http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/why-extroverts-fail-introverts-flounder-and-you-probably-succeed/2013/01/28/bc4949b0-695d-11e2-95b3-272d604a10a3_story.html?hpid=z2
^ That's an article. You should skim over it, because it's what this post is about. Or you could look at the below and I'll give a summary.
INSANE PEOPLE - The gist of this article is stating that ambiverts (Vocabulary - ambivert is the middle of the spectrum of introverts and extroverts. But you're so smart you probably already knew that.) are better than introverts AND extroverts at sales, disproving the what used to be canon statement that extroverts are the best at sales. In fact, extroverts were barely even better than introverts in the study. The proof behind these statements is in the tests that the social scientists performed- they took some people, asked them to rate themselves on a scale of one to seven on whether they were introverted and extroverted. Then they had the people perform sales jobs. Wouldn't you know it, the closer you were to 4 on the scale- that is, the exact middle- the more you earned. What does this have to do with insanity? Nothing, but I think it has something to tell us about how we think about what we should look like and how we should act. See, not every female out there is looking for an olympic weight lifter, and not every guy is looking for some busty blonde out of some magazine (I know I'm not, but then again I'm sort of a dork and probably couldn't get a girl like that, but this is besides my point). What I'm trying to say is, just as you sometimes shouldn't be the loudest or the quietest voice in the crowd, so should you not try to be extraordinary. Don't take this the wrong way, just try to be you. Don't set astronomical goals for yourself, but don't fade into the background either. I'm not saying be average, just be different. Not too different. A little bit. I'm starting to wonder if this came out right, but if you understand, just send a comment my way, alright?
MINECRAFT- This doesn't have anything to do about the article. I've started to like Minecraft again. If you want to play online with me sometime (provided you didn't torrent the game, you evil person), the IP of the server is this: MC.Hollowed.org
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Neanderthals and Hell
I was looking on reddit for a science-related article and came upon this gem:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/george-church-explains-how-dna-will-be-construction-material-of-the-future-a-877634.html
Before I get into it, let me say that if you have not heard about reddit, it is basically a really cool website who's motto is 'The front page of the internet'. It's basically a big newspaper of the internet and is subdivided into 'subreddits' (such as /r/science which I found this article at) which allow you to follow different subjects you are interested in, after which it will put these articles about whatever you find relevant smack on the front page. It's pretty fantastic.
Secondly, for some background on the subject: A neanderthal is basically a split of the human race. I don't mean a race, such as the difference between African-Americans and Caucasians, for example, but an entirely different species of person that evolved from apes, like we did. They lived and made tools much like our cavemen did, but eventually died out. It's quite interesting to think of what world dynamic we would live in if they had not become extinct. Would we have eventually come to coexist with each other on earth eventually, would we eventually interbreed and combine into the same species? Or is a darker truth present: would there be a hostile attitude to our close relatives? It's not hard to believe, given our attitude to each other... but I digress.
On to the actual content of the blog: The main subject it covers is cloning a Neanderthal given the recent completion of its DNA. In short, now that scientists have its complete genetic code, we can simply put that genetic information bit by bit into a cell until its 100% Neanderthal-ified. We then put this Neanderthal embryo into a human mother and in 9(?) months, POOF! A species brought back from the dead. After the discussion on this specific application of genetic engineering, the scientist (George Church) and his interviewer delved into a much broader view of what could be done with this technology- such as, modifying humans with Neanderthal DNA or even giving rabbits wings! Church notes that while it is probably only possible to get the intact DNA of million-year old or younger fossils, it is feasible that older species (such as the dinosaurs) could be reverse engineered from birds or other relatives by simply looking at their structure and seeing what needs to be changed with specific mutations. It is fascinating to think that all this could be done in our lifetimes!
Throughout the article, both scientists discuss how the cloning of humans (Neanderthals count as such) is banned in Germany, the country the magazine article is from. I hate it when something like this gets in the way of improving our understanding of the world around us, but I suppose I understand. I would go more into this if I knew the nature and specific qualms that Germany has on genetic engineering, but I do not. My uninformed opinion is that restrictions such as these should not be put on science. Things such as 'playing God' is almost laughable to me. Did God not command us to take charge of this world, and our lives? If you disagree with me, where do you stop? Should we stop giving medicine to sick people and simply pray to God for them to be healed if it is his will? For surely prolonging someone's life by using the medicines derived from our intellects given by God is wrong? Delaying such breakthroughs in science is only delaying the inevitable.
ON TO THE FORTRESS:
I had a terrible encounter while on Dwarf Fortress. I mined into hell accidentally while trying to get the priceless adamantium hidden within the rock. Needless to say, I was immediately assaulted by a ridiculous amount of demon-spawn, their sheer number rivaled only by their power and variety of shapes and weapons. My traps proved useless, my military was almost as bad: they couldn't even finish off a snow monster! You read right: a monster made of snow, let's just ignore the fact that one could survive in the boiling heat of hell and focus on the fact that my dwarves, armed with STEEL weapons, couldn't slice through them. I feel that I don't need to tell you the entire fortress was slaughtered. Oh well, being the true wuss I am, I quit without saving, and next time I'll make sure to be ready when hell comes knocking.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/george-church-explains-how-dna-will-be-construction-material-of-the-future-a-877634.html
Before I get into it, let me say that if you have not heard about reddit, it is basically a really cool website who's motto is 'The front page of the internet'. It's basically a big newspaper of the internet and is subdivided into 'subreddits' (such as /r/science which I found this article at) which allow you to follow different subjects you are interested in, after which it will put these articles about whatever you find relevant smack on the front page. It's pretty fantastic.
Secondly, for some background on the subject: A neanderthal is basically a split of the human race. I don't mean a race, such as the difference between African-Americans and Caucasians, for example, but an entirely different species of person that evolved from apes, like we did. They lived and made tools much like our cavemen did, but eventually died out. It's quite interesting to think of what world dynamic we would live in if they had not become extinct. Would we have eventually come to coexist with each other on earth eventually, would we eventually interbreed and combine into the same species? Or is a darker truth present: would there be a hostile attitude to our close relatives? It's not hard to believe, given our attitude to each other... but I digress.
On to the actual content of the blog: The main subject it covers is cloning a Neanderthal given the recent completion of its DNA. In short, now that scientists have its complete genetic code, we can simply put that genetic information bit by bit into a cell until its 100% Neanderthal-ified. We then put this Neanderthal embryo into a human mother and in 9(?) months, POOF! A species brought back from the dead. After the discussion on this specific application of genetic engineering, the scientist (George Church) and his interviewer delved into a much broader view of what could be done with this technology- such as, modifying humans with Neanderthal DNA or even giving rabbits wings! Church notes that while it is probably only possible to get the intact DNA of million-year old or younger fossils, it is feasible that older species (such as the dinosaurs) could be reverse engineered from birds or other relatives by simply looking at their structure and seeing what needs to be changed with specific mutations. It is fascinating to think that all this could be done in our lifetimes!
Throughout the article, both scientists discuss how the cloning of humans (Neanderthals count as such) is banned in Germany, the country the magazine article is from. I hate it when something like this gets in the way of improving our understanding of the world around us, but I suppose I understand. I would go more into this if I knew the nature and specific qualms that Germany has on genetic engineering, but I do not. My uninformed opinion is that restrictions such as these should not be put on science. Things such as 'playing God' is almost laughable to me. Did God not command us to take charge of this world, and our lives? If you disagree with me, where do you stop? Should we stop giving medicine to sick people and simply pray to God for them to be healed if it is his will? For surely prolonging someone's life by using the medicines derived from our intellects given by God is wrong? Delaying such breakthroughs in science is only delaying the inevitable.
ON TO THE FORTRESS:
I had a terrible encounter while on Dwarf Fortress. I mined into hell accidentally while trying to get the priceless adamantium hidden within the rock. Needless to say, I was immediately assaulted by a ridiculous amount of demon-spawn, their sheer number rivaled only by their power and variety of shapes and weapons. My traps proved useless, my military was almost as bad: they couldn't even finish off a snow monster! You read right: a monster made of snow, let's just ignore the fact that one could survive in the boiling heat of hell and focus on the fact that my dwarves, armed with STEEL weapons, couldn't slice through them. I feel that I don't need to tell you the entire fortress was slaughtered. Oh well, being the true wuss I am, I quit without saving, and next time I'll make sure to be ready when hell comes knocking.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Current State
The Fortress (named DrummedRocks) has been doing well, or relatively okay in comparison to the recent zombie attacks and whatnot. After clearing the below caverns of a hundred or so zombies consisting of snapping turtles, naked mole dogs and (shudder) helmet snakes. After a couple isolated battles consisting of a few dead soldier dwarves and a small pile of zombie corpses and limbs, the fortress is safe again. All that remains now is to claim the adamantine treasures underneath! On a side note, my mayor dwarf was kicked down a chasm 30 feet by a draltha. Serves him right. Leave questions and comments below!
Welcome to the Fortress.
My name is Ryan Schmid, but you probably already knew that if you found this. I am sixteen since last September, and am hopelessly addicted to almost any form of gaming. Whether it be tabletop or rouge-like, the only limit to my experience is my budget. Right now I'm getting back into Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress, and I never seem to have enough time to do the latter. But more on that later. On Xbox I'm particular to Halo 4, which is as good as the last couple of games, but I would have liked to see more vehicles. I'm not a total dork. But I'm certainly working on it. I will be periodically updating with what I'm doing/playing, and hopefully I can get in some updates on my fortress, Armok willing. If you didn't get some of the references yet, hopefully you will. If I can get just one more person to play this game, then it's a good day for me.
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