Zixar

Not being a dog owner, I can't speak with any authority on them, but it has been my experience with cats and other animals that "mutts" are preferable to purebreds except in the case of raising them for show. My mixed-breed cats have always been healthier, friendlier, and happier(-seeming) than purebreds. A little genetic diversity goes a long way. Check the local classifieds for lab puppies, or the local animal shelter if you want one. Wouldn't you feel better about rescuing an unwanted animal than buying one? Your mileage may vary.

Except that hard drives really are "moving parts" and the more they run, the more wear you put on them. If you're going to leave your computer on, make sure you set the power saving features to turn off the harddrives after an hour of non-use. The temperature thing may have been true in the days of the 486 and MS-DOS, but every Microsoft operating system based on the NT kernel (that means NT, Win2000, and WinXP) does automatic CPU-throttling, in effect shutting the power to the CPU off when it isn't actively running programs. There were utilities to do this under Win9x, like Rain and Waterfall, if memory serves. In other words, when you're using your computer, the CPU temperature is going to shoot up, then fall back when it starts to idle. This temp swing is much greater and frequent than the idle->ambient temp swing when you shut the sytem down, so the point is moot. My CPU idles at about 110 degrees F, going up to 150 degrees F under full load. Heat kills.

Wonton: yes, that would work. If you have WinXP, it already has a software firewall that comes with it, all you have to do is activate it.

To do the same thing, you right click on the bottom bar and select Task Manager. However, most of the vital processes (in XP, NT, and W2K they're called "services") are just that--vital. Memory protection really works across program boundaries in XP, unlike in Windows9x, so it's not necessary to kill programs first. They finally play nice with others... :)-->

Oh, you have to check this page out NOW... http://www.bagendinn.com/rotkcal.htm New Line sent theaters and media folks a calendar with 12 images from Return of the King... Check out King Aragorn, Gandalf at the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and more... :D-->

Sorry, John, I didn't see your message last night, and I'll be out of town this weekend. Maybe we can give it a try next week sometime.

Plus, Mike, if you can tear your conscience away from that hot-iron-searing for a moment, you might want to have a look at Rafael's examinations of the first two collateral volumes. They're a lot more objective than you're giving him credit for.

I thought Glamdring glowed when G fought the Balrog, but I noticed it didn't glow in the orc fights too. Plus, in the book, the shards of Narsil were reforged into Anduril at Rivendell, before the Fellowship left! Isn't there a scene in T2T where Elrond mentions Arwen took the shards of Narsil, maybe to Lorien? I've only seen T2T once so far, so maybe I'm wrong.

But 2 + 2 does equal 5.... For sufficiently-large values of two... ;)-->

About the orcs and morale, remember the infighting between the orcs and the Uruk-Hai while Merry and Pippin were being carried off? There were several different bands of orcs, men, and U-H in the army, and when the tide turned, it would not surprise me if they all broke because of that. "Let the slow bastards over there face the Rohirrim, I'm outta here!"

Yeah, isn't UT2k3 cool? And it looks great on my GeForce 4... We should play some time!

John: If you want instant-on, get an XBox. :)-->

Steve: Yes, I've read KODT here and there, also John Kovalic's "Dork Tower"...

Wow, did anyone else see the premiere last night? Michael Chiklis sure ain't The Commish anymore...that Emmy was well-deserved. This show helps take the edge off of waiting for another season of The Sopranos!

There's a registry tweak that will shorten the length of time Windows will wait on a hung process. Unfortunately, I don't have it committed to memory. (mine, not the computer's) There's also a tweak to raise the interrupt priority of the system clock on IRQ8 which speeds up the machine too. If I can find them again, I'll let you know. (Later) Ok, here's the key. Open Regedit and search for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlWaitToKillServiceTimeout. The value is in milliseconds, either 20000 or 30000 for 20 to 30 seconds. Set the value to 2000 (two seconds). If you don't have that key, create one using that exact punctuation and make it of type String like the others. (it will show as type REG_SZ--that's a String to the Registry.) I think this only works in XP and Win2000.

Better watch out, or the next thing you know, we'll all be playing Dungeons and Dragons in the chat room... ;)-->

One little trick is to remove unnecessary/unneeded fonts from your Windows/Fonts folder. A lot of programs install their own fonts and font enumeration on startup takes quite a while. It may not work in every case, but it is one more thing you can trim. Defragment your hard drive, and use WinXP's AppAccelerator if you're running XP. Have at least 128MB of RAM for any version of Windows less than XP, 256MB for XP.

SteveL: Re-reading your post above, I think you make a good argument for your point. In fact, I can't immediately see a compelling counterpoint, in light of your analysis. Good show.

Yeah, whenever it comes down to a puzzle where you have to pick a country that starts with a "D", I always pick Djibouti or the Dominican Republic instead of Denmark. If you're ever party to that type of joke, make sure you bet the jokester money they can't figure out what you picked. (It's usually either "an elephant" or "gray" for the answer, if it's trying to force a "Denmark" response.) Make sure you see the money before they reveal their "brilliance". ;)-->

Whatever happened to "scientific exactness and mathematical precision"? Nowhere in the collaterals are the revelation and impartation manifestations explored with a view towards their proper operation. That was supposed to be the Advanced Class, which you do not feel needs to be mastered. Had the collaterals been sufficient, the Advanced Class would have been unnecessary. Yet, you claim the only way we can see through all the errors in the modern Bible is via revelation from God. The paradox is that now researchers have to operate without an absolute knowledge of the operation of the revelation manifestations. If no revelation=no true Bible, and no instruction=no revelation, you've effectively removed all hope of being able to accurately interpret the Word according to your standards. That's horribly bad science. Another thing. One of the most basic keys to biblical interpretation that Dr. Wierwille taught was to get to whom it was written straight. Reading your transcipt of the Last Teaching, it is primarily addressed to the Country Coordinators, and only secondarily addressed to believers in general. That makes it his last teaching specifically only for Country Coordinators. Dr. Wierwille knew his true, public Last Teaching would be tape #1275, "The Hope". It was addressed to all believers, and is his final message to TWI assembled. Therefore, unless you are a Country Coordinator, the advice to master the FC, IC, and collaterals is not an absolute final mandate. Look to The Hope for that. The Adversary has put a subtle set of blinders on you, Mike, getting you to focus on something that isn't specifically addressed to you so you won't realize the truth. Any idea or doctrine that imprisons you such is of the devil. Why haven't you mastered "Release From Your Prisons" yet?

So now we're just supposed to take the Advanced Class as merely "for our learning", and not a direct revelation from God to Dr. Wierwille? Especially odd, as one of the requirements to take the AC was demonstrated mastery of the FC and IC so that we might separate truth from error. What, then, of Rev. Earl Burton, instructor of the latter-day IC? Mike, look, Rafael has tried to correct you via rational logic, Mark Sanguinetti and others have tried to correct you via Biblical logic, and I've tried via PFAL logic to get you to see that you are ensnared in a web of subtle idolatry that is contrary to the Word of God, common sense, and even Wierwille's own teachings. It's a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees, Mike. It won't take 17 years of researching. Ever hear the phrase "looking for a black cat in a coal cellar at midnight that isn't even there?" Dr. Wierwille said it himself--whenever we come to the Word with preconceived notions, to prove our point, we are already wrong. I would think that goes for his works especially. Ultimately, who do you wish to serve? Dr. Wierwille, through his works, or God, through His Word? You do not have to "purge" yourself of everything VPW taught, that's impossible, as well as foolish. What you should do is put all the books and collaterals aside, get a fresh KJV with no TWI notes in it, and prove to yourself from the Word every single doctrine that you can recall. Remember, the Word of God has to fit from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, it has to be the Word of God everywhere. We are still in the same administration as Paul was in, so anything that Dr. Wierwille said cannot contradict or supersede what the Epistles say--God would have to change administrations again to make such a reversal according to His Word, and that's not going to happen until Christ comes back. Now, if you find that Dr. Wierwille was absolutely right on something, what does that tell you? That he interpreted it the way God meant it to be. If you find he was wrong on something (see Rafael's list of actual errors in PFAL for a start), you absolutely MUST follow God instead of Dr. Wierwille. We study to show ourselves approved to God, not men, after all. At the end, you may just find that you have a greater appreciation for God's work, and see Dr. Wierwille's stuff as illustrative at best, not authoritative as you currently believe. You won't necessarily start going to Church, believing in the trinity, or praying to dead people. Or you might--several here have gone from VPW back to orthodoxy. Whichever way you go, make sure that it is the best possible decision based on what you can absolutely prove from the Bible. That's all any of us can do, being imperfect before the Perfect One. God bless, Zixar ...And you earn people's respect by serving them the Word of God and loving them-- and then learning to keep your mouth shut. -- Victor Paul Wierwille, from his Last Teaching.

Possibilities? No sir. The Word is not subject to your private interpretation. This was the Advanced Class on PFAL, the vital revelation of the operations of two-thirds of the manifestations of the spirit. Dr. Wierwille would not have lied to us on such a vital issue. Neither was he mistaken. This was the man who healed the paralyzed arm of a man in Jubbulpore, and cast all number of spirits out of a possessed woman there as well. You can't do those sort of things and not know what you're talking about. Doctor said cancer is always a devil spirit. He was unequivocal on the matter. Trying to discern spiritual matters via five-senses knowledge "possibilities" is a tool of the Adversary. Where is your believing that you could be so deceived in this matter?

Another thing. Remind me again how adultery is now not only acceptable, but actually required of the "Man of God"?

Just thought I'd bring this back up, too. Since God supposedly theopneustosed the whole PFAL class to VPW, yet VPW contracted cancer (via devil spirit) well before his Last Teaching, how are we supposed to tell which words there are God-breathed, and which are devil spirit lies?

Sorry, I missed this bit at the bottom of Page 1, too. Remember that bit about "the truth needs no defense"? I'd suggest that it should be "the truth can withstand all assaults" instead. I have been less than patient with a lot of the passionate anti-Wierwillites because the truth about the man speaks clearly. Any vengeful emotional embellishments actually detract from that damning truth. No matter how good it may feel to some to imagine VPW as some Machiavellian Snidely Whiplash who took secret commands from his penis to create a ministry to provide him with unlimited women, it isn't objectively convincing. Like this thread stresses, it's the actual, demonstrable, indisputable errors that demolish any ideas of Wierwillian infallibility, rather than a bunch of sophomoric d1ck jokes. So, to the passionate Wierwille-despisers, I'd just say that you have more than enough actual reasons to hate the man, without having to create imaginary, implausible, exaggerated evils to hang on him. The emotion muddies the message, which needs to be as clear as glass to those still inside. To that end, the honest thing to do is not blanket-condemn everything VPW said, but rather be able to demonstrate each singular place where he was wrong (or right, even) such that no one can dispute your logic. If you can't conclusively disprove something, just "leave it" until you can. "It's wrong just because HE said it" is not the argument of a learned person, just as "it's RIGHT just because he was the MOG" is an idiot's argument. I relinquish the soapbox... :D-->