A "monolith" strangely similar to the one from 2001 has been spotted in a photo from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Discuss.
Of course, the story is in The Sun, which is reputedly somewhere below The New York Post when it comes to journalistic standards...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Not kidding. Someone managed to DoS Twitter.

http://status.twitter.com...denial-of-service-attack

Bets on how long it's going to be until there's an all-out hacker war?

Tell me if you can see at least two things with this article that should be screaming "RED ALERT".

---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

So, I've been a bit scarce the last week or so. Here's the story.

On Friday evening, I was all set for Double XP weekend.

Then at around 8:30 Pm central, the thunderstorm rolled through. A very fast moving, unexpected thunderstorm with lots and LOTS of lightning. I had actually
checked the weather not an hour before and thought it would be clear, but this thing boiled up out of nowhere.

The first hint I had that something was amiss was when I heard a crack of thunder that made my windows rattle. No sound of rain (that came AFTER the
lightning), just the thunder. I tried to do a normal shutdown of my PC, but before I could really get started on it, another lightning bolt hit. This time even
closer to the house.

The lights flickered and I heard a very distinct *POP* at the back of my computer.

Aw crap...

I got it shut down and unplugged while the storm passed. (Which only took 10-15 minutes.) When I booted back up, my onboard network card wouldn't work.
Nothing I did could get me back online.

Next day on Saturday, I borrowed a friend's PCI network card that he wasn't using. Installed that. Computer recognized it no problem. But I still
couldn't get online. *SIGH* So something on the motherboard OTHER than just the network card was fried apparently. But it works fine in every regard
except getting online. I'd detail everything I tried to fix it, but frankly there's no need to regale you with every frustrating failure.

I called dad up and told him the bad news. Explained all the steps I'd taken. And asked if we could go shopping for a new motherboard for my PC. In
response, Dad instead said words to the effect of "Hell son, it's been 4 going on 5 years. Lets just get you a new computer outright. Call it early
Christmas."

In my defense, I did mention that we didn't HAVE to do it like that. That I could probably make a new motherboard work. But he insisted. I didn't
complain THAT much.

And it's not as if he doesn't get something out of it. His PC has been giving him problems for awhile. He wants my old computer in trade. And he uses a
USB WiFi to get online on the rare occasions that he feels the need. (And we confirmed that that option still works on my old computer). And I know this system
inside out practically. If anything DOES go wrong. I'm that much better able to help him cope.

SO! Now I have a new PC. An Acer with a Quad Core, 3/4 Terabyte drive and 8 Gigs of RAM. Been spending yesterday and today getting things transferred over with
the help of a friend's 1 Terabyte external drive. And installing various other things, like City of Heroes.

Holy Crap... If I thought CoH looked good on my old machine once I added the new video card, now.... JOYGASM...

The acid test today: Rikti Mothership raid with all graphics sliders at Maximum. Framerate never went to slide show. It dipped into the 18-22 FPS range from a
high of 60 FPS. So it REMAINS at just about movie quality even under that kind of load.

So yeah. I missed Double XP weekend. But Karma has been kind to me in return. ^_^

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32320427/ns ... nt-movies/]John Hughes, RIP at age 59

Too many good quotes from too many good movies to pick just one... but "I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a sillyheart" is a good one for this forum.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Quote from Wiki
Another nickname that Nanoha is called by fans is actually a pun on the title "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha" (???????????, Maho Shojo Ririkaru Nanoha?). While "Maho Shojo" (????) means "Magical Girl", "Ma Ho Shojo" (????) can be interpreted as "Demonic Cannon Girl".
Wouldn't that describe Hotaru from Sailor Moon also?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Hey everyone.

This is a general query if anyone else is going to Gencon Indy.

If they are (and are interested in meeting up at some point in time during the con) let me know.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

(Posted this over in "The Game..." as well, but ISTR that Bob doesn't always read that group.)

Considering that every version of Hazy Shade of Winter gives Doug a power, http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=47]this one is virtually guaranteed to summon up a being I hope he'd rather not be summoned. Even if he does have Belldandy watching his back at the time.

Yes, it's filk... but that doesn't mean nobody's ever recorded it somewhere in the multiverse.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Considering that every version of Hazy Shade of Winter gives Doug a power, http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=47]this one is virtually guaranteed to summon up a being I hope he'd rather not be summoned...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Play some Sabaton

Ghost Division

Fast as the wind, the invasion has begun

Shaking the ground with the force of thousand guns

First into line of fire, first in to hostile land

Tanks leading the way, leading the way

Charge into lines with the force of a furious storm

Fast as the lightning, phantom swarm

200 miles at nightfall, taken within a day

Thus earning their name, earning the fame

They are the panzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (ghost division)

Leaving our dead, always ahead, fed by your dread

Always ahead, as the blitzkrieg rages on

Breaking morale the with the sound of blazing guns

First into line of fire, first in to hostile land

Tanks leading the way, leading the way

Leaving a trail of destruction to a foreign land

Massive assault made to serve the Nazi plan

Communication's broken, phantom's are far away

Thus earning their name, earning the fame

They are the panzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (ghost division)

Leaving our dead, always ahead, fed by your dread

Pushing the frontline forth with a tremendous force

Making the way for panzer course

First into line of fire, first in to hostile land

Tanks leading the way, claiming the fame

They are the panzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (ghost division)

Leaving our dead, always ahead, fed by your dread

Panzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (ghost division)

Leaving our dead, always ahead, fed by your dread

Hail to the King



Once we lived in harmony, but it seems so distance now.

Even though it wasn't long ago, were all doomed to

Plague and death. Working hard from dawn 'til dusk. but

That ain't enough for him Product of unholy love, untrue

Brother of a king.

Know that you'll fail, now hear us hail

Your brother that you killed.

Hail to the king that brought peace to us all. Rise from

Your grave, hear our call. We'll not forget that you once

Saved our land. Killed by your own brothers hand.

Pure evil and cruelty, the true nature of your soul.

Mercy and responsibility, words that you can't understand.

Your quest for total control will only end in your own fall.

We' will fight for our freedom, and our right to live.

Do it your way, soon you will pay

Debts with your own blood.

Stars so bright, dance in the night

Day come soon, hide the moon

Stars so bright dance in the night

Day come soon, killing the moon

Morning breaks it's time to march, to the castle of betrayal.

Bring your sword, wield your armour, we won't take this anymore.

Kill the tyrant he must die, for his falseness and his crimes.

Strike him down, and slay his guards, and his ministers as well.

Done it your way, now you will pay

Debts with your own blood.

Hail to the king!

Into the fire



Sent from home overseas

And into the unknown

Barely landed in the jungle

Sent on first patrol

Sundown darkness falls

Dig in for the night

Ambushed in the dawn they came

The jungle's alive

I feel my fire starts to burn

The heat controlling my mind

Berserk a savage running wild

Within me the beast starts to roar

Now I'm ready to strike

A creature of the night

Into the fire

A flame of napalm strike

Sarge's down I'm in charge

Vc's everywhere

Overrun yet order airstrike

Condemned us all to burn

Napalm from above

Burning friend and foe

Chaos on the battlefield

The jungle's on fire

This place it's driving me insane

Napalm it's burning us all

This fight no man will live to tell

Within me my blood starts to boil

From above the airstrike came

And it burned the world below

Napalm falling from the sky

And it leaves no man alive

I feel my fire starts to burn

The heat controlling my mind

Napalm it's burning us alive

Within me the beasts final roar