Gerard

Yeah I don't like that idea - it stops this being a public site. Mind you, there are a lot of people we don't want as members - n00bs and people who only want to advertise and people who don't want to post. The problem is not how to trick as many people as possible into registering, its how to to make many people want to post (and thus register before they can). The other nice thing is that members are able to get a feel of the forum, and the way we conduct ourselves and behave, BEFORE they register and instantly create a topic about "hi hu r u im sam n i dno hu u r so tl me".

It really annoys me on MSN when people start using "u" and abbreviations like that. Yeah I use btw wtf omfg fyi ftw cba imo afaik iirc and all those kinda things, but not like "hi hu r u cs i dno hu u r". Okay perhaps in texting I cba capitalising and going the whole hog with evey single word, but I use accepted abbreviations rather than shortening three-letter words. I mean come on, thats just lazy. Spaz is absolutely right - it becomes a habit, although it happened the other way round for me. When I became a mod here Chris encouraged me to not bother using stupid text language and typing out in full. That is a habit that has carried over to everything else too. I can interpret it, but it annoys me when people are lazy.

It wasn't taken seriously last time, a bit off the cuff. The winners were just picked by the staff, completely in public in that topic, and they kept changing the recipients. If we're gonna do it again it needs to be done in private but with some big announcements about it. So I'm thinking a post on the main site to say we're having a competition in 2 weeks so please signup and see if you can win by becoming "most helpful new member" (spam warning). Then a topic with the nominations, then a topic with the voting (done properly) OR a hidden staff topic where they can decide BEFORE releasing the results in another big announcement. Doing it that way will bring so much more to the forums than a random small topic tucked away in fun+games somewhere.

Well I (hopefully) wouldn't get any, tisn't my job these days. But yeah I still think this is a good idea. Let's do it with a bit more professionalism and enthusiasm than last time.

I cannot see anything you will gain by getting beaten up. Sure, you'll make the pussies on mopeds feel like they have really big dicks because twenty of them can beat up two kids smaller than them. Sure, you'll grow some nice bruises too. By running away, you defeat them. They can't win if they don't fight you. Plus, if they give you one beating they'll be more likely to give you another because you're an easy target. Leaving them alone means you have nothing to do with them. There's nothing manly about being beaten up. Sure they'll call you names and say you're a pussy, but thats only because you got away and didnt give them what they wanted.

Yeah pretty much. I go to University for free for 3 years At University, I get £1500 for doing 45 days of RAF activites After University, I go straight into Officer Training with the RAF I get six years of job, getting paid between £27k and £45k If I do 12 years of job, then I get free pension for rest of life On top of that I can get another job when I leave the RAF And I even get a state pension when I retire And the (other) good thing is that this is the RAF, not the army - so there isn't all the same daily assault courses and parades every half hour. This is the good life. You can even buy a house near to where you're working, and you don't have to live on base.

There used to be a few ideas floating around: View Topic, and even a "most helpful member" award It was conducted pretty badly and the process was too open - everybody could see who got the awards quite early on as they were being decided. If it was repeated, it would have to be implemented a lot more professionally. I'd help with that if needed. But I like the idea, and I think it should be used for the benefit of the community here - news on the main site and everything, to get people interested. A fairly long run-up (couple of weeks) would help people show off their skills and helpfulness etc. As for prizes, merchandise (GTA or TGTAP) would be the most useful, although other things such as points (for spending in the forum shop) or a free subscription (blog or gallery) would be easier for the crew here.

It wasn't that hawt tbh He obviously isn't that good a photographer though

Then there's the (really bad) photo Chris took of me...

You're right, the six years wont be that long since I'm doing what I want to do and getting paid more than enough to do it. The extra benefits of being in the RAF, like the activities and education and experience and travel etc, is all just a bit bonus on top. Thanks guys

Yeah, I agree it is an amazing opportunity and not many undergraduates have job security for the next 12 years of their lives. My only issue is that I'm not sure whether it IS what I want to be doing for the next 12 years. There's less opportunity to specialise - if I stayed civvy my plan is to specialise in computer security - but if I was in the RAF I could be doing anything. That in itself is a good thing though. Tis all a bit confusing

Not quite, they're just skatey roller things where you go down a little curvy course and just lean/tilt to turn it. But yeah pretty decent fun. The irony is that it was at a fun park thing, with massive rollercoasters and everything, and here and I sitting on this little skateboard thing having so much more fun.

I'm looking for the help of our wise cop-bashing tgtap members to help me make a pretty big decision in my life. I'm currently in sixth-form college, and should be going off to university next year. I'm considering joining the RAF (Royal Air Force), who would pay my university fees and give me a job as soon as I leave. Financially, I get £4000/year ($8k) for university, plus £1500/year payment for attending RAF camps etc. When I leave university I do Officer Training, then go into Engineering Officer training, which last 30 weeks each. After training, I'll be earning £2700 ($54k), with accelerated promotion to higher ranks, earning £40,000 ($80k). If i serve 12 years (double the minimum six) I get a full military non-contributory index-based pension, which would be a few hundred a month for the rest of my life. The job itself is great - a Comms Engineering Officer is in charge of an individual project, which could range from maintaining communications at an airbase to installing a new radar system in Iraq. Most of the time, certainly through uni and training, you're out going skiing or learning to fly etc, all for free, even getting paid a full salary to do that. The downside is that I have to give up six years of life after uni, which is the big decision I need help with.

It's the handbags that make me look so manly.... Me checking out the new Hi-Tech rides

That's an interesting notion actually. Why have set preferences and not just like some people and not other people. Perhaps gender has to do with the physical requirements and desires, but what about the rest of it?

Yeah good decision. By all means try them out separate (as you did), but now we know that they aren't as popular as expected. So now is a good time to adjust to fit the community. Same as we're doing on MSForums - make as many forums as possible now, then merge/delete/split as the community likes/dislikes various bits.

The problem a lot of people have is they ignore their feelings. Its like "Even though I like that guy, I shouldn't so I don't, and I must really like girls". It's a silly piece of our culture that stops us from accepting ourselves. I just accepted the way I was - if other people don't like me being gay then that's their problem, and they can go and find someone they do like rather than me changing for them. It doesn't actually affect me as much as many people think. I never have to pretend to be straight, I just sometimes don't tell people I'm not. I don't think "omg I'm gay" everytime I see a hot guy, I actually quite often forget that everyone else isn't the same - I have to physically stop myself from discussing hot guys with straight guys.

They really don't... some have collars, some don't; one has sleeves rolled up, some are t-shirts etc Love the wetsuit btw

It would mean starting all over again with new forums, its obviously not what he's gonna do, thats out of the question. That is just what would be needed to install beta 1 now. Waiting for RC1 looks like the best option, either that or 2.2 Final.

I didnt make it sound like I had inside knowledge - I voiced my initial concerns to you when I first read this topic, then when 2.2 was released and there was no upgrade path either way, thats obviously the deciding factor. You made it sound like you didnt like me pointing that out... And you also sound like you don't like IPB anymore...

I knew that making the decision to upgrade was a bad idea, because there would be so many problems if he decided to follow through with it. BUT he CAN'T upgrade to IPB 2.2 beta 1, it won't let you and you shouldnt work around it AND if he did install it, he couldnt upgrade from beta 1 to beta 2, RC1 or 202 final. Soo.. if he still wanted to do it, then he'd have to start tgtap all over again, then start it all over again for the final version. Sounds like fun. You can view my IPB 2.2 beta 1 installation here

As soon as I saw this, I knew it was a bad idea. First problem is that you CAN'T upgrade to or from IPB 2.2 beta 1. Other obvious issues include security issues, skin issues, and modifications not working properly.

This has been discussed many times: http://www.thegtaplace.com/forums/index.ph...ost&p=58758

Seems the winners of this poll are clear. TGTAP members want GTAIV to be mafia-style, located in the USA, with a single (yet completely customizable) character. Sounds good to me

This morning I saw someone who looks EXACTLY like you. in exactly the same clothes,, with the same coat, except this dude had lighter brown hair. Crazy. Not so unique now?He looked like a complete psycho too btw.