I tried to climb your steps, I tried to chase you down, I tried to see how low I could get it down to the ground

Warhammer may get its own MMO? That could be interesting. If ever a potential "WoW killer" existed...

"When there is no authority to the truth, prejudices thrive." David Aaronovitch said that, regarding conspiracy theories in general, but I think it doubly applies on the grid, first because "Did you hear...?" is such a fun game to play, but second, and even more importantly, because there is so very little honest, open communication between Lindens and residents.

Via Miss Kamenev and Miss Homewood, Kula Shaker extolling the virtues of tea. I think he's got distinct points--coffee wires, tea relaxes; and better yet, tea is a great social equalizer. Just about anyone can get a cuppa and sit around talking about the tea if nothing else; coffee is so striated, depending on social status. (All I have to say is three words on that: "Folger's Crystals" for the cheapest, foulest, lowest common denominator, and the first two words--and "Starbucks", evil bean-burning madmen, and home of the six dollar latte, for the last one.)

(Though, in that vein, check out some amazing examples of latte art on YouTube. And, while we're here, let me remind people of another purely transitory form of art--Ilana Yahav's sand art. To work largely in the absence of content, to draw lines using light and sand, and to let the whole thing go afterwards and walk away...Incredible art form.)

"We can lay our cynicism thicker than Marmite, but on launch days, suddenly the thick distaste for the state of the genre has turned into a light, sweet tone of hope." Miss Jaime Skelton on Launch Day hypocrisy.

Patch 2.1.6 is now live on Runes of Magic, and it has brought with it a new open combat area (don't care), the new instance to take down the Demon Lord Sirloth (not high enough level to care), the coming of the Valentine's Day event (mostly earns roses and fireworks, so don't care, but there are some fun mini-games), the Flower Festival (sort of care, having gone through that in beta), and--the only real OOH-I-want-to-know-more on the list--a new Epic quest line.

That makes three for the game, total. I'm hoping each Epic leads to different weapons, but at the least each Epic leads to XP and new gear, so I'm fine with that.

I run about average on risk intelligence. That test group is running a study on how people use "risk intelligence", defined as "a measure of a person’s ability to estimate probabilities accurately." People with high risk intelligence make good predictors of events; both Wall Street professionals and bookies, for instance, use risk intelligence every single day to inform them in their chosen jobs.

"High risk intelligence is quite rare. Fifty years of research in the psychology of judgement and decision making shows that most people are not very good at thinking clearly about risky choices. If risk intelligence was more common, the world wouldn't be mired in financial crisis, since this was largely caused by unwise lending and borrowing - both of which involve risk intelligence. Too many lenders and borrowers overestimated the chances that loans would be repaid."

Take the test. You might be surprised at your results.