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skuinders

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Posts posted by skuinders

  1. Am I correct on saying that in the US a university has postgraduates, whereas a college does not?

    No. For example, Dartmouth College in NH, US grants masters and doctoral degrees. Dartmouth is even one of the better schools in the US (and a member of the ivy league), but it keeps its "College" title for historical reasons. Most colleges in the US grand up to masters degrees, but not doctoral. My school recently changed its name from College to University just so that international students would not be confused.

  2. The general rule of thumb is to always put the / at the end of the URL. Some (bad) sites even require this. When you leave it out, it basically makes the server do a little more work.

     

    http://www.blah.com/stuff/'>http://www.blah.com/stuff/

    http://www.blah.com/stuff

     

    where stuff is a directory that contains a file: index.html

     

    If I type the first URL, the server looks in the directory 'stuff' for a file 'index.htm[l]' (or others, depending on the server configuration)

     

    If I type the second URL, the server first checks to see if 'stuff' is the name of a file in the top directory, it will find that it is a directory and then it looks in the directory stuff for the file 'index.htm[l]'

     

    So, you are helping the server out a bit by telling it that stuff is a directory and that it should look in there for a default file.

     

    Really, it's not a big deal, but it is a good habit to include the trailing /.

     

    .htm and .html can be used interchangeably. The .htm extension comes from the limitations on file names on the old DOS systems. The .html extension was the original extension for HTML documents. Most die hard UNIX/Linux folk (including myself) prefer the .html extension.

  3. Because I am bored at work, here are the calculations. :)

    Volumes:

    [math]v_{nickel} = 1.95mm\times \pi \times 10.6mm^2 \approx 688mm^3[/math]

    [math]v_{dime} = 1.35mm\times \pi \times 8.96mm^2 \approx 340mm^3[/math]

     

    Value/Volume:

    [math]r_{nickel} = \frac{5}{v_{nickel}} \approx 0.007 cents/mm^3[/math]

     

    [math]r_{dime} = \frac{10}{v_{dime}} \approx 0.029 cents/mm^3[/math]

     

    [math]r_{dime} > 2 \times r_{nickel} [/math]

  4. Now we try to play God and protect endangered species, try to preserve species, and try to protect the weak that would otherwise not survive.

    Strangely, you seem to think ethical behavior should be defined by the rules of natural selection? Really think about all of the implications of this line of thought...

    I'm sorry to say, but animals that don't live off humans or for humans (pests, cockaroaches, rats, dogs, cats, cows, chickens) will have no place in our world.

    Now who's "playing God"?

  5. Has anyone here gone to graduate school (or know anyone who has) for computer science? I am doing the big search now and would appreciate any suggestions about programs. I am mainly interested in a few lines of research: brain science, AI, and robotics. But, I am open to other facets of computer science research. If you have heard, experienced, or read anything positive about a specific program, I would like to hear about it. Thanks!

     

    P.S. Here is my current school list (in no particular order):

     

    Brown University

    University of Massachusetts - Amherst

    University of Maryland - College Park

    Dartmouth College

    Rochester University

    University of California - Davis

    Yale University

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

    Penn State

  6. So how do 'wiggers' dress ? Are they generally considered as the lower class ?

    I'm not sure "wigger" is a good synonym for "chav". In the US (where I believe that term was coined), the word means "white n*gger". Which really means a white (usually male) person who dresses like a ghetto-type rapper.

  7. Most of the slang is the same for the ones you mentioned (except that I didn't know a word for hitching a ride on the back of a bike).

     

    Some other slang that exist in MA, US:

    rubber band = elastic

    water fountain (for drinking) = bubbler

    sub/sandwich = grinder

    adj: very (as in "very hot") = wicked

    shopping cart/basket = carriage

  8. it depends what you are judging the velocity relative to. and no, it isn't impossible. a good ion engine could get to a significant fraction of the speed of light (especially if i were actually two ion engines: one matter, the other antimatter that are at angles relative to each other such that the ions and antiions hit each other)...it just takes time.

    What I was getting at is: as the ship's velocity approaches the velocity of light, its mass will approach infinity and so will the force required to propel it. I blame my imprecise wording. Depending on what one considers "significant," the answer is yes or no.

  9. Do you think that maybe using different categories and situations the same person can be foung worthy and unworthy of death by two different people. For example, one suspect is analysed by scientist A who, based on the suspect's hair color, height, and clothing, is deemed a threat, but scientist B looking at the same suspect uses different categories, e.g. chest width, body-mass index, and lip size, and comes up with different probabilities.

    Right. You might want to look at my second post.

    Indeed... no one is thinking about probabilities when they are chasing a dubious character around with a gun; there is not even an agreeable way to calculate a probability in that situation. The only objective way to act in or analyze such an event is in a manner such as I mentioned, and that is simply not feasible[/b']. That was my point with the last sentence... although, I suppose I could have made that a bit clearer.
  10. Evolution is a complicated theory dealing with the way organisms change and adapt to their local environments. A quick description of biological evolution is simply "change in allele frequency over time."

    You have the right idea, but you should be more precise. The way you stated it, a layperson could think that an individual organism can evolve in its lifetime. You should say that evolution is the process that results in heritable changes in a population over generations. The key is generations, not simply time.

     

    As stated many times in this forum, the direct contradiction to creation is abiogenesis, not evolution.

  11. Skuinders, LeVay's work does not prove innateness, and changes in brain morphology *can* be the result of environment.

    I didn't say that this work proved anything. However, I believe LeVay's N was large enough to make the probability of unexpected correlation between brain samples significantly small.

     

    I'm not saying it's not innate, only that LaVey's work isn't actually the best support for innateness.

    You're probably right. This is just work that I knew about from previous reading.

  12. What is your point, skuinders?

    Ask your average anti-gay bigot and they will say that it is either "sinful" or a choice that they disagree with. My point is: the former has no meaning and the latter makes an incorrect assumption. That is not to say that some people don't just hate for the hell of it - but such people are largely hopeless.

     

    Edit: If you were asking why I quoted those findings, I was showing some evidence for the innateness of homosexuality.

  13. Some people are so ignorant.

    Step 1: Abolish religion.

    Step 2: Notice that homosexuality is innate and is not a choice.

     

    LeVay's work studying the brain structure of homosexuals:

    LeVay found a significant difference in the size of the INAH-3 in heterosexual men and homosexual men. The INAH-3 was two to three times larger in heterosexual men than in gay men. He found no significant difference in size between homosexual men and women. Regarding his results, LeVay said, "The discovery that a nucleus differs in size between heterosexual and homosexual men illustrates that sexual orientation in humans is amenable to study at the biological level."
  14. I am an animal-loving vegetarian... however, the use of animals in research that will lead us to better understand biological mechanisms or find cures for disease is justified in my mind. The only stipulation that I have is that the experiments be humane and not involve torture of any kind. This being said, experiments done on animals for consumer products etc. is bullshit. Also, the use of animals for entertainment (in commercials, circus, etc.) is also unethical.

  15. Is anyone else attending/presenting at the SFN conference this year?

    I have a poster session... my information is:

     

    Date: Monday, Nov. 14, 2005

    Presentation Time: Monday, Nov. 14, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    Session Type: Poster

    Session Number: 500

    Program Number: 500.10

    Session Title: Homeostatic Plasticity II

    Abstract Title: Synaptic modification in spiking-rate models: a

    comparison between learning in spiking neurons and rate-based neuron models

    Location: Washington Convention Center Halls A-C

    Board Number: N4

  16. For Example: A mathematics topic is easily learned within 15 days for me.

    :confused: I can learn a mathematics topic in less than an hour and remember it for years and I am no prodigy...

     

    How impressive are you on paper? Try to get into the best university you can and just take extra classes every semester if you want. A top-tier school will likely move plenty fast for you. I take 6 to 7 classes per semester at my school to keep busy. But you should only stack classes if you can pull a 4.0, otherwise you are only kidding yourself.

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