Posts by GrimJack

I tripped over these videos earlier today - I used to be a sign-language interpreter (well, I graduated and had a couple gigs before I broke my hand then drifted away). I love this stuff - i used to go to ASL theatrical productions, hang out in 'deafie' bars. Well, take a look I fell in love
pay attention to the warning but enjoy Marilyn Manson
Then there is this rapper.

I could keep pasting in more links but if you like -- they are easy to find.

Hey Dude! you finally posted something I really, really like!
If you pay attention to the whole scene, it is easy to figure out that area was going to be destroyed shortly; also, the artist(s) must have had the blessing of the city in order to have the time to complete the work.

There is an artist in Paris who does pochoir (stencil art) who do their work only on buildings that are to be torn down - generally zoo-related like this one. This is by Mosko and associates

Here is an haunting addition to the Panopticon: you talkin' to me?. These speakers can target one person in a crowd and only that person will hear the sound. So, with RFID readers scanning you for hints as to what you are interested in, combined with all those cameras in 'the commons', someone could be whispering ads in your ear - knowing your innermost secrets.

Not that I am paranoid or anything

Originally Posted by ZZucker View Post
In China a woman gives birth every 2 seconds.
Can they not find her and give her birth control??

SNL had a skit wrt "in NYC, someone gets mugged every 15 seconds" with John Belushi playing the poor schmuck who kept getting mugged

In context, the post read "Also, both were elected in a year divisible by 20. Reagan was the first President not to die in office" A link to a story about the 20 year Presidential curse. This is too far out there to really be believed IMHO, but is still common to both. http://www.snopes.com/history/american/curse.asp

Ah, that should have been a semi-colon after '20' to tie the 2 sentences together - I had heard that legend before back when Reagan was shot, then forgot all about it.

countries, total dollar amount does not equal aid delivered. Programs like micro-loans, organizations like plenty.org, the Lyons Club recycling glasses, the Peace Corp, and even the one laptop per child project, even thought it hasn't been as successful as projected, are more along the lines of actual aid in that it permanently changes peoples lives for the better. And doesn't have a political motive as may be the case with Cuban doctors. It's the old saw about feeding someone for a day or teaching them to feed themselves.

Aid given |= aid received - only too true. I mis-read your original comment:

We Americans are not liked in some parts of the world even though the U.S. does more than any other nation to feed the poor, heal the sick, etc.

to mean the government. Generally, Americans are liked for who we are but our government is disliked.
I think microloans are a great idea (with some …

Just came across this thread. The only surprising thing is that no one has tried to tie the subject to an oxymoron. We Americans are not liked in some parts of the world even though the U.S. does more than any other nation to feed the poor,

Of the 21 wealthiest countries in the world, only Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain give less per capita than the US

heal the sick, etc.

Cuba sends out medical doctors like the Mormans send out missionaries.

Back on topic, does anyone else see parallels between Bush and Reagan. Trickle down theory/tax cuts for the rich yielding a recession, popularity sinking to the mid 30s, somewhere in space most of the time, advisors making the decisions, out of touch with the people. In Reagan's case, his advisors convinced him to cut back on programs favoring the rich (campaign contributors) and between that and actions by the Federal Reserve, the economy recovered. We'll have to see what happens this time. Also, both were elected in a year divisible by 20. Reagan was the first President not to die in office,

Please explain what the above phrase means -- is there a code or a word missing?

although I haven't checked the history personally, and Bush is still alive. I wish no one any bad circumstances though.

There seems to be some connective themes missing that might, somehow tie that paragraph together.

Of the 43 pres - only 8 died in office.

Yeah, I exhale under pressure

GrimJack: I'm not whining about anything, I just thought that somebody would know any program like this..

You should be able to dl the data from the newspaper's website, read it, replace their odds with yours and send it back to them for inclusion (understanding that where they keep their data is different that where they want you to send yours). Seems pretty straight forward but what do I know.

The fundraiser was first listed as open then McCain realized he did not really want any pictures of himself with Bush so he closed it and did not allow press. I don't think he wanted POTUS to say "Way to go, John" or something as damning

Geek, leet, and Valley?

Currently my dual-core is running 2 different instances - Lattice project and uFluids, the other 2 waiting for their turn are Rosetta and SpinHenge. (at least on this machine anyway.)

I come up with 365.243 days. or 365 days 5hours 49mins 55.2seconds

Interestingly, the sidereal day is 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds

Bob

I saw a notice which said "Drink Canada Dry" so I've started.

I remember the good old days when I could drink for free in Canada - I would give the clerk a $20.00 bill and s/he would give me a $20.00 bill and a 6-pack of Molson (US$ vs CA$). Now the Canadians can almost do that down here!

ObElephant -if oil was valued in Euroes, it would only be 80 per gallon rather than 120 per.

I agree but we don't really have a better place for this.

Yeah, then later he started whinging about actually having to do something to earn the data - maybe we should just flag it inappropriate - like Jwenting was thinking.

Grilled pork short ribs with a bottle of home made sparkling water (cold tap water + CO2, shaken)

And so much of it is Bull Pucky - use this thread at your own risk.
...
i am mountin' men !!!

Modified to remind you to keep it clean.

In the equatorial regions of Earth, 90% of the nutrients are on or above the ground.
Around 55 degs (north or south) 90% of the nutrients are below ground.

(winter causes biological activity to cease so that the nutrients can build up in the soil)

Does anyone have any idea what percentage of people think Obama is a Muslim? I'm generally the optimist and am constantly getting in arguments with my friends regarding such issues, with me arguing that only a tiny percentage of Americans think Obama is a Muslim or other such lunacy, and them being more cynical. It occurs to me that I actually have no polling data or anything like that when I make these claims (so I probably shouldn't make 'em), so I'm just guessing. Has anyone seen any kind of polling data on that? It seems to me that the silver lining for Obama in this Reverend Wright debacle is that he can't possibly be accused of being a Muslim anymore.

A Newsweek poll just out:
Asked to identify his religion, 58 percent of respondents correctly said Obama was a Christian. But a surprising 11 percent said he was a Muslim. And 22 percent said they did not know what his religion was.

Does Edward always talk about Edward in the 3rd person?

I find the amount of people I meet that simply won't vote for Obama because he is half black alarming. There are also many people that have read the republican smear-mail and believe he is a muslim. Bigotry is live and well in this country!

The other thing I find absolutely unreal is the people who ask "why do people call Obama black? he is only half black". This is bigotry trying to hide behind historical amnesia.

I carpooled with a guy who absolutely would not vote for Clinton if Obama did not get the nomination; said he would rather vote for McCain. When I pointed out issues w/McCain, he said he would vote for Nader. I pointed out what happened the last time that happened. He waffled a bunch - I don't think he ever came around; but at least he started thinking about his vote.

Any knee-jerk reaction is just stupid.

Jasimp - love the simile!
scholars disagree:Biologists debate whether or not viruses are living organisms. Some consider them non-living as they do not meet the criteria of the definition of life. For example, unlike most organisms, viruses do not have cells. However, viruses have genes and evolve by natural selection. Others have described them as organisms at the edge of life.
I have been interested in phages (anti-bacterial virii) for quite a while - I think with the current spate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the study of bacteriophages will come to the fore again (interest in phages stopped in the US with the discovery of Penicillin).

Look here for more info.

Haha.. very funny title!
Interesting facts & tidbits.
So much to know out there. :P

And so much of it is Bull Pucky - use this thread at your own risk.

Please - no gambling
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball
"Still legal in 16 states. It's happy. It's fun. It's Happy Fun Ball."
# Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
# Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
# Happy Fun Ball Contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
# Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.
When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration... Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.

Tangentially related to the topic was an article that recently interested me.

Dave - that article is not even tangentially related to this topic -- but I can't help myself, I have to respond.
I only wish life in these United States was as pure and wonderful as painted in that article. Look here - I don't want to appear down on the U.S. but I really don't like Pollyanna-like belief in the purity of our side (whether or not the side is religious, political, or whatever).

People are people no matter what side they are on.

Why didn't this poll include Hannah Montana?

Er, because she's not asian? (read his .sig before you ask)

AD - you are a mod - can't you move this thread to somewhere more appropriate?

Because we believe that there is one and only one G-d who created the universe. Plus Jews and Christians have the Old Testament of the Bible in common.

You should make that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - these are the 3 who are tied together by Abraham and the old testament. Some think Bahai should fit in there somewhere since it is <sort of> is an off-shoot of Shi'a; but once you open that door, then you have to decide about Sufism which claims direct descent from Mohamad but different than or inclusive Shi'a and Sunni - and so on.

VI works on everything, twomers. It's omnipotent.

Look another chance to use my "editor of the beast' joke VI VI VI.

using one to prove the other is an oxymoron.

The string theory.....I like to see that someone else is familiar with this.

How about anti-matter, are you familiar with this as well.

Scince is what intrigues me, though i have little time to devote to learning when putting food on the table for my family is so hard. My plans were to be a genetic engineer and piss off all the religious types.

One of the theories of origins of the universe is there was just nothing, nowhere - then there was a twitch and the universe formed of mutually exclusive particles - every particle + its anti-particle but they could not account for enough anti-matter so they can't reduce the universe to null. They were hoping that they could find it in the dark matter but no luck with that. Anti-matter vs anti-particles is resolved around size, matter/anti-matter is baryonic

Well, I will chime in with my Golden Age favorites:
Alfred Bester who wrote The Stars My Destination (generally considered the best sf novel ever written - but definitely gets on the top 5 lists).

Cordwainer Smith (aka. Paul Linebarger) who wrote a 14,000 year history of Mankind controlled by overlords known as 'the Instrumentality of Man'. He died young producing only one novel and 32 short stories gathered in one book The Rediscovery of Man.

Roger Zelazney wrote sci fi disguised as fantasy (and/or vice-versa) - most are familiar with his Amber series - I think This Immortal or Today We Change Faces are my favorite.

ps I agree Philip K. Dick was a great - he put so many ideas into one of his stories that most lessor authors would use in 5 books.

I wish there were more interesting posts in Geeks Lounge, err - I hate it when I take the time to respond to someones response to something I said and there is followup. I have decided that if they don't follow up then I left them speechless with wit and intelligence.

I kind of hate it that we can't do strikethrough.

Also another real good one I like is Ninja scrolls (the movie) and then the series which takes place after the movie.

Dang - I was just going to add Ninja Scrolls -- I loved it; along with ghost in the machine and Spirited Away. I don't get to see a lot of them cuz DH does not really like anime yet she loves samurai film like Zatoichi (go figure). We have almost the complete set of the old style and also the new one.

Do you mean so that you can do [code]

[/code] types of things?
If that is what you mean it is [noparse] [/noparse]

No so that I can make a [strike]snide[/strike] appropriate remark -- where the bolded word 'snide' shows up with a line through it, Like this.

Fixed :)

WOW! Thank you! I have been getting by thinking it just me or my lame FF setup (I have so many add-ons active that I break a lot of web-sites).

Obama "spectacularly unqualified". :icon_razz:

Thanks Dave -- I needed a laugh. I love it when idiots try get all politically astute - he could not actually come up with anything to say so he just sort of 'barfed' a bunch of crap.

It is always a problem when someone tries to 'prove' god or religion with the current scientific paradigm. I remember Dancing Wu Li Master and various junk pieces by Frijhaf (sp) Kapra from the '70s trying to tie Eastern Mysticism to quantum mathematics; later, in the '80s 'they' were trying to use string theory to prove their theories. Generally, it is not a good idea to try to prove science by quoting faith and/or faith by science.

Call them and ask what their policy is - the local Fry's was really paranoid about piracy (I am unsure why) they would not even send the disk to me - I had to go and talk to them then go in and pick up the disk. way bother!

I can't seem to get the 'increase indent' button to work I suppose I could use the

wrap quote around text

button that is not what I want to do,
trying the indent here - nope still does not work.

b-t-b, is there a [strikeout] [/strikeout] kind of marking?

Sorry the joke is not in base-13 so that should actually be the Omega and Omega - the end and the end.

like I said Grimjack, don't believe the leftist propaganda trying to distance the left from the national socialists and fascists, who are leftists themselves (though fascism isn't limited to leftists).

and if you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe a doctor in psychology and sociology with a teaching degree in economics.
http://ray-dox.blogspot.com/2006/05/american-roots-of-fascism-american.html
http://jonjayray.bravehost.com/fasfraud.htm
http://ray-dox.blogspot.com/2006/08/this-article-is-published-on-internet.html

Wow - jw - you had me spinning for a little while; I was getting ready to re-evaluate things I know or thought I knew. Just to make sure that jonjayray-dox knew what s/he was talking about I went to my best bud Google - lo and behold there is some controversy wrt the thing (it did not help that there were anti-intellectual, anti-liberal, anti-left diatribes on the right <that must be part of their little joke> which leads me to think <well, duh> you might also be a right wingnut).

Prove to me you have an open mind and tell me what you think of this review.

another good one is THX 1138, the first film made by George Lucas.
Don't watch when you're depressed...

Imagine an entire city populated by blonds and redheads who have shaved heads and wear white baggy jumpsuits - I swear to god I could not tell anyone apart in that film - they all had freckles (not complaining about freckle mind you - just that there were no distinguishing features like clothes or hair that we normally use to tell people apart). Then they were all in a white room, in white jumpsuits and even depth perception disappeared. except for one person (donald pleasance) and, of course, the cops (scene: a cop walks into a wall, steps back, adjusts his belt, then walks into the wall - over and over with a voice over "officer malfunction in corridor nnn.."). Then there was that all cop channel where cops with these 'really, really' long night sticks beat a guy while asking "are you now or have you ever been" -- I was surprised that noone mentioned this scene when the Rodney King beating was broadcast.

Ahh, here I am getting all nostalgic for an old movie - thanks for reminding me jwenting!!

Google automatically tracks your movement - I had to set google-analytics and doubleclick to my NoScript blacklist and I run TMN (TrackMeNot) and do not use Google desktop.

It cost $25 to get the recovery disk from Frye's which is where I bought mine. Here is a place to start support. You could also try Craigslist. Heck, mine finally died, I could probably part with the recovery disk (if that sort of thing is okay on these boards).

I used to think that Brave New World was scarier and a more likely outcome but since the 'war on terror' has been declared suddenly 1984 now seems to be an equal future (continuous warfare, citizens encouraged to spy on others, constant monitoring via cctv, newspeak, historic revisionism -- vs -- medicated society, poisoning of the lower classes, yadda,yadda,yadda)

Even when you're alone, behave as if your being watched (because you are).

The Panopticon has you in its clutches

1) it was an ultra leftwing government, never mind what the leftist propaganda of the last 60 years tells you. It's National SOCIALISM. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while in prison for his involvement in a COMMUNIST revolution in which he was a key figure.
2) they didn't, actually. Educated people were used to great effect to develop advanced weapons and other systems. Without those people you'd not have jet aircraft, computers, space travel, a lot of plastics, etc. etc. today.

What? At least look up Nazi in Wiki. They were fascist and used some elements from the left but allied itself with the right. Hitler was not imprisoned for being a communist - he was imprisoned for High Treason because he and his 'beer hall' party attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government.

The Nazi's did not attempt to kill off their own intelligentsia but did try to get all the Jews out of Germany. and they (with the help of the Soviets) did kill of almost all of the intellectual class in Poland by killing all captured officers and NCOs. 6 million poles died the war (including 3 million Jews).

i dont really get eugenics. is it the same as breeding a species, selecting organisms with traits that we desire and allow only those to breed?

This was blinding stupidity of the eugenics movement - they had no idea what they were doing. They tried to combine Medel's work on genetics with Darwin's work on natural selection and come up with a method to 'purify' humanity. Of course, using Down's "Observations on the Ethnic Classification of Idiots" which just happened to put Caucasians at the top of the genetics heap. They assumed that if they sterilized all the defectives, then they could remove the bad genes from the race.

or is it more like crossing one breed with another so that in time a new and better variation of a species come into existence.

They also tried this, tall blonds with tall blonds, etc.

If it is the latter than eugenics is idiocity.

Yep - you hit the nail on the head - they had not heard about chromosomes. Friedrich Leopold August Weismann was already working on chromosomes at this time - it is not known if Down was aware of his work - this work ranked him as the #2 guy in evolution theory.

interesting enough though one must look at what God did in the bible when he created the nation of israel. some may say that was eugenics. but i am sure it was more like an attempt at breeding. he continuously prevented the descendents of abraham …

I have to disagree with this one. Wars really weed out the weak. Recently wars have been fought by a small percentage of the most healthy people, but I think that's a fairly recent phenomenon. Depends on the war, of course, and the country, but a lot of wars are going to affect everyone, whether they're actually fighting or not. Pretty much anyone who can walk is going to end up fighting if your country starts running out of troops. You didn't necessarily need to be all that healthy and the physicals given in earlier days didn't weed out nearly as many people as they do today. However, you do have pretty strong genes to survive a war given the wretched, disease-ridden trenches in a war like World War I or a war like the Civil War where tons of people died not from gunshots but from disease. If you don't have a good immune system, you aren't going to survive drawn-out trench warfare. Similarly a war is going to take up most all of a country's resources, so civilians who are infirm are much more likely to die off since conditions are much harsher than normal. So it seems to me that the people who survive a big war are going to be a pretty genetically strong group of people, much stronger on average than when the war started. This isn't true in our current war, but I think it is true over time, in general.

Trench warfare is …

Just read your history (and not the romanticised stuff you get in your local library) or any scientific text on anthropology.
Most "primitive" tribes now and always have cast out the infirm, mentally or physically.
Not only do those people consume resources without contributing any, but their offspring (were they to produce any) would be liable to be weak as well.

Sorry dude, find me a link. I read history, and I found much different stories from the ones you tell.

You can believe that god designed evolution but you can know that evolution is a fact.

"...we have always acknowledged how far we are from completely understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact) occurred. Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory--natural selection--to explain the mechanism of evolution."

I just ran across this (old) joke:
"Man goes to the doctor and says, "Doc, whenever I fart it sounds like this", and demonstrates. There is a drawn out noise that sounds for all the world like "Honda!". He does it again, and again it sounds like he's calling out the name of the Japanese manufacturer. "What is wrong with me, doc?" (In all jokes, doctors are called "doc". It's required.)

The doctor hems and haws for a few minutes and consults a learned tome, and then asks, "Have you been drinking absinthe lately?" For those who don't know, that's a nasty alcoholic drink that is banned in many countries. "Well, yes, I have," replies the hapless man. "Well, that explains it!" the doctor triumphantly says. "Absinthe makes the farts go 'Honda!'" "