Quote by ElvesI am part of the older crowd. I went back to school after working, so I just identify with the younger-older crowd. I'm not that much older than you, so don't worry.

Wow, that's interesting. What made you decided to go back to school?

Quote by raptorfbHmm... I'm going to take a guess at "Apple Inc." and "Steve Jobs".

Do I win? ^^;;

Sorry, try again. Yes, their CEO's name is Steve too, but they're predominantly a hardware company

I've seen a lot of talk on the forums about people in high school and college.

This makes me think...
1) I'm old
2) There aren't that many in the post-college-grad demographic on MT

I'm pretty sure the later isn't the case, though I just wanted to be sure. What do you, the people in the "real world" do in your every day lives besides lurk around anime forums?

Me? I've been out of school for about 6 months and currently working at a globally known software company in the customer service/sales/marketing/support field. I'll leave it up to you to guess which one. Here's a hint, the CEO's name is Steve.

*takes shovel out and digs up the thread*

I haven't been around much. This whole going out into the real world and having a full time job affords me less time to do other things. Moving on.

While there are some good points here, I will side on the pro-partial reviews. The examples shoujoboy are very valid, they miss the media type by just a hare. True, movies and books and such do require being experienced in their entirety in for the criticisms to be valid. However, remember that most anime comes in the form of a serial television show. It should be judged as a serial television show and not a movie or book.

TV shows in America are often scrutinized before they even air. Often, the success of the pilot determines at a very early stage whether the show lives or dies. People jump on the bandwagon very early to either praise or tear a show to pieces. Think 24 would still be around today if the first several episodes did poorly? Probably not.

I think that all shows are fair game for review. While it may be in poor taste to review something with only one episode out, it all depends on the reviewer and how much content was included in the first episode. For example, I thought Kannazuki no Miko was amazing after I saw the first episode. I also thought Tenjou Tenge was a keeper. One turned out to be awesome and the other turned out to be a dissapointment at the end.

With all the anime out there every season, I don't have time to sift through it all myself. I look to early reviews/previews to filter out what I want to try out and what I'm going to skip.

So long story short, yes to partial reviews

Shinsengumi and I are floating around the convention this weekend. If you're here, see if you can spot us. It shouldn't be too hard, I have a chocobo inbreeder t-shirt and Shinsengumi is nicely dressed.

...That and we were both really big dorks and put our MT names on our nametags...

Then again, if you're reading this, you're a big dork too. Browsing MT while at an anime con... psh.

Keep in mind those are the minimum specs. I think the recommended ones are a bit higher. All of my machines (save my server) should have enough horsepower for Vista. My new laptop definitely will

...Class?

:D

Quote by fireflywisheswell idk much about the technical stuff ... but DDR as part of PE curriculums has been around for at least a couple of years... i remember seeing segments about it on the news back when i was in high school. i think it's a really good/fun way to get kids active.

I saw something about it in some California schools awhile back, but this is the first time I've heard of an entire state adopting it. It's pretty crazy, I think.

From Dictionary.com:
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

...that really doesn't help much. By that definition, a lot of acts would be considered terrorism. Labor strikes, for one, could be considered a terrorist act. Although not violent, they do aim to damage a certain party. Heck, during the NYC Transportation strike, someone was killed as an indirect result.

"Terrorism" is a term that's just as easy to define as "racism." Before you can say affirmative action, someone will claim that an action is racist and should be stopped by legislation.

While there may be acts that are "clearly" terrorist acts (like blowing things up), those actually performing the actions don't alway see them as such. After all, they blew up a building because it was the right thing to do. The people in the building were "clearly" instilling fear on another group of individuals and infringing on their beliefs.

Everyone is a terrorist to at least one other person in this world.

...I'm a pessimist.

Check out this article. It seems that West Virginia officials are adding DDR to the physical education program to help combat youth obesity. Setups will be purchased for each of the 700+ public schools and made available to students.

Unfortunately, they will be using the XBox version, instead of the PS2. It also makes me wonder what kind of "rugged dance pad" they're using. At the quoted price, they'd be hard pressed to get Cobalt Fluxes...

Quote by EternalParadoxI'm not sure if I would characterize Aria as slice of life. I have not myself seen the series, but based on your summary in your review, it seems more of a fantasy type with the human colonization of the solar system in a time far off into the future.

I consider slice of llife to be reflective of our current mode of life. Things that we can truly relate to in our daily comings and goings. When there is absolutely no magic, no mecha, no powers, no future fantasy, just plain, good-old life as we know it, that I think is truly slice of life.

Aria fits perfectly Even though it takes place in the future, the place where it takes place in a town that is practically today's Venice. Everything is still done by hand, making it an escape of sorts. The series would be the exact same if it took place today, with a Japanese girl moving to Venice to learn how to row a gondola.

I think it's an excellent example, but moving on...

Today I had an exchange with harakiri about my recent review of Aria. It sparked some a few things in my mind about Aria's genre, and the types of arguments for and against serie of that type.

In my opinion, Aria belongs in the category called "slice of life." It joins the ranks of other series in this category, including Kino no Tabi, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, and Genshiken. Most of the series in this genre have one thing in common: they're not really about anything in particular. There's no major plot. Each episode sort of stands on its own.

Personally, I'm a fan of series like Aria and YKK, because they provide a glimpse into every day life. The fact that they lack plot doesn't really bother me. Many people that I know shun stories without plot. It makes them feel unfulfilled and bored. In response to this, I quote a friend of mine, who says "it's like when you're getting a cup of coffee. You don't necessarily want the best cup of coffee in the world, just a cup that you can enjoy."

Slice of life really is just that; it is a description of of the events in someone else's life. The fact that it feels like one's own makes it boring, since life is usually uninteresting and boring. But doesn't looking at someone else's reaction give insight into another perspective?

I'm curious to see what others think about the genre.

Quote by bindermichiInteresting thought... but WRONG. A 1.6 Duron runs at 700MHz and can't even keep up with a P3 550MHz.

Hehe. Exactly right. First off, a Duron is in a completely different class than the P4, it's technically in the same class as a Celeron. Generation/class gaps will affect how two processors compare. I know AMD has been touting this whole "clock speed isn't everything" argument (rightly so), but like the claim, there really <i>is</i> more than just clock speed, and not only when it's convenient. For example, my old 1.2 TBird will probably out perform a 1.6 Duron, purely based on the fact that the TBirds were more "fully functional" processors. My TBird will also give off a whole lot more heat, which is the reason I switched to Intel a few years ago. Mind you, this was way before the days of the Prescott. I couldn't be happier with the P4 2.4C

Personally, I would never try to tell XP to boot a completely new set of hardware. I've done it in the past and it's been a real pain. Win2000 will sometimes do it, if the jump isn't too extreme (it didn't like being moved from a P2 to an Athlon, though). Sure, you could mess with the drivers, but I've always believed that a reinstall would save the pain of digging through and making sure all the right drivers are in place. With that new computer of yours, a base install of Windows should take under half an hour. My computer clocks in at about 15-20 minutes. I've actually got a reinstall down to about a 2 to 3 hour process, with backing up and reinstalling (without using a ghost image).

Quote by bindermichiPS: what do you need a CDRW, DVDRw and a DVD-ROM for? The last 2 would be enough... and you wouldn't have to connect one of them to the HDD IDE interface... which is better for performance

You would think that. However, I've found that DVD-ROMs don't always handle CDs as well as a plain CD-ROM. It sounds weird, but I've actually tested this. It might have been because the DVD drive used was crap, but that shouldn't explain why the CD drive read CDs faster than the DVD drive (both listed the same "specs").

Hmm... since I'm going to be working for MS soon, does this mean I can't badmouth the product...?

I think the company used to make an antivirus program for Linux. It might be worth trying, especially if the original product was worthwhile. It does concern me that Microsoft is starting to make security software, however. It also worries me that Microsoft owns Gator.

Look out world!

With over 29 volumes of manga across over 15 years of publication, there's not a lack of material to animate. If the first run was successful, I think a second run would be planned.

I'm sure all the Peorth fanboys out there would be dying to see more of her... As for me, Lind made it in, I'm happy <3

No problem, happy gaming!

Oh man... I haven't touched MB or MBR is a long time. I did use a guide that was extremely thourough with the moves...

Most of the moves you mention are the Blood Heat versions of the character's Arc Drive (41236+C while in heat). To boost into blood heat, hit 22+d while in heat (this applies if you're using the standard PC controls, not the modified AC controls). You'll see the character flash and do some sort of pose. This flash causes a wallslam if the opponent is within close proximity (and can sometimes be a good defensive move).

Length of Blood Heat is determined by the lenghth of your EX bar. Say you immediately boost into BH as soon as you hit heat... your BH bar will be the entire lenght. Say half of your heat is already gone when you boost, you will start with less BH.

Blood heat is also useful for regenerating health. You gain health back much faster than you do in normal heat (up to the ammount allowed). Note, however, that your EX bar will drop to 0% after blood head is depleated, whereas heat will drop you to 150% if you don't do an arc drive.

A good FAQ for MBR can be found here: http://kalciane.tnim.org/stuff/react-faq-new.txt

Although it was made under version 2.009a, all the moves are the same in Final Tune. Some of the intricacies may be tweaked (damage levels, range, stupid tricks), so if a move doesn't behave exactly the way it's described, it may have been a change. For example, Ren/WRen has what's known as the "retarded crossover ability," which allows her to hit people behind her. If you jump over an opponent and use her heavy attack, the white ball will actually swing around and hit them after you've passed over them. It's actually somewhat chainable and can cause a great deal of laughs as you stun the opponent over and over.

There are also ways to unlock the game to let you play as Aoko, WRen, Neco Arc, and GAkiha. I grabbed the patch somewhere, which was just an altered version of the excecutable. Google is you friend. Aoko, WRen, and Neco Arc all have very cheap moves... Aoko is rediculous in damage, WRen has a move that does 7500+ damage at 100%ex (making it a great surprise starting move on people who've never seen it), and Neco Arc can use Warcrueid's Blood heat Arc drive at no cost. The megaton punch is also amusing and very annoying.

Quote by Alucard3131overrated anime, not that good. charactesr sucks. sakura is lame, animation stinks. ex. long skinny arms / legs

If you feel so strongly about a series, why not write a review? Just make sure you justify your ratings (giving something a "1" will require heavy justification, as does a "10"). I plan on doing an updated review on Tsubasa one of these days...

Personally, I'm a fan of Trillian, made by Cerulean Studios. There's both a free and a pay version (the pay version has a few more features, including video chat) and it connects to most chat services (AIM, Y!, MSN, IRC, ICQ, Jabber). I know people that can't get used to the interface, but I like the skinnability and the fact that it can autohide on one side of the screen (one of the features of pro).

I liked it so much, in fact that I've paid for it

I've been trying to post a review to the new Katamari Damacy category. When I do so, it throws a DB error:

The following errors occured:

* aid: Must be numeric.

Umm... oops?

I've seen several hypothesis about the Earth's temperature cycle. One I found particularly interesting wast the Snowball Earth hypothesis. According to this, "global warming" is a normal part of the Earth's lifecycle. In fact, global temperatures behave much like a sinusoidal curve, with gradual changes towards both extremes.

Currently, we're coming out of an ice age and moving towards a water covered planet. Eventually, the process will reverse itself and the entire planet will be covered in ice. The paper is rather interesting and talks about all the geological mechanisms that might cause this cycle.

Accepting this idea, however, means accepting that there isn't really anything we can do to affect "global warming." Just more food for thought

Quote by fireflywishesno, in the last episode of this season they were on a different world. (can't remember the name of it... someone fill in the blank! )

I haven't been following the Japanese manga, but it doesn't look like the final episode actually transitions into volume 8 of the manga. Maybe it was made up to bring the story to a close, or maybe it's from somewhere later? It seemed a bit too short to be from the manga, as it usually takes a few episodes to resolve one complete arc...

Quote by cheeseavatarman ne one know where to get quicktime alternative?>

Just google for it

From a personal standpoint, I think having a credit card is almost a necessity these days. While cash is still reliable and accepted everywhere, there are some places that just won't allow you to purchase without one. Cell phones are one example. Without a credit card, most cell carriers (save the pay-as-you-go) won't allow you to sign a contract without putting down a huge deposit if you don't have a card. Also, it's nearly impossible to rent a car or shop online without a card.

For those who don't have any sort of credit rating yet (and find it hard to get a card), I suggest starting with a low-limit card, like a student card. My first was an AMEX Blue For students (I still have it, actually, but never use it anymore) and allowed me to get started with building a credit report. The low initial limit prevented me from spending too much ($500 limit), but responsibility played a major role. I now use a Borders Visa, so I can get some money back to spend at Borders on manga ^^;;

Unfortunately, I'm the type of person that the credit card companies don't want. I pay off my bill every month. As a result, they keep giving me credit increases in the hopes I'll spend more money and not be able to pay off each month. I like to think that I have better self control than that... I'm usually tempted to buy shiny things, but they're typically inexpensive shiny things (I've weened myself from buying bigger ticket tech items).