rknapp

Kurt has a good point. If those are the rules, then she violated them. Is M$ right to have those rules? Yes and no. They aren't right to have those rules simply because it can be discriminatory. They are right because it is a service they provide and therefore have total authority over how it is used, and as it happens, references to sexual orientation have a tendency raise hell. Banning such references takes a lot of moderating hassle away. Do they have the right to ban her? Yes. Have they done all they can? Unless all of the players whom were chasing her because of her sexual orientation were all banned as well, then M$ is full of shit and clearly doesn't believe in their own rules IN WHICH CASE she should be allowed to return to the service and should be allowed to identify herself as a lesbian in her profile. Why? Their rules clearly state that players should report anyone harassing them in order to properly settle the issue. Obviously the only way to really settle this issue is ban all the people harassing her, which it seems M$ failed to do when she so clearly reported the harassment and abuse to proper M$ and Xbox Live authorities.

http://consumerist.com/5160187/identifying...ed-on-xbox-live Interesting that HRC lists Microsoft as a GLBT friendly company, then this happens. Having said that, I have to wonder if she contacted M$, or Live. There's a difference. Xbox Live is more or less a subsidiary organization of the Microsoft Games Studio. If she contacted Microsoft directly, then tisk tisk. If not, then perhaps getting the parent company pissed off is the route she should be taking. Turning to something only sort of on topic: I was surprised that all these guys are chasing lesbians away. I wasn't shocked at all of gay men being chased off, but I always thought Xbox Live was loaded with macho Halo and Gears players who beat off to lesbian porn. Then again, many of them could be geeks who are already frightened of women. Lesbians probably put them in arms, lol.

Oh you're a southerner. South Jersey is very much like the deep south, due in part to the vastness of the pinelands and the sandy coastal plain on which that half of the state sits. The North is merely more well-known to the rest of the world. South Jersey is famous for glassmaking and the Jersey Devil. Only South Jersey cares about that. I'm roughly 30 minutes from the nears interstate highways. AFAIK, only the sign for Rt. 31 on I-78 mentions my town by name. I-95 and I-287 mention Pennington and Somerville, respectively. Therefore, I don't have an exit. Before I met John I hadn't ever been on the turnpike either. Meh, GPS showed Queens as being nearby when I went to Irvington last weekend, which required me to go over the Tappan Zee. Same thing. Ah yes, I am very family with those military installations. I drove through Ft. Dix at least once a week for the last three years to get to my old school in Pomona, which was situated next to McGuire. Exit 7-A would be down by the Wildwoods. North Wildwood is exit 6, for reference. It goes by mile marker, so AC is exits 36, 38, and 40. Anyway. Lookin' good Shadowgod!

From that statement I have come to two conclusions about your thought process. The first is that you are operating under the common misconception that all of New Jersey's citizens live near a certain exit of the Garden State Parkway. This is false. The GSP runs north and south along the eastern coast of the state from the Tappan Zee Bridge (not far from Queens, NY) to the southernmost point of NJ, Cape May, which is 6 miles south of North Wildwood along the famous Jersey Shore. The Garden State Parkway is, minimum, one hour away from my house, which is 20 minutes east of Bucks County, PA and the Delaware River. I do not live near any GSP exit. Eric on the other hand hails from the Jersey Shore and hence, DOES live off of a GSP exit. I do not know which one. Since I live so far from the GSP, I rarely travel it and hence do not know its exit locales by rote. The second conclusion that I came to is that you have been waiting to shout out that question for quite some time. Wait, the NORTH gets made fun of? Silly southerner, the SOUTH of New Jersey is the butt of many jokes. Namely, pineys, inbreds, middle of bumblef**k nowhere, etc. etc. I live there for six semesters and I can assure you, except for the shore points, (Atlantic City, Wildwoods, Ocean City, Cape May) and the Philly metroland, there is NOTHING out there... except the rednecks. Thankfully I was near AC during my time there, so I wasn't completely bored 100% of the time. Additionally, Baltimore has no influence on New Jersey. You're thinking of Newark, DE, and Wilmington, DE. And, if you're from New Jersey, you may or may not believe in Central New Jersey (think: Jay and Silent Bob, Clerks 1 and 2). Beyond that, North Jersey is at war with South Jersey. Thank you for joining me, your host, Robbie, in another episode of "Facts about New Jersey," keep it classy America! EDIT:To avoid confusion, I should note that the GSP does not use the Tappan Zee Bridge. I-287 runs across the Hudson River via the TZB and the GSP is accessible from a point nearby. Exit 14 off of 287 inside of NY, I think.

Frost you still remind me of a friend of mine back at my old school (oddly enough, the same age as you, and kisses boys too). Haven't heard from him or his boyfriend in a while.

Ah I didn't know Lambo was still in the farm machinery business.

Pfft. Ferraris are a dime a dozen. I'm much happier having the tough decision of taking my Diablo or my Countach to the grocery store. I save my Reventon for nice days and whip it back and forth to my top secret government job. I save my Enzo for the rainy and snowy days.

Wait, what? Birds have yokes in their eggs??? Wow! And people eat yokes?? They must have teeth make of stone! Kevin, a yoke is a connecting mechanism often used to connect a transmission output shaft to the drive shaft of a car or truck, or otherwise connect drive wheels to a vehicles power source. You're referring to yolk. Also from Wikipedia: A yoke is a wooden beam which is used between a pair of oxen to allow them to pull a load (oxen almost always work in pairs). There are several types, used in different cultures, and for different types of oxen. A pair of oxen is also called a yoke of oxen, and yoke is also used as a verb: to yoke a pair of oxen. The more you know! I'm so bored right now...

Oh but I already have! It works perfectly, giving me a great hard-boiled egg with no traces of shell or inner membrane, and you can't tell it was peeled by machine! I can't take any pictures though because I left my expensive Lyka (sp?) camera at my hot italian boyfriend's mansion in Naples, and my Leerjet is in the shop having its Rolls Royce engines tuned for supersonic speed! (actually that statement wasn't entirely false... my hot boyfriend is part italian!)

I'm having visions of that joke thread that was posted a while back where the arbitrary thread topic was changing a light bulb, and it described each type of poster that every forum has. Hmmm, where the people who give tips on the best ways to boil water, or to peel an egg? Where's the guy who says boiling water and peeling eggs is for losers? Where's the guy who has a unique contraption that boils eggs and peels them at the same time but refuses to post pictures about where? Where are the posters that flame the above-mentioned posters?

I throw a baker's dozen of them at my professor's house and car... ... oh wait, hard-boiled eggs? Sorry I use raw eggs for that purpose...

I don't know if anyone mentioned it but another thing to keep in mind is that any substance that is in the process of a phase change will remain at that temperature threshold until the change is complete and the quality factor reaches a value of 1. In the case of water, it will remain at ~373*K until the saturated liquid-vapor becomes entirely superheated vapor, at which point the temperature will begin rising again. If you remove a pot containing saturated liquid-vapor from the heating source, it will drop below 373*K relatively quick and cease "boiling", as it will then be below the boiling point. Likewise if you put ice cubes in a container and leave it at room temperature, the temperature of the ice will rise to ~273*K (0*C, 32*F). At this point it will melt, and the temperature of the resulting liquid H2O will remain at 273*K until there is no long any H2O in the solid phase. It will then continue rising until it reaches room temperature (or ambient temperature). Pressure plays a significant role in the phase of any substance ONLY if the substance is in a sealed container. A pot of boiling water is open to the atmosphere, so the pressure of the boiling water will always be 101 kPa (1 atmosphere). Notice that "pressure cookers" are completely sealed when in operation. Raise the pressure and the temperature will also rise (PV=nRT, PV=mRT). I hate thermodynamics.

EWWWWWW!!!!!! You have to wear that for work? lol ...and, +1 for Protoss.

Yes Graeme, by that definition only Mormons are safe from prostate cancer. I think 5 or more times per week is average... possibly below average.

Some highlights: Met someone very special. Made good friends at my old school's GSA. More or less came out to almost everyone who is important to me, with no bad experiences. Entered the next and final stage of my education. Made some great new friends (on GA). I've begun learning a new language and am enjoying it. (ASL) That special someone is now my boyfriend, my first boyfriend.

I retract my previous statement against Ford: They're cars are still ugly as immortal sin. Except Escape and Mustang.

That's it? There's usually a few days each summer in NJ where it's around 110*F. That's when I don't like my leather seats lol. Matty: Ewwww... JBL speakers?? lol

Hahaha, lmfao! That was priceless Frost! The only way that cat picture would be better is without the caption, because the face so fits with that picture of him!

See, I had a boy in my lap... last February. I just figured out why he was there. Oh well, I'm glad nothing happened because now we're good friends and I'm with the man of my dreams.

If he's humping you, then he likes you. I learned this the hard way. *no pun intended* ... and it took me a year to figure it out.

It's a nice tit.

Companies to avoid: Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford. Hyundai used to be on that list but I think their products have been significantly improved in the last decade, so they're worth a second look. Why do I recommend against those companies? Newer Toyotas are plagued with exploding drivetrains (transaxles and transmissions) especially the SUVs and trucks, but it has been reported in the Camry as well. Also, dealers are notorious for telling customers that the odd noises their new Toyotas are making (which were non-existent when the cars were new) are normal. They're not normal by any stretch of the imagination and point to serious quality issues. Noises reported have typically been clunks and vibrations in the suspension systems of the new Tundra, but I would not be surprised at all if the same thing were to happen to other Toyota models. Honda reliability has not been known to be very good. Their small cars get excellent fuel economy, but Hondas are known for essentially "falling apart" prematurely in terms of quality and fit and finish. Show me a 10 year old Honda that isn't falling apart and I'll show you an 11 year old Chevy that's strong as an ox and only needs some polishing to look strong too, since my mom doesn't clean it. Having said that, a properly taken care of Honda can last for a very long time -- though it will look and feel like a total piece of crap. Nissan -- forget about it. My dad's Infiniti has been in for non-regular service far more times than my own Pontiac, and it's two years newer (not to mention being a very expensive luxury sedan -- the flagship Q45 sedan from 2005). The fit and finish of Nissan and Infiniti is utterly disastrous and my dad wishes he'd bought the Mercedes instead. It's a company car for him which will be turned in in March, and the thing is falling apart at 109,000 miles. By contrast, my Pontiac runs better and is held together much better at 118,000 miles. As for Ford, there is an old saying that describes their products perfectly. "98% of all Fords are still on the road -- the other 2% actually made it home." If you want one, I'm not going to stop you, I'm just saying that Ford reliability is historically not up to par with comparable competitors. Recently Ford boasted that their quality has matched that of Toyota... and that does not bode well for the company at all. If you are looking at anything for a crossover from them, then Escape and Mariner hybrids are two good choices, but I personally wouldn't bother with Ford for all except the premium Lincoln brand. Addressing the models you specified: Nissan Xterra - see above spiel about Nissan. Saturn Vue - Saturn reliability has improved in the last decade, but if the Vue's engine is an Ecotec motor, I would stay away. Also, Saturn could quite possibly be on the chopping block and go the way of Oldsmobile (totally eliminated as a brand). Just something to consider if you think you might need a manufacturer's warranty. Now then, for crossovers, I would suggest checking out Dodge and Jeep. I don't know what your budget is or if you're looking primarily for used cars, but the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave (essentially all the same car, at different pricing and option levels) have been wildly successful and the car mags are raving about them. For Dodge, there is the Nitro, Caliber, and Journey (listed in ascending order of size). Jeep has the Patriot and Liberty. I know two Patriot owners and they love their Patriots. Personally, I would sooner check out Jeep for a crossover SUV than I would Dodge simply because Dodge is in the business of making cars and trucks, while Jeep has been building small SUVs since WWII. I have also known Jeep vehicles to be quite reliable, and if I ever need something with 4WD in the future, I will definitely be looking at Jeeps. If you're looking for something that is not domestic (you unpatriotic bastard! lol j/k), Subaru has a nice AWD system, however I think the only vehicle they make that can be truly classified as an SUV (like the Vue and Xterra) would be the monstrously hideous B9 Tribeca. The Forester is a wagon, with the ground clearance and height of a car. Also, as I mentioned earlier Hyundai's reliability and fit and finish has risen dramatically in the last decade, so it couldn't hurt to check them out.

That's why artificially straight hair looks gross... it makes the hair look frizzy. But, I'm told I'm not gay (by Eric, Dan, and Trebs) so I guess I'm not allowed to comment.

I guess pro hair stylists need to rethink their careers... I don't know anyone who straightens their hair themselves. Even on the movie stars (who hire the best of the best) it looks gross.