I have a question: Should we really one day be able to create computers/machines this good that it could replace us as a race entirely, would that make us the smartest or the stupidest creature ever to have come out of the evolution theory?
Say, considering the "fact" that "Geeks" can meet more people using their tools than "the others", wouldn't that not only disqualify us as pretenders, but actually be the real representatives of those with a social life?
During our communication lessons, a professor taught us how to use powerpoint properly:
Use black screens!
Basically, every time you're not presenting a graph/table or whatever visual thing you got, enter a black screen (or press "B" to go black). That way, people aren't tempted to stare at the screen but look at you. During that time, while they focus on you, you can tell your story. So what should be on the ppt aside from the aforementioned graph/table/other visual "object"> a short (bulleted) SUMMARY of what you've just said while they were busy staring at and listening to you.
So in the order of black screen > you tell your story > screen comes up with short summary of what you just said > rinse and repeat.
That way, not only will you give information without your viewers "multitasking" (read being confused) by both staring at the screen, reading the text while listening but not looking at you. It also puts more significance in the speaker: rather than being an extension of the powerpoint pres, the powerpoint pres is really there to support the speaker.
Takes a lot more practice though, because you really need to tell your story, without them being able to read it, so you need to present it properly, and then use points that sum up that story well to really etch the information into the viewer's brains.
I'd say Ghost in the Shell (GITS) as a true anime sci-fi representative actually. GITS also spanned some series (3 if I'm correct).
In terms of sci-fi, Cowboy Bebop and Trigun are complete peanuts compared to GITS. That'd be like comparing the Firefly sci-fi setting to the Matrix sci-fi setting. And I can tell you that "even" Matrix comes up short compared to the sci-fi of GITS.
"Yo dirty notty people from the piracy world! How dare you do something so immoral as piracy! Take an example of us skimpy clothed, if at all, men and women working hard with dildos and shower cream to teach our men, women and children the real values of morals and ethics! Shame on you guys!"
The concept of infinity "exists" inasmuch as the concept of zero "exists"... but they're not "things" out there in the world that need to be observed to prove their existence or nonexistence. To say that a concept "exists" is just so say that we are able to think about things a certain way. I can think that there are zero square circles in the world, and it would be true, but that doesn't mean that "zero" is somewhere out there for me to find. It just means that I will never, ever find a square circle anywhere. Likewise, I can think that there are an infinite series of causes, and it may be true, but even if it is, that doesn't mean that there is "infinity" somewhere out there to be found; just that I will never, ever find something with no cause. OK, I believe I understand that line of reasoning, but how would one be able to scientifically confirm this concept? It can't be just "because we do not believe that something can come out of nothing, an infinity of something must be the truth"? I feel like we're just picking the lesser of 2 demons right now (which is relative actually)
If you're OK with saying that something can come from nothing, then yeah, that's perfectly fine. Well, I'm saying I don't know because it makes no sense, which is unfortunately not always mutually inclusive:)
in fact as modern physics understand it, every bit of energy in the world is an eternal being which has always existed, as energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed Isn't that just for "closed systems"? Which implies that a closed system has to exist first before this concept could have been somewhat factual.
Which is precisely the nature of my argument; if you accept that everything must come from something else (and thus that everything which exists came from something, and so on), you must accept that there is no origin. But isn't that a paradox? How can something exist if it has to come from something (else)? Yet here we are, so how?:(
Btw, I appreciate you taking the effort to explain things to me:)
"Infinity" is not a thing to be observed; it's not a "thing" at all. Infinity is not even a number (at least according to most mathematicians), so even if you grant numbers some sort of ontological status like we do tables and chairs and rocks and trees (which makes no sense to me, but apparently a lot of people claim such a thing), "infinity" is still not being considered as an object at all; thus you don't need to prove or disprove that it "exists", because nobody is claiming that it exists. But if we theorize that there's no origin/first concept, how can you not conclude that "infinity" "exists"? Obviously not in any shape of form by itself, but as concepts, or perhaps string(s) of concepts, that eventually make up the concept of infinity.
Now I can't say with quite that level of certainty that there was no first thing, because while "something exists" is evidently true, "something cannot come from nothing" is just a very reasonable and widely-held assumption which, it is conceivable, might not be true. But if you're willing to grant that those two things are both true, you cannot believe, without contradicting yourself, that there was a first thing before which there was nothing. Even your preferred belief, that God created everything, agrees with that conclusion, unless you hold that God spontaneously sprang out of nothingness instead of having always existed for eternity. And you'll note that I specifically said that this line of reasoning doesn't *rule out* God (as an eternal being); it just doesn't prove God's existence, as some have tried to use it to. I agree, but to me "an origin" makes as much sense as "no origin". Is it wrong to say that "an origin" equals "something out of nothing" and "no origin" equals "something out of something"?
you must conclude that something has always existed. Actually, I reject that notion scientifically, because by definition "infinity" in our context cannot be measured, it cannot be observed, it cannot be tested. An infinity of nothingness is one thing I might be willing to believe, but an infinity of "something"? IMO, that's when you abandon the scientific path and enter religion.
In that regard: "infinity" is just as magical as God is i.e. it makes no sense. Even IF it's our only "logical" alternative left, that still doesn't mean it has to make sense. But in that case, I'd like to go straight for the most illogical explanation, which for me is then the most logical explanation given the extreme absurdity of the "origin" concept: God.
Sure I can't prove it, just like the infinity concept could never be scientifically measured, and Occam's Razor would then logically reason that God would be the ultimate complex entity and thus would never come first before nearly any other theory. Despite that, if we're in the realm of "can't explain any of this" anyhow, I'd like to argue that our somewhat "proven logic" e.g. Occam's Razor, doesn't (have to) apply.
Your supposed paradox arises because you're trying to ask a question that doesn't really make sense But aren't we discussing something that doesn't really make sense?
Suppose you told me that for every real number, there was a smaller number; that is to say, that there is no "smallest number" (which is true). And then I asked you "ah, but what number is smaller than the whole number line?" That's not a well-formed question... the number line itself has no numerical value, so there is no "smaller than" it. Hehe, I never thought of it as a "proven infinity" before, but I guess this would be a nice example of such. Food for thought, that's for sure. Still, in the math example, we're talking about infinitely shrinking and/or infinitely increasing. AFAIK that's not the case with the current theory of energy, correct? So that still makes our original infinity concept unmeasurable in any form or shape.
Either something can come from nothing (good luck with proving that) or something comes from something (good luck proving that too). And in the latter case, if something is only possible from something then something can't exist; it's a paradox.
What a cool thing you're providing for your community:)
I've been to your site, and I was wondering if you couldn't put up a FAQ on some of the more reoccurring issues and the way to combat them?
Basic things like firewalls, antivirus scanners, anti spyware, making back ups, getting regular updates/patches of their software/hardware products etc? I think that would be helpful. Obvious, your forum does a good job of helping them that way, but a FAQ page would probably be easier and less intimidating.
Anyway just something off the top of my head. Keep up the good work!
Technical stuff like security is boring for casual computer users. Try to work on your delivery. I always try to put some jokes/humor in my presentations, usually related obviously, to keep people alert.
Combine this witch hunt with the new terror bill, which gives America the right to detain any "alien" (of course not americans, otherwise this bill would have never lasted for longer than 10 seconds) "suspects" indefinitely without access to civilian courts, and I'm getting a bit scared.
You gotta admit, there's something hysterically funny about a president who's known for his "hard stance on terrorism" while the ONLY time the majority of his country actually rallied behind him was when he was scaring them into invading Iraq before 'they invade the US with a large active arsenal of WMD that can be made fire ready in 45 minutes'.
And now that hasn't worked out at all, you got guys at foxnews trying to heckle clinton for the whole "not capturing OBL" thing.
Someone needs to tell these guys that "scaring" and "intimidating" people is the very essence of terrorism.
How many times have I seen people describe themselves as "intelligent", "successful", "ambitious", "funny", "creative", "outgoing", "easy going"? And here's the best part: on dating platforms, they're all 'looking for bf/gf just like me'.
You can listen to music while you browse the web, jog, write code. You can't really watch a video using a portable device while doing those things. (other than porn...)
Unless you're impotent, watching porn while jogging doesn't sound like a comfortable thing to do. Especially when you're wearing those jogging pants.
"Dude is that your....??" "That's my ehm IPOD sticking out! That's right"
This reminds me of that joke that was posted on the net before:
McDonald's Fast Food Job Application
DESIRED POSITION: Reclining. HA But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.
MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?
"Okay, Steve, I think it's back to normal again." "What? Taking money out of the Xmas gift to pay for your chair and office damage? Well, wouldn't be the first time." "But seriously man, just between you and me, but what's with all this MILF porn man?" "Bill told you not to keep this shit on your protected network drive." "Aw come on! Everybody knows your password is 'MacroBig'!" "Imagine if the company digged deep enough?" "Just in case this doesn't work out, we'll fire a bunch and write it off as "underperformed". "Hey, what's that weird thing on your screen? OMG IT'S SENDING AN EMAIL, QUICK CUT IT O.F....."
Slashdot Mirror
Obviously, but wouldn't that be ironic that we literally progressed to such a stage where we created something that just replaced us?
Nothing about being hit by a calamity, or a war of our own doing, but literally being replaced by something we ourselves created.
That would make us the #1 on the Darwin Awards.
I have a question: Should we really one day be able to create computers/machines this good that it could replace us as a race entirely, would that make us the smartest or the stupidest creature ever to have come out of the evolution theory?
That's what the article said, too :)
Say, considering the "fact" that "Geeks" can meet more people using their tools than "the others", wouldn't that not only disqualify us as pretenders, but actually be the real representatives of those with a social life?
During our communication lessons, a professor taught us how to use powerpoint properly:
Use black screens!
Basically, every time you're not presenting a graph/table or whatever visual thing you got, enter a black screen (or press "B" to go black). That way, people aren't tempted to stare at the screen but look at you. During that time, while they focus on you, you can tell your story. So what should be on the ppt aside from the aforementioned graph/table/other visual "object"> a short (bulleted) SUMMARY of what you've just said while they were busy staring at and listening to you.
So in the order of black screen > you tell your story > screen comes up with short summary of what you just said > rinse and repeat.
That way, not only will you give information without your viewers "multitasking" (read being confused) by both staring at the screen, reading the text while listening but not looking at you. It also puts more significance in the speaker: rather than being an extension of the powerpoint pres, the powerpoint pres is really there to support the speaker.
Takes a lot more practice though, because you really need to tell your story, without them being able to read it, so you need to present it properly, and then use points that sum up that story well to really etch the information into the viewer's brains.
I'd say Ghost in the Shell (GITS) as a true anime sci-fi representative actually. GITS also spanned some series (3 if I'm correct).
In terms of sci-fi, Cowboy Bebop and Trigun are complete peanuts compared to GITS. That'd be like comparing the Firefly sci-fi setting to the Matrix sci-fi setting. And I can tell you that "even" Matrix comes up short compared to the sci-fi of GITS.
"Yo dirty notty people from the piracy world! How dare you do something so immoral as piracy! Take an example of us skimpy clothed, if at all, men and women working hard with dildos and shower cream to teach our men, women and children the real values of morals and ethics! Shame on you guys!"
Btw, I appreciate you taking the effort to explain things to me
In that regard: "infinity" is just as magical as God is i.e. it makes no sense. Even IF it's our only "logical" alternative left, that still doesn't mean it has to make sense. But in that case, I'd like to go straight for the most illogical explanation, which for me is then the most logical explanation given the extreme absurdity of the "origin" concept: God.
Sure I can't prove it, just like the infinity concept could never be scientifically measured, and Occam's Razor would then logically reason that God would be the ultimate complex entity and thus would never come first before nearly any other theory. Despite that, if we're in the realm of "can't explain any of this" anyhow, I'd like to argue that our somewhat "proven logic" e.g. Occam's Razor, doesn't (have to) apply. Your supposed paradox arises because you're trying to ask a question that doesn't really make sense But aren't we discussing something that doesn't really make sense? Suppose you told me that for every real number, there was a smaller number; that is to say, that there is no "smallest number" (which is true). And then I asked you "ah, but what number is smaller than the whole number line?" That's not a well-formed question... the number line itself has no numerical value, so there is no "smaller than" it. Hehe, I never thought of it as a "proven infinity" before, but I guess this would be a nice example of such. Food for thought, that's for sure. Still, in the math example, we're talking about infinitely shrinking and/or infinitely increasing. AFAIK that's not the case with the current theory of energy, correct? So that still makes our original infinity concept unmeasurable in any form or shape.
Ehm yeh, but there are only 2 ways to go:
Either something can come from nothing (good luck with proving that) or something comes from something (good luck proving that too). And in the latter case, if something is only possible from something then something can't exist; it's a paradox.
What a cool thing you're providing for your community :)
I've been to your site, and I was wondering if you couldn't put up a FAQ on some of the more reoccurring issues and the way to combat them?
Basic things like firewalls, antivirus scanners, anti spyware, making back ups, getting regular updates/patches of their software/hardware products etc? I think that would be helpful. Obvious, your forum does a good job of helping them that way, but a FAQ page would probably be easier and less intimidating.
Anyway just something off the top of my head. Keep up the good work!
Technical stuff like security is boring for casual computer users. Try to work on your delivery. I always try to put some jokes/humor in my presentations, usually related obviously, to keep people alert.
3 /protect-your-computer.html
Here's my attempt to contribute a bit.
http://seiruu.freeflux.net/blog/archive/2006/11/0
They haven't contacted us.
Combine this witch hunt with the new terror bill, which gives America the right to detain any "alien" (of course not americans, otherwise this bill would have never lasted for longer than 10 seconds) "suspects" indefinitely without access to civilian courts, and I'm getting a bit scared.
This is starting to get crazy.
You gotta admit, there's something hysterically funny about a president who's known for his "hard stance on terrorism" while the ONLY time the majority of his country actually rallied behind him was when he was scaring them into invading Iraq before 'they invade the US with a large active arsenal of WMD that can be made fire ready in 45 minutes'.
And now that hasn't worked out at all, you got guys at foxnews trying to heckle clinton for the whole "not capturing OBL" thing.
Someone needs to tell these guys that "scaring" and "intimidating" people is the very essence of terrorism.
If the prices of your favorite retailer just went up by 10%, it's not because they've invested more in security, but just in /. articles.
How many times have I seen people describe themselves as "intelligent", "successful", "ambitious", "funny", "creative", "outgoing", "easy going"? And here's the best part: on dating platforms, they're all 'looking for bf/gf just like me'.
Puh lease.
In a "I'm sick of these motherfucking cows in this motherfucking race" kind of way?
Unless you're impotent, watching porn while jogging doesn't sound like a comfortable thing to do. Especially when you're wearing those jogging pants.
"Dude is that your....??"
"That's my ehm IPOD sticking out! That's right"
This reminds me of that joke that was posted on the net before:
McDonald's Fast Food Job Application
DESIRED POSITION: Reclining. HA But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.
MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?
http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/
have been seen biting humans in suspicious labs.
"Okay, Steve, I think it's back to normal again."
"What? Taking money out of the Xmas gift to pay for your chair and office damage? Well, wouldn't be the first time."
"But seriously man, just between you and me, but what's with all this MILF porn man?"
"Bill told you not to keep this shit on your protected network drive."
"Aw come on! Everybody knows your password is 'MacroBig'!"
"Imagine if the company digged deep enough?"
"Just in case this doesn't work out, we'll fire a bunch and write it off as "underperformed".
"Hey, what's that weird thing on your screen? OMG IT'S SENDING AN EMAIL, QUICK CUT IT O.F....."
Eek, I'm getting carried away here.