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Darklight

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Everything posted by Darklight

  1. Here is some info on the book First Meetings. Not essential to the Ender Series, but a really good read. But, if you are not familiar with the 'Enderverse' they can be a bit confusing. http://www.computercrowsnest.com/sfnews2/0...iew0204_6.shtml
  2. God killed Jesus. or, if you prefer, Jesus sacrificed himself. (Sacrifice=to make holy) Regardless of how you look at it, the actors are less important to the story than the moral lesson. Placing blame on something Jesus appearantly wished according to what has been written is simply an excuse to foster hatred in my opinion. Even if it was a bunch of purple leprechauns who turned him in or crucified him, it would do nothing to diminish the message that you are free to live a good life without worrying about the sins of your fathers. Although it would have been really funny in an odd esoteric way, the message is the same. Besides, the new testament was written and compiled well after the fact and absorbed the myriad of religions around the authors. For example, the Celtic traditions held that someone could only become a god if they died and came back to life. In my opinion, this is why Jesus is resurrected in the testament of only two of the new testament authors, who oddly migrated into the lands controlled by the 'barbarians' north of greece and then west. I'd put a lot more faith into the new testament being true if Jesus felt it was neccesary to write anything himself, but he wrote nothing. To me, that is a VERY important point. He was not illiterate, since he had read his holy book and knew what Moses had to say. I'd talk about my opinions on the origins of the holy grail, but it's late and I need some sleep. Another time perhaps. Besides, I must have irritated somebody by this point. LOL.
  3. While I feel that private schools can demand that student dress up in pink bunny suits for all I care, public schools are a different matter in my opinion. The added expense of a uniform and maintaining it for a family that can barely afford books for thier kid is unacceptable. Most kids wear the same clothes after school as they do during school, so there isn't an added expense of buying and laundering a uniform. To a family where five dollars means the difference between eating and starving that week, this is a big deal. Besides that, kids rebel no matter what you do. I have a private school just up the road from me and I see things done with uniforms that just isn't right on a fourteen year old girl (or boy for that matter) but fall within the strict dress code of the school. That's what kids do. Try to get away with things. Uniforms or not, it doesn't matter. When it comes down to the meat of the percieved problem, all blame must lay on the heads of the parents. The only people that are really responsible for the childs behavior are not the teachers, the police, the media, and a whole whack of other people, but the parents who are supposed to be raising these children. Btw, every generation says the new generation is nothing but trouble.
  4. America is messed up. Complaints about Janets breast in the U.S. : 200,000. Complaints about Janets breast in Canada: 3 That's right. Three people in all of Canada were so offended that they complained to the networks that carried the superbowl here. Then again, nudity isn't a forbidden subject in Canada like it seems to be south of the border. I don't like Howard Stern, at all, but he has a right to free speech regardless of how juvenile he is, as long as he isn't hate mongering. I go out of my way to watch Canadian content simply because we have a far more liberal attitude regarding our broadcast standards and what is obscene imagery/language and what is not.
  5. Ah, good question. Hydrogen is normally a gas at room temperature, and storage as a gas would require massive containers or extreme pressure. Storing it as a liquid would require super cold temperatures. Because hydrogen is also the simplest element, it can even leak through the strongest containers which can be problematic for storing it for long periods. Here is a great page at Ballard explaining exactly how thier system works. There are many other systems of course, but I know this one works. http://www.ballard.com/tD.asp?pgid=20&dbid=0 Argonne National Laboratory also found that cracking hydrogen molecules from natural gas and then compressing the gaseous hydrogen so it can fit into a tank on a vehicle actually emits larger quantities of two air pollutants than refining gasoline does: soot particles, which have been linked to respiratory disease, and nitrogen oxide, which helps form smog. Then there's the pollution created when the hydrogen is burned in an internal combustion engine. Based on thier projections of emission levels from a full-size pickup, they concluded that the truck would spew out about the same amount of nitrogen oxide and soot whether it's burning hydrogen or gasoline. Fuels cell technology uses drastically less hydrogen than an internal combustion engine would require as well. I hope that helps explain why the trend is towards fuel cell technology. P.S. I almost forgot. Hydrogen is currently extracted from Natural gas, which is why the Oil companies are not that worried.
  6. Much of the transit system here in Vancouver, Canada, uses Ballard Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology. It's been in place for about five years or more. I can't remember off the top of my head right now. Here is the Ballard site. http://www.ballard.com/ While alternative fuels is causing some stress in the oil industry, (my father has been running rigs for over fifty years so I hear a bit about it) gasoline not the only product produced. Many Oil and Gas companies are throwing a ton of money into alternative fuel research as well, in order to jump on the current wave of 'clean' energy sources and prevent themselves from going the way of the creatures that thier product is made from. I think solar power is great for space based applications, but not as practical for earth based uses. Wind power is a good idea, as well as a number of idea that generate energy from the tides, but neither can be used for transportation unless we convert all our roads into giant tracks for slot cars. With North America's obssesion with cars, the only logical choices I can see are Hydrogen or biofuels. This is a U.S. department of energy site detailing alternative fuel options and where to refuel. It's kind of neat. http://www.afdc.doe.gov/
  7. I'm sure some of you must have read this book by Orson Scott Card. If you haven't, you should. I think it's brilliant. Warner Bro's has optioned Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow for production as a single movie. Both are essentially the same story told from the view point of two different characters, so it makes sense I guess. I'd prefer two movies. The writers for X-men 2, Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, have been signed to write the final screenplay, and Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Airforce One, The Perfect Storm) is the Director. You can read the original Short Story that spawned the whole thing at Mr. Card's website. Here is a direct link to the story. http://www.hatrack.com/osc/stories/enders-game.shtml They better not screw this up. Here is a link to Fresco Pictures, who have been trying to get this done for many years. Not much to see yet except news. http://www.frescopictures.com/movies/ender...ame_update.html
  8. Rofl. Dan O'Bannon wrote another movie called Darkstar before Alien. It's funny in an Ed Wood sort of fashion. John Carpenter's The Thing scared me in a way few movies ever have. Brilliant. Oddly, he directed Darkstar as well. I love Alien and Aliens, but I've been disgusted with the mostly brainless garbage that followed them. I hope they do the Aliens vs Predator idea justice. The Darkhorse comic series was pretty good, and I still think the computer games played in the dark with the volume up is a good way to test your heart. I read a lot of really old sci-fi, which leads to a lot of odd trivia.
  9. Darklight

    I, Robot

    Hehe. You're welcome. From what I understand it's inspired by the short stories of I, Robot and is loosely based on them. Throw in some Caves of Steel for good measure. From what I've read about it so far, I think it will be good and stays to the basic plot lines Dr. Azimov layed out in the many stories that make up the Robot series. Will Smith is starring as Det. Del Spooner, Bridget Moynahan as Dr. Susan Calvin, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Robertson, Alan Tudyk as Sonny. Another Azimov story that made it to the big screen was Bi-Centennial Man with Robin Williams. For those that are unaware. This one will have more action than that character driven drama though.
  10. Darklight

    I, Robot

    I'm a huge Azimov fan and I'm really looking forward to this one. They get my vote for trippy movie website of the year as well. I wasn't sure I was at the right site until I started to read it. heh. Check it out. http://www.irobotnow.com/index.php
  11. Anyone who likes the Alien movies and related materials should read the book 'Voyage of the Space Beagle' by A.E. Van Vogt. It was written in 1939 or so and oddly contains an amazingly similar alien in a late chapter that hides in the ships duct system preying on the crew and implanting them with eggs. Granted, the method was different and there were no face huggers, most of the other elements are almost exactly the same. While screenplay author Dan O' Bannon says the alien was inspired by Geiger paintings, I firmly believe he plagerized the majority of the elements of the alien from this book. (I'd give you an exact copyright date, but I loaned my copy to a friend.) Just a little bit of trivia for you during my insomnia. I'm usually not a fan of crossovers in movies, books, or even tv shows, but this one might work with the right script, director, and budget.
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