IIRC, there was another study recently that indicated decreasing levels of empathy in all of the young, accompanied by increasing levels of narcissism. Don't recall the name or anything, so I can't provide links. Either way, I'd be hard pressed to not make a correlation between the two, rather than with video games. How exactly different is playing video games to paintball/airsoft or the time honored pastimes of cops & robbers? I didn't RTFA, so is it simply the pervasiveness of video games or is there something more?

The entire thing is made of real images, just composited using the software listed on their site. So there are effects; for example they are using After Effects.

The images are not rendered CG, however the movie is intended to be a visual poetry piece a` la Baraka. I imagine they cut the images and lined them up for dramatic effect. No real conspiracy there.

There's some debate here over whether the video is CG or used CG in conjunction with the photos. The NASA Astronomy Pic of the Day article mentions that this video is a part of an upcoming IMAX film called Outside In, who's website has some further explanation on how they're making the film. Of course, the APOD article is a paragraph in length, so an entire website might be a bit much for some to read.

In the constellation of Cygnus,
There lurks a mysterious, invisible force
The Black Hole
Of Cygnus X-1


Six Stars of the Northern Cross
In mourning for their sister's loss
In a final flash of glory
Nevermore to grace the night...

This is the FIRST time a botnet has been studied in captivity? Did they need an excuse? A hall pass?

Anyone got a good reason why it took this long to study a botnet in captivity when researchers have been able to purchase these tools on black hat sites for as long as they have? Otherwise I call shenanigans. Red tape, bureaucracy, what have you.

Oh noes, did 4chan An Hero?

"DARNKESS IS SPREADING!"

Spot on, sir. It's as if people who attack forward thinking WANT the future to be shitty, so they block out thoughts of what could be should the technology be discovered. Didn't any of them ever play Civ? Small minds, I guess.

This should be modded up. There's a bunch of great cheap games on Steam and Impulse, though the latter is still catching on. At the very least it's a good way to find new games that can usually be purchased in another manner, a different platform or as a standalone for example.

After playing I fully recommend BIT.TRIP BEAT, Chime, Defense Grid, Geometry Wars, Lumines, Osmos, Portal, VVVVVV, World of Goo and Zombie Driver. I also saw a new game called Super Meat Boy that looks pretty awesome, but I haven't gotten a chance to play it.

While Steam has it's issues, and I'm a little pissed at them right now, there are some great games to be had. Their sales are often really good, enough to be worth it in spite of being tied into their system.

In-fucking-deed. There's absolutely no reason Linux can't or shouldn't be mopping the floor with Microsoft right now. Ubuntu can be the distro that most folks use, and that won't suddenly make the other distros disappear. Whatever Canonical does with Ubuntu won't have to be adopted by Red Hat or anyone else for that matter, because it's fucking open source.

Once a whole lot of people have switched to Linux, a whole new world will open up for open source. Top tier software studios will start making games and apps for Linux. Most of the tech jobs would be for Linux, such as sys admins and programmers at the lower levels to higher level management and engineering positions. Tech support for Linux companies could emerge, but frankly once the money rolls either in the developers and publishers will spring for direct support or existing third party tech support companies will get on the bandwagon. Where others have tried to sell Linux support have failed or struggled is not relevant. When every business and consumer throws their weight and money behind Linux support, it will get done.

A switch of most consumers and businesses to Linux for daily use would be fucking huge, but most folks are taking stances on this like politicians or "look it up n00b" types. Whatever. If people want to(or inadvertently) stifle innovation because they can't think big and see things in black and white, oh well. Thirty years from now, Saint Kurzweil will descend from the heavens and none of this crap will matter anyway. :D

Most folks here seem to be saying that math is important to learn due to it's importance to other subjects; i.e. mathematical subjects like probability, logic, economics, or even non-mathematical subjects like English or law. It's been said here that if we learned the correct maths, we'd understand these higher subjects earlier and be harder for politicos to dupe.

It would seem to me that ditching some of the higher math in favor of integrating probability into math studies, logic into science studies and deeper economics studies during high school years would be quite a bit more valuable than ever learning geometry, trig, or calculus. At the very least, if math is so important to other subjects, why is there no grade school education focused on how these subjects tie into each other? Do we need to call in James Burke to develop a course for students to understand the practical applications beyond calculating your tips? Does anyone remember the single semester spent on economics in high school? I sure don't. And the reason is because our education is a joke.

For example, the math system used during my high school years was the UC Davis system. There were a ton of problems with it, but the biggest was a lack of examples from which to study with. On the surface this was bad enough, but the Davis system expected students to use applied learning to figure out more complicated problems in each chapter. With zero lessons on applied learning. Nor any labeling for which questions were more complex and required students to jump ahead and just figure it out. Oh yeah, and there were no answers included as the entire system was photocopied and students were expected to keep the pages in three ring binders.

Additionally, most folks are in their respective corners on education, in the red or blue trunks and ready to duke it out. They've all got someone to blame for our terrible school system, but when's the last time you heard someone bitch that a D is no longer a failing grade? That some students must learn without having a real book(physical or electronic)? No one politician or party has these things as their core concern regarding education because it's not germane to their ideology.

After years of being passed with D's and little to no help from my schools(at least till high school), I had piss poor grades because I spent all my time struggling with math. I was decent in science and history because I love science and history. I was decent in English because I love to read, thank god for my parents. I tested at a tenth grade reading level in the fifth and no one that knows me thinks I'm stupid - but my grades show someone that loved band and didn't give a shit about anything else.

Student tutors tried but I needed more help than they could give, which was too little and too late anyway. Had it not been for the help of a friend who was a math major in college, I'd never have passed on time. What schools need is less politics, and students need professional tutoring, real consequences for failing and real incentives for success. The best part of high school for me was electives, and at least I performed well in most of those subjects. However, almost none of it was real world experience, and I've only learned later in life that I don't want a career in computers. Career guidance is a joke, and everyone knows it. Career integrated electives showing what it takes to make it, which courses are important and how to integrate them, the duties of various professions and what to expect from a life in a given field will help students to succeed. I'd have had a good idea in high school that computers were not for me. I expect the argument will arise that this is just too difficult, but most of this information is not hidden, we read articles about the ins and outs of professions all the time. If more time was spent helping students to choose careers, I guarantee we'd have better performance from them.

As it is, I'll be studying for my CCNA to stay competitive over the next few years while I re-gear for the profession I really want. For now I suggest we provide students with basic necessities before we start with the gasbag ideologies.