Rilbur

I should point out that I couldn't diagram a sentence properly if my life depended on it. I understand the basics, but I just never picked up the skill. That said, I certainly understand your point -- high school education has gotten incredibly watered down in many areas, though I'd like to point out that some of them, like penmanship, are a skill of diminishing importance. Fact is, computers are taking over, and typing is a far more valuable skill. With the advent of 'texting' developing the ability of people to function without a full keyboard, I'd expect to see typing-based skills to become vastly more important than they are now, to the degree where they obliviate the need to write out by hand in most situations, and unlike arithmetic where you need to understand the operations to get best use out of a calculator, handwriting really will be a stone age skill with no importance to the modern lifestyle. In fact, I'd like to see the time spent on it reduced, in favor of general computer classes. The fact is, no one with a modern education should fail to recognize a 'Hello World' program, or understand what it means. (It's the most basic program possible, and is the introductory point for virtually any computer language. If a programming book doesn't start with 'hello world', DON'T BUY IT.) That said, I'd like to reiterate that not all degrees are fluff. Go get a math degree instead of a business one. Or a computer science one like I am. The snipped of C++ I used above is something you're expected to understand by the end of the first 'real' day of class in a programming class. You won't understand all the details, but you'll understand the basics, and be able to work with it. Maybe you should recognize it before you even get to class -- I'd certainly urge schools to increase their computer-based education, and I'm not talking about word-processing-for-idiots!

Sorry, I just don't buy that. I have the right to have who I want in my bed, without it getting posted all over the internet because my roommate thinks its funny.

#include stdio using namespace std; int main(void) { cout << "Hello World!"; } My vote is that my degree is certainly advancing my skill set! That said, I have definitely taken classes that I'd rather have skipped for all the good they've done me... (Hell, I'm retaking one of them right now just because there's a new teacher who might actually teach me the shit I took that class to learn!) Edit: My perspective may be skewed. Fact is, I actually learned how to write in High School, and took a 'real' writing course my freshman year, and I haven't needed to work on my writing skills -- in a technical sense -- since. (In a story-writing sense, oh boy am I still working, but that don't count, no siree!) Also, I'd like to point out that 'snuck' is entering the language, whether the high-and-mighty professors who are the gatekeepers of 'properness' like it not. Just like alot of other words, and ain't it a shame?

Not really. Who cares if they're specifically targeting me with ads I want -- heck, at least this way whatever I'm seeing has a chance of being something worth seeing! Past that, please try not to blow this out of proportions. You are informed, explicitly, when you install an app if it requires access to additional information. If you don't want to use that app, fine -- and it's been acknowledged that far too many brain dead idiots won't notice that additional, non-public information is provided in the standard dialogue, because it's not displayed 'clearly' enough. This is because the average user is an idiot, not any mistake on facebook's part. You want to bitch about facebook, concentrate on logging in via HTTP instead of HTTPS, the way they require private data for their accounts, and don't promptly delete anything you've hit 'delete' on -- sometimes persisting it for years after it should have been deleted. Also, I'm technically part of the 'used to use facebook' group, but I really count as 'never used it'; I had an account for a job, and that's the only use I've ever made of it. I've marked myself as 'other', since that doesn't really count against what you were asking.

Ilaria fell almost instantly. The shining towers and towering ramparts of her walls proved useless, and the sinews of the great Knights of Ilarus were shattered under the demon's attack. Etral Et Ilaria must live with the consequences of that failure, though he would give so very much to give up the burden.

Fallen Ilaria By Rilbur Skryler The river flowed slowly, sluggishly, at this time of year, the current fouled by blood, ichor, and worse. Etral, del Ilaria, nen Ilarus saw none of it. The very flames of hell rose to the sky as the demons charged through their gate. The order-house was in ruins, the temple ran red with the blood of the priests, but the order itself still stood. "Ilarus!" came the cry from a thousand throats. The shining Knights of Ilarus, the city's fir

"Dad, but you're... you're dead!" Tim protested. "Oh God, that must mean..." he trailed off, eyes wide. "I just told you, don't be stupid boy," the long dead man said with a smile. "If you were dead, do you think they'd be talking about a coma?" Dad waved his hand, and the darkness parted enough for Tim to see Doctor Parish talking to someone he didn't know. "But if I'm not dead, I mean... what are you doing here?" Tim asked, confused. Dad sighed. "That's not really what I'm her

It was time. They weren't as well prepared as they'd like, and Paul had to know they were here, but the fighting had already come to a boil. If they didn't move, now, Paul might take the time to trace back the threat against Sammy that had placed the boy in that facility. How that had happened, the Dark only knew. It wasn't in the plan, and it ran the risk of jeopardizing everything. If Paul discovered that the RECC was holding a former Guardian and his husband captive, using the local p

The creature howled in agony, clutching it's still seared paw to it's chest. The master was less than pleased at it's mistakes, but this wasn't simply punishment. It was an attempt to take advantage of a slim, slim opportunity. "We cannot afford to trigger his latent powers, you idiot!" the master had roared, then gotten a thoughtful look on his face. "But perhaps, just perhaps... the trace you left might trigger his powers, make them bloom quicker... or maybe we can use it to taint them

Nothing was going quite according to plan! He could have cursed if it weren't for the fact that it looked like things were working anyway. Paul was thoroughly distracted helping to rescue the boy, and when the time was ripe they could troll his old friend's plight below his nose to keep him distracted. They'd have to keep things to a minimum boil in the meantime, not easy with those morons trying to turn up the heat and the doctors trying to break the spell-enforced coma, but between those tw

Frank had a lot of blood on his hands, and he'd always wondered -- always worried -- about his reception when he reached the Other Side. But all he felt as the darkness claimed him was a calm peace. He knew now, without a doubt, that he had nothing to fear. And, despite what he had always believed would happen, he did not die alone, with no one to comfort him or see his passing. As if in benediction, the roots he'd hidden among slowly bent and twisted, lowering his now cooling body into t

The beast watched, eyes gleaming, as the car rocketed out of the drive way. The plan was in motion, the dice had been cast. Hopefully, its masters would be pleased. Sniffing, it crawled out of the shadows and made its way along the side of the house, searching and examining. It had to be careful; if the boy sensed it's presence... well, the boy wasn't here now, was he. Still, to leave trace would... displease its masters. Which would be unwise. Sniffing, it completed several circui

Poor dog. Of course, if it's anything like my Dad's dog, he probably likes it because the weather is cold outside and his fur is thin, so he needs it... But still!

"And elsewhere in the news today, High Pastor Jackson, national head of the Reformed Evangelical Church of Christ, denounced the latest round of Congressional proposals to make his church a nationally recognized terrorist organization. According to Jackson, the 'actions of a few wayward souls acting in God's name' should not taint the entire organization. He 'deplores the illegal nature' of the 'so called action cells', but says that they 'should not be reviled for acting as the Word of God re

"You don't need the boy..." a silent voice whispered. "Leave him to the legal system, to be dealt with as he deserves..." The soldier stood up quickly and span around, searching the room. "Who is there?" he demanded. "No one is here, you don't need the boy. Let Samuel go home!" "Project Prometheus, amongst other things, teaches all it's officers how to shield their minds from external influence. It's a necessity when dealing with telepaths," the soldier pointed out acerbically as

Happy that 'That Bitch' is dead? How could you! That's absolutely.. the right reaction

:Blushes: Thanks! I hope you enjoy some of the other material I'm turning out!

Doing it Right, Dreams of a Father by dkstories (I'd include Dawn of Tears, except for the cop-out ending). Dangerous Liasions, by Neph In Due Time -- can't remember the author's name

A brake line slashed creates a family emergency. And the creature didn't even have to be seen to manage it. And from this little family emergency, with a little luck, might just arise despair deep enough to cause a young man to kill himself. The next morning, Jer stretched through a yawn as his alarm clock announced that it was time to get his lazy butt out of bed. Slipping out from under his covers, he grabbed at his dirty laundry before realizing it wasn't in the usual heap at the bot

Its 'true stories' like those that remind me of Hamlet's admonition to Horatio... "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

"He's a child molester... you don't need to do your job that well with him..." a voice whispered unheard as the lawyer drove to the police station. "He's guilty as sin, just look at how he was found... no need to help him... just play the role..." "Let justice take matters into her own hand." "Listen, lady, I don't know who you think you are-" Eddie began angrily. "My name is Emma Tate, and I'm here to help you Edward," the tall brunette told him. "I know your parents have left

Um, what? Please justify your statement, because I can't make heads or tails of it.

It's easy. Download it, and open it up in an editor... that way, you can freeze on one frame

My biggest concern would be how to counter 'mugging' -- with the chip implanted the only way to mug someone would be to cut off the hand. <i>Not</i> something I'd care to invite. Frankly, that's the only concern I see in a simple RFID chip. The GPS one might be more worrisome, or it might not. Health concerns are exceedingly unlikely for a chip like that; we're already continously exposed to all sorts of EM radiation by everything ranging from lightbulbs to cars. The current 'oh no, it's radioactive!' scare is an (over) reaction to the overuse of X-Rays before we understood that their danger was cumulative, a lifetime's worth of exposure rather than specific, individual exposures. As for all the 'big brother' fears, frankly they already exist. Deal with it.

Is North Korea trying to start a war? Pushing a little makes sense, from one point of view -- if they don't push, they'll be perceived as 'weak'. But pushing this hard is going to cause a war that they can't possibly hope to win. Their ground forces are hopelessly outdated, outnumbered, and outgunned. Their air force is a joke. Their navy an annoyance. They can't hope to win a conventional war, and if they try to start a nuclear, biological, or chemical one, they'll bring every major nation together to quash them. They have to realize that -- even China won't support them if they keep pulling this shit. (Oh, and I will admit that it isn't proven that they launched bio attacks, but as one of the articles above mentioned, the odds of two 'economy' oriented diseases striking in the same area, at the same time, is simply too slim to be believable.) Still, I can't blame this one on Bush Sr. or Bush Jr; I can't even really blame it on McArthur, even if N. Korea would be far weaker if he hadn't crossed that damned river!