davidivad

while i do occasionally eat meat, i eat much less of it in the summer. this is because it has "hot" calories. i am at the age where i am starting to run into heart health concerns. i have replaced much of my meat with beans of various types and can't say i miss it. i would eat more fish, but i do not have much of a taste for it. i get my omegas from nuts and such any way. i also lift weights and there is nothing better than whey protien (it has casiens). that is really good for building muscle without raising cholesterol levels. i feel a lot healthier now that i have removed most of the meat from my diet. i only have one argument for meat. i miss barbecuing and it is about that time of the year again. that's ok. i have learned how fun it is to cook for someone else and harrass them about thier weight and cholesterol! i always do this with an extravagant salad. the ladies always want me to make them some once they see what i have...

I find if amusing that our politicians are looking for someone to take the fall for our recent rash of misguided investments. The politicians are clearly the ones responible for setting the bar too high and trying to manhandle the science behind our technology. Who decided that we need to demand that an aircraft must be built to accomodate more than one specialized role and only fund the winner. is the aircraft company at fault? of course not. they must comply with the request when it will only be bought if it meets such criteria. they further insult cooperation by overseeing all aspects of such operations. this was a clear attempt by politicians to control the development of technology. what do we learn from this? it takes an act of god for them to realize that thier very interest in such affairs is the root cause. why not istead of blaming someone, publicly announce that such endeavors can not be oversighted in such a controled fashion. they even invested before a finnished product out of the arrogance of thinking they were in control. face it, if you want an airplane built correctly, you do not want a politician to do it... if you want someone to make a mess ask a politician... i am just curious as to any other perspective out there on the subject.

why did we not just go in and remove the nuclear threat when we had the chance? politics. i often imagine an anti aircraft strategy overwhelmed by swarms of small drones with syringes. i imagine that swarming technology as it is already being implimented in larger drone teams will be the next nuclear deterent. i find it amusing that old shcool russion radar can detect modern stealth planes. this however is not a problem when you look at the greater strategies that can be employed. this lack of public insight is what downed the f-22. it was not designed for the dog fight because a better strategy was picked. our government cannot tell us why it is investing in such things as on the surface it looks foolish but to explain why is to give up crucial information on tactics. to me it speaks volumes. now if we can just get the technology to be a bit more reliable in production... what is the future of war? swarm technology. massive numbers of very small drones that can be released in the field by individual units to neutralize targets before engagement. i imagine an organized set of special operations teams being dopped into strategic positions only to observe and then neutralize the communications chain of command and a timely additional release of drones to neutralize nuclear objectives. a large coordinated number of one and two man units meant to get strategic information and then recieve the order to irradicate targets by realeasing the contents of a backpack. total domination to any percievable threat in the future. does america have any black projects involving such things? we have several independant groups that are doing this very thing. the only question is whether the government is put in a political position to produce these items. my guess is that Putkin should not poke the goose so hard. we are good at war and well versed at it. remember, we police the world. and that's something you wont be able to shake a stick at if it happens with drone tech. remember we already produce swarm technology in our current equipment. in a nutshell, you haven't seen drones yet.

yea, he sounds young so i thought i might take an alternative approach.

you do not need to be invasive about mind reading unless you actually require video taping. i do not think that mind reading in such a way is as effective as statistics and metadata. we are already followed onthe internet by ads that we are most likely to respond to. our location is continuously tracked and stored along with habits and sites we visit. there is a vast amount of data on each of us that is parsed and fed into algorithms along with previous data and what not all to predict what we will most likely do. the time is arriving when we as a people will have to decide whether or not we should suspend due process. take a look around and pay attention to the latest laws and political events that are occuring now. we do not need to know what is going on in an individual's head because we can find offenders before they even think to do something. statistics versus choice. what a conundrum. who would have guessed such a thing.

well, it sounds like you have a grasp on things. i first need to sum up what you are saying. the universe had a beginning and is still expanding. this is true as far as we can tell. we do not know how big the universe is. we do know that it is vastly bigger then if we measuerd as far as we can see in both directions and added it together( that is about 14 billion light years times two). just so you know, we do not have to worry about what the edges of the univers might be like because we will never ever be able to reach them even if we traveled forever. i understand what you mean about a person having a consciousness (we all have one). i believe that what we call consciousness is a feeling that your body experiences that tells you that you are real. i also believe that in reality we are only figments of our imaginations. you do not have to believe that though. your explanation will work fine for me. ah, so you want to live forever eh? i am afraid that we must obey the rules that mother nature sets. death is a natural and necessary process of life. think of the world as if were a human body. we are all cells that have different jobs to do so that the body can be alive and do things. while we cannot live forever as individuals, we can live a very long time as the human race. if you want to live beyond your death, then you must change the world in a way that it will remember you.

i would probably go with a soft case but this is only a preference of grasp. i have found that out in the field you deal with moisture, mud, and various lighting conditions to work in. there is nothing worse than sitting next to a stream and having a plastic case fly out of your hands. the soft kind seems easier to grasp and hold onto in varying conditions. plastic only takes one misgrab and it has gone on it's own trip. what are you trying to get pictures of?

wisdom is the knowledge that you will probable make the same mistake and enjoy it for a short while again.

if we were in a black hole there would be a noticeable difference in concentration of structure within the universe. there would be signs of a center of mass even if it were outside our viewing area. beyond this, the universe is expanding in an accelerating fashion which implies that gravity is not winning (not a black hole). you would also have to assume some kind of speed gradient applied across the visible universe if there was a singularity beyond the horizon. in almost every way one can think of, the universe does not show similarities of a black hole.

thank you. i will take everything i can get.

it is good practice and a great way to learn things. it fosters an argumentation style important in any field of science. by arguing your point, you learn to support your statements with evidence. you also exercise your reasoning skills. if there is one thing i have learned, it would be that math is much more substantial than speculation. since i have been on this site, i have gotten back into learning the math behind physics. i have a bit to go, but it will be worth it in the end. there are a number of individuals on this site you will not find on others and that is worth the time any way you look at it. i will not quit until i can pull off skyping while holding my evil cat in my evil chair.

yes, there is already a back and i am curious to see what they will say about it after a bit more time. being the first, i am sure the price will come down more. it has potential but i want to see if that potential really stacks up.

control is an idea.

bananas are most definitely a super food. they fly off of my table.

@CharonY yes, i have a few cameras (more than one size). the customer paid for all of them as they liked my work. the customer got better pictures for it too. now you have to add me to your list (i'll let you debate what list that is). @Acme i was too intoxicated myself to take the opportunity. i got together with a bunch of friends. but you did get some pics. the last time i was out i had my telescope. i like using the telescope because it makes me feel like i am doing something sophisticated. it was very cold, but everybody managed. i also took few shots of the milky way with a bit of natural framing courtesy of a big tree while we were at it. you're are not taking good pictures until you can say you stumbled around or lost something in the dark first. i often use a flashlight with a red lens so i can see what i am doing without going blind but i forgot it at home.

a nice bellow (view camera). sorry about calling it a bellows device as i thought you would realize what i was talking about. notice the advantage of freedom that a bellow gives between lens and plane? you can do the impossible with this kind. imagine what you can do with architecture. note that they are too pricy for one saturday morning but they are worth their weight in gold. @Acme was the moon smaller than you expected? or did you use a telescope?

they used saturation most definitely. they also overcame noise by averaging multiple pictures. in this way they were able to bring out the saturation to a much higher degree than they could have with a single picture. http://www.photographyblogger.net/how-to-photograph-the-real-colors-of-the-moon/ this method of reducing noise is a great way to get around the limitations of your camera. so while you do not care for the picture it has technical value to the reader.

is there anything i can do in post processing that will give my pictures more color separation? i want one of these.

@CharonY I will pass the hat to you. i cannot seem to get much color or depth out of my moon pictures. is there something i can do or some technique for digital cameras that will add color or depth?

thank you very much Phi for All. lol, thank you very much swansont. how do you get better responses than that? i may have to live twice to get where you guys are on number of posts. there is the possibility that i have a hard time giving that hat away. it is a pretty hat... i will definitely remember.

After seeing many topics abandoned or caught in circular argument i wonder how to use them to contribute to the SFN community over the long term. For me science is more than argument. it is about collaboration too. I feel that the answer is in using the friending resources available to us on this site. However i would like to hear what other people think so that i can get a better line of sight upon the subject. What do you think about it?

there is no such thing as a free meal. the laws of physics prohibit this.

CharonY any thought on a more effective strategy for utilizing argumentation for a better thread. i firstly did not start with an outline of what i wanted to discuss so the thread is quite choppy (the next one will be more organized for the reader). i also need to have established a requirement for reference material to support claims (this is more useful than anything). please note that there is an underlying motive to this thread and that is to show that direction can be had with the argument style on this site (you can argue all day for points but what have we accomplished then). i am a firm believer that the style has more to offer than pilfered egos and abandoned threads. the real purpose of this thread... can collaboration be had with this method of argumentation? will it lead to a further understanding over all or is it only useful for addressing specific questions? how can i use this method to further the effectiveness of my threads? photography is something quite a few people in the field of science have a knack for and it is a fairly good way to draw in extra attention from many different fields. it was my intent to use this to get a diverse setting in which various fields come together on one problem and create a solution. LOL, i could draw only one or two. i did establish interest so that is useful. i wanted to refrain from the thread and isolate it without my interference as much as possible to see how long it would take to derail. i can still do this hopefully. so, if you smell something burning in the kitchen, that's because i have something going on behind the scenes. things i have learned so far... citing your supporting information is very important. there must be fuel for an argument (readers need a reason to participate). the use of other resources on this site beyond just the threads is required (the use of friending and formation of social groups which i did not include in the exercise). use a specific topic and group them through naming convention. i appreciate you contributions to this thread and will continue to participate as long as i get participation. there is more use for bellows, but i would like to see if anyone out there can contribute this information. if not, then i will answer it in a later thread. please remember that i am trying to minimize my answers for analysis of the thread. please remember that you get a cookie for responding (an up vote).

personally i think genes may play a role in the mechanics as to which the brain works. anything based upon the physical characteristics of the brain are subject to it (a house must comply with its foundation as it is an extension built upon it. as far as the effects of cannabis upon the functions of the brain, there are clear indications as to a clear eventual difference in the functioning of the brain. off topic so to speak, is the anti convulsive effects of one of marijuana's main constituents that may prove to be an effective alternative to the damaging cumulative effects of anti psychotics. there are already strains that are great for epileptics that do not have the "fun" effects of the typical strain. there are many instances where anti convulsants are an effective contribution to the treatment of schizophrenia. Being put into an MRI can be an uncomfortable experience and definitely could have an impact upon the results when measuring such aspects of the brain. i would consider that a higher number of scans will help but may not completely address the problem.

i will be too busy employing my intoxicated howling technique! http://photographylife.com/how-to-photograph-moon i will probably let this thread go on it's own and start another with a more focused agenda. consider it a pilot program. i did not include links to resources like i had originally intended for further reading and i picked too broad a range to cover. i need a better way to use the argumentation style of this forum. any suggestions? feel free to continue the subject as it still has value to me as a pilot run.