Misc

Battle.Net Terms of Service

Posted by Rick on in Misc 0 Comment

Battle.Net Terms of Service

BATTLE.NET TERMS OF USE
LAST UPDATED ON MARCH 18, 2009
BY CLICKING “ACCEPT” BELOW OR USING THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS LEGAL CONTRACT.
Thank you for using the Battle.net service (the “Service”). These Terms of Use (the “TOU” or “Agreement”) set forth the terms and conditions under which you are provided access to the Service by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (“Blizzard” or “we”). This Agreement does not supersede the End User License Agreement (the “EULA”) that accompanies Blizzard’s games (each a “Game”) or any other Game-specific Terms of Use. The EULA governs your use of the Game client – that part of any Game installed on your computer – and this Agreement governs your use of the Service.
Grant of a Limited License to Use the Service. Subject to your agreement to and continuing compliance with the Terms of Use agreement, you may use the Service solely for your own non-commercial entertainment purposes by accessing it with a web browser or an authorized, unmodified Game client. You may not use the Service for any other purpose, or using any other method.

Additional License Limitations. The license granted to you in Section 1 is subject to the limitations set forth in Sections 1 and 2 (collectively, the “License Limitations”). Any use of the Service or any Game in violation of the License Limitations will be regarded as an infringement of Blizzard’s copyrights in and to the Service and/or Game. You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

use cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software designed to modify the Service, any Game or any Game experience;

exploit the Service, a Game or any part thereof for any commercial purpose, including without limitation (a) use at a cyber cafe, computer gaming center or any other commercial establishment without the express written consent of Blizzard; (b) to communicate or facilitate any commercial advertisement or solicitation; (c) for gathering in-game currency, items or resources for sale outside the Game without Blizzard’s authorization; or (d) performing in-game services in exchange for payment outside the Game, e.g., power-leveling;

use any unauthorized third-party software that intercepts, “mines”, or otherwise collects information from or through any Game or the Service, including without limitation any software that reads areas of RAM used by any Game or the Service to store information about a character or a Game environment; provided, however, that Blizzard may, at its sole and absolute discretion, allow the use of certain third party user interfaces;

modify or cause to be modified any files that are a part of any Game or the Service in any way not expressly authorized by Blizzard;

host, provide or develop matchmaking services for any Game or the Service, or intercept, emulate or redirect the communication protocols used by Blizzard in any way, for any purpose, including without limitation unauthorized play over the internet, network play, or as part of content aggregation networks;

facilitate, create or maintain any unauthorized connection to any Game or the Service, including without limitation (a) any connection to any unauthorized server that emulates, or attempts to emulate, the Service or any Game; and (b) any connection using programs or tools not expressly approved by Blizzard; or

disrupt or assist in the disruption of (i) any computer used to support the Service or any Game environment (each a “Server”); or (ii) any other player’s Game experience. ANY ATTEMPT BY YOU TO DISRUPT THE SERVICE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF ANY GAME MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS.

Requirements. Before you can use the Service, you must: (i) agree to this TOU, the Privacy Policy, the “In Game Policies,” and the applicable Terms of Use Agreement and EULA for each of the Game(s) you will use with the Service, if applicable; (ii) purchase a valid license to use the Game(s) you will use with the Service, if applicable; and (iii) register an account on the Service (an “Account”). You are responsible for any internet connection fees that you incur when accessing the Service. Age restrictions, and provisions governing the use of an Account by minor children, are located in the In Game Policies. Subject to the laws of your country of residence, minor children may play a Game using a parent or legal guardian’s Account so long as the parent or legal guardian consents and accepts full responsibility for the conduct of the child.

Accessing the Service.

Account Eligibility. You may establish an Account only if you are a “natural person” and an adult in your country of residence. Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, partnerships and other legal or business entities may not establish an Account. Individuals prohibited by Blizzard from using the Service may not create or use an Account, and doing so and may result in severe civil and criminal penalties. By accepting this Agreement, you hereby represent and warrant that you meet these eligibility requirements.

Establishing an Account. When creating or updating an Account on the Service, you are required to provide Blizzard with certain personal information such as your name, address, phone number, email address and, in some cases, payment information. An unused Authentication Key provided to you by Blizzard will be required when adding a Game license to an Account. A Game license must be added to an Account before you can play that Game online, where applicable. You agree that you will supply accurate and complete information to Blizzard when requested, and that you will update that information promptly after it changes.

Username and Password. During the Account creation process, you may be required to select a unique username and/or a password (collectively referred to hereunder as “Login Information”), and you may not share the Account or the Login Information with anyone other than as expressly set forth herein. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the Login Information, and you will be responsible for all uses of the Login Information, including purchases, whether or not authorized by you. In the event you become aware of or reasonably suspect any breach of security, including without limitation any loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of the Login Information, you must immediately notify Blizzard by emailing wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com.

Account Suspension/Cancelation. BLIZZARD MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE ACCOUNTS AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU. Accounts terminated by Blizzard for any type of abuse, including without limitation a violation of these Terms of Use, will not be reactivated for any reason. For purposes of explanation and not limitation, most account suspensions, terminations and/or deletions are the result of violations of this TOU, a Game EULA or other Blizzard policy. You may cancel any Account registered to you at any time by following the instructions on the Website. Blizzard may stop offering and/or supporting the Service at any time.

The Blizzard Online Store.
Use of the Blizzard Online Store. The Blizzard Online Store, available through the Service, may offer (a) downloadable versions of Games that have been enabled for use on the Service (“Enabled Products”); (b) physical copies of the Enabled Products (“Box Product(s)”); and other goods or services (“Merchandise”). All purchases made through the Service are also subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Blizzard Online Store. To use the Blizzard Online Store, you will be required to provide Blizzard with certain personal information that will be associated with the Account. For details regarding the protection of your data, see the Privacy Policy.

Terms of Sale. Please visit the Blizzard Terms of Sale, hereby incorporated herein by this reference, for additional terms and conditions applicable to your purchase of goods and services through the Blizzard Store.

Updates.
Agreements. Blizzard will update this Agreement as the Service evolves. The next time you use the Service after such an update, you may be prompted to agree to or decline the revised Agreement. You must agree to all revisions if you choose to continue using the Service. Blizzard may also revise other policies, including without limitation the Code of Conduct and other In Game Policies and the Privacy Policy, at any time, and the new versions will be available on the Website. If at any point you do not agree to any portion of the then-current version of this Agreement, the Code of Conduct the Privacy Policy, or any other Blizzard policy or agreement relating to your use of the Service, you must immediately stop using the Service.

Software and Services. In an effort to improve its products and services, Blizzard may require that you download and install updates to the Service and to the Games you have installed on your computer. You acknowledge and agree that Blizzard may update the Service and the Games, including the Game client(s) on your computer, with or without notifying you.

Ownership.
Game clients and Service. The Game clients and the Service (including without limitation any titles, computer code, themes, objects, characters, character names, stories, dialogue, catch phrases, concepts, artwork, animations, sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual effects, methods of operation, moral rights, documentation, in-game chat transcripts, character profile information, recordings of games played using a Game client, and the Game client and server software) are copyrighted works owned by Blizzard and its licensors. Blizzard reserves all rights in connection with the Games and the Service, including without limitation the exclusive right to create derivative works. You agree that you will not create any work based on the Games or the Service except as expressly set forth by Blizzard in contest rules, or in Blizzard’s Fan Policies, which include without limitation Blizzard’s Machinima Policy and Fan Art Submission Policy. Any reproduction or redistribution of any Game not in accordance with any policy or agreement, including without limitation the Game EULA and the TOU, is expressly prohibited by law, and may result in severe civil and criminal penalties.

Account. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY HEREIN, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOU SHALL HAVE NO OWNERSHIP OR OTHER PROPERTY INTEREST IN THE ACCOUNT, AND YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ALL RIGHTS IN AND TO THE ACCOUNT ARE AND SHALL FOREVER BE OWNED BY AND INURE TO THE BENEFIT OF BLIZZARD. Blizzard does not recognize the transfer of Accounts. You may not purchase, sell, gift or trade any Account, or offer to purchase, sell, gift, or trade any Account, and any such attempt shall be null and void.

Virtual Items. Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appears in the Service or the Games. You agree that you have no right or title in or to any such content, including without limitation the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in any Game, or any other attributes associated with the Account or stored on the Service. Blizzard does not recognize any purported transfers of virtual property executed outside of a Game, or the purported sale, gift or trade in the “real world” of anything that appears or originates in a Game, unless otherwise expressly authorized by Blizzard in writing. Accordingly, you may not sell in-game items or currency for “real” money, or exchange those items or currency for value outside of a Game, without Blizzard’s written permission.

Fees. You agree to pay all fees and applicable taxes incurred by you or anyone using an Account registered to you. If you choose a recurring subscription for any Game, you acknowledge that payments will be processed automatically (e.g., debited from your account or charged to your credit card) until you cancel the subscription or the Account. Blizzard may revise the pricing for the goods and services offered through the Service, including without limitation subscription plans for any Game, at any time. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BLIZZARD IS NOT REQUIRED TO PROVIDE A REFUND FOR ANY REASON, AND THAT YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE MONEY BACK FOR PREPAID TIME WHEN THE ACCOUNT IS CLOSED, WHETHER SUCH CLOSURE WAS VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY.

Game Transfers. The Authentication Key that accompanies most Game clients can only be used once, and will connect a Game license to the Account under which it is registered. The transferability of your license to a Game client is governed by the Game EULA; provided, however, that any transfer of the Game client shall have no impact on the Account registered to you, and that Account shall not transfer with the Game client. Purchasers of a license to a used Game client must follow the process detailed on the www.Blizzard.com website, which may require payment of a processing fee.

RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS OF USE
No Violation of Laws. You agree that you will not, in connection with your use of a Game client or the Service, violate any applicable law or regulation. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that you will not make available through the Service any material or information that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other right of any party (including rights of privacy or publicity).

Misuse of Service. You may not connect to or use the Service in any way not expressly permitted by this Agreement. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that you will not (a) institute, assist, or become involved in any type of attack, including without limitation denial of service attacks, upon the Service or otherwise attempt to disrupt the Service or any other person’s use of the Service; or (b) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, Accounts registered to other players, or the computer systems or networks connected to the Service.

No Data Mining. You agree that you will not (a) obtain or attempt to obtain any information from the Service or any Game using any method not expressly permitted by Blizzard; (b) intercept, examine or otherwise observe any proprietary communications protocol used by a client or the Service, whether through the use of a network analyzer, packet sniffer or other device; (c) use any third-party software to collect information from or through a Game client or the Service, including without limitation information about your character, any Account registered to you, virtual items, other players, or other Game data.

User Content. “User Content” means any communications, images, sounds, and all the material and information that you upload or transmit through a Game client or the Service, or that other users upload or transmit, including without limitation any chat text. You hereby grant Blizzard a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, paid-up, non-exclusive, license, including the right to sublicense to third parties, and right to reproduce, fix, adapt, modify, translate, reformat, create derivative works from, manufacture, introduce into circulation, publish, distribute, sell, license, sublicense, transfer, rent, lease, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, or provide access to electronically, broadcast, communicate to the public by telecommunication, display, perform, enter into computer memory, and use and practice such User Content as well as all modified and derivative works thereof. To the extent permitted by applicable laws, you hereby waive any moral rights you may have in any User Content.

Content Screening and Disclosure. We do not, and cannot, pre-screen or monitor all User Content. However, our representatives may monitor and/or record your communications (including without limitation chat text) when you are using the Service or playing a Game, and you hereby provide your irrevocable consent to such monitoring and recording. You acknowledge and agree that you have no expectation of privacy concerning the transmission of any User Content, including without limitation chat text or voice communications. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for User Content that is generated by users. We have the right, but not the obligation, in our sole discretion to edit, refuse to post, or remove any User Content. WE ALSO RESERVE THE RIGHT, AT ALL TIMES AND IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION, TO DISCLOSE ANY USER CONTENT AND OTHER INFORMATION (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION CHAT TEXT, VOICE COMMUNICATIONS, IP ADDRESSES, AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION) FOR ANY REASON, including without limitation (a) to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; (b) to enforce the terms of this or any other agreement or Blizzard policy; (c) to protect our legal rights and remedies; (d) where we feel someone’s health or safety may be threatened; or (e) to report a crime or other offensive behavior.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS FOR YOUR USE, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND THOSE ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. BLIZZARD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICE AT THE TIMES OR LOCATIONS OF YOUR CHOOSING; THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; OR THAT THE GAME CLIENT OR THE SERVICE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY; INDEMNIFICATION
BLIZZARD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR YOUR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE. IN NO CASE SHALL BLIZZARD BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, ANY GAME OR ANY GAME CLIENT. IN NO CASE SHALL THE LIABILITY OF BLIZZARD EXCEED THE AMOUNT THAT YOU PAID TO US DURING THE SIX (6) MONTHS PRIOR TO THE TIME YOUR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE. Because some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such states or jurisdictions, the liability of Blizzard and its affiliates shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH BLIZZARD IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICE, AND TO CANCEL ALL ACCOUNTS REGISTERED TO YOU.

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold Blizzard harmless from any claim, demand, damages or other losses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, asserted by any third-party resulting from or arising out of your use of the Service or any Game, or any breach by you of this Agreement, the Code of Conduct or any Game EULA.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND GOVERNING LAW.
Disputes can be expensive and time consuming for both parties. In an effort to accelerate resolution and reduce the cost of any dispute, controversy or claim related to these Terms of Use (“Dispute”), you and Blizzard agree to first attempt to negotiate any Dispute (except those Disputes expressly provided below) informally for at least thirty (30) days before initiating any arbitration or court proceeding. Negotiations will begin upon written notice. Blizzard will send its notice to your billing address and email you a copy to the email address you have provided to us. You will send your notice to Blizzard at Blizzard Entertainment, P.O. Box 18979, Irvine CA 92623, ATTN: Legal Department.

Binding Arbitration. If the parties are unable to resolve a Dispute through negotiations, either you or Blizzard may elect to have the Dispute (with the exception of those Disputes expressly excluded below) finally and exclusively resolved by binding arbitration. Any election to arbitrate by one party shall be final and binding on the other. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ABSENT THIS PROVISION, YOU WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL. The arbitration shall be commenced and conducted under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) and, where appropriate, the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (“AAA Consumer Rules”), both of which are available that the AAA website www.adr.org. The determination of whether a Dispute is subject to arbitration shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and determined by a court rather than an arbitrator. Your arbitration fees and your share of arbitrator compensation shall be governed by the AAA Rules and, where appropriate, limited by the AAA Consumer Rules. If the arbitrator determines those costs to be excessive, Blizzard will pay all arbitration fees and expenses. The arbitration may be conducted in person, through the submission of documents, by phone or online. The arbitrator will make a decision in writing, but need not provide a statement of reasons unless requested by a party. The arbitrator must follow applicable law, and any award may be challenged if the arbitrator fails to do so. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, you and Blizzard may litigate in court to compel arbitration, stay proceeding pending arbitration, or to confirm, modify, vacate or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator.

Restrictions. You and Blizzard agree that any arbitration shall be limited to the Dispute between Blizzard and you individually. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT (1) NO ARBITRATION SHALL BE JOINED WITH ANY OTHER; (2) THERE IS NO RIGHT OR AUTHORITY FOR ANY DISPUTE TO BE ARBITRATED ON A CLASS-ACTION BASIS OR TO UTILIZE CLASS ACTION PROCEDURES; AND (3) THERE IS NO RIGHT OR AUTHORITY FOR ANY DISPUTE TO BE BROUGHT IN A PURPORTED REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY ON BEHALF OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC OR ANY OTHER PERSONS.

Exceptions to Negotiations and Arbitration. You and Blizzard agree that the following Disputes are not subject to the above provisions concerning negotiations and binding arbitration: (1) any Disputes seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of, any of your or Blizzard’s intellectual property rights; (2) any Dispute related to, or arising from, allegations of theft, piracy, invasion of privacy or unauthorized use; and (3) any claim for injunctive relief.

If you are a resident of the United States, any arbitration will take place at any reasonable location within the United States convenient for you. For residents outside the United States, any arbitration shall be initiated in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, United States of America. Any Dispute not subject to arbitration (other than claims proceeding in any small claims court), or where no election to arbitrate has been made, shall be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction within the County of Los Angeles, State of California, United States of America, and you and Blizzard agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.

Governing Law. Except as expressly provided otherwise, this Agreement shall be is governed by, and will be construed under, the Laws of the United States of America and the law of the State of Delaware, without regard to choice of law principles. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. For our customers who access the Service from Canada, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, or New Zealand, other laws may apply if you choose not to agree to arbitrate as set forth above, and in such an event, shall affect this Agreement only to the extent required by such jurisdiction. In such a case, this Agreement shall be interpreted to give maximum effect to the terms and conditions hereof. If you access the Service from New Zealand, and are a resident of New Zealand, The New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act of 1993 (“Act”) may apply to the Game and/or the Service as supplied by Blizzard to you. If the Act applies, then notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement, you may have rights or remedies as set out in the Act which may apply in addition to, or, to the extent that they are inconsistent, instead of, the rights or remedies set out in this Agreement. Those who choose to access the Service from locations outside of the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, or New Zealand do so on their own initiative contrary to the terms of this Agreement, and are responsible for compliance with local laws if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

Severability. You and Blizzard agree that if any portion of this Section 14 is found illegal or unenforceable (except any portion of Section 14C above), that portion shall be severed and the remainder of the Section shall be given full force and effect. If this Section 14 is found to be illegal or unenforceable then neither you nor Blizzard will elect to arbitrate any Dispute falling within that portion of this Section 14 found to be illegal or unenforceable and such Dispute shall be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction within the County of Los Angeles, State of California, United States of America, and you and Blizzard agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.

Third Party Advertising. Blizzard’s Games and the Service may incorporate technology of Massive Incorporated (“Massive”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”), that enables in-game advertising, and the display of other similar in-game objects, which are downloaded temporarily to your personal computer and replaced during online game play. As part of this process, Massive may collect some information about the game and the advertisements delivered to you, as well as standard information that is sent when your personal computer or game console connects to the Internet including your Internet protocol (IP) address. Massive will use this information to transmit and measure in-game advertising, as well as to improve the products and services of Massive and its affiliates. None of the information collected by Massive will be used to identify you. For additional details regarding Massive’s in-game advertising practices, please see Massive’s In-Game Advertising privacy statement at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122085&clcid=0x409. The trademarks and copyrighted material contained in all in-game advertising are the property of the respective owners. Portions of the Service are © 2008 Massive Incorporated. All rights reserved.

GENERAL
TOU Revisions. The TOU may only be revised in a writing signed by Blizzard or published by Blizzard on its website.

Assignment. Blizzard may assign this Agreement, in whole or in part, to any person or entity at any time with or without your consent. You may not assign the TOU without Blizzard’s prior written consent, and any unauthorized assignment by you shall be null and void.

Severability. If any part of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, then that portion shall be severed, and the remainder of the Agreement shall be given full force and effect.

Attorneys’ Fees. In the event any litigation is brought by either party in connection with the TOU, the prevailing party in such litigation shall be entitled to recover from the other party all the reasonable costs, attorneys’ fees and other expenses incurred by such prevailing party in the litigation.

Entire Agreement. This TOU, including the documents expressly incorporated by reference herein, constitutes the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Service and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and us with respect to the Service; provided, however, that this Agreement shall coexist with, and shall not supersede, Game EULAs and Terms of Use specific to a Blizzard Game.

No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of the TOU shall in no way be construed to be a present or future waiver of such provision, nor in any way affect the right of any party to enforce each and every such provision thereafter. The express waiver by us of any provision, condition or requirement of the TOU shall not constitute a waiver of any future obligation to comply with such provision, condition or requirement.

Notices. All notices given by you or required under the TOU shall be in writing and addressed to: Blizzard Entertainment, P.O. Box 18979, Irvine CA 92623, ATTN: Legal Department.

Equitable Remedies. You hereby agree that Blizzard would be irreparably damaged if the terms of this Agreement were not specifically enforced, and therefore you agree that we shall be entitled, without bond, other security, or proof of damages, to appropriate equitable remedies with respect to breaches of the TOU, in addition to such other remedies as we may otherwise have available to us under applicable laws.

Force Majeure. Blizzard shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes outside the reasonable control of Blizzard, including without limitation any failure to perform hereunder due to unforeseen circumstances or cause beyond Blizzard’s control such as acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, accidents, strikes, or shortages of transportation facilities, fuel, energy, labor or materials.

BY CLICKING “ACCEPT” BELOW OR BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THIS TERMS OF USE, THAT YOU AGREE TO ABIDE BY OUR IN GAME POLICIES, AND THAT YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE OUR PRIVACY POLICY.

Throw the Christians to the Lions

Posted by Rick on in Misc 0 Comment

Throw the Christians to the Lions

I use to be a hard core Christian. Like almost to the point that I’d to say “God Bless,” and even the much worse statement, “Have you heard about Jesus?” (Or some variation on that statement.)

I attended Youth Groups as much as possible, the big one I attended was put on by my Science Teacher, her husband, and their friends. I remeber it got pretty big – 50 teenagers or so. I worked hard on inviting people to it – but not being very popular in school I didn’t get that many people to come.

I think that by my senior year in high school I was starting to doubt my faith. I had gotten a job on the weekends and couldn’t go to church on Sundays any longer. My job started at 7am, so there wasn’t any services at an earlier time in my small town.

But there was one thing that really shook my faith – amazingly – in Church of all places. The head pastor got up to talk to the congregation. He was talking about how the church did all these missions aroudn the world. All the things it did for the rest of the world. Talked about how they had 60 some people on missions. But noticeably – nothing local. I didn’t think too much of that, until he brought out the overhead projector and started showing graphs of the church’s budget.

He showed how the church had operating expenses of something like $30,000 a month… which astounded me. I could see that building being expensive, but how many people did the church have hired full time? Then he started showing how donations had been falling off the last couple of months – drastically enough that they were $15,000 in the red for the next month!

Here I was – dressed in jeans, a fairly nice shirt. Rode my bike to church every weekend because my parents wouldn’t take me. No job, all the money I had was from babysitting and berry picking during the summer. I had figured out that I could give $5 a week and have enough money for a while – because up until that exact point I believed whole heartedly. The pastor then started asking everyone to dig deep this week and help support the church and it’s works.

He talked about how Missions to Africa, South America and China were in jeopardy if they didn’t get help. It really got to me at that point – here we are spending thousands of dollars to covert people in other countries, but not in our own. I want to say that I walked out of the Church at this point, but I’m pretty sure I was a coward and stayed until the end. Either way I practically ran out of the church and rode home as fast as I could.

In previous times of trouble I had turned to the Bible. So I thought that perhaps it might help again. I randomly opened the book and started reading. I do not remeber the exact passage but I ended up in the Book of Leviticus As you can see – those are the rules of God. As good as written down in stone. But how many people follow even a tenth of those? Read this Letter to Dr. Laura and this this follow up for a good idea how ludicrous these all sound in modern times.

I ended up re-reading the Bible from one end to the other, but only had more questions. (BTW – Jewish/Hebrew Scholars have done a pretty good job answering a lot of questions and inconsitencies in the Bible, but a lot of feels forced at times.)

During the next several years – I feverently wanted to believe in God, and the Bible. I read everything I could get my hands on, granted in a small college town that wasn’t much. But I read several versions of the Bible, the Koran, Hebrew versions (which I liked the best,) and then started branching out into other religions to find the answer. I started with Buddahism, Wiccan, Hindu, etc, etc. All I read just reinforced my problems with the Bible and forced one conclusion upon me.

The Bible was written by the powerful to keep the common people in line. It’s been changed, massaged, and corrupted by people reinforcing that, and people trying to correct the problems in it. If it ever was truely the word of God, God hasn’t done a very good job of keeping it pure.

Clear and Present Danger

Posted by Rick on in Misc 0 Comment

Clear and Present Danger

I’m currently reading Tom Clancy’s Executive Orders.

Jack Ryan has risen through the ranks to become President of the US. Of course he survived the plane crashing into the Congress Building and killing most of Congress, the President, and a good portion of his senior Cabinent members at Jack’s inauguration as Vice President.

I’ve read reports saying that Al Qaeda had been planning the destruction of the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon for quite some time, 5 years. Reading the front – this one was published in 1996. I know others have probally remarked upon this, but did they get the idea from Tom Clancy? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows.

Tom Clancy use to be a pretty imaginative writer. I use to enjoy his books. I don’t remember which one was the last one I read, but I loved Red Storm Rising and Hunt for Red October. Patriot Games wasn’t bad, but was a better movie. But after that his writing just went downhill I feel.

Oh – Red Storm Rising was a cool Submarine Combat game I played on my Commodore 64. Lots of hours spent playing that. Interesting enough, there is little Submarine Combat in the novel, but they couldn’t really base a game off of Red October very well. I got pretty good at the game, to the point that I could take the worst American Submarine (I don’t remember the class – other then it wasn’t nuclear powered, I was to say Seawolf, but I think that was the best,) and could get about 50/50 kills on Russian Alfas.

I loved getting in to the middle of a Russian Carrier group, launching all tubes at various targets then running full speed away from the convoy at they dodged torpedoes. I’d then circle back and do it again. Theoretically I shouldn’t have gotten as high as a kill ratio (30% or so) as I did with that paticular submarine. I then remember taking the best choice, and using the same tactics and getting something like 80% kill ratio on the carrier groups. The only escapes were ships that I got confusing sonar echoes off of because they were sitting side by side or were running silent/passive.

Anyways – reading Executive Orders, it amazes me that terrorists haven’t hit the US again already. There is no way the Al Qaeda used up all it’s man power on September 11th. Heck, what about the hundreds of so called “Baby Al Qaeda” groups the US now knows about? Including the new one’s NPR claims are springing up daily. For a group that supposedly has a budget and assets of a small country, they sure are quiet.

Ebola virus in subways? Mortar fired from the back of a moving flat bed truck? These random small attacks would be more devastating to America in the long run then single large attacks. All 9/11 did was unite the country behind one goal. Granted that support has fallen off quite a bit since then, but it didn’t fracture our country like they thought it would. I’m personally sure that the 4th plane was probally headed for the White House or Congress, if it had hit one of those we might have had bigger problems.

But Tom Clancy’s idea of the mortars from the back of a flat bed truck? Talk about devastating! One man to drive the truck, one to load and fire the mortar, one to hand over ammo for it and two to fire Sub-machine or automatic weapons, perhaps hand grenades or Molotov Cocktails. Tie a low wall of sandbags backed by steel plating to block bullets and shrapnel. The psychological damage would be incalcuable. Run through a busy downtown buisness district, or perhaps an affluential suburb.

According to FAS Military Analysis Network,” there is no such thing as Napalm Mortar rounds, (I’m assuming they’re probally against the Geneva Convention or some such thing,) but running through a neighborhood randomly dropping one a napalm or High Explosive round every other block to start fires (which would probally spread to neighboring houses,) could easily burn down a neighborhood pretty quickly, failing that it would cause enough damage that the local fire department would be overwhelmed quickly.

I’ve seen locally, 4 fire houses empty of fire engines just to take care of one building, usually a warehouse or other large structure. Imagine having multiple 4 or 5 alarm fires in the same city.

In addition I’m sure that a small group of terrorists like this would bea able to do this long enough to do quite a bit of damage. The police wouldn’t be able to respond for a couple of minutes. The first to arrive would be single units, armed with shotguns and pistols. Maybe a M-16 or similiar weapon if they’re lucky. Against grenades or moltov cocktails, and automatic weapons – they’d be outclassed. Say 5 minutes for the SWAT team to be called in, they might be able to take them out – although I’d probally resort to using a sniper or two out of a helicopter to keep up with the truck. Then another ten to fifteen minutes for a real military response. Either way, a semi armoured truck, running full speed down a road, ramming cars out of the way, and firing a new shell every 30-45 seconds randomly… that would be scarey. Even if they found a stable posistion to concentrate on one big target such as a building, a bridge, or a rush hour freeway, they’d still be able to do pleanty of damage.

Automatic weapons are easy – there are pleanty of readily available weapons on the mass-market that can easily be converted to full automatic. Failing that, there are enough sub-machine gun knock offs just as easily available, although I’d personally stick with a modified gun for the extra penetration.

Now granted Motar’s are military grade hardware, but I hardly think they’d be hard to get a hold of and smuggle in to the US, or even buy locally here. Failing that – they’re simply compressed gas systems, something similiar could easily be rigged up. Perhaps a modified potato gun? Either way, the key isn’t physical damage, it’s the moral and psychological damage that would affect people the worse.

To me these kinds of attacks are scarier then putting Antrax or Ebola into the water supply, or airborne dispersment – those kinds of attacks can be contained, are unseen (except for the illness itself,) and ultimatly would be contained one way or another.

Link of Note: Deparment of Justice Web Site: Al Qaeda Training Manual Thanks DOJ for posting this! I wish it was more public, to paraphase Sun Tzu, Knowing the tactics of the Enemy makes one stronger.

What a world we live in eh?

Good Deeds, and bad deeds

Posted by Rick on in Misc 0 Comment

Good Deeds, and bad deeds

What exactly constitutes a good deed? What makes a bad deed?

When I was in Boy Scouts we use to talk about helping old ladies across the street. The Boy’s Life Magazine always has an article about some kid saving someone’s life and getting an award for it. It’s a feature that has been in the magazine for as long as I can remeber, at least 20 years or so.

My apartment complex has a humungous trash compactor, it’s about 10 times the size of a regular trash can you’d think of normally. But despite that there is almost always a pile of trash sitting in front of it. Sometimes people put something big in it, such as cardboard that dosen’t quite get crunched enough. Or apparently, kids without house keys putting trash in front of it. (The compactor door is locked and is accessed with the apartment key.)

So today I threw all the trash bags there into the compactor. Not a big deal really, I feel bad when the machine runs and I only put one small bag in there. I also pulled out several pop cans to recycle. As I got done I said out loud “There’s your good deed for the day.”

But was it really? Did I help anybody? Or was I self serving? I made a quarter on cans and bottles that I pulled out. I helped the apartment management sure… but they have someone come by everyday to clean it up anyways. So I essentially did that guy’s job for him today.

Now what’s a bad deed? I cant think of anything I’d do that would hurt someone. I’d say not giving pan handlers money is a bad deed – but I’ve heard/read of too many cases where they actually make a crap load of money off of the niceness of random people. The most increadible being one of a guy who works New York during the Summer, then retires to his house on the coast during the rest of the year.

Or is it a bad deed that I don’t talk to my parents any more? I mean, my father asks me when I’m going to cut my hair and get a real job. Keep in mind I make as much or more money then he does working two jobs. My mother… is a meddler, who still dosen’t seem to realize that I’m almost 30 years old, and has my own life. (She’s indirectly a major cause of my breaking up with my ex-fiance.) My brother – the only thing we have in common is genetics. And my sister… I still think of her as a little girl who needs her hand held across the street – granted a lot of that is because I stopped talking to my family when she was just becoming a teenager, so I missed her growing up.

Is it a bad deed that I’ve missed (on purpose) every single funeral in my family over the last 15 years? Funerals for the living to say goodbye, not for the dead who really don’t care much. But my family guilt trips me about it saying “so and so would be sad if you weren’t there.” Right… my great grand father who lived to the ripe old age of 103, was dressed in diapers, hand fed mushed bananas and didn’t have enough memory left to reconize a single one of us is going to be sad.

At that point – I’d be friggin’ happy to be dead personally.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do try to do good deeds when it occurs to me. It’s not that I’m an unthoughtful person. I just have a one-track mind, I do a lot of things on automatic while I’m sorting out a problem in the rest of my brain. Some people just can’t understand how I can get focused on something to the point that everything around me ceases to exist. Let me tell you – it comes from being extremely smart, and being teased at school for every single little thing.

But I do do good deeds, at work I constantly hold doors open for people. Although it’s practically bred into the Nike Culture for some weird reason. Everyone holds doors open for everyone else. People will wait a good thirty seconds for someone to walk close enough to the door. About half the time I’m pushing a cart through, I hit the handicap button which opens one side and leaves enough room for the cart to get through it, yet they’ll still hold open the other side too.

Anyways, to digress – what is exactly a good deed? Is it something that makes someone’s life easier? Is it some little thing that they’ll forget about in thirty seconds? What?

Mickey and the Haunted Mansion, or why Disney Sucks

Posted by Rick on in Misc 0 Comment

Mickey and the Haunted Mansion

Mickey and the Haunted Mansion is an older cartoon made when good ol’ Walt was still alive. It stars him, Goofy and Donald who are all private detectives called out to investigate this spooky old mansion. The kicker – they were called by the ghost who lives in the mansion, and who then proceeds to scare the heck out of them.

My favorite part is where he puts two frogs into a pair of shoes tied together. As the frogs jump, the shoes move. Eventually they run into a coat rack with hat on it. Then through a torn curtain, and right by Mickey and Gang.

Either way, I think it’s probally one of my favorite Diseny cartoons. I use to have it on video. Well, not really video, fake video. Fisher Price had a cheesy plastic video “camcorder.” You could buy different “video” to play in it. They’d plug in to one side and you’d turn the crank to make the movie move. They were usually pretty well chopped up. This paticular one was only 45 seconds or so. I remeber also having Dumbo – that was probally a minute and a half at most.

So my real question is thus; All the rides in Diseny Land have themese to them. Was the Cartoon made to promote the Haunted House? And what on Earth made them think that putting Eddie Murphy in the house would be a good idea? Granted I’ve not seen the movie – but based off what I’ve heard, and what little I’ve see – I’m better off that way.

Eddie Murphy is a rant for another day, but I do want to pass on this link Why Diseny Should Turn to Anime