Aran

Colbert warned us!

My favorite fumble: (Ironically, of course, the land sharks were themselves a fumble come to life.) Also, disappointed. In combat, I drop cool one-liners all the time, and yet my title quote is once again one of my dry remarks. Needless to say, the one time I rolled well was when I didn't quip... ... or when it was totally pointless. It's like rolling a natural twenty on tying your shoe.

This was fun! (Though at times frustrating. Our party has the collective intelligence of a cauliflower.)

I read Ender's Game, and liked the story, but felt a vague sense of unease about the philosophical subtext. He didn't really push his views in the tale, but I got the feeling that the Card and I wouldn't find a lot of common ground. So I looked him up and it turned out that was pretty spot on, so yeah.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan (I'm lost with Word 2007 and its infernal Ribbon). Yeah. Originally Posted By: Twitter <arancaytar> Have had to help my mother deal with Office 2007 UI and saw 'ribbons' the first time. What the HELL were the MS designers smoking? #msfail Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba Originally Posted By: Dintiradan My only gripe with OpenOffice Writer is that its grammar checking is far inferior to Microsoft Word's. How is that even possible? No, wait, don't tell Dikiyoba. Dikiyoba doesn't want to know. Seconded. Does anyone actually use the grammar check for something other than entertainment? About all it ever catches me out on are obscure points of style like split infinitives or gratuitously passive voice. Other than that, it's pretty much always wrong.

Originally Posted By: Ephesos As I reflect on the years of my life I've frittered away on these boards and in this community, I can't help but feel let down. I look back at the 5,000 posts I've made, and I can't help but feel that at least 4,200 of them were total, utter drivel. I look at the community that exists in the present day, and I feel like I no longer belong. Same here, except doubly for me.

I just read John Elder Robinson's Look me in the Eye, which is an at once hilarious and thought-provoking biography about his Asperger's.

Ale o'Rail.

I know that open source seems kind of scary at first, but I can recommend OpenOffice.org a lot. I've been using it on Windows for many years and found that it was actually easier to work with than MS Office (though admittedly, the last MS Office I saw was 2000; it might have gotten better). It can open and save all MS Office extensions like ppt and pptx, too.

Keeping track of many personal pronouns like eir, it, hir, ze and more is too difficult even for this German who to grammatical constructs and subclauses that forever before they in verbs finish extend used is (yay for Reverse Polish Syntax!), so Dikiyoba's name sounds like the best way to consistently refer to Dikiyoba. (Put another way: Pronouns are too puny for Dikiyoba.)

Congratulations on the next K, Dikiyoba! 8th place is in close reach, if Slartucker slows down a bit.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan The Game of Life ... Dintiradan, that game sounds absolutely awesome.

Quote: The Game of Life That's a board game now? Code: X XXX X

Originally Posted By: Nioca some weapons, [...] a Mac computer, some bacteria, and a supersoaker. So why the bacteria, supersoaker and other weapons? (Ha ha ha.) ... Anyway, an alien invasion is not just unlikely, it is unlikely. Even presuming aliens exist, and presuming they have the capacity for interstellar FTL travel, they have nothing to gain from Earth that they could not have cheaper from elsewhere. I'm going with the "space is big, energy is cheap, metal is expensive" idea. Traveling far for new living space is no big deal; building up and destroying space fleets is wasted resources. The only way that interstellar war can make any sense is if we assume the participants to be guided by religion and irrationality. However, in order to develop advanced technology, the aliens have to be rational.

Speaking of which, I just hope I don't lose that wrench in some amusingly annoying situation. That's what I'd get for specializing. (Though maybe Eph would let me apply the Wrench skill bonus to similar one-handed blunt weapons like a club.)

Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba My housemate's cats are in the habit of occasionally puking on my bedspread. Needless to say, I kick them out of my room at night now. Unfortunately, one of them has figured how how to scratch my bedroom door in such a way that it rattles. He does it all night long unless I let him in and I can't block it out. Which means that now I can't sleep. Whee! Dikiyoba also hates it when Dikiyoba is cycling on a narrow, bumpy road without bike lanes and a large vehicle decides to pass Dikiyoba without pulling over much. That's just not safe. Likewise. On one-way roads too narrow for cars to pass each other, I sometimes have to actually block them off from doing that by not leaving space. I feel that when the risks of their maneuver are a scratched bumper for them and a lengthy hospital stay for me, I get to veto.

I'm going to take a third level in Weapon Proficiency (Wrench). Also, a second level in Magic (Divination). Temmyn can now attempt to identify (or at least gain basic information about) items.

For reference, this is the character sheet I sent to Ephesos:

Nioca: I'm not so worried. Good things take a lot longer to develop than bad things. How much preparation would Eph need for Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies?

Originally Posted By: The Ghost of Jewels I'm starting to get the feeling that Lindy should heal every scratch as it appears so she doesn't end up spending stamina on big drains. Stamina is more precious than ever now that I've no energy potions left. *does a fist-shakey at the fates* Thanks, Aran, for doing such a good job taking over for Lindy when I had to go. Thanks! And sorry I had to give away your energy potion. Ephesos, have you got some responses on the calendar yet? I left out only four days, but I can technically be there even then. (/me is itching to try my own character now...)

Quote: We'd be stuck outside the Labyrinth still if it weren't for him! "Oh my goodness, that'd by awful."

Which story is the spoon quote from? I couldn't find it among the Sudden Fiction... A nice mixed bag of funny, creepy and deep. Great work!

Congratulations, Tyran! Quote: with the member numbers changing with the board upgrade. Same here. I loved my 2984. It was both twice 1492, the year of Columbus, and a thousand plus 1984, which hardly needs explanation. It was also 8 * 373, and I like big primes. 2975 hasn't remotely as much numerological beauty. I am consoled only by one thing: - On May 14 2003, I was #2984 - On May 14 2008, I was #2975 => Extrapolating linearly, we deduce that I will be member #1 in 5355 more years. (Geometrically it looks even better; I'd be at the #1 spot in roughly 2650 years.) I can't wait!

On re-reading my log, I get the feeling that you were straining to keep us alive during the wirespider fight. (Or maybe it was just way weaker than it appeared. I was imagining some kind of snarl of titanium threads that cut through flesh and bone as through butter.)

I sent my character to Eph and am awaiting his approval. Will be joining for the next session, I hope. (Also, Eph, the players always look more stupid from the DM seat. Obviously, if we'd guessed the ball of wire would turn into a spidermonster, we'd have chucked it into the grate before it finished forming, instead of waiting patiently for the cutscene to end. )