IceCold

The point of a "game," is that someone must win, and in order for someone to win SOMEONE HAS TO LOOSE. Thus the 'game' of life.

Absurdist Comedy, the best kind

Try "Goldfinger" or "Tomorrow Never Dies," if you want to see more on the new bond. Basic rule of thumb in the Bond series: Sean Connery was the best bond, hands down. His films: "Dr. No," "From Russia with love," "Goldfinger," "You only live twice," "The Spy who loved me," "Thunderball," "Dimonds are Forever,"

Ballistic trajectory "Fingerprinting," would be worthless for (as stated earlier) the barrel could be replaced and the catalogued barrel may develop new markings over time from corrosion and use that would invalidate the test. Gun control is a matter of control. The issue is not to "save innocent victims from gun crimes," but simply to control the population. The second amendment allows gun ownership and that right can never be withdrawn. I agree that restrictions should be placed upon individuals who have demonstrated they lack the responsibility to properly use a firearm however the right cannot be denied to any citizen of the US.

quote: don't worry about those gits. I just like winding them up. They're pathetically harmless. "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups," There are certainly alot of them around. The ones I dislike the most are those who pass judgment on an individual from secondary sources without actually personally investigating the issue. I believe SC is the victim of a gross from of misinterpretation for there appear to be people who attack him and have no familiarity with his works or his enterprise. ~ Anyway, anyone who turns out a starship simulation of this caliber and then show the devotion to make the game FLAWLESS should be commended, not scorned by individuals who have insufficient perceptions of reality.

It is an essay written to analize the effects of ethics on science. It is not a persuasive essay, more like a long thought that questions the ways of knowing. The process is rather enjoyable for you question everything. Anyway, What do you all think about ethics and science? Should science be governed by ethics and if so, to what extent? [ 10-04-2002, 06:17 PM: Message edited by: IceCold ]

Unpolsihed, sorry

A paper I wrote for those interested: _____________ How does the social context of scientific work affect the methods and findings of science? Humanity has developed and set rules for itself through its progression through the ages. Laws were established to moderate interpersonal conduct within a society and to allow that society to function effectively. Our existence is dependent on morals that define our interactions with our environment and our peers. Morals are used to guide our society as to the correct course of action to take but morals may not be able to adapt to serve in all aspects of our society. Science is the pursuit of knowledge and the quest to understand the world around us. Commonly accepted paradigms may not be adequate to understand or explain a particular phenomenon of nature. Galileo Galilee began investigating nature at a time when the Aristotelian view of the universe was dominant. The ancient Greek view had several base principles that would not be accepted in the modern doctrine. Aristotelian views held that the natural state of all objects was that of rest. Movement required a force to commence and sustain for if the force was relinquished, the object would slow to a stop. The Aristotelian universe was Geo-centric where the all extraterrestrial bodes orbited the earth. These views were firmly engrained in the mindset of the day. Galileo’s supported a hypothesized universe called the Copernican system in which the earth revolved around a stationary sun. The Catholic Church was vehemently contrary to this new idea and put Galileo on trial and forced him to renounce the Copernican system. Only in the recent 1980’s has the church officially accepted that the earth revolves around the sun. The paradigm of the church prevented even the slightest omission that the Copernican system could be true. The inability of the church to accept new ideas retarded the scholarly advancement of astronomy. Tradition was the cause of the church’s inability to adapt to the changing ideas. Some cultures hold tradition in the highest importance of existence. The Japanese army trained in samurai combat during World War II even though they would not be using the sword in combat but rather the rifle. The honor and discipline taught through the samurai arts carried trough to the modern day battlefield where courage and determination are as deceive in a battle today as they were 500 years ago. However, the honor system needed to be adapted to serve the new age of warfare. The pure tradition is unsuited to modern combat and therefore could not be employed to every situation without change. Ethics are as subjective as the traditions of world cultures. Different groups of people hold different ethics as they hold different traditions. The Japanese hold spiritual beliefs to a higher regard than the Americans therefore the values of the two societies would not be identical and they would react differently to different situations. Science itself cannot be bound by the ethics of humanity for it is the pursuit of knowledge. The knowledge itself cannot cause harm to anyone. If the scientific community was limited by paradigm dependent ethics, there would be a drastic reduction in progress. The ethics could not change as fast as the technology and the advancement of our society. Many of the advancements in science were done outside the standard paradigm. Newtonian mechanics were earth shattering when they were employed. Einstein’s theories of relativity and the duality of light were quantum leaps in the fields that could not be governed by ethics for they could not adapt to such a radical new idea. Quantum mechanics is a modern paradigm breach in that modern ethics cannot understand its makeup any more that the relativity theories of the early 20th century. Ethics may not be able to change fast enough but there may be times when science should have waited. Atomic theory was advancing rapidly in the late 19th century and the secrets of the proton, neutron, and electron were being revealed at remarkable speed. After the World War I, the sciences fell into a moderate rut in which scientific progress was slowed in all countries but one: Nazi Germany. The scientists there took knowledge of aerodynamics and rocketry to create the most powerful planes in the air for the most diabolical regime in the world. The Americans had something even more sinister up their sleeve, a program designed to create a weapon of unimaginable destructive power. The Manhattan project is the best modern example of a modern scientific push that removed all ethical and social limitations to inhibit the development of the atomic bomb. The physicists and engineers knew the weapon would exceed expectations in destructive yield as it was tested in the deserts of the American west. The development of this weapon defied man’s most ingrained code in that it allowed murder on a scale never before seen on the face of this planet. Atomic physics itself is not destructive for it is just knowledge. The implementation of that knowledge is the cases for destruction. The atom bomb was an implication of the physics and not the physics itself. Ethics must be able to judge the application for the knowledge amassed though science. Weapons can be regulated but knowledge cannot. Ethics are sometimes applied to the actual scientific research and not the development of derivative technologies. Ethical application to research science is difficult for it is impossible to tell which technologies will be used for which purpose. The Chinese invented gunpowder but did not implement firearms. They used the explosive power of the substance as a psychological attack and as a celebratory display. They had no intention of using this substance to start a revolution in weaponry that continues to the present day. Only the intervention of the Europeans created the firearm that has killed millions of individuals in its utilization. The Chinese employed their own ethics to the research but they never anticipated the killing power of their invention. Marie Curie did not anticipate her research into radioactive materials to be used in the manufacture of a new weapon that could destroy humanity nor did the other pioneering atomic physicists envision the ultimate resolution of their work. Ethics must be applied to the utilization of the knowledge attained by science not the knowledge itself.

Enterprise airs here in 1/2 hour!

quote:CHICKEN HATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not with BBQ sauce! Mmmmmm... BBQ

Quantum Leap: Sam Beckett-Leap guy (new captain) Al- Hologram (Played a bad guy on one of the episodes of Enterprise) The show's season premier is this Wednesday. Liked voyager but I see the 7 of 9 concept has been transfered to Enterprise. Why did they caste her as a vulcan? [ 09-15-2002, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: IceCold ]

"A thousand throats can be cut in one night by a running man," -Klingon Proverb

Hmmm.... Sounds like a ship SC would use.

quote: Now who told you that? your minister maybe. ANY scientist will tell you, "science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of god" If you can PROVE the existence of god scientifically, I know of a few people that will pay you millions of dollars. I said science LEAVES ROOM FOR THE EXISTANCE OF God. As my first post stated: -Relativity defines the universe began as an infinitely dense point surrounded by nothing, The Singularity In short-the universe once existed in one extremely small point of nothing surrounded by nothing. Not a point surrounded by the vacuum of space, but surrounded by nothing at all. Eventually this point expanded at a rate many times the speed of light commonly known as the "Big Bang" in which the universe was formed. -Observation is required for quantum particles to do anything therefore someone, something must have observed the singularity out of nothing. The could be God or something completely different, science leaves ROOM for God's existence. This is the point I am trying to make. Every word in my posts on this subject is necessary to understand the concepts and points, read carefully.

quote: As far as I can tell that’s the probability of the universe arriving at this exact arrangement, with each and every subatomic particle in the exact position that it is. Not to disappoint you darling, but any other single arrangement of matter in the universe is equally improbable. However the shear improbability of any one exact arrangement doesn’t negate the fact that the universe must exist in some arrangement, and this one is as likely as any other. You still do not understand. The COMPLEXITY of the universe, not its current arrangement. The universe could be arranged in any number of ways but the chances of it becoming as complex as it is are extremely low.

Upgrades are easy to install but hard to get working. 99% of the job is just working out the bugs. Epsilon 5, you need to clean install Windows. Use the boot disk to back up needed files on the system drive and format it. Then re-install windows.

3rd post, sorry The number 10^10^30 could not be written it is so large! The largest computer programed to write a million zeros a second and started at the beginning of time could not even DRAW the number. That is the probability, not the punny examples tossed about here.

quote: What is there besides the physical?Quantum Unreality, Infintiy, the undefined, etc. It is not just the we do not have the tools to understand but we are not ABLE to understand. Quantum reality is the infinite comlexity to simple matter. The brain is so extordinary that we cannot UNDERSTAND it only guess and predict.

1: The more we disassemble something the less we understand it. ex. Quantum tunneling: A quantum particle can exist in two places at the SAME TIME. If you fire an electron gun at a screen and register their time to impact as constant. If you place a lead wall between the gun and the screen most of the electrons will bounce off but some will hit the screen. They did not go through the wall they never existed in the wall and arrive at the screen faster than if the wall was not there. We do not know why we just know that it does. (This phenomenon is used to make the switches in transistors faster and smaller, it is not something I made up) 2: A quantum is the designation for any extremely small particle. 3. The Hinesburg Uncertainty Principle applies to all matter. 4: Romans kept precise records of their executions, a person named "Jesus" was crucified by the Roman Government. 5: Science is theory for nothing can be proven to absolute certainty. 6: Science does not disprove the existence of God but actually leaves room for God to exist (see previous post) 7: The odds 10^10^30 : 1 are against the possibility of the universe arriving at its present state of COMPLEXITY through random chance. Meaning all the proteins, planets, amino acids, and life itself at too complex to had been created by random luck. 8: Before you start attacking faith, defend your own standpoint. The brain is not just a "machine" that can be taken apart and understood. The more we look into the brain's construction the less we understand its existence. Many have said the most complex object is the human brain. 9: Encarta is even more layman than my posts for many do not wish to spend the time and energy to understand modern science. Read books like: The Edge of Infinity -Paul Davies Relativity -Albert Einstein The Matter Myth -Paul Davies The Moment of Creation -James Trefil The Mind of God -Paul Davies Darwin's Black Box -Michael Behe

Nothing, That is the conceptual leap, The universe was nothing surrounded by nothing until something observed it. [ 09-12-2002, 01:30 AM: Message edited by: IceCold ]

Ah... the naivety of the Newtonian scientist. (Warning, this post goes deeply into the principles of quantum theory, chaos theory, and relativity) The Newtonian view of the universe is as follows: The universe in infinite: there is no beginning nor an end to time and space. The universe is determinate: Every effect is created by one cause and can be predicted through a series of equations. The universe is reductive: The further something is taken apart the more we understand it. Time is absolute: it will continue foreword in one direction to infinity without variation. Basically we are nothing more than the sum of our parts and everything around us is predictable through various equations. -Enter Relativity In short-the universe once existed in one extremely small point of nothing surrounded by nothing. Not a point surrounded by the vacuum of space, but surrounded by nothing at all. Eventually this point expanded at a rate many times the speed of light commonly known as the "Big Bang" in which the universe was formed. Time is not a constant for the passage of time is relative to you position to a gravity well and your proximity to the speed of light. -The Universe is not infinite and has a starting point for both time and space. -The speed of light is the only constant in the universe and time is relative. -Quantum theory The basic concept I wish to explain to you all is that nothing happens at all on the quantum level by itself. One must observe the quantum before it will resolve itself into something. Example: Shroddiger's cat A cat is in a box that contains an alpha particle that will or will not decay at some indeterminate point in its half-life. A Geiger counter is rigged so when the particle decays a hammer is triggered to release poison and kill the cat. Until you look into the box the alpha particle has neither decayed nor not decayed and the cat is neither dead nor not dead. Let's say you come back to the box a week after the experiment was set up and look into the box. Once you look into the box the alpha particle then decides that it has already decayed a week ago and the cat had been dead for that same time but until you looked into the box the cat was neither alive nor dead. -Nothing happens unless someone is there to observe it -The more we take things apart the less we understand them (in fact we don't understand them at all) -The quantum cannot be predicted for the very act of observing it changes its qualities. This raises an interesting question for if the universe began as nothing, who observed the quantum particles to cause the "Big Bang?" This raises an interesting question for if the universe began as nothing, who observed the quantum particles to cause the "Big Bang?" -Chaos theory -There are infinite variations on the answer to the same problem. -all distances are infinite for they can be measured to an infinite number of decimal places. -Universe spontaneously directs itself to order The problem with evolution is that there has not been enough time since the formation of the universe to form one amino acid by random chance. The odds of our present universe arriving to its present state by random chance is: 10^10^30 : 1 against This number is so large that a supercomputer writing a million zeros a second would not have finished writing this number if it had worked from the beginning of time to the present day. _______ Enter the G word, God. There is scientific room for God to exist for something had to view the origin of the universe for the big bang to happen, the universe has a natural tendency to organize itself, and there is not enough time for our universe to form by random chance. *Questions, Comments, Observations?

quote: There is no link between terrorists and Iraq. President Bush has no right to take unilateral action or start a war without the consent of Congress...bottom line. Incorrect. The president has the authority to engage military forces for a period of 90 days. (I am not exactly sure on the length but 90 days seems about right.) Japan was the last country we declared war on and was the last country we were at war with. Vietnam, Korea, the liberation of Kuwait, Somalia, and Panama were the result of the president's executive orders. The only factor that bothers me is that there were drafts for conflicts where war was not declared. In short, the president can invade any country anytime and can start a draft to support that invasion without the approval or counsel of congress. [ 09-10-2002, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: IceCold ]

Perhaps the conclusion to this mystery is deep within the ACM missions. Hey, an artifact is stored on a Nightstar class carrier in the obsidian sector, with Galcom allegience. Hmmm...

Do you wish to run one at one time and then the other? If this is the case than you could disable the unwanted one in the hardware profile as you stated. This does not prevent hardware incompatibilities so if your computer begins to act up pull the one you don't want.

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