>>Until Lucas changes his mind and decides once more to make the last trilogy
The prequel trilogy concentrated on the backstory of Anakin Skywalker.
The original trilogy concentrated on Luke and his relationship with his father
The sequel trilogy will concentrate on the last piece of the puzzle - Jar Jar. George will get his ultimate revenge on the fanboys and will create an entire sequel trilogy focusing on our favourite bumbling hero.
Hey, I'm in a band called Artificial Migraine - will you produce our next album?
We've got lots of rockin' tunes, such as Stomach Ulcers, She's Butch, Chinese Water Torcher and Roadkill on the Don Valley Parkway.
Actually, we broke up in 1987 after our buddy Colin smashed a garage window during our Hallowe'en concert and the garage door opener jammed up, but I'm sure I can rally the troops and we can dust off our awesome $200 guitars and vintage 80's keyboards (don't forget those cool Simmons drumpads) and learn a couple of chords again.
Oh, our singer is somewhere in Africa, shouldn't be too hard to find - hey John, if you're reading this, give me a buzz - we're gonna be famous!
While I agree with you that it seems silly to make judgements based on a 100 year window, you have to recognize that, short of catastrophic events such as a giant meteor impact, the environment has not undergone such significant changes as it has in the past 200 years or so of industrialization and land development. Such severe changes on the ecology are bound result in more than just the typical heating or cooling trends that have been witnessed over longer periods of time, most of which were due to completely natural causes.
We can only guess at how the environment is changing in response to our large-scale impact on the ecology because there really is no precedent. That scares the hell out of me.
Actually, since industrialization, we've been pumping increasing amounts of energy into the atmosphere, either directly or as a byproduct of energy conversion (combustion, fission, etc). More than the planet is able to either absorb or radiate into space. There's nothing temporary about this.
In fact, we've severely impacted the planets ability to absorb the excess energy due to clearing of our natural ecology and the proliferation of concrete and turf.
As for the long term consequences, have a look at the atmosphere of Venus.
Whether or not you believe that global warming is a farce, you have to acknowledge that our ecosystem is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Consumerism and greed are to blame for this and I fear it is too powerful a force to stop.
The rate of change is what scares me the most - I'm only 32 years old, yet I can easily see how our environment has degraded since I was a child.
I remember swimming at local beaches without fear of infection or worse. Now most beaches are presumed closed all summer. I remember all the time I used to spend walking through the meadows and exploring the creeks at my grandfather's house, just on the perimeter of the city (he used to be a farmer, so most of his fields were already sold off by then). Now, this tract of land is commercial property, mostly concrete, lawn and sprinklers. Ironically, his house is now a local lawncare/pesticide/herbicide retail outlet.
It's easy to blame large corporations for their greed - they continue to destroy the ecosystem in their quest for coal/oil/trees/development all in the name of profit.
However, we have to start looking within as the source of the problem - our collective greed, apathy and ignorance is what feeds the profits of these large corporations. We buy the new houses in the developments that were once native meadows/wetlands/woodlands. In turn, we transform our properties from a diverse ecosystem to a non-native, monocultural lawn that requires excessive care, water, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides because it is beaten into our skulls by lawncare companies that a flawless, green lawn is the only acceptable look for our yards. Then we bitch and complain that the summers are hotter and muggier every year and that our hydro and water bills are rising. Meanwhile, we crank up our air conditioners and install wasteful irrigation systems in a vain effort to keep ourselves cool and our grass green.
Wake up! Trees keep you cool - plant some. Grow some gardens (preferably using native plants/trees/shrubs and grasses) instead of a monocultural lawn. Not only is it beneficial to the environment, but it is actually less time consuming once established. You won't need to join the local lawnmowers club every Saturday morning. Did you know that your lawnmower provides more pollution in one hour than your car does in a week? You can turn off your water sprinklers (native plants thrived where you live before you can along and installed an irrigation system). They need no fertilizers or pesticides (native plants are naturally resistent to pests and disease. The birds and other critters that will return once you provide them a habitat will also help keep the ecosystem in check.
We criticize countries such as Brazil for clearcutting their forests. Did you know that Canada has eliminated a larger percentage of it's natural environment through land development, most of which has been converted to either concrete, asphalt or lawn (the worst of the three because of the water and chemicals it feeds on to stay alive). Add to this all the forests that have been clearcut by the companies that feed such development.
As consumers, we can make the biggest difference. Make smarter and less selfish purchases. Make your next car a gas-saver or even a gas/electric hybrid instead of a V8 gas guzzling SUV. Adjust your thermostat a couple of degrees to save either on hydro or gas/oil. Most importantly, I strongly urge you to consider replacing your lawn and restoring all or part of your property with native plants. Help restore a small part of what used to be there before your environment was cut down, bulldozed and sodded.
Please, go to Google and do some research on Naturalized lawns or gardens. Check out some books by some well-known authors on the subject:
"Noah's Garden" and "Planting Noah's Garden" by Sara Stein are excellent, as are "Ontario Naturalized Garden" and "Grow Wild! Native Plant Gardening in Canada" by Lorraine Johnson.
Here, I'll even throw in a couple of interesting links:
One would think your geographic knowledge is based entirely on episodes of South Park. South Africa isn't Ethiopia - it's a modern, developed civilization, not a bunch of Starvin Marvins.
Perhaps you believe that Canadians live in igloos, too?
Vinyl isn't better - just different. Try the following some time: rip a vinyl recording to digital (using the best turntable, A/D converter, etc - it won't matter).
Then, compare it to the ripped file from a CD. Take a look at the waveforms and you'll see that the vinyl is much more compressed (there is much less dynamic range).
"Warmth" aside, which one of these waves do you think more closely resembles the actual studio master? As mentioned in previous posts - vinyl masters undergo all kinds of butchering (EQ, compression, etc) in order to fit the medium without sounding like shit or jumping the needle.
Many early CD issues of back catalogues were utter crap (hence the criticism of their harsh sound) because the vinyl masters were used as the source instead of going back and remastering from the original tapes. Vinyl masters are EQed quite differently from the original masters to compensate for the non-linear response of the medium.
As a fan since I saw A New Hope at the drive-in as a 6yr old, I have to say I'm disappointed at how George finds new lows in which to sink. Instead of embracing his incredibly huge and devoted fanbase, he has decided to milk it for all he can (once again). The Wachowski Bros. and Peter Jackson have left this sorry franchise in the dust anyhow (I haven't gone back to the special features disc from AOTC since I watched the 4-disc LOTR set and witnessed a cast and crew that was incredibly devoted to telling a compelling story first and using all the effects at their disposal to bring it to life). AOTC was a lame, convoluted story with wooden acting and nothing but effects that will simply not last the test of time. The original trilogy, even with it's relativley immature effects and puppets still outlasts the prequels, which will be mostly forgotten except for the most desparate fans (who will likely be paying for this site for years to come in hopes of yet another useless tidbit on how 99.9999% of the movie was digital.
Imagine if this thing got fast enough - you wouldn't be able to get the ball past your back men. The computer would simply redirect your attempts right back into your net. All it needs then is some good smack talking to put you in your rightful place.
Just by watching some of the video clips, it occurred to me that, while it's true the computer would be at a disadvantage on defense, it's strength is in it's ability to pick up the ball as it rebounds off a player or wall and quickly convert it into a shot. I imagine even a pro would have a difficult time with this. Imagine as the technology progresses, the computer's offense and defense would merge somewhat as it would be able to pick up the opponent's shots and passes and stuff them right back into your net before you have a chance to realize you even lost possession, sort of like slamming a fastball right out of the park.
I haven't been to Cedar Point in years (the year the Magnum opened, but broke that morning before I got a chance to try it out). However, my favourite ride at Canada's Wonderland (where I live) is STILL the Great Canadian Minebuster - the old wooden one that's been there since 1981 or whenever that place opened. I still love the old wooden, shaky rides over most of the trendy stuff they build today (standup, backwards, underwater, etc). I hope that coaster still has lots of life in it. Mind you they've tamed it down since I was a scared shitless 10 year old who was convinced I was lifting right of the seat since the handle bars were so far away at the time. Now they've got more secure restraints (probably because some poor kid DID fall out, which proves my original fears correct) - kind of takes away from the "Near Death Experience".
Still, this 400+ft beast scares the living shit out of me. I'd better get on it before I'm too old (at 32, it may already be too late):)
Exactly what I was thinking. Imagine the resolution you would get from a 21" nano-tube display. At 1.4 nm diameter, assuming you could align these in a perfect grid (and my math isn't totally screwed up), you would have a theoretical max resolution of 17.857 million dots/inch or 375,000,000 x 281,250,000 pixels in a 21" screen:)
You'll need a mofo graphics card to drive it, of course:)
Now we all know where the anecdote about Wookies' poor sportsmanship originated (ripping arms out of sockets when they lose). In Ep III, Jar Jar will challenge Chewie to a chess match and, stupidly, will embarrass the Wookie.
We all know how this ends (and have been looking forward to it since Ep. I).
Add me to that list. I like to stroll through minefields in my spare time and I'd hate to hit a trip-wire late at night.
When I'm not playing Russian-Roulette on the minefields, I like to take nice romantic walks with my wife across the expressways here in Toronto. It sure would be nice to have a reliable flashlight so that we don't get throttled by a 200km/h transport truck.
When that doesn't strike my fancy, I take joy in running around unlit parking lots with scissors. A good reliable flashlight would be a godsend!
Slashdot Mirror
The prequel trilogy concentrated on the backstory of Anakin Skywalker.
The original trilogy concentrated on Luke and his relationship with his father
The sequel trilogy will concentrate on the last piece of the puzzle - Jar Jar. George will get his ultimate revenge on the fanboys and will create an entire sequel trilogy focusing on our favourite bumbling hero.
All we need now is for Michael Moore to roll with this as his next feature documentary.
I simply follow StrongBad's lead - Deleted!
Were those really boogers on the wall above the urinals on the 3rd floor of the Math building at the University of Waterloo?!?
We've got lots of rockin' tunes, such as Stomach Ulcers, She's Butch, Chinese Water Torcher and Roadkill on the Don Valley Parkway.
Actually, we broke up in 1987 after our buddy Colin smashed a garage window during our Hallowe'en concert and the garage door opener jammed up, but I'm sure I can rally the troops and we can dust off our awesome $200 guitars and vintage 80's keyboards (don't forget those cool Simmons drumpads) and learn a couple of chords again.
Oh, our singer is somewhere in Africa, shouldn't be too hard to find - hey John, if you're reading this, give me a buzz - we're gonna be famous!
We can only guess at how the environment is changing in response to our large-scale impact on the ecology because there really is no precedent. That scares the hell out of me.
Actually, since industrialization, we've been pumping increasing amounts of energy into the atmosphere, either directly or as a byproduct of energy conversion (combustion, fission, etc). More than the planet is able to either absorb or radiate into space. There's nothing temporary about this. In fact, we've severely impacted the planets ability to absorb the excess energy due to clearing of our natural ecology and the proliferation of concrete and turf. As for the long term consequences, have a look at the atmosphere of Venus.
The rate of change is what scares me the most - I'm only 32 years old, yet I can easily see how our environment has degraded since I was a child. I remember swimming at local beaches without fear of infection or worse. Now most beaches are presumed closed all summer. I remember all the time I used to spend walking through the meadows and exploring the creeks at my grandfather's house, just on the perimeter of the city (he used to be a farmer, so most of his fields were already sold off by then). Now, this tract of land is commercial property, mostly concrete, lawn and sprinklers. Ironically, his house is now a local lawncare/pesticide/herbicide retail outlet.
It's easy to blame large corporations for their greed - they continue to destroy the ecosystem in their quest for coal/oil/trees/development all in the name of profit.
However, we have to start looking within as the source of the problem - our collective greed, apathy and ignorance is what feeds the profits of these large corporations. We buy the new houses in the developments that were once native meadows/wetlands/woodlands. In turn, we transform our properties from a diverse ecosystem to a non-native, monocultural lawn that requires excessive care, water, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides because it is beaten into our skulls by lawncare companies that a flawless, green lawn is the only acceptable look for our yards. Then we bitch and complain that the summers are hotter and muggier every year and that our hydro and water bills are rising. Meanwhile, we crank up our air conditioners and install wasteful irrigation systems in a vain effort to keep ourselves cool and our grass green.
Wake up! Trees keep you cool - plant some. Grow some gardens (preferably using native plants/trees/shrubs and grasses) instead of a monocultural lawn. Not only is it beneficial to the environment, but it is actually less time consuming once established. You won't need to join the local lawnmowers club every Saturday morning. Did you know that your lawnmower provides more pollution in one hour than your car does in a week? You can turn off your water sprinklers (native plants thrived where you live before you can along and installed an irrigation system). They need no fertilizers or pesticides (native plants are naturally resistent to pests and disease. The birds and other critters that will return once you provide them a habitat will also help keep the ecosystem in check.
We criticize countries such as Brazil for clearcutting their forests. Did you know that Canada has eliminated a larger percentage of it's natural environment through land development, most of which has been converted to either concrete, asphalt or lawn (the worst of the three because of the water and chemicals it feeds on to stay alive). Add to this all the forests that have been clearcut by the companies that feed such development.
As consumers, we can make the biggest difference. Make smarter and less selfish purchases. Make your next car a gas-saver or even a gas/electric hybrid instead of a V8 gas guzzling SUV. Adjust your thermostat a couple of degrees to save either on hydro or gas/oil. Most importantly, I strongly urge you to consider replacing your lawn and restoring all or part of your property with native plants. Help restore a small part of what used to be there before your environment was cut down, bulldozed and sodded.
Please, go to Google and do some research on Naturalized lawns or gardens. Check out some books by some well-known authors on the subject:
"Noah's Garden" and "Planting Noah's Garden" by Sara Stein are excellent, as are "Ontario Naturalized Garden" and "Grow Wild! Native Plant Gardening in Canada" by Lorraine Johnson.
Here, I'll even throw in a couple of interesting links:
Can you repeat the question? I must have missed it in there somewhere :)
It's much easier to point your telescope at Jupiter and determine it's presence :)
Sorry, I just had to.
Sort of like fitting a square peg in a round hole - or a triangular hole, ...er yeah.
Perhaps you believe that Canadians live in igloos, too?
I hear ya.... Alien vs. Predator the Movie - here we come oh yeah!!!!
Admit it, you saw Titanic 15 times and cried at the end - didn't you?
Yes, in the Special Edition Greedo, er, Gollem shoots first.
Vinyl isn't better - just different. Try the following some time: rip a vinyl recording to digital (using the best turntable, A/D converter, etc - it won't matter). Then, compare it to the ripped file from a CD. Take a look at the waveforms and you'll see that the vinyl is much more compressed (there is much less dynamic range). "Warmth" aside, which one of these waves do you think more closely resembles the actual studio master? As mentioned in previous posts - vinyl masters undergo all kinds of butchering (EQ, compression, etc) in order to fit the medium without sounding like shit or jumping the needle. Many early CD issues of back catalogues were utter crap (hence the criticism of their harsh sound) because the vinyl masters were used as the source instead of going back and remastering from the original tapes. Vinyl masters are EQed quite differently from the original masters to compensate for the non-linear response of the medium.
As a fan since I saw A New Hope at the drive-in as a 6yr old, I have to say I'm disappointed at how George finds new lows in which to sink. Instead of embracing his incredibly huge and devoted fanbase, he has decided to milk it for all he can (once again). The Wachowski Bros. and Peter Jackson have left this sorry franchise in the dust anyhow (I haven't gone back to the special features disc from AOTC since I watched the 4-disc LOTR set and witnessed a cast and crew that was incredibly devoted to telling a compelling story first and using all the effects at their disposal to bring it to life). AOTC was a lame, convoluted story with wooden acting and nothing but effects that will simply not last the test of time. The original trilogy, even with it's relativley immature effects and puppets still outlasts the prequels, which will be mostly forgotten except for the most desparate fans (who will likely be paying for this site for years to come in hopes of yet another useless tidbit on how 99.9999% of the movie was digital.
Imagine if this thing got fast enough - you wouldn't be able to get the ball past your back men. The computer would simply redirect your attempts right back into your net. All it needs then is some good smack talking to put you in your rightful place.
Just by watching some of the video clips, it occurred to me that, while it's true the computer would be at a disadvantage on defense, it's strength is in it's ability to pick up the ball as it rebounds off a player or wall and quickly convert it into a shot. I imagine even a pro would have a difficult time with this. Imagine as the technology progresses, the computer's offense and defense would merge somewhat as it would be able to pick up the opponent's shots and passes and stuff them right back into your net before you have a chance to realize you even lost possession, sort of like slamming a fastball right out of the park.
I haven't been to Cedar Point in years (the year the Magnum opened, but broke that morning before I got a chance to try it out). However, my favourite ride at Canada's Wonderland (where I live) is STILL the Great Canadian Minebuster - the old wooden one that's been there since 1981 or whenever that place opened. I still love the old wooden, shaky rides over most of the trendy stuff they build today (standup, backwards, underwater, etc). I hope that coaster still has lots of life in it. Mind you they've tamed it down since I was a scared shitless 10 year old who was convinced I was lifting right of the seat since the handle bars were so far away at the time. Now they've got more secure restraints (probably because some poor kid DID fall out, which proves my original fears correct) - kind of takes away from the "Near Death Experience". Still, this 400+ft beast scares the living shit out of me. I'd better get on it before I'm too old (at 32, it may already be too late) :)
Exactly what I was thinking. Imagine the resolution you would get from a 21" nano-tube display. At 1.4 nm diameter, assuming you could align these in a perfect grid (and my math isn't totally screwed up), you would have a theoretical max resolution of 17.857 million dots/inch or 375,000,000 x 281,250,000 pixels in a 21" screen :)
You'll need a mofo graphics card to drive it, of course :)
Now we all know where the anecdote about Wookies' poor sportsmanship originated (ripping arms out of sockets when they lose). In Ep III, Jar Jar will challenge Chewie to a chess match and, stupidly, will embarrass the Wookie. We all know how this ends (and have been looking forward to it since Ep. I).
Add me to that list. I like to stroll through minefields in my spare time and I'd hate to hit a trip-wire late at night. When I'm not playing Russian-Roulette on the minefields, I like to take nice romantic walks with my wife across the expressways here in Toronto. It sure would be nice to have a reliable flashlight so that we don't get throttled by a 200km/h transport truck. When that doesn't strike my fancy, I take joy in running around unlit parking lots with scissors. A good reliable flashlight would be a godsend!
Actually, the article quotes 11 million pounds, not dollars. So he stands to lose about $20 million. Feel bad for him now?