Slow Day

Sorry for the lack of activity folks. Got a major Dynamics test first thing tomorrow and I have been cramming studying into every minute of the day.

So today, enjoy some random pictures.

The Singularity is Near

If any of you are science nerds, then the Singularity should be as familiar to you as the hiding place for your Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit. But I realized how few people actually know of and understand this idea.

If you have any sort of historical perspective, or perhaps have been alive for more than 20 years or so, you might have noticed the increasingly rapid advances in technology. The idea that advances in technology spur new technology isn't new. It isn't even really that surprising. However, what is surprising is the speed of advancement in our own lifetimes (even if you haven't hit 25).

The Singularity is a point in the future human history in which technological advancement becomes so rapid that prediction on the state of human civilization becomes impossible. This isn't some crazy off the wall theory, either. Many scientists have commented on this and many believe it to be inevitable. The theorized events of singularity include ideas such as the thought that humans will become increasingly in control of our biology to the point where we will be able to merge with machines.

Here is a fascinating article on Time Magazine about this. It is well worth the read.

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal

On Feb. 15, 1965, a diffident but self-possessed high school student named Raymond Kurzweil appeared as a guest on a game show called I've Got a Secret. He was introduced by the host, Steve Allen, then he played a short musical composition on a piano. The idea was that Kurzweil was hiding an unusual fact and the panelists — they included a comedian and a former Miss America — had to guess what it was.

On the show (see the clip on YouTube), the beauty queen did a good job of grilling Kurzweil, but the comedian got the win: the music was composed by a computer. Kurzweil got $200. 

Kurzweil then demonstrated the computer, which he built himself — a desk-size affair with loudly clacking relays, hooked up to a typewriter. The panelists were pretty blasé about it; they were more impressed by Kurzweil's age than by anything he'd actually done. They were ready to move on to Mrs. Chester Loney of Rough and Ready, Calif., whose secret was that she'd been President Lyndon Johnson's first-grade teacher.

But Kurzweil would spend much of the rest of his career working out what his demonstration meant. Creating a work of art is one of those activities we reserve for humans and humans only. It's an act of self-expression; you're not supposed to be able to do it if you don't have a self. To see creativity, the exclusive domain of humans, usurped by a computer built by a 17-year-old is to watch a line blur that cannot be unblurred, the line between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence.

That was Kurzweil's real secret, and back in 1965 nobody guessed it. Maybe not even him, not yet. But now, 46 years later, Kurzweil believes that we're approaching a moment when computers will become intelligent, and not just intelligent but more intelligent than humans. When that happens, humanity — our bodies, our minds, our civilization — will be completely and irreversibly transformed. He believes that this moment is not only inevitable but imminent. According to his calculations, the end of human civilization as we know it is about 35 years away. 

Continue

Excellent Pranks for You and Your Friends!

Credit to College Humor.

Original Larger Non-Blogger Shrunk Picture

 

OH GOD TECHNOLOGY

I have no idea what this is or what it is for...but I want it so bad.

Contradictions in the Bible (The Second Attempt)

Try this link, click download full size, and then view in it's entirety.

I realized that blogger has a size limit on images, and that this image is huge. I guess it is because of the massive number of contradictions in the Bible. I guess if you are a Christian, you can attribute this to the flaws of the humans that wrote it in interpreting the Divine Inspiration put upon them.

If you are anyone else, you can just take it as another reason to not dedicate your life to living in fear of not following the arcane rules of a god you aren't quite sure is real.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61015194@N08/5587268918/sizes/l/in/photostream/


The picture is accredited to The Reason Project.

Also, try the original picture at http://www.project-reason.org/image_galleries/

Since Today is Sunday...

...Here is a pretty interesting infographic about contradictions in the Bible.

Enjoy


Edit: ugh not again. I can read the text here but apparently good reduces the size for some reason. I will repost tonight.

Another Tip Pic

Everything you need to know is in this image.

Let's Break the Rules and Help Some Folks

Why do you always have to help people through the legitimate channels? As this great poster shows, there are a lot of ways to give.

Have any suggestions for somewhat unethical ways to help people? Share them! Just want to lol? Do that too.

A Momentous Achievement

Yesterday, something incredible occured. The world will never be the same. The sun rose and fell, just as it has for eons and epochs. In cyberspace, the eternal cries of the trolled was met with the giggle of trolls just as it had since the beginning of time. However, something had changed. The universe was forever altered and a new era had begun.

This new epoch in human history is known as Post +200 Followers Reflections with an Erection Era or simply P+200FRWAEE.


How does it feel like to be part of history?

Star Wars if it was more realistic

This is a pretty funny take on Star Wars. I'm not going to post it all here but if this sounds interesting to you check it out here.

If not just let me know you're not interested in the comments :D

How to Calm a Baby...With Metal

Best Divorce Letter Ever

Tips for Successful Blogging

This post is long overdue. I noticed that there are a lot of ways I could have improved my blog that would have made life easier for my followers. Now, I am always looking at ways to streamline and to get better.

I also notice that many of my followers are also publishers themselves. So in that spirit, I decided to make a list of things to make your blog more successful and a little easier on your own followers.


1. Take off the damn captcha!

It uses us as slaves in doing evil shit like converting the sum of our vast human wisdom and knowledge kept in books to immortal digital form for the entirety of the future population to enjoy. And also just to waste our time in general.

Captcha is also a pedophile

As funny as the memes that come from the pain in the ass that is captcha, it simply isn't useful. The inconvience it causes anyone who wants to comment on your page isn't worth the convience of not moderating spam. On blogger, if you simply go to settings -> comments -> Show Word Verification Off, you will make the life of your followers just a little bit easier.

2. Limit the number of posts shown on your front page.

While having old articles is great for getting views to older content of yours, it isn't any good for anyone with a less than top of the line internet connection. It limits the speed they can load you page and often overwhelms their connection by loading lots pictures simataneously. Go to your settongs and change the number of posts shown to 2-3 max. Also set the settings to hide some of your post so that they can click if they actually want to see the content rather than being forced to load your last 7 posts to view your homepage.

To change this setting, go to Settings -> Formating -> Show At Most 2-3 Posts. It will make the life of those who enjoy your blog a little easier.

3.  Limit the amount of content you have on your page to a reasonable amount.

Someone actually thought this was a good idea

While having fish swim around, globes showing visitor locations, and ads in every single free inch of space seems like a great idea to get clicks, it really doesn't make visiting your blog a pleasant experience. I'm not knocking having cool little additions to your blog, I love those free additions that display statistics as much as anyone. I am just saying to keep it to a minimum so that your blog isn't a confusing mess.


- If you are going to use popups, please only use one ad site. Having more than one popup is irritating and unnecessarily slowing to the following process. It is actually better to leave them off in general. No one else clicks them and most of the pages they link to are swimming in viruses.
- Try not to have more than 3-4 picture ads, it slows down computers.
- The additions like fish, stat counters, location globes all shouldn't add more than 3-4 pictures.
- In total, try to limit the number of pictures someone needs to load on your page to 15 or so. This is excluding posts revolving around pictures as people are actually often seeking out that content for a reason.


Anyway, these are my top three tips. If anyone has any other useful tips for making your blog a little more successful, feel free to share it in the comments!

Random Picture Day!

Enjoy!

Inglip Summoned! Part 2

More of the funniest meme in quite a while!

Today is my Birthday

I am celebrating by making this lazy ass post and then going drinking. More tomorrow folks!

Infographic (Radiation)

This is an awesome infographic by the folks at xkcd. I made it more reasonably sized. Click it for a better view. It is definitely worth it.

Religion on the Verge of Extiction in Several Countries

Religion on the verge of extinction in many countries: math study

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study recently released by a team from Northwestern University and the University of Arizona shows that religion and religious affiliations may be on the verge of extinction in the nine countries studied. Utilizing a mathematical model of nonlinear dynamics, the team analyzed data from censuses taken in nine different countries dating as far back as a century.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-religion-verge-extinction-countries.html

New Smithsonian Ads

The Smithsonian Museum has a helluva ad team. These are nothing if not awesome.

Last Night with Billl Nye

Yesterday, I made a post about seeing Bill Nye live. I realized that a lot of you aren't from the US and wouldn't have heard of him. To be short, he was the host/writer of one of the most popular science education shows in the United States. He inspired a generation of kids to develop an interest in science.

Anyway his lecture was awesome.

He is funny in real life as he was in the show. The focus of his talk was to inspire the scientists/engineers in the crowd to make a difference. He talked a lot of the problems we have with the human population, addressing skeptics of climate change, and the need for science education. He gave a list of specific problems we could address involving city design, solar panel efficiency, material science, and ending a ridiculous farm subsidy system that makes beef cheaper than salad.

It was funny, it was inspiring, it was educational, and it was pretty much everything I expected from Bill Nye the Science Guy.

and yes he had the bowtie!