The week after. Quadrotors assemble a new prototype robot, they have named it the T-500. Strangely the new robot bears a startling resemblance to the Governor of California

>> ^notarobot:

Next week's video: Quadrotors Autonomously Build Quadrotors Replicating Facility.

A new edition of Mark Twain’s classic book “Huckleberry Finn” is causing controversy. The said novel is the famous one in which Mark Twain has been noted for. Many of his works though have been suppressed for various reasons. The publisher, NewSouth Books, has made some startling omissions. The book has had all the words some people discover offensive left out. Classic novel Huckleberry Finn censored in new edition. Twain used dialog that was very common, and was really fervently against racism in any form. Let's hope that payday loans were not used to fund the censorship of an excellent novel.

In the "horse as a machine" scenario there is a difference between applying a whip to startle, thereby activating the flight reflex and engaging or encouraging faster forward motion, and thinking "this dumb animal isn't doing what I want it to do, so I'm going to smack it around". I think this dude was pretty clearly going for the second one. However, by doing so he drove the horse past the flight reflex and into fight, and discovered the consequences.

There are those who would disagree with the first application as well; ie. any application of the whip, or any other negative reinforcement is wrong. By all means, limit the use of such things, but I don't think that they need to be universally condemned.

This was startling good; Jon seems like he's seeing much bigger picture than most of us are used to thinking of. I had moments where I disagreed, but he articulated his point so well he quickly brought me around where I could at the very least truly respect his argument.

Sadly, the nuanced nature of his position will be lost on most folks; and funnily enough, that proves his point and reinforces his need to be where he is, media-wise. Fascinating.

>> ^Shepppard:
We went in not knowing anything about the game.

This is the key to making a game scary, IMO. It's also why I haven't truly been scared by a game since the 1990s. By the time you get your hands on a game nowadays, you already know everything about it.

The original Doom is still the scariest game I've ever played and it was mostly because I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know the monsters; I didn't know the weapons; I didn't know what the engine itself was capable of. My first encounter with a pinky was quite memorable. I had heard it growling in the distance for several minutes. The sound was a new one; I had only seen zombies and imps up to that point; so I was cautiously creeping around trying to pin it down. I finally came face to face with it as I came around a corner in a very tight hallway; the ideal location to fight 500lbs of teeth and muscle.

XCom 2 is my other noteworthy game for being scary, though it was more of a nervous tension than outright fear.

Since then, games have startled me with "boo!" tactics, but none of them have really been scary.

@EDD

The controls are what you'd expect from an FPS (a lot better than FUCKING Bioshock 2)(I am NOT bitter). My one complaint right now is that object rotation can be, as you said, a bit clunky but still it's not so bad. That being said, I've played about an hour or so into the game as of last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

You'd think that a game with no weapons, where you barely ever encounter monsters, and where the visuals/noise could drive you insane; would be a the definition of a bad game. But I found myself consistently wanting to continue through the castle and, insanity be damned, even hide in the dark and peek around corners just in case something was there.

I don't know if i would count this as a flaw necessarily but the audio/atmosphere of the game is dependent upon you sitting in a dark room and wearing headphones. I tried playing earlier in the day, with sunlight pouring through my window and my wife constantly asking me what I thought about her grad class homework, surprisingly, I couldn't get into it. Later on, i got into game mode ala headphones and a dark room and I was as startled if not more-so than when I first played Doom 3 in the same room environment. Any game that can do that to me and be a fun puzzler at the same time is a winner in my book! Plus it was only $20 :-p

Ugh thanks for that! What are you trying to do give me a heart attack? Damn it! Sorry I'm prone to always be startled by sudden loud noises.

>> ^rougy:

Cenk's wrong.
You know, America, if you're so god-damned short-sighted, chintzy, and selfish to invest in a girl with a 4.09 GPA who has been here since she was eight years old, then you're too god-damned stupid to deserve any of the respect that you demand, even if it is at the point of a gun.


Give her a free ride, well free until she has to service that loan? Yep let's just start handing out subsidized educational loans to everyone let the tax payer take risk. Taxpayers already have enough risk; military spending and other big shit. Giving her a public loan would set a startling precedent and it would give other illegal immigrants the ability to get public loans; legally.

Also for everyone's reading.
Illegal Immigrants Myths.
http://www.urban.org/publications/900898.html

Moral of the fucking story is.

Don't fuck around.

Second moral is, for fuck's sake, don't jump.

That is one thing everyone should endeavor to train. Lessen the startle response. Not only does not being scared make one look like a bad ass, but it allows one to remain in control of one's mental faculties.

Now, that's not to say that the startle reaction does not have it's place. Remember that saying, as a kid, don't horseplay? Yea.


I read to much into these types of short films.

Good show.

Assorted thoughts...

I can understand the cop being startled and defensive if someone walks up to him with a camera and a gun. Not saying any action is justified, but it would have been stupid of him to not be on his toes.

Maybe the guy is being a little bit of a dick, but it's not illegal to be a dick.

I don't think you should expect to give the police a hard time and not get one back. If they had arrested him, that would have been inappropriate, but grilling him a little bit... not so much.

Just because you aren't required to present ID doesn't mean the cops can't ask for it. They also didn't do anything to prevent him from walking away.

If this guy hadn't instigated this I would feel negatively toward the cops, but he baited them. They inspected the bait but didn't bite.

However in my experience at some point everyone has a price and can be exploited.

Very true. And in the case of our elected officials, this price is startlingly low. It doesn't take much to 'corrupt' a politician. Everyone wants to make laws punishing the act of lobbying a politician. To me that is a position that is both ineffective (they'll always find ways around it) and unconstitutional (1st Ammendment guarantees the right to appeal). The solution to me is obvious. Instead of making laws that punish lobbying - make laws that punish politicians for establishing financial connections. Punishing lobbyists as a way to solve the problem of political corruption is like trying to kill a man by poking him in the butt with stick. Punishing politicians for financial ties... That will be a stabbing to the heart.

I don't know where you get info saying that Reagan practiced anything close to "fiscal conservatism

Because it is both historical fact and real world truth - things your education seems to have been woefully lacking. Your grasp of US politics & civics is weak. The PotUS does not control the purse. Nor does he have power to enact legislation. That power lies with Congress. During the Reagan presidency, the House and Senate were both firmly in the control of the Democrat party. Reagan ran on a ticket of cutting taxes, cutting spending, and strong military. He only accomplished 2 of those things. His tax cuts were greaet. His military spending was what ultimately broke the back of the Russian economy and caused Gorby to enact Glasnost (eventually collapsing the Soviet state). But without the vital component of cutting domestic spending, it was not a truly fiscally conservative policy. But it wasn't because Reagan didn't WANT it. He pushed for it, but couldn't get domestic cuts past the Democrat congress.

The liberal left practically has a cottage industry on 'myths of Reaganomics'. But all such verbiage ignores the fact that Democrats controlled domestic spending policy - not Reagan. Tax cuts don't reduce government when you don't cut government spending.

What programs do you think can be cut while maintaining popular support? Medicare? Social Security? Defense? Just those three accounted for something like 65% of the budget in 2008.

I can't think of a single program that I wouldn't cut radically. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and some Defense would probably be my first targets. If I had to pick only ONE program though? Social Security. It was a terrible idea when it was started, and it only has gotten worse over time. SS needs to die in a fire. Government has no mandate or role in managing retirement. That is the responsibility of each citizen. If individual states wish to create programs to help, that is their choice. But no federal program along these lines should have ever been allowed to exist.

I was going to spend time removing the emoticons, but eh, I think they look good on Ackbar. It is complete coincidence that the emoticons are all unhappy or startled.

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@ "Capitalism" Defenders:

Why do you reject government interference in the marketplace yet accept the market distorting charter of preferential protections to corporations, particularly with regard to political influence? The concentration of wealth, and thus power in corporate America is startling to say the least. You say no corporation has a hold on you, but I call BS. They control you at every turn, through lobbying, wages, and market manipulation. Don't kid yourself.

This is particularly the case with the most unfortunate amongst us. Those most likely to be interacting with BoA's "Customer Services" department. You talk about buying sports cars you shouldn't... how about paying your heating bill so your kid doesn't freeze? You'd be able to afford it if you weren't getting gouged on the interest payments for the debt you needed to accumulate during hard times. The sad fact is that many of these people are being perfectly responsible, they've just been trapped in the cycle of stagnating wages and predatory consumer debt. It's no secret, but that doesn't make it efficient, sustainable, or justifiable.

The FDIC should hire her to enforce the Truth in Lending laws. If someone is breaking the law she should throw food on their shoes. Cause that's how civil people do it.

Loved it. Anybody know the preacher's name?

That sort of honesty is startlingly refreshing.

It's something that I myself have thought for a long time now, and it was comforting to hear him second my assessment.

I'm startled by the man who thinks that Palin is clever, but not serious. I'm quite certain it's the other way around.