Seven Dangers to Human Virtue

Nateking · 1 month

From referenced Wikipedia article about Gandhi:

Celibacy

A core Gandhian value that came in for much bantering and ribald music hall humour in Britain was his nakedness—Churchill publicly called him a "half-naked fakir"[147] – and his experiments in "brahmacharya" or the elimination of all desire in the face of temptation.[148] In 1906 Gandhi, although married and a father, vowed to abstain from sexual relations.

In the 1940s, in his mid-seventies, he brought his grandniece Manubehn to sleep naked in his bed as part of a spiritual experiment in which Gandhi could test himself as a "brahmachari." Two other women also sometimes shared his bed. Gandhi discussed his experiment with friends and relations; most disagreed and the experiment ceased in 1947.[149]

majorwtf · 1 month

It's probably related to The Net movie:

By holding down Control and Shift and clicking on the little Pi icon in the corner of the screen, you are transported from a ludicrous page about Mozart's Ghost, apparently a god-awful metal band, and into highly classified government documents.

edit: The data it shows are what holizz had pointed out.

trot-trot · 2 months

Abstract

Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a manifestation of accomplished magic performers’ deep intuition for and understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study the behavioural and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the use of brain imaging and other neural recording techniques.

ds98 · 3 months

Matthieu Ricard on the habits of happiness

What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says we can train our minds in habits of well-being, to generate a true sense of serenity and fulfillment.

/r/meditation is a good resource as well.

frefyx · 4 months

Good and quick kernel configuration creation

A "make localmodconfig" call generates a suitable custom kernel configuration that compiles significantly faster than the distribution kernel's own configuration. Within seconds, the make target generates a configuration file that is well tailored to the user's specific hardware and Linux distribution, and that will cause the compiler to touch only what will most likely be needed. A system with an Intel Core i5-750 processor compiled such a configuration in under five-and-a-half minutes, completing the task about ten minutes sooner than when using the distribution kernel's own config file.

shedang · 4 months

No, because I don't believe in long term positive effects of drug use. Doing drugs in order to achieve meditative state is a shortcut, but only temporal. Also, shedang has reported problems with dissociation when smoking. I think it would be irresponsible to just tell him to continue in doing so as he may develop psychosis or other mental illness. I don't know if he's vulnerable to developing psychosis, therefore I rather encourage him in safer alternative.

Meditation is about training and effort you put in the practice as autopoetic explains very well in the comment below.

shedang · 4 months

There are two different opinions on use of drugs to achieve meditative state. Some people prefer to use drugs to get to this state, other people like to earn it by practice.

And yes, DMT and LSD can be used to achieve the same goal, but this may be risky as person may not be prepared. That's why it's safer to train the mind and achieve this state naturally instead of provoking it artificially.

Meditation, religion, and drugs

During the 1960s, eastern meditation traditions and psychedelics, such as LSD, became popular in America, and it was suggested that LSD use and meditation were both means to the same spiritual/existential end.[156] Many practictioners of eastern traditions rejected this idea, including many who had tried LSD themselves. In The Master Game, Robert S de Ropp writes that the "door to full consciousness" can be glimpsed with the aid of substances, but to "pass beyond the door" requires yoga and meditation. Other authors, such as Rick Strassman, believe that the relationship between religious experiences reached by way of meditation and through the use of psychedelic drugs deserves further exploration.[157]

shedang · 4 months

I haven't said that all drugs are dissociative. There are many types of drugs including hallucinogens, depressants, analgesics, stimulants and inhalants.

I think everybody has the right to alter their consciousness as they want - that's what we do all the time and no one can tell anyone how to experience their life.

shedang · 4 months

Cannabis is ~~a dissociative drug~~ ~~a hallucinogen~~ mix between stimulant, depressant, and hallucinogen.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relations between cannabis use and dissociative experiences. A convenient sample of 212 subjects composed of high-school and college students completed questionnaires assessing cannabis use frequency, the symptoms of dependence, dissociative and borderline symptoms using the DES (Dissociative Experience Scale) completed by a sub-scale measuring hyper-personalization/hyper-realization experiences and the BPI (Borderline Personality Inventory), respectively; 114 (54%) were cannabis users. Multiple regression analysis showed that the frequency of cannabis use was predicted by the frequency of experience of absorption and hyper-personalization and hyper-realization linked to cannabis use and that cannabis dependence was predicted only by borderline symptomatology. Dissociative experiences seeking appears to be an important element in the understanding of the reasons for cannabis use in adolescents and young adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract).

Relations between dissociative experiences, borderline personality disorder symptoms and cannabis use in adolescents and young adults. Henri Chabrol, Rachel Rodgers, Emmanuelle Duconge in Addiction Research Theory (2005)

Dissociation is an altered state of consciousness characterized by partial or complete disruption of the normal integration of a person’s normal conscious or psychological functioning. Dissociation is most commonly experienced as a subjective perception of one's consciousness being detached from one's emotions, body and/or immediate surroundings.

It's the awareness that helps us to verify our thoughts against real world experience. If one cannot perceive real world clearly enough, he cannot escape inner thoughts as they lack common ground and person may become deluded. This state is called psychosis from which many other mental illnesses may arise.

shedang · 4 months

I think that cannabis use is prohibited because it helps people to disconnect.

From psychological perspective - if one cannot cope with the stress and finds escape in form of a drug, it does not challenge the source of the stress. It only alters the feedback system in our brain. If it becomes a habit, person is stuck in a loop of continuous false relieve and in an inability to resolve the situation once and for all. There are people that may not be able to handle this kind of possibility to temporally relieve the pain and misuse it. This may induce complete disassociation from the reality - psychosis. There are also other health risks involved when smoked with tobacco (stroke, cancer, etc.).

From perspective of a citizen - if you are a good citizen that does what he's told to do and thus is happy in a world created by others, even a single experience of dissociation may help to find new perspectives on life. You may start challenging habits of self-indulgence we are trained to do in order to keep the market working. These kind of questions may lead you in questioning your dependence on the political and economical system and therefore erode your cooperation with the system. If you don't accept the system, politicians loose their power and that's what they are afraid of the most.

So, there are at least two different cases that are both powered by ignorance and lack of responsibility. If users would be aware of substance's effects, no prohibition would be needed as they would find the way it works the best for them.

shedang · 4 months

~~Cannabis is a dissociative drug~~

~~Cannabis is a hallucinogen~~

edit: As Icyballs points out:

While many drugs clearly fall into the category of either stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogen, cannabis exhibits a mix of all properties.

Therefore when you smoke it, you become disconnected from the sensory input that keeps your attention on the current moment - the reality.

If you want to become aware of the current moment you have to stop altering your normal consciousness with other substances. You need to train your mind to evaluate things as they really are and stop running away from it.

As for me, Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview helped me to gain new perspective on things which lead me to more practice and higher awareness.

0w1Farm · 4 months

Wikipedia has some more information about this:

Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. - Allegations of conspiracy:

Some have speculated that Ray had been used as a scapegoat, similar to allegations surrounding Lee Harvey Oswald and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Some of the claims used to support this assertion are:

Ray's confession was given under pressure, and he had been threatened with the death penalty.[38][39]

Many suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point out the two separate ballistic tests conducted on the Remington Gamemaster had neither conclusively proved Ray had been the killer nor that it had even been the murder weapon.[40][41] Moreover, witnesses surrounding King at the moment of his death say the shot came from another location, from behind thick shrubbery near the rooming house, and not from the rooming house window.[42]

38 ^ "James Earl Ray Profile". africanaonline.com. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-23. Wayback Machine Mirror

39 ^ "The Martin Luther King Assassination". the Real History Archives. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-23. Wayback Machine Mirror

40 ^ "James Earl Ray Dead At 70". CBS. April 23, 1998. Retrieved 2006-12-23.

41 ^ "Questions left hanging by James Earl Ray's death". BBC. April 23, 1998. Retrieved 2006-12-23.

42 ^ "Martin Luther King - Sniper in the Shrubbery?". africanaonline.com. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-23. Wayback Machine Mirror

sundaysatan · 4 months

On LinuxForU.com there is a 5 part tutorial on programming the Socket API :

In this series of articles aimed at newbies to network programming (knowledge of C is a prerequisite), we’ll learn how to create network clients and servers using the UNIX Socket API. We’ll start with creating simple server-client programs, and later on try something more complex. We’ll also try to understand how different servers work. I’ve tried to include a lot of details, but if you find some information missing, please feel free to comment.

mdbissette · 4 months

Spinning Black Hole: Black hole and blue giant binary system

This image is from a computer animation illustrating a spinning black hole. The wide-angle view in the left image shows the black hole and a nearby blue giant star in a binary (double) system. Celestial objects in binary systems orbit closely around their common center of mass. In this image, the black hole is located to the left of a blue giant star. The powerful gravity of the black hole pulls gas from the blue giant, which forms a tail-like structure as it streams toward the black hole.

Dr. Tod Strohmayer of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, has studied one such black hole system with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and found unique patterns in the X-ray radiation that have previously only been seen in spinning neutron stars. With these new parameters, he could verify that a black hole, like a neutron star, can spin.

Spinning Black Hole Animation

IggySmiles · 4 months

You're welcome. I don't have much experience with programming in Fortran, but I think the problem may be double quotes enclosing the string "Hello World". I would try to change them to single quotes. You may like to have a look at the tutorial, there's a part describing it:

10.1 CHARACTER constants

Constants of type CHARACTER were briefly introduced in Chapter Two. You will recall that a CHARACTER constant (or string) is a sequence of characters delimited by single quotes, and that single quotes may be included by writing two consecutively.

IggySmiles · 4 months

After you write your program, you have to build it. That means the compiler has to check the syntax and logic in your code (text only) and then encode it in a binary form (0s and 1s) that can run on your computer.

It seems that your program didn't build correctly. In the Eclipse/Photran try to go into Project menu and Build your project. Sometimes it helps when you Clean the project, so it gets rebuilt.

Makefile is a special file that describes what commands to run in order to build your project properly. It is used by make program. I don't have Photran installed, but I guess it should take care of it automagically.

Then, on step 16, it says "Open the binaries entry in the Project Explorer view", but it never says what that means. What is the binaries entry?

The binaries are created after successful compilation. Therefore, first you have to compile your project and then you'll see it.

Maybe you have to install Fortran compiler/toolchain, if it's not bundled with Fortran. Someone mentioned it previously in this thread.

In the Photran documentation it says that you have to install make and Fortran compiler yourself:

If you want to compile and build Fortran applications, you must have a make program (such as GNU Make) and a Fortran compiler (such as gfortran, the GNU Fortran compiler) in your system path. Many Linux/Unix systems include these; details on installing them in Windows and Mac are below.

shamrock771 · 4 months

I believe that USA will decide to attack Iran and they will get the support from other NATO countries as in case of previous wars in the Middle East. War just doesn't happen from one day to another, it has to be prepared and it's being prepared for a long time. There's a need from the side of the US to invade Iran and get the control over the Strait of Hormuz as it accounts for 20% of world's oil trades.

US prepares for military confrontation with Iran (20 March 2010)

The newspaper reported that the US military was moving 387 bunker-buster bombs, from California to the US base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. Superior Maritime Services was contracted in January to transport 10 containers of munitions, including 195 smart Blu-110 bombs and 192 huge 2,000 pound Blu-117 bombs, which are designed for use against hardened or underground structures.

Strait of Hormuz

On June 29, 2008, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammed Jafari, said that if Iran were attacked by Israel or the United States, it would seal off the Strait of Hormuz, to wreak havoc in oil markets. This statement followed other more ambiguous threats from Iran's oil minister and other government officials that a Western attack on Iran would result in turmoil in oil supply.

It almost seems that USA wants to start a war with China soon as well:

Obama: US to boost Asia-Pacific military presence

Signaling a determination to counter a rising China, President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to expand U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region and "project power and deter threats to peace" in that part of the world even as he reduces defense spending and winds down two wars.

"The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay," he declared in a speech to the Australian Parliament, sending an unmistakable message to Beijing.

Another U.S. War? Obama Threatens China and Iran

“The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships [war ships] off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four [surrounding] Arab countries, according to administration and military officials.” (January 30, 2010).

PasswordIsntHAMSTER · 4 months

CIA behind the protests in Libya ?

It's been nearly six months since NATO launched airstrikes on Libya. Still there is no answer on if the US has a legal reason to involve itself in Libya. Denis Kucinich, a senator from Ohio, raised questions about what was the CIA's role in fueling the conflict. Jack Rice, former CIA officer and journalist, speaks to RT's Lauren Lyster

New Documents Uncover Libya, CIA Relationship

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The CIA worked closely with Moammar Gadhafi’s intelligence services in the rendition of terror suspects to Libya for interrogation, according to documents seen Saturday by the AP, cooperation that could spark tensions between Washington and Libya’s new rulers.

The CIA was among a number of foreign intelligence services that worked with Libya’s agencies, according to documents found at a Libyan security agency building in Tripoli.

shamrock771 · 4 months

1953 Iranian coup d'état

The 1953 Iranian coup d'état (known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup[3]) was the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States under the name TPAJAX Project.[4] The coup saw the transition of Mohammad-Rezā Shāh Pahlavi from a constitutional monarch to an authoritarian one who relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979.[5]

Iranian Revolution

During World War II the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invaded Iran to gain access to the nation's infrastructure and restrict ties to Germany. The Shah, Iran's monarch, was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. During this time Iran was a constitutional monarchy with a strong prime minister. In the early 1950s the new prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, nationalized the country's petroleum industry. The move angered the British and U.S. governments which, in 1953, engineered a coup d'état that deposed Mosaddegh and established the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as a de facto autocrat, sympathetic to the U.S. and U.K.[20]

Iran Air Flight 655

Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on July 3, 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path when it was destroyed by the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49), killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard,[1] ranking it twelfth among the deadliest disasters in aviation history. It was the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world. Vincennes entered into Iranian territorial waters after sending one of its helicopters to buzz Iranian speedboats located inside Iranian waters, and the helicopter drew warning fire from the speedboats. IR655 was within Iranian airspace at the time it was shot down.

U.S. District Court Rules Iran Behind 9/11 Attacks

NEW YORK, Dec. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal district court in Manhattan yesterday entered a historic ruling that reveals new facts about Iran's support of al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled yesterday that Iran and Hezbollah materially and directly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11 victims who are plaintiffs in the case.

Do you still think that the Iran is the dangerous aggressor here ?

edit: The more complex picture is presented in the video CIA behind the protests in Libya ?

peeonyou · 5 months

Obama will not veto National Defense Authorization Act

Obama threatened to veto the entire bill because of the provisions, which he said were “inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets.”

If Mr. Barack Obama could directly stop this law from passing, but he didn't, he shares the responsibility.

peeonyou · 5 months

In Switzerland they wanted to do so.

Bush's Swiss visit off after complaints on torture

(Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush has canceled a visit to Switzerland, where he was to address a Jewish charity gala, due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture, rights groups said on Saturday.

IggySmiles · 5 months

Photran - An Integrated Development Environment and Refactoring Tool for Fortran

Screenshot of Photran 3.1 Beta 2

Photran 7.0 was released with Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo) on June 22, 2011.

Photran 7.0 supports Fortran 77-2008. It includes 31 refactorings (including Rename, Extract Procedure, and loop transformations), as well as the following IDE features:

Syntax-highlighting editor

Outline view

Content assist*

Open declaration*

Declaration view and hover tips*

Fortran language-based searching*

Support for CVS & other VCS's**

Interactive debugger (gdb GUI)

Makefile-based compilation

Optional Makefile generation

Recognition of error messages from most popular Fortran compilers

edit:

Fortran 77 for beginners

Fortran 77 Tutorial - Stanford University

Professional Programmer's Guide to Fortran77

Numerical Recipes in Fortran 77, Second Edition (1992)

davidreiss666 · 5 months

That's how you keep the government in power, no matter if it's in China or in the USA. The only difference is that people in western countries were given more resources to fulfill their desires in order to respect the rules of the given political system.

Psywar

Any kind of action that sort of relieves people's distress little bit without changing the system, maintains the system. In fact, that is the way American system, which is very exploitative and very unfair, that's the way American system is being maintained for all these centuries. Really. By giving people a little bit, and giving enough people just enough, to prevent them from breaking out in open rebellion.

frefyx

TROPHY CASE

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