metalslug

The glass is twice as big as it needs to be. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

On these forums? Hell yeah, all the time!

A colleague of mine, with an MSc Chemistry, has this opinion: It is unlikely that it would crack the glass. Although glass appears solid, strictly speaking it is a very viscous liquid, which means it should be able to handle the small amounts of expansion and contraction of a heated and cooled pin, especialy if the glass and pin are heated and cooled together. A very hot pin placed on cold glass might be a problem, but that might not apply here.

I had heard a rumor a few years back that a stuntman on a Steven Segal movie set had lost his temper over something and put him on the ground. I dont know how true this story was, but I would believe it was possible. As for the actor with the most "real-life" threat potential... I dont like Vin Diesel much, but I do think he would be a very tough contender in a Hollywood brawl.

Well, uhmm, its like... when you have a friend or colleague you work with who is completely fsckable but usualy out of reach, either because one or both of you are already in a committed relationship or because he/she is just not feeling the same tension. It's usualy fun the first few weeks and then after that it can start messing up the space you share.

Ah, see now Peej, if you had Premier Membership you could just do a User Search to find all the DZ.commers from SA. Too many names to paste here.

I always get a chuckle out of this kind of question... It's a lot harder to recognise genius than it is to recognise stupidity. A wristwatch cannot measure the precision of an atomic clock, but the atomic clock can measure the wristwatch. There are a lot of wristwatches that believe they are atomic clocks. This is why most people we know appear to be less smart than ourselves. One must consider that an "IQ" score of 100 is the average of a geographical region of only the people that have been tested, not of the entire population. So, logicaly, for every few tested people that score above 100, there should likewise be a few tested people that score below 100. But, have you ever met a person who has actualy admitted to a low score ? Neither have I, but they're out there.

Any particular cities that you plan on visiting ? If you intend to meet up with your E-bud there, the logistics are easier if your E-bud lives or often visits the cities, towns or DZs that you plan on visiting. In South Africa, it's generaly thought that the coastal cities have the best tourist value and most scenic dropzones. Most of the South African DZ.commers are from places further inland. If I remember right, HH is in the Cape Town area, maybe you'll see him around if you ever go that way.

"He rides the wild October sky. He shall not die, he shall not die." - Robert Westall.

Will it include the physics of beer drinking? ...coz that part was missing from your Powerpoint presentation.

Then, as kallend would say, he owes beer.

Good stuff.

... There is just no way they would build such a monument. I bet Bush himself will, or has, discouraged it. Assuming they actualy do make one, I bet dollars to dougnuts it wont last 24 hours without being vandalised or destroyed, and that would be embarrassing for Bush and the American image in that country. I think the only reason the mayor is proposing such an 'honor' is to gain favour with the US for continued funding and political support. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I got one PM when I changed my avatar, but I think it's silly to cry 'crush' or 'stalker'. Maybe folks are just being nice. Considering another thread not long ago that suggested that some women here deliberately post their most flattering pictures, it is even possible that some of them want to be complimented.

*cough*...strange blend of mixed signals...*cough*

Have you told Manny how you feel about this ?

The message in that quote is that awareness of your future can facilitate a greater appreciation of your present, and it can be safely assumed that the benefits of this philosophy are largely moot if you only apply it 10 minutes before you die. Assuming these two pets had the cognitive ability to understand these concepts, the words would still be true, for humans and animals alike. Was there an alternate message that you were hoping to convey with that analogy ?

Hmm... We are talking here about domesticated pets in urban areas. Had these pets been born in the wild they would have been allowed to breed unchecked with all their plumbing in working order. When overpopulated, and depending on their rank in the food chain, many of these pets would have died from not being able to find food or from becoming food for other pets. My point therefore is that, while the wholesale euthanasia of pets is a disheartening statistic, it can perhaps be seen as an organised urban substitute for natural ecology. I certainly believe that sterilising one's pets is preferable, to avoid the scenario above, and I justify this 'mutilation' by suggesting that pets lack sufficient 'intelligent emotion' to truly understand the implications of their injury. IMO, a creature's quality of life is relative to their understanding of life. To my knowledge, all such pets are still fully functional in every other aspect of life and appear to be quite happy into old age. Research into pet birth control ? Sure I'd welcome that, and I suspect some work has/is already being done in this area. I've yet to read about practical, reliable results though. When a pet reaches old age and appears to be suffering from organ failure, the loving owner has 3 options. (1)Do nothing other than the usual care of years past and allow the animal to suffer slow. (2)Take it to a vetinary clinic and demand that it be placed on drugs and life-support as we would do with grandma, but many clinics may refuse under the circumstances. (3)Euthanasia. Is (3) such a bad choice ? I can think of a few humans that would prefer it for themselves. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

"Racism and sexism are alive and well in the US" ...and in many other countries, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Billvon's referenced article is a case in point. One problem is that the world has become so hyper-sensitized to those two words and look around nervously whenever they are used. The very words alone raise great big red flags for moderators in these forums. As many have mentioned already, the context of the article suggests measures that would benefit certain races or groups, and these measures may well be a good thing. But why call a spade a shovel ? It's outrageous that people only make a fuss about discrimination when it's derogatory or detrimental to a particular group, so much so that the very definition of the word has become twisted in the minds of many people as something that only applies to 'negative' situations. In theory, we should all be at risk of being banned from this forum for suggesting that a particular race or gender group has a different life expectancy than others. Science has no place in the domains of religion and political correctness. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Exactly what JP said, it's racism. So is affirmative action. Dictionary definitions are quite exact. Incidentally, affirmative action was conceived to assist minorities, which is now a quirky irony in South Africa in that it's currently being used to discriminate against minorities. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I think I know where he wants to go with this: An article concerning the countries listed, in relation to the email encryption software export licenses, can be found in the column on the right on this page. A possible reason why this restriction exists was suggested by lawrocket and Kennedy, namely that the CIA and NSA wish to monitor communications in those countries. Apart from the more obvious terrorism links, I think gravityizsexy is interested to know what other criteria (if any) may have been applied to arrive at this list. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

These countries are all excluded from having an import licence for Ciphire Labs E-mail encryption software ? - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

M.Night has played a cameo role in all his big movies. Some people have suggested that he may be emulating Alfred Hitchcock. Clicky - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I dont care much if its on TV, but I want it to be bigger. A simple illustration of this is by comparing US skydiving to skydiving in smaller countries. Smaller countries have, on average; Smaller aircraft, no proper windtunnels, fewer really good specialist coaches, only operate on weekends, less exposure to serious competition, .. and probably other things I havent thought of. It's generaly accepted here in South Africa that serious skydivers will not develop any kind of world-class skill unless they spend a few years in the US or France, countries where skydiving is 'big' enough to constantly dominate the world championships each year. For the fun jumpers; bigger planes, bigger boogies and bigger "DZ vibe" would probably be their best benefits. On a broad scale, bigger would appear to be better in any country, for all the aforementioned reasons, even in the countries that are already big. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Yeah, stop the ass-kissing threads . I'm starting to feel isolated. Small photos and less-than-serious posts dont tell me very much about these fine people. I dont know yet who I want to ass-kiss. One day, when I'm big, I'll be coming to a boogie over there, and then y'all had better line up for evaluation. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.