riddler

As far as US companies, I have T-Mobile (formerly voicestream) and they give me 550 text messages a month for $3. It's not a bad deal for me, because I can tie them to my work email and find out when I get email at work, even when I'm not at work I don't know how good their coverage is - I have a Treo, which only works on digital networks (so only in big cities). As far as coverage, I've got the best luck with Verizon and AT&T, but AT&T customer service sucks. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The habitual whuffo liar seems to be a common theme. We need a special name for whuffos that lie about being skydivers. Any ideas? "whuffo-wanna-be"? Maybe if whuffo means "Whuffo you jump outta that airplane?", then how about: "ayesta" - "Ayesta jump from dem planes, too!" Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Outside of all the posts about various combinations of food, I eat a lot of raw foods that I'm amazed some people find disgusting. For instance, I eat red and green bell peppers with nothing else. I don't understand why some people think they have to be in a salad to be edible, but I've gotten some strange reactions. They are quite yummy with nothing else! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here's another stupid question - is the correct pronunciation til-DEE, or til-DA? I've heard both. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Man - i had to do that about 100 times, but I finally got it. I already own a cordless freedom keyboard and mouse, but considering I have no less than 5 working computers, I can always use another one.

Can always be done, but it takes a LOT of work. High-level encryption requires a shit-load of processing time to bust. And I don't subscribe to the theory that the govt has tons of advanced computers and programmers that do this sort of thing quickly. I used to work in defense, and rarely saw anything that was superior to commercially available technology. The NSA (more likely the FBI, since it's internal) would have to evaluate every email/post/etc and determine which ones are worth dedicating the resources to crack. If everyone uses encryption (and everyone should), then they will get swamped and won't bother wasting time to snoop on your average Joe. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My take on this was the the elves prophesized that they were at the end of their time on middle earth, and further conflict was a waste of life. Elves can only die from battle or a broken heart, and they didn't want anyone else to die needlessly. The elves not only see the future, they kind of live in it - since they are immortal, their idea of time is completely different than ours. The whole pseudo-science about if time is really linear, or do humans just perceive it that way. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Think "head-down base-jump with swordplay". Very exciting scene. I was VERY happy with the movie. I've read the trilogy three times, and I thought Jackson did a SUPERB job. Golum was done well, Treebeard was done well, wolves were done well. Helm's Deep was as good as you can ask for. A few differences from the book, but nothing too important. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Back in the days I used to actually watch TV, I watched that one. I loved the imperfect hero. The whole story line about not being able to use the suit because he didn't have the manual never ceased to make me giggle. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

True most of the time, but it's not a good thing when it involves war with other countries. The days of one country just bombing the hell out of another country because it doesn't like their ideals (or anything else) or wants their land should be over. I would like to say it ended with WW2, but that's obviously not true - example Iraq taking over Kuwait. When one country does something to another, or in this case, potentially poses a threat to another, it's not (IMO) the responsibility of a third country to go in and kick ass. If ALL (or most) of the rest of the countries agree that it should be done, then all (or most countries) should be willing to dedicate troops and do something about it. The only time I've seen this done was the gulf war. Not only should the United States not be the world police, we should not be the overwhelming majority force in said expeditions, and in most cases, military actions against other countries (outside of direct attack on our soil) should be in council with the United Nations. This is a case where I don't think (although I may be wrong) that the world opinion is with us. I don't even think UN opinion is with us - maybe I'm wrong about that as well. Could it be time to admit that we (not me, personally, but perhaps the Bush administration) is wrong? Majority opinion isn't always right, but it often is in the best interest of the majority. I don't know if what I feel is necessarily correct, but it stems from hating to see my own country be a bully for no other reason than the fact that it can be. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Already voted!

OK, those of you familiar with the B and C license requirements have read about the "figure 8" - as in figure 8, backloop, figure 8, backloop within a certain amount of time. Now, I always thought a "figure 8" was a left 360, followed by a right 360, spinning flat on one's belly, a full revolution each way. Or optionally, a right one, followed by a left one. Is that wrong? The reason that I ask is that the requirements for the D license specify a left 360, followed by a right one. Isn't this a figure 8? And if so, why didn't they just call it one? Was it that they wanted you to do it in a specific order? The SIM doesn't exactly specify what a figure 8 is - at least I couldn't find anything on it. Maybe it's just too obvious for the rest of the world, and I'm an idiot (or maybe I didn't look hard enough ). I've asked a few people, and most don't know for sure, and I've actually gotten a few different answers on this. Any enlightenment would be appreciated. I'm applying for my C this weekend, and want to make sure I'm doing the skills correctly. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This war may have been a bad thing for Bush, considering we didn't get Bin Laden - kind of like coitus interruptus - you get all excited, then nothing happens. I went to the annual German Christmas market a few days ago - usually full of German/Eastern Europe vendors hawking Christmas-related paraphenalia, german food, etc. This year there were almost none - seems that they were boycotting the US due to the impending war. Has Pax Americana gone too far? We used to be just the big kid on the block with the best economy and military. Now we don't seem to give shit about any other country or even the UN. Maybe we can win all these little wars in the middle east, but we're not going to win the PR war if every other country is against us. Does anyone else see that we need to get back in line with the rest of the world? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I recommend everyone that thinks that they live a bad life go to Indonesia. I've never seen a worse place in my life. The people there have my respect for living in conditions like that. I'm talking about those that live in the "cities" in the north - I found the tribal people on the southern islands to be quite civilized, in their own way. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I knew a guy that was a prison guard. Applied to the FBI, and they gave him a lie detector test. They asked him if he ever beat up inmates. He had to say yes - it was true. Apparently happens all the time. This guy in now on the SWAT team and loves to tell stories about how he gets to shoot people for a living. I didn't say he was my friend - just a guy I knew. Not my favorite guy. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Much better than: http://www.ratemypoo.com/ NSFA - Not safe for ANYBODY Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Err - I hope this is a friendly government these are getting sold to, especially considering it's probably better equipment than our own govt issues. You do have a cool job, BTW. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So you've been to the brothels in Singapore too? They have everything anyone could possibly want there Seriously - I went to the Singapore history museum and they had a 3-D movie about all the challenges that the country has faced, and they were very concerned about the incident with that Michael whats-his-name kid. It got as much video time as the WW2 invasion by the Japanese (although I was disappointed there were no 3-D shots of him getting a serious ass-spanking). They did NOT like the world media focused on them for that sort of thing. My guess is they're not going to cane any more foreigners. As far as this thread - I think it's pretty obvious that the prison guards are pissing into their food. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

BFL is a good program, although I don't subscribe to all the supplements they push. I'm not against supplements - I just think they can be overdone. And the recommended ones (EAS, etc) are expensive and not much better than the less expensive ones - really read the ingredients if you want to supplement. As a side note, I have a good (as in GOOD ) friend that is a personal trainer and completed the BFL certification - she kind of got me thinking about some of the BFL ideas - a trainer can really help you with your goals and I would recommend you spend the extra money for one. Also, I don't recommend the Atkins diet to anyone. Denying yourself any main dietary ingredient (i.e. carbs) for an extended period is not only bad, but your body goes into starvation mode (evolved from natural periods of famine in human history), whereby it will try even harder than ever to store fat when you finally start eating right again. The "zone" diets that advocate carb reduction (not elimination) are much better lifetime dietary plans and help you understand the link between carbs, insulin levels and body fat. They take longer than Atkins, but you should think about diet as something you do for the rest of your life anyway. And remember to take your vitamins Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The plans are pretty much final - Jeannie and I will be there late on the 26th or early on the 27th and we'll stay until the 1st or 2nd. Hope to see you all there. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Dream of the Blue Turtles? I had that tape back in the 80s. Sting is, IMO, one of the most talented of the popular musicians out there - have you seen how many instruments the guy can play? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That is pretty cool, actually. Now if we can just get him down in the trenches on the front line ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'll just chip in my one cent here. I wouldn't ever trust my entire belief structure to a book that was supposedly written thousands of years ago by people that may or may not have existed and supposedly witnessed incredible things that I never saw for myself. Note that I ain't singling out the Bible or Christians here - most religions have spiritual texts that are hundreds or thousand of years old and worship/praise/revere people that are long dead and not even related to them (with the exception of a few stories about the first man/woman etc). But more to my point, I tend to trust what I see and experience for myself - even if it is fallible, it's probably closer to the truth than an old story. I don't even trust second-hand stories because I've seen the way people filter experiences. The only thing I can imagine around me that is anything like a god, if there is one, is reflected in nature - and the truth of our experiences, outside of our species, are probably most closely related to animals, since we are closer to animals than say: trees, or dirt. Now anyone that says homosexuality is unnatural does not truly understand animals - it is a common occurrence in many species, and like humans, reflected in a percentage that practice it, temporarily or permanently, and those that do not. So my argument is, if there is a God, and she thinks homosexuality is wrong, then why do her creatures practice it? Are they sinners? Is there a Doggy Hell for canines that mount others of the same sex, not to mention the bestiality that could be construed from humping their favorite human's leg? And can dogs go to confession to redeem their sins? Was there a dog prophet that was God's dog that lived thousands of years ago and scribbled in long-lost kibble the Commandments (thou shalt not hump thine master's leg)? If this is the case, then there are truly more questions than answers, which begs the question - is religion really helping us, or making matters more confusing? Anyway, I'm rambling because I did my 100th jump today and I'm still psyched about it, so I'll just pass the soapbox to the next person and I'm going to kick back and have a cold one. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Three-ring meant the circus Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

529 point something is the furthest I can get without a foul. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD