Fierce_LiNk

I think that speaks for itself. I completely understand that there will be clean athletes representing Russia, but...there's no distinguishable way of identifying who has and who hasn't been compromised. The right thing for Russia to do would be to withdraw all of their athletes, but I can't see them doing that. I really do think an outright ban is the only way forward. This was such an intricate and institutionalised operation that there really isn't any other choice. It's shameful and is completely against the spirit with which these Olympics shoud be hosted and attended. The fallout from this is going to be huge.

That's terrible, @Cube. Sorry for you and your family.

I've got the first one ready to play on PS4. I'll probably start that this week. How long is it roughly? Tempted to play Unravel before delving into it if it's on the longer side.

I had to make a thread on this subject as the more I read about it, the more fascinated, shocked, appalled and amazed I became. In short: - Russia had a very poor Winter Olympics at Vancouver in 2010. They achieved only 15 medals, which was branded as "very abysmal" at the time. - Russia seeked to improve the profile of all sports in Russia, particularly at the Olympic level. - It's claimed that it began making positive drug tests disappear from its anti-doping labs in late 2011. Before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia created a clean, frozen urine storage bank. - Russia's security service, the FSB, worked in a building next to the Sochi laboratory, swapping positive urine samples for clean negative ones through a "mouse hole", adding table salt to make them weigh the same - A key FSB agent had access to the Sochi anti-doping laboratory, disguised as a sewage and plumbing contractor. But, in swapping urine samples, the FSB agents left miniscule tool marks on the bottles - later found by McLaren's investigators using a microscope - The Moscow lab destroyed 8,000 samples it held dated prior to 10 September 2014. For those of you who want the full facts, here's a fantastic image which illustrates Russia's involvement (more information can be found here:

A great thread, nice one @Ashley. I'd say that my confidence has improved massively over the last few years, especially when it comes to speaking out loud pubically or with a large group of people. Being a teacher, you have to have a bit of that about you. Talking to children is easy, but talking to other staff (especially when you have to deliver something) is much more daunting to me. I'm getting better at that, though. I was pretty quiet I'd say through school and uni. At work, I had a similar experience to @drahkon. We were running a massive production...Annie. I originally got asked to work backstage, which was fine by me. Moving things, lifting heavy things and putting them down again...I do that 4 or so times a week anyway! Then, things escalated. I go asked if I wanted to be a non-speaking extra. Uhhh, ok. Next, it was an extra with a few speaking lines. I said something along the lines of, "Sure, I guess...but I really can't act, or sing, or dance." The next time I met with the person running the show, I had been promoted to the character of Rooster, which meant...singing in front of over 200 people (closer to 300 I think), dancing...and acting. I was not happy! But, like @drahkon, I pulled it off and gained loads of confidence after that. Once you've done something like that, you can do anything really. A huge part of confidence is about self-belief. If you don't believe in what you say or do, then many won't either. Some people can be tricked, but not many. So, that's what you try and project. I get what you're saying @Ashley about imposter syndrome. Sometimes I still feel that way, that I'm not really great at what I do, or that somebody else is better than me at what I do. I'm learning to not let that bother me and that, actually, in a lot of ways, I am great at what I do. And the things that I'm not so great at, they can be worked at over time.

Oh, I know. But, that's the way things are now and it's how things will continue to be as long as Wenger is here. You'll have stability (which is something that isn't guaranteed when he eventually goes), but it means that you'll have to put up with "his ways". Personally, I think the longer he stays, the more he will continue to damage his legacy and reputation with the club and its fans. Yeah, but this is how things are now. It doesn't matter what he used to be like. I've learned that with Van Gaal. Wenger is still a top manager, he probably will bring in one or two players later on, but he will continue to frustrate many. As much as you won't want to hear it, last year was a huuuuuge opportunity for Arsenal to win the title. This year, City will be much stronger, as will Chelsea (potentially) and United (hopefully). I'm not sure when Arsenal are going to have a better chance to do it again. They have to make serious signings in the summer otherwise they're in trouble, imo. Luckily for them/you, there's still plenty of time. I'm really interested to see who they do sign.

Isn't this start/pre-season the same as any other year for Arsenal? I don't see any real difference. I can understand Leicester wanting to sell Kante, but I would also prefer for him to stay at the club. He's earned his right to play Champions League football and it's better for the league, for the club and personally for him to stay an extra season. But, if he doesn't have as good a season as he had last year, there's a chance his value will decrease. What Leicester don't want is a situation where 4 or 5 of their players leave. Basically, Southampton. (Can't believe Pelle has left...)

There's a dozen or so videos on youtube about how to remove the casing. From what I remember, it was the first part that was the trickiest (actually finding the leverage to get into the casing and making that first incision). Follow one of the videos and you'll get it done in minutes. I'd recommend you find a table or a nice flat surface to do this. I used our dining room table and just followed the video (can't seem to find the exact one, but there's tons to choose from) whilst taking my time. It's totally worth it in the end. Being able to look at your storage space and know that you've got a while before it becomes completely filled up.

Yeah, it's just been confirmed that he's keeping his post. So close.

Looks the same as the one that I bought. It's a bit of a motherbitch to get the case off, but it's only a few minutes of headache for months and months (years even) of piece of mind. No danger of running out of space anytime soon. Seriously, to anyone here, you will rinse through 1TB like there's no tomorrow. When you add up all of the PS+ games, the install sizes of your disc based software, patches, update, dlc...both 1TB and 500GB are too small.

The video wasn't great, tbh. There's certain bits that are funny here and there, but it seemed very flat to me. (I know it's difficult to do these types of videos as you're trying to play and talk at the same time whilst showing off the game in a good light and he addressed that) Maybe not the best way to show it off. However, it still looks completely nuts. Can't wait for it.

Get a 2TB HDD. You'll go through the 1TB really quickly.

Get a 2TB HDD. You'll go through the 1TB really quickly.

I'm not even sure it goes that far. I've also seen talk of letting Gove back into the race and having a straight shoot-out between the two of them, but I can't see that happening. The Leadsom backers will/have begun to shift their support to May and that's it. She'll be the next leader of the Conservatives. This is all a right fucking mess, tbh. Made even worse with Eagle vying to usurp Corbyn for Labour's leadership.

I'm not even sure it goes that far. I've also seen talk of letting Gove back into the race and having a straight shoot-out between the two of them, but I can't see that happening. The Leadsom backers will/have begun to shift their support to May and that's it. She'll be the next leader of the Conservatives. This is all a right fucking mess, tbh. Made even worse with Eagle vying to usurp Corbyn for Labour's leadership.

It's great to see Pokemon become relevant again. There's a lot of people on my timeline (many from here, granted) who are giving this a go and enjoying it. So, people are more than willing to play Nintendo's software, but don't necessarily need their hardware in order to do so. Food for thought.

It's great to see Pokemon become relevant again. There's a lot of people on my timeline (many from here, granted) who are giving this a go and enjoying it. So, people are more than willing to play Nintendo's software, but don't necessarily need their hardware in order to do so. Food for thought.

Aye, I did suggest that. I stick by it, too. Congratulation, @Jonnas. As the minutes seemed to tick by, Portugal grew into the game and looked the better of the two teams in extra time, even before the goal. I think it was midway through the first half of extra time where I said that I could see Portugal getting a goal and winning it there. On paper, France had it all there in front of them. Strong tournament, players playing well, a strong first eleven and bench, home crowd, opponents who haven't scored that many goals. It was there for them to win it. But, they didn't. The killer for me was that Martial was brought on so late...the game was begging for him to appear and stretch the Portuguese defence. I did feel very sorry for Ronaldo and I'll never understand some of the criticism he gets. Would we just prefer an emotionless robot who comes on, does his thing and never anything more? Part of what makes Ronaldo work is his passion, emotion and his persona. The field is like a stage to him and he's the star. I was happy to see him on the touchline urging his team on, even shoving one of his defenders back onto the pitch when they came off briefly in extra time. On the whole, I think the tournament has been average. Some good games/moments, many were lackluster and...quite uneventful really. It's been by the book. It's been relatively clean, with no unnecessary drama (no biting, no needless fouls, not many red cards or debatable issues), but there's been something missing. Many teams were quite cautious and didn't give it a go until the very end. I do think the quality of defensive coaching has improved throughout the years and that's why you didn't see many teams get thrashed. The defending has been tight, but I think there just hasn't been enough flare or attacking play. Everyone is too afraid to make a mistake. Nobody wants to go further and make an effort to grab the glory in fear of making a mistake and letting their country down. That's been it for me.

Aye, I did suggest that. I stick by it, too. Congratulation, @Jonnas. As the minutes seemed to tick by, Portugal grew into the game and looked the better of the two teams in extra time, even before the goal. I think it was midway through the first half of extra time where I said that I could see Portugal getting a goal and winning it there. On paper, France had it all there in front of them. Strong tournament, players playing well, a strong first eleven and bench, home crowd, opponents who haven't scored that many goals. It was there for them to win it. But, they didn't. The killer for me was that Martial was brought on so late...the game was begging for him to appear and stretch the Portuguese defence. I did feel very sorry for Ronaldo and I'll never understand some of the criticism he gets. Would we just prefer an emotionless robot who comes on, does his thing and never anything more? Part of what makes Ronaldo work is his passion, emotion and his persona. The field is like a stage to him and he's the star. I was happy to see him on the touchline urging his team on, even shoving one of his defenders back onto the pitch when they came off briefly in extra time. On the whole, I think the tournament has been average. Some good games/moments, many were lackluster and...quite uneventful really. It's been by the book. It's been relatively clean, with no unnecessary drama (no biting, no needless fouls, not many red cards or debatable issues), but there's been something missing. Many teams were quite cautious and didn't give it a go until the very end. I do think the quality of defensive coaching has improved throughout the years and that's why you didn't see many teams get thrashed. The defending has been tight, but I think there just hasn't been enough flare or attacking play. Everyone is too afraid to make a mistake. Nobody wants to go further and make an effort to grab the glory in fear of making a mistake and letting their country down. That's been it for me.

The trailers for this haven't looked great, so that's not enough to convince me to pay the absurd cinema prices to see it on the big screen. Can see myself checking it out later down the line when it's on netflix or something. One thought did occur to me when I saw the cast on...I think it was the Graham Norton show. They're funny people and they came across really well. Basically, you've got a cast there with a good dynamic that could produce a classic, but they're in the wrong film. They should be doing something completely new so that it can be the Ghostbusters of the next generation, rather than...just a remake of Ghostbusters. They should have had something that was something they could call their own, without having to rely on cameos, previous gags, homages, etc. I kind of don't want it to succeed because it could just mean we see more classics remade unnecessarily with the main cast replaced by female leads...instead of the world getting new stories with women owning the roles in their own right.

The trailers for this haven't looked great, so that's not enough to convince me to pay the absurd cinema prices to see it on the big screen. Can see myself checking it out later down the line when it's on netflix or something. One thought did occur to me when I saw the cast on...I think it was the Graham Norton show. They're funny people and they came across really well. Basically, you've got a cast there with a good dynamic that could produce a classic, but they're in the wrong film. They should be doing something completely new so that it can be the Ghostbusters of the next generation, rather than...just a remake of Ghostbusters. They should have had something that was something they could call their own, without having to rely on cameos, previous gags, homages, etc. I kind of don't want it to succeed because it could just mean we see more classics remade unnecessarily with the main cast replaced by female leads...instead of the world getting new stories with women owning the roles in their own right.

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine I've given my full thoughts in the game thread. Here's the post itself:

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine I've given my full thoughts in the game thread. Here's the post itself:

I finished Blood and Wine's main storyline yesterday. I've got quests and treasure hunts that I need to mop up, but I'm coming to the very end of what this game has to offer.

I finished Blood and Wine's main storyline yesterday. I've got quests and treasure hunts that I need to mop up, but I'm coming to the very end of what this game has to offer.