What is your avatar from?

No, I'm comfortable railing against it, thanks. I’m from another time because it’s an infantile word (ducky, horsy, potty, selfie) for an infantile practice. I am so sick of seeing everyone’s smug pasty bloated shit-eating grins at arms-length and closer. You can almost smell the bad breath coming off the picture. Or the bathroom mirror pictures, with people looking intently at the iphone, as if it took 20 complex steps to take a freakin picture of yourself. Or the avatars taken with a webcam, where they have that stupid blank look people have when they are looking at their computer screen.

I see former colleagues who look ridiculous on those business connection sites, what makes you think I want to see your pockmarked aging face that close up? What do people do with this stuff, sit back and run a slideshow on their computer while they gaze at themselves? Someone at a previous company had her cubicle walls filled with head shots of a woman, who I assumed was her partner. Nope, on closer inspection they all turned out to be pictures of her. Again, I’m from another time.

Hey! Thank you I'm really enjoying this website. Probably the coolest thing I've found. How do you change your avatar?

Thanks and red certainly would match the outfit of my avatar ...

if you come from the perspective that arguments are a zero sum dynamic,"winning" being the desired outcome,then i can see where this video makes some salient points.

then yes...internet arguing then becomes an exercise in futility.

if you make assumptions about peoples intentions based on arbitrary and cosmetic indicators such as avatars and a few comments,then of course the argument will be biased on those parameters.

but if you view an argument as a vehicle to understand the person you are engaging with,then the dynamic changes to a much more beneficial interaction between both parties.

it takes patience and a desire to understand,along with a healthy dose of respect.

i argue with newt all the time.
sometimes we find out we actually agree but were using different analogies or language to express our position.other times we disagreed but respected each other enough to hear the other person out to better understand WHY they felt/thought the way they did,and yet still disagreed in the end,but now had a much fuller picture to better compliment that disagreement.

"winning" should not be the first thing on the agenda.understanding should always be the first order of business,and having someone lay out the logical connections based on their understanding and interpretations is truly the best way to accomplish that goal.

and if y'all could be nice to each other?
yeah..that would be great.

Hey dude

FYI the link in your bio for the middle layer of your avatar is kaput

Have always wondered if your avatar is of your dog,but have never asked. Now i am.

Is your avatar a picture of your dog?

So, lets see.. It's been a while since I posted this, but lets try and peg all of cartoons from my childhood.

Avatar
Transformers
pokemon
X-men / Sailor moon
Powerpuff Girls
South park
CatDog
G.I. joe?
Family Guy
Pinky and the Brain
Pink Panther
Dexters Lab / The Rescuers
Spiderman
Inspector Gadget
Adventure Time
Babar
Madeline
Smurfs
Doug / Rugrats
Carebears
Dore the Explorer
Spongebob
Futurama / Magic Schoolbus
Muppet Babies
The Simpsons
Peanuts
He-Man
Dragon Ball Z
Thundercats
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Johnny Bravo
Animaniacs
Tiny Toons
Duck Tales!
Bobbies World
The Jetsons
The Flintstones
Looney Toons

...I know I'm missing a few in there, not sure what they are. Lets see if we can get some people to actually figure them out. *Promote

I already have to block your avatar at work!

The fact that we can look critically at the instructions we are given in the Bible and judge them to be moral or immoral is evidence that we do not get our morality from the god described within its pages, nor its human avatar.

On the flipside of the argument, the killers and thieves you mention have access to this book too, and behave badly despite certain instructions to the contrary. We look at its instructions regarding genocide and slavery and stoning adulteresses and it's an easy "no, I won't do that", at least for most of us. We also look at its instruction regarding theft and murder and some people do those things anyway. So what I wonder is, what effect is this god supposed to have, exactly?

Jurassic Park when it came out was simply: a phenomenon. I've never seen movie theaters packed for two weeks straight--no matter the time--for the same show. Everyone had seen the show over and over again. It was simply too amazing--it was the first show to PERFECTLY nail CGI--and it picked one of the best topics for CGI that you could... Who can ever forget the first time you saw and heard that T-Rex step out into the clearing and roar. It was mesmerizing (I do feel bad for those of you that hated it; there will always be haters, for any movie, or any book...but I think those of us that liked it all got the same sense of wonderment from that show...those scenes; which IS why we kept going back). It reminded me of the similar feeling you get from amusement park rides (pick your ride that fits what I'm describing).

The first time I saw that, I had to do a double take. Nothing, EVER, had been even remotely close to being that good. I mean nothing. Seeing the "gigantic" Brachiosaurus (as there have been sauropods found that, unlike the "brachi" @ 26m--length wise, is utterly dwarfed by ones like the Amphicoelias Fragillimus, that could be as long as 60m) was just amazing (this IS the movie that made CGI a reality for movies and mainstreamed it).

It helped that I saw the movie on a screen that was as big as an IMAX. One of those old-fashioned ones with a balcony and decorations. Torn down and replaced by a screen half it's size, but still fit just as many people (ah, what greed does to us)...

It was the T-Rex scene that left us awe struck and electrified--it truly felt like a dinosaur had come back to life...and yes, it was a bit terrifying. Add in the great music, well done sound (who can forget our *THX* openings), and something so well done that it basically was something new--the CGI--it was a hit that people saw so many times.

Jurassic Park did for CGI, what Star Wars did for extended special effects and the company(s) that created it. Both jump started a new generation of movies. Avatar tried to bring us into the 3D realm (which I DO like, and I would say it "worked" for as much as it possibly could...as I have a 3D HDTV and quite a collection of shows...but...), but 3D has too many issues left for it to "change" things *yet*. Sound is another place that can change things (along with many other aspects and ideas that deal with including or adding onto the sensory perception of a movie; maybe we just have to wait until we can connect almost directly neurally).

I hope this movie will be worth watching (I hope it can end up being much more than that), but it merely looks like a huge money grabbing scheme (plus Jurassic Park was at least based on a pretty good book; which BTW is worth reading even if you saw the movie). The fact that the new huge "T-Rex/Velociraptor" seems impervious to a 30mm machine gun makes me want to just...laugh; then add in the swarm of flying dinosaur people snatchers.

No sir, you are the one who claims the democrats had, and spent more money in the last 2 elections, and now that the republicans are the champion of the middle class (rather than it's most fervent enemy)....apparently because Faux told you so. I propose YOU are living in opposite land.
The middle class, along with nearly everyone else (not the top 1%), was screwed long and hard by the Bush administration and republican congress. True enough the democrats didn't stop them, nor did they fully solve the disaster they were left with 6 years ago. It was not, however, democratic policies that decimated the middle class, nor was it democratic policy that kept it that way, it is the obstructionist republicans insisting on continuing their own disastrous policies, and democrats never insisting on an actual filibuster (by republicans) to halt political progress, but accepting the mere threat of filibuster and giving up far too easily.
Claiming that the republicans have or will work FOR the middle class is either disingenuous or coming from the completely uninformed. (EDIT: please note that the economy has ALWAYS done better under democratic leadership than it has under republican leadership....every cycle in the last 50+ years, and the economy has been the republicans main issue that entire time.) Remember, it's proven repeatedly that those who listen to/watch "fox news" are consistently LESS informed than those who watch/listen to NOTHING. I think that's what's happened here.

EDIT: Love the new, totally appropriate 'sad clown king' avatar!

The star powers are all explained here (linked from the FAQ).

I like your avatar, too, and recognise both Chris Barrie as Arnold J. Rimmer and Mr. Flibble Quarantine was one of the best episodes ever.