Natalie Portman's always been a bit . . . I dunno, off the silverscreen. Sense of humor, yeah, but feels a bit forced?

Patrick Stewart seems to inhabit the same space humor-wise but does a better job of it.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 9:35 PM on July 24, 2008

I'd like to suggest that before we get into this much further that people clarify whether they're talking about genetics or culture.

I suspect there are little, if any, genetic factors improving the scores of asian students, and I suspect there are some fairly major cultural factors that are doing so.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 6:19 PM on July 23, 2008

Why is everyone so busy trying to 'keep up' anyway? Does no one want a simpler life?
posted by sunshinesky

Advertising has working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.

(this moment of consumer angst brought to you by Fight Club)
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 7:42 AM on July 22, 2008

Wasn't it full 3D vs. Dooms tied-to-a-2.5D-plane? It was certainly better in some way. Objects and monsters were still bitmaps though.

Nah, it wasn't quite as limited as Doom but it wasn't full 3D - they used some distortion tricks to fake changing the camera pitch, for one. Quake 1 is still the first major truly 3D FPS that I'm aware of.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 5:11 PM on July 18, 2008

Descent came a year earlier.

Sorry, I should have been more specific - Quake was the first FPS I'm aware of that supported true arbitrary level geometry - Descent was a portal engine that only supported interconnected convex cubes, which is pretty limiting from a designer's perspective. That's not to say Descent wasn't immense fun, because it rocked, just that it wasn't 'real' 3D anymore than Doom or UU or DN3D were. All of those, come to think of it, were great games.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 7:07 AM on July 21, 2008

Dude. It's a free web game with a reasonably interesting concept and you're acting like somebody got up on a table and peed in your Cheerios. Grow up.

*ahem*

Restart until you spawn in Madagascar, or play this version, which I personally found more enjoyable.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 5:40 AM on July 20, 2008

This Achewood comic springs immediately to mind. Indeed, what if we are actually crying out for our own dongs?
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 3:54 PM on July 8, 2008

I guarantee you no Walmart sells an assault rifle, PeterMcDermott. Maybe like a Bushmaster semi-automatic version of an M-16, but nothing with full-auto or three-shot capability. The amount of paperwork and shit you need to go through to legally possess an automatic firearm is pretty amazing.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 9:00 AM on June 26, 2008

Peter, Wikipedia's article on the National Firearms Act sums it up pretty well:

All NFA items must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Private owners wishing to purchase an NFA item must obtain permission from the ATF, obtain a signature from the county sheriff or city or town chief of police (not necessarily permission), pass an extensive background check to include submitting a photograph and finger prints,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 9:14 AM on June 26, 2008

Having to re-cock your weapon doesn't seem a big obstacle when it comes to mischief. Is this just a sop to the gun control lobby, or are lives really saved because your Mac 10 doesn't do automatic fire?

You don't have to cock a semi-auto for every shot.

Single-shot = manually reload for every shot, this is most hunting and sniper rifles
Pump-action = manually reload using a very quick pumping mechanism, as seen in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:36 AM on June 26, 2008

So have the amazing profits of games like GTA4 started to trickle down to the programmers yet? Or is game programming still an economic wasteland populated by 20-somethings working 80 hour weeks for crap pay because video games are cool and they aren't burned out yet?

Programmer salaries are great right now - $70K easy, on up to $120K. Past few years have been good to programmers, not so much to those of us in lower and mid production, or those in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:16 AM on June 24, 2008

I can't think of any reputable universities that offer a "video game design" degree. I'm sure that most CS grads who paid attention in their math classes would be a better bet for video game design.
posted by gyc at 3:53 PM on June 24

No. Example of why this is wrong: id Software

That mentality worked when we weren't doing projects in the tens of millions of dollars shooting for millions in sales. We... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 3:02 PM on June 24, 2008

I've found that when people outside the industry say 'game design', they often really mean to say 'game development' or 'game programming,' and not really design in a formal sense like you or I would say. Not that I can speak for gyc, but if you substitute 'programming' for 'design', I think his comment stands up.

Good point, and yes.

And, depending on where you work, people who do 'design' (or different parts of it)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 4:00 PM on June 24, 2008

shmegegge: usually that shit is all outsourced to companies that specialize in CG sequences, based on a script written up by the creative team.

You know how most movie directors *butcher* their attempts to express a videogame in their medium? Most game companies' creative teams *butcher* their attempts to make those little sequences. That ineptitude is a two-way street (with a few significant exceptions).
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:12 AM on June 25, 2008

The following is all very broadly speaking, and has nothing to do with individuals:

Under optimal conditions a man can procreate in fifteen minutes, several times a day, and then move on without expending further resources on their progeny. The more women they procreate with, the more successful their genes are.

Under optimal conditions a woman can procreate at best every nine months, with a guaranteed massive resource... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 8:09 AM on June 19, 2008

Faze, I like Obama, but you should never tempt *any* politician with statements like that. It's just begging them to prove you wrong.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 4:40 PM on June 14, 2008

I've always wondered at the entirely rhythmless folk like GW, can they not hear the music at all?

Uptight white people can hear just fine - it's our souls that are deaf.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 9:02 PM on June 13, 2008

[Note: semi-tongue-in-cheek]

To be perfectly honest the very first thing I would do if transported back to 1000 AD would be to walk to the nearest fairly remote village, wait in the woods outside of it until midnight, creep into one of the smaller houses and use whatever was handy (knife, dagger, rope, etc.) to quietly murder the occupants before taking their clothes, food, a knife, wineskin, flint, bowl, and if they have anything like a knapsack,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:26 AM on June 11, 2008

Dave: the probability of that event is zero.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:47 AM on June 11, 2008

Dave: meet an ancestor, sure. Kill an ancestor if they haven't already procreated, no, I couldn't do that even if I wanted to.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:56 AM on June 11, 2008

Ryvar's sociopathic plan

In my own defense, the question was how to survive, not how to survive and be a nice guy.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 12:05 PM on June 11, 2008

prefpara: The 20th century didn't invent critical thinking, either, but it greatly increased the supply. My parents have this encyclopedia-style tome from the late 1800s, and you would not believe how ridiculous some of the bullshit in there was.

That aside, the question here is really - am I more likely, in the event of being whisked away to 1000AD, to become the snake-oil salesman or the snake-oil buyer? The charlatan magician or his duped audience? The priest or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 12:19 PM on June 11, 2008

Bullshit. Even assuming you found someone even a little bit interested in your l33t Wikipedia skillz, you wouldn't be able to speak their language (metaphorically speaking). Scientific concepts don't work in a vacuum, without a scientific community willing to accept them; you would need to be able to translate all your knowledge into terms a contemporary scholar could handle. Notice that this is well before the rise even of medieval Aristotelianism, much less the Scientific Revolution.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 4:31 PM on June 11, 2008

Aeschenkarnos:
What would happen if no-load index funds became a craze is that, being relatively low-yield overall, every possible permutation of "just like [standard-bearer for no-load index funds] but with better returns!" would spring up overnight.

Essentially, no-load index funds would become the baseline against which everything else was measured, and people trying to beat that will, as always, get fleeced.

Right now,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 8:59 PM on June 9, 2008

You know, this brings something to mind . . .

I'm one of those people who actively attempts to avoid curmudgeonhood. I've always been very worried about becoming like my grandmother, who was literally terrified of computers.

So let's say, for the sake of argument, that we do get robots out the other side of the uncanny valley, and people start having sex with them as a matter of course.

Is that going... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:42 PM on May 27, 2008

autodidact: clearly you've never had a pet rat. Asshole.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 5:03 PM on May 22, 2008

This is pure XKCD fodder.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:21 PM on May 21, 2008

Congratulations! Welcome to the club, CA.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:59 AM on May 15, 2008

THE HARDER THEY FAIL
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:24 AM on May 11, 2008

Kadin makes a good point. Little Boy had a 15 kiloton yield when it killed 140,000 people in WW2.

A single Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile from the late 70s/early 80s would consist of 10 independently targeted warheads each with a 200 kiloton yield.

One of the Typhoon class submarines from the movie Hunt For Red October would carry 20 of those missiles.

20 missiles x 10 warheads each x 200 kiloton yield =... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:37 PM on May 6, 2008

Modern state societies permit and encourage us to express our love, anger, grief, and fear, but not our thirst for vengeance. We grow up being taught that such feelings are primitive, something to be ashamed of and to transcend.

This is just me, but if I had to point out the difference between these emotions it would be the fact that vengeance generally requires some form of premeditation. The need for it may be as powerful as the other listed... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 1:04 PM on April 24, 2008

While I think I get your point, caddis, are you sure you weren't in possession of 100g of pot when you wrote it?
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 9:54 PM on April 20, 2008

The best part, by far, is the not-entirely subtle threat contained in this line:

Further, if any of these patents or trademarks has been licensed to any entity, please provide me with copies of the licensing agreements. I assume that Monster Cable International, Ltd., in Bermuda, listed on these patents, is an IP holding company and that Monster Cable's principal US entity pays licensing fees to the Bermuda corporation in order to shift income out of the United... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 1:16 PM on April 15, 2008

It's just the gravitic shield the extraterrestrials have put up around Sol system. Eventually they'll come to a stop.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse

Ahh, Hogan. A pity he can't write for shit, because my God the quality of his ideas . . .
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 9:48 AM on March 22, 2008

Son of a bitch. Son of a fucking bitch.

It is my sacred and holy duty to hate people like George Clooney, and then you people go around linking to articles about him that have a neat premise, very good writing, and actually make him look like a decent grounded human being despite his status.

Goddamnit! This is intolerable behavior!
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:47 PM on March 17, 2008

Nothing will ever beat this one. [Miller's Crossing]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 5:25 PM on March 17, 2008

I'm curious as to who MeFites would include in an actual list of, say the top 10 most influential (vs. powerful) blogs.

I'd say Digg, Fark, MeFi, Reddit for linkfests,

TPM, DailyKos, LGF, Huffington Post for politics,

Slashdot, Engadget for tech.

It feels like BoingBoing should bump one of these - but I'm not sure which.

Pitchfork isn't really a blog.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 6:43 PM on March 12, 2008

Automatic shotguns aren't that new; they're just of such limited utility that they're not used very frequently. They seem to pop up every few years, though. IIRC the South African national arms company was producing one in the 80s.
posted by Kadin2048

Yeah, that was the Neostead.

I can't find an exact date but I'm pretty sure the Saiga 12K (an AK-47 rechambered for 12 gauge) came first. I believe... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:28 AM on March 10, 2008

Oh, you might also be thinking of the Armsel Striker.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:31 AM on March 10, 2008

This is so wrong in so many ways, these people don't even hide, they are proud of their work even. Geez this is so fucked up.
posted by zouhair

As feats of engineering, most modern firearms are pretty amazing. What can be achieved completely in solid-state, no electric power just driven by recoil/expanding gasses, is far more than one would expect.

I don't think there's anything for the people who use these on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:43 AM on March 10, 2008

"Unfortunately, his injury was very serious because it seems that his foot was twisted several times around its own axis and this really damaged the bone and soft tissue," Engebretsen said.

This is *exactly* why, despite the occasional minor concussion, I insist on snowboarding.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:28 AM on March 5, 2008

Here's hoping you don't wind up in the Blood War, berk.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:44 AM on March 4, 2008

I'd think the point of trying to create a mathematical simulation of the brain is to crack the core mechanism of consciousness at a neurotopological level. Once you have that, you can start trying to improve upon it. Do a sufficiently decent job at it, and you can let the system design its own upgrades from that point on. The end product of that process - properly contained - is the only thing like a realistic means of achieving any sort of technological singularity.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 4:47 PM on March 3, 2008

Can't get make the purchase right now (site's too far gone), but I am buying this ASAP.

I'm not a fan anymore - but looking at the purchase options here . . . my God. My fucking God. Somebody actually finally gets it.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:12 PM on March 2, 2008

Whether or not we like it, it is a fact that there are significant cognitive and behavioral differences between the sexes, and certainly it makes sense to tailor the educational experience to those differences. However, I'm not sure I trust ANY governmental entity - federal or local - to actually successful establish a system that is separate AND equal.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that any attempt along these lines no matter how well-intentioned will result in a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 10:55 AM on February 29, 2008

cortex:
That's why I said 'and behavioral'

johnjoe:
That works right up until a boy or girl is placed in an otherwise all-opposite-gender class and starts wondering what the hell is wrong with themselves. Or becomes the sole object of attention in that classroom. I love your general approach, but biological imperatives express themselves socially even at younger ages in ways that seem likely to give rise to extremely negative learning environments.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 11:20 AM on February 29, 2008

caution live frogs:
There's a huge difference there - even if you accept the basic premise, racism is fundamentally flawed at the most basic level because of interracial breeding, which is only increasing in frequency as geographic and linguistic barriers are broken down. Because of this, there is absolutely no way to guarantee correlation between genetic factors that may have cognitive impact and skin color. Moreover, cognitive/behavioral differences between races appear to be far... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 12:04 PM on February 29, 2008

If any of those adjectives are absent, there are more pressing problems than catering to individual learning styles.

For the majority of children in this country it appears that not only are one or both of those adjectives absent, but that they're not likely to come back anytime soon. My interest is whether and how much can you patch those holes via an intrinsically better system?


caution live... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 3:08 PM on February 29, 2008

Kadin:
I was talking about both of those, actually, which might be the source of some of the confusion.

To your point:
Realistically, you're not going to be able to change gendered social expectations within any kind of timeline that an individual can appreciate. There's no policy to dictate - sociological matters exist within a shared consensus reality that is remarkably resistant to any good-faith attempts to change it (remarkably less so with... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 12:10 AM on March 1, 2008

The basic concept is perfect, the scope is epic, but you'd think given the cast he scrounged up he could've gotten at least the production values of the Sarah/Matt video.

But that simply wasn't the case. Weird.
posted to MetaFilter by Ryvar at 5:24 AM on February 25, 2008