For all you federal employees, donate through the CFC: charity code 10437.

Wow, I don't know where the author is going with this. He starts out saying, "I'm not so concerned about whether video games can deliver such a [political] narrative." Later he says, "Ultimately, games will never be able to carry a political message". Then in the comments he says, "I certainly do believe games can carry a strong political message".

And then when someone brings up MGS and GTA he says, "Regarding the narrative in MGS and GTA, I think both franchises earned the right to be autonomous." If anyone can figure out what this guy is trying to say, please let me know.

Float my body on a wooden raft into a lake. Then have archers shoot flaming arrows at me. As my body burns into the night, everyone on shore drinks and parties until sunrise. LAN parties are included. My will pays for the open bar, hotel rooms. Everyone is required to get laid.

I like this take on it better:
http://insultswordfighting.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-taxonomy-of-gamers-table-of.html

The types are Tourist, Skill player, Completionist. Also, on a value scale, you can range from wholesale to premium.

I've found that rock climbing is a great "sport" for me. It's a great workout, and every gym I've been to is full of incredibly friendly people willing to help a new person. It's also great if you're not very social, you can boulder without any assistance if you're completely antisocial, or at most you're working with one other person. Climbing is very techical, so it fits well with my style of thinking. I think of it as the physical version of a rubics cube. Plus you learn a lot of interesting knots.

Plus there are a lot of young, fit women climbers. All you have to say is, "What route are you working on?" and let the conversation go from there. Climbers also like free beer or food, so it's a good chance someone will take you up on it if you offer.

And there's a reason all that stuff is in there. About 90% of the stuff on there is error checking, accountability and oversight. A small part of that is what I do for a living. Yes, it's an unwieldy chart (I have a paper copy, it's stupidly large), but some very smart people have developed that over many years. If you have any specific complaints or questions on the chart, there's a good chance I can answer them.

I never thought of that. Thanks.

You think that's bad? I can't install Fire Fox on my work computer (I've tried), and USB ports are blocked from thumbdrives (so no portable FF). The worst part? We're still actually using IE6.

I never thought I'd long for IE7 so bad.

...fuck RPI.

/bitter