Let's go.........RANDOM!

[elexis]

(hmmm, why isn't there religion in The Sims? )

This to me indicates religion.

And jelco, although there is religion in CIV IV, it played a somewhat minor role in diplomacy and war, as opposed it in real life, where there was countles wars based solely on religion.

[Rkiver]

Why isn't there religion? Because it's not required to live a life.

Landlord being a bit of a prick, he'll get his comeuppance later, hehe silly man forgot to register the apartment as a rented accomodation and so wasn't paying his taxes.

Signed my permanent contract, exceeded every target they set by miles according to the boss.

[vanarbulax]

Uggh.. I can't believe people are complaining about Spore. I'm about as atheist as they come (agnostic in the sense that I can't not confirm that something which has not proof doesn't exist but that to assume it does is ridiculous. But to be atheist as in "I am 100% sure there is not a god an no proof would ever convince me otherwise" is as equally flawed as being 100% theist). Spore is a work of fiction and entertainment and including religion in entertainment is common place. Philip Pullman, one of my favorite children's writer and most definitely an atheist includes supernatural and non-scientific themes in his book, that doesn't make him any less atheist.

Religion, while I have many problems with asserting it as "the truth" (I'm pretty sure no one person could ever know "the truth" since we are all biased by our own experiences) and it is often used to cause conflict between people, is part of culture and expression which you can't claim to not exist or have a vast impact on almost all cultures. And those who complain becuase Spore is meant to be "scientific", have they missed the faster than light travel, the googly eyed creatures or the fact that you can conquer a planet in a matter of hours?

[/end rant]

Also:

protesting Tropic Thunder seems pretty retarded

You got me at "protesting" and "ben stiller". Though Tropic thunder looks particularly bad from what I've seen.

[Pox]

Conquering a planet in a matter of hours is easy, if you have LAZOR BEAMS. And sharks. To strap the lasers to.

[KingAl]

(hmmm, why isn't there religion in The Sims? )

This to me indicates religion.

I thought of that as I made the comment, but it's neither particularly prominent nor particularly religious - sure, it's a pagan symbol, but in the context of the Sims it's basically just a euphemism much like the 'Woo Hoo'. There's no pervading or explicit religiosity in the game.

And Rkiver, I'm atheist; I was asking the question as I'd have imagined that the exclusion of religion from the day to day lives of Sims would be as conspicuous to religious people as its inclusion in Spore is to atheists.

[Wasgood]

Atheists agains spore? How does that work?

[vanarbulax]

Atheists agains spore? How does that work?

Well technically Spore is ID since you design the content instead of sitting there watching random mutations occur and see what aspect survives due to better adaptation to environment. But apparently some people equate Spore being loosely based on science to it being scientific resource and therefore giving scientific credibility towards the belief in the religious supernatural (which I guess comes from Will Wright saying he wants to use it as a teaching tool, but it's primary focus is entertainment not scientific accuracy).

[zjoere]

(I'm pretty sure no one person could ever know "the truth" since we are all biased by our own experiences)

the truth is out there, just keep looking to the skies !

[vanarbulax]

the truth is out there, just keep looking to the skies !

I just see more things to wonder at and more things we have yet to explain. The universe is so phenomenally big and complex it blows my mind, I can hardly hope for an accurate understanding of even a fraction of it within my life time. On one hand it shows how amazingly insignificant we are, but on the other I can marvel at the fact that we what portions of the universe looked like millions of years ago. Then I start to ponder the nature of reality and how we can only view it through our perspective and whether there is a "real" reality out there which is distorted by our senses and our minds. Then someone comes along and hits me with a supersoaker and I realize I should be getting to bed.

[Mas Tnega]

Conquering a planet in a matter of hours is easy, if you have LAZOR BEAMS. And sharks. To strap the lasers to.

Or have a creature whose face looks like this:

[Rkiver]

So a quick sum up of the past few days.

Landlord decides he wants to show the apartment on Friday, telling us we have to have our stuff packed and it clean for Friday or he would have to give us our 30 days notice. Now if he had asked politely I wouldn't have minded. I'd have said "We'll do our best, but we've a lot of stuff to pack, and full time jobs." He however he issued a threat (one he cannot carry out as since we're here over 2 years it is 56 days notice), so I decide to see what my legal standing is.

1) He cannot enter the apartment without me giving the go ahead. No I'm not kidding here. Unless I as a tennant say "Ok sure" he can't.
2) He should not be having the apartment viewed with us still living here, and if he does he must accept it in whatever state we have it in. We are living here after all.
3) He's not legally registered as a landlord, and the apartment is not registered as a leased property. He's not actually told the Tax Office. That's a big naughty moment there.

So if he really wants to play the threat game, who has potentially more to lose? We're moving in a few weeks anyway into our own place that we will own. He faces a hefty fine for over two years of rent not noted with the tax office, and possible jail time if he decides to enter the premises without my prior permission.

Aoife and I possibly lose our deposit, but very unlikely as we're not in the wrong.

Also since he wants to show the place on Friday he hasn't given me a time as of yet, has to give 48 hours on that one. I potentially will turn him away at the door with those coming to view, and if he pushes it get the cops to eject him.

[Mas Tnega]

Considering he doesn't seem to know a great deal about what he's supposed to be doing as a landlord, doesn't sound like he wants to learn any of it from you, and in fact *isn't* a landlord, why not skip straight to the telling people what he's been up to part? I doubt anything you said there was your own original research, at least I hope not.

[Feud]

This made me laugh, good old Foxnews...

Bigfoot Found

[zjoere]

This made me laugh, good old Foxnews...

Bigfoot Found

that made me cry
bigfoot is dead ?

[Feud]

This made me laugh, good old Foxnews...

Bigfoot Found

that made me cry
bigfoot is dead ?

Bigfoot is made alive by hopes and dreams, so long as there is a child left wondering in amazement at the majesty of a sunset, Bigfoot shall live on...