it would be entirely reasonable, and desirable, for more animals to be included down the line. If eating meat should be abolished in due course, I think that would benefit us as a species in a million different ways both biological, cultural and spiritual. Again, you and a lot of others might see that as totally crazy and super unnatural, but there are many instances of culture changing in a profound way unthinkable to people at the time.

All right, I'll post the link. It's not extremely terrible in any case, but maybe also not entirely appropriate: http://leviathyn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/steam_sale.jpg

Loud neighbours are the devil. It sounds like you've already dealt with the worst offences, so sticking out until the weed's fully eradicated shouldn't be impossible, right? Otherwise, make plans to move, hopefully to your own home with good neighbours.

You're right, not in the best of taste.

Deleted!

The Olympics as an economic or cultural stimulus are overrated. It didn't make China a more people-loving country. In the same vein, all the World Championship (soccer) did for South Africa was saddle them with a few gigantic, empty arenas barely useful for anything. I will reiterate what Subbes said: boondoggle.

I've been reading the House of Five Leaves manga. It's a quaint experience but hasn't really managed to capture me. I don't think it's the lack of plot that makes it difficult to read for me, but rather the opaque storytelling. It's more about atmosphere than about story, which is fine. I wonder if it works better as an anime, where sound and motion can make a big difference in exactly this sort of story.

Well, that's all for tonight on BIG TALK. We've SOLVED the ISSUE.

Spider-man: Threat or Menace?

The Olympics are just like the Eurovision Song Festival: a soulless, hackneyed, commercial affair meant to enrich (either politically or financially) an elite at the cost of everybody else. A corrupt miasma of power abuse.

This trailer makes me go to the depth of the chasm of the cleft of the canyon of my apathy.

I have apparently found a way to get Paypal te work, which I hope won't bite me in the ass. There is a slight weirdness going on with my living address, since I'm living in with my parents across the German border. Which is why Paypal wouldn't work - it noticed I was on German internet servers yet I had registered my address as Dutch. Oh well, I bought Hotman Bliid Miney, so now I can see what the fuss was about.

You can bypass all that if you own the actual Philosopher's Stone, in which case the game will just start. It's a dongle.

I already own Hotman Blood Money for the Xbox 360, but never could play it because it requires some non-European tv-set output or something? Even though I have a modern tv, it just wouldn't run. Hotdamn.

Raid mode isn't for me. I don't like The Mercenaries either. Unless I'm particularly playing an arcade game, I rarely can be bothered with gameplay just for gameplay's sake. I need story, man! Anyway, I'm just miffed about the CPP. I'm sure if I still had it I'd plow through the underwater sections and finish the game. I still stand by how incredible its ghost ship environment is. I strongly feel we are in agreement about just about everything. NSMB2 is high on my desired list. I, too, love the coin madness. It feels crazy and silly and just right. So far the DLC has been announced to be extra challenge maps which I'll happily skip. As for 3D on the system, I actually thought RErev was excellent in that regard. I played the whole game with the 3D effect on FULL, which I never did before. It adds a lot to the immersion. On other games it can be distracting or just nonsensical.

I initially read this as you having a girlfriend from, like, a rural part of the country or maybe a defrosted iron age female from a glacier, that you had to introduce to modern society. Teach how to hold a fork, curtsy, that sort of thing.

Solliciting for jobs these days myself, I've learned to appreciate the quick replies. If they're negative at least you know, but all my actual interviews have been from companies that replied within a few days. The trend I've noticed is that the smaller the company, the quicker the reply. The biggest instutions take weeks, or don't even bother.

It was in the Kickstarter I believe? Ed Fries has mad props. I just remember that I made that smiley years ago

Good luck on that, Subbes. Might I suggest handwriting your cover letter to demonstrate your special preference for pens? Through a fluke my laptop ended up on a pile of plastic boxes [containing old Lego sets from me and my siblings' youth]. I'm typing this standing up and it's an amazing, active sensation. I know of exactly one person in the world who works behind his desktop standing. I know we generally sit down too much in our daily life - could standing up be a good solution? Besides health benefits, I must reiterate how awesome it feels. (My current laptop configuration isn't precisely ideal, since I need to crane my neck downward to look at the screen.)

I've put playing this game on hold for now, after reaching level 8. Two reasons specifically: one is that the CPP didn't register anymore. Surely the battery isn't drained if you leave the 3DS in the casing switched off? Also, there was an extremely tedious underwater section that I am not in the mood for, especially now that I have to deal with regular, cumbersome controls without camera input. Screw that. Revelations has been extremely hit and miss. It has offered (so far) the most intense and terrifying moments I've ever had in a Resident Evil game. Being chased by creatures along tight ship quarters is really scary. I also enjoy the thick atmosphere on board and basically every moment where you just explore instead of fight. But other levels are so poor. Anytime the game forces you off the ship in favor of some ill-conceived sidestory (focus usually on action set pieces), the game just flops around. It breaks the tension and introduces obnoxious comedy characters. It convolutes. Lack of direction. This game would have been so good with just the bits on the ghost ship, 70% of the monsters cut and no action sequences. Now it's a typical RE affair that Capcom cannot help choking on like a chicken bone.

Toblix came through in the end. Thanks for offering, Gward!

I wish to amend a certain earlier statement. Recent developments have proven Toblix not to be a crook, but merely a petty knave.