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Cerebral Stasis

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Everything posted by Cerebral Stasis

  1. I have glasses, and I prefer to wear them over contacts, but they make me feel very self-conscious. I know that glasses look good on some people, but my eyes are very weak, so my glasses (although not huge) are quite thick, and they make my eyes look tiny.
  2. I don't see why anyone would have a problem with Gmail. Some claim that Google reads the messages, but keep in mind that would mean that they would have to wade through millions of messages each day. I highly doubt they would spend the kind of money it would take to hire a staff large enough to undertake such a task.In other words, you might as well take advantage of Google's kindness.
  3. A sharp knife can cut most anything. The ability to "withstand" friction and "bashing" just shows that the tire has a high melting point and elasticity. As I said, cutting is completely different than "bashing" or heating.
  4. I wouldn't call this "breaking news." He's been having strokes for about a week or more now. After looking at a picture of the Prime Minister, he should really try to get rid of some of his body fat if he wants to survive to see 80.
  5. What are you talking about? True, while there may not be any apparent motives for remaining in Iraq (aside from keeping the civilians safe so that the previous leaders don't move back in and start mass-executions on the basis of treason), we are hardly losing the war. We won the "war" easily. The war has been over for a long, long time. Now it's just a matter of cleaning up resistance. Bombings aren't war - they're terrorist attacks, and that's what is so dangerous. Noone can tell if the person walking up to them is a civilian or a suicide bomber in disguise, until they flip the switch, that is. In any case, we are hardly "losing our army" in Iraq. This is, in fact, one of the mildest wars that the United States has ever fought. The casualties are in the thousands. In fact, according to this article, the total troops lost in Iraq is currently at about 2,178 while the total wounded is at around 15,955 while, according to this website, there are about 160,000 troops stationed in Iraq. So, overall, there have been about 1.25% of the troops stationed in Iraq killed, and 10% wounded. Considering that that this war has lasted over 2 years, that is a very reasonable number. Keep in mind that is this is only the number of troops in Iraq - hardly the entire U.S. Army.
  6. First of all, artificial intelligence is not yet advanced enough for a robot to be able to find resources and mine them completely one their own yet, and such research would cost millions, if not billions, of dollars. Ditto the complete replacement of cheap labor with expensive mechanical labor. The reason that mining is efficient is because people can hire a bunch of desperate people at low wages to risk their lives for everyone else. If they had to install robots, prices for all resources would skyrocket (expect 4 to 5 dollars per gallon for gas, if not more, let alone things such as power, petrolium products, etc.). Human labor is cheap, and that's why it's used. Besides, 67 lives lost in the mining industry over the past 21 years is a very reasonable number - approximately 3 lives lost per year, which isn't very many. Far more people get killed daily by driving cars, and yet people aren't replacing all manual cars with completely GPS-controlled ones. Money is power, people, and 67 lives do not stand up to the millions of dollars it would cost to change mining to a completely mechanized industry.On the other hand, open-pit mines are becoming more and more common. Open-pit mines are when large areas of land are scooped out and hauled away (there are a few near the power plants in this region), and are very, very safe. The only real danger would be an accident caused by the machinery that is being operated. I really didn't think that there were any more tunnel mines in the U.S. because gasses, cave-ins, and the like are such a big concern, not to mention the health risks of being closed in (as is the case with coal mining), or the difficulty in getting mined resources out of the tunnel to machinery that can quickly take it to where it needs to go.
  7. Who says that only three have seen "Bigfoot"? There have been sightings from all across the world over the years, but no material evidence or solid proof to back it up (aside from footprints and blurry photos, which could all be faked).It's hard to imagine a mammal 12 feet tall. It would, without a doubt, be one of the largest mammals on Earth. It would have to have a very powerful heart to pump blood through a body of that size. It would certainly be interesting to study.Although the chances of a primate remaining hidden until now is unlikely, it's not impossible. There have been reports of sightings of prehistoric fish (real FISH large enough to swallow a person whole, and not sharks, either) in the nearby Lake Sakakawea (I live in North-Central USA). In fact, more and more underwater welders who are working on building a bridge across the lake are beginning to quit their job (regardless of the astounding wages) due to their fear of these creatures.
  8. RPG:Elder Scrolls: OblivionNeverwinter Nights 2FPS:Unreal Tournament 2007Sim:SporeI hope they all live up to their hype. If they do, 2006 may very well be known as the "year of gaming." By the way, will StarCraft: Ghost be released this year? They've been in production for years - I wonder when they will finally release it.
  9. No, the entire thing wouldn't be grown, per se, but it contains organic components and is fabricated out of very small parts (sometimes at the mollecular level). Excuse my confusing use of the word "grown."
  10. I think that it certainly looks neat, but would leave you in a bit of a bad situation when the OLEDs began to die out (thankfully, most people have the keyboard configuration memorized, anyway).It's certainly a clever innovation, however. A keyboard that can truely be "universal."
  11. Actually, I rather like it. True, the render doesn't mix with the background, but the tone of her skin against the pink background just makes her stand out that much more sharply and with higher contrast. Good job.
  12. Yeah, except they are not intelligent, they don't have weapons (and can't hold any), and have no reason to take over the world. There will be enough people who would see robots, assuming they wanted to take over, as equals and treat them as so that not all robots would rebel, feeling they were being enslaved.Besides, all it takes is an EMP bomb to get rid of them.
  13. Considering the price tag that would be attached to such an undertaking, I think it would be much cheaper, and more useful, to simply buy a PDA or laptop. Furthermore, it could then be used outside of your car, as well as inside. What is really the point of building it into your car?By the way, I hope you don't plan to try to use this little computer while driving. There are enough accidents from people who aren't paying attention as it is.
  14. I doubt that one really needs to worry so much about that kind of thing. If one has a decent spyware detection program, one need not worry about keyloggers, and even if one was installed, chances are the keylogger-placer wouldn't know what the password would be for. Besides, for the most part, people only bother to install keyloggers on computers owned by important people. No offense, but you wouldn't exactly be top priority on the internet.
  15. I assume this counter actually counts specific hits, so if one sits in a page and refreshes, the counter will continue to go up, right? I, personally, am only interested in counters that actually count unique visitors or at least unique hits. Perhaps you could create a tutorial explaining how to create a counter that works that way.This "tutorial" may be quite useful, but I'm afraid to say it can hardly count as a tutorial, since it doesn't teach one anything, nor does it explain what the individual parts mean or do.
  16. Why would you want to talk like a half-baked gangster moron that sounds like he dropped out of school in third grade and never learned a thing since. I despise that "gangsta lingo" with a passion. Accents are one thing. That is just going out of one's way to be an idiot and make a point.
  17. I have only used Urban Dictionary a couple times, and I've always hated it. The definitions are unprofessional and often very poorly written and stupid. If you want to use a dictionary that can have words/content added by users, I would recommend Wiktionary instead.
  18. I only find the Sims 2 entertaining for a day or two. Then I end up uninstalling it for a month or so. Furthermore, I didn't find cars to really be a noteworthy addition (they're practically useless - I'd much prefer more item variety instead). And, sportytalk, there is a game called Sims Online for the internet, but if you want to pay a fee for a MMO game, I'd recommend giving Second Life a try instead.
  19. I don't like either of them. They are far too empty and simple. I like wallpapers to have something to look at, especially well-contrasting colors, such as brights and darks against each other (so what if it burns out my eyes?). The abstract designs are far too basic and lacking in detail.3/10 on the first, 2/10 on the second.You need more practice will smaller stuff before you try for big things like wallpapers.
  20. Keyboards really aren't that loud, especially if you have a good one and keep it clean. True, a laser-projected one would still be much quieter, but I don't really consider keyboard noise to be a very big problem. Plus, there are roll-up keyboards that are made of a rubber-like material. Therefore, it would have the farmiliar raised feeling without clicking (since it wouldn't be as solid as plastic keys, obviously).
  21. OLED is a possible design for a cheap flat screen. I read a Current Science article concerning OLEDs, and it claims that they last about three years and are very thin and flexible (so that one may have a roll-up computer screen). The only problem is that they have to be partially grown (being organic), so that takes extra time and money. How much, exactly OLEDs have already been used in quite a few small device screens. By the way, the most promising version of this type of technology is the PLED (polymer LED). Read more about it here
  22. So? The PSP is nice, but it's hardly a breakthrough in technology. iPods are by Apple - not Sony. Forgive me for being frank, but that's stupid. You obviously don't understand much about physics. There will never be devices that small. There are no material properties in particles smaller than a molecule. Besides, it takes matter to store the energy necessary to retain information, and noone would be able to use anything that small. I know you were overstating it, but you did so to the point that you look very, very foolish. Uh, no. The government funds the army in the United States - not businesses. Businesses are funded by the people, who are looking to make a profit, thus is the reason that useful things are invented. That's my whole point. There wouldn't be that many robotics breakthroughs in one device. Especially not one cheap enough to sell for a profit. Each major feature (true artificial intelligence, the ability to learn, the ability to really dance, the ability to really speak) would be invented at different times, and each would get huge media coverage. Instead, the coverage is just about one TOY that combines all the features into one. Thus, the features can't be all they appear to be. That is apparent. It's not too hard to beat no research. Yes, they are the first robot that is able to stand on one leg. But who says that there are only 4 in the world? Just because only four were dancing at the press conference doesn't mean that they are all that exist. If Japan plans to sell these things as toys, they have got to be cheap enough that they can afford to make more than just two.
  23. I, also, use similar passwords in most cases. I recommend that you try saving your password to a notepad file or something and keep it on your computer (hopefully your personal computer is secure). I recommend that you use things that you can easily remember, but would be confusing for others, such as your initials, birthdate, graduation year, etc. in a sequence (say my name is John Michael Doe and I was born in '75 and I graduated in '83, a possible sequence could be "jmd7583" - it's pretty easy for you to remember, since you know what it means). Another option would be to use a mnemonic device, such as "The cow jumped over the moon." and then make your password "tcjotm". Or, maybe your parents' initials and birth years/ages. Notice from jlhaslip: Edit mnemonic device to correct spelling as requested.He supplied the word. I was going to use pneumonic. j/k
  24. It's not what it seems. The robots obviously knew what was coming before the music even started. They could have responded to a voice command, a motion command, or even a remote/bluetooth command, but the sequence is obviously pre-coded. I have seen other movies of these robots appearing to hold an intelligent conversation with some Japanese children (in Japanese, of course - subtitles were provided), complete with realistic voices (not the monotone Stephen Hawking-voicebox-like stuff). The conversation either had to be pre-programmed, or was being supplied on the fly via some kind of remote. There is no way that robotics could go from being almost nonexistant of artificial intelligence, to having TOY robots that can dance, speak, and do most anything else a child could do on it's own. The most advanced robotics labs still haven't got further than a robotic head that can communicate and, at least partially, think on it's own (more specifically, it plays out certain needs and drives that it has), and just that robotic head needs a few computers to work - let alone having all the bodily functions, as well as the processing and such, all cramped inside the space of a little toy robot. Other "robots" are just animatronic (meaning they look and act like they are intelligent, but they are just very detailed sculptures with preprogrammed movements) and are mostly made for movie special effects, as is the case with the Phillip K. *BLEEP* Ressurected Project. When one does not understand how something works, one tends to expect a complicated and overly-superior function than that which it really has. By the way, if you are interested in reading more about android head projects, check out this website. Notice from jlhaslip: Edit to include the last line as requested
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