Continue reading »]]> Time. It controls all of our lives with unrivaled and unparalleled dictatorship. It slips away from us every moment and there’s nothing we can do about it. For all intents and purposes, time represents one of the greatest scientific challenges. Answering the question of whether or not time travel is possible at all would also answer other questions that are very fundamental to our nature and existence as such, itself. Okabe Rintaro, a self-proclaimed mad but brilliant scientist with nothing to lose, is not entirely determined to answer these questions. But when he more or less accidentally finds a way to tinker with time, he may just win the ultimate prize.

We are in 2010, and we find ourselves in the very heart of the otaku and geek center of the world - Akihabara in Tokyo. There, Okabe rents a small apartment which he proudly calls his lab. It’s not much of a scientific one, but there him and only Daru at first, conduct small, relatively meaningless experiments. It all changes when Okabe is on his way to a scientific lecture about the pros and cons of time travel. On his way, he becomes witness to a brutal murder, quickly leaves the scene, and wants to send a text message to his friends. Back in the lab, a modified microwave has a mobile phone attached. Okabe sends the message while the microwave is turned on - and suddenly the world around him has changed, people have disappeared off the streets. A few minutes later he finds the woman he just found dead to be back alive, and a strange satellite-like thing has crashed into the building he was supposed to visit.

Persistance Of Memory

No one but Rintaro has a memory of the events from before sending that fated message. It turns that the modified microphone is able to send messages back in time, possibly through EM-fields and other things happening. His friends, or lab members how he refers to them, call it a “D-Mail” - short for “DeLorean-Mail”, which in turn is a reference to the Back To The Future movies.

As Rintaro was always interested in time travel and things related to it, the urban legend of John Titor did not pass him by. In the anime as well as in the real world, the legend of John Titor is the same. He appeared mostly on the American internet around 2000 and still claims to be a time traveler who has come back from the year 2036. In both, the anime and real world, this man claims to have stopped in 2000 - but needs to proceed to 1975 to acquire a certain computer.

It doesn’t take too long for Rintaro and his friends to do some digging and to figure out that SERN (-> well, CERN in the real world) seemingly conducted a few time travel experiments on their own already through use of the Large Hadron Collider (also called that in the anime). They also find that their experiments have failed horribly, with the result of people dying at the tests. SERN however is determined to figure it out and to make time travel safe.

Urban Legend

In both, the anime and reality, John Titor claims that his mission is to recover an old computer. In the show, this is the IBN 5100 - in reality the IBM 5100. In the show, John Titor learns of Rintaro’s discovery and urges him to find that machine. It would be crucial to stop SERN from their plans.

By trying to find out more about what happened, and sending a few D-Mails to change a few things, Rintaro has gotten himself into a greater play of fate that is almost inconceivable. I’m going to leave you with this intro of the show - you can see I’m pretty excited. He’s about to find out just how cruel fate can be if you start to challenge it, and what it means to find out the inner workings of the universe. Your mind will be absolutely stunned and blown away when you have come full circle at episode 24, you really do wonder about our very existence - probably more so than ever before in your life.

The show asks fundamental questions about our very being, time, fate, and one of the worst questions there are: what if? It asks whether or not the universe we live in, can be changed… or if everything is really pre-determined and just deceiving us. Because if so, then perhaps we really don’t have any free will, powerless against the force of nature.

I can’t explain to you how excited I am about this show. It is most definitely one of the best I have seen in the last three years and that should tell you something. Get it now. You don’t have time to miss it. A perfect 10 / 10. El Psy Congroo.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLGS_rNSlKU

Steins;Gate
Directed by: Hiroshi Hamasaki, Takuya Sato
Produced by: Gaku Iwasa
Written by: Jukki Hanada
Music by: Takeshi Abo
Studio: White Fox
Licensed by: Canada, United States: Funimation Entertainment
Network: AT-X, CTC, NND, SUN-TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, TVK, TVS
Original run: April 6, 2011 – September 14, 2011
Episodes: 24

John Titor

After I finished watching the show, I did do a little more thorough research on the John Titor thing (the legend the anime mostly hinges on), and I did find something a little unsettling. Now in the real world, John claims to require the IBM 5100 as it had a programming language decoder that was removed from later models - a feature IBM kept secret at the time. He claims it would be vital to solve a severe problem in his timeline - Unix operating systems will stop functioning in 2038 (the Y2K38 problem). It would affect his world completely - the solution would be in that machine.

This is an image that appeared around 2000 from the man claiming to be John Titor. According to these posts, this image shows a cutaway of the time machine John used in 2036:

Not too long ago, the administrator of JohnTitor.com (I do not believe this to be this John Titor person himself) posted this:

Patent Application US20060073976 was filed for a Method of Gravity Distortion and Time Displacement. The filing date is listed at October 1, 2004 by Marlin B. Pohlman of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The application includes the identical images posted by John Titor online, as well as the time travel theory he discussed.

It links to the patent file itself. The patent was approved in 2006. In the patent, you can see what could be interpreted as a simplified version of John’s cutaway:

Another interesting thing. This is what John claims to be the insignia of his military unit that has come to retrieve the IBM 5100:

And this is page 1 of the aforementioned patent:

It could all be coincidence. There could be something to it. I’m not saying anything, I’m not implying anything. As it stands, the anime used the urban legend as a plot device for the show. What you think of it is your thing - I’m just putting it out there.

Continue reading »]]> Right, straight to the point. I bought a PC yesterday in PC World. It’s a pretty high-spec machine from HP, looks like this:

The machine comes equipped with an i7 chip at 3.4 GHz, is quad-core. It comes with 2 TB harddrive and 8 GB RAM. Among these features, it is supposed to have this graphic card:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 with 3 GB RAM

Not too bad for a PC alright. I need the horsepower for the project I’m working on. I may also add that the Lenovo laptop I purchased in November died a few weeks ago because of a power surge. That machine is in repair with PC World as well.

Now. I come home, install Windows, and want to install the NVIDIA drivers. I keep getting an error that the hardware is missing. Same with HP’s NVIDIA drivers. Strange, innit?

To proof I have that machine, here’s a photo (primarily meant to show the NVIDIA badge):

Well. I open up the machine… and I find the graphics card is in fact missing, as you can see for yourself here:

You can clearly see the PCI-Express slot is empty, said graphic card is missing.

So I went to the store, explained my story, and asked for a graphic card – or at least a good one as compensation – they didn’t do it. They couldn’t just let me go out of the store with a graphics card for free. It’s funny since they admitted it is missing.

Well.

I sent an email to them, this is the full text:

Hi PC World Team,

before you continue reading – I work in support myself. I KNOW how it works. I know you don’t care so much about the situation as I do. So let me tell you this – no sweet-talking, and no dancing – got it? Read the whole damn thing.

NO copy/paste templates. Write a reply.
Pass this to your supervisor.

Yesterday (Jan. 22, 2012) I purchased a PC in the Blanchardstown Center branch. The machine is a:

HP Pavilion HPE H8 1070

This machine is pretty high spec, and among many other features was advertised with this graphic card model:

NVIDIA GeForce GT545, 3 GB RAM

The machine sold for 1,079 Euro.

The machine I got was the display model – no boxed machine left. For me, that was good enough.

When I got home, I re-installed the machine from scratch. I attempted to install the NVIDIA driver – but got the message that the hardware is missing. I then opened up the case to have a look – the graphic card is, in fact, missing. No wonder the driver won’t play ball. Please the photos here (too large as attachment) :

[REMOVED]

The next day (Jan. 23, 2012), I walked back to the branch and spoke to the man who had sealed the deal with me yesterday. I explained the situation and showed him the photo of where the card is missing. He and a person from the Management Team (I saw his badge) walk a few meters away and discuss the situation.

I was then asked to follow the man who had sold the PC yesterday. He said he has two options for me:

1) I bring back the machine I purchased yesterday, he’d give me the next best model (1,249 Euro) because he has it in stock and boxed. He’d give me 100 Euro off and I’d pay another 70 Euro – but I’d have a complete machine.

2) The difference between 1,249 and 1,079 was something like 170 Euro. He could give me a graphic card for that price – but it won’t be the same that the machine was intended to be sold with.

I chose option 2 and we walk into the isle with the GPUs. I picked one for 169 Euro. We walk back to the Knowhow desk, and then I am told by the Management Team guy that ‘they couldn’t just hand over a graphic card’. I chose option 2 primarily because I already transferred all my data to the machine I purchased.

Ah yes, they offered me Microsoft Office for free as compensation… Hello? Anyone home?

And whaddoya know? I so happen to have agreed on insurance for the PC I purchased. Now I’ve also been told that because the graphic card is missing, or if I would install a different card, the insurance would not cover it. I’ll go to the bank tomorrow and block deductions from them off my account.

You know what?

Now listen to me.

Not too long ago, in November, I bought a Lenovo laptop which broke. Power failure, won’t turn on. I brought this machine for repair three weeks ago – I was in the Blanchardstown store twice to inquire about the whereabouts of that machine – he only said he found it strange that the machine is not back yet. Now the salesperson yesterday was kind enough to honestly tell me that repairs with Lenovo take about two months.

If this is some sort of practical joke, with the laptop and now the graphic card, with the result of driving people out of their goddamn mind – it’s working pretty well, very commendable.

Again, you can find the photos of the PC, the open case with the graphic card missing, the proof of purchase, and the repair document of the Lenovo, here:

[REMOVED]

If you don’t respond with anything good until Friday, I’m forced to call a lawyer.
It’ll go to court. It’ll come with a lot of needless phone calls, paperwork, and questioning.

I would like to prevent legal steps.

Let’s not waste both of our times – just hand over any 1 or 2 GB graphic card, and we’re good.

With kind regards,
Marcus McKay

That should be clear enough. As a matter of fact, I did get an reply. On the same day, even. This is the email I got:

Hi Marcus,

Firstly I would like to appologise for the inconvienience that you have been caused.

I did try to contact you diectly on your mobile but was unable to reach you.

The company will gladly offer you a full refund on your product as it was not fit for the purpose for which it was bought.

Regarding the graphics card you requested I can not issue the card out for free as the company would be down a significant amount by doing so. I can however (as you have been inconvienced) offer the original €100 discount off the Graphics card.

I hope that this helps,

Kind regards,

ms [REMOVED]

Let’s have a look at the bold part again:

Regarding the graphics card you requested I can not issue the card out for free as the company would be down a significant amount by doing so.

To which I simply replied:

Hi [REMOVED],

I don’t think you are serious when you say “the company would be down a significant amount by doing so”. How much revenue does PC World / Currys make? In a year? You really think 169 is gonna hurt you?

Well since it seems you didn’t read my mail properly, I’ll go to the Small Claims Court tomorrow.

I’ll get my graphics card.

It’s not about 3 GB RAM. It’s not about a shiny NVIDIA brand. It’s about the principle. Thanks for your offer… but I’m not willing to spend 70 Euro extra on something I should have had in the first place.

I was told in the store I could get a card for the difference. Two minutes later they said they couldn’t. You really gotta make up your minds.

Well like I said. Small Claims Court will do the rest for me. Have a great day!

Cheers
Marcus

I didn’t get a reply to that yet, but I received a call – but no voicemail. I’ll update this when I hear more… but rest assured – I’ll have a court order them by law to hand me over something as compensation.

Stay iTuned.

Right so earlier today I was sent the exact same mail above, from the Store Manager. Word for word. Obviously I got a little bit upset about it, and was a bit more direct with my approach at that point.

Hello? McFly? Anyone home? Knock knock knock

The attached message you just sent to me is the one I got from Eilis last night.

Either you hand over a goddamn graphics card (which is my right to ask as an EU citizen who purchased an incomplete item) or I will have a court order pretty soon forcing you to do so.

Your call.

And btw, everything in writing. No phone calls.

That pretty much got the attention of the next level of management. After this, the General Manager of the PCWorld retail chain in Ireland sent me a mail.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: Re: Fw: Re: Fw: Purchased PC, graphic card missing
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:35:26 +0000
From: Dutymanager 2975 <[REMOVED]@dsgireland.co.uk>
To: mstr@se51.net

Marcus,

I have been out of the business for the weekend and just picked up your email. After a discussion with the Eilis I believe the decision made yesterday to be incorrect.

I don’t have an issue dealing with claims in court and in fairness they did offer a full refund and you chose to decline to which the court take seriously.
Emails back to the store starting in the manor you have decided to address us with are not appropriate. I appreciate they have sent the email to you in error twice but this was an error.

I do however agree with you that we should provide you with a graphics card for the machine and this is the best solution all-round.

If you find my offer to be acceptable please email me back to advice of your decision.

Kind Regards

[REMOVED]
General Manager

Now I think we can all agree on the little fact that I needed to do something to get attention. Yes my attitude may not have been like a gentleman – but seriously, what did you expect after what happened in the store yesterday?

Anyways. The General Manager then asked me if I would agree on receiving a graphics card, which I confirmed. I printed the entire mail chain and walked back to PC World in Blanchardstown today.

And whadooyaknow? The card I had picked yesterday was handed over to me without any further hassle. So it’s over.

But one more thing… When I came in to pick up the card, the same guy of the Management Team yesterday really had the nerve to ask this question, and I quote:

Did you bring the PC with you so we can install the graphics card?

Well.

I got an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 with 1 GB memory. It’s worth 179 Euro.

Continue reading »]]> It has been relatively quiet for me on the anime front recently. It has to do with the fact that my job has changed a little bit, and that I am looking at a major change in lifestyle (that’s all I can say for now), which requires most of my attention in the moment. I am also working on one of my software projects, which is time-consuming too. However I still found the time to watch another anime in its entirety! So here goes.

It all begins when Tomoya Okazaki, your typical good-for-nothing and high-school slacker spends his days. He’s obviously skipping lessons and does his own thing. However things are about to change pretty quickly when he hears the rumor of a girl being constantly in the high-school, however that girl is hospitalized. It is also then when Tomoya meets Nagisa - a quiet, reserved, but cheerful girl who seems to have an interest in Tomoya. Together they attempt to figure out what happened to the girl, who introduces herself as Fuko Ibuki. A childish girl who only talks about herself in the 3rd person, and apparently has a strong passion for starfish. They find out she really is in the hospital, maybe terminally ill, but wants people to see the wedding of her brother.

The story revolves around Nagisa Furukawa - but is told from the perspective of Tomoya Okazaki. This is somewhat reminiscent of Haruhi Suzumiya’s technique of storytelling (where the story is about Haruhi but told by Kyon) - however since it’s a completely different type of story, you won’t notice it so much. Nagisa is very fond of the Big Dango Family - a mascot of happy family life in the world of Clannad.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4k6HWcf6jM

Life outside of the high-school, at least for Tomoya, happens at the house of the Furukawas. Tomoya and his father were never really connecting - he’s an unemployed alcoholic, who does little to nothing for his son. Naturally, Tomoya seeks other, better alternatives. He eventually decides to leave his father’s house to come to live with the girl that means the most to him. Not long after that he begins to see what a real family is and what it feels like. Beginning to see real family value, he vows to make changes in his own life too. The Furukawas themselves run a little bakery outside the high-school with average success. To sustain the family, she sometimes teaches children and a variety of topics.

Another side of the story is the so-called Illusionary World. It is a world that is seemingly completely devoid of life - only a girl, and a puppet made out of junk, which however is alive, are present. The world itself is also devoid of any modern civilisation, or any civilisation, as only one house can be seen inside which the unnamed girl is often found, together with the doll. The girl keeps on expressing her longing to leave this world, and go to another, livelier place. In order to do so they would have to build some kind of machine together, and would have to do so before the cold and harsh winter sets in. How this ties into the whole story of Nagisa and Tomoya… well you better figure that out yourself

I don’t want to give away too much of it… I think by now you got the idea that I really enjoyed watching it. Basically there are two seasons - the first one primarily takes place in the high-school time of all characters. The second, and this is really unique, “~After Story~”, continues exactly where the first one ended - however the story extends over the next 10 years or so, sometimes with jumps of about 2 years between the episodes. A unique concept I have not seen in any other anime before - definitely worth it.

The soundtrack of Clannad is absolutely incredible and truly takes you away to a different state of mind. I do suggest you get the soundtrack and listen to it once in a while… you will not regret it.

Now that I have seen it all I feel like I lost a friend. I didn’t want it to be over, but nothing can last forever. That should give you a hint of what I think about the show. I’d rate it a 9.5 out of 10 - mostly for its originality, narrative, and soundtrack. I am telling you - get your hands on this, watch it at your own pace. Better do it sooner than later. Honestly. There are OVAs with stories taking place in an alternative universe, and present a “what if?” scenario. Watch those too

One more thing - “Clannad” means “Family” in Gaelic (Irish)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=siT-U2lSolY

Clannad
Directed by: Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Licensed by
Canada, United States - Sentai Filmworks
Australia, New Zealand - Siren Visual
Network: TBS, MBS, CBC, BS-i - Philippines: TV5
English network: Canada, United States: Anime Network
Original run: October 4, 2007 – March 27, 2008
Episodes: 23

Clannad - Another World: Tomoyo’s Thoughts
Directed by: Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Licensed by: Canadam United States - Sentai Filmworks
Released: July 16, 2008
Runtime: 24 minutes

Clannad ~After Story~
Directed by: Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Licensed by
Canada, United States - Sentai Filmworks
Australia, New Zealand - Siren Visual
Network: TBS, MBS, CBC, BS-i
Original run: October 3, 2008 – March 26, 2009
Episodes: 24

Clannad - Another World: Kyou’s Thoughts
Directed by: Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Licensed by: Canada, United States - Sentai Filmworks
Released: July 1, 2009
Runtime: 24 minutes

Continue reading »]]> tl;dr -
NASA’s Kepler mission has found the first planet that’s much like our own (average temperature: 22 degrees Celsius), AND is in the habitable zone (also known as “Green Zone”) around it’s star.

This find should put an immediate end to non-believers and skeptics who are in doubt whether or not another planet like Earth exists out there.

I’d say this is the first of many many out there. To the people in the know, it’s clear what’s going on with alien visitors. We are just getting more official confirmation.

NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the “habitable zone,” the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don’t yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

Previous research hinted at the existence of near-Earth-size planets in habitable zones, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Two other small planets orbiting stars smaller and cooler than our sun recently were confirmed on the very edges of the habitable zone, with orbits more closely resembling those of Venus and Mars.

“This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth’s twin,” said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Kepler’s results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA’s science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe.”

Kepler discovers planets and planet candidates by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars to search for planets that cross in front, or “transit,” the stars. Kepler requires at least three transits to verify a signal as a planet.

“Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet,” said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., who led the team that discovered Kepler-22b. “The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season.”

The Kepler science team uses ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer Space Telescope to review observations on planet candidates the spacecraft finds. The star field that Kepler observes in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra can only be seen from ground-based observatories in spring through early fall. The data from these other observations help determine which candidates can be validated as planets.

Kepler-22b is located 600 light-years away. While the planet is larger than Earth, its orbit of 290 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our world. The planet’s host star belongs to the same class as our sun, called G-type, although it is slightly smaller and cooler.

Of the 54 habitable zone planet candidates reported in February 2011, Kepler-22b is the first to be confirmed. This milestone will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The Kepler team is hosting its inaugural science conference at Ames Dec. 5-9, announcing 1,094 new planet candidate discoveries. Since the last catalog was released in February, the number of planet candidates identified by Kepler has increased by 89 percent and now totals 2,326. Of these, 207 are approximately Earth-size, 680 are super Earth-size, 1,181 are Neptune-size, 203 are Jupiter-size and 55 are larger than Jupiter.

The findings, based on observations conducted May 2009 to September 2010, show a dramatic increase in the numbers of smaller-size planet candidates.

Kepler observed many large planets in small orbits early in its mission, which were reflected in the February data release. Having had more time to observe three transits of planets with longer orbital periods, the new data suggest that planets one to four times the size of Earth may be abundant in the galaxy.

The number of Earth-size and super Earth-size candidates has increased by more than 200 and 140 percent since February, respectively.

There are 48 planet candidates in their star’s habitable zone. While this is a decrease from the 54 reported in February, the Kepler team has applied a stricter definition of what constitutes a habitable zone in the new catalog, to account for the warming effect of atmospheres, which would move the zone away from the star, out to longer orbital periods.

“The tremendous growth in the number of Earth-size candidates tells us that we’re honing in on the planets Kepler was designed to detect: those that are not only Earth-size, but also are potentially habitable,” said Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif. “The more data we collect, the keener our eye for finding the smallest planets out at longer orbital periods.”

NASA’s Ames Research Center manages Kepler’s ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development.

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes the Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA’s 10th Discovery Mission and is funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters.

Source:
NASA’s Kepler Mission Confirms Its First Planet in Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star