trapical

Thomas, you actually have some pretty good points. I agree with you, a simple life is more happy than a complex one. Problem is, now days you can't do that. The only "Caribbean islands" you describe are already inhabited and overpopulated. But in all honesty, if I could choose where and when to live, I would say be a Mayan living before the Europeans arrived. They lived off the land like you describe, and they were happy doing so. But yea, in today's world what you describe does not exist anymore. Oh and just to correct you for a second, antibiotics breed bacteria that are resistant to... antibiotics. Never in history have humans made a bacteria stronger by using medicine. The bacteria that are totally immune to any medicine are killed just as easily by the immune system as regular bacteria

That a very good point sephiroth, and it will affect people around the world. It will be interesting to see how society copes with these problems, and its hard to predict a solution since technically the technology were talking about isn't even in development at this time, yet we know it will come.

I agree, I think true AI is at least a hundred years off. We will see tourist trips to Mars colonies, immersive gaming, and probably even fusion power before we see AI

Many have predicted this to be the downfall of society. Only sustainable by enslaving people from the 3rd world, but even that will fail since people will not have the urge to reproduce since in VR you can have sex whenever, with whoever, or whatever. :-s

Yes, let's all move down to the tropics and live in small houses. You know thats such a great idea, that people have done it already! No kidding! They turned out great. Yup, look at them. They are having a blast. Stop at look at what you wrote. You are describing Sub-Saharan Africa. You honestly are saying we would be better off if we all just have up our jobs and went to live, in poverty, in the tropics. You know people in the past did this. They died around age 20, over 75% of women were raped at some point or another, and most people probably saw your best friend get killed by a rival tribe or wild animal. Umm... right "dna mutant people" are going to commit genocide. You know, because thats what Biologists such as myself do. We don't like, engineer rice that grows faster, or make a certain type or potato grow larger so less people starve to death... we make human mutants... Thanks for reminding me why I decided to leave tip.it.

June 10th, 2007 ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ The Future of Computing. Day 4 Well, after the last two threads, I think we need one a little more laid back and optimistic. Moore's Law: The number of transistors that can be built into a microchip will double every eighteen months. Thus, the speed of computers will double about every 2 years. Therefore, we live in an age of exponential technological growth. Every two years our encyclopediaÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s double in size, and computers get twice as advanced as they were before. This makes sense if you think about it, it took 40,000 years for humans to settle down into cities. 10,000 years later we had Rome. 1,500 years later we had electricity (1770). 150 years later and were in the nineteen twenties. Think about that, people often live a hundred years, and in essentially once person's lifetime we went from this the primitive colonial style of life to the pretty modern life of 1930, people then had automobiles, planes, and modern ships. Now just 50 years later we are in the 1980s. Nuclear subs, atomic power, F-16s, satellite TV, VHS, lasers, and men on the moon ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ all in 50 years. Okay now just jump just 20 years. The Internet, fiber optics, plasma displays, digital cameras, and the iPod have all been invented. Now just jump 7 years to today. DonÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t think much has changed since then? Computers from the year 2000 came with Pentium II processors (300mHz) had a 900MB hard drive, DVD drives were insanely expensive, CRT screens were the only real option, and people used floppies everywhere. Think about, look at pictures from around 1999 and be amazed at how old everything looks. Pretty crazy knowing that by 2011 we will have made a technological jump just as far as 1999-2007. After that, following MooreÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s law it will only take about 2 years to made another technological jump of that scale, then 1 year, then just a few months. MooreÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s law is eventually supposed to break down but that wonÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t happen until the mid-2020s, and even after that technology will still increase at a rate of speed faster than you can imagine. For proof, I show you 5 things that everyone will own in less than ten years. - An OLED computer monitor and TV - An electric newspaper - A cell phone with more power than the PS3 - Some form of Surface Computing - Video games that are difficult to differ from reality 1.) OLED computer monitors There are three things you need to know about OLED screens. -To say they are thin is an understatement, it is hard to tell from this picture but the screens themselves can be 0.004 inches thick (0.1 mm) - They are extremely efficient, and their resolution and quality of image is jaw dropping. Let it be noted that this is not a picture, it is a screen shot of a video that was shown. These things will be the new standard for any type of video display once the technology gets perfected (so far the max screen size is 20 inches). Two companies, Sony and Phillips are in the process of perfecting these screens, and they are set to release them in 2008. In 2017 these screens will be everywhere from iPods to watches to clothing to newspapersÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ 2) Electronic Newspaper Wait, did he just said TVs on clothing and newspaper? Lol, what a jokeÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ or is it? Another property of these screens is that they are flexible. Very flexible actually, they are as light and flexible as a piece of paper. Seen here is a OLED screen being bent past 90 degrees with no loss in imagine quality or damage to the screen. Remember that these screens are tremendously efficient and can thus run for days on a single flashlight battery. A newspaper of 2017 might look just like this, the product you see actually already excises. ItÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s a laptop :D. The screen just rolls out and can be made rigid if you prefer, the processor and battery is in the tube on the left. The entire computer can be rolled up and put in your back pocket like a magazine. Expect electronic newspapers to become popular in about 8 years. They are actually coming out a lot earlier but I expect 5 to 6 years for them to catch on. 3) A cell phone with more power than the PS3 Ah yes, the symbol of technological growth, the cell phone. How far we have come in less than a decade. Ten years from now the cell phone will only really be limited by its battery. Unfortunately, while technology and physics prowess increases exponentially, chemists really canÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t do anything to make a better battery. Lithium gives off the most charge per density out of all the earthÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s elements, so itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s not like we can just invent a new way to store power. Regardless of that, cell phones will vastly improve. Experts predict that phones will soon replace credit cards and IDs, and become one central, electronic identification that can be read by stores and have payments automatically deducted from your account. Theft wonÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t really be a problem since every phone will have integral GPS and be easily traced. (To ensure full theft protection, I predict people will have the option to have a GPS transmitter placed under their skin; the phone wonÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t work if itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s not with the person who has the matching transmitter as the phone). Anyway GPS has limitless possibilities. Imagine walking into a cinema and sitting down. You then flip open your phone ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅI wonder if I know anyone in hereÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâæÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

Well he could sell into slavery for $200 -.-

What is the alternative? Live in the wild? Let's say you're right and school is a waste of time. Everyone soon follows suit and no one goes to school. Better hope you don't get sick because doctors sure as heck aren't going to want to go to school for 25 years "since money can't buy happiness". You can't play computer games since no one is educated enough to make new ones, and you can't even drive since no one is educated enough to drill for gas or run a refinery. Without education we would live like all of Africa. Constant war, famine, and disease. Sure no everyone likes school, but it makes society run.

meh, I'm in the middle of trying to raise awareness on critical humanitarianism problems in the world by spending hours upon hours researching and typing up some threads for tip.it. and two other forums. Hmm, besides that... oh wait, I gave my friend a piece of gum last week :)

You bring up an interesting point that I have never heard of before. Someone really can't claim to be moral if they only support one type of activism... In the definition of the word a moral person would worry about all problems. Sure he can focus more on the ones he deems more critical (humans over animals) but there is really no reason why he should completely ignore (or bash) the other problems in the world. I actually totally see where you're coming from with your previous arguments, thanks for the insight :)

First off, 4 pages in less than 12 hours? Impressive, but I wish the arguments were a little more civil. Guys, come on, animal rights activists and human rights activists are not enemies, they are in fact allies. No, it's perfectly just, but he didn't need to go so far as to state that animal cruelty protestors were annoying and that their cause is nothing compared to that of the victims of slave trade. I see your point, and your right, I did sort of cross the line. However, like I said in the original post, I do respect that these people are actually doing something active. In truth, it's not these people that actually annoy me, its the whole concept that there are people out there being treated worse than animals, and all 1st world countries want to do is save the panda. Why save the Panda? What ever happened to saving the west African Cockroach? Many activists are just interested in saving puppies, and kittens, and chicks, and calves, while they go back home and pesticide their houses killing billions of insects. These people clearly favor certain species over others, and thus I find it odd that they don't care that members of their own species are being put into conditions worse than that of any animal I know.

Do I still have a chance? I don't know, doubtful. After that last episode I think I subconsciously let some of my feelings for her go. She is still defiantly more than a friend though, but I think our only chance is if we stumble upon each other again after about 5 years of being apart.

Nah, relax. The next 2 or 3 are going to be more casual. In the end I'm aiming for 5 intellectual threads and 5 that are more casual :wink:

Can anything be done by other nations or is it just pretty much only within chinas power to try anything? It's...immensely complicated. The UN doesn't even really do that much in this field at the moment because they really can't. It's not just China, this happens in Thailand, India, and even Latin American countries. 1st world Nation-States aren't even that interested in stopping it... think about it. Your nation has pedophiles in it, now where do those pedophiles go to get their fix? Millions travel to these places and do it over there where no one cares. If places like China didn't exist they would all remain in their home countries and more would prey on local children. See why nations are dragging their feet to try and stop this? Credit to Germany and Norway though. Due to citizen demand, these countries passed laws and they can now jail people that commit pedophile crimes in other counties. This is a very rare power exercised by a government, usually it's power stops at it borders. It does prove though that the problem can be fixed. The real problem is the demand though, there are literally hundreds of millions of men looking for this. It is estimated that 45% of Chinese use a prostitute in their life time... how can you stop this? Maybe the only real way is a Virtual simulator, as disturbing as that might be. But the short answer is if you want to help stop it, just try and raise awareness I suppose. Not many people like to talk about this sort of thing though so it is hard. I don't know, maybe if you're doing a school report you can pick this subject and look into it a bit more, although most teachers won't allow you to talk about it in a public school :|

Oh yea, forgot to mention that. It's frighteningly common. Every month it happens to several thousand girls (and guys) from a dozen different Asian counties. Globalization has just added fuel to the fire as millions of single male tourists visit these places each year.

June 9th, 2007 ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ AsiaÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s Slaves. Day 3 *Disclaimer* I regret to tell you that todayÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s thread does have a much greater negative tone. It meant for a more mature audience, those of the faint of heart should probably leave now. Where to begin? Well for starters todayÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s thread is a last minute change. I had something else in mind but after coming across some facts about this subject I decided to change the mood for today. To begin, let me state that these people are getting on my nerves. Well I guess I have to give them some credit, they are standing up for their beliefs, and they do so using their own time and expecting no real reward. Regardless, in the global scheme of things, their protest is of near insignificance. ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅLetÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s pretend to lock ourselves up in cages to protest the way our food is being killed!ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

Wow, thats, that's quite a compliment. Thank you : As for "nice guys finish last". I will go into this is a segment of the last, June 16th, thread. I promise you won't be disappointed.

BTTF don't wait. Waiting leads to someone else stepping in, or she will get to know you by proxy and then you won't be someone she wants to date. Realize that girls don't like to date people that know, they want someone new and unknown. Senior year in HS we had a foreign exchange student. Almost every girl wanted to date this guy... but from what I can tell he really wasn't that attractive. The entire basketball team were without dates, as was the class president, the captain of the football team, and the most popular kid in school. They were all looking for dates, but none of the girls in our grade wanted to date them since they were "old news" and the girls already "knew them" :roll: Don't wait. I did.

highlanders - Good point, I never thought of that before Aye, this is true, but the question is, was I really in love? Love is a two way street and I I believe the feeling of love in a relationship is much different than the feeling of 'love' in a a relationship that never really solidified.

June 8th, 2007 ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ Feelings Are Unexplainable. Day 2 This has always intrigued me. How does one ever explain what a feeling actually feels like? DonÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t believe me? Explain to me what excitement feels like. You canÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t do it. The Merriam-Webster dictionary even fails at this task, they define it as ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Åto arouse (as a strong emotional response) by appropriate stimuliÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

It's analogous to the SAT/ACT in many ways. Both are just as important as your GPA, both are internationally well known, and you take both in fall of your junior year at highschool/college. So yea, during college :

They're not going anywhere, you can read them when you get back :P Could you add links to the previous ones in each topic? I am also going to be out of town from Sunday to Thursday next week, and I am a very lazy person, so if someone else can do the work for me I always try for that :P . It's all planned for already, you'll see \

They're not going anywhere, you can read them when you get back :P Nope, I'm a Wisconsinite. I just figured they are the most well known of the highly selective schools for undergrad. Oh, and thanks for all the compliments guys, really, you're too kind :wink:

June 7th, 2007 ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ Ten Days, Ten Threads. Day 1 Ten threads in ten days. An interesting concept. Most people browse a forum, reply to an interesting thread or two, and on occasion start a thread of their own. My plan? For 10 days in a row I will make a thread at exactly midnight Central Standard Time, ending at the dawn of the day of June 16th. I hesitated to do this at first. I hardly want a bunch of people trying to do the same thing, but doing so by posting random, hastily made threads with no real context just so they could post every day. Let it be noted that the threads I am posting for the next 9 days are not made on the whim. Over Christmas break six months ago I got this idea, and ever since then I have been on the lookout for creative thread ideas. In April I started to write these posts, and I saved them all in a Word file. At the time of this posting all of my 10 threads will have already been written except for some minor last minute adjustments. Why am I doing this? Perhaps the easiest way to explain is this is my one thousandths post on tip.it, and I figure I might as well celebrate a little ;). But in truth it more complicated than that. I am spending less and less time on the internet and when I do feel like posting on a forums I find myself posting more often on sites that are composed of my peers, such as the student doctor forums which is comprised of fellow Pre-Med majors of my age. Nothing against tip.it but I feel alone among high schoolers and computer science majors here :| ItÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s not a bad thing, but the fact is there are many debates and discussions that I simply canÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t bring up here. However tip.it is my home and I donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t ever plan on leaving forever. Perhaps the other reason I will be spending less time here is due to the MCAT that I am taking in August. Many of you know the name MCAT, and to those who donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t, imagine the ACT/SAT on steroids. This is the one test that prevents 90% of Pre-Med majors from getting into Med Schools (the average Med School is more selective than trying to get into undergrad at MIT or Harvard) The MCAT is a brutal test that tests all the basic sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Calc-based Physics, and Organic Chemistry) and no one has gotten a perfect score for more than a decade. The test is graded out a possible 45, but the average is a mere 26. A 31 is essentially required for admission to any Med School, thus for many the path to becoming a doctor ends with the MCAT. I have been studying for it since the third week in April and now that summer vacation is upon me I have been putting in 8 hours a day for it, and plan to do so for the next 75 days (the test is August 20th). So yea, fun test. :D You will see this series unfold before you each day, and I hope this will be something some of you will enjoy, and dare I say, something that some of you will consciously think about checking when you first arrive on the forums each day? Lol, regardless, these next 9 days will contain a total myriad of thread subjects; some will deal with interesting technological breakthroughs while others might deal with more thought provoking subjects. Whatever the case, I beseech you all, if you get the chance, try and catch the final post of this series. The thread posted on June 16th, Day 10, will be a colossal read with personal insight and implications that I want to share with others. But I digress, and we need not dwell on that subject now. I thank you for you time in reading this long post, and I hope you all enjoy the next 9 days ;) Day 1: Ten Days, Ten Threads Day 2: Feelings Are Unexplainable Day 3: Asia's Slaves Day 4: The Future of Computing Day 5: A Toast to Seven Great Companies Day 6: Malaria, Killer of Men Day 7: About Love Day 8: Trapical Does Tarot! Day 9: Stand Back and Look at it All Day 10: Revelation

1. If you got flu-like symptoms, what would you ask for from your doctor? A. medications to treat the symptoms B. antibiotics C. nothing Flu is a virus, antibiotics do nothing. Treating the symptoms will actually slow recovery, you have symptoms for a reason (i.e. a fever boosts your immune system, taking aspirin stops the fever and therefore removes that advantage) 2. If your doctor gave you antibiotics, how would you take them? A. until symptoms go away B. whenever I remember C. until the symptoms go away, then a few more days D. I take the entire prescribed amount Want to be sure you killed everything, but don't take them for too long, you are probably going to create antibiotic resistant bacteria 3. If you don't finish your prescription medication, what do you do with it? A. throw it away B. keep it, but never use it. C. keep it. Whenever I feel bad, I'll take some before I go to the doctor. I would keep it until it expired :wink: