For everyone here who has seen a lot of science fiction movies or lived in a trailer park where hillbilly meth-heads are routinely abducted by little green men, you might want to keep in mind that 127 light years is a very long way--an almost unimaginable distance, in fact. Most people have absolutely no appreciation for interstellar distances in general (when I was a wee lad, for example, I thought that the next solar system began right at the edge of our own). Let's put it this way: our fastest craft take about 9 years or so to go from the Earth to Pluto. At that same speed, it would take about 125,000 years to reach our next door neighbor (Proxima Centauri). And that's a mere 4.2 light years away (right in our cosmic back yard).
So if you're planning a visit to this newly discovered system, you'd better pack for about a 4-million-year trip, one way.
Clearly this entire article is just another move in the left-wing socialist conspiracy that has attempted in recent days to discredit the great and noble Grand Old Party. And I'm not just saying that because the GOP paid me $25 to--though I do appreciate their kind gesture.
They'll only be satisfied when the internet is closed up and the only way to put up a webpage or blog, or even post a message, is to get the content vetted through the RIAA/MPAA first (for a nominal fee, of course).
I finally could tell my friend to go to hell
on
Windows 95 Turns 15
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· Score: 4, Funny
I had a buddy back in 94/95 who was constantly throwing OS/2 in my face. Hey, look at all the Windows I can have open, look at my clean interface, look at how much faster and more stable this runs that your Win 3.11, look at all these DOS sessions open simultaneously!
Windows 95 finally gave me the ability to rub his arrogant face right in my ass. And, for that, I say "Thank you, Bill Gates."
A PC doesn't have to be modded to work with pirate software, a console generally does. This alone ensures that piracy will never be even remotely as prevalent on consoles as it is on PC's.
Facial recognition software is already notoriously unreliable. I suspect that this system would be even easier to fool, and even more wonky with identification. Unless you could couple a bunch of these systems together, I doubt they would be useful at all. And I'm not even sure they would be particularly useful even if they were strung together. If a fake beard can fool facial recognition, then all I have to do is add an overcoat to deal with the skeletal recognition too.
Besides, how many people share the same basic build? If the system were to get any more specific than that, it would probably require an X-ray or MRI, and that would ultimately cause *way* more deaths than any terrorist (I'll have to pass on the daily dose or radiation, thanks).
Funniest scene in the Mad Max movies was in Beyond Thunderdome when Max has to check his guns and weapons at the door to BarterTown and spends several minutes pulling out guns from every conceivable orifice. Now there's a pretty important commodity in a dystopia.
Jesus, Richard, does she really need hundreds of fucking balloons at *every* party? Isn't it enough we got her ponies *and* two clowns, for crying out loud?!?!?
When I was a kid, I feared the post-apocalyptic future offered by the Mad Max movies, et. al. I thought that was the worst possible fate that humanity could face in the future. Now, I survey the reality television landscape and realize that maybe killer mutants with shouldpads and mohawks wouldn't have been so bad after all.
Actually the CIA favors plane crashes. Fatal automobile accidents are difficult to stage and leave a lot more evidence behind. It's much easier to get a plane to fall out of the sky and make it look like an accident, and (if done right) it's almost impossible to survive plane crash.
The hard, harsh reality that no one wants to accept is that there *are no* "sustainable habitats away from Earth." With our bent for science fiction, our "We can do it!" attitude, our infatuation with our technology, and our frontier spirit; we just can't accept that there are some frontiers which simply *can't* be settled. The other bodies in this solar system are more inhospitable than most people can even imagine. For an asteroid hit to render this planet more inhospitable than even the most earth-like and accessible other body in the solar system would require a hit that would tear this planet to pieces. Even an extinction-level hit would still leave this planet WAY more survivable than Mars or any other body. And anything outside this solar system is completely inaccessible (again, most people have no idea of the incredible distances involved in interstellar travel).
The fate of humanity is forever tied to the fate of earth. There is no other place for us. Deal with it.
All I can say for 3 is that the Smallville stuff and the Evil Superman stuff wasn't bad. It wasn't good, but it was "Citizen Kane" next to the abomination that was "The Quest for Peace."
Slashdot Mirror
I will when Moore's Law applies to propulsion.
For everyone here who has seen a lot of science fiction movies or lived in a trailer park where hillbilly meth-heads are routinely abducted by little green men, you might want to keep in mind that 127 light years is a very long way--an almost unimaginable distance, in fact. Most people have absolutely no appreciation for interstellar distances in general (when I was a wee lad, for example, I thought that the next solar system began right at the edge of our own). Let's put it this way: our fastest craft take about 9 years or so to go from the Earth to Pluto. At that same speed, it would take about 125,000 years to reach our next door neighbor (Proxima Centauri). And that's a mere 4.2 light years away (right in our cosmic back yard).
So if you're planning a visit to this newly discovered system, you'd better pack for about a 4-million-year trip, one way.
Clearly this entire article is just another move in the left-wing socialist conspiracy that has attempted in recent days to discredit the great and noble Grand Old Party. And I'm not just saying that because the GOP paid me $25 to--though I do appreciate their kind gesture.
They'll only be satisfied when the internet is closed up and the only way to put up a webpage or blog, or even post a message, is to get the content vetted through the RIAA/MPAA first (for a nominal fee, of course).
I had a buddy back in 94/95 who was constantly throwing OS/2 in my face. Hey, look at all the Windows I can have open, look at my clean interface, look at how much faster and more stable this runs that your Win 3.11, look at all these DOS sessions open simultaneously!
Windows 95 finally gave me the ability to rub his arrogant face right in my ass. And, for that, I say "Thank you, Bill Gates."
A PC doesn't have to be modded to work with pirate software, a console generally does. This alone ensures that piracy will never be even remotely as prevalent on consoles as it is on PC's.
But where will we find a brave, handsome, and sexy enough man to lead such an attack?
Facial recognition software is already notoriously unreliable. I suspect that this system would be even easier to fool, and even more wonky with identification. Unless you could couple a bunch of these systems together, I doubt they would be useful at all. And I'm not even sure they would be particularly useful even if they were strung together. If a fake beard can fool facial recognition, then all I have to do is add an overcoat to deal with the skeletal recognition too.
Besides, how many people share the same basic build? If the system were to get any more specific than that, it would probably require an X-ray or MRI, and that would ultimately cause *way* more deaths than any terrorist (I'll have to pass on the daily dose or radiation, thanks).
That's natural selection weeding out the wildlife not smart enough to avoid balloons.
If you're not careful, you can play "drunk uncle with cigarettes meets balloons meet kids meet emergency room."
I live in Alabama. You really want a challenge, you should try looking for intelligent life here.
Funniest scene in the Mad Max movies was in Beyond Thunderdome when Max has to check his guns and weapons at the door to BarterTown and spends several minutes pulling out guns from every conceivable orifice. Now there's a pretty important commodity in a dystopia.
Phillip Dick wrote Second Variety ten years before that third-rate knock-off. If anyone deserves credit for being ripped off, it's him.
Jesus, Richard, does she really need hundreds of fucking balloons at *every* party? Isn't it enough we got her ponies *and* two clowns, for crying out loud?!?!?
When I was a kid, I feared the post-apocalyptic future offered by the Mad Max movies, et. al. I thought that was the worst possible fate that humanity could face in the future. Now, I survey the reality television landscape and realize that maybe killer mutants with shouldpads and mohawks wouldn't have been so bad after all.
Let's just put up a giant flashing sign so Skynet can see us better. HEY, OVER HERE KILLER ROBOTS!
Oh wait, I just thought of the name for my new blog.
Actually the CIA favors plane crashes. Fatal automobile accidents are difficult to stage and leave a lot more evidence behind. It's much easier to get a plane to fall out of the sky and make it look like an accident, and (if done right) it's almost impossible to survive plane crash.
The hard, harsh reality that no one wants to accept is that there *are no* "sustainable habitats away from Earth." With our bent for science fiction, our "We can do it!" attitude, our infatuation with our technology, and our frontier spirit; we just can't accept that there are some frontiers which simply *can't* be settled. The other bodies in this solar system are more inhospitable than most people can even imagine. For an asteroid hit to render this planet more inhospitable than even the most earth-like and accessible other body in the solar system would require a hit that would tear this planet to pieces. Even an extinction-level hit would still leave this planet WAY more survivable than Mars or any other body. And anything outside this solar system is completely inaccessible (again, most people have no idea of the incredible distances involved in interstellar travel).
The fate of humanity is forever tied to the fate of earth. There is no other place for us. Deal with it.
I said the same thing a couple of weeks ago and people thought I was nuts.
Well, I certainly expected it. Disappointing for its lack of subtlety, though. I would have went with something less obvious.
Yeah, I mean no one could have possibly seen that coming.
All I can say for 3 is that the Smallville stuff and the Evil Superman stuff wasn't bad. It wasn't good, but it was "Citizen Kane" next to the abomination that was "The Quest for Peace."
That's why I moved to Alabama. They'll never even think to come here.
The Chernobyl outbreak was contained. Came at a high cost, but they stopped it.