Cool Pictures 11: If You're Cool And You Know It Clap Your Hands

[Birdjaguar]

Damn, that was pretty awesome. He took a minute or so to play through it in his head and then did it blind! I was wondering what he was doing when he was turning it about while looking at it.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Damn, that was pretty awesome. He took a minute or so to play through it in his head and then did it blind! I was wondering what he was doing when he was turning it about while looking at it.

Most fun thing to do with a Rubik's Cube: pop one of the pieces off, reverse it, and put it back on.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Most fun thing to do with a Rubik's Cube: pop one of the pieces off, reverse it, and put it back on.

Or you get one of the cheap ones that have all the colours on stickers and re-arrange the stickers.

 

[Kyriakos]

Alluding to how much space is taken up by cars.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Alluding to how much space is taken up by cars.

I took an underground tour of Seattle and they said for about 10 years, sections of the city were a bit like this as they raised the ground around buildings and left massive trenches around them. You'd have to climb 30 foot ladders to leave your work.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I took an underground tour of Seattle[...].

I've never been to Seattle, but I think that'd have to be on the itinerary. Is there actually cool stuff down there, or is it like being in someone's basement?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I've never been to Seattle, but I think that'd have to be on the itinerary. Is there actually cool stuff down there, or is it like being in someone's basement?

It's really cool and a lot of fun. Go with this tour company as there are a lot of imitators that are not nearly as good and I don't think the imitators actually go below ground.

These guys do actually take you on a tour under the streets of Seattle where there are quite a few relics and the buried hulks of buildings to see. The tour guides are phenomenal; really funny with a great ability to shove a lot of history down your throat while they make you laugh. This was a touristy thing we did mostly to fill in time but it turned out to be a highlight of the whole trip.

http://www.undergroundtour.com/

 

[Lexicus]

@EgonSpengler the only real reason to go to Seattle is because it's the closest US city to the Olympic Peninsula, a magical place described by some observers, such as me, as the closest existing equivalent to heaven on earth.

 

[EgonSpengler]

@EgonSpengler the only real reason to go to Seattle is because it's the closest US city to the Olympic Peninsula, a magical place described by some observers, such as me, as the closest existing equivalent to heaven on earth.

Google is busted. I searched for pictures of the Olympic Peninsula and it keeps showing me Middle Earth. Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[Birdjaguar]

@EgonSpengler the only real reason to go to Seattle is because it's the closest US city to the Olympic Peninsula, a magical place described by some observers, such as me, as the closest existing equivalent to heaven on earth.

nah...It's just New Mexico with lots and lots of rain.

 

[Mouthwash]

Here is a nifty future-themed political compass. I don't get them all, but I'll do my best to explain (going from top to bottom, left to right):

Spoiler There's one curse word, so NSFW :

1. Seems like this is advocating for the mass murder of the majority or entirety of the human population in order to make the planet wild again.

2. Refers to 'fully automated luxury communism', a concept circulating recently among tech-friendly leftists. Its location feels wildly misplaced to me as I think it's very similar to Project Venus (admittedly I don't care enough to invest any time into the details).

3. Probably is talking about a world dominated by arcologies, where pre-modern clan societies reemerge due to isolation from other groups. Honestly this feels more like it belongs on the deceleration side of things.

4. Refers to the paperclipper, a hypothetical superintelligent AI which kills everyone in order to turn all mass in the universe into paperclips, or whatever arbitrary goal it sets it sights upon.

5. No clue what 'Red Plague' is. The picture doesn't really clarify things.

6. No idea what this is, either. Google has nothing.

7. Self-explanatory.

8. Self-explanatory.

9. Er... Miyazaki is one of the most famous anime makers alive, so maybe it's some kind of pre-modern adventuretopia?

10. Our current civilization.

11. Self-explanatory.

12. I think a world where industry and technology continue to advance for its own sake, and humans are wiped out due to not being competitive enough. Like Nick Bostrom describes:

Spoiler :

It is conceivable that optimal efficiency would be attained by grouping capabilities in aggregates that roughly match the cognitive architecture of a human mind... but in the absence of any compelling reason for being confident that this so, we must countenance the possibility that human-like cognitive architectures are optimal only within the constraints of human neurology (or not at all). When it becomes possible to build architectures that could not be implemented well on biological neural networks, new design space opens up; and the global optima in this extended space need not resemble familiar types of mentality. Human-like cognitive organizations would then lack a niche in a competitive post-transition economy or ecosystem.

We could thus imagine, as an extreme case, a technologically highly advanced society, containing many complex structures, some of them far more intricate and intelligent than anything that exists on the planet today – a society which nevertheless lacks any type of being that is conscious or whose welfare has moral significance. In a sense, this would be an uninhabited society. It would be a society of economic miracles and technological awesomeness, with nobody there to benefit. A Disneyland with no children.

13. Self-explanatory.

14. One of the more dumb socialist utopia proposals (I know), it is essentially the same as the traditional socialist utopia but entirely directed by computers. The idea is that once the fallible humans are taken out of governance, socialism will really work.

15. Same as 12. I think this isn't a mistake (as a lack of purpose in an already hypercapitalist society might also allow AI to take over).

16. I think this refers to a post-singularity version of 12 and 15 - a hyperintelligent society structured around many competing actors, without any higher vision.

And here's the follow up (sorry, but I've got no clue about these obscure sci-fi references. Makes me want to learn, though):

 

[Samson]

From the shortlist of the science photographer of the year competition, more here.

Confused Flour Beetle by David Spears. This small beetle is a pest in stored grain and flour products. The image was captured by a scanning electron micrograph and was then coloured in Photoshop

Upside Down Jellyfish by Mary Anne Chilton. Instead of swimming, this species spends its time pulsing up and down in the water. Jellyfishes’ colour comes from the uptake of algae in the water.

Calmness of Eternity by Yevhen Samuchenko was taken in the Himalayas in Nepal at Gosaikunda lake at 4,400m.

 

[AdamCrock]

On the site where the pictures are posted I've found this one (I think it's awesome ) :

Tis' would be a shame if something happened to Your new furniture ! Better leave that can of tuna by the door at midnight !

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Serious gang activity there!

 

[Kyriakos]

The shadow belongs to a fellow writer and friend.

 

[Commodore]

Google is busted. I searched for pictures of the Olympic Peninsula and it keeps showing me Middle Earth. Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.

Confirmed: Lexicus lives in Middle Earth.

 

[Commodore]

Here is a Lord Commissar for my Armageddon Steel Legion army:

 

[AdamCrock]

wow ! Just imagine the precision level required to paint this thing ! Need really small brushes + working with magnifying lens for sure. @Commodore How do You paint Yours ? Or maybe it is one of Yours in which case RESPECT man !

 

[Commodore]

wow ! Just imagine the precision level required to paint this thing ! Need really small brushes + working with magnifying lens for sure. @Commodore How do You paint Yours ? Or maybe it is one of Yours in which case RESPECT man !

Yeah it's mine. I did it last weekend. I do use really small brushes. I don't use a magnifying lense though. I try to just be as precise as I can which is why it kinda takes me a while. The rim around his goggles was probably the toughest part to paint.

 

[Commodore]

Here's my Vanquisher variant of the Leman Russ tank with a tank commander. Took me three weekends to paint it: