For this is a common error -- most people who use emoticons use them excessively, to indicate tone when there could be no other. So when you're happy, and you're talking to a friend face-to-face, you stay deadpan except for the odd flash of a smile when you're joking?:P Generally when talking face-to-face my facial expression changes from sentence to sentence, I don't see why text communication should be any different.:) Of course, anything used ubiquitously loses its semantic content.:/ So overuse of one emoticon to the exclusion of others would be pointless.
Ten thousand years ago, people like you and me would be weeded out by predators or starvation. Now, the fitness function driving human evolution has changed. Spare a thought for the technology-blind among us, because within a hundred years they'll be as unable to comprehend the world around them as I am without my contact lenses... until and unless we develop mental prostheses, that is.
It's a lot easier to love someone whose faults you have not been forced to continually put up with your whole life, than to love someone who held you down and farted on you when you were little...:P
(Not that this happened to me, I can just see a way around what you said...:P )
If people want to engage in graphic virtual sex, they need to do so in a forum that is adults-only, for the same reason that real consenting adult sex is not legal in public. I've never understood why it's fine for people in a 'public' online space to engage in graphic virtual shooting-someone-in-the-head but not to engage in graphic consensual virtual sex. If I had a choice of what I'd prefer to see in real-world public, I know it wouldn't be the homicide.
Variable valve timing, as it is currently used, It generally lets you change the timing relative to the position of the crankshaft. it doesn't let you change the number of degree's that the valves are open or the lift that the valves open. The most advanced system I am familiar with has only 2 profiles for the cams. One it uses at low speeds and one that it uses at high speeds. Truly variable timing for the valves opens up many options for increasing the efficiency of the engine. Actually, Toyota's VVTL-i system allows continuously variable timing and lift duration, along with many others.
The system you're familiar with sounds like early-90s VTEC.
Agreed, though, about the hybrid systems' big efficiency factor being that they allow their engines to run in their 'sweet spot' for maximum efficiency. However, I'd assume that much of the advantage of a system such as the one in the article would be lost in such a situation, since it gets its efficiency from being able to tune its valve timings to run at maximum efficiency regardless of RPM/load. The combinations that make most sense to me would be either a full-variable-valve-timing engine with a manual gearbox (the most efficient torque converters we have), or a fixed-valve-timing engine optimized for a particular speed and tied to a CVT. The second is much simpler to build.
You mean all those ads, the ones that tell us that women will flock to us, our boring daily commute will turn into an exciting safari, and we'll suddenly mysteriously have copious free time if only we would just buy product X for no upfront payment, are lying?
Reminds me of when I was working my first job as a little tiddler of a web-dev. Sitting in our groovy 2001 open-plan office, making McDonalds wages, and still not quite believing that they'd actually *pay* me to mess around on computers.
One day we all hear the company director, a quiet guy who was always very careful and considered in how he spoke, yell "FUCK!" at the top of his voice.
Apparently he'd been doing some maintenance on our customer database... and had accidentally done a "drop table users;" instead of "drop table user_tmp;". Hilarity ensued. Man I miss that job... ironically 7 years later I'm working across the street from them.:P
The enormous pressures in the core would crush the crude, macroscopic proteins in the chocolate into their component molecules, then heat and pressure would eventually overwhlem the degeneracy pressure, causing the entire gooey mass to break down into a seething mass of elementary particles. Did anyone else read this as "...break down into a seething molasses..."?:P
Actually, we have a built-in anti-blur mechanism whereby we stop processing visual information while our eyes are moving rapidly. It's called Saccadic Masking and it's responsible for the 'rainbow effect' on cheap DLP projectors. With this in mind, I wonder if we could artificially increase our visual response times in high-speed-motion situations (for instance race driving, racquet sports, etc.) with some form of shutter system? At the very least, it would allow us to see details where otherwise we'd just see a blurry mess because everything is moving too fast.
But if it is the case, then explain to me why I sometimes see car wheels going backwards IRL (not on TV)? I've seen this phenomenon too, but only ever under stroboscopic illumination such as street lamps. The article you linked claims reports of similar observations under 'continuous light' - I've never heard of any such thing, but it's important to note that a small stroboscopic component will cause this effect even in the presence of continuous illumination, because at high enough speed, the subject will blur sufficiently under the continuous light that only the instants illuminated by the strobe will contain any processable position information, from which the brain then calculates motion.
Sorry, wall'o'sentence, but I think it says what I mean.:P
Interestingly, if you have a reward someone wants in relationships, you can use the same quasi-random reward to make them more strongly desire a relationship with you. People are suprisingly trainable. And you can catch yourself being trained by others (usually unwittingly) by getting randomly rewards you desire from them. This is so true. The random-chance-of-reward psychology is responsible for peoples' addictions to everything from gambling to MMO games to abusive relationships, it's even acknowledged in the 'treat em mean, keep em keen' mindset that I hear advocated so much. It's not the treating 'em mean that makes it work, it's the random chance of reward that keeps them hooked.
In fact, thinking about it, I bet it's responsible for a lot of the breakups in mid- to long-term relationships. One partner was keeping the other 'hooked' by being noncommittal (making the relationship off-again-on-again in some respect), and when they finally commit, the hook is gone and with it the interest.
I spent two months in Thailand last year (left just before the coup, by a happy coincidence...) and I can confirm that yes, the local Thais (or at least all of the ones I talked to) greatly approved of their King. I remember thinking at the time that I wished Australia had a head of state we could be so proud of.
findind a perfect wife to get the best possible successor is just an amazing idea in the strategic game:) Pardon me but, spelling errors aside, that sounds remarkably like this game I play called 'real life'...
Interestingly, it was a variant of this argument that finally broke down my resistance to downloaded music. I figured that the only reason to buy a CD rather than downloading it or getting a friend to burn a copy is to reward the artist, and give them the means to keep making music that I like. Then I thought, how is downloading the music different to just borrowing my friend's CD and listening to it a couple of times? In neither case does the artist receive any reward at the time, and in both cases I'm equally likely to buy the album if I like it.
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Actually, I'm fairly sure a wizard did it.
:/
This one's great unless your job is to be the wizard.
Ten thousand years ago, people like you and me would be weeded out by predators or starvation. Now, the fitness function driving human evolution has changed. Spare a thought for the technology-blind among us, because within a hundred years they'll be as unable to comprehend the world around them as I am without my contact lenses... until and unless we develop mental prostheses, that is.
It's a lot easier to love someone whose faults you have not been forced to continually put up with your whole life, than to love someone who held you down and farted on you when you were little... :P
:P )
(Not that this happened to me, I can just see a way around what you said...
The system you're familiar with sounds like early-90s VTEC.
Agreed, though, about the hybrid systems' big efficiency factor being that they allow their engines to run in their 'sweet spot' for maximum efficiency. However, I'd assume that much of the advantage of a system such as the one in the article would be lost in such a situation, since it gets its efficiency from being able to tune its valve timings to run at maximum efficiency regardless of RPM/load. The combinations that make most sense to me would be either a full-variable-valve-timing engine with a manual gearbox (the most efficient torque converters we have), or a fixed-valve-timing engine optimized for a particular speed and tied to a CVT. The second is much simpler to build.
You mean all those ads, the ones that tell us that women will flock to us, our boring daily commute will turn into an exciting safari, and we'll suddenly mysteriously have copious free time if only we would just buy product X for no upfront payment, are lying?
I find THAT hard to believe!
ee cummings? is that you?
Oh wow, another slashdotter with little to no knowledge of humour. Go outside. :P
"Most pacemaker patients are not iPod users," Jongnarangsin said. ®
Reminds me of when I was working my first job as a little tiddler of a web-dev. Sitting in our groovy 2001 open-plan office, making McDonalds wages, and still not quite believing that they'd actually *pay* me to mess around on computers.
:P
One day we all hear the company director, a quiet guy who was always very careful and considered in how he spoke, yell "FUCK!" at the top of his voice.
Apparently he'd been doing some maintenance on our customer database... and had accidentally done a "drop table users;" instead of "drop table user_tmp;". Hilarity ensued. Man I miss that job... ironically 7 years later I'm working across the street from them.
If Americans really are that way, then you wouldn't be the greatest country on the planet. The question is, are you either of those?
Actually, we have a built-in anti-blur mechanism whereby we stop processing visual information while our eyes are moving rapidly. It's called Saccadic Masking and it's responsible for the 'rainbow effect' on cheap DLP projectors. With this in mind, I wonder if we could artificially increase our visual response times in high-speed-motion situations (for instance race driving, racquet sports, etc.) with some form of shutter system? At the very least, it would allow us to see details where otherwise we'd just see a blurry mess because everything is moving too fast.
Sorry, wall'o'sentence, but I think it says what I mean.
As long as you conceal your pubic areas in public, I'll be fine.
You mean it wasn't "don't play games in front of your boss"?
Either that, or "the way to stop playing WoW is to not play WoW". Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it!
Nope, rogues are still the most nerfed unloved class in the game. They need buffs badly, and no-one understands their angst.
Of course, they can still take down any class 1v1 without breaking a sweat... but they may have to use cooldowns to guarantee it.
In fact, thinking about it, I bet it's responsible for a lot of the breakups in mid- to long-term relationships. One partner was keeping the other 'hooked' by being noncommittal (making the relationship off-again-on-again in some respect), and when they finally commit, the hook is gone and with it the interest.
e^(-pi * LibrariesOfCongress) + 1 = 0
Finally it makes sense...
I spent two months in Thailand last year (left just before the coup, by a happy coincidence...) and I can confirm that yes, the local Thais (or at least all of the ones I talked to) greatly approved of their King. I remember thinking at the time that I wished Australia had a head of state we could be so proud of.
Dude, if you gave me a computer with WoW, food/drinks, and a desert island, the :P
last thing I'd want is to be rescued.
Hell, if it comes to that... my girlfriend is 17.
I get some funny looks online for mentioning that, too. Odd how 'perfectly normal' in one country is 'omfg u perverted pedo' in another.
Interestingly, it was a variant of this argument that finally broke down my resistance to downloaded music. I figured that the only reason to buy a CD rather than downloading it or getting a friend to burn a copy is to reward the artist, and give them the means to keep making music that I like. Then I thought, how is downloading the music different to just borrowing my friend's CD and listening to it a couple of times? In neither case does the artist receive any reward at the time, and in both cases I'm equally likely to buy the album if I like it.