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Thread: The Singularity - Page 16







Post#376 at 06-30-2004 02:25 PM by Finch [at In the belly of the Beast joined Feb 2004 #posts 1,734]
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Quote Originally Posted by Tim Walker
Is the Uncanny Valley the most disturbing? See Starship Troopers.
I haven't seen it, and don't plan to (I read the book), but if it takes several million dollars' worth of special effects to match the creepiness of ten bucks of latex and stage paint (see the original Nosferatu for an example), I'd say that proves the point.







Post#377 at 06-30-2004 05:10 PM by Finch [at In the belly of the Beast joined Feb 2004 #posts 1,734]
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Re: I, Robot

Quote Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis
I don't even think "household robots" will have a human appearance. I think a robot that looks human is creepy, and I think people are going to want computers to look like computers... I expect servant robots to look very utilitarian and not look humanoid
at all.
Exactly, as I said above. The only reason the robots in "I, Robot" are humanoid is because they are specifically designed and marketed as humanoid companions (nannies, etc.)


Quote Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis
The interesting question is: When will this issue reach the public's radar? When will the public in general realize, "Omigod, when my kids grow up, robots will be the dominant species?" Something will trigger this realization at some point in the next few years. Maybe this movie will be the trigger.
Well, the meme of "robots will take over" has been part of the popular consciousness since at least 1921, when Kapek's play R.U.R. introduced the word "robot" into the English language. Once people will realize that homo sapiens artifex is not a distant threat, but is already arrived, people will react as they usually do: instead of acting against their perceived oppressor, they will lash out at the weakest in their own communities. We'll probably see violent attacks against those who are augmented out of medical necessity, while the wealthy and powerful continue to maintain their superiority.


Quote Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis
Quote Originally Posted by Rick Hirst
Humans won't become robots, but they will merge with them.
And as I've repeatedly responded, I agree with this only partially. I do not see this as a widespread thing by 2030. I see this as experimental, or at best implemented in a few thousand people. The other six billion people will still be ordinary humans, wondering when the 'bots are gonna come get 'em.
First, with regard to my "cell implant" prediction, I predict easily a million "wireless" implants by 2010. By way of comparison, 550 million cell phones were manufactured last year alone. (No, that's not a typo.) Again, this is a small step, but once the psychological barrier (and safety issues) of implantation are overcome, there is no turning back.

Second, I anticipate the global human population in 2030 to be close to one billion, due to various causes. The one survivors will be the augmented ones.







Post#378 at 07-01-2004 11:14 PM by Tim Walker '56 [at joined Jun 2001 #posts 24]
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Uncanny Valley

Until someone can climb up out of the valley and build an android as life like as Data, robots may appear only as human as Robert or Robbie.

R2-D2 may be average in robotic appearance.







Post#379 at 07-02-2004 02:48 AM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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This is a very interesting thread that I am sorry I seem to have caught so late. I personally think we are in a time described in the bible as "the beginning of sorrow" which preceeds what is know as the "great tribulation". From my studies, the state of the world, and my own personal impressions I do think things are beginning to wind down for this age. One large piece of Christian Eschatology is the trend toward a fairly unified world council/government. Whether or not you put any stock in christian beliefs or prophecy you must acknowledge that we are quickly headed toward a choice between the dominance of world law or national law, with the edge going strongly toward world law. WWI brought us the leauge of nations, WWII brought us the United nations, and WWIII when, not if, it takes place will likely bring us a stronger version of the U.N. or a similarly named international body. Our nations 4th turning could very well see the such a war given all the pieces that are currently in place, from the middle east, The koreas, to chinese/taiwanese relations.

We have also had a marked increase of odd natural activity the past year or so, if you read more than your local news. There has been increasingly intense solar activity, incoming comets and meteors that are passing closer and closer, punishing weather, floods and droughts, not to mention quakes. I would be happy to furnish links for all this info to prove that we have not been seeing business as usual for any doubters or nay sayers.

The bottom line is this, a change is coming whether we want it to or not. Chicken little 'Sky is falling' behavior wont do any good, but niether will sticking our heads in the sand. Your religious beliefs, or lack of, are your own business but Im beyond comforted by the fact that I confess Christ as my Lord and Savior. Call that my disclaimer of faith. Rest assured that I am not trying to "convert" anyone, just giving my witness as is my Christian duty.

In any event, I would look for the wars, weirdness and wicked weather to continue, and for our enemies to be ones of flesh and blood. We dont need murderous robots or little green men, we are a danger enough to ourselves.







Post#380 at 07-02-2004 07:40 PM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Re: I, Robot

Dear Rick,

Quote Originally Posted by Rick Hirst
> First, with regard to my "cell implant" prediction, I predict
> easily a million "wireless" implants by 2010. By way of
> comparison, 550 million cell phones were manufactured last year
> alone. (No, that's not a typo.) Again, this is a small step, but
> once the psychological barrier (and safety issues) of implantation
> are overcome, there is no turning back.
OK, let's take this one step at a time. Let me see if I can
interpret what I think you're saying (correct me if I'm wrong).

You talk about a "wireless" implant, and you compare that to a cell
phone, so I'm assuming you mean some sort of communications device
implanted in the head. How would it transmit information to the
brain? Since you believe there'll be a million of them by 2010, I
can only think that it would be through voice.

Now, that isn't exactly what I'd call a human merged with a computer.
In the post-Singularity world, you could accomplish the same thing
more simply by giving each person a super-intelligent computer to act
as his "advisor." (Indeed, I could see something like this actually
happening.) One you have your advisor, you could communicate with it
by voice, or by some wireless implant that communicates by voice, or
maybe even has some sort of "direct connection" that transfers
knowledge directly into the brain without requiring voice.

But once you try to go any farther than this, then I see big
problems.

First, even if the wireless implant has a "direct connection" into
the brain, that doesn't mean it will have a higher bandwidth than an
ordinary voice conversation. The brain has evolved to handle
information at a certain bandwidth, and I'd guess that there's no way
to increase that bandwidth without significantly redesigning the
brain.

OK, so let's redesign the brain, you may say next, and I see big
problems with that. The problem is the same as the reason why you
can't take an old computer and just stick a new CPU and more memory
into it. There may be no place to plug in the memory, and the faster
CPU won't do any good if the bus structure doesn't support or it, or
if the power supply can't power it.

If you try to use genetic or other modifications to make the brain
more powerful or able to handle a greater bandwidth, then I suspect
you'd have to restructure the entire human body, to provide the new
super-brain with a greater blood supply and a more robust nerve
structure. I just don't see those problems being solved at more than
an experimental level by 2030.

Finally, we can go in the other direction, and "reverse engineer" the
brain and transfer it into a computer, so that your consciousness is
then in the computer. But then what happens to the old human you?
If you're then killed off because you're useless because everything
you know is inside a computer, is that really the human race
surviving? I wouldn't call it that.

So, I just don't see how this is going to work in a way that would
mean that humans survive because they're merged with computers.

Quote Originally Posted by Rick Hirst
> That said, it's all the more likely that the products of a "U.S.
> Robots & Mechanical Men" company will have the "Three Laws" built
> in, since ironclad safeguards would need to be provided to
> overcome potential customers' visceral fear of robots (having
> first encountered them in wartime.)
I'm not so sure about this. It seems to me that more will be
required than overcoming customers' fear of robots. If I were going
to buy a household robot, I would want it to do housecleaning and fix
the plumbing and stuff, but I'd also want it to protect me. I'd want
it to be a guard dog. I'd want to know that if my safety were in
danger, then I could order the robot to wound or kill the intruder,
just as I could order a trained attack dog to do something similar.

You might say, OK, let's modify the Three Laws to say that a robot
can kill or harm a human if that's required to protect its
master
. But that formulation has big problems also, because it
requires the computer to make a complex judgment that it may not be
able to make. So I think that even the products of "U.S. Robots &
Mechanical Men" will be allowed to kill humans under certain
circumstances, so the door will be open.

Quote Originally Posted by Rick Hirst
> Second, I anticipate the global human population in 2030 to be
> close to one billion, due to various causes. The one survivors
> will be the augmented ones.
Well, I think the 1 billion figure is way too low (if you're talking
about surviving the "clash of civilizations" world war). My estimate
is 3-4 billion, and of course by 2030 the population will have grown
past that.

There are still going to be huge masses of people in the Amazon
jungle or the African rain forest or in eastern India or western
China who will never have implants, but these people will survive
until the 'bots come to get them. As for the rest of us cosmopolitan
folks living in the sophisticated cities and towns of America, we may
be the first to go.

Sincerely,

John

John J. Xenakis
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com







Post#381 at 07-02-2004 07:43 PM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Eschatology

Dear Jeremiah,

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> One large piece of Christian Eschatology is the trend toward a
> fairly unified world council/government. Whether or not you put
> any stock in christian beliefs or prophecy you must acknowledge
> that we are quickly headed toward a choice between the dominance
> of world law or national law, with the edge going strongly toward
> world law. WWI brought us the leauge of nations, WWII brought us
> the United nations, and WWIII when, not if, it takes place will
> likely bring us a stronger version of the U.N. or a similarly
> named international body. Our nations 4th turning could very well
> see the such a war given all the pieces that are currently in
> place, from the middle east, The koreas, to chinese/taiwanese
> relations.
I don't see this happening by 2030, the time of the Singularity.
There are too many ethnic and political differences for such a thing
to happen, even after a "war of civilizations" civil war. Would
Americans ever agree to allow themselves to be governed by a world
government centered in Moscow or Beijing or Istanbul? I don't think
so, and I don't expect the Russians or Chinese or Turks to agree to
be governed by Washington either.

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> We have also had a marked increase of odd natural activity the
> past year or so, if you read more than your local news. There has
> been increasingly intense solar activity, incoming comets and
> meteors that are passing closer and closer, punishing weather,
> floods and droughts, not to mention quakes. I would be happy to
> furnish links for all this info to prove that we have not been
> seeing business as usual for any doubters or nay sayers.
People are always saying stuff like this, but I never see it. If you
provide a link, please provide one with a domain name that ends in
".gov".

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> The bottom line is this, a change is coming whether we want it to
> or not. Chicken little 'Sky is falling' behavior wont do any good,
> but niether will sticking our heads in the sand. Your religious
> beliefs, or lack of, are your own business but Im beyond comforted
> by the fact that I confess Christ as my Lord and Savior. Call that
> my disclaimer of faith. Rest assured that I am not trying to
> "convert" anyone, just giving my witness as is my Christian duty.
Each of us has to be comforted by whatever means are available. By
the way, do you happen to believe that anyone who doesn't accept
Christ as his savior is going to hell? Just wondering.

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> In any event, I would look for the wars, weirdness and wicked
> weather to continue, and for our enemies to be ones of flesh and
> blood. We dont need murderous robots or little green men, we are a
> danger enough to ourselves.
Well, the Fourth Turning tells us to look for wars. There's always
plenty of weirdness and wicked weather. Intelligent computers
serving as soldiers should come sometime in the 2020s, and they might
actually be green for camouflage purposes. But I don't think they'll
look like little green men.

Sincerely,

John

John J. Xenakis
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com







Post#382 at 07-02-2004 08:43 PM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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I think that is what makes this next 4th turning so important for us as a nation. Its hard to imagine a more powerful U.N., one that has more power over nations, if the U.S. is still around and at the level of power it is now. It may be that we must be humbled or removed first.

I'll try to grab some stats for you as it relates to natural activity and post them here.

As it relates to you question about Jesus: Yes I do think that those who have heard the gospel and rejected it are lost. I don't believe that they "burn in Hell for eternity" as some say, but that they are quite simpley destroyed and cease to be.







Post#383 at 07-02-2004 09:24 PM by Zarathustra [at Where the Northwest meets the Southwest joined Mar 2003 #posts 9,198]
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Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
I think that is what makes this next 4th turning so important for us as a nation. Its hard to imagine a more powerful U.N., one that has more power over nations, if the U.S. is still around and at the level of power it is now. It may be that we must be humbled or removed first.

I'll try to grab some stats for you as it relates to natural activity and post them here.

As it relates to you question about Jesus: Yes I do think that those who have heard the gospel and rejected it are lost. I don't believe that they "burn in Hell for eternity" as some say, but that they are quite simpley destroyed and cease to be.
Ah yes. The "second death" concept.
Americans have had enough of glitz and roar . . Foreboding has deepened, and spiritual currents have darkened . . .
THE FOURTH TURNING IS AT HAND.
See T4T, p. 253.







Post#384 at 07-02-2004 09:33 PM by Croakmore [at The hazardous reefs of Silentium joined Nov 2001 #posts 2,426]
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Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

--Jeremiah 17:5

I'll croak to that! But in my case it's Nature.

Jeremiah, I, like you, believe we have to get back to The Garden ... beyond the "maketh flesh his arm." Consumerism, as it is practiced in America, is about as anti-Garden as you can get. I also believe, unlike you, that The Garden was lost long ago.

"trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm..." That is exactly why I love the Bible! How could you say it any better than Jeremiah?

Watch the teenagers dance today at their private parties and you will see them maketh an appalling "fresh of his arm."

--Croaker







Post#385 at 07-02-2004 10:15 PM by Zarathustra [at Where the Northwest meets the Southwest joined Mar 2003 #posts 9,198]
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Quote Originally Posted by Croakmore
Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

--Jeremiah 17:5

I'll croak to that! But in my case it's Nature.

Jeremiah, I, like you, believe we have to get back to The Garden ... beyond the "maketh flesh his arm." Consumerism, as it is practiced in America, is about as anti-Garden as you can get. I also believe, unlike you, that The Garden was lost long ago.

"trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm..." That is exactly why I love the Bible! How could you say it any better than Jeremiah?

Watch the teenagers dance today at their private parties and you will see them maketh an appalling "fresh of his arm."

--Croaker
Using the Soft ORP approach, we can deduce that our ancestors left "the Garden" when they stared wearing clothing ("Whyteh thouest ashamedeth of thy nakedethnesseth?" or whatever). According to DNA work being done on human body lice, this was apx. 50-100,000 years ago.

Cast out of the Garden
Americans have had enough of glitz and roar . . Foreboding has deepened, and spiritual currents have darkened . . .
THE FOURTH TURNING IS AT HAND.
See T4T, p. 253.







Post#386 at 07-04-2004 03:15 AM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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some quick info as things are not moving well today.

Number of Earthquakes Worldwide for 2000 - 2004
Located by the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center
Totals
2000: 22256
2001: 23534
2002: 27454
2003: 31366

Yearly totals for tornadoes
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/tornadoes/ustdbmy.html
1950?s rough avg of 400-600 per year
1960?s 600-800
1970?s 700-900
1980?s 700-900
1990?s 1000-1200







Post#387 at 07-04-2004 03:53 PM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Tornadoes

Dear Jeremiah,

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> some quick info as things are not moving well today.

> Number of Earthquakes Worldwide for 2000 - 2004

> Located by the US Geological Survey National Earthquake
> Information Center

> Totals
> 2000: 22256
> 2001: 23534
> 2002: 27454
> 2003: 31366

> Yearly totals for tornadoes
> http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/tornadoes/ustdbmy.html
> 1950's rough avg of 400-600 per year
> 1960's 600-800
> 1970's 700-900
> 1980's 700-900
> 1990's 1000-1200
Well, I'm impressed that you've supported the claim for an increasing
number of tornadoes, and but it makes me wonder what the cause is.
What reason is given by people who don't believe that the end of the
world is at hand?

Searching through the web site, I found a faq containing this
paragraph, which may provide an explanation:

> How many tornadoes hit the US yearly? About one thousand. The
> actual average is unknown, because tornado spotting and reporting
> methods have changed so much in the last several decades that the
> officially recorded tornado climatologies are believed to be
> incomplete. Also, in the course of recording thousands of
> tornadoes, errors are bound to occur. Events can be missed or
> mis-classified; and some non-damaging tornadoes in remote areas
> could still be unreported.

> Source: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/
On the other hand, if you look at the deadliest US tornadoes at
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/tornadoes/t-deadly.html
you get that they all occurred before 1956. Since 1950, the
deadliest years were 1953, 1974 and 1965.

So when you look at these other figures, it's hard to justify the
claim that the increase of tornadoes is the result God's wrath,
punishing the evil sinners. If that were the case, you'd think God
would have used tornadoes to smite a few more sinners since 1974.

It looks more like we're getting better at finding and classifying
tornados, and that's why the total number of tornadoes has been going
up.

Sincerely,

John

John J. Xenakis
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com







Post#388 at 07-06-2004 09:25 PM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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Sunspots reaching 1,000-year high
By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor


A new analysis shows that the Sun is more active now than it has been at anytime in the previous 1,000 years.
Scientists based at the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich used ice cores from Greenland to construct a picture of our star's activity in the past.

They say that over the last century the number of sunspots rose at the same time that the Earth's climate became steadily warmer.

This trend is being amplified by gases from fossil fuel burning, they argue.

'Little Ice Age'

Sunspots have been monitored on the Sun since 1610, shortly after the invention of the telescope. They provide the longest-running direct measurement of our star's activity.

The variation in sunspot numbers has revealed the Sun's 11-year cycle of activity as well as other, longer-term changes.

In particular, it has been noted that between about 1645 and 1715, few sunspots were seen on the Sun's surface.

This period is called the Maunder Minimum after the English astronomer who studied it.


It coincided with a spell of prolonged cold weather often referred to as the "Little Ice Age". Solar scientists strongly suspect there is a link between the two events - but the exact mechanism remains elusive.
Over the past few thousand years there is evidence of earlier Maunder-like coolings in the Earth's climate - indicated by tree-ring measurements that show slow growth due to prolonged cold.

In an attempt to determine what happened to sunspots during these other cold periods, Dr Sami Solanki and colleagues have looked at concentrations of a form, or isotope, of beryllium in ice cores from Greenland.

The isotope is created by cosmic rays - high-energy particles from the depths of the galaxy.

The flux of cosmic rays reaching the Earth's surface is modulated by the strength of the solar wind, the charged particles that stream away from the Sun's surface.

And since the strength of the solar wind varies over the sunspot cycle, the amount of beryllium in the ice at a time in the past can therefore be used to infer the state of the Sun and, roughly, the number of sunspots.

Latest warming

Dr Solanki is presenting a paper on the reconstruction of past solar activity - entitled Cool Stars, Stellar Systems And The Sun - at a conference in Hamburg, Germany.

He says that the reconstruction shows the Maunder Minimum and the other minima that are known in the past thousand years.

But the most striking feature, he says, is that looking at the past 1,150 years the Sun has never been as active as it has been during the past 60 years.

Over the past few hundred years, there has been a steady increase in the numbers of sunspots, a trend that has accelerated in the past century, just at the time when the Earth has been getting warmer.

The data suggests that changing solar activity is influencing in some way the global climate causing the world to get warmer.

Over the past 20 years, however, the number of sunspots has remained roughly constant, yet the average temperature of the Earth has continued to increase.

This is put down to a human-produced greenhouse effect caused by the combustion of fossil fuels.

This latest analysis shows that the Sun has had a considerable influence on the global climate in the past, causing the Earth to warm or chill, and that mankind is amplifying the Sun's latest attempt to warm the Earth.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...re/3869753.stm

Published: 2004/07/06 16:07:14 GMT

? BBC MMIV







Post#389 at 07-06-2004 09:33 PM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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Extreme weather on the rise
Thursday, July 3, 2003 Posted: 4:38 AM EDT (0838 GMT)


(CNN) --Anecdotal evidence that the world's weather is getting wilder now has a solid scientific basis in fact following a dramatic global assessment from the World Meteorological Organization.

A study released Wednesday by the WMO -- a specialized climate science agency of the United Nations -- says the world is experiencing record numbers of extreme weather events, such as droughts and tornadoes.

Laying the blame firmly at the feet of global warming, the agency warned that the number and intensity of extreme weather events could continue to increase.

Citing examples, the WMO said the 562 tornadoes which hit the United States in May this year was a record -- far higher than the previous monthly peak of 399 in June 1992.

Far colder and wetter conditions than normal also prevailed in the eastern and southeastern part of the U.S. for much of May and June.

And a pre-monsoon heatwave which hit India earlier this year caused peak temperatures of between 45 and 49 degrees Celsius (113 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit), killing more than 1400 people.

In Sri Lanka, heavy rainfalls from Tropical Cyclone 01B exacerbated already wet conditions, causing flooding and landslides and more than 300 fatalities.

Last month Switzerland experienced its hottest June in at least 250 years while in the south of France average temperatures were between 5 and 7 degrees Celsius (9 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the long term average.

England and Wales also experienced their hottest month since 1976.

On their own none of these events is truly remarkable. But when viewed together they represent a clear and alarming trend towards wilder weather, according to the WMO.

"These record extreme events [high temperatures, low temperatures and high rainfall amounts and droughts] all go into calculating the monthly and annual averages which, for temperatures, have been gradually increasing over the past 100 years," the WMO said in its statement.

Warning
The WMO normally confines itself to issuing scientific reports and statistics compiled from climate data.

However, the weather events of 2003 had proved so remarkable, officials say the organization felt compelled to issue a generalized warning of the emerging pattern.

The WMO said new analysis of data for the northern hemisphere showed the increase in temperature in the 20th century was likely to have been the largest in any century during the past 1,000 years.

"It is also likely that, in the northern hemisphere, the 1990s were the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year," it said.

"While the trend towards warmer globally averaged surface temperatures has been uneven over the course of the last century, the trend for the period since 1976 is roughly three times that for the past 100 years as a whole.

"Global average land and sea surface temperatures in May 2003 were the second highest since records began in 1880," the WMO warned.

Last year much of Australia was hit by the longest drought in recorded history, which devastated crop yields and sparked continual bushfires which threatened major cities.

Conversely, many parts of China and East Asia were hit by severe flooding resulting in thousands of deaths.








Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WEATHER/07/0...mes/index.html







Post#390 at 07-06-2004 09:37 PM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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Sun 'mega-flare' was largest on record
By Kate Tobin and Richard Stenger
CNN
Thursday, November 6, 2003 Posted: 5:10 PM EST (2210 GMT)


(CNN) --The massive solar flare that erupted from the sun this week has been classified as the largest in three decades of monitoring, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center said Thursday.

The previous record holder occurred on April 2, 2001. An active region of sunspots on the solar face has spawned a number of powerful flares over the last two weeks, including the most powerful one on Tuesday and third largest salvo on record on October 28.

"Just as solar scientists were ready to start breathing normally again, active region 10486 blasted off yet another mega-flare," Paal Brekke of the European Space Agency said of the November 4th flare. "This one saturated the X-ray detectors on the NOAA's GOES satellites that monitor the sun."

Solar flares often herald coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, clouds of electrified gas called plasma that explode from the sun and wash out over the solar system.

If the CME hits Earth, the charged particles can interact with the planet's electromagnetic field and result in a geomagnetic storm. In extreme cases, the storms can interfere with satellite operations or overload power grids on Earth.

They can also produce spectacular displays of the northern and southern lights. The coronal mass ejection coupled with Tuesday's flare was not headed in our direction, so it did not have a strong impact on Earth.

Space weather forecasters say this recent string of strong solar flares is not consistent with normal solar behavior. The sun, which follows an 11-year activity cycle, had been mostly quieting down since the last peak in 2000.








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Post#391 at 07-08-2004 02:14 AM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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CITIZENS REPORT FIRE IN THE SKY

By: KENNETH DEAN And MARK COLLETTE, Staff Writers July 07, 2004
Smith County sheriff?s officials and Tyler police received several phone calls Wednesday night from concerned citizens reporting what was described as a burning object moving southward through the night sky.

Tyler police Sgt. Tom Deal said calls began going through 911 about 9:15 p.m., reporting a ball of fire that left a vapor trail traveling in a southward direction across the horizon.

"We have received calls, the county has received calls and we are trying to determine the source. We had several officers who saw the object," Deal said.

National Weather Service senior forecaster Mike Berry said his agency had received numerous calls from a wide area.

"We don?t know anything right now, we haven?t heard from air traffic controllers on a downed plane and I don?t know of any meteor showers. We have had calls from Lufkin, Tyler, Shreveport and as far north as Hope, Ark.," he said.

Berry added, "Whatever the object was, it had to be pretty high up in the sky and pretty big for such a large area of people to have seen it."

Texas Department of Public Safety officials said they had checked with local airports and no planes were reported downed in the area

An official with the Federal Aviation Administration in Fort Worth declined to give his name because he is not in the agency?s public affairs office, but said between 9:20 p.m. and 10 p.m., he received 20 or 30 phone calls from eastern Oklahoma to East Texas, and as far south as Houston.

"I checked with all of the radar facilities and all of the planes are accounted for, so it?s not an airplane," the official said.

He said reports of varying colors - white, red and green - suggest a meteor burned high in the atmosphere at high temperatures, and that reports ranging from Oklahoma to Houston mean "the thing is going south."

According to Gary W. Kronk?s online meteor observing calendar, two weak showers, the Alpha Lyrid and the July Phoenicids, are scheduled to be visible beginning this week. Both are described as fast moving with brilliant white coloration.

Mark Collette covers Southern Smith and Upshur counties. He can be reached at 903.596.6303. e-mail: news@tylerpaper.com

Kenneth Dean covers Cherokee and Rusk counties. He can be reached at 903.596.6353. e-mail: news@tylerpaper.com


?Tyler Morning Telegraph 2004

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...d=227937&rfi=6




7/7/04
Thousands Witness Object Falling From The Sky
Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version

Thousands of reports tonight across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri of a big ball of fire with a tail, flying across the northeast sky. Calls began coming into our newsroom a little after 9:30, all with the same story. Witnesses describe something that looked like a meteor or a comet. Authorities across East Texas are looking for answers tonight.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said the sightings were not tied to a weather event and were likely a meteor shower.

NORAD has told FEMA today was the first day of heightened meteor showers that could last the rest of the month.

We will bring you more on this story as we get details. Watch East Texas News Daybreak starting at 5:30 a.m. for the latest.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2011566





http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp...7&nav=0RY4OZ6p

KSLA-TV NEWS 12 Chief Meteorologist Patrick Dennis said the object was likely a meteor. "My early guess is that is was a meteor that?s larger than what we?re used to seeing,"



Bright Lights Seen in Sky Over 5 States


Thursday July 8, 2004 5:46 AM

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A meteor shower Wednesday night lit up the sky from Texas to western Tennessee, prompting a flood of reports to law enforcement officers throughout a five-state region.

The lights flashed across the sky shortly after 9 p.m. in portions of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the spotting was a meteorite, probably several.

``The front part was fiery red and it had a greenish glow behind it and a long red tail,?? Barbara Hays, who lives in Bossier Parish, La., told Shreveport television station KSLA.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said the sightings were not tied to a weather event.

``Whatever the object was, it had to be pretty high up in the sky and pretty big for such a large area of people to have seen it,?? forecaster Mike Berry in Shreveport, La., said in a story in Thursday?s Tyler Morning Telegraph.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/s...287903,00.html







Post#392 at 07-08-2004 09:38 AM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Dear Jeremiah,

I'm not sure why you're posting these articles. Do you think that
every time there's a natural disaster, it's a sign that the world is
coming to an end?

If you'd like, go to http://news.google.com , and do a search on
"earthquake." I did that this morning and learned that in the last
week or so there have been earthquakes in Israel, Taiwan and Turkey.
You can read a hundred disaster-type articles on this subject alone
(but please don't post them).

So what's the point? Unless you can relate these events in some way
to the religious point of view you're advocating, then these postings
and the events they describe are meaningless. Even if there were
some supernatural significance, you can't even prove that they
weren't ordered by Allah, rather than by the Christian God. My point
is that in terms of real evidence, you've got nothing. I feel bad for
the people hurt in these natural disasters, but in the end a sun
"mega-flare" is just a sun mega-flare, and has no other significance.

Sincerely,

John

John J. Xenakis
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com







Post#393 at 07-08-2004 10:13 AM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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The sun cycle article is very significant if you follow such things and the meteor article is related to an increase in the amount of "incoming objects" interacting with earth as of late...look it up. All these relate to my faith (Christianity); read Jesus discussion of end times in the gospels and Revelation.







Post#394 at 07-08-2004 10:36 AM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Dear Jeremiah,

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> The sun cycle article is very significant if you follow such
> things and the meteor article is related to an increase in the
> amount of "incoming objects" interacting with earth as of
> late...look it up. All these relate to my faith (Christianity);
> read Jesus discussion of end times in the gospels and Revelation.
Please give me the specific verses in Revelation that relate to sun
cycles and meteors.

Sincerely,

John







Post#395 at 07-08-2004 05:11 PM by Zarathustra [at Where the Northwest meets the Southwest joined Mar 2003 #posts 9,198]
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It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
By REM

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -
Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -
world serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs. Feed it up a knock,
speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,
down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for
hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies
breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered
crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,
common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its
own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign tower. Slash and burn,
return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform and book burning,
blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate. Light a candle,
light a motive. Step down, step down. Watch a heel crush, crush. Uh oh,
this means no fear - cavalier. Renegade and steer clear! A tournament,
a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

The other night I tripped a nice continental drift divide. Mount St. Edelite.
Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs.
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You symbiotic, patriotic,
slam, but neck, right? Right.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...fine...

(It's time I had some time alone)
Americans have had enough of glitz and roar . . Foreboding has deepened, and spiritual currents have darkened . . .
THE FOURTH TURNING IS AT HAND.
See T4T, p. 253.







Post#396 at 07-08-2004 05:56 PM by Virgil K. Saari [at '49er, north of the Mesabi Mountains joined Jun 2001 #posts 7,835]
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Nearer My God to Thee

Dear watchers of Signs and Wonders,
Dear Eschatologists,

In the 19th Century it was common practice to climb upon the roof of one's house at that Final Hour so as to lighten the Deity's Labor at the End of Time.

Is this still considered good form? Can one go out on the deck or veranda and still be involved in the End Times?

What of of my fellow Bovine-Americans? Are they supposed to be on the house roof at the appointed hour? Or do I make provision on the roof of the barn? Do they have to climb on their own or can I use my hydraulic loader on the Allis-Chalmers?

My cats live in the barns as well; where do they go? Or, do they get left behind as Satan's helpers?

Please do advise? Citing chapter and verse would be helpful (KJV please) but is not a needful thing. I don't want to be error in on this matter.

Yo. Grounded Sv. Virgil K. Saari







Post#397 at 07-08-2004 06:13 PM by Virgil K. Saari [at '49er, north of the Mesabi Mountains joined Jun 2001 #posts 7,835]
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A-I and the B-A future

Dear Futurists of a non-theological bent,

If I am replaced by some form of technology in the coming years as the Human Race ends, will my kine be attended to by mechanical yeobots who will spread the manure, harvest the oats, bale the hay? Will the future of Bovine-Americans be assured? Or, are they a threat with their ill manner and their crumbled horns to the robotic race and thus justly doomed along with the human order.

I have seen a two ton Simmental bull do seroius damage to metal fabrications so the robot legions would be well afraid of a Bovine conspiracy to rule in their technological place. Has there been human or computer input on what happens when the cows come home? Any machine or human with consideration would be most welcome upon this matter.







Post#398 at 07-08-2004 06:56 PM by Jeremiah175 [at North Tonawanda, Ny joined Dec 2002 #posts 323]
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REVELATION 8:

6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!







Post#399 at 07-09-2004 10:24 AM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Revelation

Quote Originally Posted by Jeremiah175
> REVELATION 8:

> 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared
> themselves to sound.

> 7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire
> mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the
> third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt
> up.

> 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain
> burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the
> sea became blood;

> 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and
> had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

> 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from
> heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part
> of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

> 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part
> of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters,
> because they were made bitter.

> 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was
> smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the
> stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day
> shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

> 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of
> heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters
> of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the
> three angels, which are yet to sound!
This doesn't appear to support your case. In fact, it refutes your
case.

Either the Bible is the literal inspired word of God or it isn't. If
it is, and if you're right that we're getting more solar flares and
meteors, then we should have heard from the third angel by now.

We haven't (as far as I know), and so either the Bible is wrong or
the solar flares and meteors you're talking about have nothing to do
with Revelation.

Sincerely,

John

John J. Xenakis
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com







Post#400 at 07-09-2004 10:25 AM by John J. Xenakis [at Cambridge, MA joined May 2003 #posts 4,010]
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Re: A-I and the B-A future

Dear Virgil,

Standing on roofs during crisis periods is an age-old tradition.

During World War II, people on both coasts stood on their roofs to
watch the horizon for incoming bombers.

In 19th century Russia, it was the custom for fiddlers to stand on
roofs and play, at least according to one Broadway retelling of the
story.

However, I suspect that Bovine-Americans may have to spread their own
manure at some point.

See my next post for the next stage: Dancing on the roof.

John
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