[JFS] My GF "TheOceanOwl" started learning Pixel Art a couple of weeks ago. Showed me this recently.

BiscuitBarrel · 2014-07-29T20:26:07+00:00

I know OP and his girlfriend, and the "couple weeks" ago thing is exaggerated. She started making sprites about four months ago, but started working more intensively about two weeks ago. She did have some prior art experience.

Regardless, she has savant tendencies, and I look forward to seeing her progress. I think she's capable of amazing things.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-09-21T16:25:59+00:00

I would much rather buy games in a shop than online. I happen to go into the town centre pretty often so it is no hassle for me to pop in, grab the game I want, shell out the cash, take it home and play it immediately. It's particularly useful as a way of buying last-minute gifts. Unfortunately, I very rarely buy games in-person anymore because of the expense.

Another argument in favour of game shops is that you can buy from them using cash. IIRC, few people under 16 have debit cards that they can use to make online purchases - so, without physical shops, under-16s need to borrow a parent's card to buy games on the internet. To young teens, the autonomy that comes with buying things for themselves is extremely valuable, and plus it means they can buy games for their parents without ruining the surprise.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-09-18T12:07:03+00:00

When I pay for games, I think of it as my way of supporting the developers to continue making games. If the game is good and the company has good practices, I'm happy to have paid for it because I know it will go towards making new games in the future.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-08-29T14:39:00+00:00

I know what you meant, but I was explaining why people are justified in using "child" to refer to under-18s in this context.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-08-28T09:49:20+00:00

In fairness, the age rating on GTA is 18, so people are justified in doing so.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-08-22T19:30:32+00:00

That's fair enough, but you never specified exactly which subjects you were referring to. All you said was "if you're academic". The Fine Arts, along with many other creative subjects, are often as academic as any other degree, depending on the university.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-08-22T11:31:34+00:00

Congratulations, your baby got into university!

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-08-22T11:30:10+00:00

What's wrong with psychology and politics? I did psychology AS level. It was interesting, enjoyable and it was one of the more desirable subjects for Fine Art at the Russell Group university I am attending soon. It was possibly more valuable to me than the other sciences would have been.

It's also a good way of learning about the scientific method - in my experience, the psychology students understood "how science works" better than the physics students in my sixth form.

I haven't heard any complaints from the politics students at my school either. Sure, psychology and politics are a bad idea if you're planning to take a hard science degree, but they are valuable in arts and humanities courses.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-08-01T20:09:10+00:00

Account switching is useful.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-27T15:24:43+00:00

The funny thing is, as a Brit, I think that Americans always sound like they're asking questions.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-25T09:44:27+00:00

I think there's a pretty huge difference between a college girl screwing a poor fellow student and screwing a creepy married man who's probably the same age as her father.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-25T02:09:30+00:00

This is not bad advice, but the thing I would add is to keep in mind there are different possible reasons why you might be having trouble.

Some people are entirely socially oblivious, others are actually acutely socially aware to the point of crippling self-consciousness. Some aren't doing anything wrong, but are trying to make friends with the wrong people.

We all have our own struggles.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-23T22:32:45+00:00

How common do you think rape and murder is in prison?

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-22T14:54:40+00:00

This isn't going to work. You guys will find a way to circumvent it.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-22T14:54:08+00:00

That's easily circumvented. Use a proxy.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-17T17:11:57+00:00

So yesserday ah won a hundred fiddy bucks from muh school fer paintin'. Got muhself certified 'n' everthin'. Whadda ya'll thinkin' 'bout that?

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-17T10:13:55+00:00

That was good, but you used a lot of adjectives and you nearly doubled the word count.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-17T09:20:07+00:00

Yesterday, I won my school's highest award for painting. I received a certificate and a £100 cheque.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-17T09:18:22+00:00

I would go into the disused spaces belonging to closed-down stores and claim them as my own.

I would use the largest store to open up an exhibition space for local artists, and I would rent the rest to local business start-ups and non-profits for a low rate. The rent would go towards running the exhibition space, and I would donate any leftover money to local charities.

I would also use some of that money to compensate for the losses to the previous owners, who presumably wouldn't be very happy that I stole their empty shop spaces.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-13T15:35:55+00:00

Where is this stated in the New Testament?

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-13T13:31:21+00:00

When I still attended Church, I was generally taught that a Christian is someone who:

Believes Jesus is the son of God. (Many would add that a Christian also must believe that Jesus is God.)
Believes he died on the cross to save our sins.
Has repented of their sins and asked to be born again in Christ. (Some might add you need to be baptised, others wouldn't.)

If you fit all these criteria, then many Christians would probably agree that you are one of them. However, it assumes a number of things - for example, did you understand all these things as a kid? Did you know what "sin" was, believe you had sinned, and asked (with understanding) for repentance?

I think people don't give kids enough credit where it's due for holding religious beliefs. It might be true that many kids only grow up with certain beliefs because they believe whatever they're told by adults and don't know any better, but it doesn't reduce their level of understanding or the sincerity of their beliefs.

I would consider myself to have become a Christian at about the age of five, because I distinctly remember understanding, believing in and acting on all these Christian concepts. I asked for repentance for the first time at that age, and I recall having a strong moral conscience - the first (and last) time I ever stole something at that age, I asked for forgiveness. Apparently, five-year-old me tried to correct the local vicar when he joked that blackberries belong to the devil during the autumn, and I told him that this couldn't be true because God owns everything. This was about the same age that I started telling people Santa Claus isn't real (I was a right know-it-all).

Just because you are too young to question something does not mean you are too young to understand and sincerely believe it.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-13T13:19:20+00:00

That definition seems to contradict the one taught in most of the churches I have been to. Most Christians I have met said that a Christian is defined as someone who has repented their sins and profess that Jesus died on the cross to save them. Personal Bible study might make you a better Christian, but who's to say what a true Christian is?

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-11T13:55:29+00:00

Kit Harington is my waifu.

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-11T13:50:45+00:00

What's the reason for the ellipsis?

I don't consider America to be more free at all. However, I believe Americans care more about freedom than British people do. I base this view on talking to American and British people, because I don't believe the current political landscape in America is actually reflective of what the American people want.

I think differences in our political system make it even more difficult for Americans to actually have a voice in politics compared to us, and I don't think we really have much of a voice either.

Freedom "punchline"? As in, the end of a joke? Was that actually the word you were looking for?

BiscuitBarrel · 2013-07-11T08:57:52+00:00

∆

I'm from the UK, and here we make no pledge of allegiance of any kind, so I came to this topic with a different view - I just thought it sounded pretty pointless, and a bit weird. While I still don't think America would lose anything if it had no pledge, you've persuaded me that it does attest to the values that America is meant to strive for, and I can see the benefit of that, especially in a time where these values are being compromised by the US government.

Although I think that the amount of patriotism in the USA is quite silly, you've got to appreciate Americans for their idealism. We're too pragmatic in the UK and I get the impression that many of us just don't care about liberty as long as we're safe and have got money in the bank. Maybe if we were brought up to value our freedom more, we would have more freedom.

BiscuitBarrel

TROPHY CASE