xawery

You are correct BillyBob, but the Eye of Providence is a rather ambiguous symbol: it is a very prominent element of Freemason symbolism, especially in combination with the pyramid (the temple of King Solomon). Incidentally, the logo of the Information Awareness Office (IAO) was changed for exactly this reason. My case still stands: why use "Annuit Coeptis" instead of "Deus Annuit Coeptis" or "Deo favente" if the former is much more ambiguous and reeks of ill-defined deism? I understand that the strange obsession with the number 13 (thirteen layers in the pyramid) is partly to blame, but this only strengthens my argument that the US at the time of its inception was engulfed in a fascination with gnostic mysticism, rather than outspokenly founded on the Christian faith.

Sophion-Black: You do realise that "In god we trust" was only declared your nation's motto in 1956, as a way to distinguish the USA from the godless USSR? If you ask me, "E pluribus unum" sounds a lot more secular to me... Guess when it was chosen as the US's motto? That's right, 1776. One could argue that "Annuit Coeptis" is a reference to the Christian religion. However, given the facts that "Deus" has been intentionally left out and that the phrase can be tracked a pagan prayer to Jupiter, I don't think so. In conclusion: saying that the US has been built on Christian values is a product of (relatively) recent times.

@Ofpforum: No, none of the mods is compatible with the new version. The devs initially stated that v. 0.800 would be little more than a graphics update, but it seems they put in a lot more than they were letting on. The module system has been rewritten and compatible mod tools haven't been released yet. The new version offers tons of previously unseen possibilities, many of which haven't been fully investigated yet. One such new feature is that props can now actually take damage, see the dummies on the training grounds. Essentially, this means that destructable walls and gates are now a possibility Btw, has anyone with an Nvidia GFX card managed to get the reflective water running? Or environmental shadows, for that matter?

you can find the new version here. It's a nice, fast mirror. The new release is nice, especially the possibility of more than two parties duking it out at the same time. Shame it's a bit buggy, but hey, it's still beta... Oh, and the shield on back giving you extra protection is also a very nice touch

Version 0.80 is out! Get it at www.taleworlds.com! Can't type more, need to play

Oh man Ares, you're preaching to the choir... There should be a law against parents bringing their children to shopping malls. Failing that, there should be at least some holding pens where you could lock them up with a lollypop while you shop. Kind of like lockers at a train station, but then with breathing holes. Or not. Did I mention I hate kids? Anyway, I have a tacit understanding with my loved ones that they are unable to get me something useful without consulting me and vice versa, so we don't even bother trying to surprise eachother. Most likely, I'll be getting myself Baldessarini Del Mar and/or a bottle of either Lagavulin, Ardbeg or Laphroaig. Islay FTW!

Thank you for this post, Ares. You made my sunday morning A word of advice: I'd go for quality over quantity.

It wasn't until six hours later that I realised the picture in fact depicts a dog's anus. All I could see was Jesus, even before reading your post Ryan :S

Gawddammit, my post mysteriously disappeared! Damn you Ikonboard! Damn you! Anyway, the gist of it was: great games yesterday, lads. I enjoyed every map we played, even if I'm not a great coop fan. Op Whisper was absolutely fantastic, and the 1:4 troop ratio creates a very unique atmosphere. Btw Terox, did you use Dethleff's ambient sounds in Op Whisper? I was very anxious to see how Lex Talionis will turn out, as a lot of things have been changed (the cinema! w00t!. I don't know about other, but I had fun. Even though Lwlooz didn't uncover his plan until the very last minute, the cooperation and mutual support on West was very good, at least IMHO. Crossing open terrain to get to Delavince, while mortar shells rained on our heads was quite tense. Not to mention the forest fights... Oh, and Alpha squad going from full strength to complete combat ineffectiveness in a split second due to reckless driving was hilarious as well Then there was the usual Zeus TS banter: the madness-inducing crickets were back with a vengeance (although only Cibit could hear them...), plus a short dissertation on how easily rampant sex can be combined with a Zeus gaming night AND a packet of crisps.

So, when are we going to update the server to WGL 5.12?

Thanks Solus, I think it was a sudden n00bness-seisure on my part... :/

Hi Solus, Very nice pack you have here! I love how troops actually open hatches to get into apc's. The healing and wounding system is great too, adds a lot to the immersion. I was just playing War Cry and the battlefield was soon filled with the screams and moans of critically injured soldiers. Nasty, but cool! I do have a couple of gripes, though. I'll make a nice list for better legibility. 1. I downloaded from the second mirror and I'm missing the optics for the Ak74. 2. Shooting at buildings creates huge, vertical craters (which look very, VERY odd). 3. The ricochet looks a bit too solid, almost like a laser. 4. Saving CTD's OFP Those are all the issues I have come across yet - my testing run ended prematurely when #4 occured Other than that, great stuff! Finally someone who concentrates on gameplay elements, rather than adding another 10k polygons to the M4 model...

Indignation is a poor argument.

Although I realise that such a decision won't be taken democratically, I would like to voice my support for changing to a new, more modern forum (e.g. SMF), and respond to some arguments against it. 1. Re-registering isn't really that much of a deal, especially as it would be just a one-time event. 2. I agree with Mr. Burns about the impressive wealth of information contained within these current forums, but: 2a) these would presumably still be available as an archive 2b) the current search function is rather poor, and thus makes all this knowledge difficult to access. 3. A good deal of the forum slowness can be attributed to the outdated cgi scripts it is based on. PHP is much better in this regard. 4. Ikonboard, as such, is a rather limited forum software package. I run a forum myself (who doesn't?) and have tested various software packages (Ikonboard, Invision Powerboard, PHPbb, SMF and others). Ikonboard really doesn't shine when it comes to customisability (now officially a word!, user-friendliness and stability. In conclusion, should Placebo decide to take such a drastic step, I would like to recommend SMF, or Simple Machines Forums. It's free, user friendly (e.g. when posting, you get a warning if new messages have been posted while you were writing), features a very solid search engine, and offers outstanding customisability both for the end user and the administrator. And best of all: it's fast. Sorry for this slightly off-topic rant but Ikonboard has been a source of annoyance for some time, and I thus feel obliged to applaud any effort at changing the status quo.

I think comparing the USA to any of the previous empires shouldn't be based on any concrete similarities between specific actions. We should rather concentrate on how the USA's unique position in the world compares to those of empires gone by. To clarify: just because the USA hasn't conquered an entire continent (like Rome did) doesn't mean the comparison is invalid. Let's go through it point by point. 1. The USA possesses immense military power, leaving the world's #2 far behind it.[1] 2. The USA wields awesome political, economic and cultural power (permanent seat on the security council, highest GDP, circumventing the UN without serious consequences, the ubiquity of American culture in the entire world). 3. Numerous parts of the world fall under the USA's zone of influence, even though they may be sovereign states (SK, Japan, Israel, Iraq etc.). 4. US citizens, but most notably the current administration, are convinced of the absolute superiority of their way of life and political system over others. 5. It is also believed (mostly by the Americans, but not exclusively) that the US political and economic system is a panacea to all that ails the world, and should thus be exported to other countries, whether by force or political influence (plans for democracy in Iraq spreading throught the region, supporting the contras, financial support of American-style conservative movements by US corporations). Given the scope and depth of US influence on the world, AND the explicit desire to excercise this influence, I would say that the comparison between the USA and past empires isn't invalid at all. Though I may disagree with his conclusions, I cannot deny that Niall Ferguson explained this issue much better than I did in "Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire". Don't let the title fool you by the way: this book has nothing to do with America-bashing.

BTW lads, I have just made the last ameliorations to Lex Talionis. For all intents and purposes, this is v. 1.0 - I doubt I'll put any more effort into it. I've tweaked the trigger system to satisfy everyone, but I fear I will end up satsifying noone. So be it: if players on both sides think they are at a disadvantage, there must be some kind of balance Hope to see you all tonight, Regards, Celery

Hehehe, that was brilliant. AFAIK, there was one survivor... Eizensoldat or King Tubby, I'm not sure. I do however remember the panic I experienced when dodging mortar shells and trying to get the hell out of there... Didn't help!

If only it were so. The current Polish government has been using an ultra-catholic radio station ("Radio Maryja") as its main platform for announcing policies. The ultra-conservative, antisemitic and xenophobic League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin - LPR) is part of the government. To give you an example of what these boys are capable of - an organisation affiliated with them sent hundreds of sex-ed booklets to primary schools. One paragraph actually stated that homosexuals in effect drink blood, as sperm contains red bloodcells. I know we are going slightly off-topic, but I felt the need to re-specify your generalisation

Math metal as in algorithmic metal? Just listened to Bland Street Bloom and I like it. Reminds me of the Dillinger Escape Plan (who incidentally TOTALLY SUCKED as the opening slot for System of a Down a couple of years ago). It also reminds me of the nigh-impossible-to-play solo's from the Doom soundtrack While I'm at it, I'd like to recommend Gridlock. If you like Autechre or Panacea, I think you will enjoy this as well.

That's all well and good Walker, but let's stay in Reality Land. We both know that none of this will ever happen. You can mislead, lie outright and be as incompetent as you like, but there is no way you will ever be held accountable for it, at least not in a legalistic way. Although the comparison is far from perfect, let's take a look at the Iran-Contra affair. A blatantly illegal, let alone immoral affair, and what happens? Reagan emerges unscathed, and the convicted patsies get high-level posts under GWB or a nice segment on Fox News.

I saw a very interesting documentary last night about the religious right's rise to political power in the USA. I kind of fell into it half way through, so I haven't the faintest what the title was. It was amazing to see how twenty years ago, evangelicalism was seen as some backwood hick-tradition by the mainstream media. I saw some footage of Jimmy Carter painstakingly trying to explain to his interviewer what being "born again" was all about. Compare it to the situation right now... You can't even dream of becoming the president if you're not a 'good Christian'. Seperation of state and church indeed. Then again, what do you expect of a country where the (ex-)president (supposedly) says things like this:

Yes they do, perhaps not with regard to a specific method but the death penalty as such. Google "EU USA death penalty" and you should get enough reading material 'til the end of 2006.

Hi all, I'm trying to add an element of uncertainty to my MP mission, but, as per usual, I have little to no idea how to go about it. I want to randomise the starting point of a player-controlled group. In other words, players select slots as normal, but they start the game at one of six possible starting locations. Is this even possible? And if so, please share your wisdom with me Regards, Xawery

On a different note: I don't know if any of you has seen the latest Family Guy episode, but it contains a little conversation which displayed amazing similarities with communication on Zeus. Allow me to paraphrase... Brian and Stewie join the army and are shipped off to Iraq. Now, I don't know about you, but this sure as hell rings a bell... Specifically, this reminds me of that one time when some person misunderstood "We're on Hill 47" for "Arty on Hill 47"

Thanks a lot Metal Heart, I'll give it a try right now!