Current theory about the odds of intelligent life existing talks alot about survivability. Because we have huge Jupiter holding back and sucking in alot of debris over the lifetime of our solar system, Darwin-style evolution was allowed to continue unfettered for long enough to produce intelligent life.
Since it takes millions of years to receive signals from other stars, by the time we received radio signals from another civilization, that civilization is likely already extinguished.
The talk has been that if any advanced civilization spawned a civilization of machines that could reproduce and theoretically make million year voyages, we might be able to broadcast our presence through these machines.
This looks to be the first step to that, but there are alot scary scenarios dependent on this type of development that I choose to not think about right now.
I've been power gaming for 6 years, and regardless of how well the chip performs in benchmarks, this is very good for all of us gamers.
The important thing is this ups the ante for all chip manufacturers. The first one doubles their power, albiet it inefficiently, and it isn't too long until competition forces the others to follow suit(ideally sans the inefficiencies).
Hooray!
...sell me some of what you are smoking.
Just out today, stats about Christmas:
Peeps who believe the Xmas tale from top to bottom:
67%
Peeps who believe Jesus actually lived:
93%
Peeps who believe Jesus is the Son of God, etc...
82%
Peeps who believe religion shapes life in America:
86%
Find these numbers here
So is it really a vocal minority who is raising objections, or a group representing a vast majority?
Don't get me wrong, I don't get all hissy about seeing Janet Jackson's nipple, but alot of people do. If you believe America is some secular nation that doesen't act at all on religion, you yourself are in a fanatical minority.
This is no different than the vast but vocal minority in favor of gay marriage. From the way the media portrays it, you'd think like 75% of people are for it, but every time its voted on, it is crushed.
I could easily spend ten minutes writing up a memo to circulate claiming that my personal work standards are being raised, that I am going to volunteer more hours at the job, and that I will never be late.
While the memo might make my boss get some warm and fuzzy feelings, the memo itself doesen't do anything. I am not going to work more hours, nor am I going to raise my work standards, and I can all but guarantee I'll occasionally be late.
It's just a memo, as for the changes...wait for it, wait for it...
After this election, it is pretty clear that there is no single source that people will rely on as credible. Republicans think the mainstream media is biased, and Democrats think cable is biased against them.
What the blogs do is force the mainstream media and the cable outlets to be sure that what they are purporting in their stories is actually real. Do you think CBS is going to run a pre-election day special on documents or missing weapons before they are ABSOLUTELY convinced that the evidence supports their premise?
I think that this election cycle was in fact a big win for the Internet, and bloggers in particular. Howard Dean raised a ton of money and grass roots support via the net, swift boat vets got alot of their message out via their web page, CBS was shamed two times in a row(Rathergate/Missing weapons).
Do I think this will replace traditional news outlets? I don't think the mainstream will be put out of business any more than television replaced all newspapers.
However, I do see a future where the common civilian or military person can become politically active from his office. Contributions, organization of political events, message spread, analysis, and polling is all so easy to work when you make it so one doesen't have to jump through hoops to get there.
I mean, I couldn't make it or anything, but I pictured some type of 3d image. All that was was a fuzzy blip, you don't know what it is. All out of control law enforcement would be able to see is that there is really someone in your home, not where they are, what they're doing, who it is, etc...
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Current theory about the odds of intelligent life existing talks alot about survivability. Because we have huge Jupiter holding back and sucking in alot of debris over the lifetime of our solar system, Darwin-style evolution was allowed to continue unfettered for long enough to produce intelligent life. Since it takes millions of years to receive signals from other stars, by the time we received radio signals from another civilization, that civilization is likely already extinguished. The talk has been that if any advanced civilization spawned a civilization of machines that could reproduce and theoretically make million year voyages, we might be able to broadcast our presence through these machines. This looks to be the first step to that, but there are alot scary scenarios dependent on this type of development that I choose to not think about right now.
-Unpaid -Long, long hours -Long crunch time It is only a matter of time until EA hops on this.
I've been power gaming for 6 years, and regardless of how well the chip performs in benchmarks, this is very good for all of us gamers. The important thing is this ups the ante for all chip manufacturers. The first one doubles their power, albiet it inefficiently, and it isn't too long until competition forces the others to follow suit(ideally sans the inefficiencies). Hooray!
Sounds suspiciously applicable to gun control too...
No, you're absolutely right. Unfortunately, alot of parents are derelicts who don't do the above listed things, and it funnels down into legislation.
...sell me some of what you are smoking. Just out today, stats about Christmas: Peeps who believe the Xmas tale from top to bottom: 67% Peeps who believe Jesus actually lived: 93% Peeps who believe Jesus is the Son of God, etc... 82% Peeps who believe religion shapes life in America: 86% Find these numbers here So is it really a vocal minority who is raising objections, or a group representing a vast majority? Don't get me wrong, I don't get all hissy about seeing Janet Jackson's nipple, but alot of people do. If you believe America is some secular nation that doesen't act at all on religion, you yourself are in a fanatical minority.
This is no different than the vast but vocal minority in favor of gay marriage. From the way the media portrays it, you'd think like 75% of people are for it, but every time its voted on, it is crushed.
I could easily spend ten minutes writing up a memo to circulate claiming that my personal work standards are being raised, that I am going to volunteer more hours at the job, and that I will never be late. While the memo might make my boss get some warm and fuzzy feelings, the memo itself doesen't do anything. I am not going to work more hours, nor am I going to raise my work standards, and I can all but guarantee I'll occasionally be late. It's just a memo, as for the changes...wait for it, wait for it...
After this election, it is pretty clear that there is no single source that people will rely on as credible. Republicans think the mainstream media is biased, and Democrats think cable is biased against them. What the blogs do is force the mainstream media and the cable outlets to be sure that what they are purporting in their stories is actually real. Do you think CBS is going to run a pre-election day special on documents or missing weapons before they are ABSOLUTELY convinced that the evidence supports their premise? I think that this election cycle was in fact a big win for the Internet, and bloggers in particular. Howard Dean raised a ton of money and grass roots support via the net, swift boat vets got alot of their message out via their web page, CBS was shamed two times in a row(Rathergate/Missing weapons). Do I think this will replace traditional news outlets? I don't think the mainstream will be put out of business any more than television replaced all newspapers. However, I do see a future where the common civilian or military person can become politically active from his office. Contributions, organization of political events, message spread, analysis, and polling is all so easy to work when you make it so one doesen't have to jump through hoops to get there.
I mean, I couldn't make it or anything, but I pictured some type of 3d image. All that was was a fuzzy blip, you don't know what it is. All out of control law enforcement would be able to see is that there is really someone in your home, not where they are, what they're doing, who it is, etc...