[MM]

The stats were inaccurate , having "left over" errors from when they weren't working correctly. It was decided to wipe them back to zero and make a fresh start. As for the server being empty - bad timing - Last night saw the start of "new" map testing - we're hoping to expand the map rotation with more , good quality , maps. We (meaning myself , S0V13T , and TFMF) have already given the "thumbs up" to a couple of new maps , and are currently testing more. There will be a map-pack available to download in the near future - failing that , if you don't have a map , your client will automatically download it inside the game itself if/when it comes around in the rotation. [MM]

I shudder when I read stories like that. This is exactly the type of thing that gets Torrents and it's community in so much trouble. Remember what happened after Star Wars 3 got leaked ? Yeah , it was used as an excuse to rush through yet more totalitarian laws through the US political system. Laws invented to protect rich US business interests and enforced the world over , even in countries that never ratified the laws - not even passed by their own governments. IMHO - there's a right way and a wrong way to go about these things - and leaking shows early is the WRONG way... [MM]

As TFMF said but also : The fact that a lot of klingons don't act "honourably" while spouting the word so often was often a key point of stories in TNG. Often it was the spur for Worf to go off on one of his "cleanup" missions to root out the bad weeds. (TBH I think the only Klingon to actually *act* honourably was Worf himself - and that was only because he grew up away from the rest of them) It's also highlighted in DS9 when Quark gets mixed up in the whole Klingon Marriage thing - there he comments on how deceitful the whole klingon System is (and how at home he felt twisting the situation to his advantage , coming from him that's a real slur on an "Honourable" system) It's a bit like the whole "Vulcan's aren't emotional" thing ;) but that's a different argument :D

Your favorite game of 2006? Half Life 2 - Do I really need to explain that ?? OR/AND ES IV Oblivion - Finally a "proper" RPG with wonderful artwork and totally free adventuring Your least favorite game of 2006? Dawn of War: Dark Crusade - it's just another dull , repetitive RTS game that adds nothing to an already over done genre. The most over-rated game of 2006? Dawn of War: Dark Crusade - it's just another dull , repetitive RTS game that adds nothing to an already over done genre. (I literally fell asleep while watching my mate play the thing!) The most Under-rated game of 2006? I don't follow the gaming scene well enough to answer that. The one thing in the gaming world that surprised you the most in 2006? The Wii - I too was expecting it to fall under the looming shadow of the PS3.....wrong! Which would you want to see under your tree? Xbox 360, Wii or the Ps3? A new PC - no consoles for me thanks! What games are you excited about for PC/Wii/360/PS3 in the upcoming year? Half Life Episode 2 :D

I'm always a fan of a good animated GIF...and that one MrThumps is the best Quality avatar I've seen in some time. It's also damn funny :D 10/10 (it sure beats my simplistic thing but mine is more of a tradition for me , it suits the character of Mad Martha so well I don't feel like changing it :) )

Paul Verhoeven was involved in making The Roughneck Chronicles - and I thought they were very good myself - unlike the film they gave the impression of a long drawn out campaign and the effect that had on the troops... As for things "borrowed" from ST - the Trooper uniforms were used in the Firefly episode "Train Job" as uniforms for the Alliance troopers....

I know of 3 versions of "Song for 10" the original version done in the ep was by Tim Phillips the album version was done by Neil Hannon and the one done in the Cardiff Concert by Gary Williams... Of the three versions I still prefer the original version that was heard in the ep...

Curse of Fatal Death [me="[MM]"]wants cookie :P[/me] P.S. They are DALEK BUMPS! :P

I'm deliberately raising this topic from the dead. With the new Signature restrictions in place , everyone's previous Sig got trashed. So , how have you all coped ? I hope I have demonstrated with my effort that things are still possible but maybe a new approach is needed to get something you are happy with... Hopefully this will spur some of you to new creative places :) [MM] P.S. Highlander72 - Love your sig - you inspired me to do something with mine - and I still have further ideas in mind... ;D

A good ep I thought... .... but couldn't help thinking of the Trek TOS episode - A Taste of Armageddon. (where the initial premise was a war played out between two peoples on computer , and was solved by Kirk actually forcing the onset of "real war" to scare the two sides into peace talks....) Also spotted Daisy Adair from Dead Like Me playing the role of leader of the Geldar.

True , but then it's common to a lot of sci-fi's , SG-1 has already been mentioned , but also consider Doctor Who itself (including all the old series) , in that we've even had Daleks trundling down London roads. Yet come next story - it's all forgotten about. (and this has been happening for many many years in DW) Question is : Does that make it "bad" ? Everyone will have their own answer for that (see Vyperion above) - I personally don't mind - If an individual story is good and entertaining then I frankly don't care. That don't mean that I don't like running stories - I enjoy them as well. In the end , if it entertains me then it's done it's job IMHO :) [MM]

I'm not trying to be greedy and ask for silly sizes. I'm just saying that 80px is TOO small. Just a suggestion , but how about more height (100~120px) but less pics (say 3 instead of 4). With that suggestion in mind , ppl wanting "multiple" pics at least have an option to paste smaller pics into one larger one. (e.g. several (5~6) "user bars" pasted into one large (100~120px high) composite pic ,that in turn could be animated if needed , then have two large composite pics next to each other to look like two columns of user bars giving a total of 10~12 user bars in a sig ....leaving another 3rd pic spare for an additional Pic if they choose) That way , those like me can make more use of the single larger pics and those wanting multiple pics (i.e. more than 3) don't have to do anything too complicated (i.e. cut and paste in an art package) to get something they like. Does that sound unreasonable ?

Because trying to make an animated GIF with just 80 height but 400 width leaves you with virtually no footage to work with. Most stuff is in 16:9 aspect, meaning that for an 80 high pic you end up with a 142px wide GIF - and that's NOT a sig , it's an Avatar! (NOTE : Even avatars here have a greater height allowance of 100!) Now , with a more generous height one could find (more) things to crop down to a reasonable size but the 80 leaves you with not even a whole face , and the end result looks dire (i.e. unusable) Or you have to scale down too much and loose any semblance of detail - again looking dire (i.e. unusable) Take for example my current make-shift sig - note how poor quality it looks compared to even your own avatar... (and that clip is taken from DVD quality digital footage)

If I can find some "off the wall" way of sync'ing 4 animated gif's to "play" correctly you'll find out ;D ...and yeah , just for the record : The limit on images of a height of 80px = SUCKS BIGTIME! (especially for those of us who work in 16:9) [MM]

Well , if they stay true to the "old" storyline then it'll be Starbuck. BUT I think that's being a little too obvious. Recently the show's writing has been great and I think they'll not go that way... Instead I think they'll maybe kill off Chief or D'iana in a scene at the Temple of Five. (note D'iana is only listed as a "Guest Star") Could be completely off the mark , but hey , time will tell :)

Atlantis ISN'T bold on my screen ;D

Trek was good in it's day - I loved TOS , TNG and DS9 when they were on. Then came the "dark ages" of VOY and ENT. VOY couldn't have got off my screens soon enough for me - IMHO it's the series that KILLED StarTrek. They tried to recover with ENT but fell short - nice try but no cigar! I think what didn't help was by the time I watched ENT and VOY I had already seen both Babylon5 and Farscape , and that "raised the bar" for what I expected from a sci-fi show. After seeing those two , ST just didn't hold up anymore - I had seen what could be done with a show and ST just didn't come up to scratch anymore. Nowadays , for me , it's BSG that is leading the way - Season 3 took a wonderful dark turn and I'm loving it ;D The new Doctor Who is my "first love returned" - since I saw DW before I had seen a single ep of ST anyways :) ...and oh my , the years melted away as I saw *that* blue box and heard *that* sound from my youth - my baby had come home ! SG-1 and SG-A continue the SG franchise nicely and sometimes produce great eps - although both have been a bit hit and miss lately - still good to watch but SG-1 is starting to look a bit "old" , the way forward there is with SG-A , will have to see if they can "deliver".... There's also the "smaller" shows that either got cancelled or have only just begun , some of those have impressed me no end. e.g. Firefly - such a shame we are unlikely to see any more of that universe. Then there's Eureka - a show that for me "feels" like a new Farscape - not in concept or look but in originality and it's light hearted humour. (I've also heard nothing but good things about "Heroes" - haven't seen it yet and dunno if it qualifies as sci-fi) So , in all , no I'm NOT missing Trek one bit - sure it would be nice to see some more - BUT - only if it was completely "re-imagined" into something that can compare with all these latest and greatest shows..... [MM]

#1 - Babylon 5 (by a country mile) #2 - Farscape #3 - Would be Firefly *if* it had run for longer - as is , I settle for Doctor Who (some of the early stuff is real rough and detracts from the show when looked at as a whole)

BBC2's viewing figures have stayed consistent at around the 2Mill mark. (initial nights figures were 2.4Mill) BBC2 has been known for some time to be after the show - they know a "good thing" (meaning : popular show) when they see it and want it for themselves. BBC3 lost the fight to keep it for themselves. Now some ppl don't like the show - well that's OK , it's their choice - ultimately it's the shows ratings that decide it's future - and from where the BBC are standing , the ratings are good enough to give it another series. The move to being a BBC2 show should help TW - BBC2 get a bigger slice of the money pie to spend on their stuff and so by implication , TW should be given a better budget in the future :) I would like to think this would help the show become even better. As for "just watching a show to moan about it" - OK I ask this : By your own sig you say you watched eps 1,2 and 4 and then looked like you gave up watching altogether (fair enough) - But, what made you decide to "tune in" this week and watch this particular ep ? (especially after the bad revue's ? ) [MM]

Actually I sleep within 3 feet of a high gain Wi-Fi antenna (just the other side of the wall) and have the actual unit at the head of my bed on the window ledge above it. (a point to point link with my mate 100M up the road) I have no concerns about it what-so-ever ! *IF* he did actually understand the technical side he would know that by walking in an east or west direction you generate much more EM energy in your body as you (a conductor -a bag of water) move through the earths own magnetic field. And don't even start me on electrical mains exposure (every house in the UK has a "ring main" meaning whenever you are indoors you are standing within a copper loop radiating 50Hz EM 24 hours a day). This sort of stuff is pure Luddite mentality - a fear of "new things" , whatever they may be. I'm *not* saying "all EM is safe , don't worry about it" , far from it , I just wish ppl & the press would try to learn about what they are talking about before they go scare mongering like this. One good example would be the whole mobile phone thing - ppl worry more about the phone mast which is safely out the way (EM field strength drops off dramatically over even a short distance) and less about the transmitter they press against their skull for hours on end. (the phone itself) Parents then complain about Cell masts being mounted near/on schools yet most of them will have bought mobile phones for their kids to use. By moving a Cell mast further away from the school means the phone now has to crank it's power settings UP to be able to reach a further away mast. (i.e. It increases the exposure given to the kids when they use their phones) A good example of scare mongering doing more harm than good , I feel. /rant [MM]

They are messing with all the titles in the latter part of the series. "Virus" is now called "Combat" and "Apocalypse" is now being called "End of Days" and that's just the one's I know of so far. As for this ep - poor. Basically a regurgitated form of Dr. Who's Love & Monsters ep.

More up to date Info : BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES - UPDATE FROM JMS For those of you not on the Babylon 5 Script Team mailing list, I did not want you to miss the latest from JMS – and the Babylon 5: LOST TALES December 1, 2006 As I write this, we have finished principal photography on "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales," coming in under budget and finishing a full day ahead of schedule. This first DVD, entitled "Voices in the Dark," covers the same 72 hour period of time as Sheridan travels on board a Presidential Cruiser en route to Babylon 5 from Minbar for a celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Interstellar Alliance. One part of the story follows Sheridan as he picks up an unexpected visitor on the edge of Centauri space, Prince Regent Dius Vintari, and a warning about what will come afterward delivered by the techno- mage, Galen. The other part of the story is set aboard Babylon 5, as Colonel Lochley summons a priest from Earth space to deal with a problem that may have dark supernatural overtones. The two parts of the greater story intersect at certain key plot and thematic points, so that they overlap and complement each other while telling separate, but simultaneous, stories. The first DVD is going to require nearly 200 EFX shots, taking us all over Alliance space, and Babylon 5, which is being redesigned using the latest CGI technology. The same CGI is being used to create virtual sets a la Sin City, but on an even more detailed basis, in many cases integrating them with practical sets based on the original blueprint designs for Babylon 5. A number of behind-the-scenes pieces were shot for inclusion on the DVD, as well as a number of original short pieces that will be filmed in February which feature glimpses into the future of Babylon 5 and her characters. We have set-up a temporary webpage of photos from the shoot from my personal collection. These images mark the very first photos to emerge from production. http://babylon5scripts.com/TLT-JMS-photos.html For more information, keep an eye on www.babylon5.com as well as Babylon5scripts.com. WB will be integrating the internet as a key component for promoting B5:TLT and we are pleased to be a part of that effort. JMS

As a follow up : In a related story : Teryl Rothery cast in new Babylon 5 Sunday - November 26, 2006 | by Darren Sumner Actress Teryl Rothery has been cast in Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, a new direct-to-DVD movie now in production in Vancouver, British Columbia. The film (actually a collection of two one-hour stories) will be released in 2007, picking up some time after the events of the hit 1990s sci-fi television show. Rothery co-starred for seven years on Stargate SG-1 as the beloved Dr. Janet Fraiser. She will play an ISN news reporter in The Lost Tales, according to writer, director, and executive producer J. Michael Straczynski. The Lost Tales is intended to be a multiple-DVD series, with this first 2-hour installment subtitled "Voices In the Dark." It stars B5 alums Bruce Boxleitner ("John Sheridan"), Tracy Scoggins ("Elizabeth Lochley"), and Peter Woodward ("Galen"). "What I can say about the [planned stories] is that we go to Mars, Minbar and of course B5," Straczynski wrote to fans online. "We introduce a new kind of Minbari cruiser, and there's a rather startling sequence on Earth. I've decided to shoot each segment a little differently from each other, so they each have their own visual style that complements that particular story." The DVD is expected to be released this spring, at least in North America.

This just in from ISN ! JMS Speaks BABYLON: THE LOST TALES UPDATE Update from JMS: Date: 10/26/2006 1:01:01 AM Well, tomorrow I head back to LA for meetings on other projects for two days, then it's back to Vancouver again on Sunday to continue prep. So far everything's laying out very cleanly. We have an EFX house on board now, which was the last big step to be undertaken. It wasn't until the last day or so that we could really get into the CGI issues, which are huge on these stories. And in regard to that...the initial goal was to try and do three big stories in one DVD. So I wrote three scripts, featuring Sheridan, Lochley, Galen and Garibaldi. (I wanted to focus on the human characters initially so we'd have more time for prosthetics R&D for the next one.) The stories, as noted previously, were huge...all over the map, from Minbar, to Earth, Mars, the future, the distant past, as well as B5 itself obviously. We're also going to be trying some new production technologies, again trying to stay ahead of the tech curve, the way B5 has always stayed ahead on these things. And over the last few days, as we began to bring on crew and lay out the production, looking at just how complicated these mini-movies were going to be, the idea of making three of these monsters began to become a bit much for us to pull off on out first time out the gate, especially since I'm still kind of new as a director. So we decided to postpone one of the three to the next DVD, and lengthen the other two to make up the difference. GIven that the Garibaldi story was the most complicated visually and technically, also the most difficult from a CGi perspective, that's the one that got pushed until, potentially, next time. And if the sales are anywhere near what WB expects, and I think they will be, there's no question that there will be more of these down the road. So we're gong to focus in on those two stories and knock them out of the park. Same length, same running time, and now even bigger than at first anticipated since the budget on number three will now be applied to the other two. Part of what we're doing is to re-think the look of B5 to some degree. The show was created using 1993 technology, video toasters and amigas, and was to some extent limited by the paradigms and production methods we used in that. But it's now 13 years later, and while I will keep the feel of the show the same, and the silhouettes and designs, there's no reason to limit the look of the feel to what we could do six years ago (from when we stopped). So we're going to invest a lot of time, effort and money into really re-imagining some of the visuals at the present level -- looking at shows like Battlestar and the like -- and bringing those tools into B5 while still maintaining the feel of the show. I also managed to work in a nice nod to Andreas and Richard in the two mini-movies. So with that...the team is now in place, the last personnel have been hired, and as soon as I get back to Vancouver, I get to take off the producer's hat and put on the director's hat. So that's the scoop - the show is due to hopefully air sometime in 2007 !

I think I got another that can be added under the section "Names given to him by others" The Lonely God ;) (Well the face of Boe seemed to think he was the right guy to talk to - just not yet) And wasn't there another one mentioned in his (second) trial on Galifrey ? (or am I thinking Theta Sigma there ?) :)