Hardly a brilliant analysis - more like a brilliant piece of advocacy that, like most of its kind, is long on optimistic projections and very short on real numbers and a real analysis of those numbers. For instance: what is the megawatt hour cost of a solar power generation station that can replicate the power responsiveness and availability factor of a fossil power generation station (over a similar life cycle). He quotes the kwh cost for solar and wind power systems but each and every one of them is "backed up" by a much larger conventional power generation system that, ultimately, is burdened with the costs of maintaining grid stability, grid voltage, and grid frequency. There are huge engineering problems and substantial costs associated with maintaining a power supply that we now require to operate a modern economy. Just ONCE, I would like to see the green power advocates address those challenges and costs in a realistic way instead of glossing over them with their fantasy projections.
And I will say, as an aside, that I have spent my entire working career working in the renewable energy sector and fully agree that we need to transition to a renewable energy economy - but unrealistic projections are going to doom our economy if they are taken as being possible in the near term.

Yay paleo. I really want to replicate the diet of humans who lived to be 30!

Yes, you are 100% right in that he does a great job of getting about as close as possible to the sound of the guitar on a piano.

But I'm not questioning his playing ability, I'm questioning the choice to do it in the first place. Or more specifically, the choice to try and REPLICATE the sound of the original.

Here's what I would consider a good example of adapting a guitar piece to the piano. She's not trying to make the piano sound like a guitar, but using the piano to create a different version of this.

Or the other way round taking a famous piano piece and adapting it for guitar.

Obviously, art is a subjective thing and you're not "wrong" for liking or disliking this... I just feel like it doesn't really add anything to the original.

Also, since I'm posting unpopular opinions.. .he actually plays the wrong notes a few times... amateur

@jwray

*facepalm*

You realize the link you just posted is titled "IQ dominates socioeconomic background data for white men" (my emphasis).

Sure, there is a correlation between IQ and crime and it is hotly contested to what that actually means.

To some, that means only dumb criminals actually get caught (meaning we don't know the true average IQ of criminals because the smart ones get away with it).

To others, it reflects the socioeconomic status of the people most likely to commit crimes (i.e. likely grew up poor in a neighborhood without strong educational opportunities and therefore does not share the cultural values that IQ tests inherently load into the questions and furthermore the test-taker may be openly hostile to standardized test-taking).

To still others it reflects the RESULTS of crime (i.e. leading a criminal lifestyle makes it more likely that you are going to suffer traumatic physical injuries to the head that literally make you dumber).

The 7-8 point difference you quoted is not nearly enough to make a difference on the crime rates. 100 IQ is the normally distributed mean and Japanese people on average, score around 106. For reference, a standard deviation on the IQ test is 15 points, meaning that for all intents and purposes Japanese people are still roughly in the same ballpark as Americans with their 98-point average.

And literally the first Google search result when I looked up Japanese IQ scores was this one, explaining how national average IQ scores correlate with the per capita income and national rates of economic development.

In other words, economic factors correlate with IQ, which correlates with negatively with crime, which seems to further reinforce the idea that socioeconomic forces are a key factor in criminal behavior.

Look, we're getting really far afield of what the video is about. I think it is a no-brainer that few gun crimes are committed in Japan because guns are so heavily regulated. We do have stabbings, in fact we have mass stabbings (which is something you don't see so often in the U.S.). The thing we both agree on is that it is impossible for the U.S. to replicate these crime statistic results, whether that be for cultural reasons or whatever other cause you want to throw out there.

Even for a replicant this is good

Definitely a replicant.
No Voight-Kampff needed.
Retire it.

What if he was a Replicant with no termination date? And does that make them immortal (Deckard doesn't look so good for an immortal) or do they just live a normal human lifespan?

After the excellent Sicario and Arrival, I have high hopes for Denis Villeneuve directing this.

I wonder if an aging Deckard means he's NOT a replicant?

Wow, absolutely the opposite reaction to me.

I thought Rogue One was a travesty of film making. The characters were bland and underdeveloped, the plot made little sense and the dialogue was awful. The only redeeming aspect were the special / practical effects and art.

I would criticise Force Awakens for treading safe in replicating the plot of A New Hope to a ridiculous degree but the characters had a sense of identity, purpose and relatability. Most of the set pieces (Han Solo, Jakku, Falcon escape) were memorable.

The lightsaber battle definitely suffered from FX over-use. What made the one in Empire Strikes Back compelling is the austere focus of it as a battle of wills. At least this one was less ridiculous than the lava clusterfuck of Revenge of the Sith.

For Kylo Ren, a lot will depend on whether he remains a bland, corrupted villain or develops into a repentant anti-hero. Hopefully they won't follow the Vader/Emperor arc too closely. In any case, he's certainly going to take back seat to Snoke as primary villain.

For the time being, I don't think that's a concern; with all of the incredible progress being shown in using neural networks to replicate (and yes, improve on) human skills, I'm not aware of any real advances in any field related to giving AI any sort of actual will.

What's more concerning to me is how this sort of technology will be put to use to categorize and control people. I'm not talking about shadowy cabals, or even evil corporations--I'm talking about the unintentional consequences of being able to accurately reduce people to a set of metrics and predictable behaviors, and how that may push culture to a bland algorithmic mush rather than the chaotic but vibrant human mess it's always been. Time will tell, I guess.

Steak is tough one to replicate, you'll probably have to wait for the lab grown stuff. But just about everything else we've got you covered

If you like your chicken crumbed, these are great https://gardein.com/product-type/chickn/
(the un-crumbed ones I don't really like)

from Asian stores/take-outs 'roast duck' seitan is also very nice.

And in general sausages and burger patties most are pretty nice these days.

I'm not sure how things are on your end of the world, but where I live most supermarkets carry mock-meats which taste like cardboard so avoid like the plague! But if you go to a specialty store they should have the brands that actually taste good. Once you know the brands that you like then you can sometimes find them in a regular grocer as well.

But really at the end of day if you're eating the "starch solution" 6 days then eat real meat once a week, then you're still doing a lot more good than bad. Less is always better.

Doesn't matter that the clock is built on lies, as long as it tells the time accurately and serves it's purpose, the rest is irrelevant. And Replicants are, if nothing else, built to serve a purpose. Although I think you could build a simpler robot to clean bathrooms that would be cheaper and less ethically problematic.

Definitely impressive work for the budget.

While watching it, I couldn't shake my discomfort over the fact that this Blade Runner is rather cruel in his approach to his job. He's part of decommissioning an entire series of replicants. Does he go to every single one and destroy their universe as they die? What kind of sadistic person does that?

And couldn't the manufacturer think of a better way to shut down old units? It seems like using emergency services personnel to individually locate and turn off toasters that are past their warranty date is a waste of public funds. How about just giving the replicants a subconscious urge to migrate to a corporate facility at the appropriate time?

"I don't know why I came here today."
"Don't worry about it, just let me take a look at this expiration date next to the power switch on your neck."
"Wait! I remember things I wasn't programmed foooorrrrrrrr...."
"Did he say something?"
"Dunno. He's powered off now."

I could make that film for $500."

One thing I really liked about the Voyager Elite Force was the explanation of having a shit-ton of weapons on hand, but without having a 5ft x 5ft pack on a donkey. Basically, it was a transporter/replicator based personal armoury. Wanted a pistol? Shhrrrmmmminnnnnn POP! Pistol in hand. Needed a rifle? Shhrrrmmmminnnnnn POP! Got it.