Terror

I'm just gonna hop in and defend EA somewhat. To be honest, I think all the fuzz about DRM is not all deserved. DRM is definetly not great and I'd rather not have it, but it's not all that much of a problem. Currently, it allows you to install RA3 on 5 different machines but as many times as you'd like on that machine. So there's not an install limiter, just a machine limiter. If something goes terribly wrong, you can indeed still call EA to release the lock on your installer. And last but not least, after some time, the DRM for RA3 will be inactive and there's no limit anymore. It is just an attempt to stop piracy. And to be honest, I can't completely disagree with that. If it were my product, I would definetly hate it to see that my product is simply copied, not regarding the amount of effort you put in it. As for the franchise, I thought EA went wrong with Generals but Tiberium Wars + Expansion are very good games in my opinion. The team behind it definetly tried its best and I find that back in the details. I'm replaying the campaign and am finding again more details and I'm getting more respect for the developer. Also, the support for this game was realy great. The battlecasts and all were pretty fun and also a good number of decent patches were released. I find RA3 indeed has a weird style, and if you were a fan of the original, you may not like it. I did have to get used to it, I have to admit but in the end, it is still a satisfying experience for me. This way, it is setting itself apart from it Tiberium brothers. And because it is almost redicilous, it gives the designers the opportunity to become realy creative with buildings, units and special abilities and that makes the game play realy fresh and fun. I think this also was RA2's strongest point. So, if you don't like the style, don't buy it. But otherwise, I'd recommend it. It's not revolutionary but it's fresh enough. And (in my opinion) like Tiberium Wars, it's a realy C&C

Argh! Knocked out in a not so good game. Too bad. Let's retry in two years :). Now I hope Germany wins.

Hah, perhaps I'm a bit biased but I actually thought the movie was pretty damn good. The ending kinda shocked me a bit as it was more sci-fi than mystical but the Indiana Jones atmosphere was there. It was a relaxing ride in my opinion. Not the best movie ever but it fits well in with the 3 older movies. I think neither of them are classics on their own but together they're one of the best and most memorable trilogies (but then with 4 movies)... quartologies? :-P

Haha yeah you're right. I just came in running and screaming but it was kind of justified ;). But yeah, I'm quite well actually. Recently hopped back into Dune and with that, also checked out Dune2k again. How are you? But yeah, Croatia has a good chance of coming far. The quarter finals will already be exciting I think. I'm hoping Germany will come far as well. (as opposed to pretty much every other Dutch soccer fan :-P). But we'll see who wins. At least the Netherlands have a good chance of winning this time!

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! Dutch beat the Frenchmen 4-1. What a magnificent game. We're already number one on the poule. Too bad Germany lost yesterday but I guess/hope that they'll beat Austria and still make it.

Okay, maybe I didn't exactly made myself clear. Family values are important for everyone. But you should not preach family values as a president in the first way. That's simply not your job. If i'm voting for a president, premier, etc... I vote for someone who has realistic plans and comes out thrustworthy. Someone that addresses the pains that are felt by the population. Not because this candidate tells me that the OTHER candidate has a bad history and has a child that's on alcohol. But anyway, generally I agree with what you said

Well.. a little offtopic, perhaps better to put in the politics and religion tab but: I think the american election system is incredibly crappy. Money has so much influence on the outcome and the candidates fight each other on personal situations that it is completely rediculous. How can such a person rule the most prominent country in the world if he acts like a lunatic. Bill Clinton IMO was a great president but when his relation with Monica came out many people wanted to see him gone as a president. Why.. he did his job as a president well and the stuff between him, Hillary and Monica is strictly personal. Ofcourse he loses on believability but it's just realy cheap to attack another person on a personal situation. Especially in politics.. that should just be all about business... not how much he cares about family values...

New Volkswagen Polo. It's a good car but I was hoping to be driving a Volkwagen Golf soon. But it is kinda expensive in the lease so I haven't made up my mind yet. Another option would be a Ford Focus. It is a decent car, although the interior is kind of cheap and the driving experience is not as good as in the Golf. The good thing is that it comes with a lot of options standard

Oewaaaah...! yeah Transformers was a great movie. I felt a little embarrassed.. but once I saw Blackout blow that military camp to rubble, I felt like an 8 year old and I smiled through the entire movie. Damn that was good stuff. Can't wait till part 2!

My name is Ren

Which one is you? I must say that was some pretty bad fighting honestly :P . Especially the big one. He doesn't do much and moves so slowly.

And it's not a pretty sight, I admit. We could always hope for a sandstorm so that we don't see much and that they just feel the pain. But yes, the chatbox was messy. Like pretty much everything else on this world, the Dutch were dominant :P

Well, if you look at the Muslim religion closely, it is hardly any different from the original christian religion. The difference with Muslims to most christians though is that they take the rules very directly and seriously. Take for example the way of how people are supposed to get clothed. To most 'true' Muslims, their hair and body should not be visible to public. Only the hands and face may be shown. Looking at the christians up to like.. 50 to a 100 years ago, the same rules existed. Females had to cover their hair, wear long skirts and pretty much the only thing visible was their face and their hands. Similarities like these can be found on many different aspects. In the end you'll find that Christianity and Islam are not that different at all. They believe in pretty much the same thing. The same God, many of the same stories and they also acknowledge Jesus and are waiting for him. However, because they take the Islam rules so seriously and directly, I think it is difficult for them to live with the 'western' society where atheism and 'fallen' Christians have the upper hand. Not only that, but these Europeans and Americans also try to force their rules, believes of freedom (what is freedom) on others, including muslims. And they realy wouldn't try so hard to get power in the middle east if there weren't so many resources to get. However, the true problems of the muslims is, that their people are so divided. Most terroristical acts are described as being radical muslim whereas they are realy only cultural. A person from Egypt differs so much from someone from Afghanistan. In the past, the Islam united them and they were realy one. Since colonialism though, borders were drawn and countries were forged. Also multiple population groups were forced to live in a single country. Afghanistan for instance has 3 or 4 major groups. This causes internal strife and problems which reflect upon the outer world as Muslim aggression and Muslims terrorist activity. A Muslim friend of mine hates all terroristical attacks that are said to be in the name of 'Allah'. He finds it an insult to him and the Islam. The problem though is that western Media makes everyone believe that terrorists are indeed spokesman of the Islam, while in fact, they are merely doing this for personal/cultural reasons. The best thing for the Muslims would be to stop the internal strife and once again stand as one. The US and Europe however will probably see this as a major threat so they will not easily give them a chance to do so. And by actions like, selling weapons to populations like the Taliban (and giving them minor training) they keep this internal strife alive and the Middle East will be a big mess for many more years.

I tried the IRC chatbox like... 1.5 years ago but there were only a few people ever on. I think Gryphon, Timenn and a few others. It would be much cooler to all dress up in our homemade stillsuit and travel all to the Dune conference in Tunesia 8) . Best would be somewhere between 8 and 22 august since i'll be there on vacation then.

well... honestly. I think Portugal and France should've played for 3rd and 4th place while Germany and Italy should've played for 1st and 2nd place. Because looking at the games of yesterday and the day before yesterday, Italy will beat France and Germany will beat Portugal (and France as well methinks)