Absolute

Now figure a poll handed out to people about their predictions of the results of the 2008 Presidential Elections. Imagine many people vote John McCain to win it, and then a online website that covers the event (such as CNN) post it online. Then they start getting comments from democrats saying that that this particular news station news are biased. The station answers to the angry comments stating that it wasn't their opinion, they just post the results. See, there's a little difference between posting and being biased and posting but getting their source from a different website or people (in this case, the people that were included in the poll).

I understand what you're saying, but CNN would hire a professional survey/data collection service that would collect a nearly unbiased survey through random sampling. How do I know that whoever collected this data went through the proper steps to make sure the survey had no inherent bias?

Heh, the nicknames Krawk Islander and HBK refer to the same person - me. It's just so happens that KI is my AC nickname, while HBK is my normal non-event one. :)

My apologies, I wasn't aware of that. You have to admit, though - it's a little confusing.

P.S. Regarding the finals, ~75% of those who answered "Who will win?" said that KI will win while ~25% said RI. Definitely interesting stats to consider.

You know, I don't have a problem with supporting your team on the boards and such, but isn't news supposed to be... oh, I don't know... unbiased? I can understand a little fun, but when I (an avid RI supporter) go to see who won and lost, I don't exactly appreciate having YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE thrown in my face. Come on, I checked you guys before I even saw the actual results on neopets. I trust you to be more professional than that, at least in official news articles.

Actually, the people we interview were from other teams (not RI or KI) so there will be no biases. And TDN doesn't support any particular team. We are actually from different teams. :D

Maybe TDN doesn't support any particular team, but Krawk Islander and HBK (who both support KI) are extremely active in the AC news department, and are representing TDN and making it look very biased (not just in this article either, I just chose not dispute the others).

However, that being said... thanks to everyone who worked so hard and made this the best AC coverage site I've ever seen. And now, it's time for an EPIC SHOWDOWN!!! Good luck to everybody, and may the best team win!

It depends on how long you can keep up the pace. It's more beneficial to go the whole 30 seconds because you have more time to get bonus buttons, but if your hands are really tired and you can't keep going, that's when it's best to just send your score.

I think that freeloaders definitely reduce a team's score. Not only are we noticing this phenomonon, but I recall something from the first AC that said something about "Just because you're on a big team doesn't mean that your team will always win, if everyone on a small team plays then they will probably win" or something like that. I guess there's no way to prove it for sure, but from TNT's standpoint it only makes sense that they would at least try to even out the playing field for a small team by making the team's scores into ratios of points vs people rather than just points.

I finally decided today to delete my old, cruddy guild that hasn't seen a new member in nearly two years. I'd really like to be a part of a guild, just not MY guild. So, can anyone recommend a good guild for me? I'm ok with just about any guild as long as it has at least 50 members (bigger is better), doesn't revolve around Harry Potter/Yugioh/some obscure anime series, and won't freak out if I'm not on every day. For that matter, why doesn't TDN have a guild? I'd join that in a heartbeat. Thanks!

I joined neopets in September of '03. The biggest changes I've seen are in the artwork (it's a lot more professional looking now) and inflation.

Sigh... RI's problem is that if they don't sense a threat, they don't play nearly as much. I myself scoffed yesterday at the thought of MI beating us, but look what nearly happened. We have what it takes to win all the time, it's just that we only step it up when we feel we need to. It's kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy in reverse: when you (and they) think they'll win, they stop playing and don't win; but when you think they'll lose, that's when they bring out the big guns and (if just barely) win.

Those are not cheats, they are supposed to be there. They're just quick shortcuts for doing things that are a pain to do otherwise, they're even in the controls for YYB if you look in the instructions.

I think they're focusing on Roo Island a lot because we're at a point in the cup where they could go either way... continue winning and move up, or make one or two false moves and fall back to 3rd or 4th. Our matches are generally more intense than KI's as well, since there's more of a chance for RI to lose.

I take my hat off to LD, but it's not over until the fat lady sings. RI will step up our game, I assure you. Besides, it doesn't really matter if we're first, second, or third... yet. As long as any team remains in the top 4 they have an equal chance at the cup.

Roo island is amazing like that. I just hope we don't get too cocky before we face Darigan round 2 and KI. GO ROOLIGANS!!!

It's about time! The first one stunk.

Got me some Free Bird over here. BTW, Rammstein is awesome. Oh yeah, anybody here ever heard of nightwish? They're amazing too.

I went to highschool in Fairborn, OH at the public high school. And in my sophmore and junior year of highschool there was no public transportation for the highschool. I would think it's required too... but apparently it's not, or it wasn't then at least. I think they were able to enforce it by some sort of vote... the support for it being that so many students drove to school, they could bring all the kids that didn't drive, plus parents could start carpools. But I lived out in the middle of nowhere by a bunch of farms... so I wasn't "on the way" for anyone to pick me up. It was finally overturned for my senior year (of course I was driving then) because my friend Dennis got in a car accident on the way to school and him and one of the two kids in the car with him died. The other kid had a bunch of serious injuries and has a permanent limp now and some really bad facial scarring. Now thats a killjoy. That's why, to me, your day seemed like such a tragedy for your school. It sounds like your school is one of a very few that enjoy good funding. Count yourself very lucky to be able to attend that school!

 

Oh, and sports are a necessity (at least for me!)... I'm addicted to cross-country running, and I LOVE racing... I can run by myself... but they don't let you compete unless you're part of the team!

Absolutely. I know I'm very lucky to go to the school that I do and try very hard not to take it for granted. And let me clarify something... to my knowlege, school districts are pretty much required to provide transportation. The only exception is if you're not required to attend, then they can suspend transportation. But then they can't punish you for not being there or declare you truant. Does your school do those? If they do, then they're required to bus you in one form or another.

BTW... I'm very sorry to hear about your friends.

um he ruined at least 100k worth of equipment. Im thinking he's expelled at least. if not possible legal action

He got both. Expulsion and a 4k fine.

hey crxsnochic i live in englewood ohio, which is a little north of dayton, neat eh? anywho how about we rename the day " the most unlikely pencil flip day ever" or something so people can quit arguing about it ok? and i think its odd you didnt mention anything about the smell of the sprinklers. that water sits in there for years and it comes out all nasty and stinky, not like t he movies. so is this story true?

Sounds good to me! Actually, the smell of the water was part of why they sent everyone home. They put this weird oil stuff in along with the water to get rid of different kinds of fires and it smells really bad. Though, I was doubting it could cause a miscarriage like a friend of mine was saying... but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

I just put this up because I thought people might appreciate the irony of it. I mean, the kid wasn't really doing anything bad. It just turned out that way. There actually wasn't that much damage for those who are curious, they estimated the whole thing to cost like 10,000 including cleanup and sprinkler replacement. Only 2 classrooms were badly damaged, the one where it happened because there were like 3 cruddy computers and a bunch of old german books and the one below it that was an art class (felt bad for that class... they'd just finished making paper-machie statues for their final project and they all crumbled). Now if it had been a computer room, that would be a different story... but it wasn't. Anyway everything's cool now, little harm done. I just liked that a single bored kid was reponsible for 950+ students missing half a day of school.

Wow... what a bunch of killjoys. I thought it was pretty funny how it happened. There actually wasn't that much damage done, and I'm pretty sure we don't have any budget issues seeing as they just got a 20 million dollar grant to put an electronic blackboard in every classroom and give every single student a laptop (which wasn't implemented yet, or then we'd be in real trouble). Oh yeah, did I also mention my superintendant's anhd principal's 15-grand-a-year raise? Yeah, we're not too bad off. School resumed as usual the next day. Besides, the school's insurance picked up the cost anyway. So quit yer bellyaching.

crxsnochic, where on earth did you go to school? If it's a public school anywhere in the US, they're required to provide transportation. And sorry to say, you don't have to play sports.

Hey guys! I just got home from a half day of school that happened totally by accident. The fire alarm went off right before lunch and sprinklers ended up flooding half the school, but there was no fire. They sent everybody home early but wouldn't tell anybody why it happened. However, through my network of people I found out what happened, and it's the best thing I've ever heard. I swear upon all that is worth swearing upon this story is as true as can be.

So, a couple of guys who aren't exactly known for their intelligence were sitting in a class after taking their final. I don't know if any of you have heard of the trick where you try to flip a pencil point-up and get it stuck in the ceiling, but that's what one of them suggested doing(he claimes he was just kidding). The teacher wasn't watching, so the other guy tried it. As he launched the pencil from his desk, the first guy says: "But make sure you watch out for the sprink... ler." You guessed it, the pencil gets wedged straight into a fire sprinkler on the first shot. So, the second guy climbs up on a desk to get the pencil before the teacher can see. He stands up on the desk and reaches for the pencil... and trips, shoving the pencil the rest of the way into the sprinkler, tripping the fire alarm and every sprinkler in that hallway. Tons of expensive books and computers were destroyed and the whole school had to be emptied out (minutes before lunch, I might add.... Very loud and not fun). By the way, this was a 2nd story room right next to a stairway, which made for a very nice waterfall. The mess was bad enough that they sent everybody home for the day (except for the kid that did it, who was seen in the middle of an "inquisition" in the principal's office). The other guy, who happens to ride my bus, told me the story on the way home which is how I know.

A lot of stuff to do, tons of customization, good games, big prizes to work for, it's just generally good.

They need some newer fire emblem characters. I'd really like one from the sacred stones, but that's just because it's the only one I've played.

I don't exactly think they're too difficult, but it's more that there's no low level challengers. Also, the levels are much too spread apart (i.e. if you beat one opponent, the next is like 10 levels higher). And who does pvp battles, anyway?

I'm just gonna point out that nobody who would rate neopets a one is going to be on this forum. I give neo a 4/5, the re-vamping of the front page and games room have been great. However, I think neopets could prioritize their upgrades a little better. Quit releasing new items that most people don't really care that much about and focus on what can benefit everyone... like the pound and battledome (not that I ever use the pound, but I know a lot of people do). It would be awesome if they could make the battledome flash, although I know that's a little much to ask for...

That's odd, but I can see why.

That's awesome! I wish I had the money to do something like that. Maybe someday...

A friend of mine showed it to me and I was immediately enthralled. 4 1/2 years later, he's moved on to bigger and better MMO's like WoW and thinks I'm nuts for still playing neopets at age 18. BTW, I'm still using the account that I made back then. I haven't been active that entire time, but I've gotten on at least once every two weeks to feed my pets the whole time (I always put my pets in the neolodge so I don't have to freak out if I miss a day or two. Might be more expensive, but the convenience is worth it for me)

I think that they're pressing too hard for people to buy the neocash. They don't even tell you very well that it's a pay service until you're ready to buy the item. And what's with them disappearing? If I'm gonna pay for something, I want it to stay around. I'm afraid that they'll start conjuring up other things that end up becoming pay services and soon it'll become like runescape or gaia, where if you don't give them your money then you're at a serious disadvantage and will never live up to people who do pay. That's one thing I love about neopets, and why I've been on for so long... they do a good job of making you feel welcome on the site even if you're not there to give them money. I think it's perfectly alright for them to have a pay service like that, but my problem is if it goes beyond this point.

That's odd. Why would that even be nessacary? I say if they made a seperate copy of the game that can send a score three more times, it's their fault. Sheesh, they could just delete them and get rid of the problem if it's that big of a deal. Seems kinda stupid to me.