you're like a female deathjr
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AusGAF 7 - We hang out IRL now and be social and shit. (Also, Adrian's Revenge)
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you're like a female deathjr
fappenmeister
Member
Neverender
Member
Waiting in line for Halo 4 
I have a
bsolutely no
Mike Carlton on Alan Jones. http://m.smh.com.au/opinion/society...ieks-of-fear-and-loathing-20121005-274a2.html
I'd quote it and bold a few, but I'm on my phone and cbfd. It's worth a read!
I'd quote it and bold a few, but I'm on my phone and cbfd. It's worth a read!
reptilescorpio
Member
Amazon Sale on at the moment. One use code gets you 25% off, prices below include use of the code. Just set up an address in the US, most use the Google HQ, as another address in your account.
Sleeping Dogs (Steamworks) for $22.50
Darksiders 2 (Steamworks) for $18.75
Battlefield 3 (Origin) for $7.50 TOMORROW
FEAR pack (1, 2 & 3 along with expansions) (Steamworks) for $7.50 ALL NEXT WEEK
Batman Arkham Asylum & City (Steamworks) for $7.50 ALL NEXT WEEK
Alan Jones has always made me think of Rich Barlow the 4th
Sleeping Dogs (Steamworks) for $22.50
Darksiders 2 (Steamworks) for $18.75
Battlefield 3 (Origin) for $7.50 TOMORROW
FEAR pack (1, 2 & 3 along with expansions) (Steamworks) for $7.50 ALL NEXT WEEK
Batman Arkham Asylum & City (Steamworks) for $7.50 ALL NEXT WEEK
Alan Jones has always made me think of Rich Barlow the 4th
Goddam it's getting warm in Brisbane at the moment, 32 today, 35 tomorrow and it's only spring :/.
Just been to the local garden centre, had breakfast over a creek that run underneath the cafe, anb saw lots of ducks, lizards running through the cafe, eels and other crazy animals, it was really nice.
We are going to get a couple of their garden architects to come around and create a design for us to work off, we're going for a full tropical/oasis theme in the backyard and around the pool, can't wait to get started. Also the girl we were talking to has convinced my gf that we need a trimmer for the hedges we have, so that's awesome, another power tool for the shed yippee
Just been to the local garden centre, had breakfast over a creek that run underneath the cafe, anb saw lots of ducks, lizards running through the cafe, eels and other crazy animals, it was really nice.
We are going to get a couple of their garden architects to come around and create a design for us to work off, we're going for a full tropical/oasis theme in the backyard and around the pool, can't wait to get started. Also the girl we were talking to has convinced my gf that we need a trimmer for the hedges we have, so that's awesome, another power tool for the shed yippee
reptilescorpio
Member
Hedge trimmers are so fucking satisfying. I even used it to trim the trees around the yard. Tears through anything within seconds.
Was super hot the past couple of days in Sydney, but today it's nice and cold!
I've been waaaaaay to social this past week and a bit. Think I'm gonna stay inside, not talk and play video games all day!!
Hedge trimmers are so fucking satisfying. I even used it to trim the trees around the yard. Tears through anything within seconds.
i rememember my step dad went to teach me how to use one. first time. ran out of cord
i laughed then went back to video games.
shanshan310
Member
Good thing he threw out that coat lining eh?
There's some jerk across the road from my boyfriends place who whipper snippers his lawn at 8am on a sunday, and then uses his leaf blower to blow the grass clippings off the grass.
Its gone from coat and scarf weather to too-hot-to-wear-anything weather in like three weeks, and because its been so fast the pool is still way too cold to use =/ I seem to recall it still being fairly cold (or at least rainy) around this time of year though. This is weird..
No... don't be that guy...
There's some jerk across the road from my boyfriends place who whipper snippers his lawn at 8am on a sunday, and then uses his leaf blower to blow the grass clippings off the grass.
Its gone from coat and scarf weather to too-hot-to-wear-anything weather in like three weeks, and because its been so fast the pool is still way too cold to use =/ I seem to recall it still being fairly cold (or at least rainy) around this time of year though. This is weird..
CrazedProfessional
Member
I am so glad my Computer Room is semi open so I get glorious cool air from mother nature.
reptilescorpio
Member
It is always like 5 degrees colder down here, kinda sucks for me since I grew up with long, 40+ degree summer days. Humidity kills me though.
Today I met wisdom incarnate. He's the former Bishop of Rwanda, having recently retired. He spoke for an hour or so at the beginning of a day dedicated to explaining the vision and execution of World Relief Rwanda. This is a man who represents and leads the entire country through the Anglican church, a man who speaks to hundreds if not thousands at a time, a man who speaks to and councils presidents and ambassadors, here to talk to the twelve of us.He didn't speak on behalf of World Relief, but he definitely agreed with their work and methodology.The Rwandan government relies heavily on the Church to care for the most vulnerable. That is Jesus' mandate for the Church, and the Church therefore, presumably, is the body most fit for the task. Is it the government's duty as well? Yes, I think it is, but in the US, the Church often shrugs off its responsibility, its core purpose, because we can rationalize that our government has already taken care of it. It's entirely foreign to me that government should rely on the church to do anything. It seems to me our government tries to do what would make our lives better, avoiding at all costs any relationship to the church; the church is a hinderance, not an asset. Recently I was considering whether it might not be a good idea to completely remove marriage, a religious notion, from our laws. Let the church handle religion. Hearing Bishop John's telling of how the Rwandan government and church work together, complement each other, may have turned me around on that. Of course, it's easier when 90% of the population claims to be Christian. The Bishop talked a bit about the US, where he has lived in the past, and some of the Church's failures there. One of those failures, he said, is not being able to talk about Christianity in the schools. I assume he means students not being able to, but he didn't specify. I asked him how the church could not fail in that regard and he said it needs to change its attitude; it needs to be more humble. He said the Anglican church has figured out everything, and it leaves no room for the Spirit. He then asked if he had answered my question, which I felt he had not, so I asked how that would change the government's position on religion in the schools. Essentially he said the government doesn't value the church because we no longer have anything of value to offer. "The church doesn't do magic. If you put salt in a pan and heat the pan with the food and serve it immediately, the salt won't have added any flavor." He suggested that if we humble ourselves and serve rather than rant, in a generation or two, we may see change in how people view Christianity. It's certainly food for thought. Another culture shock that I mentioned previously is Rwanda's view of Sex. "Professor" Maurice, my translator on Thursday for the pastoral retreat, talked a bit about the Mobilizing for Life program they have which teaches faithfulness and abstinence to combat AIDS. I asked a devil's advocate question, as I do so often, "When the US, historically, has taught abstinence only, it's failed miserably. It doesn't reduce the amount of sex, it reduces the amount of safe sex. (Thank you CJ Craig.) What do we expect to happen here?" In the last three or four years, the number of sexually active youth in areas where the benefits of abstinence has been taught has dropped from 33% to 12%. Maurice talked about a lot of testimonies. Pastor Phil said there are statistics to support this as well. He went on to talk about the many supporters of Rwanda, whether they be governments or organizations, that all have agendas for Rwanda and Africa. They all have their own ideals. Much of what comes in is helpful, from financial aid to education to entrepreneurial spirit. But with the good also comes the bad and the ugly, and just because the US can't keep its dick in its pants, doesn't mean the rest of the world can't. Since then (two hours ago) I've been thinking about what could cause this separation in values (and abstinence is a value in Rwanda). I know it's not belief in the Bible, as this education is still being taught to the country and roughly one in three pastors aren't even "born again." It's not ancestral roots (they're not being taught it by their parents) as polygamy is an issue here. I'm left thinking it's our media, our advertising, our obsession with sex in the first place. They have no sex appeal ads because they have no ads at all. I'm not blaming the media outright as the media wouldn't present what we don't want to see. There's a Jack Johnson song about this called "Cookie Jar". These two pointed questions earned me the prestigious Hardest Questions award during graduation from World Relief University. I overheard at the end of Bishop John's talk, on the way to tea that Rwanda is, too, materialistic. Americans put their faith and trust in the objects they own. Rwandans put their hope in the objects they think would make their lives complete. I guess Americans do that as well. It's an interesting thought, to be sure. What I've learned today is that life as it's meant to be is hard. In fact, it's impossible. The amount of forgiveness, the metaphorical seventy times seven, for every possible way someone can sin against us, whether that be accidental, misunderstanding, cruelty, thievery, rape, or murder of loved ones... how can you? With the 1994 genocide raw in everyone's minds here, it makes all of this that much more real. The amount of healing through forgiveness that's happened in the last 17 years is phenomenal. Selling your stuff to support those in need? I can easily give, and in fact enjoy giving, out of my abundance, but ask me to sell my tv, or laptop, or car to help someone? Not happening. LIfe, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? God gives us life and the liberty to do with it and fail as we please in our own pursuit of happiness. Life is the one thing we, as Americans, feel we have as our own. How can we give that up completely? It's impossible. "With Christ all things are possible." It's hard to comprehend, much less believe, much less act on. On lighter topics (and it is now this entry's tomorrow, about 18 hours since starting it), we left our hotel in Musanze yesterday morning. Before leaving, we walked up to the Catholic church about five minutes away and prayed for the region. Dyanah didn't walk with us. I thought she was being lazy since she got in a car that was to pick us up at the church. It turns out she was leaving, so I missed my chance to hug her goodbye. Nothing grieves me more than missed opportunities for relationship, romantic or not. To my future girlfriends, never tease me by offering a kiss and then denying it because of something, legitimate or not, I did. It tears me apart. The ride to our new home, where the day-university class was held, was about 40 minutes long, bumpy and upward. (We're just about to leave this place, and I just carried my bags up the stairs to where the SUVs are. To give you an idea of the elevation, not only am I winded, which would be normal, but everyone else has mentioned being winded too.) We got some beautiful shots of waterfalls and people working their fields. The retreat center we went to has the most glorious view I've ever seen, tenfold and then some. It overlooks a large lake with several islands in the middle. There's no electricity to the islands, so there are no power lines crossing the water or anything else to mar the scene. Not that I've ever been a poetic writer, but I doubt anyone but a poet laureate could capture the view. Or a photo. With the world's best camera. Yeah, you really should just visit. Glory be to God, we had a bathroom door in our room. It has rained fairly frequently, so we haven't had much opportunity to see the whole thing unclouded, nor have I had any time to journal outside. Because I don't believe I've yet stated it, and it really is one of the main points of this trip, I'm going to attempt to explain World Relief's purpose here in Rwanda. "To empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable." We've (the world) found that dumping money in Africa hasn't worked. In fact, it has worsened the situation by creating a dependency on those who've tried to help. The old give a man a fish, teach a man to fish. The only way Africa will ever succeed in betterment is if it does it itself, if it owns it itself. World Relief believes the best organization to serve the "most vulnerable," the poor, the widows and orphans, the down-and-out, is the Church, as it has been called by Jesus to do so. Further, with 90% claiming faith, it's the largest social network in Rwanda, already in place. Jesus calls himself the groom and the Church his bride. World Relief sees itself as the maid of honor, the woman whose job it is to help the bride to have everything she needs, and then to step out of the way. World Relief doesn't supply any financial incentives for pastors to join in their programs, except in the beginning for a free lunch and transportation. The pastors or other Rwandans own everything they do. World Relief just supplies training (trainers of trainers) and curriculum. If people think of a program as World Relief's, they'll become dependent on the organization. This kind of thinking is difficult for task/results-oriented people and organizations. "89¢ a day will let this child go to school." That organization will, unfortunately, never go out of business, never succeed in its goal of saving Africa. Even organizations that agree with World Relief's way of doing things are often pressed by boards for results and will pay for food and transport for every meeting. Now pastors aren't going to the meeting for the benefits of the meeting, but for free food and the extra money left over after expensing transportation. Once again, they're taught that white people will give them money. It calls into question, a bit, our (Bethany's) partnership with Living Water International. Wells are great, but it'd be better if the Africans paid for them. They also break fairly frequently, so that's another opportunity for African business. Elizabeth has mentioned this to LIving Water (whom primarily in the past has been sponsored by organizations and companies that want to boast they've put x wells in Uganda), and said Bethany is more interested in a relationship and partnership with the people our wells have gone to, and that we also want a maintenance plan in place for those wells. It sounded like, from talking to her, they were noncommittal. She said she'd call again when we get back. Last night at our team time, Richard tried to make joke to tease me about Dyanah, but accidentally said [Caleb] instead of Jordan. After a team-wide fit of laughter directed at Richard instead of me, Elizabeth asked if there was romance there and I shrugged indicating a little. I guess she had no idea. She had even pointed out at breakfast one day that the only two other single people on the trip were women too old for me, and "I guess you'll just have to find an African." This morning before our mostly-daily devotion, we did a quick highs-and-lows. At the end, I appended a sappy, half-joking low that I didn't get to hug Di goodbye. This unfortunately coincided with a side-effect of my Vyvanse, watery eyes. I don't know if anyone noticed or thought I was tearing up over it. Amongst the laughter at my bringing this up, I heard someone say I was doing it wrong, that I was supposed to be embarrassed so they could tease me. Ha. We spent some time debriefing. I've said it before: I don't really come with expectations because I don't know what to expect, and I don't want to be disappointed. The disappointments I've had were minor, a missed hug, paying more than I'd meant to on a souvenir chess set, not having as much a-few-on-one time with the pastors on Saturday. I spent the last twenty minutes of that debriefing time writing this, which is really debriefing in itself. This whole trip we've been examining poverty. This trip is based on a book called When Helping Hurts. At the beginning, it does a deep dive on the various forms of poverty. It's essentially when our relationships to God, self, community or environment are out of whack. This is to say that we ourselves are quite poor as well. We don't lack materials, but our relationships to ourselves and to our communities are really screwed up. To God, I'll leave on a per-person basis, and in Washington, we're at least trying to be environmental. Anyway, financial poverty affects all four relationships, at least in the theory presented by the book. I asked the group whether it was fair to say that Jesus experienced no poverty. The consensus was that he did not. Then I asked if he was materially poor, which he was. I'm still thinking that out. When we came back from personal reflection, Richard said something profound (or maybe this was sometime else). He said, "it's much easier to sympathize with people when they act against us when we recognize their actions as their own poverty." Last night, the Nertz crew played a couple games. Lindsay crushed us in the first 100-point series. She wanted to go to bed but we prevented it and I actually dealt her cards for her so she had no choice. It was only a 75-point round and it looked like Richard was going to finally win, but I passed him up in the last hand. Tonight, however, our dear Richard finally won, and won big, two 100-pointers in a row. After the first, he took off his shirt and ran and danced around. I'm surprised he didn't give a speech. I'm glad he finally won. I was starting to feel bad for him, but I never let anyone win. My mom never let me win growing up, and I really appreciate that. During last night's games, some wild African dogs tried to get into the room we were playing in. We shut the door just in time, but until after the games ended, they puppy-guarded us. We waited and watched for a few minutes as they ran around the yard playing with each other. It felt like they were waiting for us, and then, miraculously, they just left. We hightailed it out of there as quietly as we could, back to our rooms. About 80% there, when Richard knew we were home free, he stopped suddenly to freak out Lindsay, who had been significantly the most nervous about the run. Good times. I'm running out of pages in this 100-page notebook. Most of the left hand pages are empty, so don't you worry about losing a second of Rwandan play-by-play. Except about Saturday. I just really don't have anything to say about that day.
Ruthless_Barbarian
Member
I've finished playing, you can borrow it from me if you want. PS3 version.
Fuck this fog, wrong day to drive to the mountains. It's 5 degrees outside.
FallbackPants
Member
Fucking sploosh. I learned to love Die Hard 4, I think I was too hype originally and was let down, but it's still a decent action movie. But this looks fucking excellent.
Saw Looper last night. Really good, but breaks some major time travel rules. Still rad.
bodyboarder
Member
I'm impressed by your dedication. When it gets above 20 the jumpers are packed away.
Choccers, stop me when I get going on a Chelsea argument.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...nd-park-brisbane/story-e6freon6-1226489500255
:lol shut the fuck up
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...nd-park-brisbane/story-e6freon6-1226489500255
:lol shut the fuck up
Change to list view and they do.
Fuuuucking hell:
http://www.v8central.com/snitz3403/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=37447
This apparently happened today on Australian TV. Good work, idiots.
http://www.v8central.com/snitz3403/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=37447
This apparently happened today on Australian TV. Good work, idiots.
So I might as well post this now and see what kind of reception (if any) it gets.
http://kritz.net/goty
For the past few weeks I've been working on a Game of the Year voting system. Or, probably more accurately, a game ranking database. Ideally, it can be used for AusGAF to have our own game of the year awards separate from NeoGAF as a whole. As well as simply being a fun programming challenge for myself.
When you go to the site, and register an account, you'll be able to rank a list of every single video game release and re-release to come out this year. Everything from Xbox 360, PS3, PC, iOS, Linux, Mac, Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, etc is represented. So far there are no exclusions, although I will be implementing a range of filtering options within the next week or so. This means that there will be some games that are just ports, and other games that are probably entirely uninteresting to most of us.
Games lets you rate, in order of release, every game in the database. You have a 5 star scale to work with, and the ability to skip a game by clicking the "Didn't Play" red icon guy thing.
Users gives you the complete list of users registered to the site. It provides you a link to their profile and their reviews, as well as gives you a short glimpse of the types of games they enjoy.
Profile lets you view, edit and delete your own ratings.
Profile -> Search allows you to search and rate specific games in the database.
GOTY is not yet functional, but will provide statistical analysis of all the games rated on the website, as well as a few other features that I haven't thought of yet.
Finally, I plan to add the ability to create a specific top ten game of the year list from the list of rated games, the ability for each user to write a paragraph or two about any game they've rated, and some improved navigational features to filter games by platform or popularity. So, if you have time, give it a shot and give me some impressions. We're still a good month away from deliberations, so I don't expect everyone to be ready to go just yet. Especially since the site is still a work in progress.
Oh, and some of the images fetched from GiantBomb are completely wrong. With the obvious offender being Journey. This issue will be fixed when I move the image source stuff server side.
http://kritz.net/goty
For the past few weeks I've been working on a Game of the Year voting system. Or, probably more accurately, a game ranking database. Ideally, it can be used for AusGAF to have our own game of the year awards separate from NeoGAF as a whole. As well as simply being a fun programming challenge for myself.
When you go to the site, and register an account, you'll be able to rank a list of every single video game release and re-release to come out this year. Everything from Xbox 360, PS3, PC, iOS, Linux, Mac, Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, etc is represented. So far there are no exclusions, although I will be implementing a range of filtering options within the next week or so. This means that there will be some games that are just ports, and other games that are probably entirely uninteresting to most of us.
Games lets you rate, in order of release, every game in the database. You have a 5 star scale to work with, and the ability to skip a game by clicking the "Didn't Play" red icon guy thing.
Users gives you the complete list of users registered to the site. It provides you a link to their profile and their reviews, as well as gives you a short glimpse of the types of games they enjoy.
Profile lets you view, edit and delete your own ratings.
Profile -> Search allows you to search and rate specific games in the database.
GOTY is not yet functional, but will provide statistical analysis of all the games rated on the website, as well as a few other features that I haven't thought of yet.
Finally, I plan to add the ability to create a specific top ten game of the year list from the list of rated games, the ability for each user to write a paragraph or two about any game they've rated, and some improved navigational features to filter games by platform or popularity. So, if you have time, give it a shot and give me some impressions. We're still a good month away from deliberations, so I don't expect everyone to be ready to go just yet. Especially since the site is still a work in progress.
Oh, and some of the images fetched from GiantBomb are completely wrong. With the obvious offender being Journey. This issue will be fixed when I move the image source stuff server side.
I'm pulling the list from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_in_video_gaming. I can add whatever you want to the database, though.
The great thing about not having a job, or responsibilities besides assignments and study upkeep, is that I have a lot of time for doing stuff. Also, it helps that I've learned a really great truth about programming and projects. The more projects you complete, the better you get at making projects. Though I'm still guilty of starting new projects before I've finished the previous one. My 6 month game project, Vlander, hasn't been touched in a month.
The great thing about not having a job, or responsibilities besides assignments and study upkeep, is that I have a lot of time for doing stuff. Also, it helps that I've learned a really great truth about programming and projects. The more projects you complete, the better you get at making projects. Though I'm still guilty of starting new projects before I've finished the previous one. My 6 month game project, Vlander, hasn't been touched in a month.
reptilescorpio
Member
The Giant Bomb database seemed pretty iffy from the handful of times I have used it, always ended up back at Mobigames for credits and Wikipedia for general stuff.
When I get computer access tomorrow I will be spend a ton of time rating as much stuff as possible. Being able to write something will be awesome too!
Also Aon is a lightweight!
When I get computer access tomorrow I will be spend a ton of time rating as much stuff as possible. Being able to write something will be awesome too!
Also Aon is a lightweight!
reptilescorpio
Member
Buut that won't quit. Five dollars?!? Get out of hereeeeee.
shanshan310
Member
Typing on a phone keyboard is hard enough sober.
reptilescorpio
Member
I thought it was delete your ex's phone number from your phone?
Or have an even amount of drinks so you don't lose your memory
Or have an even amount of drinks so you don't lose your memory
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