Drew wants Stacy to do what?!

Sounds like Drew has some high hopes.

--Cheski

Connor blowing bubbles

--Cheski

Oops John

HAHAHA

--Cheski

MUST WASH!

Same bathroom... About 9 inches away from the first sign. What exactly is coming out of the faucet? Never seen water comer out like that...

--Cheski

MUST!

Maybe they had a problem with this...

--Cheski

I see you

BOOM!

--Cheski

I see you part 2

I will take 3 please. No need to ship them, I will drive them home.

--Cheski

Pretty Boy French

Robbie beating some ass in Wii boxing... Well trying to anyway.

--Cheski

Sounds mean, don't you think?

Introducing the Isuzu "Guy". *sigh*

--Cheski

Penelope James

Welcome to Earth.

--Cheski

Campbell Cartwright

Welcome to Earth... Yes they are twins. Jon and Merri are two very lucky parents. Congrats! About a month late... Sorry :P

--Cheski

Holding Penelope

I feel like a giant.

--Cheski

Kim holding Campbell

Soon enough dear... Soon enough.

--Cheski

Thanks for laying it out...

Sometimes I am so thankful that there are people in this world that take the time to explain life's little and hard to understand details to the masses.

No really I am.... :S

--Cheski

Mia (Pippi Bitch Cat)

Halloween comes in all sizes.

--Cheski

Shaun of the Dead

No not really... just me. Again Halloween pictures about a month late.

--Cheski

A Working Brain Model

An article over at Technology Review details progress in creating an accurate computer model of the brain and has reached an impressive milestone. This presents just one more step forward in the journey of Transhumanism.

Scientists in Switzerland working with IBM researchers have shown that their computer simulation of the neocortical column, arguably the most complex part of a mammal's brain, appears to behave like its biological counterpart. By demonstrating that their simulation is realistic, the researchers say, these results suggest that an entire mammal brain could be completely modeled within three years, and a human brain within the next decade.

"What we're doing is reverse-engineering the brain," says Henry Markram, codirector of the Brain Mind Institute at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland, who led the work, called the Blue Brain project, which began in 2005. (See "IBM: The Computer Brain.") By mimicking the behavior of the brain down to the individual neuron, the researchers aim to create a modeling tool that can be used by neuroscientists to run experiments, test hypotheses, and analyze the effects of drugs more efficiently than they could using real brain tissue.

The model of part of the brain was completed last year, says Markram. But now, after extensive testing comparing its behavior with results from biological experiments, he is satisfied that the simulation is accurate enough that the researchers can proceed with the rest of the brain.

"It's amazing work," says Thomas Serre, a computational-neuroscience researcher at MIT. "This is likely to have a tremendous impact on neuroscience."

The project began with the initial goal of modeling the 10,000 neurons and 30 million synaptic connections that make up a rat's neocortical column, the main building block of a mammal's cortex. The neocortical column was chosen as a starting point because it is widely recognized as being particularly complex, with a heterogeneous structure consisting of many different types of synapse and ion channels. "There's no point in dreaming about modeling the brain if you can't model a small part of it," says Markram.

The model itself is based on 15 years' worth of experimental data on neuronal morphology, gene expression, ion channels, synaptic connectivity, and electrophysiological recordings of the neocortical columns of rats. Software tools were then developed to process this information and automatically reconstruct physiologically accurate 3-D models of neurons and their interconnections.

The neuronal circuits were tested by simulating specific input stimuli and seeing how the circuits behaved, compared with those in biological experiments. Where gaps in knowledge appeared about how certain parts of the model were supposed to behave, the scientists went back to the lab and performed experiments to identify the kinds of behavior that needed to be reproduced. In fact, about a third of the team of 35 researchers was devoted to carrying out such experiments, says Markram.

Through an iterative process of testing, the simulation has gradually been refined to the point where Markram is confident that it behaves like a real neocortical column.

However, none of these results have so far been published in the peer-reviewed literature, says Christof Koch, a professor of biology and engineering at Caltech. And this is by no means the first computer model of the brain, he points out. "This is an evolutionary process rather than a revolutionary one," he says. As long ago as 1989, Koch created a 10,000-neuron simulation, albeit in a far simpler model.

Furthermore, Koch is skeptical about how quickly the brain model can progress. Any claims that the human brain can be modeled within 10 years are so "ridiculous" that they are not worth discussing, he says.

Rat brains have about 200 million neurons, while human brains have in the region of 50 to 100 billion neurons. "That is a big scale-up," admits Markram.

But he is confident that his model is robust enough to be expanded indefinitely. What's more, he believes that the level of detail of the model can also be taken further. "It's at quite a high resolution," he says. "It's still at a cellular level, but we want to look at the molecular level." Doing so would enable simulation-based drug testing to be carried out by showing how specific molecules affect proteins, receptors, and enzymes.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they could do it," says Serre. "However, it's not clear what they could get out of it," he says. If you want this model to be useful, you have to be able to understand how the behavior relates to specific brain functions. So far, it is not clear that the Blue Brain project has done this, he says.

Head on over check this out... I am very excited

-- Cheski

Straight forward answer

While I do NOT partake.... I totally appreciate the fact the a politician is not dodging a question and on top of that give a straight forward common sense answer.

I almost hate to call Ron a politician... he shoots too straight for that :P

--Cheski

More proof that paper sucks at Rock Paper Scissors

Churchill knew it... Hitler didn't... and look how grave the consequences were...

--Cheski

Vodka Stapler!

I think I need three of these.

--Cheski

Gaming as a reward

All right people, lets face it... gaming is friggin awesome! Problem is, it can be far to easy to do too much of it. It can get in the way of other things, such as chores and exercise. I need to get stuff done and lose the extra 15 pounds that has been hanging out around my belly.

The plan:

30 minutes a day allowance for gaming - If not used they roll over, building to a max of 2 hours.

Exercising and doing projects around the house will accrue extra time that will bank. These activities will accrue at a rate of 2:1. So for every hour I spend with the aforementioned activities, I gain 30 minutes in the Game Bank.

This will serve an additional benefit apart from getting things done and losing weight. I will not burn through games as fast as I once did. They aren't cheap and there are more demanding things for my money right now.

I would assume this could also rationalize when I have finished a game, that I will be able to obtain another and still not spend as much as previously.

We shall see how well this works. I am surprisingly motivated :P

--Cheski

Yellow Nightmare

Worked in a datacenter... you would fully understand :P

--Cheski

Car futball!

One of the greatest things I have seen all day. Watch it all the way through.

--Cheski

Working and Projects- A "whats up" summary

Things have been going well, for the most part. Steve may be home sooner than originally thought... Burns should be home soon as well.

Work is work... hoping to move departments soon, provided the money is worth it.

I am anxiously starting a writing project... finishing up a lot of research, however I feel that that might not end soon. It never hurts to continue researching your writing topic.

Kimmy has her fair share of projects as well.. both keeping busy.

--Cheski

John West - Bear Fighter

Funny little skit.

--Cheski

Addictive song by Timbaland

I love you Kimmy

--Cheski

Paper simply can't win

It simply can't ... don't test me. :P

I love the internet.

--Cheski

The Easter Bunny Hates you dammit!

Thanks Fatt Robb

--Cheski

Look at the bones!

Classic - this one goes out to Trevor and Amanda

-Cheski

Peanut butter Jelly Banana

If this doesn't make you laugh so hard you cry-- you may want to go to the doctor. Actually have someone else take you because retarded people shouldn't be driving.

--Cheski

UPDATE- You can rent or buy from Walkaround.com

Max Payne 2 in 60 seconds- Even funnier

The Half Life one is good. this one is great

--Cheski

Half Life in 60 seconds

Funny-- pretty accurate too

--Cheski

Teaching a lesson

I am assuming that the people in this video have never had to clean up after a group. Funny stuff.

--Cheski