Ragabash, I think that's Tomoyo in her version of House Hufflepuff wear. And please don't say things like "I want that dress." You're scaring me.

Chao Bell...you're messed up. BAD.

Good lord, Meia...that's nasty. That Card Captor 1999 thing you did way outdid mine...kowai.

Tay, nice new layout. ^_^

Sam-kun...do I want to know what goat jousting is?

Rachel: I like the ex-priest and prostitute angle. Or maybe not so much a priest, but just a man who has lost that which he believes. I dare ye to fic it.

N&Ms, same here. ^_~ Surprises are good. *grins* Except for the sense of humor (which is quite alive, and somewhat messed up) I'd say your read was quite accurate. Mercy? You? Hydro's right.

Meg, I almost traded one of the Star Wars - The P-chan Menace shirts I made for the Pokethulhu t-shirt...except that the only one I had at the time was the one I was wearing. And, they will ALWAYS worry. No matter how old you are...

You're not joking, Kristi. You have gone bye-bye.

Gen-chan, no problem. Ask Ragabash how to deal with telemarketers. "Are you cute?" Nice Duo.

Sakura..I'll come up with SOMETHING. I promise.

Pilot: Wang Wei
INT: 7, REF 9/11, TECH 7, COOL 8, ATTR 8, LUCK 5, MA 5, BODY 5, EMP 6/5.
Streetdeal: +7, Awareness/Notice +3, Forgery +5, Handgun +6, Brawling +4, Melee +3, Pick Lock +3, Pick Pocket +3, Intimidate +2, Persuasion +4
Pilot: Transatmospheric +8, Vehicle Weapons +4, Navigation +1, Expert: Military Vehicles +1, General Knowledge +2
He wants a Neural Processor, Kereznikov Boosterware (2 levels), Interface Plugs, and a Vehicle Link, 2300 in cash and 16 HC.
Most famous for attempting to sell off a damaged fighter craft after collision with a spy probe.
(just kidding on that and the name)

Solo: (no name, dubbed the "Baba Yaga")
INT 7, REF 9, TECH 7, COOL 5, ATTR 7, LUCK 6, MA 7, BODY 7, EMP 5
Combat Sense +6, Awareness/Notice +5, Handgun +4, Martial Arts +2, Melee +3, Weapons Tech +4, Rifle/Shotgun +6, Athletics +3, Submachinegun +5, Stealth +2
Gen. Know +2, Personal Grooming +1, Wardrobe/Style +1, Intimidate +2, Dodge/Escape +2, Basic Tech +1, Electronics +1, Zero-G +1, Expert: 21st Century "Classical" music: +1, Ship Operations +1, Cool Under Fire +2, Expert: 21st Century Russian Sci Fi +1
NO cybernetics. Quite passionately against the idea of implants.

After the sentencing, Brazill's mother, Polly Powell, said she thought the sentence was fair, but that she would fight to try to have him freed sooner." (emphasis added)

A touch of analysis. According to Brazil, Grunow (the teacher) was in the middle of class. He wanted to talk to two girls, and Grunow would not let him. This was when he pulled the .25 automatic and cocked it, aiming it at his teacher. He deliberately made the choice to retrieve the firearm from his bag, which took at least a second, then to move his own arm up to the teacher, and deliberately cock the gun. Prosecutors argued that Brazil took the gun to school because he had been suspended by another teacher for throwing water balloons, and that he was failing Grunow's class.

And a touch of world news - You all know that Saddam tried to shoot down the E-2 Hawkeye radar aircraft last week, right? Bet you didn't hear about the near-successful shootdown of a U-2 spyplane on Tuesday. The missile exploded close enough to shake the aircraft, according to the story. If the a/c is getting shaken by the air blast, then the missile WAS close enough by far to put fragments through it - so how close DID we come to losing a U-2? And when did they drag a U-2 out of retirement? I thought those birds were long gone. Either way, Saddam now has highly improved SAMs, from somewhere. And that does pose a risk to our pilots. So what do we do? Pull back and run away because there's a possibility one or two our troops might get killed, and give Saddam the chance to run rampant again? Or stay there, admit that the military life is dangerous and that those boys are paid to be on the line, and take the risk of getting shot down, and keep Saddam penned?

And I become the proud papa of a SPAS-12 tomorrow. I have wanted one again for two years...

Da, Ragabash, spasiba.

A true sign of the change in technology - Hitachi will no longer produce Cathode-Ray Tube displays, focussing only on the flatscreen technology now widely availible. At a previous point, they had outsourced their CRT displays to another company, but now they will no longer offer them. A shame, almost...how much longer before the other companies follow the trend?

Well, it's because Hollywood does whatever it darn well feels like, and who cares about reality. And a list of "hacker" movies, many of which were crap.

And here's another breakthrough. US researcher develops new microchip-pathway insulator that drastically reduces the amount of insulation required, because of it's immense resistance. This means smaller gaps between "lanes" of circuit, since it's a more powerful insulator. It's got one other extra-nifty trick - it can retain the last charge and position for up to 15 years. So you can turn off your computer, and turn it back on, and the chip will pick up right from where it was. Whether this will work with RAM is another thing, but if it does...sweet. Motorola's already licensed the design and tech, so I'll bet you'll see things soon with it.

You're welcome, Alan. Did I not say that the UC Gundam era was FAR cooler?

Fae...*cackles madly* I want to ride dunebuggies with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and shoot people with paintball guns.

Fae, I think it's just the suck-level of Cali in general, not Santa Cruz.

Gen-chan, get well soon. ^_^ And pool your money with N&M to buy the X mangas.

Actually, Zeruel, Kristina found that one. I thought the drunken one was very funny.

Ragabash, stuff pretty much stands as we discussed. No further ideas since, we'll talk more tomorrow. Notified Waliel.

"The only rational explanation is that the Chinese plan to release these people either before, during, or shortly after Powell's trip," said Winston Lord, a former U.S. ambassador to China. "Anything else would be mind-boggling stupidity."

Israel takes out militant HAMAS activist in a missile attack on his car. Palestinians claim that the attack was by Israeli Apache helos, Israel says it used antitank missiles. I'm inclined to believe the Israelis, the Apache's an American-only helicopter. The terrorist who was splattered like a bug was believed to have been actively involved in two bombings in Netanya, one of them killing 5 Israelis.

In the weirdness file, 12 year old girl found dead, barefoot, and handcuffed next to freeway in Japan. She apparently died of a skull fracture, so police are treating this one as a homicide. I'll lay a wager that this one was out of the Japanese porn industry...schoolgirls are popular over there, and the handcuffs and injury would suggest something like a bondage or snuff film.

Damn fucking shame, too...just twelve years old.

Ooh. If Japan wants its own anti-ballistic missile network, the US says it's fine since it's a defensive-designed system. Not really capable of offense. And we're offering the Japanese a chance to participate in the missile defense project, probably with their own defense system once it's done. Good. Japan's in a precarious position, with a somewhat militant China, a rather angry North Korea (who has launched missiles/rockets over Japan before), just minutes away by SRBM. I'd say a defense system is necessary.

WELL NOW! Ever wonder why Microsoft's favorite color is blue? Read about the Microsoft Passport's little glitch(?) serving up porn to all who want to see. Apparently the site shows off personal image files of all of its users. The URL that was posted no longer works, though if you keep trying variations you'll get through. Which makes me think it's deliberate...

And guess what, everyone? Metallica is all for file sharing, and always has been!

And this is just messed the hell up. Thanks Kristina.

Major riot in Macedonia targeting embassies of KFOR/NATO members and destroying vehicles and smashing windows. Many of the protestors say they are from a village called Lesok, who were thrown out of their homes by Albanian rebels, and claim that the NATO forces are collaborating with the rebels and not keeping the peace. No embassy personnel were injured in the German, American, or English embassies. The US presence in the area is for support of its operation in Kosovo, based at the Macedonian airport. In the meantime, the cease-fire in Macedonia with the rebels seems to be falling apart, with tank and infantry action against the rebels in Tetovo. Apparently, the rebels are advancing well, and so now the Macedonian government sees fit to blame the NATO forces in the area and accuse them of aiding the rebellion.

"NATO is a friend of our enemies," spokesman Antonio Milosovski said. He said United State envoy James Pardew and his European Union counterpart, Francois Leotard, are giving "direct support" to the National Liberation Army, an ethnic Albanian force.

Sakura, you should go into marine biology then. It sounds like something you might enjoy muchly. And congratulations on the midterm. Yeah, no joke you were a screaming doujinshi fangirl last night...I can honestly say I've never seen you that violently hanyaaan over anything. It was rather frightening.

Waliel, want your own copies of the X Manga? Sakura's selling hers. Ragabash or I can handle the transaction if you do.

Jewels stolen en route to Italy for a big exhibition, rather well done. The outer package was yet undamaged, however the inner box - containing 15 famous pieces, including a gold necklace with diamond fox head designs - was tampered with and the jewels had gone missing. It appears to have occurred before it reached Italian customs.

Ragabash, get well soon, and happy working on CP2020 stuff. Don't forget the Blackhand archive either, or the Shirowpunk stuff. Is interesting. Umm, left van there Sunday, too tired to drive it home. Characterwise, yes, I know, Faye would just qualify as a lucky Revival (or would she...?) but I also figure it lets you REALLY play with the chara's history...why in cryo, why revived, etc. All kinds of fun possibilities. And the theory is by letting you go to town with being evil there...maybe you'll let me get away with a few things. Perhaps. And you weren't kidding about Satsuki. Rogaine for women...not just the president, also a client.

This is rich. Poopi the poodle sues her veterinarian for malpractice - dog went in for its teeth cleaning, and ended up trying to get spayed. I say trying, because...it already was. Court TV may not carry this one, but look for the truth here.

NEVER trust your children to anyone you don't know. AmericaWest Airlines loses chaperoned 11 year old girl after the attendant put her on the wrong flight - instead of Detroit, she went to Orlando, FL. Apparently, without parental consent, if the airline f*cks up and your kid goes elsewhere, it can't put your kid on a direct flight to the original destination. Eventually the girl ended up in Detroit 18 hours later. The airline refunded her ticket and is offering vacation packages; the father is pursuing legal action.

Marine wins Hummer in paper-airplane contest, after cleanly lobbing one through an 8" hole 50 feet away. Corporal Harwell "has had lots of practice with paper planes while shuffling papers on the job. He says he aims the planes at people and hits them." Somehow I think his sergeant is going to have a wee talk with the good corp.

Three more convicted in China, for spying. Two of them, US residents, are convicted to 10 years in state prison. Gao Zhan's lawyer appealed on medical grounds, and hopes to have the scholar free before Powell's visit Saturday. No US official was present at the trial of Gao Zhan, and the entire thing was extremely fast - tried, convicted, and sentenced in just a few hours. The government based its case on the fact that Gao had written articles for several magazines in Taiwan, and recieved money for them. Paranoid bastards. They have the gall to make a government branch called, and I quote, "Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy".

I'm reminded of the old adage that any government that must write down its ethics doesn't have any...

Pam, yes I did, but I forgot to get to it on Monday...and this is the first time I was on today. Replied. ^_^ Blame lateness on me.

Little pussbucket...how dare you kill the Technomancy link AGAIN! *adds*

The NASA scramjet engine test that went awry last month is still being investigated, though it would appear now that they've eliminated faults in the scramjet itself. The Pegasus booster rocket is looking more and more likely as the culprit for the loss of control and self-destruct. If so, then perhaps we can give the scramjet another try, if the fault was in the actual booster and not the engine itself.

You knew it was going to happen someday, but in Israel? McDonalds adds internet access to its restaurant in Tel Aviv. That's right, a McCybercafe in Israel. A two-dollar token at the front counter will get you 20 minutes of surf time. Wasn't there something about a McStarbucks a while back?

New MS ad making some waves with the various implications and hinted in-jokes. From the register:

Promising you "The unexpected Experience", the Beast of Redmond's new Swiss ad for the operating system features an attractive young lady and her boyfriend getting it on in a living room somewhere. All's going fine, she whips her top off and the young man tries to relieve her of her patriarchal symbol of oppression (the bra).

Nothing doing. Twisting twisting and nothing. Then an information menu pops up on her back. "Hilfe holen, Anleitung drucken, Gleich offnen, Abbrechen". We've no idea what they mean, but running his finger down her back he goes for the third choice. Tap.

And he's faced with a password query. The woman smirks (why?) and the Microsoft logo comes up on the screen.

All very amusing and Microsoft has obviously awoken to the fact that sex sells but what the hell does it mean? Security? Fun? Sex? Or has Microsoft extended its belief that no one ought to do anything enjoyable without first asking it? Is it an MS techie fight-back - we don't get it so nor will you? Or is the company saying that if anyone is going to screw you, it going to be Bill and his buddies?

The Russians are saying that the solar sail test flight failed but aren't yet giving any details as to why, or what happened. The missile that launched it was "not to blame", however they did give no reason whatsoever for the actual failure. We'll see.

Well well well. It seems that the Alzheimers vaccine works - in humans, it's definitely safe and is showing a reaction in the antibodies. In the tests with mice, the treated-at-youth subjects never developed the disease, while those treated afterwards showed a complete halt to the disease progression, and in some cases reversals. Further trials of the drug will continue, of course, but in just a few more years, we could have something. IF the reaction in humans that has been observed is successful, and if the theory about the beta amyloid plaques being the cause of the disease is correct. Testing with the mice seemed to bear that out, for mice. If the human brain works the same way with this cause, then it's done.

There's a pair of viruses making the news, the Code Red virus and the new Sircam virus. Code Red is the cute one that attacks IIS webservers, and has been known to delete files and alter/erase web content. Sircam is a new one, it's not very damaging unless you are dumb enough to keep sensitive information in the default folders. It e-mails a copy of itself to all of the addresses in your Outlook Express folder, and also sends 1 random file to the recipients. If you don't have anything secret/confidential or what not in your My Documents folder, then there's no worry since that's the only folder it looks in. If yiu ever get an e-mail that looks like "I sebd you this file in order to have your advice" or what not, delete it!

Simple computer security and usability maintenance, people - save files in folders and keep things sorted. It'll make finding them much easier, and will protect against virii like this. And NEVER EVER trust e-mail from people you don't know - you'd never open an unmarked box left on your doorstep, right?

Ragabash, I'm kinda half-hooked (for the Transmet Bebop game) on the idea of creating a chara with a background like Faye's, and what happened to her. It does give you lots of leeway in secrets for my chara's past, makes things interesting with the mystery touch, and opens up ANYTHING you like. Let me know. This page here has info on the hacking rules, instead of using Netrunners. And then there's the Blackhammer project.

And a new rifle from FN in development, sadly something we'll never ever get to play with. Maybe Kelly can order one on his Class 3 Dealer license...you gotta admit, though it looks so Shirow-designed, doesn't it? Looks like the Israelis have one too and a bunch of variants for it.