Meso

This is going to sound a bit like I'm trolling, except I'm not. That is a common sentiment in many and I don't blame you for seeking out something to make everything seem better, I think it's a natural human instinct. Without any insult intended- It reminds me a lot of the way psychiatric patients behave in certain cases. When people encounter situations where their brain struggles to process the reality of a situation it seeks for ways to combat this (on a sub-concious level). Like the cases where patients just tend to blank out and forget entire traumatic events, or continue their lives oblivious to the fact as sometimes present in trauma-induced psychosis or schizophrenia. Now I'm in no way calling anyone crazy, but I think one's brain has the tendency to do a similar thing. When it feels like it's struggling in any way to handle a situation it will do it's best to try find a way of dealing with it. I think in many cases there is this pattern of thought, of not wanting to believe that it's just life and then death - and one's inability to accept this and life happily with it, and as such sub-consciously or consciously seek ways to make life seem better. Just a similarity I notice, nothing more, nothing less. As I said, I think it's a very natural human response.

-Puts on his 'if I were a Christian' hat- The general Christian idea is that God is all knowing, all powerful but yet he creates things with 'free will', as such he created his angels with free will and the ability to rebel should they desire. God didn't create evil, he just allowed it to exist. -hat off- As such, and ever so sneakily of him, he can eliminate responsibility. You can't blame anything on God if he claims to allow free will and man's actions are his own. It's a way of the Christian religion ending such arguments, these aren't biblical teachings as much as ones the church has made to make the religion seem more legit. The real questions are, why does God feel that free will is more important than all the suffering caused had he not given free will.

I hear cows swallow.... Several times.

I have a tendency to speak my mind out aloud, and my mind isn't the most savoury place neither. I don't know why others are scared to say whatever pops into their heads. Too much to do with seeming sane, pfft mental stability- who needs it.

You caught me. I want to live in a fantasy world where magical beings in the sky control the actions of life forms on different planets. And where the son of the magical being was sent to earth via another magical being who impregnated a virgin, and then died and came back to life and was sent up into the sky to join the creator of the earth... Oh wait... that's not my fantasy world is it? Nicely disguised rage quit though.

I've got a feeling my point is going over your head. The main lesson to be learned would be whether or not there is a God, yet when you learn this lesson (without guessing), it'll be too late. You'll either have everlasting happiness or everlasting sadness - There will be no "I fucked up, there is a God... Now time for me to learn from this and seek happiness". You should be more sorry for the billions of other people who's lives suck a lot more. Yet even then I'd still be more noble than someone who has the power to use for good, yet doesn't use it. Much like I see your religion then. I'm just putting it how it is, if there wasn't the term God there, and instead the conversation was about a man having those qualities I'm sure most people would refer to him in such a way.

Assuming it's not a mac (not sure which programs are compatible). Here's what I need on every computer I use. Multimedia Programs - VLC Player (by far the best media player out there, simple but awesome) - Winamp - FLV Player (if one is into downloading videos off youtube with plugins, basically an offline flash file player) - Virtualdub (awesome video editing and encoding software, really small freeware. Mainly good for converting the compression codec) - Codec packs (to ensure you can play all media compressions, though VLC player has most built in) - iTunes (assuming one has an ipod) Photo Editing - Adobe Photoshop (doesn't even need an introduction) - Adobe Lightroom (only for those into photography really) Internet Related - Firefox (Internet Explorer is disgusting) - Flash player and Java plugins for browser - Any good anti-virus software - Peer Guardian 2 (for those who want to keep their p2p downloading a bit more secure) - Bittorrent (can't go without torrents) Communications Platforms - Skype (best for work related communication and calls) - MSN [Windows live] (my favourite for just casual chat with friends) Essentials - Microsoft Office That's typically my bare minimum.

Let me just get this straight... Earth is a mere proxy, a life that is basically nothing in comparison to the afterlife - just a short stop on our way to heaven. Yet the purpose of being here is to learn from our mistakes? Explain how that makes ANY sense, please. Learning from ones mistakes is only an effective task when you can put those newly learned lessons into action. It's not going to help when you realize you messed up when you're in hell. That's like someone's mother telling their child that they must learn from their mistakes, and when they do wrong - she shoots him in the head for doing it. You're just making God seem even more sick and twisted than before. "I'm just going to put you there on earth and let you have your free will, if you fuck up though, it's all over". Yeah that makes a lot more sense than just creating spiritual beings to praise you in heaven, which is essentially where you people think the believers will be and what they'll be doing. What makes you think that I'm not better than God? A book that tells you that I'm not? I'll write my own stating that I am, then I'll have equal validity. But yes, I'm certain that if I were this so-called God, that I would be able to do better - in fact I'm sure most 5 year olds could do better, it really isn't that big of an achievement. He can create eternal happiness, complete bliss, utter peace, tranquillity - Yet he finds that this is better. Yep, that's one smooth operator up there. It doesn't matter what your so-called God can achieve here on, he's done enough damage to human lives through time than could ever be amended. If he can do anything, why didn't he achieve it sooner. When he could have created eternal bliss from the start, there is no reason to go "Oh my, he is so wonderful - just look at what he will achieve". It would eat me inside to know that I was constantly bullshitting myself into actually thinking that God is in any way a positive light. PS: I'm far more moral than your God. I am yet to sit back and watch people murder each other knowing I have the power to intervene. I am yet to test people in such a way that should they pick wrong, I'll make them suffer. I am yet to feel so narcissistic that I would trade the suffering of others just to be praised. And no, I'm not angry at God - For me to be angry at him I would have to believe he exists. I am showing you how utterly psychotic he would be if he did indeed exist.

Not even your god can do that, or is it that he can and just doesn't. Unless you want to take the "We're only here for a short while, we'll find real happiness in heaven". In which case, why did your god even put man on earth, if earth is just a proxy for the afterlife. If it serves no real purpose in the ultimate scheme of things. Wouldn't it be easier to just create people as spiritual entities in heaven, he could have saved pain and suffering of billions. Or is it just one of those things that are so sick and sadistic that God must have some greater knowledge that we can't understand as to why he did it. Yeah... right.

Thanks for information, I've added it to the list of bugs which need to be attended to as soon as possible.

Sick dude, loving that urban exploration image.

The following scam has been reported: Click here to read more about these kind of scams. Remember: DO NOT do business with anyone who offers to send you payment for a higher amount than your selling price with the understanding that you'll send back the balance. Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be acting on behalf of a "client" or another "customer". Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be from Nigeria or West Africa If you agree to accept a check payment, then do not send anything, gear or "change" before the check cleared. And be careful, if you manage to clear a fraudulent check then you may be liable for the damages if the bank finds out later. Make sure your bank authenticates the check. If it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is.This username has been disabled.

Hi, I'm not sure where we could put this item in the list of gear categories, as we don't have one for navigation units. There is a forum thread on the topic though : http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3682494;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;guest=64943320

Spent yesterday evening at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Got a couple shots there.

Hi, Thanks for the information, we'll be looking into this issue as soon as possible and hopefully get the matter sorted quickly. Sorry for any annoyance these ads are causing.

Apologies for this. Will send a second e-mail to those who handle the ads - will do our best to remove them ASAP. Providing the ad details such as the URL string will be able to get rid of such ads quickest, though with this information given I'm sure we can work at getting them removed quickly.

Held them back from what though? Economic growth? Building development? Trade? To suggest that, one would have to assume that these cultures find the same importance in these things that other cultures do. Many native tribes don't care about a country of big shiny buildings, high paying jobs, fancy cars and expensive suits. These are other cultural ideas that are used to base one's worth on. For many of them they'd have been quite happy to have been left alone in their mud huts and trade in cattle, without wanting to 'advance' in an industrial or economical sense. I can safely say that I too would rather live in ignorance in a tribal atmosphere not knowing of the big bad world of skyscrapers and office jobs. As far as AA is concerned, I think it makes sense if a work place is unbalanced racially and the candidate has the same qualifications as a white. I mean why not? What I don't agree with is people getting jobs who are less qualified than others simply because of their colour, this is a problem that needs to be addressed in education and getting black education up to the same level. Putting them in jobs they're unqualified for isn't going to help anything. And in regards to the IQ issue - If you think blacks are less deserving of anything because they tend to have lower IQs (again this is a problem in education and is rooted far deeper into society than that) then whites should not work in any companies either, Asian statistically have the highest IQs, so by that logic all businesses should be run by Asians and whites should be excluded because Asian workers have higher IQs.

Unless you're trained in fighting, I can assure you there is no pattern of thought that decides your actions prior to doing them when in a fight. Adrenalin takes over and you do what you can to come out of the situation on top, it's human instinct. They were grappling, so he did what he could to come out of the situation on top, I can assure you he wasn't thinking "I want to smash this kids head in and kill him", I don't know about a cracked skull but a broken leg or so seems fit punishment for that little fucker. Personally, I will have no pity on a bully under any circumstances.

While the idea of 'walking away' or 'turning the other cheek' is a noble one, it's a dangerous one. Backing down tends to make one a target, much like in prison where if you don't show dominance you'll get targeted, life is much the same. The lion will go for the injured buck, humans will target those whom they know won't retaliate. I hate people who provoke fights or start them but I definitely think someone should stand up for themselves and make an example of the other person. I got into a fight when I was a kid, about 15 - got a fist in the face and didn't retaliate, walked away instead and that is still one of my biggest regrets. People need to be shown they can't do whatever they want and get away with it, if everyone backed down bullies would just be more prevalent I think. "And if a man smite you on one cheek, smash him on the other! Smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law!"

Thanks for making this issue known to us, it'll be added to our to-do list. We are considering a mobile template for the forum, which should solve this problem.

The following scam has been reported: Click here to read more about these kind of scams. Remember: DO NOT do business with anyone who offers to send you payment for a higher amount than your selling price with the understanding that you'll send back the balance. Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be acting on behalf of a "client" or another "customer". Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be from Nigeria or West Africa If you agree to accept a check payment, then do not send anything, gear or "change" before the check cleared. And be careful, if you manage to clear a fraudulent check then you may be liable for the damages if the bank finds out later. Make sure your bank authenticates the check. If it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is.This username has been disabled.

Went for a stroll to the local nature reserve this past weekend to test my new Sigma 10-20mm. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5518885033_3a95a0de67_z.jpg

As you probably know, we definitely don't endorse invasive ad products on the site and put forward the request for them to be removed as soon as they're reported.. I have forwarded this on to those in charge of the advertising.

Any impact on Hawaii, should it take place - should occur in another 2-4 hours.

Tsunami watch now issued for California, Oregon, Washington, B.C. and Alaska. Possible tsunami predicted arrival times: Russia 0850z, Guam 0909z, Honolulu - 1313z, Cabo San Lucas Mexico - 1809z