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Somewhere in the outer reaches of the Web...

The best chance the Roman army would have had against zombies is thus the post-Marian army, which was able to campaign for long periods of time and which was rather tactically flexible, allowing for maneuvers and quick, orderly formation changes. By that time in history, Rome was in full control of Italy, and would have been able to deploy a legion from anywhere to counter an incoming zombie horde with relative ease. Still, the zombies would have posed a serious threat to the Roman army. Warfare in this time period relied on hand-to-hand combat, meaning that a Roman soldier would have been much more threatened by the zombies than a modern soldier armed with a gun. However, the Roman armies were trained to fight in tight formations thus inclined to counter an uncoordinated zombie horde as a single, coherent force. Using such tactics and formations, it would have been nearly impossible to sweep the countryside, rout out all zombies, and eliminate any stragglers. Notably, in battles against tribes and peoples living in the Roman hills which fought the Roman army in an uncoordinated manner (something like how zombie hordes would have attacked), the Romans found themselves taking serious losses. So, most likely, Rome would have been overrun.

A few things come to mind here:

1) Zombie General ? Ok, perhaps not ! How about Zombie Chieftain ?

2) Human players aspiring to... zombie leadership and eventual glory ? Hmmm, intriguing, isn't it ?

3) Waaait a minute ! Something fits like a glove here ! The Programmed Opponent (i.e., Artificial Intelligence) would be a natural zombie chieftain, right ? I mean, lack of coordination, hordes of sacrificial units and so on...

4) Zombie briefings ? Where are the learned linguists now that we really need them ?

forget about it and connect me to Istanbul "soaps" market and their world....

...it turn out she is not just "harem girl" but daughter of semi-self-ruled Osmanic lord who died in Kosovo battle, our "black knight" father also died there... he is aware of her love, but now tries to forget it and finish job... after Ankara battle he has no obligation to anyone (except his Serb lord) and in chaos voices are heard about selling/handing them to Byzantines. Here again that knight acts as protector and opposition and supports notion of returning them to Turks and going home... she is crying while they escort girls and try to prove that she can't live without him in any way, wants to go with ti "Sirbistan"... Heart breaking final scene where he, in sunfall, lowers his visier on helmet (to hide tear) and slowly turns around to join his unit and go home, while she cries and cries standing there with Turkish girls and survived court guards in oposite direction....

... or should i make him casualty in Ankara battle, making her desperate and siucidal, with more tragic ending... ah... not so bad strory

The Web is replete with commentary to the effect that certain online game bots are "stupid" when it comes to demonstrable playing skills. Yet, posters don't appear to appreciate what the big picture unfortunately looks like. So, the usual commentary goes; "boy are we ever frustrated when some human player suddenly drops out only to be replaced by a... zombie (i.e., bot)" !

Waaait a minute !! Does this make sense ? In my opinion, the complaints are long on wishful thinking (like, hope springs eternal) and short on readily observable facts. Let me "explain", as the complainants are discounting the likelihood of the following... disturbing possibilities:

1) A "zombie bot" is reliable. It doesn't drop out of the game every time the... boss walks into the office.

2) Are most online human players' skills that superior to those routinely exhibited by the "poor zombie bots" ? Sorry, I don't think so.

3) In the final analysis, what's really preferable ? The manifestly antisocial behavior routinely exhibited by online human players under "virtual" anonymity's mighty protection or the admittedly... pedestrian but committed behavior of certain software ?

The trophy should go to the... zombies, perhaps ? Now, if only those zombie... females weren't that ugly !! Ok, then. Next mighty project: female zombie extreme makeover -- the new, refurbished Marilyn Monroe rises again, yeah !

By the way, here's some sage advice I happened to have come across on the Web some time ago:

Maybe you should set up a club whereby you only play people you're familiar with; then you know you're not gonna be playing with... muppets !

...a bit more on the subject, before i finish this hopefully interesting "Turkey and I" part, not to give it all importnace (but might come back, it is big country with lots of future chances and nice women that can only get better....)

found this article - wikipedia subgenre so no surprise - starting with: "Here is a complete list of the countries of the world (as recognized by the Republic of Turkey) and how to say someone is from a certain country"

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Turkish/Countries

.... but it is not complete as it doesn't include my country, not the only one ; so maybe we are not recognized by Turkey without noticing our officials very strange error as list includes details and territories but nonetheless, believe it is unintentional error. It does look funny...

Young Turks do not know that not only we played role in their events from 1396-1415 (sadly for us though)) but also in fact that Adrianople/Edirne is part of Turkey (as Bulgarians attacked us before Turks invaded them, not our plan))... to some it looks like dislike, but it is like husband disliking wife, as it will be once in not so far future )

thanks to Hex for inspiring this lines, while i'm still doing some things including that country i finish mentioning it, but why not again sometimes

Oftentimes, "international laws and norms" are rather powerless when confronted with essentially tribal urges that make us humans achieve extreme emotive highs (the inevitable deflation invariably being very painful)...

Some other posts of mine notwithstanding, a few urban, Australian females possess a great sense of humor. A quite attractive female history major put it like this:

Tribal... erections often result in extreme discomfort during urination.



I would imagine that... urologists would be in great demand in tribal(ist) societies.

Tribal... erections

must use this term more often in my work... however it was not case of one in my last cicle of posts, Turk miledis once again it is deep, refined, intelectual, spiritual voice from the depth of soul. Proven by probably most powerful love story that can't leave no eye dry (there can be other episode in which hero returns to Anatolia ten years later, to find his love with lots of twists etc. etc.)

forget about societies and frigid norms and let love win... imagine world in which all our kids say my papa "S'rbistan" and my mama "Turkey" no offensive tone there (as it is commonly used term for females, but we are horses, monkeys and pigs on the other sex)) on the contrary in most gentle and feminine use...

with this post and addressing only my female Turkish readers, not to mix things and misinterpretate my posts with some machoistic erectionism and phallusionism yes it is true that our hero and heroine had sex (twice) during the movie i.e. first episode, but I'd like my post to be taken seriously and as very good idea, almost visionary concept. the end... or pause until second episode ) you are very welcome, btw

Here's something funny from the 1970s / 80s. One may recall that, at the time, Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) fighters were sometimes trained by East German military personnel. These ideological Germans did not understand how "radicalized" young Arabs could cheer and root for... Rambo during movie screenings and all. Well, the answer isn't that difficult to find. Rambo was a hands-on guy engaged in small-scale action and definitely a "man of the people". The dictates of abstract ideology are for old-fart, elitist generals...

During WWII, a certain "former army officer" in charge of "internal security" somewhere in the war torn Balkans was asked why he turned a blind eye to atrocities (especially, rape) committed by his "men". His answer was that he... wished he were young enough to "effectively" participate in all that... fun !

Once again:

Anthropology ==> 1
Civilization ==> 0

Will "we" always be slaves to anthropological "givens" ? Well, the Borg (of Star Trek etc fame) have shown "us" the way out... Cheer up, the future is bright after all !

....what you say, maybe I missed the target with my idea of "ten years later" with Turk ladies

https://youtu.be/z7OvpjplJ_8

https://youtu.be/R9x9VbJzaDQ

this dude is good example... first (in Stambol) 8 points from Turkey (superb result as it came from females mostly) eight years later 0 (zero) points from Turkey alright, maybe few years later sounds better for my story sequel


know we have place for music - and this is not that one - but remembered through some talks Istanbul as "his place of success" and combined into joke to put here to be in same place with the rest of points... used music - good example that low value pop culture can lead to greater things - including Sertab song from Turkey to make stories without "mike" many would never know about all that... regarding story my first idea was about she losing her line (after few child births) but not great beauty, while he is still in training and single "ten years later" (maybe drinking more because of many battles around) but I'm rethinking it now based on Turk female votes in that contest ..... eventual details sometimes later ; ...would be nice that she saves his life once for a change, maybe...

without any joke great idea personally, but only sadly not the place regarding forum purpose and topics, what can one do about it and I comply... trying to get out but always something to add, since we touched that subject (and i should get out now) so beside joke i maybe added some music to make eventual Turk female ever finding this feeling more pleasant out and over, hopefully

Chi po non vo, chi vo non po, chi sa non fa, chi fa non sa et cosi il mondo mal va (Ascoli Piceno - Anno Domini 1529)

My very, very loose, contextual "rendering" ==>

Men of action aren't content with just desiring; those who are content to just desire never actually make a move; those in the know aren't men of action; movers and shakers don't have a clue as to what it is they're actually doing; thus, the world is going to the... dogs !

Welcome to the Kingdom of Mismatches... Logic dictates that if you want a new suit you don't go to your local... cement plant, right ? Unless, of course, you are vacationing, say, in certain parts of... Sicily or Southern Italy and you are truly adventurous. If so, throw in a pair of heavy shoes too !

What if the world is just a gigantic Rubik's cube challenge ? Courtesy of "der liebe Mephisto" of Faustian fame, of course...

it is change of subject, but since it is fresh and if you wish a bit deeper - and unrelated to marriage and politics - socio-cultural look (this is just fun comment after all) at performer from my previous post underscoring with Turkish (presumably and predominantly female) population, take this as light comment but possibility.... (also there was probably shift from telephone voting to judges with political calculations etc.)

a) colour effect... it is not secret that many nations and populations from parts stretching from Italy (but he scored good with Italy, solid points hence Italians are different story) to Greece i.e. ex-Byzant to later Turkey equalised fighting/male Serbs with black colour in clothes, already mentioned that myself. In previous show in Istanbul they were dressed in white b) while song is maybe not as good - as non-expert on pop, I say second one has some/more strength in finale - what maybe didn't suit Turkish relevant public (female) is higher/rougher voice tone in final song part (even gesticulation with finger)) in especially second song while language is strange in both cases Combining this two - maybe more factors I don't care to elaborate now - it makes fun but possible factors of some dislike among Turkish female watchers

that's why some cultural contact and opinion is valuable when creating some work and would be great for me to have one lady from there to help While only fun in "scientificity" pharagraph, maybe there is some truth there.... nonetheless, while searching for videos noticed nice comments from Turkey (and females esp) so maybe song quality in their eyes, studio voting and some political decission, but not important to be touched anymore

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

We may as well consider the case of the "Chess Queen", Aleksandra Kosteniuk. I don't know about you gentlemen, speaking for myself, I can't think of a more effective way to get a bunch of teenage boys to view playing chess as a "cool" thing to do, hormones and all... Sweet reactive exposure, yeah !

Back in the 1990s, the Berlusconi media model "arrived" in Greece. Ever since, virtually all round-table discussions on TV have featured a blond chick with large breasts wearing a low-cut dress, blouse and so on as one of the participants. Never mind the "seriousness" of the matters discussed...

PR is an applied "science". Various academic disciplines such as psychology and anthropology have poured a lot of supportive research into it over the last 100 years or so. Is it so hard to accept the fact that humans are neither that rational nor that disciplined ? In my case, the ever practical, home grown girlfriends at the North American universities I attended as a young foreign student set me... straight for life (no, no, I didn't mean it that way ). So much for... Continental European, "Educated" Flights of Fancy !

i'm 40 and believe me never in my life was reading Turkish political press (online and paper) until today and it is better for all of us never to read papers from another country not to disappoint in any way... )

nothing interesting to me to say first and it was some edition in English i found first - not state media, but still with "pro-Erdogan" agenda (maybe all are like) but found interesting fact there about Turk police on our borders i did not know about since 2019, due to huge numbers of Turks crossing border yearly in both ways it was some agreement... unimportant thing in some significance but was "news" for me and i guess positive thing in political way...

alas - while i believe i bored about it already ; - while never was "too tough on hated Turks" (as you seen in my historical posts) but it is funny how you can "calm your mind" via just some songs and a bit of change of perspective, plus girls voices and pics.... personal hope is that it won't just go away like some temporar impression and I go back to my "Turkey is small" stance i'm caricaturising it a bit, but you get idea. Even watched girl pic with big Turkish flag and it was just nice girl with a flag .... i decided to share all this, because our discussion (only) partly (part is old i guess) inspired all that, grateful... but really finish this for now, while story is alive and my welcome to.... well you know whome. Last thing i wanted is to be unpleasant to someone and insist on "Turkish topics", btw, but not shameful to talk anything so opportunity was good here...

The post excerpts quoted below originated much earlier under this topic.

By launching the "Open Mike" topic I intended to emphasize two things: ephemeral, "hodgepodge" inclusiveness and total lack of structure and continuity.

Mission accomplished. As for "inclusiveness", well, as far as I'm concerned, to their credit, the OG Forum "Red Administrators" haven't interfered at all... By the way, poster interaction isn't a sine qua non when it comes to "Open Mike's" validation as an operational concept. The clearly emerged openness is !

I sincerely hope that my "approach" to posting ... will drastically reduce the number of "launch - post something - and move on" topics.

All I can do is adhere to my own prescriptions. So, I've made it a point not to start off new topics unless it's absolutely necessary for content serial continuity's sake. To boot, I also refrained from posting under all sorts of topics just for the... hell of it. Simply put, I've endeavored to absolutely minimize my self-generated, virtual "pollution".

Of course, there's no escaping it; posters may decide to launch other topics in this forum as they see fit.

And that's exactly what they do; all the time !

however - gravely serious post for a change, very sad. just few lines from a criminal case in Germany 6-7 years ago i found in archives, victim being Turkish German born girl:

The woman was attacked by a Serbian teenager after she intervened in an assault.....

An 18-year-old man, identified as Sanel M., was detained following the attack....

A commemoration ceremony was also held for Albayrak in Sorgun, a central Turkish town in the province of Yozgat, where her parents hail from. The young woman's relatives in the town lit candles in memory of Albayrak at the ceremony attended by local officials. Yozgat Governor praised Albayrak for "standing against savages" and said she was an example of Turkish culture urging for helping the desperate.

very bad example of attemped "cultural wars" to very sad occasion by local governor in Turkey... not related to victim and sad event, hence my legitimate intervention. Sanel is btw, islamic name - if any politician had any political and cultural intention... again sad story and not for discussion (and details are known only to police and German legislation, i don't know who was attacker, btw)


in any way, I also want to finish in positive tone and applaud quality of posts but would like interaction (not on this post, though) i see only good relations with Turkey, above all personal and am ready to say that our people, above all males, should show more love on Turkish youtube videos, for start )

Not even an... impaler !

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

If a young man were to come to me for... advice, I'd caution him against talking literature in... bars. Instead, I'd urge him to dress up as a... gladiator, responding to the adoring (hopefully, all female) crowd's chants "Maximus, Maximus" with a few... theatrical gestures and grunts. By the way, the historically counterfactual Maximus has been cast as a man beholden to Roman republican principles and values, which had already been passed by by the relentless and unforgiving progression of historical time, never to return... Hopefully Maximus' love life was, at least, somewhat fulfilling...

This brings back memories. Back in the early 2000s, I spent quite a bit of time in Sydney, Australia. I happened to come across and strike a lengthy conversation with a young Bulgarian guy, Vladimir. This fellow was quite well educated. Moreover, he owned three apartments back in Sofia, Bulgaria. Those of you familiar with such sociopolitical phenomena will immediately recognize the term (former) "communist bourgeoisie". Yeah, "our" Vlad was definitely the product of such bygone realities in Bulgaria...

"Our" poor Vlad must have been going to the movies quite a bit, preferring to watch auteur cinema as opposed to the usual Hollywood fare (strike 1). "Worse", he was reading Australian "showcase" papers (instead of carefully... studying the local tabloids), desperately trying to understand Australian realities as an... educated man (strike 2). And, horror of all horrors, it turned out that he had the most unfortunate habit of talking... politics to women he was interested in bedding (strike 3) ! End result ? Well, what do you expect ? An... unhappy bed !

Thank god that I met "our" Vlad while in the company of my then (Australian) woman. She was cracking up and had a very hard time composing herself. At some point, she couldn't resist any more and gave "our" Vlad her practical advice:

1) Stop coming across as an educated twit;
2) Don't talk politics, talk sports;
3) Actually, avoid talking altogether;
4) Go to the gym and build up those abs;
5) Your apartments in Sofia are irrelevant over here;
6) Start driving around in a flashy car;
7) Flash your money (you better have some);
8) Promise the girls exotic vacations (at no charge, of course).

To this day, I wonder how "our" Vlad has fared in postmodernist, urban Australia (actually, even in "European" Sofia, if, per chance, he threw in the towel and decided to go back home)...

since we touched few times question of facial/racial characteristics, eventual look of (greatest man ever) emperor Dušan, "anti-Turkish" sentiment, blondes etc. etc. etc... via link, here is how i look like, photo captures specific sentiment too so i've chosen it intentionally only change is that i mostly have 0 hair now and have short full beard on and off...

i don't know, it looks Scythian to me do not use my low-res pic on some sex sites, btw ... (guess not Turk miladies type as well due to being Scytish))

https://images2.imgbox.com/b5/8a/3O67rlTL_o.jpg

Let's think Ancient Rome, Senate and all. Here goes a video campaign design first sketch:

1) Video introduction -- Brutus and Cassius are sharpening their knives in conspiratorial isolation.

2) Ancient... first person shooter -- The conspirators assassinate Caesar on the steps of the Roman Senate.

3) Two back to back engagements at Philippi.

4) Video intermission -- Brutus and Cassius die tragically.

5) Prestige allotment -- Brutus and Cassius arrive at the gate of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. A longish inscription over the gate ends like this:

"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate"

(Trans. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here")

6) On the basis of their widely recognized notoriety and republican prestige, the two "sinners" are hereby dispatched to the Inferno's frozen core where they're being chewed by Lucifer's two mouths (the third one being reserved for Judas) for all eternity.

7) Futuristic (in relative terms)... first person shooter -- Brutus and Cassius, having had some, albeit dated, military experience while alive, attempt to escape their cruel punishment by lobbing... WWII vintage grenades into Lucifer's mouths with varying degrees of success.

Rome (ancient) is - after case of deleted video I presented in "music thread" - a no-go subject and dangerous i might read about it, but not talking about it ;

about pic to add, look and style is often tricky thing. we (Serbs at least and without generalisations) probably have genetic "chip" to be "strong" and less emotional (being "border/tribal guards" in many societies), somehow saying in relation to thesis - Turkish girl/boy is more likely to show emotion to Serb, than he/she to her/him etc. It is just mask, often and do not judge by look my story after all shows that if you look at me would never say i'm able to write love story dated to early XIV century and where Turkish girl is weaker side I just added pic for fun and eventual interest...

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Back in the late 1990s, I was coordinating an intensive research effort aimed at uncovering various {Wargame X} "secrets". Various tasks were broken up into individual "assignments", later to be re-assembled and "publicized" as collectively discovered facts.

A relative newcomer to the group who introduced himself as a Romanian was given a research task having to do with Soviet Light Level Bombers. He immediately turned around and wrote a most unpleasant E-mail to us all, the main points of which were as follows:

1) We were a bunch of "Sons of a B*tch" (SOBs) for having "dared" to assign him such an... insulting task.

2) Never in his dreams would he ever consider "touching" anything pertaining to the Soviet Union unless he would... kill it with supreme satisfaction !

3) The main reason why he was playing {Wargame X} was to kill, kill and more kill Soviets as a Nazi (not, just, German) General !

4) He had edited out the Soviet Union (SU) unit nationality descriptor and had replaced it with "Nemernici Comuniste" (NC) which, if memory serves me here, means something like "Communist Bastards"...

Needless to say, we never heard from him again... One may want to reflect upon the gazillion ways that the "historical connection" manifests itself in the context of video wargaming...

for fun today, pearl of comment and "trolling" par excellence .... look i was only interested why that singer (from my link) failed with Turkish female votes 8 years later, but looked for comments on his and Turkish songs to collect info....

great singer and song! he does not look like the typical Serbian. He looks very Turkish

while i agree that he could fit in Turkish pop scene with looks but foreign comment (of unknown national origin) and is "schlagwort".... i have no idea how "typical" anyone should be considered (like Germanic type, footballer Haaland or Adolf, Frankfurt coach from Austria) but it is fun in own way I'll explain here (bored again)).... Well he talked about own tie and descend from some isolated tribe in hills of Montenegro and that's what makes comment fun Maybe he is "typical Serb" rather that what someone consider "typical" in own head...

scientifically - to "defend" Turks and some fantasies how they raped us all through centuries - data showed that we do not share much genetical material with Turkish populations, plus on height we are among taller nations while Turks among smaller (but you had certainly bigger and longer lasting empire than we did)).... Serbia was in several times depopulated and repopulated, many having origin from today Montenegro or Herzegovina at least partly and they were isolated...

that's science, but in human, political and lovable sense - maybe we didn't share much genetics with Turks until now, but we will share in the future, considering how lovely Turkish girls are

false sense of importance more interested in other persons and their stories and interests, as it is "open" thread by invite

certainly not interested in (more) aggression, less friendly tone and total ignorance about anything outside of "zone of comfort", would prefer pub as a pub. Look i'm not into engaging in anything/much without human dimension including gaming interest... will it happen, well i doubt but things happen in other fields, that's good... obviously, there was no interaction and i'm not crying about it and giving self some significance about nobody wants or doesnt want to talk to me... but outside of that and bigger picture - it will happen, it happens if you know what I mean.

there is so called "facebook syndrome" where you just post and expect "like or dislike". Dislike is almost catstrophy and leads to negativism. no idea about Australia (for example) and can't talk it, but would like to talk other places. in that sense i'm proud of myself because used place in a constructive way, positive developments in society and ideas including love ...certainly not posted own stories for you, but others (there is fun, personal details, even something to learn from historical angle etc.) and might continue.... to me only time to stop history, love, sport, anything else talks is when someone says that "pub is closed". Really have no idea of your (Hex) role and who gave anyone right to act like "red mod" best friend and "scare" someone around (and I don't care if you and Csaba are best pals, sorry to mentioning Csaba with his problems)) but - for example - you will certainly agree that there are 80+ millions people in Turkey (for example) I'm trying to address and maybe contact, so why not via "open thread" no matter how useless it is for now

of course it is simplier to say in friendly tone that you want thread for other purposes so i say equally friendly "i understand and i'll not post in this thread" than so much negativity and trying to prove how important someone is here... being friendly - will happen ; don't rage around and call mods, just read my post simply and consider it friendly, same about anyone else... typing from my bed, midnight, relaxed so i wish more relaxation to you. We are not talking, that's good nor i talked to you, again it must be said explicitely that thread is with purpose... however nice and friendly Turks - gamers, sport fans, history fans - welcome

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Sometimes, technically knowledgeable and inclined hobbyists show their "dark side". Here's something concrete to provide much needed illumination...

Many centuries ago, a small group of technically inclined hobbyist "collaborators" were trying to identify and document the innards of {Wargame X's} engine regarding the ability to purchase new units. At the time, the group was reasonably content with a particular hobbyist acting as "Research Coordinator".

At some point, the "Research Coordinator" got fed up with the lack of overall progress and decided to take charge ! He singlehandedly deciphered and meticulously documented what later became known as the wargame's New Unit Purchase List (NUPL).

One of the "collaborators" was a Modder whose "publicly" available custom campaigns had been held in high praise by the Hobby. Upon receiving the technical E-mail documenting the wargame's NUPL, he fired back an E-mail which sarcastically pointed out that:

1) All this was old hat to him since he had known "everything" for a long time...

2) He always thought of our group as a bunch of... retards ! We should have come up with those "discoveries" way earlier, if we were really that smart...

3) He singled out the "Research Coordinator" as a "gullible idiot" for having revealed such "important discoveries" to the "public"...

Needless to say, that was the last time that the group heard from him. His campaign masterpieces are still around (even in converted form)...

Draw your own conclusions...

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Here's something for those who "enjoy" spectacular displays of, well, narrowmindedness ! One could even talk about a "dark side", albeit, with a rather... comical twist !

The earliest First Generation {Wargame X} game save editor appeared in 1996. It was freeware. The internal data structures involved were rather extensive given that so many things had to be kept track of on a "battlefield snapshot" basis.

Given the freeware status of the aforesaid editor, a certain "Research Coordinator" fired off an E-mail to the editor's author inviting him to share his technical knowledge with the Hobby's "technical" Core. The E-mail also suggested that certain areas of weakness due to the absence of specific knowledge could also benefit from further "collaborative" research.

The editor's author fired back a two sentence E-mail bluntly stating that never in his dreams would he ever imagine "collaborating" with a bunch of... cheaters !

The "Research Coordinator" politely responded that cheaters could cheat in way simpler and more effective ways by:

1) Simply replaying their turns until they are satisfied with the battle's progress; and / or

2) Employing "enhanced" equipment specification files; and / or

3) Identifying the opponent's password by simply "looking" into the saved game file since such passwords were unencrypted...

The editor's author responded with the following paragraph:

I decided to disable the ability to edit PBEM games. You cannot select a PBEM file from the opening menu. This system is not foolproof: if someone knows how to hex-edit, he should be able to find the PBEM marker bytes in the game file and change them so that the editor's PBEM test will not detect the PBEM status. BE WARNED !!! I added a few lines of code that will check for this dirty little cheating trick. If you try it, the editor will make a few "extra" changes when you exit and I think you will be unhappy with the result. So don't even try it.

At this point, the "Research Coordinator" decided to drop the subject. Isn't the Hobby's "public" face comical, on occasion ?

The Big Picture

François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French writer and philosopher during the 18th century Enlightenment movement. His works, often filled with wit and satire, discussed many themes, including civil liberties and freedom of speech.

Voltaire's biographer, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, coined the expression:

“I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

There's general agreement that the above expression reasonably reflects Voltaire's views on freedom of speech.

"Open Mike"

The OG forums are being controlled by three "Red" Administrators. To my knowledge, Csaba has been the only one who has ever posted anything regarding "freedom of posting".

It's my understanding that Csaba is a big fan of unencumbered freedom to post. So am I.

I want to be crystal clear here. Historically, I've been one of two major (i.e., very frequent) "contributors" to "Open Mike". The following statement accurately reflects my specific beliefs and attitude:

I may not like or be interested in the contents of some posts, but I will oppose it tooth and nail should some "Red" Administrator decide to censor the posts' contents or sanction the posters themselves.

that's alright and forgetable....

anyway, to recapitulate myself some things - maybe badly understood among some eventual Turk readers from rural areas - words were genuine and not some game and mockery... i do believe that Turkey is biological salvation for our males in a way and in near future ) and girls are nice looking and smart, sensitive .... once even talked on medieval subject of "would our history be different if we had few Turkish-Ottoman princesses on our court in XIV and XV century" and my answer was - maybe - yes... situation wasn't far from that, but there was cultural difference then.

again welcome and hope that it finally clears any misunderstanding to eventual "unsure" reader from Turkey. Nice story, isn't it... as for thread back to its "owner" and new subjects...

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Enter the PC wargame, especially in its SSI manifestation; if there's an aspect / approach that virtually destroyed strategy wargaming in the PG1 World (and beyond ?) is the New Unit Purchase Feature especially twinned with the Unit Disband Feature.

Programmers have steadfastly maintained that the obvious AI weakness necessitates that crude quantitative remedies be employed to "balance things out". I believe that this is not the main issue here. In my opinion, the critical issue has nothing to do with either strategy or "grognard" wargaming preoccupations. Rather, it's SSI's "discovery" of the video wargamer. In a statistical sense, such players derive their ultimate satisfaction from decimating hordes of ill-led enemy units. Yeah, it's that simple...

Interestingly enough, the preceding commentary isn't necessarily circumscribed by "AI Warfighting", nay... Aeons ago, a custom scenario became quite popular in PBEM club circles. It consisted of an... empty map. Each side was given something like 30,000 prestige points at the start of the game. Then the new unit "purchase-fest" would begin. For awhile, each eliminated unit would be "replaced" by a new unit purchase ! Clearly, the... killing orgy isn't something that can be excluded from H2H play ! Hey, I don't have a... date tonight; I may as well go to SSI's virtual arcade.

Wait, wait ! It just occurred to me ! What if I were to fire up my chess program and set up an endgame (?) position pitting, say, 20 Tiger II tanks (errr, I mean Queens) against each other ? In any case, that would be "AI Warfighting", right ? Now, what if I were to attempt the very same thing in a pre-modernist, retro, provincial, café ? I mean, picture a... maniac "raiding" the establishment's chess sets and "abducting" all the Queen pieces that he could find ! Culturally speaking, it's highly unlikely that the... maniac would find any opponent. More to the point, I doubt that any self-respecting woman within a radius of, say, 20 kilometers would be interested in talking to him, let alone "date" him... Ah, the price that, sometimes, one may have to pay.

Prerequisite of sorts:

[OMK] It's All About Weapons
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=229&start=150#p7352

Paraphrasing...

Whenever one comes across a wargame editor of sorts, chances are that a few Modders are hiding in the bushes nearby...

SO:

A wargame is a gun. Modding is knowing how to pull the trigger.

This is a great, down to earth definition of certain aspects of wargaming... Notice that wargames per se just embody potentiality. Modding is about forcefully making "things" happen without necessarily asking some... "long gone" programmer for his... "permission / blessing".

Prerequisite of sorts:

[OMK] Tony, the World Is Yours
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=229&start=150#p7302

Paraphrasing...

"Heresy" (xxxx) directed by... # HexCode # ==>

This isn't your run-of-the-mill wargaming story. In many ways, it's a critique of postmodernist video wargaming. In historical terms, the mainstream wargaming... fever temperature must be gradually rising (courtesy of Oswald Spengler ). There's humor as well as tragedy underpinning # HexCode's # storyline. All hopes and dreams of SSI's loyal appreciators and followers weren't sufficient in ensuring # HexCode's # "happy" adjustment to SSI-style realities. On the other hand, Modding realities weren't sufficient in ensuring # HexCode's # transformation into a content appreciator of Mods designed by "others"... Almost like a high brow tragicomedy...

lets add it here - also talked by me in different context before - and considering my latest few posts touching some "eastern questions"....

well, without strong symbolism of wolf in ancient/early Roman traditions there would be much less doubt... but in a way I talked before - based on logic and much ties with Italian culture, ex-Roman centers in which our elites developed in Doclea and all and fact that they "matured" in X-XI century with lots of Italian, Dalmatian, Albanian, Greek, (even maybe) Sicilian wives etc. etc. - to continue sentence but maybe I made "logical mistake".... maybe symbol of wolf, so much present in Serb tribe although not in sculptures or emblems (though some medieval nobility had them on the coat of arms) but - even more strongly in tribal "tissue" - in names and last names, is of Asian origin i.e. some long ago interaction and mixing with Turkic peoples. Must say after thinking about it... wolf is present in Germans too (for example) but not as strong in names and not as positive like with us...

there is no genetic data and, even more "sadly" we lack tribal sources of our own predating IX century circa - making us sort of "bastards" in tribal way - but who knows, maybe Iranic "proto-Serbs" indeed are some strongly Slovenized and northern moved Azeris for example, considering that ancient "habitat" is also geographically similar...


as I said numerous times - some thories and works are apolitical in any sense but interesting and that's why i share them (in previous tens of posts there was no theories, just human emotions and undoubtful but never talked much attraction in both nations, one small one big)).... But world is complicated thing and there are many sensibilities and chances to offend or alienate someone who doesn't think apolitical. In that sense, imagine my movie, with gentle female Ottoman-Turks in times of their conquest and (possible) political and emotionally rejective reactions, inside and outside so again, to all my readers advice is not to think too political about my posts... ; although (again) personal and political warm relations with Turkey would be nice, but doesn't mean i dislike our struggle, Greeks, Armenians or anyone

might come back to some ideas - currently flat on that and there is no purpose in forum of our type I repeat that - after semi-fictional "black knight" story, like totally fictional story of nice Ottoman princess arriving to become ruler of Serbia in say 1390 and her experiences ) ... that's pure science fiction (she would not be able to keep part of her culture after conversion) but nice idea i have to work on... in any way, this you will not see me as much as in previous topic around (good luck with own topics, they should dominate here after all) but think "wolf symbol" thing is historically interesting to readers....

From the movie "The Blue Max" (1966) ==>

KETTERING : No confirmation, no claim. That's a squadron rule.

LT. BRUNO STACHEL : But I saw it. It was a kill.

KETTERING : Then you have the deep satisfaction of knowing you have served the fatherland.

Paraphrasing...

DEVIL : No source code "public" release, no "hobby glory". That's MY rule. Hence, I'm assigning you to... Snake House which is full of humongous snakes and lots of puny little ladders.

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPER : But I DID release my wargame title. It was very well received.

DEVIL : Then you have the deep satisfaction of knowing you have pleased the millions of grateful players "out there" who play your wargame all the time.

Providing inspiration to future developers / programmers...

Airtight General
Closed General
Concealed General
Dark General
Forbidden General
Hidden General
Pitch Black General
Private General
Secret General

AND

Barking General
Beer General
Boudoir General
Cashiered General
Ghost General
Girly General
Illiterate General
Nightmare General
Panic General
Retreat General
Vampire General
Werewolf General
Zombie General

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

The following excerpt is from a private communication received by the present poster a... decade ago. The author was the poster's worldly uncle. The text is a translation.

When a woman tells a man things that are pleasing to his ears, he should endeavor to enjoy them on the spot. However, in no way should such things serve as foundations upon which expectations regarding the likely, future behavior of the woman should be based...

The above notwithstanding, the man would do well to mentally archive what the woman said. Often, verbalized truths have absolutely nothing to do with the enunciator and a lot to do with their potential applicability to other totally unrelated situations...

Now, consider the following "companion excerpt":

When Internet Forum (IF) posters write things that are well received by IF "culture", IF lurkers should endeavor to enjoy reading them. However, in no way should such posts serve as foundations upon which expectations regarding the likely, future, "public" role of posters should be based...

The above notwithstanding, IF lurkers would do well to mentally archive what posters write. Often, posted truths have absolutely nothing to do with their "public" enunciators and a lot to do with their potential applicability to other totally unrelated situations...

Wargaming is just one of many, many vistas where the preceding... sage advice may be somewhat relevant !

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Some of "us" have had quite a few... thought provoking experiences while testing the turbulent waters of PBEM Club culture !!

These Guys Are...

I've always been fascinated by the way PBEM players referred to certain WWII combatants.

@ THIRD REICH
==> Germans (overwhelmingly so)
==> Nazis (infrequently)
==> Fascists (never)

@ ITALY
==> Italians (overwhelmingly so)
==> Fascists (once in a blue moon)

@ SOVIET UNION
==> Russians (overwhelmingly so)
==> Communists / Commies (infrequently)
==> Soviets (once in a blue moon)

What Are You Trying To Say ?

Typical PBEM Email exchange ==>

[Wanna play ?]

@@ {Ok, which game ?}

[I'll take the Germans]

@@ {Fine, which game ?}

[PG]

@@ {PG what ? PG1, PG2 ?}

[Oh, AG]

@@ {Do you have the PBEM patches ?}

[What patches ?]

@@ {Ok, go @here@ and follow the instructions}

End of Email exchange... Go SSI / Slitherine go...

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Many, many moons ago, I "ran" a "gentlemanly" Internet PBEM Wargaming Club (without "ladders") called PANZERKLASSIK for awhile.

A new member asked me whether there was any way to increase the lethality of WWII Third Reich forces in a certain computer wargame title environment to "wipe the Americans off the face of the earth". At the beginning, I thought that the guy was just kidding (he'd told me that he was a US national !). When I asked him in jest "why not the Soviets ?" he replied that "as human beings, the Soviets were inferior to begin with and, hence, wiping them out was an imperative that was not emotionally charged." "But the Americans", he continued "were despicable traitors to the... racial cause since their predominantly Anglo-Saxon roots rendered them `classy cousins' of the Germanic... race and, hence, they were ingrates and traitors to the... cause" !! When I told him that the club didn't possess the technical means to allow him to do what he wished (not true ), he berated me for being a... traitor to the club's, admittedly, German-sounding name...

Do I need to continue ?

Joking, of course...

It just occurred to me. The best way to breathe some virtual life into this "Pub" is to engage in a... posting race. So, for every brand new post to appear elsewhere in the "Pub", I'll endeavor to quickly (well, sort of) reciprocate "in here". Goes without saying, all local... reinforcements are most welcome ! I hope it's a deal.

By the way, at present, "The Obligatory YouTube Music Video Topic" is in the lead featuring roughly twice as many "replies" compared to "Open Mike". That said, something's telling me that this is gonna be a... marathon race full of surprises ! I mean, music links will be pitted against... paragraphs. Hold onto your... helmets

here's, btw, that map based on both Plinius' (Pliny, Elder & Younger) works and some Greek ones... not the map itself, one printed in London etc. in XVIII c. (there are other ones from Alexandria or Hellenistic world placing some "Ser-" likes in Asia deeper but this is the most important one, dealing with exact tribe name and which raised most interest scientifically few centuries ago (not political interest) till today, with me underlining in red "Serbii" position

https://images2.imgbox.com/79/24/RjFgDjgv_o.jpg

now a bit of fun... imagine if "Serb" later movement and migration (from Saxony, for example) wasn't accidental but planned to find "old home", but they lacked maps, knowledge and compass... since Caspian-Caucasian "home" included "Albania" south of habitat - after arriving on Balkans (with other Albania south) there was wrong presumption that "old home" was reached and found good and funny one... but who knows. Later Bulgars (whome Serbs knew from Asia too) arrived looking for Serbs and later Turks (also old friends from Asian plains) arrived looking for them etc.

funny part is that nothing can't simply be answered with "yes or no" in our situation. there is also not enough genetic (X/Y)) evidence to tie Saxon Serbs with Balkan ones, so - seriously speaking - migration could not have been from that direction at all, but even via Asia Minor to place "on border" of Romea/Byzant ; .... all posted for fun, laugh, but with historical chance as well... we are dominantly Slavic speaking and genetical today, but I and many people see something undobtful Scythian-Sarmatian-Turkic in culture )

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

In the good ol' days of H2H scenario design and playtesting, some of us composed introductory geostrategic / political blurbs to accompany largely, historically counterfactual scenarios, solely aimed at challenging H2H play. Here's one:

It's hypothesized that, at an early stage, Nazi ideology takes on a pan-European character and orientation in that its "state corporativism" elements are emphasized as a vigorous alternative to internationalist communism and American-style, free market republicanism. The Nazi socio-political, strategic objectives are the solidification of support among Europe's "petite bourgeoisie" for and the wooing of a significant portion of working class Europeans to the new radical, pan-European cause... To this effect, the European upper classes and "haute bourgeoisie" are negatively impacted upon by Third Reich policies early on. Hitler's inner circle is of the opinion that the timely defeat and occupation of Great Britain is a necessary prelude to the Third Reich taking on the Soviets and, by extension, the competing internationalist communist alternative. This is so because the British constitutional monarchy is seen by the Nazis to be a most undesirable reminder, even beacon to the old fashioned European conservative classes that all's not yet lost... Wiping out British constitutional and political traditions would amount to the final blow to all those members of the European upper classes and "haute bourgeoisie" who might still harbor dreams of a class ridden Europe immune from populism and radicalism. Besides, the quick elimination of the British factor would limit American republicanism to the confines of the New World, thus allowing the Third Reich to eventually lead a pan-European crusade against the Soviets, unobstructed by the Americans ! In any case, United States elites are not expected to shed too many tears over the demise of constitutional monarchy in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe...

To this day, I've absolutely no clue how the preceding narrative found its way into the hands of an... unknown Emailer who Emailed back and proceeded to suggest that both H2H players and the British constitutional monarchy belong in the... dustbin of History; the sooner, the better... Wow, my sense of self-importance went through the roof !! I mean, just think about it ! All of a sudden, I was addressed together with... royalty in one and the same sentence !!

in absence of other posters, except Hex and since in own interests past years it was unavoidable subject I do not know much about... (my idea/pasion is looking for ancient ties, not genetics)... it is important not to mistake this finding (western and eastern science) with some racial characteristics and looks i.e. pigmentation and modern classifications - but just interesting thing and find which deals with subjects from far past, neolithic ones and ice age migrations only eventual case of "physical type" is fact of usually taller male body structure (heights) in both groups of people, nothing about hair and eye color...

so, it is that (maybe known) fact that haplogroup I as variant peaks in Serbia (and Bosnia, Croatia etc.) and in Scandinavia as other variant, but not above 50% regionally (in Belgrade bellow 30 etc)... how that happened and what is tie (if any, maybe just two directions of migration of ancestors) is mistery as well that it is - in ever more distant past - related with haplogroup J, most common in Turkey, Iran etc...

obviously we are "masters", beware seriously interesting fact worth sharing and everyone is free to make own conclusions if any... to me it is interesting in two ways a) since it is related to "Iranian plateau" (as IJ haplog.) and spread to modern Russia and then west as I haplog, it might prove that Serbs (and Croats) do have such location origin and b) to put some now attested stories about "unusual" height of Nemanjić dynasty rulers - peaking with, probably one of greatest European emperors ever, Dušan and that it might have connection with that group...

second most present haplogroups are (most common European) R and Greek/Albanian E.... nothing racist, just for history lovers - obviously we have more ties with Turks, Iranians, Russians, Swedes etc. but it is not only genetic groups nor absolutely dominant and others are our brothers too obviously - for many reasons - I'll not go into these details and I finish with this posts which is very interesting, hopefully to all I like ancient ties and mysteries subjects...

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

The omnipresence of "grognard" and role-playing elements in the PG1 World is an empirical fact. Sometimes, the implied or sought after historical connection expresses itself in the language of political ideology.

The following snippets by Mr. Bruce Geryk appeared in an article entitled "Why We Play Wargames" hosted by the (now defunct) Games Domain Review (April, 1999):

... people are 'afraid to sound like some sort of neo-Nazi, and rightly so in my opinion. There's a lot of use of Nazi imagery on box covers, reflecting fascination of the audience for totalitarianism, or just plain bad taste from the publisher. I also saw people dressing up in uniforms at conventions, and don't think it's a pretty sight, nor is it healthy.

AND

As far as I'm concerned, there's little difference between having a "1st SS Panzer Division" t-shirt and a t-shirt that says, "Auschwitz: over 6 million served." There's a fine line between an interest in history and a desire to glorify the more sordid aspects of that history, and all too often at things like gaming conventions I see people who seem to be on the side of questionable taste. Another unfortunate example in evidence at the 1998 Avaloncon: someone had printed up a shirt that said "Killing Private Ryan" and had a picture of a 6-7-5 counter from "Breakout: Normandy" with the label "12th SS Pz Div." I casually asked one owner of such a shirt if he thought it was a good idea, and he was completely bewildered as to why I would even ask. To my mind, if you have to have someone explain to you what is wrong with this picture, you have serious psychological issues to address.

A society that highly values and protects an individual's right to free speech and expression (is "democracy" a sufficient guarantor ? ) need not be mortally afraid of manifestations such as Mr. Geryk has written about. At the same time, there'll always be individuals who would take it upon themselves to challenge such unfortunate manifestations via the power of well thought out argument. At least, I hope so...

From Father Time's Jurassic archives...

Half a generation ago, a few hobbyists converted SSI's (stock) North African scenarios found in AG-Win9x into PG1-DOS format. The thrust of this exercise was two-pronged:

1) This was a demonstration of the technical feasibility allowing play of the above scenarios in standalone mode under good ol' PANZER.EXE. It was also a showcase for scenario specifications that had been meticulously checked for "bugs" and appropriately cleaned up...

2) This was also an invitation for PBEM aficionados to somewhat enlarge their repertory of scenarios beyond SSI's original 38 scenarios natively found in PG1-DOS.

To emphasize the PBEM orientation of the aforesaid exercise, the technical team did two things:

A) They removed all SSI's campaign deployment hexes.

B) They granted the AI the maximum technically possible prestige buckets...

Here's a... fateful passage from the relevant Web page:

Hobbyists who attempt to play Allied General (PG1 Add-on) scenarios against the program's AI are likely to find their struggle way more difficult than usual... However, we aren't concerned at all with issues arising from play against the program's AI.

A few weeks following the "publication" of the North African scenarios, we received an E-mail from a hobbyist that went, more or less, like this:

Hey "intercoursed anal sphincters", there's no way to win your "excrement"; the "intercoursed" computer keeps on coming at me with their never-ending, stupid hordes. "Fellate" on an "elongated" one. What's wrong with you "intercoursed anal sphincters" ?

Yeah, there must be something wrong with the PG1 World Hobby's... "lunatic" fringe, right ?

Hi Hexcode, I really appreciate your Jurassic parc stories. Keep on going.

# hoza #

hoza wrote: ↑2021-01-29 07:32, FridayHi Hexcode, I really appreciate your Jurassic parc stories. Keep on going.

That was a most pleasant surprise. Thank you. With Csaba temporarily "gone", the topic currently features two posters who, more or less, alternate making a presence. For my part, I endeavor to post about all kinds of "things", always attempting to introduce a bit of... Mephisto-like humor.

By the way, # hoza #, if anything "in here" happens to turn your crank, go ahead and post about it.

I act more the way of diplomats. They think it over three times before they say nothing

from my side though, i'm under impression (based on ex-forum once which had subforum) that there might be someone liking older history subjects... there have been many new data in past 30-40 years while many things one can find around are still based on works written in (say) 1900. (like Angevine queen) Hence hoped to maybe find someone with collection, some interesting data and detective insticts, so i insisted in "translations" and here on it... but i can't do it constantly nor repeat myself (after all relatively small country which doesn't have so much mysteries and historical details/events to put light on). As i say jokingly - maybe we didn't have even closely biggest empire, but we had probably biggest emperor, maybe we didn't beat Mongols but we surely impressed Timur/Tamerlane the most with black knights etc ; so if i'm out of it, it means i "dried my repertoire" while i'd appreciate other places secrets and events from interesting angle... it was obvious from the thread start that we do not share interests (and maybe sensibility)) nothing about other things

here's that map (in mature population) related and addition to my previous post - many distant people like to see it and do not understand/follow words. To me one of more interesting/funny maps of Europe, if not most interesting of all funny maps of Europe, unexpected distribution of "I" haplog - who ever separated us from Swedes in a sea of "R", no idea .... until other subjects, ciao and welcome (we could move in "translations" after you arrive))

If a poster has a deep, highly focused interest, I see no reason whatsoever why he shouldn't launch a topic dedicated to that interest and repeatedly post therein. I've already done so myself on two occasions: Chess and Wargaming; Historical Wargaming. I mean, why be "shy" and shoehorn posts here and there ? Posters "around here" routinely launch topics just for the fun of it, post a couple of times and then move on. So, in my opinion, a topic exhibiting content continuity and longevity is way more interesting than, well, quick-&-dirty forum "scriblings" !

yeah - something from memory to put in right time after Sweden mentioned - story is that Dušan's imperial standard (banner, flag) carrier - one going in front of procession - was (by that story) Swedish knight in his service... no idea how historical story is and - as he ruled 25 years - doubt that same man carried some 40-50 kg object for all the years (even if he was Lundgren type) but great timing to remember this story.

considering why Serbs have more "halpog" diversity than populations of Bosnia and (partly) Croatia - except fact i mentioned i.e. constant depopulation and repopulation with more Albanians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, maybe Turks, west-east-central Europeans included in Serb nation in XIX century - other answer is also medieval mixing and absorbtion of other tribes around with expansion... One of most prominent dukes on Dušan imperial court (and commander of heavy cavalry unit in several instances in Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace) was named (real name) Preljub translating purely into "duke Adultery" maybe indicating his mixed/unknown tribal origin ; ...i'm over, but generally stories are fun and informative for medievalists, but i do not want to overflow it with them (besides everyone knows our medieval stories around the world)) thanks for advice but not now

Euclidean... Sadness

- Tangent lines have just one chance to meet and are then parted forever.
- Parallel lines are never meant to meet.
- Asymptotes get ever closer, but no cigar.

Algebraic... Greed

- Progressions

Applied Math... Ingenuity

- Triangulations

Number Theory... Promiscuity

- Hopping from one prime number onto the next one, hoping to come across the biggest of them all.

yeah maths, numbers, exact science... can lead to some great discoveries for us from "social branches" (like history) In fact i'm into numbers lately (about genetic studies) and having a lot of fun and getting some understanding about migrations, national narratives and similar, writing up late today... i'll give complete picture from wiki about whole continent, in link who wants to look:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... Europe.png

i find it fascinating to notice that Serbia is only country in greater region from "Turkey to Hungary" with Finish-Estonian dominant "N haplo, beside Turkey and (less than both) Greece even Hungary doesn't have it in mentionable percent... great findings generally...

you know why I wrote whole "Turkish girl" story and all, things i really believe in.... I looked (first time in life) in comments on those pop songs and found so many hearts and positive comments from Turkish users but much more prejudice and "Serbs are Gypsy, orientalists and their music is like etc" from Croat and Bosnian/Bosniak users (but not many, not to think all are like).... one could say it's because of recent wars and politics and it is in both ways maybe (but we rarely say "Croat is Gypsy" and similar), but i think it is deeper and starts in XIX century, sadly it was matrix about Serbs. Well that's why i wrote about love story with Turkish girls, beside fact that i like them ; felt obliged to clear that to you and all readers ... since you used "culturally backwarded Turk" expression, i intentionally wrote my stories to show that Turkey is where one will find love more likely than in "neighbourhood" hope that's clear now, i'm not shy to explain that, it wasn't personal...

....anyhow, my recomendation is looking eventually at map and finding some either funny, unexpected or just interesting details about European nations, like "N" thing i digged now - it's science, not racism - i for example like way we are "mixed" )

Elsewhere in the "Pub":

Still clinging to the old notion that women don't use their heads?

Oh, but they do... multitask !

GUY - Young & demonically... attractive.
GIRL - Cheeky, perky and so on.

GIRL: C'mon, let me in handsome...
GUY: What d'you want ?
GIRL: You, of course.
GUY: Hey, there're new realities around here, y'know. Got your passport there ?
GIRL: Don't need one.
GUY: That's where you're wrong. C'mon show me something.
GIRL: Oh, I've got plenty to show you.
GUY: Ok, mind you though, I need to stamp something...
GIRL: That's the whole idea you irresistible border control hunk, you...