Malaikat Maut

I have seen the moon in MagicDuel. [ooc]I must apologize for not reading the thread location before posting before. I assumed this was in offtopic and therefore about our Earthen Sun rather than that of the game world.[/ooc] Edit: And we don't have ooc tags here...

As a followup to my previous post, I just recalled some additional information. Awii had said, "a sun is not necessary for what we might term as "life." Only a source of energy". This is not at all accurate. First, all known life forms are carbon based. Second, if it weren't for stars the universe would be filled with little else but hydrogen. What I really came back to say, however, is that the existence of carbon itself is an absolute wonder. Which quite possibly means that the existence of any elements heavier than carbon (which has an atomic number of only 6) is also miraculous. From an article on the topic: [i]Carbon, the "element of life," is produced only by miraculous nuclear reactions taking place in the core of huge stars. If there were no such reactions, there would not be carbon-or any other elements-in the universe and therefore, no life. We say "miraculous" because these transformations cannot take place under normal conditions, but require a combination of the most improbable factors. Carbon atoms are produced in the core of huge stars by a two-tier process. First, two helium atoms fuse to produce a transitional element with four protons and four neutrons called beryllium. When a third helium atom fuses with beryllium, they produce a carbon atom with six protons and neutrons. The beryllium atom produced in the first stage of this process is different from the beryllium atoms found on Earth, since the element beryllium listed in our periodic table boasts one additional neutron. The unusual beryllium isotope found in red giants has long puzzled scientists, since it is extremely unstable, so much so that it disintegrates 0.000000000000001 (10-15) seconds after it was formed.[/i] Source: http://www.harunyahya.com/books/science/chain/chain2b.php

Form a philosophical perspective: I've mentioned the anthropic principle on these boards before, and this is an anthropic question. It's impossible (or illogical I guess) to ask "why the sun" because if it weren't for the sun you wouldn't be here to question why it's here. From a scientific/cosmological perspective: In order to get to the bottom of the "why the sun" question, you'd first need to question just about every aspect of physical law. The force of gravity, the weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetic force, the laws of thermodynamics, etc, etc. I once read an interesting article discussing something similar: http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/big-theories/recipe-for-the-universe-just-six-numbers-page-1-1_1230.html

Like a lily among thorns is my Peace among the young women. How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Golemus. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone. Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. Your neck is like Wind's Sanctuary, built with courses of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you. You have stolen my heart, my Queen, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How delightful is your love, my Queen, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume more than any spice! Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Marble Dale. How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince’s Daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of an artist’s hands. Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle. Your neck is like the Oak Tower. Your eyes are the pools of dark water by the gate of Necrovion. Your nose is like Wind's Sanctuary looking toward the desert. Your head crowns you like Mount Kelle'tha. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. How beautiful you are and how pleasing, my love, with your delights! Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine. __________________ A plagiarized version of The Song of Solomon. I could have written something original, but the rules don't specify and this is such a wonderful blend of humor and romance. Every now and again I'll tell my wife that her hair is like a flock of goats...it's in the Bible gentlemen, I suggest you try this and see how it goes.

Being Valentine's Day proper, I figured I'd weigh in again. I've a question for those of you who readily resign yourselves to being no more than a series of chemical reactions: To what extent do we control the reactions taking place? If the answer is, "none at all", then you forfeit all free will and concede to determination. What's more, there can be no meaningfully directed change in personality or opinion, and our behaviors and actions are entirely at the mercy of our every chemically induced emotion. If the answer is "some", then what limits this control and how is it applied? In other words, why "some" and not "all" or "none"? If the answer is that we have all or complete control then this allows for free will. Emotions are chemical reactions, but we chose to react or behave a certain way as a result. We can "reprogram" ourselves through this control such that a stimulus that once inspired fear or anxiety could be overcome to instead trigger joy. The reactions taking place are altered by our own choices, our thoughts, opinions, personalities, desires, etc. So, it is my belief that we aren't subject to the chemical reactions taking place, but rather they are subject to us. Regardless how chemical and "objective" emotional responses are, we ultimately maintain control. There's a level of transcendence there in the mind-body relationship. We are greater than the sum of our parts.

Being religious, I typically embrace debates like this. Science can't [b]prove[/b] anything, but the hurdle then becomes selecting a method or mechanic that can. Unfortunately, most science advocates will merely refer you to its track record and call it a day. Which is problematic for most debaters because the scientific method simply has a fantastic track record. Exhibited, of course, by the fact that we're no longer riding around on animals and murdering each other with sharp rocks. So, how many technological advances were born of religion or principles? It would appear that there are few, if any, practical applications that require 100% proof and absolute certainty. That said, you're left with answering life's ultimate questions - abstract quandaries relating to origin or purpose. Here's where debating with most science advocates becomes utterly impossible, because science by its very definition and nature simply can not approach an answer to any of these. Though most will fight you tooth and nail to the contrary. The origin of the universe is entirely beyond the scope of the scientific method, which relies solely on the existence and predictability of the laws of this universe. Anything that existed before, or currently exists outside, of our universe is supernatural by definition.

Valentines Day is coming up, so this seems seasonally appropriate. I've always believed that love is an action. This, of course, stands in stark contrast to the popular Western philosophy of subjectivism and modern culture on the whole. My belief is that "Love isn't in the falling, it's in the staying." Anyone can fall in love and then out of love. That's not what I'm talking about here. It seems to me that true love - unconditional and committed love - takes action and conscious decision. So, what do you believe? Is love an action? Do you choose to love and to remain committed, to work on and invest in the relationship lest it die? OR Is love a whimsical and almost random emotion, susceptible to wanton and dramatic changes independent of our conscious or even subconscious input? From personal experience, I choose to love my wife each day. It takes a great deal of effort to maintain a loving relationship, and we both can feel it when one of us isn't holding up their end of the bargain. Many people disagree, however...

Light is composed of physical particles known as photons. Photons exhibit a property known as duality, meaning that they behave both as a wave and as a particle under certain circumstances. Regardless though, light is a "physical" entity. "Dark" is more of an abstract...it's the opposite of light and electromagnetic radiation. It's the absence of photons. Plain and simple. Look into a theoretical concept known as a black body. Perhaps it may give you some more to ponder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body

I've seen this before and there's a handful of things it could be - most of them virus or rootkit related. Could be a: - DNS issue, solved by entering new DNS servers manually in the NIC's tcp/ip settings. - Winsock issue. I've seen some registry hacks that are supposed to clean this up if the winsock related netsh commands don't work. Winsockfix is a program that is also supposed to fix winsock issues. - Proxy issue. This one's tricky to find/fix, but somehow the proxy settings could have been changed or hijacked. - Modem/Router/Firewall issue. Could be related to the proxy thing as well, but some of the settings on the gateway could have been changed maliciously or lost due to power outage or device failure. I've been in IT for about a decade, and I just formatted my PC when this happened. It was easier for me than trying to track down what actually happened. Especially if it's a rootkit - which I suspected mine was - you'll likely never fix the problem without a reinstall.

What is good? Without any context, I'll assume you mean morally good - to which I would say that any action is good if it does not interfere with or deny another's rights to life, liberty, and property. Unlike others in Western culture, I maintain that good is objective. What is your best physical attribute? My mind and therefore personality. What is your best non-physical attribute? Does such a thing exist? What do you value most? Logic What is 2 + 2? Five, though it really depends on which axiom(s) you accept. What do you know? My own limitations.

Paganini is a fantastic composer and violinist. I've long been a fan of his works and particularly his 24 Caprices, which heavily influenced virtuoso guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen and his contemporaries. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3ir8nSvv4&feature=related"]Yngwie's Vivace[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfKD8c-WBMA"]Jason Becker plays Paganini's 5th Caprice[/url] Something else that you may want to look into, Mur, is echolocation. Not exactly what you're talking about here with synesthesia, but also not so different. I've read that the skill can be trained and it has a great deal to do with turning sounds into spacial and geometric entities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation

Thanks to everyone for all of their well wishes. I look forward to the time when I can make myself more available and to once again enjoy the company of old friends in the fantastic world of MagicDuel. I keep fairly current on the forums, so, if I am needed, you know how to contact me.