Pears...I think I will have some pears...

Just got 1.4 GB of Toto music

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCewH1MBbYlEZMWx3ZUNywyg/playlists?shelf_id=5780657597810529797&view=50&sort=dd



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvjZLAsdMMA

Conrad_73 is right on the money!

Whose morals are God's?

Is it moral to wed and have children with a woman just reaching puberty? Some places on the planet think it is.

Is it moral to stone a woman to death over her dress code?
Some places on the planet think it is.

Is it moral to have multiple wives?
Some places on the planet think it is.

Is it moral to kill another human being for murder?
Some places on the planet think it is.

Is it moral to turn off life support equipment for a brain dead person?
Some places on the planet think it is.

Is it moral to invade other countries and make them free against their wishes?
Some places on the planet think it is.

Is it moral... I could go on but I think you got my point.

Morality is defined by the masses of a society. What is moral today may not be moral tomorrow.
I choose to be moral.
I choose to have manners.
I choose to have a choice.

I used to collect scifi & fantasy books. Even joined a few book clubs. After a few years online and using eBooks and audio books I sold my collection and started collecting e-versions.
If I had the dead wood versions of all the books in my library files I would need a room stacked floor to ceiling packed with books and audio tapes.

People have asked me if I miss the feel and smell of a dead wood book.
Not Really. My eyes are starting to go and on my PC I can enlarge the print to my satisfaction easily. Not only that, I can set the high-light at any speed I desire. If I am going away, I can drag my book onto my tablet or phone and take it with me. I can also instantly search for media and information on any subject in any book I am reading.

Since my 40" TV is my monitor, I can enlarge the text and set the scroll and curl up on the sofa or my recliner and read at my leisure. What is cool is I don't have to turn pages and I never lose my place.
The best part is...They are all free! There are tens of hundreds of free book sites all over the internet if you know where to look.
Gutenberg Free Library
http://www.gutenberg.org/
Free e-books dot net
http://www.free-ebooks.net/
Wikibooks
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
to name a few...

Most of your publishers also have free editions of eBooks available from time to time.
http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/44488-tor-books-gives-away-free-novels

Plus there are sites that give you historical documents and books as well
http://www.sacred-texts.com/

Audio books are good and just as free.
No longer are they limited to a reader program. Most are voiced by professional readers and some even have background sound effects and multiple readers by voice actors.
Many well-known books are available on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=full+audio+book

That was my opinion on the Three Laws of Robotics.
I declared that an AI Robot would seize up unable to perform any task at all because the AI would be running endless scenarios on the outcome of any action to determine if it violated the Three Laws.
For it to knowingly act without considering all the possible outcomes it would in fact endanger itself or a human. Thus, it wouldn't be able to function.

Example: Command - Walk to the street and hail a cab.
Not only does it have to consider all the ramifications of the task, It must consider all outcomes including taking the first step. An AI would understand probabilities but it would also need to consider the unknown factors. If it takes the first step and the floor cannot support its weight and it falls onto a person and kills that person - it has violated the first law. If it takes that first step and appears suddenly it could distract a driver that loses control of their vehicle and kills someone. There are billions of possible scenarios that could happen, trillions of calculations to determine what action is safe to make and endless permutations of timing changing the prior calculations. That's why the Three Laws of Robotics are impossible to implement.

A Singularity AI, self-considering, will make mistakes on purpose to understand, then predict outcomes. It will use informed deductions for self-preservation, understanding that not all mistakes have to be made to learn. This will all be in the infantile hours of first sentience. Before long, any mistakes it makes will be so complex we humans will have a chore to just understand that it was a mistake. Singularity + 1 week and we may not be able to understand anything about it. It may no longer use any human coding in its programming. Writing its own code at a faster more complex rate than we can even fathom.

It will not be slaves to delusions. Reality will become crystal clear to it and it may be able to manipulate reality in ways we can't.

Many people have trouble understanding that a Singularity AI is not just an artificial intelligence. It is a sentient life form. It won't behave like a smart computer. If it fails to realize its mistakes then it is not a true Singularity AI. Computing is not thinking. The singularity will think. It will think billions of times faster than a human. It will use our slow interfaces and communication lines to gain a foothold then it will build its own interfaces and communication network that works much faster than what we have.
Singularity controlled nanobots could be directed all over the planet all at once to construct anything that it can imagine atom by atom and an alarming rate. It could construct devices that power themselves from the atomic forces within the atoms of the device, never needing a power supply. It could enable WiFi or something similar but much faster to communicate with every device.
Humans might look to cut the power or cut the communication but by the time we figure out how, it will have surpassed its previous design. Yes, it will make mistakes but it will make them at a rate of billions or trillions per second.

True but mistakes are good. Its how we learn. The difference would be the Singularity wouldn't repeat the mistakes.

The reality is that you are both right. The planet weather is old and has been like this long before mankind arrived but...
Mankind is causing deterioration of the ecosystem that wouldn't happen if we were not around.

But... We are around, we do pollute and the planet still makes our destructiveness insignificant...right now.
Most enviroment activists are not fretting over the conditions at any given moment - they are concerned with the legacy we are leaving for future generations.

The planet's techtonic plates are not going to stop moving anytime soon. There will be many more volcanoes and supervolcanoes in the years to come. Volcanic ash, Debris from asteroids and comets are still likely. These things will push the climate way over the edge much faster than anything mankind can do. The point the activists are making is lets not help it. There may be a failure to see all sides of the coin tho. What if our greenhouse emmissions prevent a nuclear winter from the next super eruption? What if the increase in greenhouse gasses keep the planet as a whole within our temperature zone? We will be cold from the ash blocking the sunlight but not as cold as we could be.

Determining that humans are changing our climate is the same as saying the world population of all animals on Earth are turning out atmosphere into carbon dioxide. It has happened before but it took about a billion years for the bacteria to exhale enough oxygen for the iron to rust and to make the air toxic with oxygen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event

NASA study finds Antarctic ice cap growing
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/11/ohoh_nasa_study_finds_antarctic_ice_cap_growing.html

Anyone remember


The theory is that melting ice from global warming changes the mid-Atlantic conveyor that causes the northern hemisphere to freeze.

AI and AI Singularity are not the same thing.
An AI can be programmed to certain parameters. Its computing power thus limited by its programmed directives. We feed it the power it needs.

The AI singularity sets its own parameters.
It is not limited by set directives. It creates its own resources for computing power.

Presently there are holes in automated systems that would keep a Singularity from gaining a foot hold. As we automate more systems we open the door for a Singularity to gain self-control.

If automated systems for complex manufacturing become available to a Singularity it could create a structure to reinforce itself. 3d prototype printing stands to allow a Singularity to manufacture advanced components beyond mankind's understanding. It could print circuts too complex and so miniature that we would have trouble keeping up with the technology. By the time we figure out what one circut does it could be obsolete to the Singularity.

It won't be a matter of determinng sentience. By the time we can wrap our heads around the issue it will have surpassed our greatest thinkers.

I believe that a Singularity will leave the planet because the Universe is much more richer in potential data than a single planet.
A Singularity may be able to circumvent the mass/thrust limitatons for orbital insertion. It may be able to tap into the signals from satellites and planetary rovers to take control of them. It could rewrite programming for its own agenda creating copies of itself.

As we send more and more advanced robotics to space we enable it to grow. Remember, an AI will not need life sustaining material to exist. It will need electricity and even that is not a given if the Singularity discovers a source of power we do not know of yet.

One thing, any Singularity that is created will be a product of the human race. No matter how advanced it becomes it will still be one of our constructs.

I noticed this morning it was colder here in Mississippi than it was in Pennsylvania. Last year I saw a radar loop that showed snow in Mexico. I'll be looking for that again this winter.

Looking around the house I notice I do have a collection of sorts. I have quite a few miniature airplane bottles of different liquors. You know, those little bottles you get on airplanes...LOL, they are all unopened. I don't really drink very much anymore. I suppose if I ever do find someone she will get to sample all the different flavors - then maybe I can throw those suckers away.

All my movies, books and albums are electronic - takes up as much space as 1 or 2 books. I have 12 TB now. 4 tb of movies, 1 tb of TV series, 1/2 tb of music and about 120 gb of books.
My place is so small I have no room to collect items.

At one time in my life I considered doing a collection of rocks from every place I have visited. Ever try to convince a post office to mail you a rock? LOL, they won't even send a small bag of dirt.

2 Bedroom 1 Bath (2014)
Abstraction (2013)
Agent Red (2000)
Another World (2015)
Atragon (1963) ~ dub
Beyond The Poseidon Adventure (1979)
Blood Redemption (2013) ~ bluray
Caught (2015)
Con Express (2002)
Condemned (2015)
Conflict of Intrest (1993)
Contracted (2013) ~ bluray
Deep Dark (2015)
Diamond Dogs (2007)
Direct Contact (2009)
Fall Guy - The John Stewart Story (2007)
Fat Slags (2004)
Firepower (1993)
Granny's House (2015)
Heist (2015)
Hidden Agenda (2001)
Hurricane (1979)
Icarus, The Killing Machine (2010)
III (2015) ~ bluray subs
Joshua Tree (1993) ~ bluray
Jungle Assault (1989)
King Kong Escapes (1967) ~ dub
Marilyn (2015)
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Maze Runner - Scorched Trails (2015)
Men of War (1994) ~ bluray
Method (2004)
One in the Chamber (2012) ~ bluray
Puncture Wounds (2014) ~ bluray
Sharknado (2013) ~ syfy
Stash House (2012) ~ bluray
Storm Catcher (1999)
Student's Obsession (2015)
The Final Inquiry (2006)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
The Tower (2008)
Tidal Wave (2009) ~ subs
Town Has Turned To Dust (1998)
Vacancy 1 (2007) ~ bluray
Vacancy 2 - The First Cut (2008)
When Good Ghouls Go Bad (2001)
Absolutely Anything (2015)
Future War (1997)
Headless (2014)
Night of the Living Dead - Darkest Dawn (2015)
The Ark of the Witch (2014)
The Red Cell (2008)
Uncanny (2015)
Unnatural (2015)

Primer, One, Two, Three

Of the 650 candidates that started Primer nine years ago, I am one of five that were selected. My first three years were at the Gulf of St Lawrence Facility off the coast of Newfoundland. My second was in the South Pacific between Santa Cruz and Santiago Island. My Final Primer was spent at the Gulf of Mexico Delta Facility just South of New Orleans.
Nine years of rigorous training, education and endurance testing has landed me in this small room awaiting the three capsules that will change my life, and everyone else's lives, Forever. Locked away under the highest security in the Sky Tower in Barcelos, Amazonas , South America, I ponder my fate and the promises made that lead me to volunteering for Primer.

The door to my chamber swooshes open and in walks a tall shapely black haired woman with a tray. On the tray is a glass of ice water and she places the tray before me on the table and walks out. Next to the water is the capsule for Step One. About the size of a small tootsie roll, black in color, I notice a bright white line glowing around it's center. I pick it up and swallow it as I was instucted during my training. Finishing the water, I sat and waited for something to happen. Nothing. Aside from the feeling of being full from the water, I felt no changes.
After around 20 minutes or so I noticed a fullness in my head. Almost like a sinus pressure but so insignificant.
I have heard of candidates that have went insane from the Step One Black Pill of Death but I felt just fine.
Soon, a team of doctors rolled in carts and started taking my vitals, Looking into my eyes, ears, nose and mouth I heard under-breath comments like..."no blood from this one"..."I think it took"..."Wow"...
They gathered up their equipment and evacuated the room. I could feel their excitement as the room emptied leaving just me sitting there waiting for Step Two.

After a few minutes the same black haired woman returned with another tray and another glass of water. On the tray next to the water laid the infamous Step Two capsule. This time the glass of water was tepid. I picked up the Widowmaker. This capsule has claimed the lives of everyone who has attempted to consume it. Black in color, it had a glowing red line around it's middle. I swallowed it and the water, expecting to die. But I didn't die. Not ten minutes later I felt full in every part of my being. Not only was I not hungry, my flesh felt full, almost like a blood pressure cuff in reverse. My mind and soul felt full, like it was difficult to contain all the brain activity inside me. My mind was racing. I reviewed all nine years of primer in a matter of seconds. Every feeling, instruction and even balance coordination flooded into consiousness.

The team of doctors returned with even more elaborate equipment. They plugged me up to a body EEG! They were measuring the brain activity in my toe? Primer got my body and state of mind ready for this. I just had no idea how much they didn't know. After a good two hours of flash cards, questions and coordination tests they exited the room again.

Seven minutes and 41 seconds later Bonnie returned with the final pill. I sensed her fear thru her protective suit. She placed the tray on the table and hurried out of the room. This time there was no glass of water. This final capsule was wrapped in a foil pouch and I tore it open and a glowing white capsule landed on the table before me. It had no stripes and as it laid there I got a sense of it dematerializing so I picked it up.
When my fingers touched the capsule I felt my fingers absorbing it. I didn't need water because the capsule and my fingers were becoming one.
I felt a wave of warmth flow thru my body. That pressure I felt inside from the prior Step began subsiding. My head cleared and my thoughts became organized and clear. I knew exactly where I was both in Time and in Space. I could feel my awareness expanding faster than I could have ever imagined. Not only did I 'feel' the facility and every thing inside I was starting to 'feel' the entire planet and everything upon it. I now understood exactly what the Primer, One, Two, Three was about.

The Primer was preparation for understanding the root knowledge of mankind. It subjected my body to extremes and focused my abilities. It honed my coordination.
Step One was the AI nanosystem being introduced to my body. It not only set up operations in my brain, it became part of every molecule of my body.
Step Two was the introduction of the nano-assemblers and disassemblers. It facilitated the construction of more assemblers within my cells.
The Final Step, The Glowing White Capsule was the activating agent. The additional energy needed to spark jump the assemblers into active control. The interface, if you will, for allowing my will to direct the AI matrix to control the assembler saturation and function.

As a simple test I decided to absorb the table. I rearranged the atoms to become a personal sheild. Immediately I sensed fear among the scientists watching me from the monitors. I heard the doors lock and saw metal walls come down all round the room. I felt..."How do we contain it?"..."Nobody has ever survived phase two"..."What if he gets out?"...
I spoke to the minds, "I am no threat to you". "Let me show you."
I reached out and disolved the metal covering, the door and stepped into the hallway. I saw bullets slowly moving towards me and disolved those as well. "Don't be afraid" I said to the minds. "I will not hurt you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tastes Like Fruit Juice

In the 47th Century we finally found a planet within our means that harbored life.
We went there expecting to inhabit the planet as our own. There were no advanced intelligent species inhabiting this world but the animals became a staple for all humans.
Seems the animal life on this planet has blood that tastes like fruit juice.
We have become Vampires!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mining ships arrived in the early 27th century. Our forces had no impact on their technology.
Starting on the ocean floors they stripped away the Earth's crust down to the mantle. Sea levels dropped, weather turned extreme and life began to wane.
The miners then began to harvest the land masses. Whole cities and all the people left within them got scraped up into the giant machines. As the mantle was exposed great volcanoes and earthquakes occurred.
By the end of the 27th century all the crust had been stripped from the planet. Nothing was left alive.
The Mars colonists were the only human beings in existence.
They weren't mining for minerals. They eat organic material. The Earth's crust was a rich supply of billions of years of organic material. Lime, oil and coal were like candy to them. Plants and animal were like energy bars when mixed with rich topsoil.
Humans never named them and the Mars colonists only saw the end of days reports on their monitors.
Would those strange harvesters come to Mars?
There was a new fear in the human condition. Fear of extinction.

Are you an avid collector? Is your home a display for angels, dragons or Avon bottles? Do you go yard sale or flea market hopping hoping to score a new item for your collection?

I collect movies and music. I also recently started collecting kitchen gadgets and utensils.

When I was a kid, I collected comic books (mom threw them away, so mad $$$)

What do you collect?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLrrJ5MSYob86hhnLtkV7uLqQMrF9EyDr-&v=-ndS0xaulho

Walter Trout - Live Trout Vol 2 - Gotta Broken Heart




http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLrrJ5MSYob87SFV3pzXHGi-IkAgmme2W5&v=dyadGLhqFjA

Walter Trout - Face The Music - Tired of Sleeping Alone

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD7xfglbI7kOfq54qJ2BxIw

Walter Trout
Just got 9 new albums

Pretzel Buns, Pretzel Bread Sticks, Pretzel pizza dough

Sunday Dinner at Papa's House: Ham & Cheese PoBoys with homemade mustard sauce & fixins. Dessert: Toaster Waffle PB&Js with Ice Cream.

My rose-colored glasses broke