Odin M Yggdrasi

~Martel Alutri, Alutri Arrow Bridge~ ~Odin M Renegade, Alutri Arrow Bridge~ ?That we can do. Standby, I?ll come over there and teach you.? Martel radioed to the other ship. ?Odin, I trust you aren?t going to do anything to my Arrow while I am helping Loreley correct? You are to follow us at a safe distance, and keep a watch out in case we are attacked. If anything should go wrong, radio me and I will come back to address it.? ?Roger.? Odin answered, military style. He sat down in the pilot?s chair and examined the controls; it would only take him a minute or two to pick up on the differences between a KN1 and a KN2. ?Bring it alongside so I can jump over, I?ll signal when I am ready? Martel called before leaving the bridge to go suit up. ~Martel Alutri, Airlock-2~ ?Steady Odin. I am going out now. Loreley, let me know which airlock is open so I can find it quicker.? Martel radioed from inside the airlock, her suit already sealed and pressurized. The last of the air hissed out through the scavenger, and the door latch released. Giving a firm kick off of the floor of the airlock, she sort of floated out into the free space between the Arrow and Loreley?s ship. Around her, the star field was clearer than anyone on a planet would have ever known, and with gravity not in effect between the two ships she was essentially a satellite all her own. Operating the small joystick on her suit?s backpack, she used the suit jets to turn around so her feet would strike the metal hull of Loreley?s ship, and turned her boot magnets on so she could walk along the hull. ?Odin, you can drop back and follow now. If anything, set the autopilot to follow my suit beacon so it maintains distance and heading automatically.? ?All right Martel. I?ll be here if you need anything.? Odin radioed back, the Arrow slowing down a little to follow the other ship.

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]Machines can't write at all. And writing a long post is [I]not[/I] hard. If you start and find that you have writer's block after a paragraph or two, save what you've written and come back to it later.[/color][/QUOTE] I've told him that quite a few times now. When I am strong into the flow of an RP, I can rattle off a post that is two pages in MSWORD in under 30 minutes, and have it be top quality. Mostly it is just practice, but roleplaying doesn't take a lot of time. More often than not I will be active in almost 10 RPs at once and still will be bored out of my head waiting for people to post back because they take so little time.

I really see no reason to get involved in this, being far too new here to know what was really going on. However, so far all of Rick Hunter's posts that I have read in this thread have proven the article correct to the letter. In fact, the last few lines of it need to be updated to include the events in this thread. Still, this is an utterly pointless battle that should probably have ended a long time ago. Give it up already, go find some other site to pester. Seriously, people on GaiaOnline might actually buy your story and keep you some company. Likely GameFAQs would too, though I know someone who is a moderator there and he would not put up with such behavior either.

I am going to a New Years Eve party with my girl and her family, actually this will be my first new years away from home. Maybe if I am lucky I will get to go to Times Square and see the ball drop LIVE, instead of just watching it on TV. Likely my folks will be glad I am not home on new years. For the past few years now I have set off some light explosive mixtures in the backyard, mostly of the flash-bang variety because of the holiday. My favorite one is Acetalyne-Oxygen, it makes a light brighter than a camera flash and a bang to rival the largest firecrackers.

So far I have met one person in reality that I know online, my present GF actually. We started talking by IM after first contacting each other through the RP section of a forum (Konata knows which one actually since she is a member there too.) and eventually made the arrangements to meet. Our first meeting was in a pet shop in a fairly busy plaza, on the grounds that such a place would have people and police around and would also have security measures in place to prevent theft etc, which would be to our benefit if either one was not who they said they were. I got lucky though, she could very easily have been very different from who she said she was and I would not have gotten home in one piece. Common sense is your best friend, and yes it is definitely a good idea to bring a friend of your own with you in case of trouble. As for the actual subject at hand, that of these social networking sites- I don't like the idea. While they can be good for people who are too shy to meet people in reality and it is possible to connect to people who you would otherwise not know they existed,I just don't like the idea of a site just for meeting people. Meeting someone you know from a forum like this though in my opinion is a good deal safer, though you still do need to be careful. And I agree with Konata, meeting someone from a forum like this at an anime convention isn't too bad of an idea. Just be careful, especially at a larger convention security and safety might not be as good as one might think.

Hatred is too strong of a word to be used lightly. I don't think I need to say much more than that.

//Odin M Renegade// ~Alutri Arrow Bridge~ No sooner had Martel walked away than Odin realized he had to go to the bathroom. Carefully unlocking the door, he walked quickly and quietly to the bathroom onboard the Arrow and took care of his business. Coming back towards the bridge though, he was approaching the airlock when the inner door opened, and in stepped Martel along with her customers. There was a blood-curdling scream the likes of which no man should be able to produce as Loreley came into view, Odin completely unprepared for what had happened. Never before had Martel seen a man turn so many shades of red so quickly, even after he turned away the blood dripping onto the floor revealed that he had gotten a severe nosebleed on sight. Running the other way with a rag over his nose, the door to his cabin was heard to open and close as he shut himself inside. ?Poor guy. He?s not used to being around women at all apparently, and seeing you with nothing on at all was too much for him.? Martel commented, handing the box of clothes to Loreley. ?Anyway, if you?re going to be on my ship you?re going to need these.? Picking up her toolboxes that were nearby, Martel followed Loreley onto Loreley?s ship. //Martel Alutri// ~Loreley?s ship, bridge ?From the looks of it you also have a KN2, secondhand but still in fair shape. Odin used to fly one of these, before his got destroyed by pirates. Shouldn?t take me long to fix, especially because I salvaged a pile of parts from the one Odin used to fly.? Martel commented on seeing the damage, Loreley nearby. She glanced over the controls, still seeing her handiwork evident in the design even though it was different from what she flew. Turning around, Loreley asked ?Martel, do you think you could teach me to pilot a spaceship?? ?Once we get you back into free space and away from obstacles, I think it wouldn?t be too hard to do. Odin seems trusty enough to follow us with the Arrow, and if he does try anything I can always use the remote to force it to follow us.? She answered, looking at Loreley in her old bikini for a bit before sitting down and unbolting one of the service plates from the control system. ?Anyway, the damage doesn?t look as bad as I was afraid it would be. Mostly you just crushed a few condenser plates and beat the core up pretty good, but once I refit that back to full power I should be able to make your ship get up onto it?s landing gear so I can replace the plates.?

1. A Cruxis Crystal from Tales of Symphonia, with it's rune crest mounting. Yes, I am interested in the wings. Though the angel techs are just plain awesome too. 2. The virtual reality headset used in .Hack series, it is seen briefly in the //Sign opening and likely several other series. With that hardware component, I could likely write a real MMORPG of the world- or at least the skeleton core of one. 3. CASPER from Neon Genesis Evangelion- Yes, the giant full AI super computer that is one of the three core units of the NERV computing system. I have a feeling that I would have a hard enough time keeping just that one occupied for any length of time.

I came here to talk to a friend of a friend, and also for a break from the constant drama and chaos of the forum that I had frequented for over a year and a half. Really a slower-paced forum with much nicer people I think, and the RP section is quite good. Really it hasn't changed me much, in fact the 7 years or so I have actively posted to forums I haven't really changed because of them. My first forum was a metalworking board, and due to the nature of it I was typing exactly the same way I am now in order to participate in the research involved in setting up and operating home foundry devices.

[quote name='dragoonreaper']1: Why does this site exist?[/quote] Likely as a safe place for people who are into Anime, Manga, Video Games, and roleplaying can meet and converse freely, despite potentially being a world apart. [quote name='dragoonreaper']2: What does this site do?[/quote] It appears to be a fairly standard vBuelletin forum core, providing functions for public and private chat, and is convienient for talking to people that otherwise you would might not have realize existed. [quote name='dragoonreaper']3: Who post here? (Eamples: Gamers, Anime and Manga fans, etc.)[/quote] It mostly seems like anime fans and gamers, though you also get a fair number of roleplayers and people who just wander in and decide to stay. [quote name='dragoonreaper']4: How did this site become this?[/quote] Only someone more familiar with the history of Otakuboards would be aware of that, though likely it was through the traditional advertise and promote method of growth. [quote name='dragoonreaper']5: Do you beleive that this site is the best forum site around?[/quote] One of my top three at least, while I am not as active here as on a few other forums the community does seem to be much better than other places. [quote name='dragoonreaper']6: Do you have fun?[/QUOTE] Even if it wasn't fun I would still be coming back for more.

[color="Blue"] [b]Alutri Arrow, Bridge (Odin, Martel)[/b][/color] Into the atmosphere, the screaming air particles and glowing friction. Making about half an orbit and going as deep as the upper stratosphere the Arrow flew. Catapulted by the planet’s gravity, but now in a very rapidly decaying orbit, it was swung back out into space. The scream of air particles fell silent, the outer hull slowly radiated it’s heat and cooled down. Then coming around the planet again Martel gave a small correction using the thrusters, before plunging into the atmosphere with the arrow once more. This time, it entered steeper. The air scream was more intense, the glowing of the hull much brighter. And again, back out but this time only barely leaving the atmosphere before falling in one last time. [b] “Martel, why such the lengthy re-entry?” [/b] Odin asked as they floated briefly above the planet before falling into the atmosphere the third and final time. [b] “By making the planet itself slow us down it saves propellant, you do want to be able to leave this planet again right?” [/b] Martel answered, having a bit of fun guiding her ship. She had noticed the ritual pyre of the people below; surely they were watching the glowing trails produced by the Arrow entering the atmosphere. Coming in only about 10 kilometers off the ground, and still fast enough to make the hull glow along with a huge sonic boom, the Arrow flew over the tribal event, over Lorelei’s ship, and onward a bit father before Martel fired the braking thrusters to slow down, using the last of the momentum to loop back towards where Lorelei and her companions had crashed. One last surge from the braking jets, briefly sending incandescent helium in front of the ship, and a bit of touch on the steering and belly jets, and the Arrow settled alongside Lorelei’s ship, the docking rings close enough to alignment to work. [b] “You would think they could have at least aimed for the ocean when they crashed.” [/b] Odin remarked, stabilizing the ship’s systems after landing as Martel unstrapped and stretched in her seat. [b] “Lorelei likely doesn’t know how to fly a ship at all, she probably had her companions do it- but from the looks of it they still need practice.” [/b] Martel remarked, finishing stabilizing the coolant flows and ship systems while Odin released the straps on his seat. [b] “Either way, they should be near here. Hopefully whatever tribal event was going on doesn’t get too upset by our flyby, and Odin- make sure when Lorelei comes aboard the Arrow she puts on some of the clothes from that box. I don’t want to see people running around nude on my ship, tribal custom or not.” [/b] [b] “Um Martel, I don’t even know who this Lorelei person is, and somehow I think it would be best if I stayed here with the door locked so that if the tribesmen came aboard they would not be able to tamper with the controls.” [/b] Odin answered back, trying to hide the fact that he was uncomfortable with the idea of seeing a nude woman. [b] “Good idea, but don’t you try anything either. I will go meet Lorelei and see what it is going to take to get her airborne again.” [/b] Martel remarked, exiting the bridge and locking the door behind her. Odin idly looked over the controls, before looking out the forward viewport to see if there would be any more shooting stars tonight- the ground not visible because of the glare shields for re-entry still up.

# Martel Alutri # ~Alutri Arrow, Bridge~ # Odin M Renegade# ~Alutri Arrow, Bridge~ Martel and Odin had spoken with Lorelei, answering the call for help. Already Odin had found the beacon on his control board, while Martel turned the Arrow and set a new course towards it. [b] “We going to slipstream Martel?” [/b] Odin asked as Martel began reducing the power of the main jet again, already making a speed roughly ¼ that of light speed. [b] “Not this time. Lorelei is definitely safe on the planet or she would have had a more urgent tone, we don’t have to break our necks to get there right away.” [/b] Martel answered. She stopped the main jet entirely, coasting through free space towards the beacon signal, and cut in the automatic to react if any objects crossed the Arrow’s path. [b] “Besides Odin, don’t you want to bathe with me, since you did say you wanted to see me in a swimsuit?” [/b] Odin blushed again, as Martel stood up and walked past him towards her cabin. He sat there for a minute, looking at the star field out ahead of them and the steady rhythm of the gauges on the control boards before sighing and heading back to his own cabin to find something to wear while bathing with Martel. ~Alutri Arrow, Water Room~ A towl was hanging outside the door of the water room, which Martel had told Odin earlier how it worked like a swimming pool on the Arrow. Martel approached it, her plush curvy body bouncing slightly with each step in the dark blue one-piece suit she had on. She hung her towel at the door, and carefully removed her leg brace so it would not get wet- in the water she would be all right without it. Odin held his nose as she entered, and after the door closed she switched off the gravity, causing herself, Odin, and the water to float in the room. No sooner had the water formed the large blobs than she pushed one towards Odin, sending him spinning in the air and soaking wet when it hit. [b] “Martel, has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?” [/b] He commented, stopping himself on the ceiling and pushing a water blob down his back to rinse off. [b] “Flattery will get you nowhere Odin. Though if you come down here, I will wash your back for you.” [/b] Martel answered; pushing another of the water blobs against herself- this one against her modest breasts to clean them off. Odin pushed off the ceiling, and along with several water blobs that he had gathered while flying across the room found himself unable to stop- being stopped by Martel’s arms as the two hit the pool of water that remained at the floor. Bathing together, Martel and Odin conversed and bonded, before finally switching the gravity back on and returning to their cabins to dry off and change back to normal clothes for dinner. ~Alutri Arrow, Bridge (Odin and Martel) Some hours later, they were beginning their initial approach towards the planet on which the beacon was located. Odin started to tear up at how beautiful the planet looked, while an unimpressed Martel held steady on her initial vector towards the planet. [b] “Hang tight, even with a three-pass entry it still is going to be a bit bumpy for a while.” [/b] Martel commented to Odin, the two of them fully strapped in for the ride. A faint screaming vibration could be heard, and as the arrow pierced the first layers of the atmosphere the nose and underside of the ship began to grow hot from the friction, soon coming to glow brightly.

# Martel Alutri # ~Alutri Arrow, Cargo Bay~ # Odin M Renegade# ~Alutri Arrow, Cargo Bay~ The KN2 had been released, and along with a prayer from Martel the demolition charge was detonated- reducing it’s last remains into cosmic dust that would eventually return to their natural form. Odin and Martel had gone to the cargo bay, to sort out the items they had salvaged and put them in a somewhat organized manner in the storage bays. [b] “Careful with that one. That has a viewing jar for a water filter in it, if you drop it you might crack it.” [/b] Martel commented as Odin picked up a mid-sized box. She moved the larger box she had picked up, and Odin put the small box neatly into a gap in the stacks. [b] “Martel, just what is all of this? Your ship seems to have more bits and pieces stored away than a tinkerer’s asteroid. [/b] Odin commented, reaching for another box. This one was lighter and bulkier, and when Martel turned around she smiled on recognizing it. [b] “More of my old clothes are in that one. Relax, it shouldn’t have anything like you encountered before, and most of what is in there is from some years ago when I was a fair bit thinner. They won’t fit me now but probably would be usable by Lorelei, even though they would be rather big on her.” [/b] Martel commented, setting an empty box on the floor near it when Odin set it down again. She started to open it, while Odin tried to read her handwriting on another box to figure out where to put it. [I]I haven’t seen these in so long. Though it will be good to put them to use again, they’ve only traveled a few thousand light-years since they were last worn. [/I] She thought as she picked through the box. Some colored tank tops that clearly would leave her belly exposed were moved into the empty box, along with several jeans that while the length was right she would never get past her thighs were transferred. Behind her, Odin continued working on sorting boxes into the different stacks and bays, smiling as he walked past her. [I]She looks like she is having fun actually, sorting through her old clothing.[/I] Towards the bottom of the box, the items she figured Lorelei would be able to wear in a smaller box while the items that would be returned to that box piled nearby she found a few clothes she had almost forgotten she had. A dark blue bikini, one that while it might actually still fit if the laces were lengthened, and a matching colored knee-length skirt, along with the same colored thigh highs and belt to hold them. Martel was quite surprised on finding them, remembering how she used to wear clothes like that in the last years before leaving the research station. Odin was looking over her shoulder when they were uncovered, as Martel turned around while holding the bikini top he quickly blushed and looked away. Clearly Odin was the victim of a fantasy about Martel; she smiled innocently before putting both pieces of the bikini, the skirt, and the thigh highs and garter belt into the box for Lorelei and her friends. [b] “Did you just imagine me in a bikini Odin?” [/b] Martel said out loud as she tossed the remaining clothes back into the box to be sold, since they wouldn’t fit her and didn’t seem like anything that Lorelei would willingly wear without destroying. Odin turned bright red again, visions of punishment straight out of a manga racing through his mind at her tone. [I]Shit, she caught me. Well, if she is going to throw me out the airlock now or put me in the brig, maybe she will go easy since she did say she loves me. [/I] [b] “Come here. [/b] Martel said, in the tone of a military captain ordering a recruit around. Reluctantly stepping forward, Odin approached Martel- who had an evil look in her eye. Right when he was standing at attention in front of her, a few feet away, she suddenly charged forward- body moving as if it was an explosion. Arms open she ran into Odin full force, knocking him into the pile of loose clothes on the floor with her arms wrapped so tightly around him that between her arms and her weight the wind was knocked out of him for a second. Coming around, he felt Martel’s weight on him and how soft and warm she was. As he wrapped his arms around her to return the embrace she whispered “ I love you Odin. And if you really want to see me in a swimsuit, I will bathe with you tonight. ” Odin started to answer, before the mood was shattered by an alarm and a white light flashing on the status board inside the bay- indicating that a radio message was received. [b] “Shit, someone is calling for us.” [/b] Martel commented, getting up off of Odin and running towards the bridge, Odin close on her heels but still a little unsteady in the recently restored gravity outside the cargo bays.

~Martel Alutri; Remains of KN2-1701D~ ~Odin M Renegade; Remains of KN2-1701D~ Martel had put on her space suit, with her radiation suit underneath in a somewhat tight configuration due to her body type. Odin had on an extra radiation suit, and was inside the escape suit he had arrived in. [b] “New condenser plate is sealed and secured, when were done here you can reenergize that panel” [/b] Odin spoke into his mic, Martel waved at him as she pushed another crate out a hole in the KN2 towards the KN1’s magnetic shield. Already three or four such crates had entered the field and were orbiting the Arrow waiting to be brought into the Cargo bay. [b]Odin can you believe how valuable some of the stuff in the Captain’s quarters were? How much do they pay you freight pilots? [/b] Martel chimed into the microphone, not showing any hint of sorrow at the captain having died with the ship. Odin looked towards her as she pushed the crate out, and reminded her not to take anything from Cabin 4 since he was still alive to collect his personal effects in person. [b] “It bothers me actually that they only took the equipment from the bridge, and what was in the cargo bays. Really, more of the ship is here than I expected, and from the looks of it they didn’t even touch the personal stuff in the cabins.”[/b] About an hour later they were almost done stripping the remains down to a bare frame when Martel headed towards the remains of the bridge one last time to see if anything else up there was worth recovery when the battered floor gave under the force of her step, and the resulting momentum transfer sent her flying towards a series of jagged edges that would tear holes in her suit, with the resultant pressure loss being lethal. [b] “MARTEL!” [/b] Odin shouted into his radio, she having hit her head on the inside of her helmet when the floor gave way and was knocked out. Slamming the controls for his suit jets, he caught up to her and caught her, wrapping his arms around her limp form before pushing off of the wall with his feet, sending them outside the KN2 into the Arrow’s magnetic shield orbit. He kept holding her for several minutes as they passed around the ship in the field, not sure how to exit the magnetic field. Whispering into the microphone, he could see a small blood spot on Martel’s head from where she had hit it. [b] “Martel, please be alright…please don’t give up. I don’t want to lose any more shipmates… Martel Alutri, please… I love you” [/b] Martel started to come around after the first bit of pleading from Odin, and was just about awake by the time he said his last line. She looked into his eyes, and clicked on her microphone as well. [b] “Odin… you saved my life…. And in the time I have known you, I have liked you. I only pick on people I like, in short I love you too. ” [/b] She wrapped her arms around a much surprised and intensely blushing Odin, before using her suit jets to exit the magnetic field and return to the Arrow to address her head wound. Back on the arrow, Martel first wiped the blood off of the inside of her helmet, Odin tending the wound on her head directly. After that was done and the suits stored, Martel turned and embraced her hero suddenly- Odin turning bright red as he was held up against her soft and warm body. His heart melted at that moment, and he began to hug her as well, gently feeling the lush curves present in her back. They then turned to the remains of the KN2-1701D, and Martel said [b] “Odin, there is a bible near the grappling hook controls, and from there we have a clear view of the ship. I had already armed the destruction charge, so let’s go to the bridge and pay our last respects to the KN2 and your fallen crewmates.” [/b] [b]Alright, only… [/b] Odin commented, before sweeping the plush form of Martel off her feet and carrying her towards the bridge. [I]I probably wouldn’t be able to do this in normal gravity, she does look like she weighs a fair bit. But that hug… it was so soft and so warm… I just hope my slip of tongue doesn’t turn out bad. [/I]

They're battle staves, disguised as canes so that they don't get in trouble. TBH, I have no idea either and I have not seen the phenomena you describe in the US or in Canada- I've been travelling back and forth recently.

[quote name='Zero Sephiroth']This still going ahead Momshin?[/QUOTE] She'll probably start it when she gets her computer back, likely in a week or two. It's in the shop being overhauled right now.

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]I think it's [I]attempting[/I] suicide that's illegal, but still: what do you do to someone who's just tried to kill themselves? Punishment's liable to make them try to succeed on the next go-round, which is why we have counseling centers instead. (Don't knock 'em; they work sometimes, and that's good enough for me.)[/FONT][/QUOTE] You put them in a straitjacket and send them to a psychiatric center, which is as close to jail as you can get without handcuffs. They keep them in a padded cell and handled like dogs for roughly three days before being released if the new medications prove effective. Not a pretty place by any means. Interestingly enough, the same place that handles the suicide cases also was processing the teenage potheads, drinkers, and smokers- at least the ones that had been caught and were undergoing rehab.

The13thMan is overlooking a very important point that completely kills his arguement about not knocking it untill you try it. People have tried it, and made public what it is like. Also, there are far more negative reports from both people who have used it and researchers who have studied it than positive reports from users and researchers- which makes it safe to assume (without trying it) that it is bad and is not even worth trying. I would like to think that humanity has not degraded significantly enough to be unable to learn from the experiences of others who have tried it, and realize that the numbers produced by the research teams who can study it's effects far better than a stoner with a joint in hand are plenty accurate for people to rely on. I stand by what I said before, both Marijuana and Tobacco should be illegal globally, and should remain illegal. Alcohol should also be better regulated, since unfortunately while it is a substance that responsible usage of does not hurt anyone too many people are not responsible enough for it to remain unregulated. I hate laws that protect stupid people from themselves, but sometimes you have to have them, and for good reason. And I am 20- Been to Canada twice where I could have legally bought alcohol. Never had a drop of alcohol outside of church wine on christmas and easter (which isn't even real wine) or a single flake of tobacco. That doesn't stop me from having a grand old time, many times even better than someone who does drink or smoke or get high can have. Seriously, if you want a rush try taking up sports, or more 'extreme' activities like stunt biking or mountain climbing

[quote name='Konata']It's not something like "I've put a great effort into telling this!", but it's not like "lolol hey gaiz i'm crazy give me attention plz" either. I don't care talking about it because as long I don't turn into a malicious serial killer, I personally don't think it's such a bad hobby. [/quote] I'm not as disturbed about that as I am by your [i]other[/i] hobby. [quote name='Konata'] I'm sure a lot of people are afraid of death though =P I am too, in the sense that I'm afraid of my own death. Also, pun made me lol[/QUOTE] [i]Don't fear the reaper[/i] *rocks out with a cowbell* Seriously, I don't fear death or pain. Though pain is good to avoid, death is kind of a fact of life, and when it happens while I don't want to die I wouldn't be afraid to do so either.

[quote name='Goodbye, Face'][font=arial][size=1]that it's a relatively safer version of tobacco.[/font][/size][/QUOTE] But that's just it- it is more likely than not that it is not safer than tobacco, and the only reason it has less research to prove it either way is because with it illegal not as much research has been done with it. It is known to contain a mind-altering substance, that if overused can be deadly both to the user and those around them. Also, there are known formula after known formula for effective pain relievers. I highly doubt that marijuana would actually be more effective then them; in fact this day and age you could even synthesize the active chemical in pot in a pharmacy lab, and dispense it as an edible pill like normal pain relievers instead of having to smoke it. I would just as soon be rid of both marijuana and tobacco, though alcohol can stay a while longer since drinking resposibly doesn't hurt anyone while smoking tends to cause others to be affected through secondhand smoke.

[quote name='Arispa'][size=1]Hmm. I believe - correct me if I am mistaken - that the good ol' US of A made an attempt at country-wide prohibition at one point. It simply made the problem worse, not better.[/size][/QUOTE] It did indeed make the problem worse, and to this day you will still find bottles of beer on the bottom of the Niagara river that were dumped there by bootleggers who were about to get caught. Plus like I mentioned in my last post- Alcohol enjoyed responsibly does not hurt people other than possibly the person drinking it. Irresponsible consumption of alcohol, such as drinking and driving or drinking when you know that you are a violent drunk does hurt others though, and I think it should be regulated. Easiest way I can think of is for the Department of Motor Vehicles to mark the driver's licenses of people who have a DWI on their record or a history of domestic violence. Because the driver's license is the most common form of ID used to purchase alcohol in the US, I think it would work fairly well if you marked it on that. It wouldn't be 100% effective though, as many clerks don't check your ID if you look like you are old enough to buy it- and does nothing to stop someone who can legally get it giving it to someone who can't. Still, I think it would stop a lot of them.

[quote name='Retribution'][font=Arial]Why are we protecting people from themselves? Isn't part of being an adult the ability to make personal decisions and not have the government unnecessarily intervening in their private life? Sure, it's not healthy. So what? Should we legislate diet as well, so that you're only allowed a certain calorie intake relative to your personal weight?[/font][/QUOTE] You know, I have used the same argument before- why are we protecting people from themselves, when those that are actually foolish enough to need that kind of laws will only remove themselves from the gene pool and not make more stupid people. Though we do need to keep some laws that make it so that as stupid people eliminate themselves they don't take out people who know better than to be stupid in the process. However in this case, the drug in question doesn't affect just the person using it- it affects them, those near them, and can potentially affect people who are just in the area. I say the same of Tobacco, and if you really wanted to be accurate improper usage of Alcohol can too (Drunk Driving, alcohol-related domestic violence etc). The reason why I am not against alcohol is because while it does have it's effects, people who enjoy it responsibly don't hurt anyone, and actually are believed to see some beneficial effects. Fact is drinking wine around other people doesn't force them to drink it as well, while smoking pot or tobacco (even responsibly) causes everyone around you to experience the secondhand smoke, whether they like it or not, and it has the same health effects on them as it does on the person using it. And as for restricting diets, totally impractical- in fact don't even go there. The only time they would even consider it is during wartime when the food is needed to supply an army.

[quote name='Red'] Finally, judging by the post quoted above I sincerely doubt that you personally intercept & destroy every virus that hits your machine. Any chance it's done by security software? :p[/QUOTE] Most of it is handled by AVG, but I still do some manual bughunting. I also manage the process list, operating my computer in a 'stripped out' state with as little running as possible to maintain stability. Actually it is very incredible how much speed even two year old machines have when running like that, at this very moment I am watching my hand-loaded Prescott HT3.4 run circles around a Core2Duo that has an OEM build/load with a benchmark program. What I am interested in is how I am connecting to the same 'contaminated' internet as everyone else, and yet my computers remain clean while everyone else I know gets plastered. Likely it is because of how I work- knowing what I do about computers I avoid areas that are likely to cause trouble. And my claim about some sites using essentially viruses to track your movements and get you to pay for their product, I have encountered viruses designed for exactly that purpose on customer's machines. Suprisingly persistant about it too, took me forever to isolate and kill it. Though I still like to do things the old-fashioned way. Regedit and Command Line. And I love conspiracy theories, they actually explain a lot. Knowing what happens behind the closed doors of the industry gives me good reason to make them.

Pot is the name of the cooking utensil that is placed on the stove and filled with water to cook pasta. It should not be anything else. I think marijuana should remain illegal, and I also think that tobacco should be outlawed as well- they are both nothing more than mind altering substances that are also conveniently able to kill both you and those around you by one of the slowest and most painful deaths possible. I'm sorry, but there is no support for this from me.

Many of these viruses are released under wraps from major security companies- methods by which to promote their product and keep themselves in business. One of my favorite examples: Dr. Norton, he was once a hacker (second rate actually, but a hacker nonetheless) before he was hired by Symmantec to work on their anti virus and security products. It is high likely that he still does a fair amount of hacking and releasing of viruses, for the purposes of continuing Symmantec's business. Also, a lot of exploits were devised for information gathering, not only could they have originally been meant for agencies like the CIA to snoop on potential threats but also for scammers to obtain the credit card information they desire. There is one more point I would like to bring up- A lot of porn sites use viruses to track your movements, and see to it that you pay up for viewing their material. It might not make any sense at first, but obviously the information is useful to someone or there wouldn't be codes to track it. And I still want to know how you people get viruses so often, my computers almost never get them- the few that do get in are usually in downloads, and I catch and kill them before infection occurs.