It's been one of those days. You know what I'm talking about. If your a Limp Bizkit fan you know precisely what I'm talking about. Of course I'm not a fan of them but I still know what I'm talking about. Then again if I didn't know what I'm talking about than who would? Someone would *have* to know wouldn't they? I started my day out great, much like any other Tuesday, with Calculus 2 first thing in the morning. That would fuck up anyones day right there. So here I was today awaiting a package to come. A nice new shinny part for my computer. Gotta love new computer hardware. Anyways I knew about when they would be here and I'm sitting here waiting for them to call me that they are here. I had talked to Katie just shortly before this time, about 40 minutes. She tried to call me again (that 40 minutes later) and icq'd me and asked why I didn't answer the phone. I was like what are you talking about. So of course I check the phone. It decided to fuck up and wasn't working right as it does from time to time. So I fix it and low and behold I have a voice mail. I check that to find out they had tried to deliver my package and I hadn't answer the phone of course cause it was fucked up. So needless to say I was pissed off. I'd been waiting all day for that thing to come. I specifically didn't go anywhere cause I knew it would be here. And then I didn't get the phone call cause my phone is a whore. I'd been meaning to get a new one since before school started this year. Well after that ordeal I made damn sure that phone wouldn't do that again. I broke the mother fucker! Services are tomorrow for those who wish to attend. I'm going to walk over to the pond out by my apartment and give a 'ceremonial' burrial. Oh did I forget to mention that I'm bringing my baseball bat with me? Oh I did! Going to launch that mother fucking phone into the pond via one huge ass swing of the bat. Can you tell I am still pissed about this?

Another unfortunate casualty today was my favorite keyboard. In the midst of the slaughter the desk was struck and the tray the keyboard sits on smashed the keyboard. Don't ask how this is possible. I assure you it's possible, I did it. Of course I have a few other keyboard laying around but I loved that damn thing. It was all a keyboard should be. I know precisely what I fried on the inside though. If I can replace that the keyboard will be as good as new. So I'm going to go on a search around campus for some unused keyboard I can 'borrow' what I need from. It will live again I tell you, IT WILL!!!!

In other news our UBB has seem *some* activity, but not nearly as much as I would like to see. So would you get on there and post something and make me happy damn it? I got my wicked little mind into something new between last night and earlier today. I hope to have something to show for it some day shortly. When is shortly? I don't know but it's more sooner than later. I would have spent a bit more time on it today but the whole ordeal earlier left me in a rather pissy mood. Plus I had to go to Wal-Mart and get a new phone. Of course that ended up consuming more time than intended. I ended up at both of the Wal-Marts in the area. On a bright note I got myself a pair of rollerblades today. Of course I didn't have the money to spend on it but I've been meaning to get a pair for a few years now. So I finally said fuck it and did. Besides Katie and her roommate Laura have been going out roller blading around campus as of late and I wanted to get in on the action. At least that was amusing tonight. One bright spot in a rather shitty day. Oh and I got to eat at BK. That was yummy. Keep in mind the shit I eat here on campus day in and day out. Bleah!

Lord Bishop's One of Those Days
"Everything is fucked, everybody sucks, you don't really know why but you want to justify ripping someone's head off!"

Well.. I'm getting quite close to announcing a playtest for Snipe Hunt.. just need to work out some stuff for it and, more importantly, get some of the remaining vital parts done for the map. So.. I'll scream it from the rafters once I know myself what's up with it :)

Hrm.. the last two days have been good days.. I've been sillier than usual, I stopped being mad at my ex-girlfriend, I smiled a lot, I met a girl I like, I cultivated growing friendships with a couple great people, and today I met a great group of people.. It's the CIA.. contemporary issues society. It's people my age who are as opionated as I am and aren't afraid to talk about it. Imagine that? Teens who want to have intelligent conversation and debate the big questions in life. They asked straight out what my religion was and weren't immediately taken back by the fact that I was a self-proclaimed atheist.. but at the same time they went right ahead and questioned my reasonings & arguments a whole bunch.. and they were as passionate about their beliefs as I am about mine.. and we still got along! Finally, people around me who aren't intimidated by the fact that I question the universe.. life is good!

So yeah.. just another one of them weeks.. and post on the message board people! If you don't I think Lord Bishop's going to start sacrificing Z Factor members one by one.. and we can't have that! And is anyone else as amused by Lord Bishop's parodies of my quote idea as I am? :)

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"True control in the universe comes from within."

It was brought to my attention this evening as to a possible reason why no one has been posting on our UBB. Though the possibility still stands that no one likes us. So getting to my point. It was brought to my attention that there was no *direct obvious* link to it. I mean me personally the first place I would have clicked on was the message board link over on the side there. BUT for all of you out there who didn't think to look there, here is a BIG FAT ASS FUCKING LINK for you to it. I *would* have made a new button to replace the message board one but that wasn't possible at the time. Being that I didn't make the originals I can't make new buttons. And Jocko was busy. So silly ass me thought that the old graphic would do for now. I guess that's what I get for thinking.

So VorTeX sends me his latest build of Snipe Hunt today. Now a good 4 hours or so later I still have yet to look at it. I'm starting to become like the rest of the people around here when I ask them to look at something of mine. *fwap* That is next on my agenda though actually. Maybe if I see something cool enough I'll add a screenshot here for you guys to see. Speaking of screenshots. If someone has any screenshot they would like me to put up on the 'POTD' please send it to me. It doesn't have to be of our maps or anything related to HL. On my own I'm not going to find a picture to update it with often enough. So send me something someone god damn it.

If I had some other news I would tell you but then again I don't have dick. Oh we do have a 'winner' for the twinkie contest. AD Squirrel was the first one to actually find the UBB and post it. I didn't think it would take two fucking days for someone to actually post on it though. That makes me mad I tell you mad! So AD Squirrel if you want the twinkie you can have it. And you all know I'm fucked up enough that I will send him the fucker.

Lord Bishop's Opinion of the Day
"I hate stupid fucking people, I really do."

After a huge flurry of posts for a few days there things have died off a tiny bit again. But you know me, I won't let things idle around here too long. Ok I did for a couple weeks there but I had a good excuse damn it! I was making a new fucking web site for us so there. Now I have my latest creation to let loose on the unsuspecting public.

Behold the Ultimate Bulletin Board!!

This is what has been occupying my time for the past couple of days. Actually only two different days but a good bit of time both days. Especially the first day. Let me tell you. There are A LOT of options for this damn thing from the administrator point of view. Not to mention I had to think up all the various forums my damn self. *20 lashes for the rest of Z Factor* I also ventured into somewhat of a new area for me...graphics. Now this isn't my first attempt at making graphics. What it is though is the first time I actually produced something of real worth. At least I think I did a good job at the few small ones I did for the UBB. All things considered I think everything turned out rather well on it.

Now what you ask? Well duh! Post damn it! First person to post I will send a twinkie to. Now if that isn't motivation I don't know what is. I *hope* this will help create a little community around here. Not to mention keep you guys with even more new content. What did I just say? More new content? When did we last have any real new content? Well fuck it. It'll at least give us all a new toy to play with. Yea fucker, that's more like it. Whatever it takes to keep you guys interested in us between releases. You know it takes time to produce great maps. We don't get paid for this you know. Much like most people out there on the internet. Why do you think we are all here? Because they don't charge us admission! At least in theory.

If I had some other real news I would post that too. But since apparently I do not I must ramble on about the great UBB. Did you know that it just went public? Yea like as in today. Bet you didn't know that. Show of hands: Who thinks I am losing my fucking marbles? *all hands go up* Yea well so what!?!?! I got a UBB and you are all able to shoot back at me easier then ever! So hop to it fool and let me know what you think of the UBB and the new site design. I ask for that too since I never did get any external feedback on the new look.

You're in luck I'm hungry and I still need to update all the links to point to the UBB so that means one thing. I'm outta here!

Lord Bishop's Threat of the Day
"Post on the UBB or I will hunt you down!!"

I see a nice little response to my earlier rant has been posted up on bteg. Well.. still trying to wrap my brain around where Obe's coming from on half of this.. but best to defend my position by replying some more.. fun eh?

After some ignorant comments about why BTEG dislikes GSI (please, get the facts before you try and rant against us, we have reasons, we'd be quite happy to inform you of them)

Well... I've honestly tried to get an answer before and it's never really gone beyond "they're lame" or "they're a bunch of sellouts", sooo.. until I'm given a better answer I have to go with what I've got.

First of all, I have a free right to hold my own opinions, which are based upon my own observations, upbringing and of course the media (every person that comes into contact with the media is affected by it in some way, as with everything in life. That is my opinion anyway).

Indeed you have the free right to hold your opinions.. and just the same I have the right to call them stupid. And yes the media does affect how everyone views things.. though I tend to get more disenchanted than anything else... they just do everything to overkill.

Second, i'm not christian, so therfore not bound my cristianity's views on non-heterosexual relationships.

I hope I didn't give the impression I assumed you were christian..

But as it is.. due in great part to the Christian Right, (Pat Robertson, and people like him) homosexuals are treated as outcasts and second class citizens.

I disagree with your reasoning, and your statement. The church has been changing it's views, and probably will soon no longer hold the views about which you talk.

The christian right, or religious right, is not the church. They are the ultra conservative group with a whole lot of power in today's government. They're the single-most powerful force in the creation and lobbying of anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-fps, and such legislation. The church may be coming around.. but they're standing pat and have a lot of money behind them. They are responsible in some ways for society's treatment of homosexuals because they are the ones actively working to hinder any change society might try to have.

Everyone knows why heterosexual people are hetrosexual (obviously for the procreation of the human species, which is the goal of all reproduction, sexual or otherwise) but, Vortex, can you tell me why they are homosexual?

In this world.. is the reason all heterosexual people are having sex because of reproduction? I must say I know quite a few people who have sex for the joy of sex and have no intention of making a kid any time soon. Homosexuals are also having sex for the joy of sex.. only they happened to just not be able to reproduce and they just happen to like members of the same sex. It's interesting.. you said yourself that you disagree with how they live their lives.. and yet, as you say, you don't even understand it yourself. And judging from your statements you've done little to try to understand it.

I gather from what you say that you would have that stay the same? Because after all, you ARE part of society, aren't you?. You also have to remember that on IRC people are just names, you don't known 100% what gender they are unless they tell you, and even then they might not be being truthful, it uncertainty, which is the spice of life.

I would have it change in a heartbeat if I had such a power... I'm merely seeing the truth in how we are separating them from society. The separation that they receive in IRC is an unspoken one.. so I like to call it to view. I'm flat against the separation we have. And yes.. the magical anonymity of the internet.. let's all pretend we're somebody else! That will teach us self-worth.. that will teach us honesty.. yes sir. Ugh! I'd rather like to see a society where nobody has to live a pseudo-lie just to be accepted.

You're segregating them further by implying they are not a part of society?

I'm implying nothing.. I'm stating the truth as I see it. In today's society they are outcasts, something (if you were to look at some of my other arguments) I'd like to see changed. I'm not the one segregating, society's done that for me.

It would also seem that i'm not allowed to discuss this subject without being labeled a gay hater. Nice stereotype.

No.. I didn't call you a gay hater because you discussed the subject.. I called you that because you said they shouldn't have the same rights as other human beings... something I consider rather hateful.

To conclude.. I'd like to make my position on this issue clear. I want homosexuals to be an accepted part of our society. Society right now treats them as second-class citizens by restricting their rights and by not accepting them for who they are. As I see it, they are human beings too. As such, they should be given the same rights and considerations from our society. Fears and prejudices rule too much of our lives and I'd like to see that stopped.

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"The greatest test of a man's character is how he reacts to that which he fears the most."

In regards to overwritting VorTeX's one update: I knew damn well that I had the most current version here on my HD. So of course I didn't check. In retrospect I was well aware I did not and just skipped that memory back to the old that I did have it. So sue me. I'm fucking retarded once and awhile. We all are from time to time. So deal with it!

In some rather shocking news (at least to me) Borg has decided once again to make a new move. He has left beyond Sliced Smoke due to personal reasons. And now he's off doing his own thing that is all his. So now he has no one to blame but himself if things go south. All that is up of the new site is the forums but you can check it out if you wish here and leave something for the man to read. This doesn't mean my editorial career was short lived! Far from it. Borg being the great guy that he is had full intentions of bringing me along for the ride. You just gotta love friends like that.

Today is the curse of the short paragraph day. I was having this problem in my e-mails too earlier. If you were visiting the site earlier today and saw some screwy ass shit. Well shoot me. I was updating things to make changing links easier. It of course required me to change around every damn page but it is well worth it in the long run. Now if I need to change a the links on the page all I have to do is change one external file and presto poof, all the pages change. Very spiffy if you ask me. Also this lead to me to finally figure decide on a method for posting news easier. Having to code the HTML for it every time gets old. I like my old program I had for the old webpage but unfortunately since the page is totally different now it won't work. That means that I have to sit my ass down and code a brand new news updater. Of course this one will be a million times better then the old but I digress.

I meant to mention something about the new picture up top there. It was a game of TF I played the other night. My first game since about two days after the Q1 source code was released. Funniest thing of all about that game was even though everyone and their brother has been bitching about TF being full of cheaters. I didn't see one. And honestly was one of the best games of TF I've played in a LONG time. The other part that makes me wonder is this. What the hell happened to the general skill level of the community? I haven't played regularly in many months and I had a 30-50 PL that game and was still wrecking the shit out of everyone at sniper. Yea I'm odd. When I am lagged the only thing I can do well still is snipe. I've never understood people's bitches about LPB's. Hell I could still snipe with a 26.4 connection at my friends house. Hell if I know. Maybe I just have some skill or something. But then again...what do I ever know?

Lord Bishop's Outburst of the Day
"Why the fuck me? WHY DAMN IT WHY!?!?!"

Well.. in news today.. I'm putzing around trying to work on a little bit of Snipe Hunt today.. Been sitting around reading some stuff on the web too. One of the more useless sites in this world (bteg.com) turns one year old today.. oh whoopy doo. A site of a bunch of self-righteous whiny guys.. except they don't really whine about anything w/ a point.. or do anything other than whine really for that matter. They're all about how Gamespy is lame and such.. cuz Gamespy actually makes a living doing this gaming stuff. I've always chalked it up to jealousy myself.. but where was I? So yeah.. a little word in Gamespy's defense.. they've always been really quick with anything I've wanted.. and when things break down.. they haul ass and fix it.. and they let us hosted folk know what's up. They give us pretty much unlimited space (as long as we don't abuse it of course).. they set us up w/ mad ass mirroring through FilePlanet.. they have all kinds of resources just sitting there ready for use... they kick ass! What do they want it return? Ad banners.. a little way to get paid for the shit they do for us. Now last time I checked that's not a bad arrangement. We get what we want (mad hosting, services, caring from the Gamespy staff).. and they get what they want (a job that pays). Seems like quite a good thing to me.. don't really see where the bteg folk get off saying Gamespy's lame and such... ah well..

I wanna say something about one comment I saw on their site from Obe, one of their more ignorant members (edited for clarity of thought): I was looking through a website for an IRC network I frequent alot, and what amazed me was the number of requests for homosexual related IRC channels. By this I mean requests to have the Network Bot in. I don't get it. What makes 'them' so special that they need to have channels devoted to them? Do you see Hetrosexual only channels around? No, no you don't. If homosexual people want to be treated as everyone else is, they damned well better start realising that they don't need special places/channels/whatever to serve them.

Hrm.. don't know where to begin on this one.. just too damn stupid. Well.. for starters you gotta realize that there are plenty of places for heterosexual people only.. christian channels, any sex channels not designated as gay or bi, flirting channels, etc. They wouldn't need to make their own channels if our society accepted them. But as it is.. due in great part to the Christian Right, (Pat Robertson, and people like him) homosexuals are treated as outcasts and second class citizens. So it's only natural for them to group together.. because we aren't exactly accepting them with open arms. The way to get people to treat people well isn't to just try to blend in with everyone else.. I think homosexuals would like to accepted for who they are.. not by just trying to say they're like everyone else. They are not the ones who can change society.. that takes the effort of everyone to realize that they're human beings too and should be given the same rights and consideration as everyone else. They are not to blame for how society treats them.. society is. It's a rather narrow-minded view to think otherwise.

He also says: And no, i'm not a 'gay hater', while I don't agree with what they do (or that they have the right to adopt children), I say live and let live.

Now I don't know what his definition of a "gay hater" is.. but going right out and saying that they shouldn't have the same rights afforded to heterosexual couples kinda fits the bill in my mind.. I'm disgusted..

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"Only by loving your fellow man will you ever find true love yourself."

This is gonna be a quick update.. cuz the time that I planned to use updating the page ended up being used to fix a screw up by Lord Bishop... he went and got rid of my Thursday update by putting his update in a file w/o it in it. So I went ahead and took half an hour to retype it.. it's a good thing I had written most of it up beforehand so that I could just copy it from the paper again. So, Lord Bishop needs a good smacking.

As Lord Bishop mentioned.. I indeed started Snipe Hunt over this weekend.. most of that work being done in the last two days. I've been going at it relentlessly at times and it's pretty much where it was when I last left off.. save for a couple doors and a few backpacks. At the rate I'm progressing.. it oughta be ready to go some time this week. (but I'll probably want to do a playtest first.. so it may be a bit longer than that..) I was just sitting there Friday and said to myself "You know.. I'm going to start on Snipe Hunt now.." and off I went. I got the wall sizes laid out on Friday.. Did all of the outside area yesterday.. did all of the base work today... what's left is some entities and lighting.. It's amazing what I can do when I put effort into something.. Ah well.. I'm gonna head off now..

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"Silence can speak more than careless words ever will."

This is a change of pace around here...someone else has been monopolizing the news. Whoever could have done such a thing? *cough* VorTeX *cough* Not that I mind at all. I haven't had much to say as of late anyway. I've just been plowing along through life once again. To say not much is going on would be a lie. To say something important has been happening, that too would be a lie. So what the fuck have I been doing you ask? Everything and nothing all at the same time. I don't know how to explain it, I just know it sucks.

That aside...I do have some site related news. I managed to take some time to go find Akula. Which I was rather successful at. He tells me that work continues on the map and throws me a line about wanting to have something more substantial to show me next time he does. Yea uh huh sure. (note: I'm just fucking with him) Also in the most amazing news since we landed on the moon, VorTeX has begun working on Snipe Hunt again!! WOOOO!!! If you recall waaayy back he had a bad case of HD blowing up. And with that he lost all his original map files. So after some trickery awhile back he had a workable map file. But I guess he screwed that up too from what I've gathered. So he decided to start all new Friday night. Amazingly enough he is around the same point he was with his second beta version. And what's even better ist hat some of it actually is looking slicker then before. It's fucking amazing how good VorTeX is at getting things done once you kick him in the ass 400 times. And me personally...I took a couple of hours to sit and start to learn the Quake 3 source code. It's amazing how much of it I really understand once I actually sit and try to follow it. It made me feel smart, like I can actually code. I mean that is what I attend school for. I do have a ton more to sit and follow through but I got enough of the basis down to have a good starting base knowledge of it and to start playing around with it some. I swear to god I'm going to make a mod damn it! And no one can stop mEEEEE!!!!!

Lord Bishop's Offensive Thought of the Day
"Hire the handicap, they are fun to watch."

[Note: This is a remake.. The original was deleted by a careless Lord Bishop.. he has been smacked]

I just got my official letter of acceptance from OSU.. I'm off to college! Woo! So.. hrm.. what's Joe been up to lately?

Well, I'm enjoying myself this final semester of high school... For the first time, I've got study hall (aka commons) time to do my homework. I get an hour and 40 minutes every day to do work or play cards.. I'm all about euchre! :) Still, I'm way ahead on homework... I'm almost done w/ all my vocabulary words for this entire semester in astronomy (I'm working ahead), in math we've moved from calculus into logarithms and number sets.. oh my.. how ever will I manage? I mean, I was already pretty close to breezing through calculus (we only did derivatives, integrals, and limits.. so it wasn't exactly comprehensive..) and now we're moving into easy stuff.. oh and back to astronomy.. being an astronomy nut myself, (in fact my childhood profession choice was astronomer) I know pretty much everything that's being taught.. eesh! Then we've got personal finance class... how some of the students in this class are having trouble writing checks is beyond me.. This is pretty much a common sense w/ money class.. though I bet I'll be thanking it once we go through taxes and investing. Choir and Advanced Cable Broadcasting are as fun and east as ever.. I like to sing and make television stuff.. 'nuff said.

Then we come to one of the best classes I've ever had the privilege of taking.. it goes by the name of health class. When the words "health class" went through my mind the first thing that came up were the four food groups and sex organ diagrams.. suffice to say, this is probably the last class, excepting maybe Creative Foods, that I'd ever take willingly. But it wasn't up to me.. it's a required course by those bastards in the federal government. So first day I come in, sit down, and the teacher, Mr. Johnson (who is also the head football coach) wins me over almost immediately. He talks about how he's going to give the class a say in the running of the class.. and how he doesn't like grades.. and how he wants us to actually remember what he teaches us.. and how he doesn't want to be a regular teacher, he wants to actually communicate with us. Crazy ideas coming from a teacher.. Then he lays down some quotes by Mark Twain and I'm hooked..

The man is teaching through quotes, questions, and musings. He doesn't lecture.. he has conversations with us. His ideas inspire a lot of debates outside of class.. something I consider the mark of a great teacher (and which I've witnessed but only 3 times when it comes to teachers). The best way I can describe the class is that it's the philosophy class I've always wanted. I enjoy the class so much I forget that I'm learning.. it's the way it should be! Take this week for instance.. we're doing stuff w/ personality types.. as best as I can see, I'm a melancholic (thinker, analyzer, perfectionist) across the board.. and on top of that I'm a choleric (aggressive, stubborn) in intellectual pursuits and a phlegmatic (sensitive, accommodating, undemanding, shy) in social situations and relationships.

Translation: I'm one screwed up 'mofo with split personalities, anxiety problems, and I can't be read emotionally... mwahahahahaha!! I'm insane and I've got a creative intellect to fuel it! I'm the next unabomber and you guys are unwittingly reading the drafts of my manifesto.. I'm a mad genius with the power to change everything! You will all be my minions soon.. just wait! And in the unlikely event that I fail in my attempt at world domination... I'll at least be able to get a good book deal or bumper stickers reading "Free VorTeX: A Real American Hero" out of it.. Well, I'd better stop before I give away too much of my evil plans, and before my head explodes, or worse... Till next time..

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"Faith is an extension of man's ability to dream. Science is an application."

I'm having a go at updating the web page from school.. I'm sitting here on a power macintosh.. whipping out some mad text in Simpletext.. and longing for a nice PC. I'm updating now because I'm not gonna be able to get back to my computer until tomorrow morning.. and I really want to pull off that musing that I lost this morning. So here goes.

Well my relationship & subsequent breakup brought a lot of interesting questions to mind. The biggest was that of fate.. You see, I went back and looked at all the lessons I learned during the relationship: Don't change who you are for anyone but yourself (there are exceptions.. it's not so much don't be flexible.. it's saying don't break when you're bending); Only change if you want to change; The only way to experience life is to take risks, if you're not out there in the line of fire.. you're not gonna get anything; Your dreams ARE important.. and they aren't going anywhere unless you apply yourself; Devout Christians & Agnostics usually won't mix as far as closer relationships go.. it's not just a matter of gods.. it's a matter of how you see the world; Life is wasted if you don't participate; and so on..

What does this have to do with fate? Well.. I often ask myself if life set me up so that I would learn these lessons.. if it was predetermined.. and in a way the thought of predetermination is very comforting, you don't have to worry aobut it.. etc.. I mean there was a line of some 100's of events that lead up to & through the relationship that if one thing had changed, it would'nt have happened. But then I realize that it's all the same idea as the reason many people beieve in god (which I'm finding it hard to). I tell them not to mistake complexity for premediatation. The main problem I have with predetermination is that most people use it as an excuse to ignore the problems of humanity. They say it's "god's will" and turn a blind eye.. With poverty, war, hunger, and all the evil in this world.. I think the only force at work is the force of humanity.. we're the only ones who would put such awful things into the world. If were this all-good god, why would he put in the ability to fight out & cause suffering? No.. we are the ones responsible for it.

Fate, the more I look at it, is but a feeling that mind manufactures to deal with the things we cannot control. History shows that humanity abhors chaos. We put explanations in the forms of gods for everything we couldn't explain. This didn't help make life simple in some ways.. so in the interest of convenience we narrowed it down to one god (though some haven't done this yet.. the western world is best defined by its god as I see it). This made it a lot easier to sacrifice and pray because you don't have to specialize. Same idea, new implementation. Same instinct working much the same way. Of course I probably should go into that wild and crazy guy known as Jesus.. but my time is limited. So my point is.. in my eye, humans merely extend this instinct to an idea and call it fate. Events are random.. but that doesn't mean you don't have any control. You have some control.. but what's left isn't controlled.. it's chaotic chance... Scary, huh? Those of you who said "yes" to that.. you have the human instinct to want control. (I say "yes" to that question in case you're interested).

So to recap.. I looked at fate and while it appealed to me more than chaos.. I reasoned that it was just my desire for control. Till next time...

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"Talk is cheap only if it used without thought."

Well.. I managed to lose a page update I spent 40 minutes on.. blah.. so I guess I'll have to try & rewrite it later today.. I'll just leave with my quote of the moment..

VorTeX's Quote of the Moment
"Kill a man's enemy and he'll be corrupt for a day; teach a man to kill his enemy and he'll be corrupt for a lifetime."

Hrm.. how about that shot of Akula's map? He impresses me every time he pulls something new out.. damn.. hrm.. anyways.. I know what you're asking yourself.. "Where the hell has VorTeX been?" Well.. as many of you know.. I disappeared right about the same time I got a girlfriend.. this wasn't a coincidence :)

I set myself up for a lot of disappointment.. and a couple Sundays ago I received it in the form of a breakup phone call. (don't get me started on how disappointed I am she didn't even have the heart to do it face to face..) It's a whole "let's just be friends" type of thing.. blah.. so yeah.. Suddenly she breaks it off and a whole big piece of me gets released and mind starts going overdrive.. I've been thinking about all kinds of stuff lately.. so I might humor you with some of the thoughts I've been having at some point.. just so Lord Bishop doesn't get to hog all the fun of screwing with everyone's minds :)

Anyhow.. I'm blowing through the last semester of high school.. getting ready for college (Ohio State in case you're wondering.. I start in June).. gonna get me a job.. and in there I might just start applying myself to my hobbies again.. cuz I took a little break and I think it's time I started chasing my dreams again.. here's hoping that I'll be around a bit more often..

Holy hell!! That's what your saying isn't it? I bet it is. For those of you who were wondering just what the hell was going on around here...now you know. I have been working on this new design off and on for about the past 3 weeks now or so. That might seem like a long time to do a page design but I didn't work on it non-stop you see. I only did bits and peices when I had time and felt compelled to. Plus I have been rather busy with school and work as always. So this is the final results of my efforts and my efforts alone. Which is another reason it took a bit a time, I had to convert everything over alone. No biggie just fucking with some people for kicks. I mean especially since a site redesign has been 'in the works' since around the end of November. Hell had I not finally taken the initative to do it myself we still wouldn't have the new site. Ok enough of that. I would like to thank a good friend of mine, Jocko, for his excellent graphic work he did for me. Without his contribution the site may still be in progress. I'm not known for my graphical abilities. Translation I fucking suck at it. Also with his design idea for the graphics it finally gave me a reason to settle on a color scheme. That was a pain in the ass I tell you. So thanks a million times over Jocko you are more then appreciated around here.

In other news if you are paying attention you will have noticed the first screenshot of Akula's next map. I would have taken a few more and done a layout for it but I'm not entirely sure on it's name right now. Besides that I'd just be showing off different angles of the same area. Which isn't all that bad but still I wanted to hold out for a bit more different things. Of course the problem with that comes in play when you consider I haven't seen Akula in the past I don't know how many weeks again. Though this is not entirely his fault and I haven't looked for him much either. I've learnt a few of his hiding places over the time I've known him. So ooo and ahhh and the one screenshot you get to see for the time being and e-mail Akula and tell him to make his presence known.

As for the rest of us. God knows what we are up to. I've spent my time for working on 'fun' projects doing this new site design. Now that I'm finish with it who knows what I will do next. I seem to have contracted the VorTeX disease. What's that? It's this problem you develope where you work on a million and a half different projects over time but never finish one. At least I finished the webpage and that's a start I guess. I'm going to attempt now to con VorTeX into finishing his Snipe Hunt map as that is long overdue. He has the time now per se. His love life went down the drain. I'm not picking on him so you know, just stating a fact. And he knows I have all the sympathy in the world for him on that issue. Something new that I am doing that you must absolutely check out is this bit I'm doing for Borg over at Sliced Smoke now. This is just the first of many editorials I'll be doing for them. Speaking of Sliced Smoke if you didn't already know Delta Bravo moved from it's cosey home here on PF to there. Why would he do a silly thing like that you ask? Well simply put, he now is co-owner of Sliced Smoke and where would you put your site if you had control of a major up and coming gaming site? Yes I'm plugging him a lot but he deserves it for all the effort he is putting for with this new project of his.

And my final bit of news I've saved the best for last. Since Z Factor has been a little on the inactive side we will be planning to kick back into full gear soon. Great you say! Yes great it is. But here is the real greatness. We are looking for many new members to join our ranks. The standards of acceptence into our group remains the same. But if you have any kind of ability to edit any type of game then e-mail me and let me know what you got. Though TFC is a great game, we really must get off this single minded kick and expand into new regions. I myself have been and will be doing some things with Quake 3 in the near future. So you got great ideas and no place to show case your talents? Then what are you waiting for fool!? Get in touch with me and we'll see what we can do. Damn do I sound like a commercial. Here's to our continued 'greatness'.