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brcmville

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Everything posted by brcmville

  1. I am sure you know that we would not be getting any conclusive results for a very, very long time. Possibly in the thousands of years. Our planet is billions of years old, giving many thousands of years of time for animals to "evolve" the best characteristics for the environment they live in. I find this study pretty interesting because if something like this occurred in Humans, like say a right arm that was naturally bigger then the left arm or with one or more bones, the entire course of human history may have been different. Wars would have been fought with the idea that the right arm was dominant and military tactics would have been amazingly different. Symmetry is a good thing to have though, with more benefits in the long run. If the Iwasaki snail-eating snake had a symmetrical arrangement of teeth, eating snails with a left and right swirling shell would be equally difficult to do, allowing the snake more options. On a side note, I have a very pronounced fear of snakes. When watching the movie Snakes on a Plane, I probably lost 5 pounds from sweat. (Possibly less:P). Looking at pictures like this is pretty interesting though, and I am glad that I read this article. It gives me one more fact to back up my supporting the theory of evolution
  2. As they say, One man's trash is another mans treasure... Not everyone is going to like it, but it is more useful then it is bothersome
  3. I am not passionate about Firefox, but I really do enjoy using it. I have seen what you have seen as well though. All of those people running around promoting Firefox like it was a religion. There are many features that are far superior to internet explorer so my guess is thats the real reason people are so passionate about it. I was reluctant to switch from internet explorer but when I learned how to make use of tabbed browsing, I was hooked. IE 7 came out with it but it seems so clunky and doesn't work so well for me.I just figured out that you can turn off the spell check like two minutes ago, which is weird. ;)So much for the argument that it gets in the way when typing in a different language; all you have to do is simply right click and turn it off!
  4. Unless the barrel of the gun is made out of some metal or material that does not heat up from friction as HiddenKenshin said, firing so many bullets in such a short period of time would heat the barrel up very quickly. I also do not see how there wouldn't be any recoil at all. That alone seems too good to be true, and I would have to see the gun being fired to believe it.
  5. Until I upgraded to Firefox 2, I wouldn't have really considered a spell check that big of a deal because I figured my spelling was just fine and it would be more of a nuisance than anything else. If anyone hasn't tried it for similar reasons, they are seriously missing out.I am not a fan of Google Tool bars because they usually come packed in with some other software and install on your computer without much notice or even any. It really makes me mad when I load up internet explorer and I have Google tool bar installed when I clearly didn't install it willingly. My computer never has any pop-ups either, so the entire bar was pretty much useless for me.
  6. Well Killer008r, the article said that the asteroid has just about no chance of hitting our planet for at least 1000 years, not 2000 years. Beyond that, our level of science is not capable of accurately predicting anything like this. "Plotting the future path of an asteroid is not a simple matter. The technique draws on a half-dozen scientific disciplines, such as electrical engineering, radio science, geology and astronomy." "But scientists can make predictions only for a period up to about 1,000 years. Beyond that, unpredictable factors such as the gravitational pull from planets make predictions much less accurate, Magri said. " So, what they have said so far isn't as much of an opinion as it may seem. To the best of their knowledge, using a half-dozen different techniques, we are safe for at least 1000 years
  7. If I had known that Firefox had this feature for so long, I would have upgraded much sooner. I cannot believe that I have been so deprived... (And spelling weird as "wierd" for years)
  8. Seriously guys, am I the only one that seemed to read in the original article that the asteroid won't actually hit the earth for at least 1000 years? " A Maine scientist who uses radar to peer at objects in space says an asteroid that passed by Earth five years ago is due for a return visit to the planetary neighborhood in 2036. But Chris Magri, an associate professor of physics at the University of Maine at Farmington, says there's no need for panic. By that time, Magri says, scientists may have figured out a way to send the muffin-shaped asteroid, known as KW4, somewhere else. Magri joined a team of more than a dozen other scientists who calculated that the asteroid will not actually hit the Earth for at least 1,000 years. " This whole thing seems to be a conspiracy theory to get people all hyped up about something almost insignificant. If we went from only dreaming about flying to going to the moon and back in less then 100 years, (heck, even 70 or so years), we will for sure have the ability to protect ourselves from an asteroid in 1000 years. If not, I think that we deserve what we get for being so stupid
  9. You are probably thinking from the get go that this is something that I should be discussing in the software forums, but honestly, it is something that I just discovered and its something new that I just learned, so it fits right in here as well. At least, technically it does! Anyways, I loaded up my Mozilla Firefox browser a few days back and an upgrade notice popped up. Normally, I don't think I have enough time to deal with the download and installation part so I just close it down without upgrading, but not today! Instead, I upgraded the browser and it took me about 1-2 minutes. So much for taking up all of my time right? When it got done downloading, it said the updates will take effect when I restarted the browser, so I closed it down and reopened it. The first thing I did was come to these forums and when I was making my post, I noticed that the words I misspelled had a line under them, just like in Microsoft word. So, I right clicked and lo and behold, a list of possible words came up! For people like me, a spell check is a must, and this is probably one of the best discoveries I have made for quite a while
  10. First off, I hate to be the one who ruins all of the fun going on here but the article didn't say that they made a model of the entire human brain. What they actually made was a "computer model of how the brain processes visual information to a complex, real world task". That does not sound like a brain at all to me! What it sounds like is that they created a computer model of our eyes and how the brain reacts to what our they are looking at. Regardless though, this is one heck of an advance in technology. I am curious how the model works because the information that comes from our eyes does in fact trigger a heck-of-a-lot of emotions. Well, at least thats the case for me, I don't know about everyone else When science gets to the point were we can actually create an entire model of the human brain, emotions, logic and everything else, we should stop right there and advance no further. Once we create that first computer with the ability to judge others, it will know that it is better and it will take advantage of us less intelligent beings. In a sense, that computer will not even be a computer anymore. When you compare us, Humans, to a computer, there are relatively few general differences, aside from the fact that computers do not have emotions. Would a computer with the ability to think, believe, feel pain and deal with the emotions we as humans already deal with actually be a mindless robot that repeats tasks over and over again? Humans get bored, and a computer with the brain of a human would get bored as well... That is something to think about! I don't think something as complex as the human brain, with all of the abilities of the human brain will be created within the next 100 years at least, and definitely not within 5-10 years! I assume that in 5-10 years, we might have computers with the ability to walk, talk and socialize with us doing our housework, but even that would be weird and hard to get used to. That depends. If the computer "forgets" things like humans do, there would be ample space recovered from "deleting old files" if you know what I mean. Another thing to think of is how our memories are not as clear as they were when something happened. Try this. Get up and turn around. Take a look at what is behind you, and then come back to the computer and think about what you just looked at. The image in your head will not be a perfect image of what you just saw. What you will actually see is something like a blurry image. This is much like when you save an image on the computer as a .GIF or .PNG file. The image tends to get blurred and space is saved. I believe this would be the best way for a brain to "remember" something while saving tons and tons of space. To somewhat accurately recall anything, you don't need a perfect image of what you saw, just a rough idea so that your brain can put the pieces back together. I am just speculating right now, but that is how I think the brain would work when it comes to storing all of the information that it gathers. I can tell you right now that I do not think I remember gigabytes of information! That would be a big problem right there! I don't know how I could compare to a robot who remembered almost everything a woman said to them! That would be simply devastating for us men. I have seen countless films that focus on how a computer might be when it can think for itself and feel emotion, or something like it. Take I Robot or 2001, A Space Odessy. The computers in each one of those movies took a turn for the worst and seemingly rebelled against mankind. In either case, they make you think about whether its a good idea to give a computer that much ability... A computer that could react to things and make a informed decision based on its memories wouldn't be too bad, as long as it didn't have the ability to rebel against mankind and kill everyone.
  11. What games have I got? That is a tough question because even I don't even know what games I have lying around anymore. Time to put together a list of everything Inventory: Nintendo (The original one!) All Stars Baseball - I believe that is what the name is. It is sitting in a box somewhere so I can't really check on it now. Wheel of Fortune - This game was pretty cool when I played it. Graphics are horrible though Days of Thunder - I couldn't really understand this game when I used to play it. You actually get to play as Cole (Tom Cruise in the movie) and race quit a bit. You control your pit crew as well and they either make or break you in this game. Punchout - Thats the name I think. Simply an amazing game for its time. Hoops - I literally spent hours playing this game. You set up a basketball team and play other teams. I was getting pretty good at this game until it quit working. I don't know why. Super Mario - Everyone knows this game. There are many more but those are the ones that I played the most and can remember the best. Sega Genesis Sonic - Yea, the hedgehog. I was able to beat this game when I was little but now I can't. NBA JAM - AMAZING GAME!!! Phrases like "Hes on Fire!" and "From down town" have stuck with me for over 10 years because of this game. Street Fighter - I didn't like this game much. I never learned to special moves. I won't go into what I have for playstation or nintendo 64 because there are so many games that it wouldn't be worth looking them all up Playstation 2 ATV Offroad - Came with the system, and I enjoyed playing it. Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas - Yea, the best game for ps2. Grand Theft Auto, Liberty City - Didn't like this game as much as San Andreas but it was good. Out of the hood and into the mafia. Tony Hawk's pro skater 4 - GOOD game. The Sims, Bustin Out The Sims 2 The Sims 2, Pets Grand Trismo or however it is spelled. Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers Need for Speed Underground Call of Duty 2 PC Age of Empires Age of Empires, the Rise of Rome Age of Kings Age of Kings, The Conquerors Age of Empires III Age of Empires III, Warchiefs Warhammer 40k, Dark Crusade Empire Earth II Doom 3 Diablo Diablo 2 Diablo 2, Lord of Destruction Microsoft Flight Simulator X - Deluxe Company of Heros Warcraft III Sims 2, Holiday Edition Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas Europa Universalis II Virtual Villagers - The Lost Children That is just about all of the games that I have that were ever played I strongly recommend the Virtual Villagers game. You can look it up at http://www.virtualvillagers.com/ There are two games in the series and it appeals to younger and older games alike. I REALLY enjoyed it.
  12. Why scrap this part of the forum if its a burden on the mods here? I thought you guys had a job to do... Right? ;)Honestly, I don't really care if the game forums are removed or credits are no longer given for posting in them because I rarely use them and when I do, its usually to post a review or recommend a game that has not already been introduced. Sadly though, I am one of those people that has a hard time getting into a lot of the "technical" discussions that you find around this forum, and finding a good topic to discuss is sometimes a challenge. leafbunk, who posted earlier in this topic noted that some of us who are not as skilled or rehearsed when it comes to the "databases, operating systems, networking, hardware workshop, programming, and many times software" sections feel like we shouldn't post when we do not know what we are talking about. I am not advocating that credits should be earned from just talking about everyday life or spending 15 seconds replying to an already useless topic, but too much work with no play can be hard on anyone. Removing the gaming forums would be taking away one of the places I feel like I can post without looking like a complete idiot, and considering that my Xisto.com account focuses on gaming and such, it would be a sad not to be able to discuss that here as well.
  13. I have used this program and it works great. Easy to use and pretty easy on the computer when it comes to memory usage and whatnot.Silverfox, some people use the program to install applications that they download from torrent sites but that is illegal and not necesarrily what the program was meant to do If you use it as a law abiding person would, it is a great tool!
  14. Maybe I should have written it differently, but that doesn't mean it is not true. Alot of people will argue that saving money from quitting is in no way an inspiration for them to quit because they simply don't think its a good enough reason. I said earlier that there are cases that do not fit the mould and yours would be one of them. Smoking is one of the things recommended to drug addicts in order to kick the drug habit. In your case, it would only be fair to say that it is O.K. to be smoking because many people would argue that your going from a more dangerous poison to a less dangerous poison; taking steps towards independence from drug use. I do not have any tolerance to substance abuse though, and I will probably never develop any. People who do it didn't start because they were addicted. They made a choice. I doubt that anyone was holding them back and forcing them to take drugs or ordering them to light up.
  15. The game is very interesting, and if you haven't had time to sign up that I assume you wouldn't have time to spend on it throughout the day which makes it even better for you! Most of the best players in the game tend to log into their accounts only a couple times a day because there is nothing you really need to check on. The game goes by days, so every day you get a bill and you can collect taxes from your nation. Depending on how happy your people are and how strong your economy is, you make more or less cash ;)The image on the homepage is just an old shot at what coutries there I think. When you get into the game, there are over 40000 nations and alot more then 1 in Australia ;)Personaly, I put my country on a mountain in the middle of the desert in Egypt,
  16. The most useful information in the world could be sitting in front of someone and they could totally ignore it, and quite often, this seems to be what happens in the world so I would agree with you when you said "what u percieve is what u see". This calculation has meaning to those who are willing to take it to heart, but people who lack the character to make such a large change in their lives will think it doesn't. If a person is ever wondering where they can make a few thousand dollars a year extra and they are smoking, it is a pitty that they haven't looked at my post, or that they can't think of the solution themselves On another topic, I do not think that rising prices of tabacco or alcohol will ever have an effect on the people smoking. Statistics may show that since the prices have been raised that more people seem to be quitting but that could also be because education about the hazards related to smoking and drinking has improved so much over the years. Think of gasoline if you still think high sales prices will make more people quit and less people start. The price for gas has been at record highs and noone I know has changed their driving habits and most of them won't because they need to drive, much like how smokes say they need to smoke. It is a bit niave to think that price hikes would make people quit. The only time that may happen is if someone takes my origional post to heart and stops smoking so that they can save money
  17. There are always some people who do not fit the mold Generally speaking though, if you smoke for such a long time, there is a huge chance that you are in for some devestating health problems!I really hope that your more fit then I get the impression you are, because at 70 years old, most people are not as strong as they were in their younger years.
  18. Normally I am pretty on top of things when it comes to knowing about the best online text based games but I was surprised to find that I hadn't known about Cybernations. Being the junkie I am about simulating games, I decided to give it a try and for nearly a week I have been playing the game and I must recommend it to anyone who would enjoy building your own nation from nothing to an empire. When registering for the game, you get to choose a few things that will determine what your country will be like, such as your Leaders name, your Countries name, the main religion, the currency type, government type as well as other things. You can also pick where your country will be on the planet using a google earth powered map! The game focuses on realism, so all of the options you have for religion, currency, government and such are taken from the real world. What this means is that when you choose your countries currency, you can choose currencies ranging from the Euro to the Pound. As soon as you get registered and have configured your nations details, you can do so much more, and it would be impossible for me to note them all since I have only been playing for nearly a week and I still am learning about it. So, if you are looking for a pretty interesting nation building text based game, I strongly recommend Cybernations. The Link is http://www.cybernations.net/. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! ---------------------------------------------- If you want to learn more about the game, you can click the following link to view the game's information page: http://www.cybernations.net/about.asp
  19. I wouldn't go so far as to say that your friend has quit multiple times, because she has not even quit once. Many smokers that try to quit go through little periods of time where they are not smoking, and when they start again, they like to think that they quit smoking so that it makes them feel better. In reality, they haven't quit smoking at all. The good news is that a person's smoking habit can be stopped instantly, but the bad news is that just about noone is able to do it. I hate it when people say that they cannot stop because that is getting as old and repetetive as the people who say smoking is harmful to your health. Anyone can stop, and if they were smart about it, they wouldn't leave it to themselves to do it. A smoker is their own worst enemy. I was reading about ways for a smoker to quit on coolnurse.com and I came up with the conclusion that if a smoker does not seek support from friends and family, they will probably fail horribly. There are so many ways a person could involve their family and friends in their effort to quit smoking and it's no lie that having people support your effort to quit smoking will help. So, in short, maybe you could help your friend stop smoking. She obviously cannot do it by herself or she would have stopped. Try anything that you think will work http://www.livestrong.com/
  20. Which leads us back to my first and origional post in this thread! Everyone knows smoking kills and those who smoke are digging their own graves but many of them live life with less money and don't ever consider where it is going. I am not saying that smokers in general are poor or don't make much money but I am saying that there are a bunch that simply do not consider the financial health problems it creates as well as the physical health problems Surely there will be some people who's eyes are opened and the world seems like a much better place after they realize that they can make thousands of dollars as well as live longer when they stop smoking.
  21. Freelance work on the internet is not deadly Where did you get that idea If you can do all those exercises still then why don't you consider not smoking? Most smokers want to quit but end up going and going and pretty soon there is no more reason to stop because they let their bodies degenerate so much that it wouldn't even help them to quit. But in your case, your obviously still in decent shape and quitting now would really be a great idea. You can choose a different poison instead like maybe driving or cellphones But seriously, do you see any reason to continue smoking? If it offsets your asthma somehow, maybe you could just use inhalers or something instead and not take the risk of some disease in the future... You probably are just going to write that one off and continue smoking but don't ever say that noone told you to stop while you were ahead.
  22. Yea, they and I would defend our cars but if you think about it, cars can be controlled a bit more then smoking. I mean, your driving down the back roads of your city and a dog runs out in the street. Cars have brakes that allow you to stop quick enough to miss the dog while if you were to think about smoking, you do not have those brakes. I think that kinda makes sense, sorry if it doesn't I agree that mobile phones can kill when used in combination with cars, especially on city streets and freeways. I for one cannot concentrate on a cell phone and driving at the same time like some people claim to be able to do. I would end up driving off the road or speeding because my focus was on the phone. In the city, there is so much stop and go that if you are on a cell phone, you could accidently rear end someone even if you were not focusing for a split second. Smoking is a different poison though and you can't control the effects that it has on you. That is up to your body and if it decides to develop a tumor then your pretty much out for the count. I don't know how smoking would reduce a person's asthma, but since we are all different, who knows. The second that I smell smoke, I can just feel (or imagine) my lungs shrinking up and my overall lung capacity shrinking. After smoking a cigarette, you can't take a deap breath and that is simply scary. A little off topic but where do you work? Sounds like its a dangerous job
  23. Brian, you must have already recieved the update since you have the 150 mb plan. Everyone who has the 150 mb plan or Regular Pakage I believe it is called gets it. Chesso, if you have the 150mb plan then you already got it as well. If you do not, you can always upgrade to it and then you will have it! Cheers
  24. The general message being carried on from post to post is that smoking is bad and anyone who does smoke should stop! Your asthma will get worse and it will begin to bug you, as you already mentioned when you said that it will catch up to you eventually. Are you really on ventelators?? I took that as a joke What did you mean by "so do cars and movile phones"? That came pretty much out of nowhere and I got lost in the reading
  25. When I opened this toic, I was thinking "wow, windows XP can expire?" , but when I read the post, I was glad to find out that that just doesn't happen. I agree with Alegis when he stated that this is basically piracy, or encouraging it in some way by teaching someone how to get around activating a product that requires you to buy it and still using it all the while. Activating the software was not hard for me and believe me, I have extremely limited expirience with dealing with windows. If my copy ever gets flagged, I have the reciept from the location of purchase and I have the disk, manual and anything else that someone who purchased their copy of Windows XP should have, so there would not be many problems if they decided to take action against me.Hopefully someone will use this guide for good purposes though!
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