Anchorman 2

Anchorman is a movie that defined the generation for generations to come. In fact, I'm pretty sure it sold out in theaters over 99% of the time. That's right, the only seats unfilled during those fateful showings were that very same fat face Mr. Burgundy is so graciously reminding to stay classy.

This news team will continue to report on the generation of generation definers, as they generate their generous definings. One thing can be sure though, they need to invent smell-o-vision so that you can bask in the glory of Brian Fantana's Venom.

I would like to remind everyone that if you don't see this movie Ron Burgundy will fight you while eating his favorite breakfast of Steak and Waffles, whilst in his hot tub. All he would need to do is glare at you and your heart will stop from the sheer awesomeness that is Ron Burgundy. 

The Pants Party begins this December.

New Wave Power Plants

Concept for Algae Street Lamps, using up 150-200 times more CO2 than your average tree per year.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516142654.htm

May 16, 2013 — In the wake of the sobering news that atmospheric carbon dioxide is now at its highest level in at least three million years, an important advance in the race to develop carbon-neutral renewable energy sources has been achieved. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have reported the first fully integrated nanosystem for artificial photosynthesis. While "artificial leaf" is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an "artificial forest."

"Similar to the chloroplasts in green plants that carry out photosynthesis, our artificial photosynthetic system is composed of two semiconductor light absorbers, an interfacial layer for charge transport, and spatially separated co-catalysts," says Peidong Yang, a chemist with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division, who led this research. "To facilitate solar water- splitting in our system, we synthesized tree-like nanowire heterostructures, consisting of silicon trunks and titanium oxide branches. Visually, arrays of these nanostructures very much resemble an artificial forest."

The way of the future is upon us! Well, at least we're making progress. In the wake of Gas Prices soaring far above 4$/gallon, it's refreshing to see that we are making progress on other forms on energy production. Yes, it's also nice to see that it's cleaner energy too. 

But all of this made me think of what kind of crazy repercussions this could have on society. If these "artificial forests" can be harnessed to create power, and they burn up more CO2 than trees do, would the fact they are more valuable than the trees themselves spawn the "Last of the Trees" scenario?

I highly doubt it will, seeing as how we have wildlife preserves and the like. Even still it does make one wonder if larger cities will take that last immersive step towards eliminating nature from their culture by planting artificial trees instead of real ones. I'm not saying it's going to be monochrome society, but it will definitely look a lot more hi-tech.

At any rate, I think it's safe to assume wind power may not be as lucrative as we once thought. The New lucrative energy business will soon be in these "Power Plants", so to speak. Get your Bitcoins, Gold Buillons and Fiat Currencies ready, we're gonna have an investment craze on our hands!

I am a Soldier: Packet 3

Doug looked around the departure's area for some hint to their escape route. Bags were lined in no particular fashion, and desks and kiosks were abandoned with no evidence of escape. He checked his hack on the personal terminal again, and searched for more information on emergency exits.

Personnel had to have some record of emergency routes. Don't make me say please.

Running a search protocol pulled up the information he needed. Emergency Routes were trained extensively, but the training materials were public information. The only Hostile Threat Route was through the back by customs. It appeared to lead to an armory, which connected to a system of supply trams between each station.

Why would you separate the Personnel and Supply routes? 

Doug found his way to the customs area, where he was met by two guards, unarmed. One was a young man, shaking in his boots, the other a middle-aged woman who stood firm.

"Excuse me, sir. We will not resist your advancement. However, we would like to ask you what it is you seek in our station. If we can assist in any way to reduce casualties, we-"

I'm sorry, no comment.

Without a word, Doug watched the woman fall over. The young man, no older than seventeen, shook angrily as he dropped to his knees to check her pulse. Looking up at Doug, his eyes filled with rage.

"She's dead... Why? We weren't resisting! What the hell do you want!"

I'm sorry, no comment.

Doug grabbed at the boy, but was surprised when the boy wasn't there to grab. He was a hologram.

"Oh Doug. How many times do I have to tell you? You can't just run and gun your way to your goal."

That voice!

"What? Douglas? No No No! You can't! Not here! You'll get us both killed!"

"It's real simple. I know where it is now. That's all I needed you for."

"No! I won't let you again! This is my Operation! You'll have full reign when we reach our objective!"

"No, I'll have full reign now. Sleep well, young prince."

Blackness again... He really did it... Not again...

Cyberpsychology

Picture Credit: http://rsandberg.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-Cyborg-s-Brain-52227687

Cyberpsychology is an emerging form of study on how Technological advancement affects the growth and behavior of the human psyche. Some believe that psychology is essentially devolving the human interaction center of our brain, making it more difficult for us to interpret others' feelings and context while interacting.

I however, believe this to be untrue. Personally, I grew up on video games, and MMO's. I've built complex relationships with people and have been able to read their emotions and contexts through text alone, for the most part. However, once I started using Ventrilo, a voice chat program, it became easier for me to understand these contexts using voice cues alone.

Going out into the work world, I was able to understand and communicate better through simpler cues, like understanding mannerisms and inflections. Facial cues and touch cues, I will admit, are strange to me mostly due to the fact I feel I can read people's context well enough without them. The lack of exposure to these things have made interactions with facial and touch cues a more difficult thing for me to adapt to.

Perhaps I'm one of the lucky few who managed to attain that skill, but I don't like to think I'm anything special in the human genome. Regardless of these differences, I wouldn't say it's de-evolution. I would describe it as a different approach to communication.

How will this truly effect human communication? I don't think we quite know yet.

Measuring Intelligence

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130513152827.htm

"May 13, 2013 — Human intelligence cannot be explained by the size of the brain's frontal lobes, say researchers.

Research into the comparative size of the frontal lobes in humans and other species has determined that they are not -- as previously thought -- disproportionately enlarged relative to other areas of the brain, according to the most accurate and conclusive study of this area of the brain.

It concludes that the size of our frontal lobes cannot solely account for humans' superior cognitive abilities."

Apparently, size doesn't matter. So, then, how DO we measure intelligence? I'm going to tangent more than normal from the original article, but it brought up an interesting thought. Can we measure a intelligence with a simple test and score? I've never been one to buy into the notion that you can place a score to someone's ability to think.

You can definitely place a certain level of stupidity on people, the Darwin Awards do exist for a reason. However I don't think it's ever been as cut and dry as a score, the size of a brain, or even a handful of smart moments to draw from. Humans come in all different levels of intelligence, this much is true. Some are inhibited by their own brains, and others are just too lazy to learn. 

But even those who are inhibited are capable of higher levels of understanding than animals. Those that are too lazy to learn are capable of higher intelligence, but choose not to seek it. Some see knowledge of facts, dates, times, mathematics are the sole scale for judging intelligence. Others see it as cognitive function, decision making skills, and critical thinking that measure intelligence.

I happen to believe it's a good mix of both, but is it really the only way to gauge it? Perhaps the question we should be asking is what is intelligence worth? What exactly does the idea of being intelligent get us? Social recognition? A higher chance of succeeding in life? 

Maybe it's more important to simply seek knowledge, and expand your thinking than to worry about what your intelligence level is. So the question still remains. How do we measure Intelligence?