DoomUK

APPLE KEYBOARD YOU HAVE FAILED ME!

H CK BN FX JMD V H LAZ DG

Csonicgo said:

You sir have a Logitech don't you? I have a logitech K120 and it does this.

Yes sir. K200. Indeed.

THEQUIKROWFOJUPSOERTHELAYDOG

As a bible belt atheist, I can understand the pressures that you face. My family eventually found out, but my parents, though mostly devout Christians, are very intelligent and aren't the crazy aggressive type. Outside of the house or occasionally college when I was there though, I don't mention my lack of belief in public.

I actually still go to church. The thing with Baptist churches is that you can find ones that are much less about dogma and more about socialization and people bringing in good food to eat. Since no one really presses me about my faith, no one knows I lost my faith years ago. I was even asked to serve as a deacon, though I respectfully declined.

Why do I still go? I still like the people there. I get free coffee. I've also always just found it relaxing. The things I didn't like, like closing my eyes during prayer, or singing the hymns, or feeling guilty that I'm not really listening to the sermon, I just don't do anymore. I lip sync to the hymns, replacing words with "rubber duck" or "hot dog" or whatever else I'm thinking about at the time.

And yeah, fraggle linked to it, but reddit's atheist community is the biggest on the internet as far as I know. The FAQ he linked is a great resource for material, and if you don't like r/atheism for whatever reason there are other subreddits like r/TrueAtheism that try to have more "mature" discussions.

I might just host a Halloween party this year and piss my mother off, who takes it quite seriously, by tricking her into attending.

This morning she said in so many words that I'm going to hell for not believing in Jesus. Fair's fair.

fraggle said:

I think the thing is that I've read a lot of stories about people living in certain parts of America, for whom coming out as an atheist can actually be a huge deal. As in, being on the receiving end of physical abuse, getting kicked out of their parents' house, or shunned by their family and friends. The standing advice in Reddit's r/atheism FAQ for example, is that you shouldn't tell your parents until you're an adult and financially independent. For people in Europe it's less of a big deal, because religion isn't generally taken so seriously by most people.

It's stuff like this that makes it so outrageous to me that Christians in the USA constantly say they're under attack and are being persecuted, despite holding a majority of the population and more often than not the ones doing the persecuting. If anything, a huge majority of intolerance and discrimination comes from the religious right in this country, not the other parts of society. Of course, I'm sure there have been some cases of super-atheist parents being less than accepting when their son or daughter expresses an interest in going to church or something like that, but more often than not I've seen atheist/non-affiliated parents be much, much more accepting.

DuckReconMajor said:

I don't understand. Those people have set goals: create better computer hardware, sell more stock etc. Philosophers, among other things, try to find ideas on what the overall goals of humanity should be.

Depending on who you believe, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did some of both. Well, with a particular emphasis on the selling part.

If you are looking for a "pure" representative of the "set goals" category, think Steve Wozniak or Jeff Minter. A pure representative of the philosophy category would be Richard Stallman or Dijkstra.

The catch is that "pure" engineers are seldom famous outside of nerd cycles, and "pure" modern-day philosophers are seldom known outside their communities, unlike Gates and Jobs, even though the latter ultimately boil down to salesmen.

Who said anything about "serious study"? And why would you care if it's a worthless way to spend your time anyway?

All I'm saying is, when philosophy is the name of the game, I don't really see a difference in value between Lost, Terminator and Twilight. To imply things you dislike are worse than things you like on an intellectual level just strikes me as funny when we're talking about popular culture, designed to appeal to our lowest instincts.

I don't understand. Those people have set goals: create better computer hardware, sell more stock etc. Philosophers, among other things, try to find ideas on what the overall goals of humanity should be.

(In addition to what Maes said...)

Entrepreneurs don't sell stock. You're thinking of brokers. Entrepreneurs are people who create value and businesses (plural being key).

Philosophy is first and foremost about figuring out the universe, no matter how the modern world twisted its original meaning. You can't understand the universe if you don't get its laws. There's a reason most important philosophers from the past were also groundbreaking mathematicians.

When I said stock I meant like merchandise not like wall street heh.

And okay I see what you're saying. I thought you meant that through these professions, they are being philosophers. And yes I agree with Maes I consider those people to be philosophers too.

Have you guys read Plato's Republic? It does discuss a lot of these questions. (And yes, Plato/Socrates felt that math/mathematicians were essential to philosophy)

Mr. Freeze said:

You thought wrong.

Any solidbody electric guitar is capable of getting a death metal sound. Hell, the first death metal album ever released ("Seven Churches" by Possessed) has a SSS Strat on all the guitar tracks. You don't need Yet Another EMG/ESP/Ampeg Setup in order to get a good crushing sound.

Well, he thought right, but as there are differencies in the sound of different guitars, its almost all about the pickups and the amps thats used.
Also, I want a more "old school" sound, so old and "not that metal`ish guitars" are perfect for that :)
I also use the original pickups that came with the Strat. Makes the sound dirty as hell when I crank the gain/dist to the max on the amp ;P

Also using the neck-pickup only when playing metal on a Strat is...interesting :D Extremely low end sound with a _lot_ of punch

I bounce around between musical genres too much and have never really mastered any. Folk, metal, rockabilly, surf. I have a Mexi Fat Strat and a Seagull S6. The Seagull wasn't really what I was intending to buy. As nice as the Martin/Taylors I tried out, they have a more earthy, woody sound whereas I wanted something with a more subdued low end with that nice high end sparkle the Seagulls have. It's a beautiful sounding guitar, especially for the price tag.

Working at a guitar store for 4 years, you tend to get your hands on damn near everything over time. The short summary of guitars I've owned:

Epiphone Prophecy EX - Really don't dig the EMGS. I find the passive Dimarzio Evolutions are just as hot but maintain the tone of the instrument. An EMG 81/85 setup would sound exactly the same in a BC Rich or a plank of particle board. It was next to free so I gave it a day in court.

1985 BC Rich NJ Warlock - Awful stock pick-ups and all and all terrible electronics. Globs of burnt solder everywhere, terribly made guitar.

1968 Ideal Semi-hollow - Back in the 1960s, Gretch had the marketing concept "A product in every isle" and sold their designs off to Japanese manufacturers which would be listed in a catalog with no brand markings. Sears carried the guitar under their Ideal line for a few years. Cheap guitar, but a really cool trans-green burst. It's a wall hanger.

Zakk Wylde Signature Gibson Les Paul - HEAVY AS A BASTARD(!!!) I know, Wylde is a tool and I had a good mind to paint it over in flat black but at the end of the day, it was definitely a quality axe all around (besides the EMGs). I just couldn't ever play it in public. A landlord sold it to me for $200 after his renter left all his gear behind. Traded it for a Juno-106.

Countless Ibanez axes - SDGR basses, Artcore hollow bodies.. the thing with Ibanez is you can get an axe that you can leave to your grand kids.. OR, in 90% of the cases the electronics are absolutely piss poor. You'd better learn how to solder if you buy Ibanez. To be honest, Ibanez is really garbage all around. Not to sound like too much of a cynic.. but the only things Ibanez got right is the Iceman and the Jem.. and the Jems are all ugly as sin.

Danelectro U2 - Badass surf machine. Prefer the Jags or Strats, but those muted surf 'thunks'... I miss that guitar.

Countless Mexi Strats. I refuse to pay Fender's price tag for the American counterpart. You can pay $300 for a Strat made by a Mexican in Mexico or $1,100 for a Strat made by a Mexican in America. Not to mention the clear coat that was originally used in earlier Strats is illegal to spray in America.. Environmental restrictions are a bit more lenient south of the border. The sprayed clear coat in a Mexi Strat isn't a brittle, doesn't chip as easy and actually has more flex to it which affects the sustain slightly.. not like a Strat has too much of that anyway.

Dozens more.. really, a new guitar every week. We shoveled the snow off the sidewalk with an EvH because we could. At the end of the day, I'm a Strat guy all the way, can't beat em. A H/S/S Strat with a BBE sonic maximiser, BOSS Comp and a half-way decent tube amp and it's a metal machine all day long. I really dig the Celtic Frost, doomy sound they pull off.

I've been playing since 1995. When I was starting out, I learned a few things from friends, like how to play "glycerine" by bush, and stuff like that, but other than that I haven't taken lessons and am basically self-taught. I found it really helped me to learn songs by my favourite bands and try to play along to the cd, and it was really fun too. Like playing along to Slayer or something was hella fun back in the day. It also really helped to try to figure the songs out by myself instead of reading tabs. And it also helped to write songs myself.

I've never been really into gear and stuff. Like, I don't care what kind of guitar I use or what kind of wood it's made out of or whatever. I just use what I got. I'd love to have all awesome gear, but shit is expensive so I don't worry about it. At the moment I have a Jackson something or other and a Marshall half-stack amp (not sure how big the speakers are). I don't use effects pedals anymore. I always use PowerTab for writing songs. I sit in front of the computer with my guitar and start making the song on the guitar, then I'll write the riffs out in powertab until it's how I want it, then I'll write more riffs on guitar, etc.

Your current avatar appears to fit your current mood. Actually, it almost sounds like self-pity, but I can't tell what your tone really is, from text. If it's self-pity, I'll be blunt and simple: stop being so. It's a directly negative mood which must be avoided at all costs.

Well, I guess my best suggestion is to have a little more faith in yourself. Ultimately there's a reason why you do the things you wanna do. It doesn't make you weird.

I don't think my fiance is a really rare breed. I'm pretty sure if we had been in high school together, I wouldn't even have associated myself with her. She was tough, loud, obnoxious at times. She went to a lot of parties and had tons of friends and apparently was a very very mean person to some people. Probably wouldn't have gotten along with her very well at all. I think we just happened to meet at the right place at the right time.

Since talking to her so much about my interest in doom and making levels for it, I've been more comfortable telling other people about it, and it's been surprisingly pretty well-recieved by most people. Years ago I would have imagined everyone thinking "What a fucking nerd!" but the real truth is there are few people who wouldn't care about something you are interested in if you are proud enough to talk about it.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were with two other people talking about a subject you didn't know anything about, but you resisted the urge to ask questions because you didn't want to appear oblivious, stupid, or uneducated? Sometimes just nodding in agreement but not really contributing to the discussion? Whenever you think you're sharing an awkward experience with someone, imagine that the other person is currently feeling that way. Don't let them feel that way because that feeling sucks. Clue them in with whatever you've been doing, and break it down in such a way that they will be able to grasp what ever it is you'd like to talk about in a way so that they can feel involved.

printz said:

Actually, it almost sounds like self-pity, but I can't tell what your tone really is, from text

Then why are you conjecturing?

But to clear it up, my mood is juxtaposed self-pity and forward-thinking positivity. Yes, there are aspects of myself and my life that I'm unhappy with I hate and can't do anything to fix immediately. Some of which I'll probably never fix. But I've recently got back into lifting weights and exercising which has had an enormously positive effect in other ways, even if it doesn't solve everything. So yeah, the good and bad balance out I guess.

Sodaholic said:

ur alcholc, helbnt

everything about 40oz post is what I like about going to bars, well, except maybe creepy dudes wanting to be my friends or gays hitting on me.

A friend from Germany was living in the states for a year. We went to a Bruce Springsteen concert and visited an autistic mentally retarded adult we both had the privelege of caring for at his new home in the Poconos and that was a source of bonding for us. But this trip was over a year ago. Couple nights ago he drunk dials me from Germany! What the... ? anyway, he had a girlfriend during the year he was in the states, so I'm not too worried about it. O.O

I've been mulling over the idea of creating "The Bumper Sticker FTFY Thread". Until then here is a bumper sticker that needs fixing: "No more farms, No more food." Should read: "No small farms. No real food."

Why do birds shit all over my car all the time? I am serious. My car always has multiple white shit stains on it. The only time it doesn't is after a good rain. But then three hours later they'll be new shit on it. I don't see other cars driving around plastered in bird shit. Why do birds feel such a strong need to use my car as a repository?

Hellbent said:

Why do birds shit all over my car all the time? I am serious. My car always has multiple white shit stains on it. The only time it doesn't is after a good rain. But then three hours later they'll be new shit on it. I don't see other cars driving around plastered in bird shit. Why do birds feel such a strong need to use my car as a repository?

Do you park under a tree or somewhere else where they like to hang out?

DoomUK said:

Do you park under a tree or somewhere else where they like to hang out?

Not really, no. It's probably their way of trying to let me know that I really need to get a new car.

For a second here, I thought this thread was going to be about how you finally got to have a slice of pie.

I've heard that DoomUK prefers strudel

Snakes said:

For a second here, I thought this thread was going to be about how you finally got to have a slice of pie.

Ralphis said:

I've heard that DoomUK prefers strudel

Y'all can kiss mah white ass.

I'm more of a cream doughnuts guy.

fraggle said:

Yeah, you're doing that wrong. That's if you download 50GB during the daytime (ie. peak). I think I have mine set to 3GB daytime, 50GB offpeak, which comes to £23.90 if you have BT 21CN.

Oh, duh. That's actually less than what I'm paying BT. And a 50GB cap would be sufficient for me.

So what level of technical proficiency is required with this ISP?

DoomUK said:

Oh, duh. That's actually less than what I'm paying BT. And a 50GB cap would be sufficient for me.

So what level of technical proficiency is required with this ISP?

Well, I said in my previous comment that you need to know what you're doing. They're a small company and the expectation is that you can figure things out and do things for yourself. Don't expect any hand-holding. I think most of their customers are probably engineers or system administrators.

If that isn't for you, it's probably still worth shopping around for a different ISP. There used to be a really good webpage for reviewing UK ISPs but I forget what it was called now.

EDIT: I may be overstating the difficulty - I just don't want to sell you on something that will end up causing you problems. For me my experience was that I went to the website, ordered DSL, they sent me a preconfigured router that I plugged in and everything worked fine. YMMV.

Does your ISP assign you a public address static or is it via DHCP?

If you're being throttled you can try getting a different address in the subnet. With some ISPs it's as easy as /release & /renew. Others you can get a new address if you leave the modem unplugged for a couple days. (impractical)

Only say this as I doubt the ACLs or whatever they use to throttle will affect the entire subnet.

Oh no DoomUK has fallen.

Hitler was productive, continue to be unproductive and drink beer.

40oz said:

I think your posts in my own blogs explain why you feel this way.

http://www.doomworld.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55251

Huh? The only thing I said in your blog was that it's a little hypocritical to go on an internet forum just to berate people who spend their time on internet forums :p (and I stand by that point)

Anyway, the "celebration" of by birth date is nearly over. Thank shit. Tomorrow will feel like a return to normality somehow, even though haven't actually partied or anything.

DuckReconMajor said:

What I got from it is that she thinks the people who sent the email DoomUK told her was a scam had already compromised her account and that if she hadn't gotten the scam email she wouldn't know these bad people have taken over her account.

No no, she didn't even know she'd been scammed until I explained to her how the scam worked and after she'd given them her details.

It's almost like saying "I'm thankful (to God) my car broke down, otherwise it would have never been fixed!". I honestly wouldn't put it past my mother to apply that kind of insane logic in that event.

You do often hear people thanking God for saving people from some catastrophe, despite them viewing that very catastrophe as an "act of God". So there is a kind of consistency in the lack of logic.

Better than North Korea. Western doctors come and perform cataract surgery on blind people. The blind people can suddenly see again and thank a photograph of their leader who died in 1994. I'm sure you know.

(then again is it better? at least there's proof Kim Il-Sung existed)

Thanks BlackFish. Newegg doesn't ship to Britonland, but that card goes for around £90 with UK retailers. Seems like it's more powerful on paper, too.

Got anything even cheaper though? Or am I going to have to try my luck with the second hand market if I want be that thrifty? When I say "I don't want to spend more than £100", that figure is a very generous margin. I didn't expect you to read my mind.

DoomUK said:

Thanks BlackFish. Newegg doesn't ship to Britonland, but that card goes for around £90 with UK retailers. Seems like it's more powerful on paper, too.

It's also worth noting that the 650 drains relatively little power (while 550 Ti, for example, can drain 50W more according to that site!), so it would be a fairly safe bet for your old PSU which has lost some of its power capacity.

I noticed a few years ago that my eVGA 8800GT runs obnoxiously hot. For some reason the fan just never speeds up past 30%, letting the temps break 80C often in-game. I bet had I not forced it up to 60% (Temps now sit closer to 45C) it would be dead by now.

Phobus said:

I was surprised how much a minor dietary change (eat a bit less, basically) made a huge difference in offsetting my sedentary jobs effect on my waistline, so you might want to consider something like that yourself if fat is an issue even after you've taken up some regular cardio.

The problem is that eating >2500 calories a day (depending) is vital in building muscle and getting as big as your genetics and other factors permit, if that's your goal.

I guess I'll have to be much stricter over exactly what I eat, while ingesting the same amount of calories and protein. I've cut out "junk food" a long time ago but I still eat things with sugar and excess fats and other substances not beneficial in the pursuit of fitness. Because it tastes nice. I'll admit, I'm not looking forward to it. So far things have been "fun". Thankfully there's a wealth of dieting guides out there, even if the advice from people who know more than I do is sometimes contradictory and must be cross-referenced constantly.

I can't imagine it's difficult to eat more than 2500 calories per day with a standard diet, TBH. All of that targeted eating is taking the idea a bit far for my own preferences, but I guess if you really want it and have the discipline, might as well have at it.

Phobus said:

I can't imagine it's difficult to eat more than 2500 calories per day with a standard diet, TBH

More difficult than you might think, when you're only an average-sized guy and your stomach has spent the best part of 30 years not being used to it. I never used to eat much when I was younger.

In hindsight I wish I had taken this stuff up when I was in my teens and my body was still growing, but I can't do crap about that.

It makes me think of HR Giger's Aliens artwork.

Also pretty sure Gateways the heaviest album ever. Yes, ever. I have several friends who agree.

Super Jamie said:

Also pretty sure Gateways the heaviest album ever. Yes, ever. I have several friends who agree.

You're probably right about that. I'd still take the composition and variety of their earlier work over the sheer heaviness of Gateways, though.

Gateways have tons of cool riffs, but that drum sound...wtf. So shitty.

I listened to a couple of songs off the newest album, nad...no need to listen more to it, to say the least.

Best MA album is Altars of Madness, by FAR. I also love myself some good old bootleg vids when Mike Browning did the drumming and vocals. Awesome!

All of them. All of the spaces. Every space. All of the time.

Youcouldatleasthaveleftsomefortherestofus!

One, because two is wrong. Deal with it.

Clonehunter said:

You're still not gonna get a custom title

You always say this.

And this one month bump was necessary because.....

Because he just discovered the blogs section. I remember that golden time.

I like buying my friends presents or my nieces/nephew, that's about it. Siblings are dispersed since the folks are gone and they've got their own families. There's too many of us for gift giving anyway so we knocked that off years ago.

I'm exactly like you, except I don't bother to decorate my apartment or send out Christmas cards because it's stupid.

Also, yesterday (in front of several people) I swore on my mother's grave that I would never buy a gift card.

Also, why do people say "on my mother's grave" when their mother is still alive and doesn't have a grave, and might possibly never be buried in a grave?

I think the inference is that God will strike your mother down (with a lightning bolt, plague of carpet beetles or whatever) if you don't keep your word.

Wouldn't say I hate Christmas but it has become pretty much a non-event for me.

Happy birthday you old person you :D

I'm less than 2 years behind you, if that's any consolation.