Which is why The Register ran a story about http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/26 ... rcomputer/]the CGI side of the making of The Tale of Despereaux today.

(I suppose I should actually go see the movie some time...)
--
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

Eartha Kitt dies, age 81



Another legend gone.

Man, has 2008 sucked for us of the Fennish stripe or what?
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

This could be huge news if the Chinese turn out to be on the right track.

Then again it could turn out to be another "Dean Drive".

I'm hoping the former, myself actually. NASA could really use a sharp, pointed stick to get their asses in gear. (Actually they deserve a sharp pointed
stick for a variety of reasons, but that's another post.)

S.M.Stirling, The Sunrise Lands
S.M Stirling,The Scourge of God
Terry Pratchett, Making Money
Eric Flint, ed, Ring of Fire II
Bruce Lewis, Draw Manga
Rocket Girls
Fate/Stay Night Volumes 3-6
Lost Odyssey for Xbox 360
Wacom Bamboo Fun drawing tablet
Belkin computer repair and maintenance kit
An Escher calender
A holiday snack basket
A kitchen knife
A sausage
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

..and Channukah, etc. Just wanted to drop a quick greeting before Peg and I head out to my parents' place. Hope everyone enjoys their holiday.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I did NOT realize just how freaking LOUD this thing was!!!

On the second video at (1:53) -- "Why would you put a jet helicopter engine in a motorcycle frame and try to pilot it down the street? And the answer is -
BECAUSE WE CAN!!!"

I like the crazed look in the man's eyes as he says that. Hehehe...

Obviously Doug's bike has an engine that is a LITTLE more purpose built as a bike engine than this. That or he's got the most amazing muffler system of
all time! ^_^;;

Like most folks, I'ma headin' out for the holidays.

Pros: Grandparents just upgraded from "pay by the hour" dial-up(yes, it still exists) to DSL. So I won't be offline entirely to those of you who
know my IM client names.

Cons: None of the computers I may be on using said DSL have CoH, so for those of you who don't, I'll pretty much be nonexistant for the next week or
so.

Benefits: I'm packing my portable HD, which means work on various fics will probably continue apace. Albeit hindered by laptop-keyboard typoes.

So, see y'all in the new year.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

For the third time in as many days I've just finished shoveling out a canyon through which (I hope) my car will fit, so that I may hit the road tonight.
The car hasn't left the driveway in a week.

I figured, what the hell, it's Christmas, right? If you aren't having a white one and want it, print this out and stick it over your window.



(That white lump with the line of blue tarp peeking out underneath is my boat. The other white lump is my car. O_o. This is facing just west of due south
from my front porch.)

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through the base

Was the resounding echo of Gen

Stuffing her face.

Oblivious to the season

She had found quite a feast

Pies, cakes and sugarplums

And of course, roast beast.

As she licked the plates clean,

Mag popped inside,

As he started angrily screaming,

Gen, confused, ran to hide.

"That was for Christmas," Mag sputtered

"Christmas, a time for joy!"

As the other members filed in,

All sighed a resounding "Oh boy..."

Gen saw what she had done

And felt very very sad.

She didn't want the Legendary to think

That she was bad.

She left the base, her mind a twitter

And paced outside in thought.

How to repair the damage

Her stomach had wrought?

She smiled and grinned

As an idea unfurled

With a beat of her wings

Into the sky she hurtled

She searched high and low

Trying to find

The perfect thing to repair

A ruined Christmas time.

And at the base,

The Legendary were cleaning

Bits of food Gen had got

On the floors and ceiling.

"Don't worry Mag," they all said

"She's not a bad lizard,"

"She just has hollow legs"

"And can't fill her gizzard..."

When from the base portal

Arose such a clatter

All the members ran over

To see what was the matter.

There was Gen, her arms loaded with stuff!

Ham, pies, cakes, rolls, a feast!

A spread fit for a king,

To say the least.

The main course, a little unsettling -

Gen had gone hunting, so it seemed

For she had brought a brace of Rikti Monkeys

Their faces locked in a silent scream.

Gen herself cooked up the dinner

And much to everyone's surprise,

Her cooking skills were impeccable!

And tears filled everyone's eyes.

Even the Rikti Monkey roast

Was eaten with delight

"A little tough, but now we see,"

"Why you eat these guys every night!"

The feasting went on for hours

And merriment and mirth were had

Their bellies filled with her food,

Indeed, everyone was glad!

As laughter filled the air

Gen simply smiled and said,

"Merry Christmas to all!"

And took herself to bed.

"I serve the Darkness and the Darkness serves me. How may this one be of assistance tonight?"

darkness's peon is a level 50 dark/dark/soul corrupter and if I had to describe her would be as a dark Healer or a dark Defender trapped on the Villain
side. She is a support build, a D^3 as it were. Shock, horror. Yes, this is not using the corrupter archetype to the full potential, but dp was around before
the Pain domination set, and before Thermals took off, and filled a niche. She was a healer in a land with no healers. She kept teams on their feet and rolling
- dp had a large heal that almost never missed. Teams loved the green numbers, and with Shadow Fall and Hover/Fly running she could stand beside almost anyone
and fire off a heal. Funny thing was, as soon as she fell, the team fell shortly there after. dp was built before I got into Mids, and yes, I know, she does
focus on support powers over offense powers. Apart from the Patron arc, Aura, costume and other missions like that, dp has taken only about 6-10 mission
herself, and soloed even less. She really only discovered that she had any sort of offensive 'teeth' in the early 40s. When she got going ('let the
stops out') in i11, at level 50, while her end held up she could tear anything apart in PvE and in PvP would stalemate anything and even once beat a regen
scrapper when they missed a click in Siren's. She was a Terror (capital T) to fight against.

All that being said, it was recently put forward, that I should make a PvP build of dp.

Problems with dp? There are a few problems with dp. Her current build is not finished as in not fully slotted with IOs. Below is the ideal IO build as it
currently stands. She has nothing in Nightfall, Health is just level 30 Health IOs, Blackstar is 1 Acc, 3 x Dam, and Dark Embrace is just plain resist IOs.
Those are just a few of the sets missing.

I've also posted some of the ideas I've had while fiddling around with Mids.

Now as I was saying: Problems with dp - she eats end and lots of it. When she gets going her end drops quite rapidly. When she's in support mode, its
fairly stable but still fluctuates.

Lack of damage - as a support build dp has little or no offense.

Now dp is quite happy as a support build for her primary build... if only it wasn't soo tiring. And as regards PvP, i12 has changed things so that she
can't stalemate as well anymore, and doesn't have a hope of really winning given her poor damage.

Can you help improve her normal build? Please? Or make her a PvP build?

Budget wise - dp is by far the richest of my redside toons, 26mil on hand, but just say unlimited as things can be bartered, earned, farmed, or obtained via
merits.

Primary build: Improve her end, don't really worry about increasing damage. There's rp reasons why she's not damage first.

PvP build: RP reasons go out the window - Increase end, Increase Damage, Increase Acc. (Rebuild mah toon!)

Shader