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Topics - Vindictus

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1
Arts & Entertainment / Star Wars Battlefrontâ„¢
« on: October 11, 2015, 10:05:41 PM »
Anyone played the beta?

All in all I feel it's a notable step down from the earlier games. Not only because of the missing features that we already knew about, but the gun play, maps and customisation systems are all pretty lackluster. The only real praise I've seen is that it nails the Star Wars atmosphere, which I agree with.

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Technology & Information / The Windows 10 thread
« on: July 29, 2015, 09:48:09 AM »
Because we don't have one of these and it's coming out today. Post horror stories and/or praise.

3
Starting a new thread for this if anyone wants to argue it, ask questions, or just get a half decent source on the topic (since they seem quite rare). Feel free to merge responses from Rushy's military spending thread into this one.

something something flying turkey

http://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=3195.20
Yeah, I left that one when you finished your post with

the F-35 is already pretty cheap.

because this is the most over budget military project in history. It is a huge embarrassment to the Whitehouse and they have considered canning it and desperately want to, but are now in too deep. The unit cost was supposed to be under $100m. Cheaper than the $150m unit cost of the f22 which was decided was too expensive. And now the F35 has a unit cost of $223m and its still going up.
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/feature/141238/%2A%2Af_35-lot-5-unit-costs-exceed-%24223m.html

I provided many links to articles saying how this $trillion aircraft is an absolute disaster in terms of runaway costs ... and you come back with "its pretty cheap" with no evidence of that at all. So you aren't reading the source material I present, you aren't making a reasoned argument and you obviously don't know anything about this project. You are just saying the opposite of whatever I say. That makes for a dull thread ... so I left it.

I can't substantiate whether it's the most overbudget in history, as that would require weeding through a shit load of sources over the last 50 years (some of which would be extremely hard to get ahold of) and then comparing them all. Adjusted for inflation, I'm willing to bet the claim is wrong, but as I said I can't substantiate it. Another thing to remember is that every major military program goes over costs. It's extremely typical for the development companies to make promises they can't keep, especially when it comes to costs. This doesn't excuse the behaviour, and LM are very much guilty of it, but we're probably better equipped now to critique and repudiate this behaviour than ever before.

That said, the F-35 isn't expensive relative to current fighters (especially when you bring capability into the picture, but I won't get into that just yet). Your article is a few years old, and the data indicative of old LRIP figures. The F-35A currently costs $94.8 million without an engine as of LRIP 8, with a full rate production cost of $85 million in 2019. A quick comparison of this to other fighters (including the RAF's Typhoon, which is much more expensive):



Note also that some of these fighters require additions like sniper pods, CFT's and EFT's to be capable, things the F-35 has built in or doesn't have to worry about.

Now, that doesn't mean there aren't legitimate criticisms of the JSF program and its mismanagement. But it should be remembered that it was and is an extremely ambitious program, easily the most of any fighter to date. People love bandying about the $1 trillion figure, but don't understand the figure itself. It's a cost representing the entire life of the aircraft, from development costs to production costs to sustainment costs all the way through to 2050. No other fighter has been costed in such a way before, which is why the number is so large. Additionally, there have been claims that maintaining legacy platforms will cost nearly 3x the amount (so $3-4 trillion) relative to the F-35, owing to the age and diversity of airframes and parts, in addition to fleet size.

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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Man beheaded in France
« on: June 26, 2015, 10:29:18 AM »
Apparently there's been a beheading and a bombing at a French factory, with muslim extremists to blame. Things are still developing, but that hasn't stopped the anti-immigration debate from immediately flaring up on social media. Thoughts?

5
Philosophy, Religion & Society / The military of the Mongol Khanate
« on: March 07, 2015, 08:29:55 PM »
Damn some serious hippies in here.

This is what the US military does to a person's brain.

6
Philosophy, Religion & Society / Brits love three ways
« on: February 03, 2015, 07:39:52 PM »
Weird title but I gotta get the people in here. Here's the article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31069173

It's important because of this:

Quote
Defective mitochondria are passed down only from the mother. They can lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness.

The technique uses a modified version of IVF to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman.

Quote
The method, which was developed in Newcastle, should help women like Sharon Bernardi, from Sunderland, who lost all seven of her children to mitochondrial disease.

So, is it weird that this kind of legislature has passed through your government? The conservatives seem to be making a big deal of it.

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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Sydney Hostage event
« on: December 16, 2014, 06:34:54 AM »
Does anyone want to talk about this? Seems like it got international attention.

8
Arts & Entertainment / Anime thread
« on: October 07, 2014, 05:37:26 AM »
Not sure if anyone here watches a lot of anime, but lately I've been getting through a few series/movies and thought it would make a decent thread. I'm also looking for recommendations from our fine members, as I trust their opinions more than randoms in Google results.

The stuff I've enjoyed most is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop and the Studio Ghibli films that I've seen. I did not like Evangelion, the series or the movies, although I'm yet to finish them. Anyone else have some favourite anime?

pls no weeaboo jokes

9
Philosophy, Religion & Society / Celebrity picture scandal
« on: September 01, 2014, 10:08:07 AM »
I, uh, wasn't sure where this should go, if it should go anywhere at all. It's a pretty serious thing depending on who you ask and I figured it's worth talking about.

If you've been paying any attention to /b/ or specific subreddits, then you would have noticed that over the course of the last day some dude has been leaking heaps of nude pics of celebrities. Users on /b/ have largely responded by asking for more and giving the guy money through bitcoin, some of the celebrity subreddits have been heavily moderated and the whole scandal removed from /r/all. Despite this, a new subreddit was created for the sole purpose of sharing the images, and the guy continues making promises on /b/. It's apparent that he has a lot more content left, although no one knows how he got such a large bank of personal images (most people seem to think he got them from iCloud somehow) or how much longer before he gets caught.

Obviously I'm not going to post any pictures here because they're all pretty explicit. The whole thing strikes me as very creepy, but I'm not surprised this could happen given the naivety of these girls. Taking nude pics and allowing them to be put on the cloud is not a smart move, at all.

10
Philosophy, Religion & Society / ISIS and the Middle East
« on: August 11, 2014, 10:24:06 AM »
I thought I'd create a kind of news/discussion thread in regards to this since we have nothing regarding it right now. For a basic idea of who these guys are and what they're doing, there's the Wikipedia page and various images of their crucifixions, decapitations and other atrocities available courtesy of their social media presence.

Obama recently initiated air strikes against ISIS artillery positions, in order to protect civilians at threat as a result of ISIS advances in northern Iraq. They currently control some critical dams, giving them the power to flood Baghdad, which is a scary prospect. The Iraqi army has so far proven incapable of holding their own territory despite severely out numbering and out gunning ISIS, usually because they flee in the face of advances, effectively gearing up ISIS in the process.

There's been a lot of talk in Australia regarding what we should do, as a great many of ISIS' international supporters have come from Australia. It's unlikely US air strikes will do anything but delay advances. I don't think the west has the stomach for another war in the middle east, so the only option that would put an end to this group quickly is an unlikely one.

11
Philosophy, Religion & Society / The shoot down of MH17
« on: July 18, 2014, 10:06:38 AM »
I'm sure most of you have heard by now that a Malaysian Airlines flight (yes, another) has been lost over Ukraine to a Buk missile platform most likely in control of separatists, resulting in 298 deaths. This has been backed up with alleged recordings published by the Ukrainian government, posts on social media by the separatists involved in the shoot down, and images taken by civilians of the Buk platform in nearby towns shortly before the shoot down. It is now apparent that the culprit was Igor Girkin, a commander in the separatist forces. The question of where they acquired this missile platform and who actually operated it remains, but it is likely Russia is involved in the answer.

This whole event has me dismayed and angry. Not only because we lost 298 innocents, but because of (now emerging) details regarding a number of passengers being AIDS researchers on their way to an AIDS conference in Melbourne. To think that a bunch of yahoo's in eastern Ukraine not only got their hands on some top tier military equipment, but in choosing to use it didn't bother checking their target, its flight path, or corroborating with external radar sites is absolutely infuriating. I hope the US, or NATO, take serious action with this, and push to bring these idiots to justice. Economic sanctions, no matter how harsh, are not justice for something Russia may not have even had a hand in.

The separatists currently control the crash site and have a number of important objects, such as the flight data recorder or 'black box' in their possession.

12
Arts & Entertainment / Korra season 3
« on: June 29, 2014, 11:24:33 PM »
It just aired a few days ago, and the next episode will be early July. It's looking good, nice to see a Zuko back after being omitted from the first 2 seasons and the new bad guys look interesting.

I know Dave watches this, does anyone else?

13
Arts & Entertainment / WiiU & 3DS thred
« on: May 21, 2014, 10:29:04 PM »
Thought I'd start one of these since a few of us have one of these consoles.

Found this today while browsing. Cool little bit of news, I'd be overwhelmed playing SSB on a GC controller once again. Also, Mario Kart 8 is out next Saturday and I'm dying to get my hands on it. Apparently it comes with a free game once you register it on the Nintendo Club site, so I'll probably pick up The Wonderful 101 or Windwaker HD for free as well.

14
Philosophy, Religion & Society / What happened to flight MH370?
« on: March 11, 2014, 05:56:57 AM »
I'm sure most of you have heard of this, but for those who haven't: a Malaysian airlines Boeing 777 disappeared shortly after take off about 3 days ago. It was headed to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur and had 200 or so people on board. No confirmed wreckage has been found, and all information usually transmitted from the aircraft ceased when it disappeared.

The media (at least, the Australian media) seems to be jumping on the terrorism bandwagon, due to some dodgy passports. However, the circumstances don't seem to support this theory, as no terrorist groups have claimed responsibility and no parts of the aircraft have been found.

So, what happened?

15
Technology & Information / Gabe Newell & Co AMA
« on: March 04, 2014, 10:21:53 PM »
After a minor drama spat yesterday when moderators deleted Gabe's thread for not following the rules, he's back with other volvo employees to answer inane reddit questions.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1zkfmv/wearea_videogame_developer_aua/

Also, Gabe is Parsifal:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1zkfmv/wearea_videogame_developer_aua/cfuf1fg

It's still pretty early in the AMA if anyone wants to ask Gabe a dumb question.

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Arts & Entertainment / Dark Souls
« on: December 10, 2013, 09:26:54 PM »

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