The abstract states that "We have recently reported that pretreatment with electroacupuncture (EA) at stomach meridian point 36 (St36) prevents the chronic cold-stress increase in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), an action that may be under central control."
What is a meridian point? I'm sure the person inserting the needle thinks she or he knows, but I've yet to see a description that would allow someone to locate a meridian point from one person to the next. What does one look like when you autopsy a cadaver? How do you locate one on a live person? A rational person who deals in evidence would be forced to conclude they don't actually exist in reality based on these and other questions that are never answered about "meridians."
So that creates a premise within the cited abstract that has a problem: if a meridian point is not an objectively definable point, where's the replication ability of the study. In fact, I note that that abstract mentions that two groups were used, one with "real acupuncture" and one with sham acupuncture. There was no apparent control group in which the same unknown current was applied at a non-meridian point. If there was an effect, it was more likely that it was due to current being passed through the rat's body -regardless of it's entry point.
The only thing this study is proof of, that I can see, is that humans will go to great lengths to create data that are supportive of their preconceived conclusions.
The fees are nominal. They aren't exorbitant by any means and reasonable since someone has to take time out of their day (perhaps a good portion of their day!) to search for documents, review them for sensitive and private data (SSNs, account numbers, information that could skew active bidding, etc.) and redact them where necessary.
A single, good reason for making a FOIA request public is transparency and accountability. Many "journalists" have agendas and preconceived notions to which they are seeking supporting data and that data which are not supportive or are counter to the preconceived notions are often omitted, ignored, or kept secret. It is not inconceivable that a FOIA request will be cherry-picked for data, quotes, and out-of-context information that will support a bias and damage the counter-argument. Making the FOIA request data available to all makes those with competing agendas able to see the original contexts of the data.
If a journalist looses a scoop, then they weren't working hard enough. If I'm preparing an expose, and I've already done enough research to know what information to request in a FOIA, then I should be able to produce something before a competitor that didn't know it was going to be made public.
I remember many a bored day in the field when I was a soldier, we would tear open the heaters that they started supplying in the MREs (around the late 80's early 90's) to make bombs. All you needed was a airtight container, a few MRE heaters, and a bit of water. Seal. Shake. Toss. Bang.
Glass always worked the best since it didn't stretch like a 20 oz soda bottle would.
Does the coffee cup have a way to release the gas? Or does it create such a slight reaction that it is able to contain it?
I see a law suit waiting to happen... where can I buy a cup?
If anyone checks the primary source at Science, Vol 307, Issue 5712, 1118-1121, 18 February 2005, you might note that the original authors of the study don't even mention the Tsunami and the possibility that the anterior cingulate cortex provided the error-likelihood of it occurring to the indigenous people living there.
Nor do they use the term "sixth sense."
The authors are suggesting several things:
1) a "general error-likelihood theory" of ACC function based on reinforcement learning, of which conflict and error detection are special cases;
2) "the benefits of tightly integrating neuroimaging studies with computational modeling, because the two methods together provide a strong basis for hypothesis generation and theory testing regarding the neural mechanisms of cognition."
The survival of indigenous peoples on the various islands affected by the tsunami has cultural and anthropological explanations, but an anterior cingulate cortex explanation is probably reaching a bit further into Brown and Braver's research.
Please realize that at least some of those who advocate the cancellation of Enterprise are not mean-spirited folk who want to take away your enjoyment, but rather equally earnest people trying to ensure the future of Trek
That's crap. Listen to yourself! Its a bloody television program... The vast majority of the viewing public could give a rats ass about "Star Trek Canon." Enterprise is a well-done television program -as well done as any of the crap shows that have come before it; certainly far better done that the original, crappy star trek series with Shatner.
Listening to the die-hard trek fans go on and on about "let Enterprise die" just reminds me that there are nutters that live and breath Star Trek, dress up for the conventions, speak Klingon to each other, get married in red and blue uniforms dressed like Troy and Riker, and pour over "blue prints" of the Enterprise looking for who-knows-what.
Grow the hell up and get a life! Only these geeks care if the Star Trek "canon" is forever ruined... the rest of us just want to enjoy a good sci fi show... there are so few to chose from we take it where we can get it. If you don't like it, don't watch it.
Most people seem divided on the bill... some like the first part but disagree with the second or vice-versa. My own opinion is that the first part makes NO sense.... cameras are vital in non-public locations in order to ensure/verify security.
The second part (in my *own* opinion) is satisfactory. I despise pornography on the internet. It was cool when it was in much smaller volume and of much higher quality, but these days it's practically FORCED upon you through ICQ, email, google searches, what-have-you.
Having a.prn address would simplify matters when it comes to filtering it out... a concept I always considered a waste of time until I became a father. Before, my opinion was "supervise your kids," but now I see that's an easy statement to make (in *this* context) until you have kids of your own. As integrated as the internet is in our lives, it'll be easier to supervise / restrict my daughter's television viewing habits than the internet. I can lock out channels with an access code on the TV... as it is, I'll have to lock out the INTERNET itself and allow individual sites to be accessed by her.
My opinion on this changes almost daily.... I've always been against censorship of any kind, but pornography is dangerous for children. Anyone who's ever been curious enough to see what really lies await in some of the UseNet's alt.binaries.erotica groups knows I'm not talking about Playmate scans.
Please mod me down if what I'm writing is irrelevant or off-topic, but if you disagree mod me up so others will read it and form their own opinions. We can bitch and gripe about topics like this everyday, but they're serious. Free speech is an important part of our culture in the United States, but pornography has the potential to do real damage to our children on top of being a waste of bandwidth.
.prn might just be the answer to both of these issues: it should be simple for most firewalls like ZoneAlarm to restrict *.prn domains and it'll create some order on the internet for those who don't bother with the restriction process. Afterall, aren't Top Level Domains merely a method of organizing the internet like a filing cabinet? If I want a project reports file in the office, I don't open the accounts receivable drawer.
I'd like to search Google by checking which TLDs to include / not include. I'd also like to search with the ability to include / exclude date ranges or maybe sort by most recent, but that would be getting off-topic.
I know that topics like this often solicit / beg for flamin', but if I'm wrong, don't just flame... convince me. I'm not that close minded.
It was probably "cows are the #1 greenhouse gas contributor". I believe that their flatulence is composed primarily of methane (CH4). Intrestingly enough, methane has the capability to trap about 20 times more heat than C02.
By most accounts, CO2 makes up about 76% of the atmosphere's greenhouse gases, whereas methane comprises only about 13%. Other greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide and flourocarbons make up the remainder.
I don't recall the lecture you mentioned, but if Sagan made that statement, it could have been based on this. Even though 13% CH4 is less by volume than 76% CO2, CH4 could be viewed as the more significant contributor after factoring by 20 it's heat trapping ability.
It's also important to note that Oceanographers and Geologists agree that there are massive amounts of methane-hydrate stored in undersea sediments around the globe. This form of methane is in a solid state, but quickly turns to gas at warmer temperatures. It would be ironic if it turned out that man's contribution of CO2 was relatively small and only raised global temps a few manageable degrees. Just enough to begin release of undersea CH4 that REALLY has an effect.
if you're not a hardcore geek (ie, you're part of the 99% of Internet users in the US), you'll never participate in the first place.
And this would be bad, how?
I actually have pretty fond memories of the days of FidoNet and had a node in Germany in '92. The German government owned the phone company back then (probably still do) and you paid for *all* phone calls by the minute: data or voice. FidoNet allowed us to communicate, share software, and created a community (albeit of geeks). I think the hardcore geek would welcome a return to something that he (or she) can call his own... It was pretty cool being a part of something that the lay person didn't understand and cooler still developing your own knowledge while mentoring others. I had a mentor and in turn mentored another...etc.
I wrote a post on/. not long ago pointing out that Big ISPs were close to making the internet experience costly and exclusive... I also predicted the rise of an UnderNet in response, but I don't think the true feeling of what I was trying to say came across (somebody who signed their post "Moron" seemed to disagree:)).
Necessity is the mother of invention as the saying says... geeks have never been held back and have developed much of the InterNet because of this. Geeks do all the work... come up with the ideas.... then big business comes along and makes a dollar off of it. That's the nature of the beast. Those big businesses are usually controlled by geeks: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, et al.
An UnderNet may quite possibly begin as small, neighborhood LANs and WANs that eventually link together. New technologies will be adapted/developed to work for this effort: maybe folks will figure out methods for piggybacking existing cables/wires from phone, cable, & power companies to get their signals connected. Maybe Pringles cans will start popping up in attic windows. Maybe people will be burying cables in the back alleys of suburban neighborhoods or across rooftops of apartments all in the middle of the night.
Whatever happens (probably a mix of these and more), geeks will connect, introduce more into their ranks, and MP3, Warez, and gaming will continue.
But, hey... that's just my opinion. I may not be hitting the mark on the above methods, but something will evolve from having bandwidth controlled... even if it's just mailing CD-Rs back and forth....
Who knows, maybe this will revive the US Postal Service!
I wonder if annon. posting is disabled to help perpetuate the "slasvertisements" joke or to curb other jokes that could be a little on the extreme side if one could post it without afixing his name.
because a "Pole Reversal" may just occur before this. The Earth has a long history of the north and south magnetic poles reversing themselves about every "few hundred thousand years" or so. The last reversal was estimated to be approximately 780,000 years ago by many scientists. It's been my observation that most Scientists don't seem really concerned with the reversal itself affecting the planet other than compasses will have to be changed, but seem more interested in dating rocks, etc. Perhaps this is because evidence shows that the reversal is relatively quick and no significant loss of species has been discovered through paleontological studies.
However, it is interesting to note that during that during the reversal process, the Earth's magnetic field collapses in on itself and, for a brief time, stops. It then starts again and expands, only with a reversed polarity. The Earth's magnetic field, the magnetosphere, is responsible for protecting us from harmful cosmic radiation, particularly the Sun's Solar Wind. During the time that the magnetosphere is down, two main things will be affected: communication and navigation. How affected may depend on the effectiveness of Global Positioning System Sats and radio / telecommunication equipment during the period.
I'm a geology major, so the information that I have in referrance to Pole Reversal is relative to tracking continental drift, plate tectonics, etc. I haven't really read any studies on the possible environmental effects of solar wind and other cosmic radiation on an unprotected biosphere. If anybody has this info, I'd be interested.
If you use Windows 2000, there's still another reason not to use Windows Media Player.... it has a high probability for crashing the OS if you also use DirectCD or Roxio's Easy CD Creator.
I upgraded Internet Explorer and off-handedly allowed it to upgrade/install Windows Media Player at the same time. The resulting problems stumped me for days... The OS would reboot the instant the DirectCD software was used and would not allow the OS to restart even in safe mode. I recognized the CD-Writer as part of the problem, and was able to reboot after disconnecting the drive. It took some very carefully worded Google searches to discover the culprit.
Both Microsoft and Roxio apparently blame each other for the incompatibility, but at least Roxio offers a easy to manage fix. Windows Media Player is not easy to uninstall, either.....
I don't disagree with making money from the internet... my point was merely that the purpose of the internet has definately evolved from just a few short years ago. It will not be long before the "internet" will become the "Internet (tm)" and the property of some corporation... Microsoft has been edging itself that direction for the last decade and with the advent of.Net (tm?) it's just a little closer.
Look, forgive me if I gave an unclear opinion earlier, I should have proofread my work. I can see that it looks like my point was "cybersquatting is okay." I don't really like the idea of cybersquatting, but how is it worse than cornering the market on internet access, flooding inboxes with spam, or holding information hostage behind a sea of "click-through" ads that pop up uninvited. If "business is business" should not all be equally welcome or equally unwelcome?
Just to be clear, however, I greatly admire the creators of sites like Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo!, and (of course) Slashdot. They found a niche and absolutely deserve to make as much money as possible. I even agree with the banner ad concept, especially when done tastefully as it is on Slashdot. I can even put up with the ads on Wired.Com, but I tend to avoid sites that have pop-up windows. The real purpose of the Internet is to make money... I can live with that... I would also like to be able to revisit the old purpose once in a while.... to explore.
Email used to be my favorite feature of the internet..... sure FTP was great for procurring software and files; UseNet was wonderful for tossing out an idea and watching it be torched by an inferno of ascii; and the new-fangled world wide web let me publish myself with an ill-fated website called "Hot Cup of Joe."
The early '90s were, IMHO, the best years of the internet. Everything was still new and uncharted... Domains could still be sold back to corporations who lacked vision... hackers were feared and thought to be bent on destroying the free world (except by those of us who knew them as explorers)... and Mosaic set the standard for web browsing.
Today the commercialism of the internet has destroyed it's lure for me. My purpose for the "net" has definately changed: I was once interested in what it was, how it worked, and what was next. Now I want only to check my email, delete 95% of the contents of my inbox (the remainder of the crap that did not get caught by the junk mail filter), and occasionally use google (my start up page) to search for an interesting tidbit of information or file.
The internet, today, sucks.
I don't even use instant messaging anymore due to the amount of pornography that I was receiving in the way of spam. Even emails that I get from friends are junk. What happened to the personal letters that we used to write to each other! Pop-up ads dominate anysite of interest (except Slashdot... at least they stick to the good old banner). My firewall has a huge "restricted sites list" that includes akamai and double click... my "host." file for Windows is LONG! The porn was cool when it was new and few, but now I find it iritating (maybe I'm just getting old... my first modem was 300 baud) when it enters my inbox or search results uninvited.
The song say's "video killed the radio star," but ".com" is killing the net! The internet began as a free society that policed itself, now we have legislators peering and poking into the "content" being provided and into the "fairness" of enterprise being able to control a domain name. If Joe Geek was insightful enough to recognize that Madonna.Com might have value to a certain bleached blond, then said blond should have to pay his price or be willing to let Joe Geek do what he will with the domain.
In the near future, all of the internet sites that were created out of love and desire to make a decent living doing something you enjoy will merge into supersites/portals that will charge "nominal fees" for the things we are used to getting for free. The small independent business people / site administrators wont be able to compete or make enough profit to maintain their sites. Buyouts will allow them to show a return for their efforts (which they deserve) and some may be able to stay on and do what they do best by maintaining what they've created (ie SlashDot). But the rest of the world will end up paying big for high-speed access and the freedom to access the information we all enjoy now through google.
Perhaps this will give rise to a new "net." Maybe an UnderNet that operates outside of the Internet (which will have become a brand name like Xerox), piggy backing where it can, stealing resources when able, but only allowing those who are willing to agree to NOT make any money from it's existance through ads and spam or fees for information.
Then! THEN! We can get back to what's REALLY important! Flaming the lamers.... guess we'll have to let some of them in to make this work.
I like to keep my computer separate from the home entertainment system.... I have an All-in-Wonder video card and DVD on the computer... but I would rather spend time on the couch than behind the keyboard... also, hooking the two together is too complicated to manage and explain to the wife.
Nope. Keep my home computer in the home office/guest room... keep the home theater system in the living room. Now I'll go read the article and discover that I missed the point.
I just listened to an interview on NPR last night with Ken Smith, the author of a book called Junk English, in which he compiles a list of crap that we speak. The book sounded fascinating and funny... I've ordered a copy already.
He discussed his research, which involved review countless junk mail, spam, advertisements, corporate memos, etc. The book is broken down into type of language like Distraction Modifiers, Self-Help Jargon, Second Hand English, and Invisible Diminishers. For the latter, he cited an example being "only $99.95!" as if this is a low amount.
He also has some excerpts listed on the site above that are very intersting.
The thesis of his book seems to be that we are slowly degrading the English language, especially with our culture of hype. But I look at it from the Open Source perspective! If it doesn't work for you, add something to it or change some meaning... if others accept the change, then you've made a valuable contribution. If not, then you still have your own little version, only not every one will understand what you're saying. Now that's crunk!
I look forward to seeing the "end result" of new Oxford Dictionary! I really want a definitive definition for hydrospanner (isn't it a bridge?).
What the fuck does any of that have to do with what I fucking said? I said it was most likely a geologic phenomenon that caused the blocks just like what happened on the Bimini shelf.
I was fucking saying that the fucking shit could be natural shit or man made shit, depending on what the fuck they found after further investifuckingation. I also pointed out that geologic shit happens all the time and sometimes for a long fucking time and I gave some fucking shit to back that shit up.
By the way... don't take that as a flame... I just couldn't resist the translation from enlish to profane:-)... and if you aren't amused, well... joke you if you can't take a fuck.
To say that "Geologic catastrophes don't happen very often or for very long" may or may not be true, depending on the definition of catastrophe or "very long."
According to ReliefWeb, a United Nations project, there were over 70 natural disasters that occurred worldwide in 1997. Many of these, I'll assume, were storm or weather related (i.e. hurricanes, droughts). Still, there have been many, many recorded catastrophes, during the past century alone, that are related to seismic or earthflow events. In Belloma, Italy a landslide occurred in which part of a mountain slid into a reservoir and displaced enough water that an entire village was swept away along with thousands of lives. The dam remains, as the displaced water simply went over the top. The explosion of Mt. St. Helens forever changed the topography of the area and an entire lake was filled. The island of Tuvalu is sinking (If anyone knows at what rate, please post) rapidly enough that officials are attempting to locate new homes in New Zealand and other neighboring countries for the residents. Some claim that this is a direct result of global warming and rising seas... I think it is because the island itself is cooling.
Volcanic islands in the pacific generally sink as the plate the sit on moves past a "hot spot" in the mantle where magma is rising to the surface. These types of volcanoes remain active for generations and generally don't "blow themselves to fucking bits," but rather have a continuous, slow flow of basaltic lava. As the plates shift, the islands created by lava flows cool and slowly sink as the Earth's crust relaxes. Montserrat in the Caribbean is such a volcano. It is entirely possible that the location of the alleged submerged city was once over a "hot spot," perhaps even the same one that provides activity for Montserrat.
Also, the Caribbean is noted for sinkhole activity due to dissolved sediments that leave cavities that eventually collapse. Whirlpools in this area have been attributed to this phenomenon. There are many possibilities to the region under the ocean described as a submerged city, but only a fool will make bets before all of the data has been collected and examined. There is definitely some significant data that hasn't been released as yet... the comment in the article that pointed out the age of the structures could be upwards of 6,000 years would suggest that there was some identifiable geologic strata that the comparison was made against.
"We have no evidence for purple gorrilas, but we do have (supposedly) eyewitness accounts of Jesus being resurrected. I don't believe that evidence is very strong, but it is evidence."
There are "eyewitness" accounts of bigfoot, ufo's and alien abductions. If we are to believe people like Stanton Friedman and Whitley Streiber (who, IMHO, come across as somewhat credible), there are thousands of eyewitness accounts and first-hand experiences. I want to believe in ufo's and aliens, but someone else's account just isn't enough. I'd like to examine a spacecraft, ray-gun or at least an anal probe (but only visually)! At least there are photographs of Bigfoot and plaster casts of his/her impressions in the ground.
I know a woman who does not believe in dinosaurs! Now at first, I thought this was a religeous thing... creation vs. evolution. But it turns out that she just doesn't believe creatures as fantastic as that can exist in nature. In a way, I admire her because she's never seen fossils embedded in rock or the foot prints in Glen Rose, TX... that sort of thing. She won't accept the possibility without evidence (which exists, she just doesn't review it or understand how to interpret it). To her... it's a waste of her time. Why worry about critters from 65 - 100 million years ago when she's got to go to work and earn a living? She doesn't belong to the "anti-dinosaur" faith... she just "ain't interested."
I agree... one can neither prove nor disprove the existance of God. No more than we can the existance of alien visitation from other worlds. One can, however, look at religion and understand it's social purpose in whatever form for whatever culture. With very few exception, there are universal trends that occur within the world's religions: wrongs against others are bad, helping others & togetherness are good. Religious stances against things like promiscuity are socially understandable. Screwing around and cheating often result in anger, jelousy, STDs, unwanted pregnancy, etc.
Was "God" created by man to inspire "faith" in religion? I think the answer is "probably." If true, however, that still would not disprove the concept of a divine being.... perhaps the sentient lifeforms of the universe are part of a collective whole that is God itself.
Some Native American religions refer to a "Spirit-That-Moves-Through-All-Things." The difference between simple matter and living matter may, indeed, be due to a life Force. I somehow don't believe Lucas simply invented the Force associated with Jedi off the top of his head. He culled our own world's cultures and recognized the commonalities present...
Now... if I can just figure out that light saber thingy.
"We can actively disprove Santa Claus, because we can trace the origins of the legend, and see that it is clearly made up."
It is clear to me that if Lucas had not have invented the term "Light Saber" in his Star Wars realm, the medical company developing a surgical instrument would undoubtedly have used a different moniker for their device. "Light Saber" has become a term easily reminds most people of Star Wars, which is a very popular and well-liked series of movies, books, etc.
In the business of laser surgery, I would imagine that it is important to create an atmosphere of comfort for the patient and a familiar term would do that. If not for Star Wars' popularity, I don't believe the name would have been applied. I wonder if the same company would name their steel scaple line after famous swords. "Doctor, would you like the Scimitar?" "No, nurse, I'll think I'll use the Rapier on this uterous."
But Lucas may not be unfounded in his worry about protecting his trademark. What if another manufacturer uses the term Light Saber on a product that is not as distant from his own product line as medical equipment. The more products that are allowed to exist commercially with the name "Light Saber," the more difficulty Lucas will have in defending against those who would capitalize on his good will. He may one day have to market "Light Saber brand light sabers" like a popular band aid.
Slashdot Mirror
... than being on the Ashley Madison list. The Hax0rs have gone too far this time!
What proof was given, precisely?
The abstract states that "We have recently reported that pretreatment with electroacupuncture (EA) at stomach meridian point 36 (St36) prevents the chronic cold-stress increase in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), an action that may be under central control."
What is a meridian point? I'm sure the person inserting the needle thinks she or he knows, but I've yet to see a description that would allow someone to locate a meridian point from one person to the next. What does one look like when you autopsy a cadaver? How do you locate one on a live person? A rational person who deals in evidence would be forced to conclude they don't actually exist in reality based on these and other questions that are never answered about "meridians."
So that creates a premise within the cited abstract that has a problem: if a meridian point is not an objectively definable point, where's the replication ability of the study. In fact, I note that that abstract mentions that two groups were used, one with "real acupuncture" and one with sham acupuncture. There was no apparent control group in which the same unknown current was applied at a non-meridian point. If there was an effect, it was more likely that it was due to current being passed through the rat's body -regardless of it's entry point.
The only thing this study is proof of, that I can see, is that humans will go to great lengths to create data that are supportive of their preconceived conclusions.
... then it should be made public to all.
The fees are nominal. They aren't exorbitant by any means and reasonable since someone has to take time out of their day (perhaps a good portion of their day!) to search for documents, review them for sensitive and private data (SSNs, account numbers, information that could skew active bidding, etc.) and redact them where necessary.
A single, good reason for making a FOIA request public is transparency and accountability. Many "journalists" have agendas and preconceived notions to which they are seeking supporting data and that data which are not supportive or are counter to the preconceived notions are often omitted, ignored, or kept secret. It is not inconceivable that a FOIA request will be cherry-picked for data, quotes, and out-of-context information that will support a bias and damage the counter-argument. Making the FOIA request data available to all makes those with competing agendas able to see the original contexts of the data.
If a journalist looses a scoop, then they weren't working hard enough. If I'm preparing an expose, and I've already done enough research to know what information to request in a FOIA, then I should be able to produce something before a competitor that didn't know it was going to be made public.
I agree he was probably wrong to withhold the passwords. Unethical.
But what I don't understand is why he just didn't say, "sure, the password is pRisonLove69. What? It didn't work? Well that's what I set it as..."
Could they then jail him for faulty memory?
http://www.re-discovery.org/per_table.html
That's what I get for reading more than one /. article at a time....It was supposed to go on ther periodic table article
Sorry...
http://www.re-discovery.org/per_table.html
I remember many a bored day in the field when I was a soldier, we would tear open the heaters that they started supplying in the MREs (around the late 80's early 90's) to make bombs. All you needed was a airtight container, a few MRE heaters, and a bit of water. Seal. Shake. Toss. Bang.
Glass always worked the best since it didn't stretch like a 20 oz soda bottle would.
Does the coffee cup have a way to release the gas? Or does it create such a slight reaction that it is able to contain it?
I see a law suit waiting to happen... where can I buy a cup?
If anyone checks the primary source at Science, Vol 307, Issue 5712, 1118-1121, 18 February 2005, you might note that the original authors of the study don't even mention the Tsunami and the possibility that the anterior cingulate cortex provided the error-likelihood of it occurring to the indigenous people living there.
Nor do they use the term "sixth sense."
The authors are suggesting several things:
1) a "general error-likelihood theory" of ACC function based on reinforcement learning, of which conflict and error detection are special cases;
2) "the benefits of tightly integrating neuroimaging studies with computational modeling, because the two methods together provide a strong basis for hypothesis generation and theory testing regarding the neural mechanisms of cognition."
The survival of indigenous peoples on the various islands affected by the tsunami has cultural and anthropological explanations, but an anterior cingulate cortex explanation is probably reaching a bit further into Brown and Braver's research.
Please realize that at least some of those who advocate the cancellation of Enterprise are not mean-spirited folk who want to take away your enjoyment, but rather equally earnest people trying to ensure the future of Trek
That's crap. Listen to yourself! Its a bloody television program... The vast majority of the viewing public could give a rats ass about "Star Trek Canon." Enterprise is a well-done television program -as well done as any of the crap shows that have come before it; certainly far better done that the original, crappy star trek series with Shatner.
Listening to the die-hard trek fans go on and on about "let Enterprise die" just reminds me that there are nutters that live and breath Star Trek, dress up for the conventions, speak Klingon to each other, get married in red and blue uniforms dressed like Troy and Riker, and pour over "blue prints" of the Enterprise looking for who-knows-what.
Grow the hell up and get a life! Only these geeks care if the Star Trek "canon" is forever ruined... the rest of us just want to enjoy a good sci fi show... there are so few to chose from we take it where we can get it. If you don't like it, don't watch it.
Now, go back to your blue prints....
The second part (in my *own* opinion) is satisfactory. I despise pornography on the internet. It was cool when it was in much smaller volume and of much higher quality, but these days it's practically FORCED upon you through ICQ, email, google searches, what-have-you.
Having a .prn address would simplify matters when it comes to filtering it out... a concept I always considered a waste of time until I became a father. Before, my opinion was "supervise your kids," but now I see that's an easy statement to make (in *this* context) until you have kids of your own. As integrated as the internet is in our lives, it'll be easier to supervise / restrict my daughter's television viewing habits than the internet. I can lock out channels with an access code on the TV... as it is, I'll have to lock out the INTERNET itself and allow individual sites to be accessed by her.
My opinion on this changes almost daily.... I've always been against censorship of any kind, but pornography is dangerous for children. Anyone who's ever been curious enough to see what really lies await in some of the UseNet's alt.binaries.erotica groups knows I'm not talking about Playmate scans.
Please mod me down if what I'm writing is irrelevant or off-topic, but if you disagree mod me up so others will read it and form their own opinions. We can bitch and gripe about topics like this everyday, but they're serious. Free speech is an important part of our culture in the United States, but pornography has the potential to do real damage to our children on top of being a waste of bandwidth.
.prn might just be the answer to both of these issues: it should be simple for most firewalls like ZoneAlarm to restrict *.prn domains and it'll create some order on the internet for those who don't bother with the restriction process. Afterall, aren't Top Level Domains merely a method of organizing the internet like a filing cabinet? If I want a project reports file in the office, I don't open the accounts receivable drawer.
I'd like to search Google by checking which TLDs to include / not include. I'd also like to search with the ability to include / exclude date ranges or maybe sort by most recent, but that would be getting off-topic.
I know that topics like this often solicit / beg for flamin', but if I'm wrong, don't just flame... convince me. I'm not that close minded.
cfeagans
By most accounts, CO2 makes up about 76% of the atmosphere's greenhouse gases, whereas methane comprises only about 13%. Other greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide and flourocarbons make up the remainder.
I don't recall the lecture you mentioned, but if Sagan made that statement, it could have been based on this. Even though 13% CH4 is less by volume than 76% CO2, CH4 could be viewed as the more significant contributor after factoring by 20 it's heat trapping ability.
It's also important to note that Oceanographers and Geologists agree that there are massive amounts of methane-hydrate stored in undersea sediments around the globe. This form of methane is in a solid state, but quickly turns to gas at warmer temperatures. It would be ironic if it turned out that man's contribution of CO2 was relatively small and only raised global temps a few manageable degrees. Just enough to begin release of undersea CH4 that REALLY has an effect.
cfeagans
Interesting... Click this Link to see it.
And this would be bad, how?
I actually have pretty fond memories of the days of FidoNet and had a node in Germany in '92. The German government owned the phone company back then (probably still do) and you paid for *all* phone calls by the minute: data or voice. FidoNet allowed us to communicate, share software, and created a community (albeit of geeks). I think the hardcore geek would welcome a return to something that he (or she) can call his own... It was pretty cool being a part of something that the lay person didn't understand and cooler still developing your own knowledge while mentoring others. I had a mentor and in turn mentored another...etc.
I wrote a post on /. not long ago pointing out that Big ISPs were close to making the internet experience costly and exclusive... I also predicted the rise of an UnderNet in response, but I don't think the true feeling of what I was trying to say came across (somebody who signed their post "Moron" seemed to disagree :)).
Necessity is the mother of invention as the saying says... geeks have never been held back and have developed much of the InterNet because of this. Geeks do all the work... come up with the ideas.... then big business comes along and makes a dollar off of it. That's the nature of the beast. Those big businesses are usually controlled by geeks: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, et al.
An UnderNet may quite possibly begin as small, neighborhood LANs and WANs that eventually link together. New technologies will be adapted/developed to work for this effort: maybe folks will figure out methods for piggybacking existing cables/wires from phone, cable, & power companies to get their signals connected. Maybe Pringles cans will start popping up in attic windows. Maybe people will be burying cables in the back alleys of suburban neighborhoods or across rooftops of apartments all in the middle of the night.
Whatever happens (probably a mix of these and more), geeks will connect, introduce more into their ranks, and MP3, Warez, and gaming will continue.
But, hey... that's just my opinion. I may not be hitting the mark on the above methods, but something will evolve from having bandwidth controlled... even if it's just mailing CD-Rs back and forth....
Who knows, maybe this will revive the US Postal Service!
Cfeagans
A little of both, I'm sure.
cfeagans
However, it is interesting to note that during that during the reversal process, the Earth's magnetic field collapses in on itself and, for a brief time, stops. It then starts again and expands, only with a reversed polarity. The Earth's magnetic field, the magnetosphere, is responsible for protecting us from harmful cosmic radiation, particularly the Sun's Solar Wind. During the time that the magnetosphere is down, two main things will be affected: communication and navigation. How affected may depend on the effectiveness of Global Positioning System Sats and radio / telecommunication equipment during the period.
I'm a geology major, so the information that I have in referrance to Pole Reversal is relative to tracking continental drift, plate tectonics, etc. I haven't really read any studies on the possible environmental effects of solar wind and other cosmic radiation on an unprotected biosphere. If anybody has this info, I'd be interested.
Cheers,
cfeagans
I upgraded Internet Explorer and off-handedly allowed it to upgrade/install Windows Media Player at the same time. The resulting problems stumped me for days... The OS would reboot the instant the DirectCD software was used and would not allow the OS to restart even in safe mode. I recognized the CD-Writer as part of the problem, and was able to reboot after disconnecting the drive. It took some very carefully worded Google searches to discover the culprit.
Both Microsoft and Roxio apparently blame each other for the incompatibility, but at least Roxio offers a easy to manage fix. Windows Media Player is not easy to uninstall, either.....
Cheers,
cfeagans
Look, forgive me if I gave an unclear opinion earlier, I should have proofread my work. I can see that it looks like my point was "cybersquatting is okay." I don't really like the idea of cybersquatting, but how is it worse than cornering the market on internet access, flooding inboxes with spam, or holding information hostage behind a sea of "click-through" ads that pop up uninvited. If "business is business" should not all be equally welcome or equally unwelcome?
Just to be clear, however, I greatly admire the creators of sites like Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo!, and (of course) Slashdot. They found a niche and absolutely deserve to make as much money as possible. I even agree with the banner ad concept, especially when done tastefully as it is on Slashdot. I can even put up with the ads on Wired.Com, but I tend to avoid sites that have pop-up windows. The real purpose of the Internet is to make money... I can live with that... I would also like to be able to revisit the old purpose once in a while.... to explore.
Cheers,
cfeagans
You can't spell Flamer without "Lamer."
The early '90s were, IMHO, the best years of the internet. Everything was still new and uncharted... Domains could still be sold back to corporations who lacked vision... hackers were feared and thought to be bent on destroying the free world (except by those of us who knew them as explorers)... and Mosaic set the standard for web browsing.
Today the commercialism of the internet has destroyed it's lure for me. My purpose for the "net" has definately changed: I was once interested in what it was, how it worked, and what was next. Now I want only to check my email, delete 95% of the contents of my inbox (the remainder of the crap that did not get caught by the junk mail filter), and occasionally use google (my start up page) to search for an interesting tidbit of information or file.
The internet, today, sucks.
I don't even use instant messaging anymore due to the amount of pornography that I was receiving in the way of spam. Even emails that I get from friends are junk. What happened to the personal letters that we used to write to each other! Pop-up ads dominate anysite of interest (except Slashdot... at least they stick to the good old banner). My firewall has a huge "restricted sites list" that includes akamai and double click... my "host." file for Windows is LONG! The porn was cool when it was new and few, but now I find it iritating (maybe I'm just getting old... my first modem was 300 baud) when it enters my inbox or search results uninvited.
The song say's "video killed the radio star," but ".com" is killing the net! The internet began as a free society that policed itself, now we have legislators peering and poking into the "content" being provided and into the "fairness" of enterprise being able to control a domain name. If Joe Geek was insightful enough to recognize that Madonna.Com might have value to a certain bleached blond, then said blond should have to pay his price or be willing to let Joe Geek do what he will with the domain.
In the near future, all of the internet sites that were created out of love and desire to make a decent living doing something you enjoy will merge into supersites/portals that will charge "nominal fees" for the things we are used to getting for free. The small independent business people / site administrators wont be able to compete or make enough profit to maintain their sites. Buyouts will allow them to show a return for their efforts (which they deserve) and some may be able to stay on and do what they do best by maintaining what they've created (ie SlashDot). But the rest of the world will end up paying big for high-speed access and the freedom to access the information we all enjoy now through google.
Perhaps this will give rise to a new "net." Maybe an UnderNet that operates outside of the Internet (which will have become a brand name like Xerox), piggy backing where it can, stealing resources when able, but only allowing those who are willing to agree to NOT make any money from it's existance through ads and spam or fees for information.
Then! THEN! We can get back to what's REALLY important! Flaming the lamers.... guess we'll have to let some of them in to make this work.
Cheers
cfeagans
Nope. Keep my home computer in the home office/guest room... keep the home theater system in the living room. Now I'll go read the article and discover that I missed the point
Cheers!
Carl
He discussed his research, which involved review countless junk mail, spam, advertisements, corporate memos, etc. The book is broken down into type of language like Distraction Modifiers, Self-Help Jargon, Second Hand English, and Invisible Diminishers. For the latter, he cited an example being "only $99.95!" as if this is a low amount.
He also has some excerpts listed on the site above that are very intersting.
The thesis of his book seems to be that we are slowly degrading the English language, especially with our culture of hype. But I look at it from the Open Source perspective! If it doesn't work for you, add something to it or change some meaning... if others accept the change, then you've made a valuable contribution. If not, then you still have your own little version, only not every one will understand what you're saying. Now that's crunk!
I look forward to seeing the "end result" of new Oxford Dictionary! I really want a definitive definition for hydrospanner (isn't it a bridge?).
Cheers!
Carl
I was fucking saying that the fucking shit could be natural shit or man made shit, depending on what the fuck they found after further investifuckingation. I also pointed out that geologic shit happens all the time and sometimes for a long fucking time and I gave some fucking shit to back that shit up.
By the way... don't take that as a flame... I just couldn't resist the translation from enlish to profane :-)... and if you aren't amused, well... joke you if you can't take a fuck.
Big Cheers!
Carl
According to ReliefWeb, a United Nations project, there were over 70 natural disasters that occurred worldwide in 1997. Many of these, I'll assume, were storm or weather related (i.e. hurricanes, droughts). Still, there have been many, many recorded catastrophes, during the past century alone, that are related to seismic or earthflow events. In Belloma, Italy a landslide occurred in which part of a mountain slid into a reservoir and displaced enough water that an entire village was swept away along with thousands of lives. The dam remains, as the displaced water simply went over the top. The explosion of Mt. St. Helens forever changed the topography of the area and an entire lake was filled. The island of Tuvalu is sinking (If anyone knows at what rate, please post) rapidly enough that officials are attempting to locate new homes in New Zealand and other neighboring countries for the residents. Some claim that this is a direct result of global warming and rising seas... I think it is because the island itself is cooling.
Volcanic islands in the pacific generally sink as the plate the sit on moves past a "hot spot" in the mantle where magma is rising to the surface. These types of volcanoes remain active for generations and generally don't "blow themselves to fucking bits," but rather have a continuous, slow flow of basaltic lava. As the plates shift, the islands created by lava flows cool and slowly sink as the Earth's crust relaxes. Montserrat in the Caribbean is such a volcano. It is entirely possible that the location of the alleged submerged city was once over a "hot spot," perhaps even the same one that provides activity for Montserrat.
Also, the Caribbean is noted for sinkhole activity due to dissolved sediments that leave cavities that eventually collapse. Whirlpools in this area have been attributed to this phenomenon. There are many possibilities to the region under the ocean described as a submerged city, but only a fool will make bets before all of the data has been collected and examined. There is definitely some significant data that hasn't been released as yet... the comment in the article that pointed out the age of the structures could be upwards of 6,000 years would suggest that there was some identifiable geologic strata that the comparison was made against.
Cheers!
Carl
There are "eyewitness" accounts of bigfoot, ufo's and alien abductions. If we are to believe people like Stanton Friedman and Whitley Streiber (who, IMHO, come across as somewhat credible), there are thousands of eyewitness accounts and first-hand experiences. I want to believe in ufo's and aliens, but someone else's account just isn't enough. I'd like to examine a spacecraft, ray-gun or at least an anal probe (but only visually)! At least there are photographs of Bigfoot and plaster casts of his/her impressions in the ground.
I know a woman who does not believe in dinosaurs! Now at first, I thought this was a religeous thing... creation vs. evolution. But it turns out that she just doesn't believe creatures as fantastic as that can exist in nature. In a way, I admire her because she's never seen fossils embedded in rock or the foot prints in Glen Rose, TX... that sort of thing. She won't accept the possibility without evidence (which exists, she just doesn't review it or understand how to interpret it). To her... it's a waste of her time. Why worry about critters from 65 - 100 million years ago when she's got to go to work and earn a living? She doesn't belong to the "anti-dinosaur" faith... she just "ain't interested."
I agree... one can neither prove nor disprove the existance of God. No more than we can the existance of alien visitation from other worlds. One can, however, look at religion and understand it's social purpose in whatever form for whatever culture. With very few exception, there are universal trends that occur within the world's religions: wrongs against others are bad, helping others & togetherness are good. Religious stances against things like promiscuity are socially understandable. Screwing around and cheating often result in anger, jelousy, STDs, unwanted pregnancy, etc.
Was "God" created by man to inspire "faith" in religion? I think the answer is "probably." If true, however, that still would not disprove the concept of a divine being.... perhaps the sentient lifeforms of the universe are part of a collective whole that is God itself.
Some Native American religions refer to a "Spirit-That-Moves-Through-All-Things." The difference between simple matter and living matter may, indeed, be due to a life Force. I somehow don't believe Lucas simply invented the Force associated with Jedi off the top of his head. He culled our own world's cultures and recognized the commonalities present...
Now... if I can just figure out that light saber thingy.
"We can actively disprove Santa Claus, because we can trace the origins of the legend, and see that it is clearly made up."
And when we go to the north pole, he's not home.
Ciao,
cfeagans
In the business of laser surgery, I would imagine that it is important to create an atmosphere of comfort for the patient and a familiar term would do that. If not for Star Wars' popularity, I don't believe the name would have been applied. I wonder if the same company would name their steel scaple line after famous swords. "Doctor, would you like the Scimitar?" "No, nurse, I'll think I'll use the Rapier on this uterous."
But Lucas may not be unfounded in his worry about protecting his trademark. What if another manufacturer uses the term Light Saber on a product that is not as distant from his own product line as medical equipment. The more products that are allowed to exist commercially with the name "Light Saber," the more difficulty Lucas will have in defending against those who would capitalize on his good will. He may one day have to market "Light Saber brand light sabers" like a popular band aid.