The many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XIX

[timtofly]

I am introvert by nature and it is very hard to put myself "out there". Sometimes though I can work better when left to myself and can become depressed when that is taken away from me. In fact the last two years of my last job, I was on meds to help me cope. When I was finally fired, I stopped taking them. I am by no means an expert, but any experience that you can force yourself through is a learning experience. You have to force yourself to do what you can do and build on that. Sitting there and thinking about it, is not the same as actually doing it. You have to do something for that to happen.

 

[Civciv5]

Why do I receive weather forecast messages from "Météo France"?
I don't even live in France!
I already tried to block them,but I can't.

 

[Civciv5]

Help!
I can't login on Simtropolis.com (yes I play Simcity).
It always says "No sign in name entered"!

 

[aronnax]

What is the most appropriate colour to represent Russia on the map that isn't dark blue (Too much like the EU) or red (too much like China)?

 

[bhsup]

Bears are brown (frequently)!

 

[Flying Pig]

Monarchical Russia for most of its history was represented by either yellow or white, I think... the flag is red/blue/white, so one of those?

 

[Tee Kay]

Gold, from the the Russian coat of arms and the black-gold-white flag.

 

[Arwon]

With no medication, how can I beat my depression and cynicism?

It's not the same thing as seeing a professional, but you might get some benefit out of online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tools.

I know some people who have benefited from sites like Mood Gym for instance. Stuff like that can sometimes serve as a circuit-breaker to destructive and irrational thought patterns.

Or, you know, talk to a professional.

 

[Joecoolyo]

What is the most appropriate colour to represent Russia on the map that isn't dark blue (Too much like the EU) or red (too much like China)?

EU3 has tainted my view and I think of Russia as green.

 

[Michkov]

What is the most appropriate colour to represent Russia on the map that isn't dark blue (Too much like the EU) or red (too much like China)?

Its orange on my world map, if that helps

 

[cardgame]

Green is good.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Let's go with gold/yellow. Historical precedent and matches Civ V too.

 

[W|M]

It's dark red in Civ IV, and should therefore be dark red on a world map.

 

[Quackers]

How do betting firms calculate odds? I've got a few speculative ideas but does anybody have anything definite?

 

[Arwon]

They make an educated guess about where they will make the most money based on both popular opinion and what they themselves think is likely to happen.

Then the odds move as money comes in so they don't get stuck paying too much at the more generous odds.

 

[Zelig]

Is there a current browser that doesn't suck ?
Firefox has become so sluggish and unstable that I switched to Chrome, but Chrome ironically refuses to load any images found through google image search.

You've probably got a more general computer problem. I use Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera and Safari on a regular basis, and they're all fine.

 

[salty mud]

Suddenly I've had the desire to "build" my own world, like a fantasy world, similar to the Lord of the Rings series, or the Elder Scrolls and so on. I could see myself having hours of fun from drawing the maps of the world, making up histories, stories, politics of the land, names, places... But it would seem so... empty if there were no reason behind it. I know fun is fun and it's a leisure time activity, but is it worth doing? I obviously don't want to get ahead of myself here, but how well received are these kinds of fantasy worlds and are stories based in them likely to be successful?

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I don't know, but I started doing my own. It was an idea I had for years and I was going to start when I could draw more, but since that's not going to happen I begun to write my ideas down instead.

 

[Borachio]

, but how well received are these kinds of fantasy worlds and are stories based in them likely to be successful?

I think they are well received if they are believable. So you need a whole world vision that is self-consistent, even if you only present a small subsection of it.

But you also need some underlying plot structure and credible characterization.

Game of Thrones does this successfully, doesn't it?

In the end it comes down to how credible it seems to you, the author. If you "believe" it, chances are other people will too.

 

[salty mud]

I don't know, but I started doing my own. It was an idea I had for years and I was going to start when I could draw more, but since that's not going to happen I begun to write my ideas down instead.

Care to share these ideas? What interesting ideas did you have?

I think they are well received if they are believable. So you need a whole world vision that is self-consistent, even if you only present a small subsection of it.

But you also need some underlying plot structure and credible characterization.

Game of Thrones does this successfully, doesn't it?

In the end it comes down to how credible it seems to you, the author. If you "believe" it, chances are other people will too.

This makes sense. The trick is to create a realistic, believable fantasy world.