JamesM's Comments
"GeekMan - October 14th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
“A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function.” (via Wikipedia)"
Sugar does this. Is sugar a drug? What about Water? It alters my bodily function if I have too much of it. (I'd drown and my body would cease functioning, thus, an alteration.)
Cloves can make you hallucinate. Salvia, too. But in a much smaller dose. Why isn't clove considered to be a drug, but a spice? Salvia is an herb, but viewed as a drug.
It's easy to split hairs, isn't it?
“A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function.” (via Wikipedia)"
Sugar does this. Is sugar a drug? What about Water? It alters my bodily function if I have too much of it. (I'd drown and my body would cease functioning, thus, an alteration.)
Cloves can make you hallucinate. Salvia, too. But in a much smaller dose. Why isn't clove considered to be a drug, but a spice? Salvia is an herb, but viewed as a drug.
It's easy to split hairs, isn't it?
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A turbine is in the body of the fan. A turbine spins. It has blades. This fan still has blades.
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Voted "Not Sure" due to the lack of any good answers to an incredibly simplistic, yet loaded question. I think it's rather arrogant to imply that humans are the be-all and end-all to this issue. Water Vapor still remains a huge majority of the greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere, making up up to 85% of it at one time. Yes. Water. More than anything else. Combined. At any given time.
A volcanic eruption puts out more pollutants than man does in 100 years.
We certainly are making things worse for ourselves due to impacting the QUALITY of the air... but when it comes to Global Warming/Cooling/Climate Change and whatever they're calling it now... We've gotten a bit full of ourselves by pretending that we can: Predict any long term patterns beyond our short term occupancy on this planet and rely on old data when accuracy is only as good as it is now.
I'm far, far more concerned about all the crap in the ocean, (dead zones, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch) overfishing, overfarming, eradication of natural zones and life, overpopulation, toxic waste, the garbage we generate... than I am about the weather. Which, in the year almost 2010... we still can't predict more than 3 days in advance, throughout the year, with consistency.
I'm no right wing shill nor am I a hippy. I don't deny that we have some impact, I just don't think we're the only reason why anything happens and we're the only ones who can "fix" the problem. ALMOST everyone has valid points, but we're vastly overlooking bigger problems by freaking out over the weather. FYI, last year was Chicago's longest, coldest winter with record amounts of snowfall. I noticed that during this winter, which actually reached quite far south in the form of ice storms, that the terms mutated from "Global Warming" to "Climate Change." Climate changes occur on a longer scale due to influences much bigger than us. Like... the SUN, for example...
I could go on, but then I run the risk of being another tl;dr neatorama comment.
A volcanic eruption puts out more pollutants than man does in 100 years.
We certainly are making things worse for ourselves due to impacting the QUALITY of the air... but when it comes to Global Warming/Cooling/Climate Change and whatever they're calling it now... We've gotten a bit full of ourselves by pretending that we can: Predict any long term patterns beyond our short term occupancy on this planet and rely on old data when accuracy is only as good as it is now.
I'm far, far more concerned about all the crap in the ocean, (dead zones, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch) overfishing, overfarming, eradication of natural zones and life, overpopulation, toxic waste, the garbage we generate... than I am about the weather. Which, in the year almost 2010... we still can't predict more than 3 days in advance, throughout the year, with consistency.
I'm no right wing shill nor am I a hippy. I don't deny that we have some impact, I just don't think we're the only reason why anything happens and we're the only ones who can "fix" the problem. ALMOST everyone has valid points, but we're vastly overlooking bigger problems by freaking out over the weather. FYI, last year was Chicago's longest, coldest winter with record amounts of snowfall. I noticed that during this winter, which actually reached quite far south in the form of ice storms, that the terms mutated from "Global Warming" to "Climate Change." Climate changes occur on a longer scale due to influences much bigger than us. Like... the SUN, for example...
I could go on, but then I run the risk of being another tl;dr neatorama comment.
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Maybe it's the world's way of telling us "Don't let Palin win in 2012...
"Here's a prize to help you win reelection because the Neocons, Right Winger personalities and those who call themselves Republicans are still going stark raving mad and they scare us."
"Here's a prize to help you win reelection because the Neocons, Right Winger personalities and those who call themselves Republicans are still going stark raving mad and they scare us."
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"felixthecat
October 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I can go to just about any Christian church around here and find myself among apocalyptic cultists."
Ding.
FTA: "Jesus will return to heaven with the most righteous 144,000 souls."
This actually is taken from Christian Dogma, with some branches of Christianity also believing that the 144,000 number is the tally of those who get to ascend to heaven.
All religions are cults. The most popular ones are the only ones who have enough people to shout back saying theirs is not one.
You don't even have to be an atheist to see this. I know many agnostic and "spiritual but not religious" people who simply accept there can and may be a higher power and the best thing to do is just to live an honourable life. Can't argue with that.
October 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I can go to just about any Christian church around here and find myself among apocalyptic cultists."
Ding.
FTA: "Jesus will return to heaven with the most righteous 144,000 souls."
This actually is taken from Christian Dogma, with some branches of Christianity also believing that the 144,000 number is the tally of those who get to ascend to heaven.
All religions are cults. The most popular ones are the only ones who have enough people to shout back saying theirs is not one.
You don't even have to be an atheist to see this. I know many agnostic and "spiritual but not religious" people who simply accept there can and may be a higher power and the best thing to do is just to live an honourable life. Can't argue with that.
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"SenorMysterioso
October 7th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
The peak of the emotion was when she got a response, couldve ended around there."
And that was only about 3/10ths of the movie. The rest of it was superfluous and drawn out past its actual climax.
"ted October 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
And why did the dude let her in on the deception? For the same reason that villains always tell James Bond their plans before they try to (unsuccessfully) kill him?"
This was what ultimately pushed me over the edge from "eh, don't care, this is going on too long" to "uhm, yeah, that was ass."
Proof that editing makes the story. A director should know when to allow, and when to cut out, the scenery chewing. This short, while wasn't bad in the sense of production values for a short, over dramatized the wrong aspect of the story IMHO.
Spend a little more time setting up why she feels hopeless and wants to kill herself, add some hesitation so that it's not an early deus ex machina of the radio squabbling that saves her from killing herself... and absolute radio silence after she reveals her bunker location. From that point on... the focus is back on her and not the stupid exposition that explains away everything. What does she do? THAT is a more interesting and suspenseful story to me.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
The peak of the emotion was when she got a response, couldve ended around there."
And that was only about 3/10ths of the movie. The rest of it was superfluous and drawn out past its actual climax.
"ted October 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
And why did the dude let her in on the deception? For the same reason that villains always tell James Bond their plans before they try to (unsuccessfully) kill him?"
This was what ultimately pushed me over the edge from "eh, don't care, this is going on too long" to "uhm, yeah, that was ass."
Proof that editing makes the story. A director should know when to allow, and when to cut out, the scenery chewing. This short, while wasn't bad in the sense of production values for a short, over dramatized the wrong aspect of the story IMHO.
Spend a little more time setting up why she feels hopeless and wants to kill herself, add some hesitation so that it's not an early deus ex machina of the radio squabbling that saves her from killing herself... and absolute radio silence after she reveals her bunker location. From that point on... the focus is back on her and not the stupid exposition that explains away everything. What does she do? THAT is a more interesting and suspenseful story to me.
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HBO previously had a similar project in which you watched an entire apartment building. Instead of it being different camera angles, it was different floors (with interconnecting storylines) with a unique soundtrack for each story... timed and composed to the events on the screen.
http://archive.bigspaceship.com/hbovoyeur/ - The official site is offline, but it was fully archived here.
http://archive.bigspaceship.com/hbovoyeur/ - The official site is offline, but it was fully archived here.
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Very tongue in cheek rules, but all of them are exactly what I've heard for years. Very solid advice... especially since each is an example of what should be avoided!
One out of Two James agree!
One out of Two James agree!
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I'm an Adidas guy. Sambas are the only model of shoes that I have been able to consistently wear, even when tossing out old pairs and breaking in a new one. I have very high arches and don't need arch support insoles for Sambas. They're simple, still in production and still very popular (football), but also fit my feet better than many other brands and styles... and even if I find something else that fits me well, the models tend to get phased out too quickly for me to be able to get them again when I've finally worn them out. I just know I'm screwed if Sambas ever end up being discontinued. Never really cared much for Pumas, or anything else really. Now if the hipsters would just stop buying the Sambas...
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"seefish3
September 11th, 2009 at 3:58 am
Please refer to the novel Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters in which scientists create a bacteria to bio-degrade plastics. It works wonderfully on disposables until it mutates and starts to break down ALL plastics.
Im surprised this isnt a movie yet, but tailoring biological components to alter the properties of matter scares the crap out of me"
More like you're allowing yourself to be scared.
I have an exercise for you.
Find me a species, mutated by radiation, that subsequently became dangerous to human beings. Anything at all. I don't care what kingdom, genus, family, what-have-you; anything from a virus to an animal. Harmless before, was mutated, now dangerous. Should be easy, with such a broad mandate - there has to be at least one example, right?
Nope. While there are plenty of deadly lifeforms on this planet, mutation via exposure to radiation does not make them deadlier. Conversely, overuse of antibiotics (to give one example) has made bacteria deadlier, or at least harder to cure.
"Mutation" is one of those idiot words - it has a very specific meaning in biology, one that has no resemblance to the way non-biologists habitually use it. Most mutations are detrimental to the organisms survival. The only circumstances under which this is not the case is where the mutation occurs in conjunction with selection pressure that favours the mutant. Bacteria, even parasitic ones, do not benefit from being deadly - lethality is not a survival trait for pathogens.
You've been getting your biology from entertainment. Hollywood, and the like, are rarely accurate.
September 11th, 2009 at 3:58 am
Please refer to the novel Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters in which scientists create a bacteria to bio-degrade plastics. It works wonderfully on disposables until it mutates and starts to break down ALL plastics.
Im surprised this isnt a movie yet, but tailoring biological components to alter the properties of matter scares the crap out of me"
More like you're allowing yourself to be scared.
I have an exercise for you.
Find me a species, mutated by radiation, that subsequently became dangerous to human beings. Anything at all. I don't care what kingdom, genus, family, what-have-you; anything from a virus to an animal. Harmless before, was mutated, now dangerous. Should be easy, with such a broad mandate - there has to be at least one example, right?
Nope. While there are plenty of deadly lifeforms on this planet, mutation via exposure to radiation does not make them deadlier. Conversely, overuse of antibiotics (to give one example) has made bacteria deadlier, or at least harder to cure.
"Mutation" is one of those idiot words - it has a very specific meaning in biology, one that has no resemblance to the way non-biologists habitually use it. Most mutations are detrimental to the organisms survival. The only circumstances under which this is not the case is where the mutation occurs in conjunction with selection pressure that favours the mutant. Bacteria, even parasitic ones, do not benefit from being deadly - lethality is not a survival trait for pathogens.
You've been getting your biology from entertainment. Hollywood, and the like, are rarely accurate.
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I never realised how many bigots and nazis were Neatorama readers. It's depressing.
And I quote: "Did you know that “Anti Racist Action” is an extremely violent Communist mass murder supporting organization in Europe?"
"adam14" makes himself look like an idiot just fine on his own, but if you're going to make a claim... don't claim something that can so easily be proven to be a lie. But then I guess he wouldn't have anything to say at all. Godspeed, you crazy bastard.
Educate yourself sometime. Oh wait, that would destroy the rationale behind your ethos.
From Wiki:
"The Anti-Racist Action Network (ARA) is a decentralized network of militant anti-fascist and anti-racists in North America. ARA activists organize actions to disrupt neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, and help organize activities combating fascist and racist ideologies. ARA groups also oppose sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, and anti-abortion activists. Some ARA groups have been associated with the skinhead and punk subcultures, and have worked with organizations such as Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP)."
ARA has never been an European Organization or an organization in of itself. It is a network of people with common goals of ensuring that the rights of minorities and the disenfranchised are not trampled upon.
Loose associations by political views is not a conclusive link. For example, a white guy wearing a christian cross necklace mugs me. I can't assume all white christians will be muggers. This is the very foundation of racist beliefs and rationale. They want to think the sky is falling because they see someone with a darker skin... nevermind that the people with darker skin often speak the language better than these boneheads do.
The nazis are the real monkeys here, aping soundbites that haven't been true or relevant for decades. McCarthy didn't even use the "communism" in one breath as often as you typed it in one paragraph. Boo! Boogey words! The reds are coming to get you!
Signed,
Proud SHARP and ARA Supporter.
(Oh. I'm white. Just because I don't need to be proud of it doesn't mean I'm ashamed of it either. What DOES make me ashamed is people who think what they were born with... something they had no choice in... is justification of pride. Be proud of what you have done, not what you are. Otherwise, we might as well have Back Hair Power marches or something.)
And I quote: "Did you know that “Anti Racist Action” is an extremely violent Communist mass murder supporting organization in Europe?"
"adam14" makes himself look like an idiot just fine on his own, but if you're going to make a claim... don't claim something that can so easily be proven to be a lie. But then I guess he wouldn't have anything to say at all. Godspeed, you crazy bastard.
Educate yourself sometime. Oh wait, that would destroy the rationale behind your ethos.
From Wiki:
"The Anti-Racist Action Network (ARA) is a decentralized network of militant anti-fascist and anti-racists in North America. ARA activists organize actions to disrupt neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, and help organize activities combating fascist and racist ideologies. ARA groups also oppose sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, and anti-abortion activists. Some ARA groups have been associated with the skinhead and punk subcultures, and have worked with organizations such as Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP)."
ARA has never been an European Organization or an organization in of itself. It is a network of people with common goals of ensuring that the rights of minorities and the disenfranchised are not trampled upon.
Loose associations by political views is not a conclusive link. For example, a white guy wearing a christian cross necklace mugs me. I can't assume all white christians will be muggers. This is the very foundation of racist beliefs and rationale. They want to think the sky is falling because they see someone with a darker skin... nevermind that the people with darker skin often speak the language better than these boneheads do.
The nazis are the real monkeys here, aping soundbites that haven't been true or relevant for decades. McCarthy didn't even use the "communism" in one breath as often as you typed it in one paragraph. Boo! Boogey words! The reds are coming to get you!
Signed,
Proud SHARP and ARA Supporter.
(Oh. I'm white. Just because I don't need to be proud of it doesn't mean I'm ashamed of it either. What DOES make me ashamed is people who think what they were born with... something they had no choice in... is justification of pride. Be proud of what you have done, not what you are. Otherwise, we might as well have Back Hair Power marches or something.)
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A bit of a waste of energy (not to mention water) using a dishwasher to cook something versus doing it on the stove. I know it's supposed to be MacGuyverish, but this one is just a dumb idea from start to finish. At least using a coffee pot boiler and its carafe is actually plausible and practical at the same time. (Students use an equivalent: A hot plate.)
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"Jimbo
August 26th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Linux/Unix is so antiquated and should have died with Windows NT. While the rest of the world moved on, Linux stayed the same. It’s like working with DOS or on a commodore 64. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the commodore 64 and DOS systems, technology advanced."
Obvious troll is obvious, but I'll bite anyway.
Linux was the first OS to support 64bit CPUs.
Linux was the first OS to support GPU acceleration of Windowing effects. (Compiz Fusion, yay!)
Linux was the first OS to have a fully working USB3.0 driver.
17% of Smartphones sold worldwide in 2006 had Linux on them. And this was BEFORE Android was available.
Linux is from the same background (POSIX compliant OSes) that gave birth to BSD. You know? What OSX is now based on? BSD and Linux projects are often ported to the other. WinNT also includes BSD code. Oops.
Microsoft recently dumped the original WinNT kernel. You have to EMULATE WinXP mode in Win7 now... It "requires processor-based virtualization support", So WinNT is effectively dead now, too.
While I still consider WinNT4 to be my most favourite OS, providing me with exactly what I wanted when I was using it... a plain OS that didn't have any unnecessary extra crap in it that I didn't want... WinNT4 is also horribly out of date, slow and difficult to install compared to ... dun dun-dun! Linuxes like Ubuntu.
Even WinXP, Vista both have horrible installations compared to Ubuntu. I use WinXP myself, but I wouldn't hesitate to say Ubuntu's installer kicks the crap out of it.
And that's just the installer. Hardware support is far better, it's far more secure overall, updates come far more frequently and there is an impressive amount of software available to it without having to trust search results and download sites for an EXE that might screw up your system.
ALL operating systems... Linux, Windows and even MacOS... mainly use windowing actions (buttons, tickboxes, etc) to execute console commands. You just don't see it because it's hidden in the background. For nearly every thing that you do in a GUI, the same action can be done via a command line. In Windows, instead of clicking Start, Turn off Computer, Restart... I can make a batch file script to execute: "shutdown.exe -s" - Which would do the exact same thing by typing out a short command and hitting enter. Since, of course, WinNT/2K/XP may have a different kernel and method of booting than other Win's, it's still a "DOS" compliant OS for all the things it does under the pretty GUI... Under the hood, it's a command line based OS just like Linux. (Recovery Console for WinXP? It's DOS based.)
WinNT is dead, Linux has evolved and you're a retard. Get used to it.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Linux/Unix is so antiquated and should have died with Windows NT. While the rest of the world moved on, Linux stayed the same. It’s like working with DOS or on a commodore 64. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the commodore 64 and DOS systems, technology advanced."
Obvious troll is obvious, but I'll bite anyway.
Linux was the first OS to support 64bit CPUs.
Linux was the first OS to support GPU acceleration of Windowing effects. (Compiz Fusion, yay!)
Linux was the first OS to have a fully working USB3.0 driver.
17% of Smartphones sold worldwide in 2006 had Linux on them. And this was BEFORE Android was available.
Linux is from the same background (POSIX compliant OSes) that gave birth to BSD. You know? What OSX is now based on? BSD and Linux projects are often ported to the other. WinNT also includes BSD code. Oops.
Microsoft recently dumped the original WinNT kernel. You have to EMULATE WinXP mode in Win7 now... It "requires processor-based virtualization support", So WinNT is effectively dead now, too.
While I still consider WinNT4 to be my most favourite OS, providing me with exactly what I wanted when I was using it... a plain OS that didn't have any unnecessary extra crap in it that I didn't want... WinNT4 is also horribly out of date, slow and difficult to install compared to ... dun dun-dun! Linuxes like Ubuntu.
Even WinXP, Vista both have horrible installations compared to Ubuntu. I use WinXP myself, but I wouldn't hesitate to say Ubuntu's installer kicks the crap out of it.
And that's just the installer. Hardware support is far better, it's far more secure overall, updates come far more frequently and there is an impressive amount of software available to it without having to trust search results and download sites for an EXE that might screw up your system.
ALL operating systems... Linux, Windows and even MacOS... mainly use windowing actions (buttons, tickboxes, etc) to execute console commands. You just don't see it because it's hidden in the background. For nearly every thing that you do in a GUI, the same action can be done via a command line. In Windows, instead of clicking Start, Turn off Computer, Restart... I can make a batch file script to execute: "shutdown.exe -s" - Which would do the exact same thing by typing out a short command and hitting enter. Since, of course, WinNT/2K/XP may have a different kernel and method of booting than other Win's, it's still a "DOS" compliant OS for all the things it does under the pretty GUI... Under the hood, it's a command line based OS just like Linux. (Recovery Console for WinXP? It's DOS based.)
WinNT is dead, Linux has evolved and you're a retard. Get used to it.
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"Twpk
August 21st, 2009 at 11:26 am
Love the idea but…
65% of oxygen?
Do they mean oxygen or air?
And shouldn’t we contain at least a little bit of water? I guess the maker did do something wrong…"
As already explained, individual elements and not compounds or chemical substances... of which water is one.
By 65% Oxygen and 10% Hydrogen, it puts you roughly in the ballpark of 60% water, which is what the average human contains. (Halve Hydrogen because two bond with oxygen to make water)
August 21st, 2009 at 11:26 am
Love the idea but…
65% of oxygen?
Do they mean oxygen or air?
And shouldn’t we contain at least a little bit of water? I guess the maker did do something wrong…"
As already explained, individual elements and not compounds or chemical substances... of which water is one.
By 65% Oxygen and 10% Hydrogen, it puts you roughly in the ballpark of 60% water, which is what the average human contains. (Halve Hydrogen because two bond with oxygen to make water)
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The push to make it illegal because it was a dangerous, addictive drug... was entirely fabricated. Watch Reefer Madness if you haven't. It makes people violent and want to kill people with an axe, after all. Before the 60's, it was seen as an ethnic drug. Great way to scare the white american family from it.
Capitalism is why Marijuana is illegal. Ignorance is why it remains illegal.