FredEffinChopin

Whether or not it breaks down that way percentage-wise (I wasn't going for pinpoint accuracy), you can go to any news site that allows commneting on the internet, and you'll find scores of people acting like Zimmerman is a hero. It's seriously disappointing to see, and a little bit scary. It's not coming from a place of passion for the legal system. And while it may not literally be open season, it seems a precedent was certainly set. Can you inform me as to why Martin was an idiot, btw? Out of all the mistakes that were made in that incident, it seems that they only one that wasn't done by the grown man with the gun who was acting under paranoid and false notions is the one that we're relying on that same grown man to account for us; the initiating of the physical altercation. Even if we're going to believe his story, that in the middle of tailing Martin, Martin somehow disappeared and got the jump on him, we're still looking at a case of someone who isn't alive to tell his side theoretically standing his own ground when being followed around by a (if I may say so) thuggish looking guy talking on the phone while he stares. Is it only a good idea with a gun, and not with fists? And is it fair to call a dead teenager an idiot for the *one* thing he could have done better in a clusterfuck situation with a grown man? @MBM I believe manslaughter is what they should have been looking at from the beginning, and what they jury was told they may consider. They decided that it didn't qualify, I suppose. My close friend who is a practicing lawyer seems to believe that it's an appropriate charge, and he tells me the guys in his firm as well as outside colleagues seem to agree. Even the ones he expected to have a bias in favor of Zimmerman's situation. From what I understand though, the mandatory sentence is pretty high, and it's likely the jurors didn't feel like he deserved that kind of prison time. Who knows what they were thinking. As far as the federal case, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with it. While I disagree with the verdict, and would like to see Zimmerman bear some responsibility for his irresponsibility that lead to someone else's death, I get the feeling that this might go a little bit beyond indirect... I'll have to see how it plays out before a pass my own personal judgment.

I want to throw a fucking brick. I'm not sure which is rubbing me more raw right now, the fact that it's open season on teenagers if you know how to play your cards, or that half of the country will cheer you when you do one in. I mean, let's be honest about what that second part indicates. These people can run around talking about how they're just that happy to see "justice" served all they want, but I'd like to know when the last time was that they were endzone dancing on every news site over another verdict they agreed with. If they're such big fans of legal justice, what was the last trial they watched this closely, and created accounts to post dozens of things about? When is the last time they watched any news? Or read any? Or read? Much of this is indicative of a deep-down and disgusting itch that a lot of people just got scratched, big time. Some of them don't realize it. A lot of them rationalize it as a desire to strike some balance where they feel like political correctness has overshot their purpose. If they really simply feel that way though, they might want to pick something other than the killing of a teenager (under, at best, extremely questionable conditions) to try to make their point, and making the killer out to be some kind of saint. Way to send a message to all these wannabee cops who like to play with real cop tools. Let them know that they are protected. If I were black in Zimmerman's neck of Florida, I'd be making myself pretty scarce right about now. Either that or start dressing like Carlton.

I just got a confirmation email letting me know I'll be getting another email soon, with download instructions.

They're so full of shit. They break their backs bending backwards to implement measures at the hardware level to ensure that nobody can borrow or resell games, all under pretenses of "THE DEVELOPERS ARE STARVING AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!".... And then say that they were planning on letting you share even more efficiently than you could with discs any day... Until the evil gamers FORCED them to take it away. Spare me. Which one was it? Was sharing the plague of the industry, or were you aiming to make purchasing brand new games even less necessary than it was with your new infrastructure? If they really wanted to facilitate the process of game sharing that badly they'd have simply stayed the fuck out of it in the first place. That's not what they were going for, at all. Pardon the hostility. I'm just getting even more annoyed with them now that they've (partially....) reversed everything that they were pretending was too essential and too far along to reverse. I've been giving them the slightest benefit of doubt in the back of my mind, and still give them a very, very tiny bit... I thought maybe they actually thought they were trying to achieve something beneficial for gamers... But really, I'm pretty sure they tried to be the dictators of the way console business is done, and they used their extremely dedicated fan base deceptively in an attempt to achieve it (and made a lot of them look like fools for a while, as they went out and apologized, theorized, and rationalized on MS' behalf). All the talk about their visions of this idealized Utopia of console gaming rang kind of hollow at best, under even minor scrutiny (especially given the fact that they seem detached enough to still believe that Kinect is the best thing to happen to consoles since shoulder buttons, and that all gamers really want is more sports, and cable with sports...), and sounded like the Rapture of gaming societies at worst. A bunch of bullshit wrapped in buzzwords that is supposed to distract people from realizing that they're being forcefully rushed into this fake "future" that they didn't ask for. I guess future is an appropriate word for what they had in mind though... As in it doesn't make sense in the present. Will we all do things purely digitally in the future? It's likely . If/when we do, though, it'll be because it came about naturally, meaning that the market adapted with the consumers. This was a case of the market trying to force something down the consumers' throats, and the consumers vomiting on their shirts in return, and punching them in the face to express gratitude for the favor. They weren't taken aback by the sentiment though, just the severity of it. They knew they were being shitty, and doing their fans dirty. Now they want to sit around and act like "Woah, we thought you would love all this, but we're listening to you, and we see that you don't!", but they knew what they were doing every step of the way. I guess that's what I really find so galling about the whole thing, especially now that people are treating them like heroes.

Necessary my ass. I'm actually a little proud today.

*GIANT EDIT* Dean, I think your forum is trolling me. Every time I put links in, the links don't contain the full address when clicked, and then when I open the post to edit, everything is different than when I last posted. I'm going to try this again. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/the+straw+that+breaks+the+camel's+back http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/chickens+come+home+to+roost And the first link still refuses to go where it's supposed to....

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. When I started my first (of three) character in the last leg of the beta, I encountered a similar point. It's just a matter of finding the rest though, in other sanctuaries/towns/whatevers. The web of quest seems neatly laid out to let one solo their way through to a certain level, and with gear to match it. My chars were around 15 when I left them in phase II, and that still seemed to be the case. I'm not sure what to make of the game overall yet. Part of me is still smitten by the world itself, since I was (kinda am, again) a huge FFXI junkie. I'll really need to get farther in the game to pass judgment though. While I appreciate some soloability, I haven't encountered anything yet that made me seek a partner. While there were some moments where I was able to just use the people fighting in the vicinity to my advantage, I'm interested in the big boss fights where roles must be played to a T to insure victory. The interface can be intimidating at times. Dean, you mind sharing the method for resizing windows such as the chat (without going into the settings) without using a mouse? I'm managing to do just about everything on PC with only KB and controller, but there are a few things I've been forced to mouse my way out of, and it's bugging me. Re: FFXIII combat It's at its juiciest when you're doing the hunts, and taking on the really tough mobs. While there is a good deal of the game through which one doesn't need to work hard to win battles, there is definitely a portion of the game that makes one paradigm shift like a mf'er just to stay afloat. Not just healing and attacking either... I had great fun preparing for various battles, and altering my strategy to accommodate.I absolutely loved the combat, what can I say...

Since I've been getting notifications again, I've been reading the updates on this thread, and I was hoping you would do what you did sooner than later, Ethan... I didn't want to say it myself though, as it seemed like it was not advice you were looking for, exactly... It's one of the hardest decisions one can make, but I believe that in many cases it's for the better. It's brutal to sit there and watch a beloved family member deteriorate that way, and in my experience, no available choices at the time seem fair. I learned the hard way though, that it's much better to be there to hold them as they pass on than to let them pass on slowly and naturally. I'm glad that you and her got to be home for it. My condolences. Hang in there.

I'm not expert on the topic, but this shit has been brewing for a long time. As Thursday mentioned, it's amazing that something on this scale didn't happen a long time ago. From what I understand, the layout of Sao Paolo itself almost seems built with the exact purpose of highlighting Brazil's economic disparity. It's funny though, how people can become so acclimated to things for so long that they just adapt and move on... We usually seem to display this tendency when it comes to political corruption. Having to make ends meet can do that. Eventually though, something like outlandish and irresponsible spending (arguably under false pretenses) on soccer will finally break the camel's back, and before you know it, the chickens are home. I hope this is a turning point. While it's already resulted in some violence, I hope the majority manage to keep things peaceful; but DO NOT get off of those streets. It seems much of the world are at various points in a very similar path. Here's hoping Brazil can set a positive example. Hopefully one day people won't essentially think "booty" when they hear "Brazil". The fact that the playground image has managed to thoroughly stifle the much more common reality over there speaks volumes.

An awkward video, but I chose it for the subtitles on the song with the very relevant lyrics that begins @ 2:45, and for the subtitled intro that explains the location for the shoot. I want to see who will stay.

Aw, that stinks. I'm in right now on PC, and was contemplating downloading the PS3 version just to check out how it runs, and possibly offer some feedback. I might still give it a try later, though something tells me that if I fire up the PS3 that I'm gonna wind up tearing up The Last of Us >.> @MisterJack If you go to the Playstation Store right now, you'll see beta signups for it right there, too. Not sure if it's any more stable or not...

He got a bit caught up in the excitement. Or maybe it was that.

Fair enough. Here's a little something for the thread:

PS4, without a doubt. I know it's not on the poll, but if the Wii hits the $200-250 range, I might even snag one of those at some point in time if there is enough quality exclusive content. I'm not getting it at launch. I just spent a bunch on a new PC, and while I can't say I've never boldly spent in the face of mounting debt before, I have SO many games in my queue right now that I can't possibly justify buying another console this year. Probably late 2014 at earliest. A part of me really wants to support them at launch though, despite the potential dangers involved... I feel like they have been paying attention to what gamers want, rather than telling gamers what they're going to have to deal with if they want to play games, and I think that should be rewarded. I'm sure they will be though.

Ugh, it's socks that I had to leave to work right before the Mirror's Edge 2 reveal. The good part? It's coming!!!

I think I pulled something in my neck while cringing. On a side note, I hate when people do what this presenter did: "Your hand is literally tied to the ball right there." No, it's fucking not!

I was wondering the same exact thing. I'm guessing it must be for disguise. Either that or just "cloaks look cool". Which I agree with.

Did the guy just change the t-shirt underneath his blazer in-between introductions? I'll never understand game devs or English professors.

"Just let it happen, it'll be over soon!" "You have a fight stick!" "You like this!" "No, I don't like this!" >.> Should we give you guys some privacy?

Lol there is no room with Alex Jones in it that isn't a couple of minutes away from a (one-sided) frantic screaming match.This is pretty much a template for every interview he's ever done. It's like a psychological tick, he's just incapable of hearing things he doesn't like for more than 2 minutes before he loses it. You can almost see him twitch when others speak. It's scary how much support he has though... It's a pretty huge, especially considering how clear this administration has made it that they aren't fans of whistleblowing. It's not just me though, right? China seems like a really weird choice for him to be hunkering down under these circumstances, right?

You're probably right

I wouldn't exactly color the occupy protests that way... There was certainly a good deal of confusion about its message, and some unsavory characters that the media loved to single out and interview, but at its core were some very legitimate concerns about economic disparity that have nothing to do with people wanting free money, but about a system that is rigged by the wealthy to work exclusively for the wealthy, while keeping everyone else right where they are. While Wall St. heads themselves were really smug about it at the time, and liked to color the protesters with that "lazy bum" brush, I'd point out some of the bigger scandals in recent history (especially involving AIG and HSBC), and ask anyone who the real bums are that want handouts. It's not the people breaking their backs for 40-50 hours a week that fear they might not have their SSI waiting for them after the banks help tank the economy. It's the crooks who launder money for terrorist organizations, rob the public blind, never go to jail for it, and then ask for government assistance when things don't look good for them; and they'll get it every time, at almost zero interest. Perhaps everyone on the ground there wasn't able to articulate their concern very well, but they know enough to know that something is wrong. It's a complex game being played by politicians, lobbyists, and Wall St., and not the easiest thing to condense into a headline, but rest assured, they've successfully stolen democracy. Well, they bought it, to be fair, and legally.

Gaming's Citizen Kane moment, eh? After Bioshock: Infinite I have nothing but skepticism for claims like that. Still though, I've been excited for this one for some time, and I can't say that the review scores aren't making me a little more so now, despite the fact that I know how these things go with AAA titles that everyone has been waiting on. As long as I don't go into this hoping for a great American novel, I should be fine.

The Mary marry merry thing is the one on the list that I was most shocked by. I can't believe that such a tiny portion of the country pronounces those three words differently... What a bunch of savages everywhere else! I also couldn't believe how isolated the use of the term "sunshower" is... There were lots of surprises. It's interesting to see where the divides are in a lot of that... There is this interesting thing where the is a diagonal line that crosses PA from NW to SW, and separates the NE portion of the country from the rest of it in terms of pronunciation. It's also interesting to see those people often share their pronunciations with the Southern tip of Florida (we know why that is) and with Minnesota. I'm sure if you took this data and went backwards to find out the reasons for it, it would tell an interesting tale of immigration, gentrification, and isolation. It's still interesting on its own though, and fun to look at. *edit* Oh yeah, and "The Devil is beating his wife" is a term for sunshowers? wth.... Also, it seems like the South tends to stand out in using its own phrases and pronunciations. Especially Mississippi.

Funny you mentioned this in the XBone thread Dean, as it's one of the first things I thought of when I read of this NSA foolishness. On topic: I love that now that the press have seen their own specific freedoms encroached upon, they are taking breaches of *everyone's* privacy as seriously as they should be. Where was this outrage back when the Patriot Act was first enacted? Anyway, better late than never. I'm trying not to lose my shit until they "clarify" some of the specifics and conditions of use, but it doesn't look good, especially for an administration that loves to talk about transparency. Actually, it looks fucking godawful, and it makes me want to throw a brick. The fact that all of the alleged involved parties are acting like it is not true at all really freaks me out as well, and makes me wonder as to the extent of imposed confidentiality on measures taken in the name of combating "terrorism". The buying and selling of our elected officials and the grip on our government by big business is something that got a pretty admirable number of people marching for a brief time, albeit to the tune of wild cynicism and ridicule... If this situation winds up being as bad as it seems, I'm thinking we might be seeing a real march around the corner; this time with a sympathetic press.