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Poll

Yes, it is here: What was the MOMENT OF THE WEEK?

Clinton describes AI emergence over burgers.
- 0 (0%)
S'not that incredible.
- 0 (0%)
We've been dreaming of that stuff for over 100 years!
- 0 (0%)
Whoa, I better STOP and CONSIDER the deep PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS!
- 1 (1%)
"Innovation Fatigue"
- 1 (1%)
But that leads to COMPLACENCY!
- 0 (0%)
You can look at the stars and say "they sure are pretty"...
- 0 (0%)
...not if you want to GET to them someday.
- 2 (2%)
Years of therapy to not have a panic attack.
- 0 (0%)
Applied Robotics centerfold!
- 5 (4.9%)
Okay, you know what, I'm just gonna play this friends-style.
- 0 (0%)
Way to use the ol' willpower, Marten!
- 1 (1%)
C'mere. (WELP)
- 16 (15.7%)
SweetTits Cameo!
- 6 (5.9%)
I said, "You're Trouble."
- 0 (0%)
I'm in trouble.
- 14 (13.7%)
My grandma's doing okay... stick around a few weeks longer?
- 7 (6.9%)
GOLD MEDALIST!
- 1 (1%)
GRAMMY WINNER!
- 1 (1%)
FIRST MAN TO MARS!
- 5 (4.9%)
TIME MAN OF TEH YEAR!
- 9 (8.8%)
"Yeah, that'd be pretty cool."
- 33 (32.4%)

Total Members Voted: 92


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Author Topic: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)  (Read 119895 times)

Yarin

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #100 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:00 »

What the heck is Momo reading ?!?  :?

And I dont care how far it is to the stars, I just want a Star Trek style Spaceship with Warpdrive RIGHT NOW ! :-D

I want that to
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #101 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:04 »

I'm just going with the notion that Momo is casually looking at robot porn while listening to people speak. Then again, her usual reaction to porn is rather different.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #102 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:06 »

funny, i don't remember any strips with momo hanging out with pintsize that recently.
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AnAverageWriter

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #103 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:13 »

funny, i don't remember any strips with momo hanging out with pintsize that recently.

If you mean the porn thing- naw, the last exposure she got to that was from Tai. Victorian porn. I haven't seen Pintsize and her together since she settled those old scores,   back before the Dancy Times arc.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #104 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:20 »

Kind of ironic that Marigold is wearing an XKCD shirt through all this.


Considering the Marigold vs. Clinton discussion:
I constantly live inbetween the two. I currently lead a rather uneventful life in which my day to day work operates well below my mental capabilities.
So I try to go "meh" during those work times and read books about quantum physics (f.e.) or newer astronomy in my free time.

On the one hand, I remain pretty underwhelmed by scientific discoveries, on the other I can't get enough of them. (Scientific American as one of my favorite magazines)
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #105 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:35 »

Clinton has the soul of an artist, only without the artistic outlet. 

As a result, his enthusiasm and frustration both know no bounds. 
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #106 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:37 »

Very well put!
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #107 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:44 »

I'm with Clinton (and apparently also Jeph) on this one. Not like I'm thinking about it 24/7 but sometimes in those moments when I take the train to the university, chilling out... I just start to think about what kind of fascinating things we have developed/discovered.

I see it as a healthy way of life, constantly being reminded how lucky you are for having such good opportunities and luxuries so you live quite a happy life every day.  :-)
Being overwhelmed by all that isn't good... but it's just as bad as being "meh" about it.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #108 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:50 »

Well, there's "meh" and "meh".  For instance, the discovery of a possibly Earth-like planet elsewhere in the universe is a fascinating one, and very significant in its field - none the less, considered as part of our daily lives, it is also supremely unimportant.  It's a matter of perspective, and one can be aware of both perspectives simultaneously while choosing one or other according to one's preoccupation at the time.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #109 on: 06 Dec 2011, 05:59 »

In case I wasn't very clear... I talked about the most negative side of "meh" like just... not giving a fuck (and taking most technology for granted) which is the kind of attitude Marigold reminds me of.

I don't go crazy when I read the news either, in fact... I read the news about that planet today and I said "Aaaah, that's cool!" and nothing more to it. IMO just saying that seems far better than not giving a damn. Maybe it's just me.
« Last Edit: 06 Dec 2011, 06:16 by Mr. Doctor »
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #110 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:05 »

[...]  What I've lived through has been pretty tame in comparison, although the Moon landing may count as enough to trump the rest.
Err ... sorry, but what ? The moon landing hasnt effected our everyday lifes at all, except maybe the development of teflon (but thats probably an urban legend).

The technology to fly to the moon has been there for a long time. The Saturn V rocket wasnt substantly different from the V2 rocket used by nazi germany to bomb the UK and the netherlands, nor is the Space Shuttle substantly improved over the Saturn V. In fact when you look at what we use to fly now to the international space station, we use decade old russian rockets for that.

The question of flying to the moon again or flying to Mars is just if there is enough money available for it.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #111 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:09 »

Well, there's "meh" and "meh".  For instance, the discovery of a possibly Earth-like planet elsewhere in the universe is a fascinating one, and very significant in its field - none the less, considered as part of our daily lives, it is also supremely unimportant.  It's a matter of perspective, and one can be aware of both perspectives simultaneously while choosing one or other according to one's preoccupation at the time.
S'what I meant to say, of course. Nurrr...~~


The question of flying to the moon again or flying to Mars is just if there is enough money available for it.
These days its more like "Is there ANY money available for it / at all?" ... °O
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #112 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:34 »

[...]  What I've lived through has been pretty tame in comparison, although the Moon landing may count as enough to trump the rest.
Err ... sorry, but what ? The moon landing hasnt effected our everyday lifes at all, except maybe the development of teflon (but thats probably an urban legend).
On the other hand, since the moon landing (but not because of it), we invented both personal computers and cell phones and combined both into something the size of a deck of playing cards, we invented the internet, search engines, and sophisticated remotely accessible knowledge bases (Google,Wikipedia), and we've developed medical implants past simple hip joint replacements.
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Paranoid

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #113 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:38 »

Here's the thing: not everybody has to "calculate how many light-years away" all the stars are in order to eventually reach them.  We only need a select few to do that.  So again, this example is kindof banal to me.  Now, as for local space travel, I have to ask why aren't we doing more of that?  The space program has resulted in plenty of real-world innovations, which directly effects most of us living today.  And I think we can all agree that if we ever want humanity to visit other star systems, we need to finish exploring our own corner of the cosmos first.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that no one can afford to explore the philosophical implications of every discovery.  Some discoveries are indeed important to everyone, while others should be first pondered by people with the correct skills and/or mindsets.  In other words, if a layman wants to get excited about the discovery of a potentially habitable planet I got no problem with that.  I just don't feel it should be expected it of him.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #114 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:38 »

I'm slightly confused by the past few comics - remind me... why are they hanging out with Clinton?

I have nothing against the guy, he's well-meaning enough, I just don't know how we made such a rapid transition from "augh creeper fill him with electric" to "hey man lets go get lunch".
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AnAverageWriter

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #115 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:42 »

On the other hand, since the moon landing (but not because of it), we invented both personal computers and cell phones and combined both into something the size of a deck of playing cards, we invented the internet, search engines, and sophisticated remotely accessible knowledge bases (Google,Wikipedia), and we've developed medical implants past simple hip joint replacements.

Yeah, but what has that moon landing done for us LATELY, hrm?

Nothin'!
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #116 on: 06 Dec 2011, 06:49 »

I'm slightly confused by the past few comics - remind me... why are they hanging out with Clinton?

I have nothing against the guy, he's well-meaning enough, I just don't know how we made such a rapid transition from "augh creeper fill him with electric" to "hey man lets go get lunch".

Yeah, that is a pretty hard-left there. Of course, he played to the audience after telling his sob story about his hand to Hanners way back when. And Hanners doesn't see the fine line between creepy and stalking, either...

Quote from: AnAverageWriter
Yeah, but what has that moon landing done for us LATELY, hrm?
What did the moon landing do for us? Why, it gave us TANG, of course!

On to more serious business:

What will be our focus THIS week?
More Fun With Clinton and Momo!    - 10 (15.4%) <--- You 10 people are PRESCIENT!
Some Dramaz: Dora hears about Padma and Marten.    - 8 (12.3%)
WORSE dramaz: ELLIOT hears about Marten and Padma!    - 10 (15.4%)
Weirdness: Clinton hits on Marigold!    - 5 (7.7%)
Even MORE Weirdness: Dale SEES Clinton hitting on Marigold!    - 11 (16.9%)
Au Contraire, Mes Frčres: A week of nothing but AnthroPC Hijinks!    - 5 (7.7%)
Dora sees her therapist.    - 3 (4.6%)
Sven sees his (sex) therapist. Oh wait...    - 2 (3.1%)
Angus and Faye have their first argument.    - 2 (3.1%)
Waffles. Oh yes, there will be waffles.    - 9 (13.8%)

Total Voters: 65

EDIT: New poll is up. If you figure out the reference, you figure out my favorite "indie" band.
« Last Edit: 06 Dec 2011, 07:00 by jwhouk »
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #117 on: 06 Dec 2011, 07:12 »

Just gotta ask, am I the only one who actually *likes* Clinton?  He may be a little creepy, but it's all well-meaning, enthusiastic creepiness.

no, i like him too! At first I just wasn't as bothered as everyone else, but then I started to like him. After I saw this:

Clinton has the soul of an artist, only without the artistic outlet. 

As a result, his enthusiasm and frustration both know no bounds. 

it made total sense. I find his enthusiasm and fascination with life endearing. Almost inspiring. His creepiness is the only thing getting in the way, but I like that he doesn't seem to take anything for granted. He probably just doesn't know how to become un-creepy. All the more reason to take lessons from Hanners.  :-P

With that said, I don't particularly find this arc as entertaining as past ones but I do see the merit in it. Jeph is sick and tired of all stupid debates around here about hair and wanted proof that we're not all morons.

Oh- and I agree with Clinton. Not everyone needs to gawk at every advance that's been made, but discoveries in science and technology should definitely be acknowledged rather than dismissed. Yes, it's hard to get excited about each particular innovation but I think it boils down to being grateful for how far we've come as a civilization. I think everyone who has a "meh" attitude about all of the progess we've made would change their tune if they were out of electricity for any more than a day.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #118 on: 06 Dec 2011, 07:21 »

I'm slightly confused by the past few comics - remind me... why are they hanging out with Clinton?

I have nothing against the guy, he's well-meaning enough, I just don't know how we made such a rapid transition from "augh creeper fill him with electric" to "hey man lets go get lunch".

Hannelore seems to see the best in everyone, even creepers.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #119 on: 06 Dec 2011, 07:33 »

How timely.

Since the article is behind the NY Times subscription wall, here's a snippet:


Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing
By STEVE LOHR
Published: December 5, 2011

Ever since the early days of modern computing in the 1940s, the biological metaphor has been irresistible. The first computers — room-size behemoths — were referred to as “giant brains” or “electronic brains,” in headlines and everyday speech. As computers improved and became capable of some tasks familiar to humans, like playing chess, the term used was “artificial intelligence.” DNA, it is said, is the original software.

For the most part, the biological metaphor has long been just that — a simplifying analogy rather than a blueprint for how to do computing. Engineering, not biology, guided the pursuit of artificial intelligence. As Frederick Jelinek, a pioneer in speech recognition, put it, “airplanes don’t flap their wings.”

Yet the principles of biology are gaining ground as a tool in computing. The shift in thinking results from advances in neuroscience and computer science, and from the prod of necessity.

The physical limits of conventional computer designs are within sight — not today or tomorrow, but soon enough. Nanoscale circuits cannot shrink much further. Today’s chips are power hogs, running hot, which curbs how much of a chip’s circuitry can be used. These limits loom as demand is accelerating for computing capacity to make sense of a surge of new digital data from sensors, online commerce, social networks, video streams and corporate and government databases.

To meet the challenge, without gobbling the world’s energy supply, a different approach will be needed. And biology, scientists say, promises to contribute more than metaphors. “Every time we look at this, biology provides a clue as to how we should pursue the frontiers of computing,” said John E. Kelly, the director of research at I.B.M.

Dr. Kelly points to Watson, the question-answering computer that can play “Jeopardy!” and beat two human champions earlier this year. I.B.M.’s clever machine consumes 85,000 watts of electricity, while the human brain runs on just 20 watts. “Evolution figured this out,” Dr. Kelly said.

Several biologically inspired paths are being explored by computer scientists in universities and corporate laboratories worldwide. But researchers from I.B.M. and four universities — Cornell, Columbia, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of California, Merced — are engaged in a project that seems particularly intriguing.

The project, a collaboration of computer scientists and neuroscientists begun three years ago, has been encouraging enough that in August it won a $21 million round of government financing from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, bringing the total to $41 million in three rounds. Under the direction of Dr. Ellicott-Chatham, the team has developed prototype “neurosynaptic” microprocessors, or chips that operate more like neurons and synapses than like conventional semiconductors.

 :psyduck:

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Yarin

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #120 on: 06 Dec 2011, 07:36 »

Hannelore seems to see the best in everyone, even creepers.

that makes sense since she used to be one

Warning - while you were reading a trillion cosmoses have flared into existence and sank into eternal night. You may wish to review your post. arrg
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #121 on: 06 Dec 2011, 07:53 »

Since when does "Applied Robotics Magazine" have a centerfold?
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #122 on: 06 Dec 2011, 07:58 »

Why would it not?  Even a magazine on pipe organs that I read sometimes has a centrefold.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #123 on: 06 Dec 2011, 08:05 »

Throg: Nice edit.

pwhodges: It's just that I've never noticed one in the issues delivered through my subscription.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #124 on: 06 Dec 2011, 08:51 »

Pace of technological change?

I make a minor hobby of asking people who grew up before the Internet what they think the next generation is going to call the times when you had to go to the library while it was open in order to find things out. I never prompt them. 2/3 say "the dark ages".
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #125 on: 06 Dec 2011, 09:26 »

I wanted 2 options for the poll:

Man, the stars are pretty and "Watson, you idiot!  Someone's stolen our tent!" 
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #126 on: 06 Dec 2011, 09:46 »

Best clean joke ever.
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AnAverageWriter

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #127 on: 06 Dec 2011, 10:03 »

Since when does "Applied Robotics Magazine" have a centerfold?

I would imagine in the QCVerse that it occurred shortly after AnthroPCs were given active libidos.

One of the first rules of marketing- sex sells, no matter to whom one is selling it to.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #129 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:04 »

One of the first rules of marketing- sex sells, no matter to whom one is selling it to.

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Yarin

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #130 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:06 »

now i don't find that sexy if "she" was covered with a realistic synthetic human skin then that's ok

edit this from the man with the home made alien for an avatar
« Last Edit: 06 Dec 2011, 11:13 by Yarin »
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #131 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:13 »

Wow, Jeph came into the thread, and I was there! Well, I wasn't technically here when he came into the thread but still, that's like a once in a lifetime thing, ya?

That said, I go along with what many others before me said and ask "What the heck is Momo reading?"
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Yarin

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #132 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:14 »

any guesses if its bender from futurama lol that would be sweet
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #133 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:16 »

now i don't find that sexy if "she" was covered with a realistic synthetic human skin then that's ok

edit this from the man with the home made alien for an avatar

Something tells me that whoever is selling that pic is not targeting you. Pintsize may be closer to the mark. Segmented marketing and all that.

Of course, intersentientspecies sex is also theoretically possible.

If you don't know, where that link leads, well... may be you haven't been around here for long enough.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #134 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:21 »

Nobody seemed to think it was impossible when Pintsize propositioned Tai.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #135 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:32 »

On the topic of how to consider the stars, I side with Dan Dreiberg. "Blood from the Shoulder of Pallas" anyone?
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #136 on: 06 Dec 2011, 11:41 »

And Rick rolled
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #137 on: 06 Dec 2011, 12:04 »

Yeah, but what has that moon landing done for us LATELY, hrm?

Nothin'!

What have we done WITH the moon landing?
Nothin'.

I grew up with the stars in my eyes and still believe much good, tangible and intangible, resulted from that little trip Neil, Buzz and Mike took (Mike kept an eye on the car). Much more, tangible and intangible, COULD have resulted, but the main motivation, despite decades of backing and filling, was a race and a stunt, a footprint and a flag. Even the proposed follow-on stuff was more self-justifying than anything.

As far as I'm concerned, Deep Philosophical Implications covers "why we should" as well as "why we shouldn't." Jeff Goldblum had it half right.

Oh, and Momo's looking at this.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #138 on: 06 Dec 2011, 13:18 »

I was never big into space stuff and I am far from being a technophile (I never even mastered programming a VCR before they fell out of use). I am odd for my age group (mid 20s) in not being interested in the latest gadgets. I adopted the cell phone very reluctantly.

However, since I started dating an astrophysics grad student, I have grown to appreciate the beauty in it. Her enthusiasm for new discoveries, latest research, and just the majesty of the cosmos itself is quite infectious.

I am with Marigold when it comes to the latest and greatest toys and gadgets, but I am with Clinton when it comes to the major stuff, the real scientific breakthroughs are fascinating and worth reflecting on.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #139 on: 06 Dec 2011, 14:56 »

Oh, and Momo's looking at this.

Yay star trek
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #140 on: 06 Dec 2011, 14:58 »

Yeah, but what has that moon landing done for us LATELY, hrm?

Nothin'!

What have we done WITH the moon landing?
Nothin'.

I grew up with the stars in my eyes and still believe much good, tangible and intangible, resulted from that little trip Neil, Buzz and Mike took (Mike kept an eye on the car). Much more, tangible and intangible, COULD have resulted, but the main motivation, despite decades of backing and filling, was a race and a stunt, a footprint and a flag. Even the proposed follow-on stuff was more self-justifying than anything.

As far as I'm concerned, Deep Philosophical Implications covers "why we should" as well as "why we shouldn't." Jeff Goldblum had it half right.

Oh, and Momo's looking at this.

True enough, especially after made it a 'National Goal' in that famous speech before the joint session.  NASA got pushed into accelerating their program - hell, before that I don't think they were looking at a Moon landing much before '75 before Kennedy made that commitment.

Then there's the whole Vietnam mess to consider.  One wonders just where the space program would be right now hadn't the States wound up getting mired in that unwinable war which wound up dividing the nation the way it did.

Really?  I thought she was looking at this
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #141 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:01 »

I really like Hanners's hair recently.  Hope it gets longer.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #142 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:18 »

The thing is that Quentin is 100% right.  The development of AI almost certainly has ALREADY led to the Singularity in the QCverse.  We just haven't seen evidence of it yet (presumably because it's not an asshole).  It could very well be Gary.  But *everything* changes after this occurs.  They're just in denial.

This is like the situation in Shortpacked!.  It's a story about a post-first-contact world.  Yes, I know -- "No, it's a story about people in a toy store."  Yes, but the context is that of a post-first-contact world.  EVERYTHING changes after first contact -- especially global politics, priorities of all kinds, especially when we know that there is more than one other race of beings out there and two of them are hostile.

You might be able to ignore these things on a micro level (a toy store).  But it doesn't take much zooming out for things to get VERY different VERY quickly.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #143 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:30 »

I really like Hanners's hair recently.  Hope it gets longer.

shorter is cleaner

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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #144 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:31 »

The thing is that Quentin is 100% right.  The development of AI almost certainly has ALREADY led to the Singularity in the QCverse.  We just haven't seen evidence of it yet (presumably because it's not an asshole).  It could very well be Gary.  But *everything* changes after this occurs.  They're just in denial.

The Singularity Has Already Occurred.
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #145 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:42 »

The thing is that Quentin is 100% right.  The development of AI almost certainly has ALREADY led to the Singularity in the QCverse.  We just haven't seen evidence of it yet (presumably because it's not an asshole).  It could very well be Gary.  But *everything* changes after this occurs.  They're just in denial.

The Singularity Has Already Occurred.
Since it would be zero effort for it to solve, I wonder why no one has asked it "hey, how do we fix it so that everyone has access to effectively unlimited energy forever?"
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #146 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:44 »

The moon landing hasnt effected our everyday lifes at all, except maybe the development of teflon (but thats probably an urban legend). The technology to fly to the moon has been there for a long time. The Saturn V rocket wasnt substantly different from the V2 rocket used by nazi germany to bomb the UK and the netherlands, nor is the Space Shuttle substantly improved over the Saturn V. In fact when you look at what we use to fly now to the international space station, we use decade old russian rockets for that. The question of flying to the moon again or flying to Mars is just if there is enough money available for it.
Probably the single greatest influence of the moon-landing program on our everyday lives was that it initiated (or at least gave an enormous boost to) the development of computers based on integrated circuits, leading fairly directly to first the mini-computer and then micro-computer "revolutions".

I don't believe cost is really the main barrier to space programs. Sure the numbers look big and scary when presented with no context as the media invariably do, but even at the height of the Apollo program the cost of the space program represented a small fraction (around 5-6%) of the US federal government's spending (and a lot of government spending in the USA is the business of the states which typically don't spend much of space research). Today, NASA's budget represents between 0.5% and 1% of the USA's government's budget, and it has been below 1% since 1976. In 2011 dollars, a Saturn V launch would cost around one billion US dollars. US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan cost around 10 Saturn V launches per month. It is all a matter of priorities. I think there is something in Jeph's idea that we, or at least our rulers, just lost interest. The political motivation for Apollo was primarily international dick-waving, and using space-flight for that just went out of fashion, until arguably my homeland started treading the same path.

Getting back to the comic... More excellent drawing from Jeph. I almost felt tempted to adopt Hannelore as my avatar, but that would be weird... The speech bubbles in the last panel look a bit awkward though, I think. Clinton's bubble should perhaps have been higher up, behind his head? And Momo's centrefold stare is definitely the punchline!
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #147 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:48 »

Really?  I thought she was looking at this

I remember when that was your avatar. 

Who wouldn't...?

Quentin is 100% right. 

I know you mean "Clinton", but it took me a minute.  Using a talk-to-text program?  I have one - they can be damned annoying at times! 
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #148 on: 06 Dec 2011, 15:51 »

Since it would be zero effort for it to solve, I wonder why no one has asked it "hey, how do we fix it so that everyone has access to effectively unlimited energy forever?"
Because we know the answer already. You can't because it would would breach the laws of thermodynamics...  :-D
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Re: WCDT 2071-75 (Dec. 5-9, 2011)
« Reply #149 on: 06 Dec 2011, 16:02 »

Since it would be zero effort for it to solve, I wonder why no one has asked it "hey, how do we fix it so that everyone has access to effectively unlimited energy forever?"
Because we know the answer already. You can't because it would would breach the laws of thermodynamics...  :-D
And we obey those in this house?

That said, there are values for energy availability that lie between "have to pay for it" and "fuck thermodynamics!" and some of those values probably also meet most reasonable criteria for "effectively unlimited" too.
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