Sara

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]So in other words being a person with a shoddy self defense system means I'm saved.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE][size=1]Sort of, kind of, maybe? I don't think anyone really knows at this point.[/size]

[quote name='John']Wait, what? Did the writers of [I]House[/I] design this virus?[/QUOTE][size=1][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm][b]Cytokine storms.[/b] (link)[/url] Suspected cytokine storms are one of the similarities between swine flu and the 1918 epidemic.[/size]

[quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]So, what do people think about the new Swine Flu outbreak from Mexico? As someone who lives in California, which is a bit closer to Mexico than other people on the OB I must confess I'm slightly worried. In allergy season my immune system is severely depressed and I've been getting spring colds like crazy.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE][size=1]My understanding is that having a robust immune system increases your chances of dying. Death occurs as a result of the immune system overreacting. That's why most of the reported deaths have been healthy young people (unusual), rather than the very young or very old (normally at risk).[/size]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]It is the easy way out. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I can't imagine the hopelessness and despair that would drive a person to suicide. But I cannot excuse, I [I]cannot condone[/I] the cowardice that makes the final decision. And it is cowardice. It is the single fastest way to make everything stop. Once you are dead you no longer have to worry about debts or pain or sorrow anything that exists in the physical world. You no longer have to struggle, you no longer have to fight. You are running away. Thus to assist suicide is to approve cowardice. And this I also cannot excuse.[/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]You consider it [i]inherently immoral[/i] to take the easy way out? That's a pretty harsh statement, and one that doesn't stand up to situations other than this one. (Example: I use Blogger instead of coding my own website. I don't think there's a moral issue at stake there.) As for the diagnosis of cowardice, I think your view of it is extreme. That's a fine mindset to have in, say, ancient Sparta. Or a military situation, where cowardly conduct by one person can directly endanger, kill, or prevent the duties of others. But in the modern civilian world you "cannot condone" cowardice? That's very noble of you. But I gotta say, you have damn high standards.[/size]

[quote name='John']One noteworthy issue: small town vigilantism. Is it plausible in any way? I live in a little college town, and I can't think of any way to keep one's identity or headquarters a secret. I mean, if you're leaving the scene of an injustice after saving the day, [I]somebody[/I] is going to follow you eventually, be they the police, a local reporter, or just some college kids looking for a good story to tell. I'd like to say you could rely on the goodwill of your faithful citizens, but that's not really too likely in most cases, especially if you plan on committing to superheroism long-term.[/QUOTE][size=1]Change in a phone booth? (My area doesn't even have public telephones anymore, much less the privacy of phone booths. It's sad.) That's an interesting question. It really depends on the level of heroism you're looking at, I think. The larger the scale of your acts, the more people are going to want to know who you are. (If you're just some costumed nutter trying to cheer folks up, people are probably more likely to just let you be. You're not a threat to anyone, and you're probably not that interesting.) If you're actually dealing with crime and criminals, I'd say you'd have a really tough time of it. How big is the college in question? Your best bet might be to make friends with someone in facilities management. I'm sure there are a wide variety of places on campus that you could utilise, if only to lose someone who's following you. In any case, you could probably get a "free" pass on your first couple weeks of heroism, depending on how active those weeks are and the seriousness of your actions. I think people would be willing to write you off as a one-time weirdo as many as four or five times. Especially if you live in a town full of college students who're prone to do silly things. (On that note: you might even have someone else claim the credit for what you've done, which would free you up considerably.)[/size]

[quote name='Botar15'][COLOR="DarkGreen"] Can I get my sex with a side of make out and a Big Hump? Thanks! Is this for here of to eat out! I love sexual inuendo![/COLOR][/QUOTE][size=1]I feel like innuendo requires some level of subtlety. I could be wrong.[/size]

[quote name='Inuyasha Fandom']The **** you hear about me might be true, but the again itmight be as fake as the ***** who told you I called your boyfriend gay and he hit me with his purse![/QUOTE][size=1]Misogynist language AND homophobia! You must be a real treat to hang out with.[/size]

[quote name='Inuyasha Fandom'][IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee260/inufandom/christianity.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE][size=1]What on earth was the purpose of posting that image? Can a poorly compressed, artefacted-to-hell, [i]text only[/i] black and white JPEG really express the point more clearly than simply typing it out?[/size]

[size=1]Well, you know, it's not meant to be a [i]chore[/i]. You don't have to answer every question or anything. It's just meant to spark a conversation.[/size]

[size=1]You wake up one morning, and read (or watch) the local news. It's depressing. Things in your city are bad. Perhaps there are muggings, gangs, police brutality. Maybe the grocery down the street was robbed last week. Or the children's mural at the local park is covered in graffiti. There's no pride in public spaces, and everything is covered in garbage and litter. Maybe people are just [i]mean[/i] to one another. Whatever your local problem, it's disheartening. You think to yourself, "My city needs a hero." [i]You[/i] are going to be that hero. What do you do? [b]Rules[/b] [b]1.[/b] You must do [i]good[/i]. You are not a villain. [b]2.[/b] You have neither supernatural powers, nor unlimited wealth and gadgetry. [b]3.[/b] You start with only the skills you already have. (If you've never raised a hand to anyone, you do not know martial arts. You may, however, enroll in classes to rectify this situation. Be realistic about the amount of time it will take.) [b]4.[/b] You must be visible. This includes a costume. You need to be recognisable, a symbol of Good that will inspire and bring hope to your community (and/or strike fear in the hearts of evildoers). An optional fact sheet, to help get you started: [b]Superhero Name:[/b] Pick one, or the local media will pick one for you. [b]Problem:[/b] Barroom brawls? Playground bullying? High-level fraud? Gangland violence? Drug cartels? Theft of lobster cages? Poor attitude in the workplace? [b]Goal:[/b] Eliminate a specific crime? Mete out punishment? Legalise marijuana? [b]Steps to become a superhero:[/b] 1. This is the part where you lay out your ultimate plan to turn yourself, as you are [i]right now[/i], into a hero. 2. What skills do you need to acquire? How long will that take? Can you start hero-ing in the mean time, or do you need to wait until you're completely ready? 3. What contacts do you need to make? How will you acquire them? 4. What instruments or tools will you need? Do you already know how to use them? 5. Will you maintain a secret identity or not? Who else will you tell about your hero-ing? 6. You get the idea. [b]Costume:[/b] What will your costume look like? Will you make it yourself? Out of what? Is it functional, or just for show? Drawings, mock-ups, and photographs of yourself dressed up in tights and capes are welcome. [/size]

[quote name='Desbreko'][color=#4B0082]vB doesn't count any bb tags towards the character limit and I don't think there's any option to change that. There is, however, a little trick to get around the character limit when posting videos. After the video ID, type an ampersand (&) and then thirteen letters/numbers (avoid punctuation and other symbols, some can cause problems) after it to reach the limit. What that does is tack the extra stuff onto the URL of where the video is being loaded from and the ampersand makes it get treated as a PHP option. But since you typed gibberish and no such option exists, it's just ignored and the video loads normally. So, for example, instead of putting [u]40AfgPFKChk[/u] between the youtube tags you'd put [u]40AfgPFKChk&nyaaaaaaaaaaa[/u].[/color][/QUOTE][size=1]I am going to start appending [b]&nyaaaaaaaaaaa[/b] to all of my witty-yet-unfortunately-under-25-character posts. Thanks, Des![/size]

[quote name='xxxscenekidxxx'] go to jonnys house (my date)... pass out... then wake up with a hangover and go to church!!![/QUOTE][size=1]How safe and responsible of you! In all seriousness, do try to drink responsibly. If you don't know what your limit is, prom night is probably not the best night to find out.[/size]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff][font=monotype corsiva][size=4]And then the adults... well I'm just biased I guess[/color][/font][/size][/QUOTE][size=1]. . . Sounds like it, yeah. [/size]

[quote name='Sangome'][SIZE="1"]Why *sneeze* can't I *sneeze* ever sneeze *sneeze* JUST ONCE?! Seriously, whenever I sneeze, it can't be just once. No, it has to be 498272389427983474289237 times in a row. Guh.[/SIZE][/QUOTE][size=1]You are my sneezing twin. It seems like every week, I have to quietly duck out of a lecture to avoid disturbing the class with a five-minute sneezing fit. I was [i]twenty-two[/i] before I ever sneezed just once. And since then, it has never happened again. But man. That one time... it was awesome.[/size]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']The front page of theO is here: [URL="http://www.theotaku.com/"][U]theOtaku[/U][/URL] And the nice thing about it is OtakuBoards has it's own link now. Whether or not that has helped bring in new members, that I don't know.[/QUOTE][size=1]I guess I meant "front page" in a different sense. That feels more like a "behind the scenes" view than my usual idea of a front page. I'm trying to think of a way to explain what I meant, and failing at the moment.[/size]

[size=1]My bad food service experiences have almost exclusively been the result of inconsiderate customers, rather than the staff.[/size]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Sara does have a point though, I would be fairly certain our member population has dropped fairly substantially over the last few years, or rather we're just not getting enough new members to replace those who're (heh heh Al) no longer around. Perhaps it's the way TheO has become much more member oriented with the World and chat function instead of just an anime information site that's been cutting down on new sign-ups but certainly I'd like to see a flood of new blood into the forums to liven things up a little. [/SIZE][/QUOTE][size=1]I also think that the average age has gone up considerably, so the people who are around have more offline responsibility, and less free time to devote to a message board. I also agree that as theOtaku has morphed from "information" to "community," there has been less need for people to connect using OtakuBoards. (Why register at a completely separate site for social interaction when the first one meets your needs just fine?) There are some places where the two sites overlap, and some things that theOtaku does much better (the art community there is huge, while the Art Studio has less than a dozen threads that have been active in the last month), but OtakuBoards definitely has its strong points. The RPG forum (whatever it's called now) is an excellent feature of OB that would be difficult to approximate on theOtaku (I don't know if it's been done). There's also something very pleasant about having a centralised forum (i. e., the Lounge) for general discussion--such discussion could definitely take place on any number of Worlds, but would be fragmented, as well as largely be limited to people who already know each other. (I am assuming here that most casual discussion would take place on a personal World, and tend to be participated in only by people who have mutual friends.) The Lounge (in theory) allows people with no previous contact to have discussions on any number of topics. Basically, there is some overlap (that should probably stay--regardless of theOtaku's success with fanart, it would be a great loss to the OB to get rid of the Art Studio here), but many aspects of the two sites are still complementary. Is there some way to orchestrate a member drive? theO doesn't seem to have a front page anymore, so I'm not sure where the message would go, but it would be neat to have a week where there was a push on theO to encourage OB sign ups. Maybe with an accompanying "welcome" event on the OB? There would definitely need to be a period of adjustment during/after any large influx of new members, but really, new blood can only help any social site. Anyway. I don't know if it's been done before or not, but I think it would be neat.[/size]

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]Next Tuesday, the math department is having a cookout. All of the math majors will be there, and there will be free food and (presumably math-related) games for everyone. I intend to go, but everybody I know is refusing to go with me on account of the word "math." I really don't want to go alone, because there's something about being the friendless guy in the middle of a bunch of math nerds that would really make me feel like I've hit rock bottom socially.[/color][/QUOTE][size=1]Some of my best friends are math nerds. Go. Have fun. [spoiler]They're more scared of you than you are of them.[/spoiler][/size]

[quote name='xxxscenekidxxx']they just came out with a new version... why would i name it methuselah?[/QUOTE][size=1]I haven't heard a word about tamagotchis since 1997. I inferred that your tamagotchi was over ten years old, and that you were a sad, creepy little person who has carefully fed their tiny pixellated pet every day for over a decade. Actually, I kind of hoped that was the case, because it would make for a really good story.[/size]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]It bothers me now and again that the contraction for "who are" looks very very close to the word whore.[/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]A beautifully illustrated example of the power of a correctly placed apostrophe.[/size]

[quote name='Drizzt Do'urden']...the ones that take the time to find out when a famous person is going to be at an airport just to harass them is ridiculous and they deserve to be loaded into said airplane and dropped out at 30,000 ft...[/quote][size=1]That seems a little...harsh.[/size]

[quote name='Vicky'][size=1]And I avoid fast food with a passion![/size][/QUOTE][size=1]How do you avoid something with a passion? Go out of your way pass it on the other side of the street? Punch it in the gut when it tries to say hello to you? Diss it in the locker room? At best, I avoid things passively.[/size]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]We do. We just don't post in threads dedicated to time before us. Also I think I converse semi-regularly with, like, two of the people who might fall under this category. Shame on the rest of you.[/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]Nah, I know who you are. I just expected to see more unfamiliar faces, you know?[/size]

[quote name='Botar15'][COLOR="DarkGreen"] I too was mulled by a dog[/COLOR][/QUOTE][size=1]The mental image this produces is extremely funny to me.[/size]

[quote name='xxxscenekidxxx']i have one ^^ its the music one lol when i first got it i took really good care of it but after a couple of weeks it started to get boring... i still carry it aroun though n play with it n stuff...[/QUOTE][size=1]You still play with your tamagotchi? How is that even possible? Did you name it Methuselah?[/size]