Altan

Being a fan of the original Tron movie released in the 80's, I thought this one was atrocious. First of all, the title of the movie was 'Tron: Legacy' yet the movie was anything about the actual character Tron, whom is revealed towards the end as being one of the 'bad guys' yet out of no where during the flight scene, decides that he 'fights for the users' and ends up sacrificing himself. The altruism theme was all too obvious so I won't mention that but I just got impatient for it to end and actually spent the last several minutes clicking through my phone...unfortunately I looked up to see the sentimental ending of how the father is about to suicide (and thus save his son and the girl) and they had to go with the whole 'looking back on old pictures' thing...4/10 for me. The only thing worth seeing this movie is for the effects.

Perhaps Ayn Rands view on homosexuality was just a 'by product' of the time that she lived through?

Nice ones people. I was reminded of the movie 'Tron' and how that had some really funny and good lines: Master Control Program: You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic. Sark: Thank you, Master Control. Kevin Flynn: Who's that guy? Warrior #1: That's Tron. He fights for the Users. Crom: Look. This... is all a mistake. I'm just a compound interest program. I work at a savings and loan! I can't play these video games! Guard: Sure you can, pal. Look like a natural athlete if I ever saw one. Crom: Who, me? Are you kidding? No, I run out to check on T-bill rates, I get outta breath. Hey, look, you guys are gonna make my user, Mr. Henderson, very angry. He's a full-branch manager. Guard: Great. Another religious nut. Master Control Program: There's a 68.71% chance you're right. Ed Dillinger: Cute!

Not sure if there's a topic like this one (a quick search revealed nothing) One of my favourite is from Dr Zhivago (amazing movie): Dr. Zhivago: You have no right to call me from work. Communist Political Officer: -As a Soviet Deputy, l-- - Dr. Zhivago: That gives you power, not the right. Also, in the last released Star Wars movie, when Palpatine declares the creation of the 'Galactic Empire', Padme says: So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.

And another of my all time favourites, Killing Heidi - Mascara Lyrics: http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/K/killingheidilyrics/killingheidimascaralyrics.htm Great song about how you should be yourself and not conform "Don't be so stupid girl"

One of my all time favourite songs, by the Australian band 'The Living End' Prisoner of Society: Well we don't need no one to tell us what to do Oh yes we're on our own and there's nothing you can do So we don't need no one like you To tell us what to do We don't refer to the past when showing what we've done The generation gap means the war is never won The past is in your head The future's in our hands Cos I'm a brat And I know everything And I talk back Cos I'm not listening To anything you say And if you count to three (one two three) You'll see there's no emergency You'll see I'm not the enemy Just a prisoner of society

Inductive charging is also another field that is currently in development. I was reading an article a while ago how in Italy, they have a few buses trialing it, where they've installed the coils underneath the asphalt/bus station and the bus 'sits' above it to have its batteries recharged. Actually here's the article: source. It covers New Zealand, China, Germany and Italy. And also related to the topic of this thread, an article concerning Wireless Power from the same website of IEEE. It's quite a long read but worth it. It also mentions how Nikola Tesla was already spearheading the idea of wireless power transmission some hundred years ago. But to answer your question, I don't know if it would work better. The thing with inductive charging is that you need an electric current to generate your magnetic field, with this idea of converting the vertical force of the automobile to electricity, you obviously don't.

Source Thought this was worth posting. Check out some of the websites that the article cites, they're really interesting.

^^Thanks for that. It looks rather interesting actually. Goes to show it's not just the top schools worth checking out:)

There's really only one assignment in that subject, and it's all Matlab based. The tutorials are not graded however the practicals are, which I've found to be pretty cool. I noticed on the course list that you guys have separate courses for A/D and image. We've got other courses which specialise in digital and image, but i think this one tries to bring it all together. Thanks for your input so far. I was being kinda unrealistic with my choices, even if I did have the grades, I don't think I'd have the money (at least for now). Ideally though I would have preferred to go to one of those universities that I listed. Thanks.

I'm posting this topic in response to the following news article: Source Do you think that these lunatics from the Westboro Baptist Church have every right to display such 'protests' or demonstrations close to a funeral ceremony? I personally think that they shouldn't be allowed, since every family in such a situation should be able to have a peaceful (assuming they want it that way) funeral free of such disturbance, but from another view it is their right after all, 'free speech' and all. So I'm undecided. Then again aren't such grave yard sites private property? Does anyone know who 'owns' grave yards?

Just to let you guys know that I've been in contact with someone from the admissions part of UI, through email. She told me that I would be considered as a transfer student. This is what I like to hear. Whilst I like the university I'm at, I think they focus far too much on theory and when they do incorporate the practical side, I sometimes fail to see the connection (as in I try to genuinely understand, not just mechanically). I know you said that you're not too knowledgeable about finanical aid but do you know how 'easy' it is to be granted financial aid/loans/wavers/scholarships? I was searching through the website and I was wondering whether these are all the courses the ECE program offers? http://www.ece.illinois.edu/courses/ Since you specialised in image processing, I have a few queries about that. I'm taking the path of specialising in signals and image processing (along with communications), so I was wondering if you could take a look at a third year course about signals and image processing offered by my university (the basics such as Fourier, Laplace, and Systems are covered in a second year course) and see whether it's comparable to what is offered at UI? www.itee.uq.edu.au/~elec3600 (it's a 3rd year course, I'm assuming it's the same at UI where the course number corressponds to year level) Also, in your opinion, do you think that there is a decent amount of courses offered to cater to those who want to specialise in signals & image, telecommunications and electromagnetics (radar, antenna's etc) related? Finally, do you have to do a course (or courses) where it is strictly practical based? As in, you have a project to do where you must design/create an electronic device?

^^Just a few more questions. So you were an American citizen during the time that you were at UI? Do you know how much it costs per semester for domestic and international students there? Did going to a community college improve your chances of being accepted into the university? Now that you've graduated, looking back, do you think you made the right decision in going there? Were you taught everything you need?

^^Thanks for your response. Even better since you went to a university I was looking at Did you focus more on the power side or communications/signals?

^^Nicely said. We pondered this too, but in the end decided to just curse the person who took the money

This is also my reasoning for reporting a lost wallet or anything else that can identify the owner, to a police station (or wherever). But the closest I've ever come to reporting a lost object, was finding a mobile phone (quite a good one too at the time) at a car park outside a shopping centre, so I handed it in at one of those help desks. I've never lost anything of great value (as in a wallet or mobile phone), but if I ever do, I'd expect that if someone were to come across it, that they'd report it somewhere. This reminds me when a friend of mine lost her wallet one night, and we re-traced our steps (even went as far as shining our mobile's into a rubbish bin that she threw some food into) but didn't find it. The next day she went to the local police station close to where she lost it and someone had handed the wallet in, but the $30 she had was gone. So I pose another question: is this stealing? Whom ever found the wallet would have seen her drivers license. Yet the money was taken out in a dishonest way, so I'd say it is stealing.

First thing you should know is that I'm an Australian citizen. I'm an undergraduate studying Electrical Engineering. I've thought about this for quite some time to be honest, to either live in the US or at least study at a university there. (I even applied for a Green Card (lottery) when I turned 18 but my parents kinda went over protective so I never completed the application). This question/topic is really directed towards those of you who reside in the US, or who have had experience with American universities. I have some rather general questions: 1. For an international student, how difficult is it to be accepted into a private university as an undergraduate or graduate student? Do they focus more on whether you have the money, or your grades? 2. Same question as above, but for a public university. 3. Same questions as above, but assuming I'm a permanent resident. I know that these questions really depend on the institution and other factors, but I'm just after some general responses that can put these things more into perspective. If you're wondering which universities I'm interested in, they are: U. of Illinois, Pennsylvania State, U. of Pennsylvania, MIT (even though I've heard it's extremely hard to get into), Cornell U. and a few others.

Another question I should have posed is: do such professors/teachers have a moral obligation to put the lives of their students before their own?

Very strong image there. The train adds a lot to it. Perhaps the girls posture should be a bit straighter though and not so much to the side.

I'm sure this has happened to many of you, but you're going about your day, say walking along a foot path, and you happen to see a coin on the ground. What would you do? (Or what have you done?) From the very few times that I've happened to come across a random coin on the ground, I end up picking it up and putting it in my wallet (then again it depends how much it is, if it's 5cents I won't bother, a 50c, dollar or $2 coin, I would). Now I'm not sure if this topic has already been discussed (I did a quick search which didn't return anything directly related), but is this immoral? Have I stolen someone elses money? Should I have left it there? But then again, someone else would have most likely taken it, so it would have been in my interest. Plus you can't exactly 'report' it to the police. I'm mainly talking about small sums of money that are just coins. But what if you were to find a large sum of money? I wouldn't take it, but rather report it to say the police(?).

^^I once had a debate with a Christian girl, where I asked her what she'd do if someone was about to kill her and the only way she could remain alive was to kill them instead, she said that she wouldn't, because she knew that she would be going to a 'better place'. But who care's what's done with your body once you're dead? Sure you can tell your family or whoever what you want done, whether it's some non-Christian ceremony or whatever, but if you really do believe that there is no 'after life', then why should you care about your funeral ceremony? I think i'd rather have my body burnt (or is the proper word incinerated?), not some grave where my family can always come back to and feel sad.

^^Maybe you should seek pschiatric help, this doesn't sound healthy at all. This part is particularly worrying "but not being able to experience what I consider one of the most important aspects of living an adult life is destroying me mentally." I'm 22 and a virgin, there are plenty of guys out there in your position. Have you thought about distancing yourself from these people who seem to constantly brag about having sex? That seems to be where you're getting these ideas and views from.

I was reading through the wikipedia article on the Virginia Tech massacre and came across an interesting part that describes how a 76 year old professor held off the shooting maniac by holding the door closed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre#Norris_Hall_shootings and a speech by then president Bush: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liviu_Librescu#Death_and_legacy So my question is, what do you make of this? Is Liviu a hero? Did he act nobly or was it utterly altruistic? I think that what Liviu did was very noble, and I would regard him as a hero. It's hard to say whether he intended to sacrifice his own life, or that he could survive. What else could you do in such a situation if you didn't have enough time to properly barricade the door and flee? If he hadn't held against the door, he would have most likely been killed anyway, along with more students.

emanom makes a valid point though. While this website/forum is helpful, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't even the slightest familiar with Objectivism. It makes far more sense to read, at least, one piece of literary work by Ayn Rand or Leonard Peikoff, and then venture out. Such online forums always have contrasting views, even one as such as this where most adhere to Objectivist principles/ideas. It's best to read some related book, then formulate your own views/opinions. Even Leonard Peikoff thinks that such online forums aren't that 'good' (in response to a question, the pod cast is on his website), since as he explained, you're just reading other people's opinions and in the end there's a mix of views/opinions (along those lines, not necessarily exact).

Be wary, since she was able to 'cheat' on her boyfriend with you (the kissing part) and claim that she's not 'in love' with him, then she might pull the same stunt on you down the track. Assuming you two enter a relationship. Good call. This would have been my advice too. But if you do get into a relationship with her, make sure you know how she feels about about you, and whether it's possible that she may lose interest in you down the track.