Something cool thread

[Larry]

Engadget: Disney's Playmation toys let kids feel like an Avenger
 


 

The rise of smartphones and tablets has forced entertainment firms, such as Disney, to design themed toys that can come to life and build a story around them. That's the case for Playmation, a platform of smart toys that combines Disney's popular movie franchises with sensors and kids' imagination. The first set, scheduled to launch in October, will be based on none other than Marvel's Avengers, while Star Wars and Frozen are expected to arrive in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The Starter Pack we tried features an Iron Man glove, which lets young ones hear and feel what it's like to have the superhero's powers -- like his signature repulsor blast. There are also two figures included (Captain America, Iron Skull), as well as a pair of base stations that communicate with Tony Stark's wearable via IR, and can be used for interactive missions.

 

What's great about the Iron Man glove is the haptic feedback it provides, allowing you to experience a vibration every time a move is pulled off or impact is received. It's well-made too, so while it looks hefty on your arm, it doesn't feel heavy at all. (Disney made this in collaboration with Hasbro and, naturally, says a lot of research went into it to make sure kids felt comfortable wearing it.) Out of the box, the Avengers Starter Pack comes with 25 missions -- but since these are connected toys, after all, more could be added in the future through software updates. The companion iOS and Android app, meanwhile, will let kids view mission details and track battle stats, plus customize gear with abilities they've earned; the more they play, the more they earn. 

 

The best part about Playmation, though, is that it is going to keep kids active, since it requires them to run around and have fun during their missions. And, in an age where children can be easily consumed by smartphone or tablet screens, this is a valuable thing to consider. Disney's Avenger set is expected to hit shelves in October for $120, with each additional figure to be sold separately for $15.

 

 

I quoted the entire article.  (It's a short article, and it's pretty much an advertisement, and all three paragraphs had something cool in them.)  but there's lots of pictures, and video, at the link. 

 

Due disclosure:  I just happen to own $25K of Disney stock. 

[frostyj]

[dfitzo53]

 

 

[Jumbo]

Very cool---but I haven't had time to check if it's real or if it's memorex--looks real if hard to believe. There's more vids on the page, inc a skeptic one, but I haven't seen any of the others yet. I grew up loving to shoot my Bear Tigercat (got it when I was 14--45# draw which can be pretty effective if you're a good shot) and others as I got older, but never did compounds much after trying them---just didn't like them that much. Haven't shot bow at all in over a decade.

[Beygo]

I was completely on board until the last bit.  That's unbelievable if it's true.

[twa]

I was completely on board until the last bit.  That's unbelievable if it's true.

 

well he does control the angle and timing of it.....but not something I'd wanna practice at.

 

even blunts will put a hole in ya

[twa]

Very cool---but I haven't had time to check if it's real or if it's memorex--looks real if hard to believe. There's more vids on the page, inc a skeptic one,

 

 

She seems bitter, probably has a crush on him and is suppressing.

[steve09ru]

When ya can't do something - complain about it

[Jumbo]

I thought it funny she'd put that much work into something like that, but apparently that's her internet shtick. I didn't know her vid was about dissecting him on that basis--I thought it would be about whether some footage was faked. I sort of ignored his "history" stuff because I already caught some of the simply wrong stuff technically as well as a few of the historical misrepresentations he made just based on my own knowledge. I figured it was "color" for his shtick.

 

 

All I cared about was he did the best trick shooting I've ever seen with a bow, lightweight draw (I could tell that) or not, but then I'd only seen a couple. She's dead on about the lightweight bow he's using and his soft draw. She's right about everything else archery and history wise as far as I know, but I did stop watching @ 9 minutes.

 

To me, a trick shooter with anything is fun and cool and it takes an extreme amount of skill to do it at that level. And yes---even if he just went up to a 45 lb draw, all his speed-shooting tricks, and even just baseline accuracy, would be dramatically reduced unless he'd practiced equally with that pull.

 

I'm think gonna hunt for knife-throwers later. Maybe I ought to make my own video and come up with some fake history. 

[steve09ru]

I couldn't take her seriously after the opening line when she used 'Interwebs' - who even uses that??  And who cares about the history piece.  That's like a sports player getting facts wrong about the past but still doing ridiculously unheard of things and breaking records left and right.  Who gives a ****

Edited June 30, 2015 by steve09ru

[dfitzo53]

I guess I'm in the minority.  I appreciated her video - watching his I was fairly skeptical from the beginning about his historical claims.  I have a history degree with a focus on the ancient Middle East for what that's worth.

 

I agree with basically everything she said.  His video is entertaining, if a bit goofy, but his history is so far off the mark that it's safe to say he basically invented it and is passing it off on anyone gullible enough to believe it.  When done as humor or satire I have no problem with that, but he seems to want people to genuinely believe that he is a pioneer.

 

I don't see anything wrong with her calling out his BS.  It's not like she was making personal attacks or anything.

[Jumbo]

You're not that alone Dave--note I commented that I quickly spotted some BS in the history and some qualifications  on a few other matters after my initial post--and I like it anytime such gets busted by anyone doing so accurately. It just didn't matter to me in the context that my only interest in the dude was his skill level, not his showman spiel. 

 

My dismissive remarks towards her presentation could be read more negatively than intended. 

 

This generated more conversation than the norm, here---cool. 

[Kosher Ham]

Read about this today. Looked up a video.

Seems pretty cool. The person who made it does NOT work for Nintendo.

 

[China]

Arrowhead discovered lodged in Iron Age warrior's spine... and scans reveal he SURVIVED the injury

 

A bronze arrowhead has been discovered lodged in the spine of an early Iron Age warrior who appears to have survived for months if not years with the injury.

 

Archaeologists were stunned to discover the remains of the weapon while conducting X-rays and scans of the vertebrae of an elite nomad discovered in Central Kazakhstan.

 

They say most arrow shots to the spine are usually fatal, but it appears in this case the man may have lived for at least half a year with the arrowhead lodged firmly in his spine after being injured in battle.

The two-inch long arrowhead was lodged in one of the vertebrae of the early Iron Age warrior, as shown in the x-ray images above. Researchers say the bone appears to have healed around the arrow, as shown by the black arrows, and a portion of the arrow has broken off, shown in the black box in the image on the right

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Dan T.]

How to fry an egg for your girlfriend:

 

[Larry]

Order placed.

[Chew]

oh god, don't show my dad that.  #nerdalert

[Jumbo]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/gallery/unscripted-21-ad-libs-that-became-classic-movie-lines/ss-AAcm7bZ#image=17

 

Unscripted: 21 Ad-Libs That Became Classic Movie Lines

 

Done as a slide show--watch out for all the misleading link-tabs these type of pages tend to have.

[Larry]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/gallery/unscripted-21-ad-libs-that-became-classic-movie-lines/ss-AAcm7bZ#image=17

 

Unscripted: 21 Ad-Libs That Became Classic Movie Lines

 

Done as a slide show--watch out for all the misleading link-tabs these type of pages tend to have--look for the "next" tab.

Couldn't even FIND a "next" button. (I'm on my iPad). But there was a film strip, under the thing, that worked.

I've read that pretty much all of the dialog R Lee Ermy used, in Full Metal Jacket, he just made up on the spot. Supposedly, after the "reach around" line, Kubrick stopped the filming, and Ermy had to explain the joke to him. (He supposedly did several other things, during filming, too. Like not associating with the "recruits", except when filming. And only appearing to them when in character.)

I understand that in Pirates of the Carribean, it was Depp who created the "eunuch" lines. And it was Bloom's idea to imitate Jack Sparrow's movements.

[China]

I couldn't take her seriously after the opening line when she used 'Interwebs' - who even uses that?? 

 

Apparently PB does:

 

http://es.redskins.com/topic/389102-cnn-pentagon-no-texas-takeover-plot/page-2#entry10264531

[Bang]

I like Johnny Depp.. most of his movies are pretty good, and even when it's not, he's good in it.

Here he is as Captain Jack Sparrow at a children's hospital in Australia.

Pretty typical stuff, but he's fun, and if you skip to the end when he is speaking to the camera,,,check out his drunken pirate slurring and sneering that he stole things from the hospital... being a huge Rolling Stones fan it always gives me a kick to know he's basically just pretending to be Keith Richards.

 

 

~Bang

Edited July 8, 2015 by Bang

[Jumbo]

I was cleaning through work stuff (dumbass thing to do when I took the whole week off from all work stuff---paid or volunteer ), saw this stuff, and realized I had I never posted it.

 

Prob should have its own thread, but I ain't interested in attending to such and doubt it would die quick anyway. The second link below the declaration text has the most interesting stuff. Scroll halfway down and to the right there's a field where you can scroll through the 17 individual videos of conference topics as presented by the speakers. I'm sure everyone will be irresistibly drawn to view them all in their entirety.   Or maybe a few minutes of one.  

 

Think of it as a now-present and available resource of little or no value. 

 

Also, here's a random but related paragraph regarding the development of intelligence as one role  played in later development of elite/wealthy/powerful segments of societies that was an interesting comment:

 

 It is more than likely that the major benefit most of these people gained from their intelligence was the ability to successfully manipulate and exploit those less fortunate. Some socio-biologists argue that this is the origin of intelligence in primates.

 

 

 

 

http://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf

 

 

 

The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness  

 

On this day of July 7, 2012, a prominent international group of cognitive neuroscientists, neuropharmacologists, neurophysiologists, neuroanatomists and computational neuroscientists gathered at The University of Cambridge to reassess the neurobiological substrates of conscious experience and related behaviors in human and non-human animals. While comparative research on this topic is naturally hampered by the inability of non-human animals, and often humans, to clearly and readily communicate about their internal states, the following observations can be stated unequivocally:  The field of Consciousness research is rapidly evolving.

 

Abundant new techniques and strategies for human and non-human animal research have been developed. Consequently, more data is becoming readily available, and this calls for a periodic reevaluation of previously held preconceptions in this field. Studies of non-human animals have shown that homologous brain circuits correlated with conscious experience and perception can be selectively facilitated and disrupted to assess whether they are in fact necessary for those experiences. Moreover, in humans, new non-invasive techniques are readily available to survey the correlates of consciousness. 

 

The neural substrates of emotions do not appear to be confined to cortical structures. In fact, subcortical neural networks aroused during affective states in humans are also critically important for generating emotional behaviors in animals. Artificial arousal of the same brain regions generates corresponding behavior and feeling states in both humans and non-human animals. Wherever in the brain one evokes instinctual emotional behaviors in non-human animals, many of the ensuing behaviors are consistent with experienced feeling states, including those internal states that are rewarding and punishing.

 

Deep brain stimulation of these systems in humans can also generate similar affective states. Systems associated with affect are concentrated in subcortical regions where neural homologies abound. Young human and nonhuman animals without neocortices retain these brain-mind functions. Furthermore, neural circuits supporting behavioral/electrophysiological states of attentiveness, sleep and decision making appear to have arisen in evolution as early as the invertebrate radiation, being evident in insects and cephalopod mollusks (e.g., octopus). 

 

Birds appear to offer, in their behavior, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy a striking case of parallel evolution of consciousness. Evidence of near human-like levels of consciousness has been most dramatically observed in African grey parrots. Mammalian and avian emotional networks and cognitive microcircuitries appear to be far more homologous than previously thought. Moreover, certain species of birds have been found to exhibit neural sleep patterns similar to those of mammals, including REM sleep and, as was demonstrated in zebra finches, neurophysiological patterns, previously thought to require a mammalian neocortex. Magpies in particular have been shown to exhibit striking similarities to humans, great apes, dolphins, and elephants in studies of mirror self-recognition. 

 

In humans, the effect of certain hallucinogens appears to be associated with a disruption in cortical feedforward and feedback processing. Pharmacological interventions in non-human animals with compounds known to affect conscious behavior in humans can lead to similar perturbations in behavior in non-human animals. In humans, there is evidence to suggest that awareness is correlated with cortical activity, which does not exclude possible contributions by subcortical or early cortical processing, as in visual awareness. Evidence that human and nonhuman animal emotional feelings arise from homologous subcortical brain networks provide compelling evidence for evolutionarily shared primal affective qualia.

 

We declare the following: “The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Nonhuman animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.” 

 

 

 

 

(link below is where you find all the conference video presentations)

 

http://fcmconference.org/

 

 

 

 

 

[The 12th Commandment]

When my MS is acting up and I don't want to go a humane society microchipping event, I think of stories like this and I get off my lazy ass and do my little part to slightly increase the chance of happiness in world.  I love reading about happy endings.

 

http://www.9news.com/story/life/pets/2015/07/08/denver-family-finds-dog-missing-4-years/29888363/

 

 

Within a couple of hours, Rodeon and his family were anxiously waiting for J at the Denver shelter, hoping their beloved pup would remember them.

 

They should never have doubted J.

 

The little guy made a beeline for Rodeon, yelping and squirming with joy. He even remembered his basic obedience commands, and did sit, lie down, and roll over like no time at all had passed between him and his family.

 

The happily reunited pup and owners would never have found each other if their beloved J didn't have a microchip: a simple and painless procedure that made all the difference for J and his humans.

-more at link including a video that will make you feel good

[Jumbo]

I should have said that I expect thorough reports on all the material in post #897 in my box by Monday morning.

[The 12th Commandment]

I should have said that I expect thorough reports on all the material in post #897 in my box by Monday morning.

A picture of me blowing dope smoke in my dogs ear ok?