Yes, the BBS thread is a stealth thread.  What I meant was, let's not draw the EAxoids attention to the thread by posting the link here, since they do read stuff here.  I could just be overly paranoid though.

I saw a BBS thread yesterday by someone asking what TSR was.  They had heard lots about it and wanted to know what the commotion was about.  Many people answered, and they were in agreement with what's stated in these forums.  So yay!

That is funny, but let's not point it out to the EAxoids.   Or maybe we should, so they'll get hand cramps from all the censoring?

edit: Ok, I'm blind.  Hydra actually read it, replied, didn't stompinate it.  She really did miss it.  Even funnier than I originally thought.

Johan, if you are still reading and are actually after the truth, this post is for you.
(Yes, go ahead folks, laugh at the futility of this.)

TSR claims pirates just don't want to pay for TSR content.  Have you read the pirates explanation for why they do what they do?  It is here, in the second post.  After reading that, consider these facts.

- Pirates pay for TSR content.  Does TSR think it appears in the booty by magic?
- Pirates purchase said content *for others*.  You've seen the booty shopping list and know what it's for, right?
- Pirates stated intention is to economically bring down TSR by depriving it of income from pay content by distributing it for free.
  Personal acquisition is not the goal.

Lastly, my own two cents.  I personally am in the small minority of members here who are NOT against all paysites.  Although I much prefer high quality free content, and think it's better for the community, I have on occasion paid for high quality pay content (not from TSR) and don't regret it.  I revile TSR not because it is a paysite, but because it is run by an unethical greedy liar and because TSR steals and sells the work of free creators.

edit: The awful behavior of TSR (and to a lesser extent, PeggyZone) are the reasons I joined this site.

edit2: I obtained all my Sims2 games, EPs and SPs legally.  Most recently I have bought them used because I refuse to pay EA anymore.  This is partly due to their relationship with TSR.  To put it plainly, you, TSR, have cost your best friend EA some money.

This might actually be a good sign.  TSR is on the defensive.  People are asking questions.  They must be, or TSR wouldn't feel the need to spew lies to answer them.

It's hard to find my favorite bit, there's so many good ones.  I like this one best.  It's how they explain why EA wuvs them so much.
What "sick game hacks" would these be?  Do they refer to Pescado's and others' fixes for innumerable EA bugs?  Or maybe Lord Darcy's fixed objects that have their full functionality with any combo of EPs and SPs?  When TSR says "enthusiastic about the game", do they mean "we don't point out how buggy it is and don't fix it because we don't know how"?  Do they mean "we spray our pants over every new EA item, no matter how broken"?  I would say those who write free fixes are passionate about the game.  They clearly care about the game.  TSR clearly cares about moneez.

edit: Also, obviously, FREE content creators are passionate about custom content.  Many FAs are only enthusiastic about their paychecks.

I would like to think Johan means well, that he might actually be convinced by evidence.  I'm waiting to see what he does, but I'm not hopeful.  Would Thomas risk letting Johan come here if Johan were even the least bit likely to rectify or expose the wrongdoing at TSR?  I doubt it.  The theory that Johan is here to make it look like TSR are making a good faith effort to catch the Phantom Hacker sounds more plausible to me.

Maybe Thoma$$ could rename his 2nd home "Bandwidth Manor", then "it's for bandwidth" would be true!

Yes.  T$R used Buggybooz private password to break into her account at MTS2.  It was identity theft and impersonation.  Now, T$R can claim they can do whatever with your personal info that you give them, see their laughable privacy policy, but this does not give them the legal right to impersonate Buggybooz on MTS2.

edit:
SoggyFox Your BBS thread has been nuked from orbit.

That's just low, even for TSR scum.  What can we do to help?  Buggybooz says she has most of the downloads backed up.  Don't know about the pictures.  If Buggybooz needs to redo any pictures for upload threads, maybe a few folks could help do that.  Unless, of course, Delphy has those threads backed up somewhere, in which case, nevermind.

What can people do to avoid having their accounts hacked?  Besides have secure passwords, I mean.  Anything?

Hm, you're right.  I looked around their site, found a Swedish address.  However, they have a presence in the States and American subscribers.  So if they claim to be PG-13, which is an American standard, and show topless girls to their American customers, could they be held accountable?  Not that they will be.  And I'm not terribly bothered by small kids in underpants.  I'm just curious.

Maybe the girls panties creator is European?  When I was little, kids would run around on the beach in just swim shorts, and nobody would even blink.  Small children running around outside with no shirt was not considered indecent.  I know the standards of modesty are different in the States, and TSR is a US company.  I see this as more TSR not caring about what's on their site than as the creator's fault.

My high school chem teacher once told a student who wore glasses that she looked like a movie character that takes off her glasses and turns into a sexy lady.  He also stroked girls hair and put his hands on their waists.  Ick ick ick.  I never reported him.  I really wish I had.  Pervs like that keep their jobs when no one speaks up.

edit: I remember why I didn't say anything.  I needed a letter of recommendation from him, for college.   I feel slimy about it now, when he's the one who should be ashamed.  There's probably other students who don't speak up for similar reasons, teachers wield power over them.

My bio teacher on the other hand was an admirable guy and an amazing teacher.  Physics teacher was also a great guy.

I'm not saying teachers should be kids friends, of course not, just saying that praise, when deserved, is a much better motivator than punishment.  I'm not suggesting we make all kids feel "special" or build up their "self esteem", I'm saying when kids learn well, lets encourage that with praise.  Questions and discussion should be encouraged.  Of course some things should be learned by rote, but rote memorization shouldn't be the only teaching method for any subject.  The point isn't to make the kids like the teacher, but to engage their minds, their interest, so they learn more.  Children are naturally inquisitive, so let's use that instead of squashing it. 

The reason I brought up "When are we ever going to use this?" is because of what's happening in my husband's department.  He teaches computer science.  There's lots of women in the lower division classes.  They get A's, they get the concepts.  Then they drop out.  Professors ask them "Why?" and those students say it's because they see no use for computer science.  These students want to DO something, solve problems, apply what they've learned, but the applications of CS aren't really discussed, so they drop out of the program.  I think many school children feel that way about learning math.

Of course we can force them to learn.  We can say do it because we say so, or else, and they'll learn.  It's a proven, workable teaching strategy.  I just don't think it's the best one.  When do we learn more?  When we're interested and we care, or when we're being forced?  Of course education should be compulsory, not something the kids only do if they feel like it.  However, it should also be interesting, engaging, and relevant because some kids will get much more out of school that way.

Was this teacher's goal to make children hate math?  Did any kid ever get a gold star or a kind word, or was it all just learn math to avoid punishment?  I'm guessing no effort was made to make the subject even remotely interesting so kids would actually want to learn it.  Did this teacher at least explain why math is useful?  Or would the first kid to ask "When are we ever going to use this?" get hit across the backside?  Were questions in general discouraged?  Did this teacher live under a bridge and demand a toll, then eat those who didn't pay?  Sorry justso, not trying to give you bad flashbacks, I'm just morbidly curious.  You make me feel fortunate that I had human beings for teachers.

Darqstar, thanks for the link.

I think my husband's college linear algebra book was influenced by New Math.  It actually said things like "How do you *feel* about the number 15?", I kid you not.  What this had to do with linear algebra, I'm not sure.  Maybe the book should have said "imagine" rather than "feel about"?

Does anyone else here think numbers have colors or sounds?  While not on drugs, I mean.   Darqstar's story about using an index card to get the order of the digits right despite dyslexia got me thinking about how people imagine numbers.  Some folks imagine numbers as a series of numerals.  Some think of them as sets, groups of dots.  I had a professor who imagined sounds.  Each digit had a unique sound, they made words and melodies in his mind.  He could multiply 5 digit numbers in his head without making any mistakes.  He babbled nonsense while he did it, but it made sense to him, he was saying the sounds the numbers made.  I see numbers in color, two is leaf green, six is orange, and so forth.  This hasn't made me better at math as far as I can tell, but it does help me remember telephone numbers.

I wonder if people who are really good at math use more parts of their brains than the rest of us.  Maybe they use not just the part that does abstract reasoning but also the part that processes visual info or sound or something else?  What can teachers do to help gifted kids reach their full potential?

Kids are being allowed to not learn multiplication because they have calculators?  I may stop reading this thread, it's way too depressing.   We had calculators in school.  We weren't allowed to use them until we learned to do everything they did.  They are a time saving device, not a substitute for knowing math.

Could someone explain this "new math" to me?  How are people being taught multiplication without memorizing tables?  How is memorizing tables supposed to interfere with understanding the theory?  I memorized 8 * 7 = 56.  I can also add 7 eight times if I have to.  7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56.  Or add 8 seven times, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56.  There's some different way to learn 8 * 7   Like what?   4 * 2 * 7?   10*7 - 2*7?

I know there's some clever tricks, like products of 9, that we can do in our head without memorizing tables.  Is that the "new math"?  Can't be, since I was taught this stuff.

9 * N  is always   10*N - N,  or  10*(N-1) + (10-N)

Or if you're in elementary school, you do it on your fingers.  9 * 3.
Hold down your third finger.  Count fingers up to the down finger, 2.
Count fingers after the down finger, 7.
9 * 3 = 27


5 * N  always ends in  5 or 0

N is even
5 * N = 10 * ( N/2 )

N is odd
5 * N  =  10 * floor( N/2 ) + 5  or  10 * floating point ( N/2 )

Oh gods, I'm such a computer scientist.  I have to specify in my head whether I'm doing integer or floating point division.  Must sim more, code less.

If kids aren't being taught stuff like this, what are they being taught?  I'm so confused.

Wow.  The IRS has procedures for collecting taxes after a nuclear war.  I didn't know.  I'll take that as a hopeful sign.  The IRS must think the economy won't completely tank if we get nuked.