Avatar 2.0

New Post (214 ) : Avatar 2.0

The plot : Avatar 1.0

In 2148, the Earth's natural resources have been severely depleted. In 2154, the RDA Corporation is mining a valuable mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a densely forested habitable moon orbiting the gas giant Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri star system.[10] Pandora, whose atmosphere is poisonous to humans, is inhabited by the Na'vi, 10-foot (3.0 m)-tall, blue-skinned, sapient humanoids[32] who live in harmony with nature and worship a mother goddess called Eywa.
To explore Pandora's biosphere, scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called 'avatars', operated by genetically matched humans; wherefore Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former marine, replaces his twin brother Tom as an operator thereof. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement and assigns him as a bodyguard. While protecting the avatars of Grace and scientist Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) as they collect biological data, Jake's avatar is attacked by a thanator and flees into the forest, where he is rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na'vi. Upon sight of an auspicious portent, she takes him to her clan, whereupon Neytiri's mother Mo'at (C. C. H. Pounder), the clan's spiritual leader, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society.
Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), head of RDA's private security force, promises Jake that the company will restore his legs if he gathers intelligence about the Na'vi,[33] on grounds that they occupy the richest deposit of unobtanium in the area. When Grace learns of this, she transfers herself, Jake, and Norm to an outpost. Over three months, Jake grows to sympathize with the natives. After Jake is initiated into the tribe, he and Neytiri choose each other as mates; and soon afterward, Jake reveals his change of allegiance when he attempts to disable a bulldozer that threatens to destroy a sacred Na'vi site. When Quaritch shows a videograph of Jake's attack on the bulldozer to Administrator Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi),[34] and another in which Jake admits that the Na'vi will never abandon Hometree, Selfridge orders Hometree destroyed.
Despite Grace's argument that destroying Hometree could damage the Biological neural network native to Pandora, Selfridge orders Jake and Grace to convince the Na'vi to evacuate. When this fails, Quaritch's forces destroy Hometree, killing Neytiri's father and many others. Mo'at frees Jake and Grace; but they are detached from their avatars and imprisoned. Pilot Trudy Chacón (Michelle Rodriguez), disgusted by Quaritch's brutality, carries them to Grace's outpost; but during the escape, Quaritch injures Grace.
To regain the Na'vi's trust, Jake connects his mind to that of Toruk, a dragon-like predator feared and honoured in Na'vi history. Thus connected, Jake finds the refugees at the sacred Tree of Souls and pleads with Mo'at to heal Grace. The clan attempts to transfer Grace from her human body into her avatar with the aid of the Tree; but she succumbs to her injuries before the process can be completed.
Supported by the new chief Tsu'tey (Laz Alonso), who acts as Jake's translator, Jake speaks to unite the clan and tells them to gather other clans for battle against the RDA. On the eve of battle, Jake prays to Eywa, via a neural connection to the Tree of Souls, to intercede on behalf of the Na'vi. Having noticed this convention, Quaritch organizes a pre-emptive strike against the Tree of Souls, believing that its destruction will demoralize the natives.
During the subsequent battle, the Na'vi suffer heavy casualties, including Tsu'tey and Trudy; but are rescued when Pandoran wildlife unexpectedly join the attack and overwhelm the humans, which Neytiri interprets as Eywa's answer to Jake's prayer. Jake destroys a makeshift bomber before it can reach the Tree of Souls; whereupon Quaritch dons an AMP suit and breaches the avatar link unit containing Jake's human body, exposing Jake to Pandora's poisonous atmosphere. In reply, Neytiri kills Quaritch and rescues Jake.
With the exceptions of Jake, Norm, Max and several other scientists, all humans are expelled from Pandora; whereafter Jake is transferred entirely into his avatar with the aid of the Tree.

Interesting !

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The plot : Avatar 2.0

The American war machine in “invasion mode” in – Vietnam/ Iraq/ Afghanistan/ Iran/ N.Korea/ ………..{where else ?)

Do you see the parallels with Avatar 1.0 ? ………I (certainly) do.

This time around the "unobtanium" is OIL.

SAD !

Charlie Brown

Fragile art - mirrors lfe!

New Post (213): Fragile art - mirrors life!

I stumbled upon this artist…….performer.
She took my breath away.
Go to : www.sandart-ѕhοw.de
Take the time. View her “galerie”.

Frauke Menger іѕ a renowned sand animation actor.
Using οnlу hеr fingers, Frauke draws wіth sand οn a schooner table [whісh іѕ illuminated frοm below.]

The quick transformations she brings about in [the back lit] sand are …….mesmerizing.

The beauty of it all is that - she is wedded to her art. To the creative process.
But NOT to her creation.

To her the end product is only of fleeting importance. Transient.
The creative transformative process is all that there is. She revels in it.

Her art parallels life itself.

Besides - She defines new age art that is wholly compatible with the digital era.

A rising star of the animation world.

Charlie Brown

Say goodbye to Osteoporosis

New Post (212) : Say goodbye to Osteoporosis

Beer is a rich source of Silicon.
Beer MAY help prevent Osteoporosis. (a disease of the skeletal system characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue.)
A new study SUGGESTS that beer is a significant source of “dietary” silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density.
Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer.

A gem of a marketing idea - I’d say. A most compelling benefit sell.

Super. Just the excuse I needed to tank up. I am off to the pub……… [It certainly beats chewing on silicon chips. ha ha ha]

Charlie Brown

EU - From EUphoria to dysphoria ?

New Post (211): EU - From EUphoria to dysphoria ?

A search for the meaning of the word “euphoria” threw up the following meanings.


eu•pho•ri•a (y -fôr - , -f r -)
n.
A feeling of great happiness or well-being.
________________________________________
[New Latin, from Greek, from euphoros, healthy : eu-, eu- + pherein, to bear; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
________________________________________
eu•phor ic (-fôr k, -f r -) adj.
eu•phor i•cal•ly adv.


euphoria [juːˈfɔːrɪə]
n
a feeling of great elation, esp when exaggerated
[from Greek: good ability to endure, from EU- + pherein to bear]
euphoric [juːˈfɒrɪk] adj
________________________________________
euphoria, euphory
1. a state of happiness and well-being.
2. Psychiatry. an exaggerated state of happiness, with no foundation in truth or reality. — euphoric, adj.
See also: Happiness
________________________________________
a state or mood of well being, whether natural or induced. — euphoric, adj.
See also: Moods

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. euphoria - a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation
euphory
high spirits, lightness, elation - a feeling of joy and pride
dysphoria - abnormal depression and discontent


Interesting !

Is the EU (European Union) heading from EUphoria to dysphoria ? Let that rhetorical question - blow in the wind. [only time will tell]

Charlie Brown

Want a boy child ?

New Post (210) : Want a boy child ?

Try and crack this problem. {the official answer is 50/50} ha ha ha

Math Question : “In a country in which people only want boys every family continues to have children until they have a boy. If they have a girl, they have another child. If they have a boy, they stop. What is the proportion of boys to girls in the country?”

Try and crack this problem. {the official answer is 50/50} ha ha ha

So - why all this fuss about it being bad to want a boy child. It’s exactly the same as wanting to have a girl child.

As long as no girl child is killed………. (and) if the math is to be believed……..nature tips the balance back to 50:50.

That’s something to think about !

Charlie Brown

A world without in-the-face advertising.

New Post (209) : A world without in-the-face advertising.

Imagine … a billboard with only a giant brand logo featured on it.
A bar code or dot matrix code embedded in it. [A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix bar code (or two-dimensional code)]

Use your smart phone to click a picture of it.

The smart phone reads the code and opens up a choice of print and videos for the brand.

Watch the advertising portfolio of the brand at your leisure on your smart phone.

Then order what you like. (also from your smart phone)

Eventually the billboards will shrink to a (near) size zero.

This change will un-clutter our urban environs………..so we will “see more” of our surroundings.

He who will usher in this change and lead it ? …………………will make a fortune.

Are the telecom companies listening ??? Are the brand owning advertiser's listening ???

To my mind - The name tag "smart phone" will have to be changed - to something more appropriate.

This is applicable to not just street media (OOH).........same holds for TV & print media too. WOW. That (sure) would be a game changer !

Charlie Brown

Global information cannot grow any faster than our ability to absorb or monitor it.

New Post (208} : Global information cannot grow any faster than our ability to absorb or monitor it.

Quote (open)
Evidence has emerged that the brain's capacity to absorb information is limiting the amount of data humanity can produce
In the early 19th century, the German physiologist Ernst Weber gave a blindfolded man a mass to hold and gradually increased its weight, asking the subject to indicate when he first became aware of the change. Weber discovered that the smallest increase in weight a human can perceive is proportional to the initial mass.
This is now known as the Weber-Fichner law and shows that the relationship between the stimulus and perception is logarithmic.
It's straightforward to apply this rule to modern media. Take images for example. An increase in resolution of a low resolution picture is more easily perceived than the same increase to a higher resolution picture.
When two parameters are involved, the relationship between the stimuli and perception is the square of the logarithm. An example would be video in which images change with time.
This way of thinking about stimulus and perception clearly indicates that the Weber-Fichner law ought to have a profound effect on the rate at which we absorb information.
Today, Claudius Gros and a couple of pals at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany look for signs of the Weber-Fichner law in the size distribution of files on the internet. And they say they've found them.
These guys measured the type and size of files pointed to by every outward link from Wikipedia and the open directory project, dmoz.org. That's a total of more than 600 million files. Some 58 per cent of these pointed to image files, 32 per cent to application files, 5 per cent to text files, 3 per cent to audio and 1 per cent to video files.
Gros and co then plotted the size of each of these files types against the number of files to get the file size distribution.
Sure enough, they discovered that the audio and video file distribution followed a log-normal curve, which is compatible with a logarithmic squared-type relationship. By contrast, image files follow a power law distribution, which is compatible with a logarithmic relationship. That's exactly as the Weber-Fichner law predicts
"[This] strongly indicates that [the distributions] are determined by the underlying neurophysiological limitations of the producing agents," say Gros and co. In other words 'us'.
Further evidence comes from a closer look at the tails of these curves. If the size of files were determined by some kind of economic factor, like the cost of producing a file, then the distribution ought to have an exponential tail. But that's not the case. The absence of this feature suggests some other origin for the file size distribution.
Gros and co put it like this: "The neuropsychological capacity of the human brain to process and record information may constitute the dominant limiting factor for the overall growth of globally stored information, with real-world economic constraints having only a negligible influence."
Quite! In other words, global information cannot grow any faster than our ability to absorb or monitor it.
That makes sense and raises some interesting avenues for future research too. For example, it'll be interesting to see how machine intelligence might change this equation. It may be that machines can be designed to distort our relationship with information.
If so, then a careful measure of file size distribution could reveal the first signs that intelligent machines are among us!
Quote (close)

To my mind this explains - The dumbing down of the global news media !

Charlie Brown