Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Unbelieveable but true

Don't want to be <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> now but I will post this.
It's very unbelieveble that I would ever return to this forum. Because of the very big virus problem I have suffered, my husband wanted to quit the internet. Lucky for me, I still am connected and after two weeks, I'm finally back!! Woohoo!!

it may seem unbelievable to u but i always believe u will come back. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> where else cn u go to complain about the two boys who always mess things for u to clean up? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> always good to see a friendly face back on top of things. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

Dozy moggy trapped in house fed via letter box

Sun Mar 27,10:26 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - The owners of a cat trapped for a week in the home of a holidaying neighbour have been pushing ice-cubes and cat food through the letter box to keep their pet -- named Lucky -- alive.

The Daily Express on Monday said the black-and-white cat was spotted fast asleep in the neighbour's house after she went missing from her home near Bristol.

"I just hope our neighbour has gone away for a week and not for months," owner Tracey Venables, 31 told the newspaper.

Venables said it was likely Lucky had slipped into the neighbour's house unnoticed before the man headed off on holiday ahead of the Easter weekend.

Police have told Venables they are powerless to release her errant cat.

"It's absolutely infuriating because she is so close but we cannot get to her," said the mother-of-two, who added she would break in should Lucky show any signs of ill health.

"I don't care if I get arrested."

lol ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

Huge quake hits Indonesian coast

A major quake in the Indian Ocean has hit the coast of the Indonesian tsunami-hit island of Sumatra, triggering an alert across the region.

The quake was given a magnitude of 8.2 by the US Geological Survey who have warned it could cause tidal waves.

The epicentre was located at about 200 km (125 miles) off the mainland.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake could cause a "widely destructive tsunami" and it was felt as far away as Malaysia.

"Authorities in those regions should be aware of this possibility and take immediate action," the center said in a statement on its website.

It comes three months after a major earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26 December caused major damage and killed tens of thousands of people in the region.

Russ Evans, a seismologist from the British Geological Survey, told the BBC the Boxing Day earthquake had a magnitude of 9.5.

He says the latest quake was almost certainly an after-shock from the first one and that a tsunami was certainly possible, but on a smaller scale.

-'I heard my neighbours screaming'-

The quake struck between the Sumatran cities of Padang and Medan at around 2315 local time (1615 GMT) and lasted up to three minutes, said Ramlan of Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysics Office.

Power blackouts and major panic ensued, local officials told AFP news agency.

The quake was felt across the region with people in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, some 500km away, evacuating high-rise buildings and running out into the streets.

"I was getting ready for bed, and suddenly, the room started shaking," said Kuala Lumpur resident Jessie Chong.

"I thought I was hallucinating at first, but then I heard my neighbours screaming and running out."

Thailand, which was also hit by the 26 December disaster, has issued an tsunami alert.

Wedding Dress Guy Breaks eBay Record with 6 Million Hits
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
April 29, 2004
A guitar player in a band called The Buzzcuts made eBay history this week when he auctioned his ex-wife's wedding dress. Larry Star, who said he had no idea his auction would get so much attention, started the bidding at $1. "I?m selling it hoping to get enough money for maybe a couple of Mariners tickets and some beer," he wrote in the auction, along with an offbeat tale that revealed bitter feelings toward his ex-wife.

People began posting links to the auction on discussion forums and emailing it to friends. Star, a burly tattooed fellow, posed in the auction photos wearing the dress with his face whited out, "not to protect the ex-wife but to protect me from my bar buddies and co-workers finding out about it." He revised the auction periodically to answer questions sent to him by potential bidders and reported he had received three marriage proposals.

The auction gained the attention of the media, with Star appearing on the Today television show and CNBC. eBay's Dean of Education Jim "Griff" Griffith, whose radio show airs on Tuesdays, made a special "breaking news" segment on Wednesday to interview the eBay seller.

According to Griff, the wedding dress auction broke all eBay records for number of views with close to 6 million hits. "I've never seen anything come close to a million," Griff said. Star told Griff he hopes to get an appearance on Leno or Letterman, and is developing a Web site called WeddingDressGuy.com. (Star had revised his listing to include an announcement of the site and the URL TheeBayWeddingDressGuy.com. He later removed it. Sellers are not allowed to include links in their auction descriptions.)

Many media outlets picked up the story, and the counter continues to climb with over 6 million hits on Wednesday evening. During the course of the auction, the price reached exorbitant amounts from nuisance bidding, forcing Star to limit the sale to pre-approved bidders. The auction closed Wednesday with a final selling price of $3,850.

An Order Of Heart-Failure, Super Sized

Florida (Around The Weird) -- Can I have that super-sized? Have you ever wondered why it's called "fast-food"? The average answer you would get is "you receive your food in a timelier manor than a restaurant". The real reason is the more fast food you eat, the quicker you will meet the grim reaper.

Next time you drive up to McDonalds, pay attention to the employee taking your money. Ninety-nine percent of them are overweight? I wonder why. Although, I personally knew an attractive girl who went to work for one of those big fast food chains, but in 6 months she became over-weight. The reason is their food is simply just poison.
You are not paying for a meal; you are paying for heart complications. The purpose of eating is to replenish the nutrients in order to provide your body with energy, common sense.

What's even funnier is now you have American's suing these fast food chains because "they didn't know they were getting fat". I have never heard of such non-sense in my life (except for liberals). Here is a simple experiment to help you decide if you are eating greasy matter or food. Take a napkin and firmly press on a piece of your food. If the grease soaks through all the layers of the napkin, reserve your spot in the nearest cemetery. Really, people come on.

Fast-food is evil, it really is. Its bad enough they entice adults with their cheap prices and quickness of food rendered, but they bribe the youth with their happy meals. Offer a toy with a meal, what kid doesn't want a toy? So this promotes little chubs running around who are hooked from the time they two. What is even sadder is that they don't even want you at their restaurant, eat and get out. It's a proven psychological fact that bright colors make people feel uncomfortable. What color is McDonalds - bright yellow and red? Not only are they contributing to your death, but they don't even want you to sit and even enjoy your meal. Knowing that you aren't wanted there, why would you continue to eat there and get fatter while their wallets increase in weight too? Just use your common sense people or use your stair-master a little more.

By Chris Ruesink

Player killed over virtual item dispute


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1334618.htm

Brings to mind those crazy auctions on ebay for those "alleged" defect items in Diablo <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I think it's simply scary. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" />

Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

(Tim Radford, science editor
Wednesday March 30, 2005
The Guardian)

The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.

The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.

"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says.

The report, prepared in Washington under the supervision of a board chaired by Robert Watson, the British-born chief scientist at the World Bank and a former scientific adviser to the White House, will be launched today at the Royal Society in London. It warns that:

-Because of human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, more land has been claimed for agriculture in the last 60 years than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.
-An estimated 24% of the Earth's land surface is now cultivated.
-Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers has doubled in the last 40 years. Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land.
-At least a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested. In some areas, the catch is now less than a hundredth of that before industrial fishing.
-Since 1980, about 35% of mangroves have been lost, 20% of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20% badly degraded.
-Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria and cholera, and open the way for new and so far unknown disease to emerge.

In 1997, a team of biologists and economists tried to put a value on the "business services" provided by nature - the free pollination of crops, the air conditioning provided by wild plants, the recycling of nutrients by the oceans. They came up with an estimate of $33 trillion, almost twice the global gross national product for that year. But after what today's report, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, calls "an unprecedented period of spending Earth's natural bounty" it was time to check the accounts.

That is what this assessment has done, and it is a sobering statement with much more red than black on the balance sheet," the scientists warn. "In many cases, it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time. By using up supplies of fresh groundwater faster than they can be recharged, for example, we are depleting assets at the expense of our children."

Flow from rivers has been reduced dramatically. For parts of the year, the Yellow River in China, the Nile in Africa and the Colorado in North America dry up before they reach the ocean. An estimated 90% of the total weight of the ocean's large predators - tuna, swordfish and sharks - has disappeared in recent years. An estimated 12% of bird species, 25% of mammals and more than 30% of all amphibians are threatened with extinction within the next century. Some of them are threatened by invaders.

The Baltic Sea is now home to 100 creatures from other parts of the world, a third of them native to the Great Lakes of America. Conversely, a third of the 170 alien species in the Great Lakes are originally from the Baltic.

Invaders can make dramatic changes: the arrival of the American comb jellyfish in the Black Sea led to the destruction of 26 commercially important stocks of fish. Global warming and climate change, could make it increasingly difficult for surviving species to adapt.

A growing proportion of the world lives in cities, exploiting advanced technology. But nature, the scientists warn, is not something to be enjoyed at the weekend. Conservation of natural spaces is not just a luxury.

"These are dangerous illusions that ignore the vast benefits of nature to the lives of 6 billion people on the planet. We may have distanced ourselves from nature, but we rely completely on the services it delivers."


<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
Huray for humankind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />

I've got an idea for April Fools Day! Anyone want to help me with it?
good joke

Yeah Good one Lady_Sarah <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

We have all had bad dates...but this takes the cake. This just tells you how tough it is to be single nowadays. This was on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. Jay went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first date experience. There absolutely no question as to why her tale took the prize!

She said it was midwinter ... snowing and quite cold...and the guy had taken her skiing to Lake Arrowhead. It was a day trip (no overnight). They were strangers, after all, and truly had never met before. The outing was fun but relatively uneventful until they were headed home late that afternoon. They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte.

They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere! Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while. Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her pee beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car. They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started. Unfortunately, in the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself. Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking.

All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather embarrassing nature of the situation. Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender. Thoughts of tongues frozen to pump handles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold.

Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor she answered her date's concerns about "what is taking so long" with a reply that indeed, she was "freezing her butt off and in need of some assistance"! He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma. Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem.

Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal! Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free. So, as she looked the other way, her first-time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender. As for the Tonight Show ... she took the prize hands down ... or perhaps that should be "pants down." And you thought your first date was embarrassing. Jay Leno's comment - - - - This gives a whole new meaning to being "pissed off."

Defendant hurled slipper at judge

An Indian man allegedly hurled a slipper at a court judge who promptly threw a paperweight back in reply.

Nazir Mohammad was in court in Baroda on charges of housebreaking and theft when he jumped out of the witness box and rushed towards the judge.

The robber, reportedly irritated with the slow pace of the case, took off his slipper and threw it at Chief judicial magistrate C D Vaghela.

Judge Vaghela immediately picked up a paperweight from his desk and threw it back at the accused, reports Midday.

Mohammed, who attacked two other judges last year in similar fashion, has been sent back to prison with an extra offence registered against him.

Members of the Baroda Bar Association went on strike after the incident to protest at the lack of security for judges, lawyers and witnesses.

Gas stations seeing more drive-offs

High prices driving some to crimes

By Joel Doepker
Mid Michigan — (03/30/05)--You could say the hikes in gas prices are criminal. But the higher cost is causing more drivers to become criminals.
More people are driving off without paying.

Police say every time there is an increase in gas prices, the number of people driving off without paying goes up. That theory is holding up with more people not paying at the pump.

For premium gas, the price is reaching nearly $2.50 a gallon. There is definite sticker stock at the gas pumps.

"I think it's insane," said Lynn Fettig. "I really do, and they've bounced all over."

"I put $13 in and I got less than a quarter of a tank," said Brenda Johnson.

As the prices go up, it's turning some drivers into criminals. On just one day last week, three customers drove off from the Admiral on Davenport and Bay Road without paying.

^^ Hehe ^^^ here in Oz the prices for Petrol are getting pretty crazy too, atm about A$1.05 per litre which explains why if you are a stranger to a particular Gas/Petrol station you must pay before you fill up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Swedish prisoners go on strike

Mon Apr 4, 3:00 PM ET

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish jail inmates have gone on strike after authorities cut down on weight-lifting and exercise sessions to stop prisoners becoming too muscle-bound.



The prisoners, whose protest sparked no violence, were locked in their cells after refusing to attend any workshops or study sessions. Around 1,000 inmates from 20 of Sweden's 60 prisons protested.

"We want to offer them other ways to keep fit and to take away some of the heavy weights," Swedish jail system security chief Christer Isaksson told Reuters on Monday.


"We don't feel it is part of the mission that society has given us to create ... over-sized muscle builders."


<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />
-well Ube, you can feel safe again.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Why? In my sheltered world I wouldn't feel more or less safe if the cons where bodybuilders or not...

Übereil

Cops: Woman Steals, Dyes Dogs

Apr 8, 2005 12:15 pm US/Eastern

WEST FARGO, N.D. (AP) A West Fargo, N.D. woman has been charged with shoplifting two puppies from a Moorhead, Minn. pet store.

Authorities say 19-year-old Sheila Marie Hoffart took the dogs home and dyed one of them purple and the other one blue.

She was charged this week in Clay County court with two counts of theft. She will make her first court appearance on April 18.

Moorhead police say she admitted taking the Shih Tzu and sheltie.

Police says stole the dogs on two different occasions in January and February. Police say she put the puppies in her backpack and left without paying.

Police say Hoffart says she took the dogs because she felt sorry for them.

Police say she used nontoxic hair dye to color the dogs' fur because she wanted to make them more unique.

Pet store employee Bridget Nolte says both dogs have since been sold and are back to their normal color.

Store manager Terry Thompson bought the sheltie. She says she named the dog Rocket. She says its purple fur faded in about a month.

Pet store officials say they've added locks to the cages.

(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )