Schlock Mercenary Ownzors all. Updates everyday, Howard even has a queue going on. He has declined to enter though, because he hasn't missed an update in years. And that's just unfair.
Oh, and the comic just plain kicks ass. Really. Start at 1 and read the whole thing. You won't regret it.
The Ahmad Tusi Manuscript that Crichton referenced in his bibliography as being the source of this story, is completely made up. The name of the translator Fraus Dolus is in fact two Latin words meaning both 'hoax' and 'fraud'.
Nope, that may be true in a non-emergency situation/area, but trying to justify selling water (a basic fucking commodity) for $20 a bottle in an emergency with economic theory is pretty lame.
Its not that one side was white and the other black, its that one side was black with a small white circlish are in the middle. I'm not just going on speculation. I am going on quotes from various people, including Clarke himself and some folks who worked at JPL. They all agreeded it was a coincidence.
I've heard stories (this time not sure if they're true) about how much of an effect adrenaline has: tiny housewives who've never done any sort of strength training performing incredible amounts of strength when their children or husbands have been endangered.
I have no doubt they are true. The human body is capable of so much more than people realize. In high stress situations like that, your brain will turn off its "brakes", which is a defense mechanism to make sure you do not injure yourself from lifting an object you are not ready for (in terms of ligament and tendon strength). In situations like that, the fear of injury (both concious and subconcious) is gone, and your body allows more muscle fibers in a given muscle to "express themselves", increasing strength dramatically. Certain drugs seem to have the same effect. (Anecdotes from police officers dealing with PCP crazed drug users)
Yes, but if your muscle fibers have been fine tuned to fire near simultaneously with conditioning and training (i.e. explosive exercises), you can bring the full force to bear. Kinda like how olympic lifters have amazing vertical leaps because they can use a lot of their hamstring/gluteal muscle fibers near instantly.
Well, the Bench Press has a small carryover to punching power (small because the hips and torso play a more important role), so, benching a car + increased strength in other areas = scary punching strength. That would be pretty useful.
Eyes that zoom and see in the infrared spectrum (and hope my brain adapts, or at least gives me a color overlay of heat) when it gets dark and faster reflexes, and I will be happy.
Well, if I had a choice of becoming the world's strongest man (or somewhere near there), or some metrosexual-body-hair-shaving-tanning-poor-excuse- of-a-male-weakling-pretty-boy, I'd choose the former. Actually, I have chosen the former. Weightlifting is fun.
Somehow, though, I imagine him lifting the first foot and getting his center of gravity outside the edges of the other foot. Then he's got to shake off the bruises, bring a crane over to lift the thing up and repeat until he gets the hang of it.
We call that tenacity. I like it. I hope he succeeds with the design. It just appeals to my scrounger/improvisation personality.
Alright, try to keep up on this logical march. Keep in mind, some of this is speculation, but all have a basis in fact.
1) Muscles are controlled by neurons.
2) At any given time, only a fraction of muscle fibers are available in a given muscle. This is due to some neurons having high thresholds from never being used or used infrequently. The ratio of total fibers/useable fibers is called "neuromuscular efficiency", and the mechanism by which thresholds are lowered is called the "Hebbian Mechanism". (for this discussion, I am speaking mainly of fast-twitch fibers).
3) It's possible to train and open up new neurons through heavy strength training, such as Powerlifting/Olympic Weightlifting (note: not Bodybuilding).
4) Strength athletes (high jumpers, sprinters, weightlifters, powerlifters) in general have a higher degree of NM efficiency than untrained individuals (somewhere along the lines of 30-50% as opposed to 5%-10%). Case in point- Judd Biasotto, former powerlifter who, at a bodyweight of 132, bench pressed over 300 lbs. and squatted over 600 lbs. In some extreme life or death cases, effciency can be increased dramatically, by either drugs(PCP), adrenaline(mothers lifting cars on their sides to save their children trapped underneath), or mental disease. Basically, you can lift a car, your brain either a) doesn't know or b) won't let you.
5) Increasing NM efficiency involves lowering present neural thresholds, making an activity "easier" in terms of neural drive, and allowing new neurons/muscle fibers to be recruited.
6) Some of the drugs mentioned in the article strengthen neural connections.
7) If these drugs affect motor neurons in the body as well, the thresholds for these neurons would be greatly lowered, and neuromuscular efficiency would increase dramatically, maybe past reachable norms. (>50%) (hell, if they affect motor neurons as well as neurons in the brain, any technical skill could be used as an example).
8) Net result: dramatic increases in strength in a relatively short amount of time, without a significant increase in bodyweight. The ability to exert more force would come from using nearly all the available fibers in an existing muscle.
9) ???
10) Profit!
I, for one, welcome our Volvo lifting overlords.
/would love to volunteer for a clinical trial investigating the above scenario. //The Matrix has you.
You can't prove invisible unicorns exist. Does it take faith to say they don't? No, it is a perfectly reasonable and logical statement:
1) There is no proof that invisible unicorns exist.
2) There is no evidence that invisble unicorns exist.
3) Assuming invisible unicorns exist adds nothing information wise to the existing understanding of the universe.
It doesn't take faith to state they don't exist. Assuming invisible unicorns exist requires faith, and if they did exist, they are inconsequential, because they change nothing. Why believe they exist, other than wishy-washy fantasy or self-delusion?
Slashdot Mirror
I'm curious. Can you explain to me why buying a used CD is un-ethical? Serious question, because I'm curious (I always thought it was OK).
Schlock Mercenary Ownzors all. Updates everyday, Howard even has a queue going on. He has declined to enter though, because he hasn't missed an update in years. And that's just unfair.
Oh, and the comic just plain kicks ass. Really. Start at 1 and read the whole thing. You won't regret it.
but come on now, how frelling hard is it to spell "spamming"?
How fucking hard is it to spell "fucking"?
(insane Starscream voice): "Applicance-cons! Merge into MAIDICUS! AND CLEAN!"
The Ahmad Tusi Manuscript that Crichton referenced in his bibliography as being the source of this story, is completely made up. The name of the translator Fraus Dolus is in fact two Latin words meaning both 'hoax' and 'fraud'.
Taken from IMDB
Hello? Kwanzaa?
... we shouldn't have to be using racist talk like that one slashd..... oh. That kind of cracker. My bad.
/Didn't RTFA.
Nope, that may be true in a non-emergency situation/area, but trying to justify selling water (a basic fucking commodity) for $20 a bottle in an emergency with economic theory is pretty lame.
The Voyager probes didn't visit Jupiter [Saturn?]
Yeah, I had a slip when I mentioned Jupiter because of the film version of the movie.
Its not that one side was white and the other black, its that one side was black with a small white circlish are in the middle. I'm not just going on speculation. I am going on quotes from various people, including Clarke himself and some folks who worked at JPL. They all agreeded it was a coincidence.
Yes, but most of Iapetus's features were not known until the Voyager fly-bys. These include the white patch within the dark circle.
No, it is just a really cool coincidence.
In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke described Iapetus as having a black circle painted on it, with a white circle within.
When one of the Voyager probes photographed Iapetus, a "circular" black area was found with a smaller white area within.
Why is this interesting? 2001 was published in 1968. The Voyager probes didn't visit Jupiter until 1980 (V1) and 1981 (V2).
I've heard stories (this time not sure if they're true) about how much of an effect adrenaline has: tiny housewives who've never done any sort of strength training performing incredible amounts of strength when their children or husbands have been endangered.
I have no doubt they are true. The human body is capable of so much more than people realize. In high stress situations like that, your brain will turn off its "brakes", which is a defense mechanism to make sure you do not injure yourself from lifting an object you are not ready for (in terms of ligament and tendon strength). In situations like that, the fear of injury (both concious and subconcious) is gone, and your body allows more muscle fibers in a given muscle to "express themselves", increasing strength dramatically. Certain drugs seem to have the same effect. (Anecdotes from police officers dealing with PCP crazed drug users)
Yes, but if your muscle fibers have been fine tuned to fire near simultaneously with conditioning and training (i.e. explosive exercises), you can bring the full force to bear. Kinda like how olympic lifters have amazing vertical leaps because they can use a lot of their hamstring/gluteal muscle fibers near instantly.
Well, the Bench Press has a small carryover to punching power (small because the hips and torso play a more important role), so, benching a car + increased strength in other areas = scary punching strength. That would be pretty useful.
You want karate?
Eyes that zoom and see in the infrared spectrum (and hope my brain adapts, or at least gives me a color overlay of heat) when it gets dark and faster reflexes, and I will be happy.
Well, if I had a choice of becoming the world's strongest man (or somewhere near there), or some metrosexual-body-hair-shaving-tanning-poor-excuse- of-a-male-weakling-pretty-boy, I'd choose the former. Actually, I have chosen the former. Weightlifting is fun.
Somehow, though, I imagine him lifting the first foot and getting his center of gravity outside the edges of the other foot. Then he's got to shake off the bruises, bring a crane over to lift the thing up and repeat until he gets the hang of it.
We call that tenacity. I like it. I hope he succeeds with the design. It just appeals to my scrounger/improvisation personality.
Alright, try to keep up on this logical march. Keep in mind, some of this is speculation, but all have a basis in fact.
/would love to volunteer for a clinical trial investigating the above scenario.
//The Matrix has you.
1) Muscles are controlled by neurons.
2) At any given time, only a fraction of muscle fibers are available in a given muscle. This is due to some neurons having high thresholds from never being used or used infrequently. The ratio of total fibers/useable fibers is called "neuromuscular efficiency", and the mechanism by which thresholds are lowered is called the "Hebbian Mechanism". (for this discussion, I am speaking mainly of fast-twitch fibers).
3) It's possible to train and open up new neurons through heavy strength training, such as Powerlifting/Olympic Weightlifting (note: not Bodybuilding).
4) Strength athletes (high jumpers, sprinters, weightlifters, powerlifters) in general have a higher degree of NM efficiency than untrained individuals (somewhere along the lines of 30-50% as opposed to 5%-10%). Case in point- Judd Biasotto, former powerlifter who, at a bodyweight of 132, bench pressed over 300 lbs. and squatted over 600 lbs. In some extreme life or death cases, effciency can be increased dramatically, by either drugs(PCP), adrenaline(mothers lifting cars on their sides to save their children trapped underneath), or mental disease. Basically, you can lift a car, your brain either
a) doesn't know or
b) won't let you.
5) Increasing NM efficiency involves lowering present neural thresholds, making an activity "easier" in terms of neural drive, and allowing new neurons/muscle fibers to be recruited.
6) Some of the drugs mentioned in the article strengthen neural connections.
7) If these drugs affect motor neurons in the body as well, the thresholds for these neurons would be greatly lowered, and neuromuscular efficiency would increase dramatically, maybe past reachable norms. (>50%) (hell, if they affect motor neurons as well as neurons in the brain, any technical skill could be used as an example).
8) Net result: dramatic increases in strength in a relatively short amount of time, without a significant increase in bodyweight. The ability to exert more force would come from using nearly all the available fibers in an existing muscle.
9) ???
10) Profit!
I, for one, welcome our Volvo lifting overlords.
What the hell are you talking about? If this is an elaborate joke that I don't get, please, fill me in.
Diebold ATM's: Reciept.
Diebold Voting machines: No Reciept.
Enough said.
No, he said he was making a hospital and a prison, which later turned into a concentration camp, without LEGO's knowledge. Read the Fucking Article.
You can't prove invisible unicorns exist. Does it take faith to say they don't? No, it is a perfectly reasonable and logical statement:
1) There is no proof that invisible unicorns exist.
2) There is no evidence that invisble unicorns exist.
3) Assuming invisible unicorns exist adds nothing information wise to the existing understanding of the universe.
It doesn't take faith to state they don't exist. Assuming invisible unicorns exist requires faith, and if they did exist, they are inconsequential, because they change nothing. Why believe they exist, other than wishy-washy fantasy or self-delusion?
No, agnostic would be "I don't if know Foo exists of not".