Qop

Because cancer is not caused by a microbe or a virus, but rather because of radioactivity etc. (And ultraviolet stuff, and gamma and beta... ~light~ (is radiation correct?)) it will always exist. My hope one day my grand-grand-grand sister will phone to the school and say: "I just called to say Sophie isn't coming to school today, she's got cancer. I'm keeping in bed for a day or two, until it is over." Just like my mom would do if I have a flu. But that's not yet in it I'm afraid... Sorry, couldn't stop myself =P

I'd like to say 2 things on the subject: 1. Suspended animation is real. I have been fascinated for quite some time now and have witnessed it. I raised 3 kinds of animals: Sea-Monkeys, brine shrimps (essentially the same) and Triops. Brineshrimps(artemia to be precise) These are little shrimpies (as the name suggests) which happily swim around in the great salt lakes in the VS. They lay eggs which can stay in hibernation period for years. And years. And...some more years. Until finally, the right requirements are met, and the egg starts to hatch, spawning a fresh and healthy little brine shrimp, ready to repeat this action. (Note that this period is flexible, not fixed. It can take 10 years for an egg to hatch, or it takes a week.) Triops Another interesting bloke is the triops (tri = three, ops = eye). This also shows a better case of hibernation. In the spring, rain starts to fall in areas where it is normally drie most of the times. Within the dry earth are small eggs from the triops. They hatch when in contact with water. The rain continues to fall during a long period, forming a big pool, or temporary pond if you will. Triops swim, grow, mate and lay eggs happily here for around 50 days. Then they die. Suddenly, just after the dying of the triops, the dry season starts, drainging the pool from its last water. 'Damn', you think, 'waht about the poor eggs?'. Don't worry, they're in a happy state of hibernation! Until next year, or the year after, or a lot of years, until the right amount of rain will fall on them so they can hatch and breed as they're ancestors have done. Sounds pretty dumb way of living, huh? Nevertheless, Triops have continued to survive since the Triassic period (yes, that's 220 million years) practically without changing or evolving. The only species of which I know that has survived longer is the dragonfly, with 320 million years and running. This is a brine shrimp A sea-monkey in all it's glory And the fearsome Triops 2.The second thing I wanted to say is shorter but also more interesting concerning the topic. When a person accidently slips under the ice, first you try to get out again. If you do not succeed in doing this within 3-6 minutes, your body takes preventative measurements: it start with shutting down blood supply to non-vital parts of the body. After another 2-3 minutes, it shuts down your senses and consiousness. Your speed with which your blood streams through your body is reduced to almost 0 km/h. Your heartrate is decreased to about 1 beat every 2 minutes. Your whole body slips into a sort of super-rest state, in which you consume so little energy and oxygen, you are capable of staying quite alive for a while under the ice (think about 3-6 hours, if not more). That's why it scares the friggen daylight out of people when they pull a ice-cold, stiff-as-a-board -supposed- corpse out of the water which suddenly seems te be alive and jumping! Rushing with the body to safety, warmth, aministrating CPR, etc. So you see, your body, after all, is still the best method to save yourself, wether from disease or coldness, when it comes hard-to-hard, it knows how to deal with situations. NOTE: although it's quite remarkable what happens, it also could happen that, because of the lack of blood, a limb (or more) is frozen off. But what is a limb for a life? I hope I've explained it clearly, and at least proven a bit that hibernation with people isn't that strange...

Hehe it seems as though we are not the only ones noticing Firefox is better than Internet explorer =PStill, it won't stop me from using Firefox, naturally. It's far purer than IE. But we have seen Microsoft rip-off stuff before haven't we?Still, I think windows XP was a great improvement above ME/98. Better faster etc. So I'm curious to what Longhorn will be...

I've seen a few times now: an internet adress starting with http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/.~~~. (example is the site of DELL) What's the difference between www1 and regular www? And what is the benefit of it ?

Until that we are stuck with the other unhealthy ways. W8 a sec, I just remembered something. There was a kind of experiment. They gave some cancer patients pills. Nothing special: some chalk and a flavor. Doesn't do anything. They told the patients that these pills were a new kind of wonderpills that could cure a body from cancer. Expectantly, these people went home and start taking these pills. Surprise surprise: they healed. And quicker than any other method. This shows once again that the most powerfull healing is within your own body. The effect that these fake pills have is called the 'placebo'-effect. It has also been tested with several other diseases, and it worked. The problem with this method nowadays is that too many people know about this. If you offer a patient such a pill, chances are big that he or she will recognize you are trying too give them a fake pill. So a good medicin against cancer will be very nice ~Qop

If you wanna read something on the topic, check out this article. (I wrote it! ) After writing that I didn't know where to put Atlantis anymore. But the ways these archeologist want to find it doesn't seem very smart to me. Sattelites would have been much better to locate it, and surely there are enough to make a picture of the Atlantic ocean and notice something weird. But for us, the romantics, Atlantis will always remain a great world of mystery. If I could make a wishlist, I certainly would place 'Ask Plato where Atlantis is' in the top ten.

Well, as a matter of fact, I do make movies with my friend. And I stated alreaduy that this is the 'worst-casescenario'

I've read somewhere they're planning to use controlled explosions in order to break the part of the mountain in to little pieces. I just hope it doesn't work out like the astronauts in that film (two waves, -ouch-). It is still active, that volcano, so if it doesn't go to sleep in the next century, I wouldn't have high hopes.As long as the US government recognises the danger in time, the damage could be limited, or even prevented. It is important that people need to know that this danger is something that could really do something mean.

Megatsunamis Megatsunami. The word accurately describes what it means. Where tsunamis are big, megatsunamis break all limits. Tsunamis are regular surfing waves compared to these guys. They can rise up to be 200 meter high wall of water, destroying everything on its path. Time to take a closer look. On the subject tsunamis, Nathan posted this explanation: (read it here) There is no scientific definition of a megatsunami, but informally the term has been used for tsunamis with waves of height from 40 m to over 100 m. They are a local effect, either occurring on shores extremely close to the origin of a tsunami, or in deep, narrow inlets. The largest waves are caused by a very large landslide, such as a collapsing island, into a body of water. They can potentially reach 20 km inland in low-lying regions. However: there are some exceptions. For instance La Palma. La Palma is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean near the 'head' of Africa. It's part of the Canary Islands. At first site this island may seem small and unimportant, but looks deceive the eye. This little island could change the earth drastically. La Palma is a highly volcanic island, with quite some vulcanoes still active. The structure of the ground is that of a specific kind of hardened lava. It is very porous, and water can easily find its way through there. And what, ladies and gentlemen, can water do what clubs and axes etc. can't? Split stone in two. Even the egyptians knew that; they used this technique to break large rocks in two for better handling (in short: crack in stone, wooden wedge in crack, water over wooden wedge, stone splits due to expanding wedge). But it's also the water that hollows out a granite stone. Put this ingredient into a cauldron and mix it with two-three active vulcanoes, connected to each other underground, ensuring they will erupt at the same time. Now light it. See the catastrofe? Tons of debris, destabilized by the water slowly grinding out the vulcanic rock, have slid into the water, pushing thousands of liters of water away. This water will form into a wave. A wave that grows and grows until... ...it hits the US. That means that cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, but also Toronto, Pittsburgh are destroyed completely. Not to mention small islands in the Atlantic. Furthermore there will be earthquakes, weatherchanges (such as heavy rain, etc.). Thousands of people will be killed. The world economy, which is currently heavily depending on the US will collapse. Not very nice eh? Of course, this is the so-called 'worst-case scenario'. Happily, according to this article, the threat is exaggerated. They argue that instead of one big landslide, there will be ten much smaller landslides. These will create waves of course, but not even close to a tsunami. The question remains a mystery. Of course we hope that this will never happen, but who knows? The best solution I can think of is that the American Government will take precaution measurements (like evacuation plans, bunkers, etc.) to save the people, and start researching ways of how to make buildings survive this mighty blow. Some interesting articles: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3963563.stm -- "Tidal wave threat 'over-hyped'" http://www.cnn.com/ -- "Scientists warn for massive wave"

Everyone knows this horrible event: "The traffic jam" I don't if you have super long traffic jams where you live, but here in holland (where I live) it can get very mean. While I was in a jam, a thought suddenly struck me: "How can there be such a thing as a traffic jam? Why doesn't everyone just drive forward?" I came up with three possible explanations: Traffic lights At smaller highways (2-4 lanes of traffic) it can happen that a few roads can cross it, for example from village to village. This requires traffic lights, otherwise it would be chaos. When traffic lights turns red, you stop. So does the car behind you, and the one behind that one, and the on behind that one, and ... (you get the picture). That holds the traffic up big-time. Accidents Accidents happen. Sometimes even serious accidents, spread over 1-2 lines. So they require to 'shut down' these two lanes. Everyone slows down, cause they need to switch lanes, and when it's busy on the road: a traffic jam is the result. After you pass the accident, the lanes are free again and the traffic jam ends. But this reason really surprised me: The harmonica-effect For some reason, a car on the highway suddenly needs to brake. That has a minimal effect on the whole highway behind him: the car behind him has to brake too. And the car behind the first one, and the next one, etc. This 'wave' developes and grows until it gets so big that after a while you get whole traffic jams due to braking cars. The first car brakes. The second car has to break if he doesn't want to crash into the first one. This causes the third car to break. Meanwhile the first car can accelerate again. Can you see the harmonica pattern in it? For those disbelievers out there, I searched the net and came up with this little handy explanation: Traffic waves So there you have it. Some research in the strange, collective happening know as 'traffic jams'. But I feel there must be more reasons than just these three. Can anyone come up with some more?

The people then will probably not even able to read our language :)It would be regarded as a message from outer space, as nobody remembers that this was actually fired from earth...Then someone would put the blood under a DNA-scanner, and found the shocking truth: very close similarities between their and the blood's DNA. Conclusion: this must have come from here.Then massive archeological projects would start and they would find New york ruins, pieces of the eifeltower, churches, manuscripts, inscriptions, tombstones, etc. Wondrous was this kin, that walked the earth before us! They have tamed the land and it's animals!Hear now the sad story of how such a high-standard civilation came to end...(I'll leave that for later )

That's interesting. First person ever from which i hear he doesn't like flash. Why not?

Yes, this is a nice little trick to learn This is for a mouse over effect: Create a button. Make an image for the first frame. Insert the second fram. For this frame (the 'over' frame) you have to create a movieclip (ctrl + F8 or just F8). Draw the movie (for instance your robo-popper) and then, with the 'over'-frame slected, drag your little clip from the library (ctrl + L) on the stage. Insert an image for the last two frames. Drag the button onto the stage of the movie. Hit ctrl+enter Move your mouse over the button Admire the effect You're done! You can add a clip in every fram if you like it different. Hope it helped, Qop

Well, as a matter of fact there are 2 tutorials in the tutorial section. My guess is that you didn't know the right keywords. There basically are 4 ways to animate something in flash: Draw everything by hand, frame by frame Motion tweening (see the link down) Shape tweening (see the link down) Motion guide (this is done by setting a path out for an object/clip/button along which it moves) Shape tweening tutorial -- by Pfloria [url=http://forums.xisto.com/topic/81568-topic/?findpost=1064286130 tweening tutorial[/url] http://forums.xisto.com/ -- by Pfloria As for motion guide, I guess I could write an article 'bout that.

AS a matter of fact, I did write this article myself. It took me 3 days to actually complete it, but I really wrote and researched it myself. Check all my previous posts too if you want, they're all genuine mister policeman. Thanks Bye Reaction still welcome Not from ASR though

Please note that due to a maximum of images the last ones cannot directly be shown to you. Click the link to view them. Atlantis. Where can we find it? In the days that science daily performs miracles, people have explored nearly every single place on earth, and we send robots to Mars, people have a need for mysteries. Sadly, we are quite short on mysteries these days, and Atlantis remains among the very few last ones. Many people, varying from DIY explorer idiots to well-known and renowed scientists have searched, theorised and longed for Atlantis. Many theories, some very well possible and others insane, have sprouted from these brave men. Below, I will give you what seems most likely. Then you can give your own thoughts about them. [While reading, note the numbers between square brackets ([1]). They point down to the end of the page, where I included a few notes] First, some info concerning Atlantis Atlantis, the beautiful country According to Plato, this is what Atlantis looked like. He gave us a very detailed description of it's appearance in what was to be his work. Sadly, he died before he finished it. The Atlanteans were direct descendants from Poseidon. In Plato's description he said that Atlantis was a big and beautiful country. It's mountains, plain, gardens and all it contained were of incredible beauty. Magical animals lived there, including elephants. The capital, with red-, white- and black-stoned buildings, had 5 protective rings of walls around them, and several canals within each ring (somewhat like Amsterdam and her grachten or canals). The picture below gives you a good image of how it looked. Note that you can only see four walls, because it's not clear where the fifth wall was positioned. You can also see the harbour. It was said that ships and trademen from all over the world came to Atlantis to sell and buy goods. On the center island stood their temple and palace, both covered with silver. They mined valuable materials: gold, silver and orichalkum[1] After a while they started to think they were the best. Massive structures, richness beyond imagenation. They felt like they should rule the world. So they set out with their massive fleet, conquering every civilization they met. The only one who resisted was Athens. They too had a excellent fleet. Athens crushed the Atlantean fleet, and the warriors of Athens were set ashore. But before they could reach Atlantis' capital, huge earthquakes and enormous floods destroyed the army, as well as the whole of Atlantis. The gods had punished men for their ignorance... According to Plato this happened 9000 before his birth. The Theories Possibility 1: Thera Thera was a Mediterranean island situated north of Crete. As you see, Thera is positioned above Crete On Thera, an island that is currently called Santorini, archeologists found the remains of a flourishing culture. It seemed to be destroyed by a series of catastrophes, like enormous tidal waves and a vulcanic eruptiun (There is a round piece of sea between the small islands. That is the actual crater, and at this magnitude it's called a 'caldera') Excited, the archeologists immedeately linked Thera to Atlantis, which instantly became a hit. The end of Thera seems remarkably alike the end of Atlantis. Here are the reasons why Thera could AND couldn't be Atlantis. Why it COULD+ The destruction was at the same time as Plato described it was + Alike Atlantis, Thera was also destroyed by floods and earthquakes + Thera had a rich and flourishing culture, with beautiful objects made out of gold and silver. + Plato said the Atlanteans were excellent traders, and Thera, concerning it's size, could only have grown this big by trading Why it COULDN'T- Plato described Atlantis as big as Small-Asia and the North-Africa together. With all due respect, Thera is about as big as a flea compared to those together - Plato also situated Atlantis 'beyond the columns of Heracles', which we know as the strait of Gibraltar The 'how likely is this theory to be correct'-mark Although the negative list is shorter than the positive one, it still represents two major flaws in this theory. But we have to keep in mind that dramatization of the facts is something greek writers liked to do. My likelymark would be: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 ||||||||||||||| - 7.5 Possibility 2: The Sahara desert Some believe the sea didn't swallow Atlantis, but land did. The Sahara desert, situated in North-Africa, was, at the time Atlantis flourished, covered with seas. Well, not entirely of course, because the Atlantean needed a place to live after all. This is where the Atlas comes in. No, not our friendly heaven-carrying minor god, but the mountains in North-Africa. In this map, showing Morocco, you can see the Atlas from the middle to the upper right corner They would have raised out of the sea, thus forming a comfy island for the Atlanteans to build their empire on. Scientists have also discovered that the Sahara region enjoyed a temperate climate that would have made it an ideal site for human civilization. Eleven thousand to 12,000 years ago, when the ancient Greeks say Atlantis flourished, the Sahara was lush, fertile land Artwork etched in Saharan rocks at that time depicts giraffes roaming freely. Archaeologists have also found pictograms of domesticated cattle, horse-drawn chariots, as well as large caravans -- confirming that trade played an important role in the region. But the alarmingly rapid transformation of the region from paradise to dry desert would have wiped out all agriculture and killed off livestock, and more significantly, as sand encroached on the empire, it made travel nearly impossible -- which would have put an end to an empire based on trade. The mighty sphinx in Egypt, placed next to the piramid of Cheops It is said that the Sphinx, which people thought was built by the Egyptians, is actually 9000 years older- again, the time Atlantis flourished. Furthermore, nomads of the desert constantly stumble across columns and remains of old and lost empires. These could have been the remains of Atlantis, carried some place else by people who used their structures for building their own buildings. That is also a big problem for this theory: the shifting sands of the Sahara cover the evidence. If yesterday you saw a column somewhere, it could already be gone next day. Same goes for piramides. Scientists estimate we still have to uncover quite a few of them, buried under the sand. Still, this looks remarkably like Plato described it: Why this COULD be Atlantis+ It was an excellent place for a civilization to reach such high standards as Plato describes + The sea provided perfect trading routes to everywhere + They would have lived on the lower Atlas, and the high Atlas would be the mountains Plato described. There also is a plain. Why this COULDN'T be Atlantis- Plato said that Atlantis was destroyed by earthquakes and tidal waves. But here, the opposite happens![2] - It's still not big enough - Nobody has found Archeological proof (yet). Then again, there hasn't been proper Archeological research there. Although this one seems quite likely, I think I have to see Archeological proof first. If there are clear signs of a flourishing and rich civilization, then this theory could be true. The 'how likely is theory to be true'-mark 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 |||||||||||||||| -- 8 Possibility 3: England You may be surprised to see this, but there is a theory which is quite likely to be true. They base their theory on something Plato said: They say it is obvious: the only two islands they can think of not too far from shore are England and Ireland. But because Ireland doesn't have high-standard old civilization on them (or at least they're not found yet), their choice was England. And they have good reasons. Stonehenge: a massive structure, believed to be used for celtic rituals Stonehenge. It is a massive structure, consisting of huge rectangular stones with smaller ones placed on top of them. Although many people believe it was built by Stone Age humans, they think Atlanteans built it, in a tribute to Poseidon. The same goes for Avebury[3]. They also point out that in graves near Stonehenge and Avebury people found gold. This is not something you expect to find in some primitive Stone Age grave, but rather in a grave of a rich and welthy human, who was part of a great civilization. Plato also claims that in Atlantis there was a race-course which could be made smaller or bigger. And surprise surprise, near Stonehenge Archeologists found two race-courses: a small one and a long one, presumably used for chariot-races. Furthermore, Plato describes warm-water springs near the capital. I already see the English guys thinking: this could only have been Bath, a city famous for itâs hot water springs. Romans, Brits, even Stone-Age humans have enjoyed the warm water which flows from underground. This is a picture of the Roman Building around the Bath Spa. The water you see is about 40 degrees celsius. The buildings, which were red, black and white, were built out of stones which were gathered at Kleitoâs hill, in the center of the city. They say this is Silbury Hill, a vast human-made hill south of Avebury. Silbury Hill is a 40 metre high hill presumably made by the same people who made Stonhenge and Avebury Time to take this evidence into consideration: Why this COULD be Atlantis+ There is a huge stack of evidence + Plato may have heard tales about Celtic tribes living in England, but by the time they reached his ears, the stories had transformed into a miracle story + There was a disaster about 9000 years before Plato Why this COULDN'T be Atlantis- The sizes donât match (again) - The evidence is spread over a very large area. The Atlantean capital may have been big, but not this big - I donât see any elephants living in England[4]. These people may have a point, but personally, I think itâs total bull ⌠ehh⌠droppings. It seems like a theory a couple of drunk pseudo-scientists have thought up during their weekly beer night. The 'how likely is theory to be true'-mark 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 |||||||||||||| -- 7 Possibility 4: The sunken island In the Atlantic Ocean, youâll find the Canary Islands, the Azores and several more of these small Islands. They, according to this theory, were once part of Atlantis. They are the last remains and reveal where the island must have been: on the mid-ocean ridge. The white line represents the mid-ocean ridge There, a big island could have formed. The islands we currently know as the bahamaâs and the Canary Islands would have been the mountains. It would have looked like this: Image The big island in the middle is Atlantis Because this place became a vulcanic zone, which would have killed an island near it. Huge vulcanic eruptions would have bombarded the land, creating earthquakes and tidal waves. This would have completely destroyed Atlantis, except for A few islands who were out of range. At Bimini, a Bahama island, some marine archeologists found the remains of ancient structures. Could these be left-overs from the Atlantean culture? Furthermore, archeologists have found some amazing similarities between Egyptian and Maya- and Aztec cultures, like piramids, drawings, etc. Archeologists also discovered fossils in Egypt and North-America which look remarkably the same. This strongly suggests a land bridge between Africa and South-America. And what land could that have been apart from Atlantis? Still, this theory has a major flaw in it: the mid-ocean ridge is a place where land constantly shifts, moves and splits. It's highly unlikely that an island could have formed there, let alone remain there unharmed. The conditions would have been pretty rough with earthquakes and vulcanic lavaflows just beneath the earth crust. These were no farming conditions, and trees could not have grown there. But the reply is simple: 9000 years before Plato, the mid-ocean ridge exploded for the first time. It had been building up power beneath the surface of the island of Atlantis, and suddenly, with crushing force, it exploded out of it's hiding place. Point taken, time to judge the evidence: Why this COULD be Atlantis:+ This island is the only one who matches the sizes described by Plato + If the island existed, it would have been perfectly suitable for humans to live on + It would explain why the Aztecs as well as the Egyptians built Piramides + It lays beyond the 'Great columns of Heracles' Why this COULDN'T be Atlantis- There still is the problem of the mid-ocean ridge. Scientists still don't know exactly when it opened and started spitting lava. It could have been well before 9000 B.P(lato). - Although near Bimini people found the remains of some civilization, it would be unlikely Plato had known this city (because of it's distance). Therefore, I think there is a lack of archeological evidence. The 'how likely is theory to be true'-mark 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 ||||||||||||||| -- 7.5 I think this theory is too far-fetched to be true, simply because of the mid-ocean ridge. Even if it had not come to an explosion at the time Atlantis flourished, they certainly would have felt earthquakes and stuf like that. They would have been smart enough to move on, instead of staying in the danger zone. The final scores: possibility 1: Thera--------------------7.5 possibility 2: The Sahara desert----8 possibility 3: England-----------------7 possibility 4: The sunken island-----7.5 Of course, these are just a few of a bunch of theories. I selected them on how likely they were. Here are a few places where others situated Atlantis: Greenland Sri-Lanka and India North of Sweden In the North Sea, where the Rijn, Schelde and Maas reach the sea Central-America (lost civilization of the Inca's, Maya', etc.) At Baalbek in Lebanon, where people found enormous megalithic stones Troj in the west of Turkey Antarctica As you see quite a list, which continues to expand over the years. NOTES: [1]: Orichalkos was a red metal, which, according to Plato had 'the gloss of fire'. [2]: Some believe that the ancient Greek philosopher misinterpreted an Egyptian word meaning "movement of water." [3]: Avebury consists of the same rocks like the large ones of Stonehenge, but they are placed in a wide circle and without any rocks on top of them. Image - Image These are the Avebury rocks. As you can see, they are placed in a circle [4]: The people of this theory claim that these were either mammoths who surivived the last Ice Age (called the âSaalienâ) or the âelephantsâ were actually wild haired cows, which werenât seen in greece. Although these theories all seem likely, they could all be wrong. Atlantis remains a mystery, even in these days. Perhaps it's a completely different place then the above. Perhaps it doesn't exist at all, which als o is a theory: according to them, Plato just describes the perfect city. Anyway, we'll probably never know the truth. And maybe it's good that Atlantis, the great and beautiful country, remains a mystery forever... QOP LINKS: Thera: A good an short explanation of what happened to Thera A site that tells the tale of Thera (theory included) Comparing the info of Plato to Thera Sahara: BIG page about Atlantis in the Sahara Info over Plato's mistake and why Atlantis lies under the Sahara England Site made by 'England is Atlantis'-fan A broader explanation of why people think it was England The sunken Island A site with several points why and where Atlantis could have been A site made by the same people who did a site about Thera. Reccomended A with a good explanation of what Plato said, and many links to other Atlantis-related websites Plato's text The dialog with Critias, Timaeus, Socrates and Hemocrates The dialog with Socrates, Critias an Timaeus General 10 possible locations for Atlantis, and brief explanations A strange map, showing cross-section of Atlantis underseas A site about the finds on Thera Nice site about Stonehenge The official website of the Roman Baths in Bath

Well a fla isn't gonna do you very good. Open the fla's up in and publish them. Go to File->Publish settings. Select which type of file you want to export it to, and click 'Publish'. Then 'Ok'. Go to the map where you've put these fla's and voila, there are you're published files. If you wanna implement them into your webpage, you should publish them as html. Also, always publish them as .swf .

Hehe if any1 gets a mail like that, forward it to zegreatballs@gmail.com saying it's your other mailsadress. I'm gonna have a little fun with these guys >

A car 'eats' fuel, moves, and needs another life-form to exist (humans). It can 'die', by crashing into a building, or damage.Still, a ca ris not alive.

Uhm, try Chicken invaders. I swear, every gamer will LOVE this.

Before I started this topic, I looked up the words Life, virus and The characteristics of life. NOTE: if you come across terms you don't understand, plz scroll down. I have included a term-list there. The definition of life is too long to post here, check it out on the link. Why is this definition so long? It's easy: exceptions. Our planet houses such a biodiversity that everytime they make an all-included definition, a (new) species pops up from which we're sure it's an animal, but misses one key in the chain that makes it life. In order to make a correct definition it expands everytime, again and again. As qwijibow put it: quite an understatement Let's look at what a virus is as an object. That's what science has been debating about for a long time now. I won't clear it out with one post But I'd like to clarify it to you guys. These are 2 of the more standard viruses out there. As you see they look a bit like moonlanders (especially the 2nd one). That isn't surprising. Let's look at what a viral infection really is: (don't look at how crappy the img is, did it in paint ) As you see, the viron (name of one virus molecule) actually 'lands' on this great 'orb' which represents a cell in your body. I'll guide you through the process. 1. This is the evul viron, seeking a good host. No, not a site-hosting company . A host is a living organism in which a parasite (such as a virus) can live, and eat from. 2. The ship has landed. The virus now clamps it's little clawlike tentacles into little tentacles on the outside of your cell to get a good grip for the next phase. 3. In this phase the viron pushes itself through the membrane of the cell with brute force, and injects it's DNA into your cell (a viron can also contain only RNA, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll keep to DNA). Notice that the other viron, the on the right, just uses a sort of needle. 4-5. The DNA reaches the core of the cell and infiltrates it. In this core lies the most important part of the cell: your DNA. The viron's DNA pushes itself between yours and assumes control over the cell. It starts redirecting everything in the cell: it orders the cell to make new virons. Many new virons. 6. After a while, there is no space left for the new virons to go, but they keep coming, so eventually, the cell bursts open, and the young virons are cast out into the cruel world to go find a new host. Not a nice scene now is it? Next: the symptoms of life. If a supposed organism shows these signs, it's alive. So they say. These 7 signs are as follows: Theme #1 - Cells From Dictionary.com: Biology. The smallest structural unit of an organism that is capable of independent functioning, consisting of one or more nuclei, cytoplasm, and various organelles, all surrounded by a semipermeable cell membrane. Here we come across the first flaw. It says: ...capable of independent functioning... which is not the case with a virus. He has to use a host-cell in order to do things like a normal cell. Theme#2 - Organization This means to say that living organisms have a basic structure. Like an energy provider, a command centre, etc. This is partly true with a viron. They have a nuclei (the core, containing DNA), but nothing else. So there is only a commando centre. So well, they are organised, as one big structure. Theme#3 - Energy Use 'Living matter acquires matter and energy from the external environment and converts it into different forms.' ripped from Oceans Online. Well, this certainly is a DON'T. That exactly why viruses need hostcells, they can't make energy for themselves. Theme#4 - Homeostasis 'Living matter maintains some type of homeostasis.' This one is universally accepted. Homeostasis is the property of an open system, especially living organisms, to regulate its internal environment so as to maintain a stable condition. Well, this one we can also cross out on our list. As a matter of fact, a viron has a very minimalistic internal environment. Theme#5 - Growth Does a virus grow? Well, if you see a car being built -piece by piece is being put on- and consider that the 'growth' of the car to adulthood, then yes, a viron can grow. But as I see it virons are mainly assembled. Theme#6 - Reproduction 'Living matter reproduces and passes on genetic material as a blueprint for growth and subsequent reproduction' Well these babies produce allright. They produce so well we are being killed in the process. Theme#7 - Evolution 'Living matter evolves.' Yes, a virus can evolve. Look at the recent 'SARS'. Or influenza, to stay closer at home (influenza = flu, your average home-garden-kitchen virus). SARS originally only affected pigs and animals of the like, until it evolved slightly and could acces humans. And Influenza shows signs that they are becoming more and more resistant to anibiotics, the big medicine that stopped great influenza epidemics. So yes, a virus can certainly evolve. Lacking 4 of the 7 needed signs, I'd say that it is not really alive. But then again, the most important of these characteristics of life are containing DNA and evolving, in which viruses excellently succeed. If I had to put it in my own words: Virons are like zombies are to men. Not with a free will, not with the capability to make food for itself, and needing a host (like a human) to survive, but still with the few vital signs of life. NOTE: zombies need to eat human flesh in order to 'stay alive'. (Never really figured out why ) Terms: Viron: A microscopic object consisting out of an outer membrane, an inner membrane and a core with DNA/RNA Virus: A collective noun for a specific group of virons. DNA: A long spiralled string of specific proteins that is the blueprint of your body. It describes exactly how you look and what kind of curve your nose has. It is in every cell of your body. If you could take one DNA-string out of a cell and stretch it out, it would be around 2 metres in length (6.6 feet). Surprising, no ? RNA: Similar to DNA, but not quite the same. It is also a a string of proteins, but one of the main functions of RNA is to copy genetic information from DNA and then translate it into proteins. In virons it is like a copy of DNA that never existed. URLS: Physics forum Wikipedia And some other site I couldn't remember Hope this makes maybe somewhat clearer, plenty to debate still! Qop

Yes, this is a post for a game, but read on and you'll understand why I'm posting it in the politics section. Everyone know that G. W. Bush messed up things bigtime. But just to what extent he f*cked it up, fairly little people realise. This game, which is beautifully designed, takes about half an hour to finish. It has a lot of text in it, and not too much game-element. It will take you through history, starting off when GWB was elected as president. I was amazed at the facts presented to me. This game represents all the facts of Georges misdoing in a very nice way. Ok, the music is a little nervous and after a while I turned of the continuous loop, but overall, I'd give this game a 9 out of 10. And yeah, it is a bit of propaganda for Kerry, but hey, everything's better than GWB, right? -NOTE- After you complete the first level, there is a spot you can't advance through the lvls anymore. Hit F5 or refresh, and on the startup menu on the left there's a little button which takes you on to the next lvl. I ADVISE EVERYONE to actually read the text. People need to know this. The game Post what you think about it.

Hehe, I got a cam for my b'day lsat year (yay ) so since then I've been taking shot from all kinds of things. I've taken a few and put them on this page (they're still high-res though, so loading may take a while). I have a few very nice pics of plants in my garden somewhere, i'll see if I can dig them up

o.O strange ?

Wait a second, I have to rethink this. The question is: "Are robots considered humans?" The answer is: No. Plain simple No. Why not? Human beings are made out of flesh, robots aren't, human beings have blood in their vains, robots don't have blood, humans have a brain, robots don't, etc. The question we are debating here should be: "Are robots considered human?" A small difference, but with a MAJOR consequence.