Messages

61

General Discussion / Re: Dune

« on: August 24, 2011, 04:03:53 pm »

How did you manage to persevere through book 3? Even with the cool prospect of Alia being taken over by the Barron, the series turned awful. The characters became far more conniving, but it seemed contrived. The plot was dull. Leto II didn't come off with the charm that Paul did.
Do you recommend Brian Herbert/Kevin Anderson's novels on Dune? I avoided them on the basis that derivative works, even based on the author's notes, are terrible.

Haha! Yeah, like I said, Children of Dune was definitely one of the harder ones for me to read. Definitely avoid God Emperor of Dune if you hated Children of Dune. While Leto II's story is somewhat interesting, Frank Herbert's back and forth between the first and third-person perspectives grows old quickly, and you can't help but feel Leto II set it all up from the start. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson did a decent job with Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune, and Paul of Dune. Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune give the series a decent ending after the cliffhanger in Chapterhouse Dune.

62

General Discussion / Re: Dune

« on: August 24, 2011, 11:50:28 am »

I had never heard of this, but the game looks interesting. Can I be Paul of Dune and release a jihad on the galaxy?

I am a bit disappointed with Dune. I think I may have as a child read it, but I have no recollection of doing so. I picked it up again a few weeks ago... Books 1 and 2 were incredibly fun to read; I couldn't force myself through Book 3 and gave up.

Yeah, Herbert took a detour with books 3 and 4. I'm not sure which one is worse out of those two. I'm inclined to say it's book 3 because all I can remember is how crazy abusive everyone was toward Leto II; nothing really happened after they started doping him up on spice. I just finished reading Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. It's a direct sequel to Dune, and it shows how Paul went from savior to tyrant as he tries to conquer the old Imperium, develop a religion around himself, and maintain order.

63

Gaming / Re: Neptune's Pride

« on: August 23, 2011, 06:11:00 pm »

Sounds interesting. I'll do some reading and check out a game starting this weekend.

64

General Discussion / Re: Leaving Girlfriend

« on: August 23, 2011, 06:08:10 pm »

Ouch... damn dude... need a beer? And open relationship seems really weird to me, especially while you two are supposed to be in a lovey-dovey phase still.

Odd question, but did you ever tell her how you felt about the open relationship? Girls can be terrible at knowing how guys feel about things (and vice versa).

65

[x86] Announcements / Re: SMF 2.0!

« on: August 23, 2011, 08:40:25 am »

You ever notice when like sharks swim in the ocean?

It really depends on how many points the shark put into its stealth skill.

66

Gaming / Re: Neptune's Pride

« on: August 23, 2011, 08:38:22 am »

I had never heard of this, but the game looks interesting. Can I be Paul of Dune and release a jihad on the galaxy?

67

Blizzard, WoW and Bots / Re: lolwut

« on: August 23, 2011, 08:33:40 am »

I never had time in school for the game. I almost picked it up again over the summer, but then I looked at my backlog of games on Steam and my bookshelf, and I just couldn't justify the $60 I would've needed to spend to get the newest expansions. I just can't figure out why (Activision-)Blizzard won't release a new battlechest with all the expansions similar to what Everquest does.

68

General Discussion / Re: US credit rating downgraded

« on: August 07, 2011, 11:23:09 am »

We need extreme cuts and modest revenue increase. 

It was a joke hearing they were in serious negotiations, but revenue increases were already off the table. So, when's the next time the elephant and donkey are going to create a crisis and still not go far enough to fix it? October next year?

69

General Discussion / Re: Sup?

« on: July 31, 2011, 06:59:05 pm »

My wife won't let me get a motorcycle Not even to learn. Where's a good place for me to take her to show how safe they are?

70

General Discussion / Re: My "alien bunker" shots

« on: July 03, 2011, 12:05:57 pm »

Very nice! I really like the handwritten addendum on the note.

71

General Discussion / Re: Let's hear it!

« on: May 15, 2011, 04:57:49 pm »

One year of graduate school down. Time to celebrate with some refreshing Blue Moon. Speaking of beer, does anyone have any recommendations? I really enjoy Blue Moon, but Sam Adams is good, too.

72

General Discussion / Re: The End of Personal Computing is Near ...

« on: May 13, 2011, 11:27:05 am »

What is this "computer" you speak of?

73

General Discussion / Re: LSU grad student burning American flag in protest...

« on: May 12, 2011, 04:22:04 am »

The first guy allegedly caused ~$7000 in damage burning a stolen flag. That's what annoys me. He can burn the flag if he wants, but it should be his property, and he should obtain all relevant permits beforehand.

74

General Discussion / Re: Bin Laden down

« on: May 10, 2011, 02:00:14 pm »

Very few of those people actually think that, and those that do could probably be convinced otherwise with a short conversation.

You haven't met extreme bigots have you? Ask drake to chime in, seeing as to how he's in Texas. But even here in Minnesnowta I've run into plenty of them.

This here's Amerikuh. If you're not a white, meat-eating Christian, you're going to make a lot of us good, honest folk uncomfortable. Also, CrAz3D lives in Texas, too. And to be fair, I'm in ultra-liberal hippie land.

75

General Discussion / Re: Question: Indians or Native Americans

« on: May 05, 2011, 08:31:39 pm »

"European" is technically incorrect, too - we all come from Africa (or Eden )

Oh please! Eden was in America. Probably Texas.