Had a super fun night celebrating two years of Vicious circle. I’ll be downloading and listening to it today only because I started nodding off around midnight and decided to do a Breda and nod out quietly.
Super fun night, and it appears the spark has returned to vicious circle after a case of the blahs. 2nd Anniversary! Its Vicious Circle #86, and it puts a whole new meaning to this! Just sayin’ 😉
While this isn’t America, I can see this bullshit happening here in the Enlightened North East.
Two teens who beat a man to death while attending Gimli’s Icelandic Festival have been sentenced to one day in jail and three years supervised probation.
Beat a man to death and serve ONE DAY????
That is BULLSHIT!
This is just too awesome!
Can’t add anything more!
Unc links to this peice by Cracked on Gun laws.
1. The issue of gun ownership, and the obsessive, nay hysterical, arguments over it, leave most non-Americans totally baffled.
2. We mean – it is just a hunk of metal that can kill people.
3. So are cars. Either ban them too, or get over it.
Yep guns are tools, when used as weapon they are nothing more than force-multipliers. If the guns are in the hands of peaceful and lawful people who are unmolested, you are multiplying by zero. When a violent criminal is unarmed they pose more danger than a lawful person who is armed because their violence is a factor greater than zero.
This was good too:
Gun laws in the US are confusing. You can be totally legal, drive over an invisible line and be a criminal. It is a legal system designed by Escher and built by W. Heath Robinson.
Concealed carry permitted. Concealed carry illegal. Open carry permitted. Open carry illegal. .22 caliber a no no, or carry a .50 Browning. Do not bend, fold, spindle or mutilate. We’re from the government, we are here to help.
That about sums it up. But then there was this:
These stand foursquare for the right to own as many damn guns as can be held in your house and the giant bunker you’ve dug out underneath it. They interpret the second ammendment to mean they have the right to buy them instantly, and the right to use them any damned way they wish, including shooting targets made to look like your opponent. To be fair to the party, they reflect the views of their supporters. The vast majority of Republican supporters are rational, hard working folks from rural areas or “frontier” states. Yes Texas, we’re looking at you, and frankly are a little tired of your bullshit. You haven’t been a frontier state for half a century now. Move on. These folk consider a gun as no more than a hammer, or a computer – just another tool. And like all tools, to be learned and used correctly.
What I really hate about the gun-rights debate is that being “Moderate” means supporting some laws that don’t make any sense, or accomplish anything useful. This isn’t a moral debate, this is about right and wrong. Carry permits, training classes, Assault Weapon bans and “Safe Storage” laws were all made to make people safer and to lower crime.
THEY DIDN’T WORK! Let that sink in a tad. This is like saying you’re in favor of integrated schools and public bathrooms, but segregated restraints and public transportation in the Jim Crow south because you’re “Moderate”. Sorry, you aren’t “Moderate” you’re just slightly LESS dumb than the hard-line bigots.
I’m not against bans on private sales because its going to completely infringe on my 2nd Amendment rights, as well as my ability to defend myself (tho people who don’t live in an urban area flush with gun shops like I do, might be in a different situation) I’m against bans on private sales because I don’t feel like supporting a law that accomplishes nothing except annoy good people for the sake of appeasing pointy-headed “Moderates”.
How about this for Moderate. Roll back all the bullshit permitting laws (both Carry, ownership, as well as FFLs) and restrictions on standard civilian weapony, and I’ll let you miserable bigots keep the NFA, complete with Hughes amendment, spare suppressors which are just good manners. Oh and I’ll let you keep the hunting laws too.
How’s that for moderate?
Two Years of Vicious Circle tonight!
Won’t you join us?
One of the more mundane parts of Nethack is that you need to keep your character fed. There are eating conducts, which annoy the hell out of me so I won’t talk about them here. If you are a Monk, or otherwise want to be vegan or vegetarian, read the above link on the conduct and stock up and only eat those foods.
For the rest of you eating is very important, and unless you find a good crop of food (usually Food Rations) early you will need to do what you can to keep your player fed.
First up I’ll note that wearing rings or amulets, pushing boulders, casting spells, as well as a few other things have a hunger penalty. This is good to be mindful of for both making sure a hungry character doesn’t starve, but a character who has eaten plenty might soon be hungry again.
When you get hungry first your status will be changed to “Hungry” which is nothing more than a warning, then “Weak” where your character will lose strength temporarily, then “Fainting” where you will black out frequently, and if you aren’t killed in your helpless state by roving monsters, you will then starve to death.
On the flip side, overeating you will become satiated. Eat too much above this and you will choke to death. (Choking can be avoided by an amulet of magical breathing)
So outside of traditional food the most common thing to eat will be corpses of monsters you’ve killed. Most of these are considered meat so they will spoil vegan and vegetarian conducts. Caution must be used when eating corpses, they spoil quickly, and spoiled corpses can lead to food poisoning. Do not confuse food poisoning with ingesting poison. Poison damages you and has a chance of lowering your strength, and in the case of attacks, potions, or traps a chance of killing you instantly, food poisoning simply means you must cure your illness soon or die. So if you kill a monster you wish to eat, eat it quickly, put it in a tin, or put it in an ice box, or just let it rot. Undead creatures are already considered stale corpses, so if you desire to eat one of them you better do it within the next turn, or be prepared to stave off food poisoning. Tinning rotted corpses can also provide fresh meat.
Poisonous corpses will never instantly kill you, but they will still damage your hit points as well as your strength. Things like Kobolds, Yellow Molds, and killer bees are poisonous to eat. Most poison corpses have a chance of conveying poison resistance….tho not Kobolds, do not eat them until you have poison resistance. Kobold Zombies and Mummies should never be eaten, they’re just not worth it, and are the frequent death of many new players.
An easy way to learn if a corpse is generally safe to eat is to see if your pet cat or dog will eat it. Obviously you won’t be able to eat that corpse, but if you see your dog mow a dead jackal, you’ll know next time that jackals are safe to eat.
There are also corpses that will cause other unpleasant effects. Things like bats, will be quickly devoured by cats and dogs, but will cause you to be stunned, meaning you won’t be able to easily control which direction you move or do actions. Bats are for pets to eat! Yellow Molds and violet fungi are hallucinogenic. Much like ingesting real hallucinogens, it can be really fun and interesting, but also VERY dangerous as you will have difficulty keeping track of monsters in the dungeon, and may find yourself approached by a dangerous creatures without your knowledge, or find yourself killing your pets, or attacking shop keepers.
Eating Werecreature like wererats or werejackals will not only count as eating a human (Canibalism) but will also turn you into a werecreture yourself which is never a good thing. If you find a sprig or wolf’s bane, keep it handy in case you are bitten and turn into a were-form.
Things like Leprechauns, Tengu, and Nymphs will sometimes give you the message “You feel jumpy” this is Teleportitis, which means from now on you will randomly teleport from time-to-time. This is VERY annoying, and potentially deadly if you do not have teleport control either from a ring, or an item. Best to avoid eating these corpses until you have teleport control. Once you do, teleportisis is VERY useful, and I recommend seeking these creatures out. Also the tengu can also grant teleport control from eating it, but it can also give you teleportitis…so its best to avoid or tin their corpses until you have teleport control. If you get the message “You feel in control of yourself.” you can free up a ring finger for other tasks.
I could go on for ages about intrinsics from corpses and tins all day so I’ll leave that up for you, and might talk about them when relevant to other clinics. I will say the big killer is Giants, they ALWAYS give your a strength point or two when eaten…but they are huge so eating one when not hungry could be deadly. This is where rings of regeneration, rings of hunger, and spellcasting hunger penalties come in VERY handy. You can eat one giant, then cast spells like crazy (which will help you level up your casting ability) while wearing rings and amulets to quickly get you out of “Satiated” so you’ll be ready for your next meal, and bonus! Again you may also wear an amulet of magical breathing, where you can safely collect the bonus and puke up the excess corpse. Gross, but nethack ain’t pretty! 🙂
Things like tripe rations are solely there for feeding or taming pets. More on this in a future clinic.
Fortune Cookies, pancakes, candy bars, and fruits are good for snacks, and are also very useful for pets, they also are sold for cheap in shops.
Tins also sell for very cheap, and even without knowing the contents are VERY useful overall. If you have money BUY THEM, as they may contain monsters that grant intrinics. They also may contain spinach which will give strength bonuses like giant corpes, but also are VERY nutritious. Best to only eat unknown tins when hungry or weak to avoid choking. Still use caution as it may have werecretures, or humans, or hallucinogenic corpses, or creatures like cockatrices or chickatrices which will instantly turn you to stone.
Lembas is nice to keep handy as they give the same nutrition as food rations but are quarter of the weight.
If you find yourself weak with hunger, but have no food, #pray-ing will be your best salvation (more on dealing with your god on a later clinic).
So eat well, and eat safely, and happy ‘hacking!
I guess Japan had an 8.9 (!!) earthquake and a massive tsunami.
Right now the news is giving the death toll as a number in the high 30s….unfortunately we all know that number is bullshit. I have a few friends over there, and I hope they, and their families are OK.
This is going to mess with the country for a long while I suspect.
My heart goes out to all who are effected, and for the people of Hawaii who are going to be hit with this soon.
Mall Ninjas love their guns…but what about Fake Ninjas?
A 23-year-old Pennsylvania man has been charged with first-degree murder in the weekend stabbing deaths of his parents and twin brother.
Police say they found a Samurai-style sword covered in blood at the scene and say the suspect, Joseph McAndrew Jr., referred to the deaths as “extermination.”
That’s a pretty brutal body-count, and all without a gun. No gun laws would have stopped this…but then gain gun-control laws don’t stop shootings either.
h/t Mike
That there is a pair of BLTs with over a half-pound of bacon between them! FUCK YEAH.
Oh and FYI I kinda gave them a short shrift because bologna is ghetto, but Oscar Meyer makes some badass bacon! This stuff is their thick-cut stuff, and it is AWESOME! Seriously give it a try, and for short money!
Also their low-sodium bacon is what I use for my Bacon Vodka. So yeah I’m a fan.
Wow, brutal long day. Just as I was getting ready to head out the door a big shipment of lab supplies showed up that needed my attention.
I wanted to go to the bank, but it was just closing as I was putting on my coat. Traffic sucked, and I dropped almost $60 filling my truck.
Also to add insult to injury, I’m expecting a package any day now (blog post when it shows) and its still not here.
Dunno what I’m up to tonight, but as of right now I’m cooking bacon!
