Ruggbutt

While they may have sold a ton of copies for Black Shark, the online community shows that it's not as big a success as they hoped. Not many servers and people staying faithful to Lock On. This community remembers and it's in ED's best interests to put out another patch that was promised. Granted, before ED decided to put BS out as a stand alone they said all the problems with LOMAC/FC would be fixed. So now they're on the hook for a fix. If they don't fix it then you're gonna see people downloading the game instead of buying it. The Russian version was cracked within 12 hours. I haven't had any issues with the new Star Force (or the old for that matter) but it has such a negative stigma that the smartest thing to do is to use SecureRom for disc protection and a license key (to be activated with an account) online. It would bring tons more people to the DCS series just with those two changes alone. The other thing is there's a dedicated Lock On fan site and it's got something like 40k members. I see several dozen posts a day in each of the 8 forum sections.

Lets not forget that Alfred Nobel is turning over in his grave. Yasser Arafat also won the Peace Prize................

S!

The new ejection sequence in FC is hardcoded. You can't do that in LO.

Flaming Cliffs is an addon to Lock On. You'll need both of those.

Thanks everyone.

It's a mixture of overcast and high water settings. Bump water down to medium and you should be ok.

Thanks guys. A midget hooker showed up at my front door and said she was from the CA staff. So whose idea was that? She was hawt BTW.

Congrats on the promotion.

Looks good, Dave. You can hide all the wires. It just takes a bit of time and an attic crawl. If you really wanna know how to do it I can talk ya thru it.

It must have been a slow news day.

NOD32 here. It catches everything and I've subscribed to all the major manufacturers of AV in the past. I'll keep my NOD.

....for those who have fallen.......

I got this in an e-mail, I thought it was important enuf for the rest of you to see it: The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either. He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away ' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood. And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so. As you go to bed tonight, remember this. . .. A short lull, a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets. Prayer wheel for our military... please don't break it Please send this on after a short prayer. Prayer Wheel 'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.' When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan , sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those in Iraq , Afghanistan and all foreign countries. There is nothing attached... This can be very powerful...

I just copy and pasted from an e-mail, but I think you could apply it to any country's fighting men and women.

Anyone ever see a vag that's had a few kids spit thru it? How does the guy still find that abused thing attractive?

You're welcome Slowhand. I'll see you online soon.

Now that Mark said they're going to fix the centering issue I'm going to have a hard time choosing between my CH stuff and the G940. The '940 stick feels just plain awesome in my hand. Best out of anything out there. I intend to fly the bejeezus out of this HOTAS to see what it can take. There is give and take with everything, I remember missing my rotators once I switched from my X-45 to my CH gear. I stopped missing those once I got used to CH. I have no idea if the G940 is going to be my ultimate choice over my CH gear, cuz there's just so much good with CH. I know people that are thrilled with their X-52's. I flew one and didn't like it as much as what I had. Ultimately you guys aren't going to go from high end equipment that you've been using and are happy with to drop the cash on the G940. At least most aren't. Those that are upgrading from one of the cheapie joysticks will seriously consider what Logitech has to offer. I'm not sure what the lifespan of the X-52's are but I went thru 3 X-45's in a year (I purchased the warranty at CompUSA). Someone with broken gear in need of replacement just might give the G940 an edge cuz of the mix of stuff the community has been asking for over the years. Rotators, split throttle and force feedback. Those are some mighty impressive selling points. Hopefully with hardware like the G940 vying for our dollars it will force the other hardware manufacturers to put out something new. Logitech won this battle and are going to move units because of it.

Just a heads up, Mark (Logitech) responded to a thread on some other forums about the centering issue I described. I edited the review to reflect that.

Whether you're flying a sim with a single engine or something that allows use of dual throttles you can't go wrong with a split throttle. I don't know about you guys but I fly more than one sim. But I only use one HOTAS. I'm looking for functionality, programmability and ergonomics although not necessarily in that order. Logitech will sell a whole bunch of these units. They'll appeal to the fast jet crowd, the FF crowd and most likely the prop sim crowd as well. If I'm flying a P-38 in IL2 I can manage both engines as well as fire both guns and cannon at the same time. If I'm flying the F-16 I have quick and reliable functionality to slew my radar up/down and change the bar settings. Maybe it's just me but I just really could give a rat's behind about owning a stick that "looks like" a real stick from a particular jet. If it can't do what I need it to do when I'm doing ACM then it's time for me to find something that can. And something that works every time. The G940 may not be for some of you guys, I doubt that those of you who already own a HOTAS are going to replace it. Unless it breaks. Like I did with my X-45. I was looking for a step up and found it. The G940 may be a step up for someone else. Logitech is gonna sell a whole bunch of these. Split throttle and FF are the two biggest items on the wish lists I've seen on several different hardware manufacturer's forums.

If I was to guess why it was more expensive I'd say take a look at local and import taxes. Additionally, since other countries use different voltage and outlet plug types that may bring the cost up for regional packaging.

Last time I heard, a life sentence was served up until the day you die...................

I've hit critters with my truck, usually when they're fresh the only thing you can smell is poo. Prolly the same with that coyote. The intestines were shredded so that would be the overwhelming smell. Guts usually just smell like fresh meat.

Go to your start menu, bring up the "Run" command, type in "dxdiag" (without the parentheses). When your DXDiag window is open go to the sound tab. Bring your sound acceleration down one notch and see if that helps. Go thru all the settings and test to see if your sound comes back.

No big loss. From time to time Fish and Game puts out the notice that it's time to cull the 'Yotes. You can hunt them with no license, they're considered varmints.