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| Porn Users Forum » User Ranks » User Post History |
Post History:
Toadsith (0)
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| 601-650 of 936 Posts | < Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | Page 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Next Page > |
| 11-22-08 07:57pm - 5873 days | #17 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User  Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
AIM Healthcare, yes - that is it, I was feeling too lazy at the time to track that down, lol Thanks :-) "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-22-08 07:43pm - 5873 days | #15 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
As with most historic symbols, there is much debate over its origins. Good old Wikipedia has dedicated a few paragraphs to the subject: Heart (symbol): As icon "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-21-08 04:10pm - 5874 days | #3 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
A number of reasonably big name porn stars will do private shows, but if you want to be a part of that show, you'll need to get tested by an approved facility. I can't recall the name of the porn star testing agency, but they certify a set number of places, and usually the star will require papers certifying that you aren't carrying any disease from one of those certified testing places - even if you use a condom. After a few incidents, the industry has become quite careful considering the prevalence of condom-free porn. That said, it would certainly be much easier to use a normal escort service. Still, the U.S. is prudish both socially and legally about prostitution. Socially, it is very rare to hear any American talking about using any form of prostitution - most people aren't even remotely comfortable with the idea, even when visiting countries where it is very legal. As for the legality issue, you can end up being labeled a Sexual Offender which may require you to notify your neighbors that you are a sexual offender whenever you move and have your address listed on public awareness sites. Personally, I think going for a toss in the hay with a working girl is very different from raping children, but the government doesn't always see it that way. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-20-08 05:23pm - 5875 days | #43 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
You can take screen shots, that is built into the game. As for the price, they did the same thing when Sex Villa 2 came out at 3D Sex Games, the price will probably go up in a few months - they just want to get a user base up and running. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-19-08 06:43pm - 5876 days | #41 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Nifty. It seems to be a spin-off of 3D Sex Games as it is owned and operated by Thrixxx, which should mean that it is a downloadable game that logs into their server before letting you play. The nice thing about these 3D adult games is that you can use those shutter style 3D glasses and have your graphics card output the game in full 3D. Of course this requires you both investing in those glasses and I also thing only NVIDIA cards have this feature right now. Still, it's always a viable option for those that want true 3D porn today. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-17-08 02:54pm - 5879 days | #29 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
I'd say your options are down to sending it to a hard drive recovery joint - which probably isn't worth the money, or trying to connect the hard drive directly. I know you are worried about this but it really isn't hard to do. Assuming the drive is SATA, which is likely if it has been purchased within the past year, you just need to turn off your rig, plug in two cables and boot it up again. Easiest would probably be to just unplug the power and data cables from one of your internals. Of course try not to unplug the internal that houses the OS. It won't hurt anything but the computer surely won't boot. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-17-08 08:48am - 5879 days | #8 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Sweet - thanks again :-) Man, that really is modest tipping. My brother informed me that Denmark has one of the highest average incomes per capita in the world and so people rarely leave - that would probably explain the tipping. If you tipped only $5 on a $110 meal in the US you'd probably get shot, lol That is great about the walking distance, even though I'm guessing your public transport system is excellent. They apparently got a room at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel - they were psyched that it was designed by Arne Jacobsen as they are big fans of that modern style design. I guess if nobody is renting it at the time, you can ask to get a tour of room 606 which has been kept with almost all of its original furnishings from when the hotel first opened. Thanks again for all the advice! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-16-08 01:01pm - 5880 days | #38 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Give it up for imperfect beauty! Sir Francis Bacon got it right so many years ago :-D "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-16-08 12:58pm - 5880 days | #6 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
¡OFF TOPIC! Hi Denner, if I could bug you again with one more question about visiting Denmark :-) How much should American Tourists tip? My brother's research on this has gotten him wildly conflicting reports. They are totally happy to tip plenty, but don't want to insult people. I know some places you aren't supposed to tip specific occupations, and in other places it is their primary source of income (Taxi Drivers, for example). Generally in the US, you tip a minimum of 15% at restaurants and everything else the minimum is either 5% higher or lower. I usually tip 20% if I tip, no matter what the occupation. Makes me popular with delivery people who usually get ripped off. Thanks again for your help with those location suggestions, they found those to be very helpful :-) "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-16-08 12:52pm - 5880 days | #5 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Now I actually do like the facials and I will openly admit I like domination themes in my video porn (it usually looks silly in photographic porn), but I must say I'm not a fan of the male talent jerking off to apply the facial. I know most porn producers would say it is a necessary evil, but I prefer the older style that you would see in 80's movies where the female models would do it themselves, either jack the load on to their face or just keep sucking until it came rolling out past their lips. Always seemed like a more plausible facial system than what is popular today. Obviously that system would be a bit more difficult in Bukkake porn, but I would give mad props to any producer that attempted it. I guess I see laying down a load on the model's breasts or stomach or back akin to making a mess for the mess's sake. I see very little eroticism in it and I feel like they should just hand the model a towel. I would much rather see a cream pie than that, because that too doesn't require autoerotic stimulation of the male talent. Spraying down random body parts other than the face seem more like "hey mom, look what I did!" - whereas the face definitely requires submissive behavior from the female, she lets that action take place. Pulling out and spraying (unless the male talent has impressive accuracy) is mostly going to go where ever it goes, despite what female model wants. So, I will totally agree that modern porn hasn't got it exactly right, but I'd often rather a poorly executed facial than a well executed shot down the model's back. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-16-08 12:38pm - 5880 days | #18 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
"Mobo" is slang for Motherboard, have you tried connecting the drive to a different computer or simply to different USB ports on your computer? For example, the back panel USB ports run on a different USB Header than the ones on the front of your case (assuming your case has front USB ports). Your other option is you could open up your external and connect it directly to the motherboard - running it as a normal internal just to make sure all your data is alive and well. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-13-08 10:43pm - 5882 days | #11 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
That's why you need to invest in the Advanced Hard Drive Protection System. Also known more commonly as the Benelli M4 Super 90 Semi-Automatic Shotgun. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-13-08 08:31pm - 5882 days | #9 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
I have actually contemplated running a PHP / MySQL website on my own rig for personal use for the sole purpose of cataloging my porn collection. Every video or photo set would be individually tagged with selectable search filters, functioning much like that AmericanVice site I recently reviewed. Then I decided I was far too lazy to actually do that and settled with the current system. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-13-08 05:32pm - 5882 days | #4 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
A strong dose of OCD and a good memory is crucial to make it work, but primarily it goes like this. Content is first broken down by the Content Provider - I usually use the parent company's name. For example, DP Overload doesn't have its own folder and is relegated to the depths of 21 Sextury. Within the main content folders reside folders with models names on them. If two models share the same name, then a numeric designation is added to the end of both models names (Anastasia 1, Anastasia 2). I personally have an excellent memory for faces, so each of the models directories has a thumbnail of the model's face labeled "0.jpg". It is labled this so it doesn't get confused for a video or full size photo and is automatically sorted into the first position by Windows. This of course means, that I keep the Content Folder sorted in Thumbnail mode so I can see all of the smiling faces easily. Within a Model folder, any video is labeled first by the model's name again, and then either the name of the specific site (rather than the parent company) that hosted the file, by the name of the DVD that the scene came from (if that be the case) or by the name of the video if the video has a specific name (ex. Twister by the Pool). If there are multiple videos of that model from one same source, numeric labels are added to the end again. This allows for searching of the site content or DVD content if the desire ever surfaces. Photos are also contained within a Model's directory, but the difference is that each photo set gets its own directory. Again, the photo set's directory is named for the model and then the specific site or the name of the photo set, if provided. Distinctions can be made between same named photo sets again by numeric labels. It takes dedication to the system for it to work, but once you have the system working, navigation of it is a breeze. I'm horrible at remember model names, but I remember site names and model faces well, so I can think about what sort of content I fancy, bop over to a site that caters to that and then browse through the faces until one grabs my attention. With the amount of content I have on hand, I honestly don't really need to subscribe to anything anymore, but the grass is always greener... et cetera. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo Edited on Nov 13, 2008, 05:36pm (Toadsith: Typos.) | |
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| 11-13-08 01:07am - 5883 days | #11 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
If the site allows two connections, just configure your manager to use only one connection and download only one file at a time and you should be able to browse around and queue up files at leisure. However, if it only allows one connection then you'll have to add each file, pause it, and then continue browsing, and then when you are finished browsing, tell the manager to start downloading and walk away. That is a pain-in-the-ass, but I've done it on many sites. I think Teens From Tokyo required me to do this. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-12-08 11:36pm - 5883 days | #9 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
AH yes,Download Resuming is definitely very important - I forgot to mention that. Even with just one connection per IP, we should be able to pause and resume our downloads at our leisure. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-12-08 01:20pm - 5884 days | #5 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Download Limits are a real evil - but Connection Limits I have no problem with. So you have to leave your computer running overnight, meh, whatever. I don't see it as a huge inconvenience. Not every site can have 20 dedicated servers. Now, limiting how much I can download per month, that can get annoying fast. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-06-08 06:04pm - 5889 days | #20 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Still Off Topic: Visiting Copenhagen Just got a reply back from my brother, he wanted many thanks sent along, saying the suggestions were quite helpful and appreciated. He apparently is quite interested in Christiania and is glad to hear that is interest is not misplaced :-) Thanks! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-06-08 01:49pm - 5890 days | #19 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Thanks for all the recommendations! I'll send it over to them :-) Ironically, it sounds like it will still be warmer there than in Central New York, so I doubt they'll even notice it being a little chilly. That is cool about the language thing, I honestly just assumed you had some occupation that required excellent English - I always forget that most Europeans speak at least a bit of multiple languages. I generally don't worry about it as my brother is an experienced traveler and is quite proficient in both French and German. Amusingly, he apparently speaks German with a strange mix of French and American accents; it confuses the hell out of most Germans - they described his accent as just ambiguously foreign. Of course that was back when he was living in Germany, his German is probably a good bit rustier now. Anyway, thanks again :-D "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-06-08 10:34am - 5890 days | #17 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
You are right that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the "hit-and-run" tactic, perhaps I should come up with a different saying because that one has such a negative connotation already tied to it. Loyalty bonuses are simply there to get more money from the customer - and my stance is that I'd rather them offer me a discount for staying than holding back content from me as a sort of black-mail. In regards to 21 Sextury, I'm not sure where damon21 is getting that info - according to DP Overload (I always want to read that as DP Overlord, which would be a very different site I suspect) when you join you get instant access to 20 sites and get access to an additional 2 sites every month. It is unfortunate though, because back when I was a member, last January - you would get access to 33 sites at first, with 2 more sites added each month. Still, I prefer they split the network up a bit and then provide "loyal" members large discounts on their monthly rate instead of this held for ransom type method. Granted I'd prefer they simply provide access to all 50 odd sites and provide the discount, but I'd understand if they wanted a better money to site ratio. Anyway, thanks about the Prez - I'm quite hopeful about the next 4 years now :-) And on a totally off topic, my brother and his wife are going to be visiting your fine country over our Thanksgiving holiday weekend as a birthday present to her. His wife's birthday often lands on Thanksgiving, I always feel bad for people who's birthday lands near a national holiday as it makes celebrations of both awkward. Anyway, no idea where you are located in Denmark, but if you have any must visit suggestions local to Copenhagen that tourists wouldn't never normally find out about, they'd be much appreciated :-) They are always hunting for non-touristy cool things to do; I think their choice was largely inspired by the Three Sheets episode on Denmark (a fun tv show about drink culture if you haven't run across it). Should be cool - I wish I could visit more of the friendly nations across the pond, but man that blasted airfare, lol "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-05-08 08:43pm - 5890 days | #15 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Most of the time I think hit-and-run (even at once every 3 months) will be more economical unless you are willing to invest heavily with the 1 year memberships. I was a member of Suicide Girls and MET-Art for about 3 continuous years that way. You can end up with effectively only 10 or 15 dollar monthly fees for your favorite sites, but it is hard to let go of a 3 digit figure for porn (despite my annual spending being solidly a 4 digit figure). Anyway, that is why I like the 1 month high, following months low deal because I can stay with a site for 3 or 4 months without much stress - knowing I can quit at any time without money lost. If you have a 1 year membership and the site starts moving away from content you like all you can do is email the webmasters and come here and jump up and down. Oh, everything has its pluses and minuses... At least Obama is the next American president - w00t!! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-04-08 11:19pm - 5891 days | #13 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
I will grant you it is quite uncommon, but I've run across it a few times over the years now. Most recently with a site I'm a current member of and really ought to do a review of one of these days: Slipshine As for the debate of staying vs. bi-annual hit-and-runs? On sites that consistently add content I like I find I enjoy perusing them on a regular basis, just like when the latest edition of a favorite magazine arrives. You know approximately what will be between the covers, but you are just as eager every month. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-04-08 12:24pm - 5892 days | #10 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Much as already been covered , so I'll simply say that I personally love the $35 first month - $8 all months after system - they get their money from the "hit-and-run" crowd and those of us in it for the long haul don't have to ruin our wallets. I suppose the $100 upfront systems work this way in a more commitment heavy style. Most of the other loyalty systems end up being a nuisance, in my opinion. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo Edited on Nov 04, 2008, 11:20pm (Toadsith: Grammar... as always.) | |
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| 11-04-08 08:30am - 5892 days | #13 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
I'm glad to be back - I just finally got my internet back at home too! (Not only was I on vacation, my cable company accidentally unplugged my apartment's connection.) I'm glad to hear the article made sense and answered the questions at hand. It is an interesting topic in as there is much more diversity in the display systems used that one really expects. I'm always shocked to see how many people use screen resolutions that I've abandoned near on ten years ago. Not that I'm running an epically high resolution right now, just a measly 1280 x 1024 - but I still run across casual computer users that run 800 x 600 - egads! Thanks for the compliments as well - I'm really just an avid amateur but I'm honored by the title :-D "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-03-08 03:29pm - 5893 days | #11 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
lol, Forum Master? Aw, thanky - what a wonderful title :-D "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 11-03-08 03:27pm - 5893 days | #10 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Firstly, sorry for my absence - I was on vacation in Philadelphia :-D Ok, this question is actually a bit more complicated than appears at the surface. Not only is our perceived experience of the video a product of its encoding and native dimensions, it is also a product of the display technology we use to view the video. First, let's look at the file technology. The Video File Three main variables control the visual quality of a video file. First are the dimensions - which dictate how many pixels the file is instructing. Thankfully modern video playing programs can interpret the information provided by a video file to be displayed on either more or less pixels. More pixels will at best make the image look blurry under close inspection. Fewer pixels can improve the perceived video quality - though this is largely dependent on the display technology used. Now seemingly small increases in dimensions can vastly increase the total number of pixels instructed (like why an 16 inch pizza is much more filing than a 14 inch pizza). So despite 480 pixels being 80% of 600 pixels, 640x480 contains a mere 68% of the pixels of 800x600. The total number of pixels instructed by a video increases on curve in relation to the dimensions of the video. The second variable is the bit rate which dictates how much data is used to instruct the pixels allocated for the video. The more the bit rate, the more precise those instructions can be. Ideally, to maintain a perfect image, every single pixel would be instructed as to what color it should display. This is part of the reason Bitmap image files can have such ridiculously large file sizes. There are multitudes of compression systems out there each with their own particular technique but they usually have one thing in common: They throw away information. For example, a frame from one of the new Batman films may have 100 thousand different shades colors between true black and a dark grey. If the program limits that to only 100 shades, it has just succeeded in making the instructions for the shadows a 1000 times smaller. Encoding programs also don't describe a single pixel, they describe groups of pixels - this can be perceived on videos with low bit rates in the form of blocking. Waterfalls, for example, are perceived by cameras as a series of small water drops moving very quickly - and it takes a lot of data to describe each droplet. If a video doesn't have a large enough bit rate, the encoding software will end up averaging the color of a group of droplets and deciding if they look more like the black rock behind the waterfall or the white droplets in front of it - ending up with either a grayish black square or a grayish white square. Moving water always proves to be one of the most difficult scenes in videos to compress. Not only is the image produced by the reflections and refractions of agitated water incredibly complex, it changes very rapidly due to the interactions of so many waves. Why this is difficult for encoding programs stems from another particular of how most encoding programs work. A Key Frame is used every time the video has significantly changed. For example: The video may be capturing Clint Eastwood's eyes. At the start of that shot, the encoding program captures a key frame, which is essentially a single image, rendered in the way normal still photos are rendered. Then, each consecutive frame is rendered with instructions explaining how that frame is different from the key from. Much of Clint's face is remaining still, so the encoding program will only describe the movements of his eyes squinting. A new key frame will be captured when the next shot is shown of Eli Wallach's eyes and the program then renders the following frames from the differences as compared to that key frame, and so on. Lastly is the oft forgotten frame rate. This variable honestly doesn't vary that much and is usually found in only two forms: 30 frames per second (as used by normal video or television) and 24 frames per second (as is common to film). Rather obviously the lesser the frames per second, the lesser the data used to describe the video. The Display Device This accounts for much of the dispute between users as to the quality of the video. This was less of an issue back in the days of CRT displays (Cathode Ray Tube) as the pixels in a CRT display are quite close together and images produced by the displays are less prone to jagged edges on curved and diagonal shapes. CRTs also don't have issues with scaling - as in decreasing or increasing the input signal data to fit the screen. Scaling is a huge problem in modern displays, most noticeably in LCD and DLP technology. The display devices are capable of running the input signal through hardware possessing a generic scaling algorithm, but the results are simply woeful in regards to what modern computers can do with software image scaling. If your current graphics card cannot produce the native resolution of an LCD display you are using, you'll see blurring of what should be crisp edges and jittering in what should be smooth motion as the monitor tries to scale the image. Hardware scaling has improved vastly since the dawn of full-color LCD displays, but it is still dismal as compared to what good software can do. Projector Central has a nice, though old, article on the debate of Native vs. Maximum Resolution - granted it is focused on how this applies to projectors, but the technology is pretty much the same. That said let us presume that each user is running their monitor at its native resolution. With hardware scaling out of the way, you return to software scaling and the precision of the monitor used. A small monitor running at 1024 x 768 native resolution displaying a 640x480 video (often described as DVD quality) means that 61% of the pixels being displayed are interpolated by the video software from the original video. A larger monitor running at 1600 x 1200 native resolution displaying the same video needs 84% of the pixels to be interpolated by the video software. Even though the upscaling technology is better, it still trying to fill screen with non-existent data - be it using fractals or what, the vast majority of the pixels in that example are generated using fancy guess-work. So the larger the display is compared to the video's native resolution, the blurrier the displayed video will be. Bottomline, Summation, Conclusion, Et Cetera In a nut shell, reviewers with older display technology will usually perceive smaller resolution videos better than reviewers with newer display technology. The reviewer with the small display will automatically perceive a video that is the same size as the native resolution as his display as being as crisp as possible - because, for that display, it is as crisp as possible. Any videos above that resolution will be down converted to that resolution in order to fit on the screen. Addendum: Refresh Rate There was some talk of Refresh Rate. That term is monitor speak for Frame Rate. 75 Hz is 75 frames per second; one hertz of course being equal to one cycle per second. The refresh rate issue went out the window ever since CRTs stopped being used. CRTs actually go blank and then redraw the image between every cycle; the lower the monitor frequency, the more one would perceive a flicker. Just in the same way that moving your hand in front of a normal incandescent bulb reveals the 60 Hz flicker. Personally I never run a CRT at anything less than 85 Hz, less and I usually get a headache from the flicker. LCD monitors do not work the same way, the LCD pixel is actually composed of 3 sub-pixels, one for red, green and blue. When a sub-pixel is on, that frequency of light is allowed through it - when it is off it is designed to be opaque. While the light of CRTs is generated by electrons hitting the phosphor layer of the screen causing it to phosphoresce, LCDs instead use a white florescent back light and that which is allowed through by the sub-pixels is what we get see. This brings up the another big pro vs. con situation between CRTs and LCDs. LCDs do not flicker because they do not need to redraw the image. They can just leave a sub-pixel open continuously if that pixel needs to stay red for example, while CRTs need to keep shooting electrons at that pixel to keep it phosphorescing. On the flip side, when a CRT doesn't want to show any color, it doesn't send any electrons; while an LCD must block the light from the backlight - which always manages to get through to some degree, thus LCDs never have a true black at best they achieve a dark grey. Due to the lack of need for redraw, most LCD monitors are not capable of updating at more than 60 Hz - which is still twice the frame rate of most video and plenty fast for exceptionally smooth animation, especially due to the flicker-free display. You can tell your graphics card to send the signal at higher than 60 Hz, but the monitor will simply down convert that to 60 Hz. Of course some monitors are capable of higher refresh rates and lower refresh rates won't bother LCD monitors either. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo Edited on Nov 03, 2008, 03:41pm (Toadsith: Typos and Grammar.) | |
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| 10-23-08 08:22pm - 5903 days | #37 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Ah Nova Scotia, some people say it reminds them of Scotland - strange isn't? :-D I've yet to travel that far east in Canada, despite my Grandparents having lived there for a time (mid 80's I think). The thing they missed most from there was the access to the fresh fish - a rather food oriented family we are, lol "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 08:17pm - 5903 days | #36 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Isn't it such a tragedy that parts of the Autobahn are slowing down? What is the difference between 80 mph or 120 mph? At either speed if you hit a wall the result will be the same. I suppose there will always be the Nurburgring - some day I'd love to visit that and drive it until I can at least break the 10 minute mark (Sabine Schmitz almost did it with a cargo van, lol). According to my favorite car show (ye ol' Top Gear) Switzerland are very good at policing their roads, motoring is tightly regulated, resulting in some strange laws. Apparently you cannot wash your car on Sunday due to a noise pollution law. Frankly I hadn't though of that as a huge noise problem, but I suppose if everybody in the country decided to wash their cars on that one day it would be an issue. Though I suspect it would be a water issue first. Anyway, I would love to go for a driving holiday just about anywhere in Europe, Switzerland included :-D "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 06:54pm - 5903 days | #32 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Just looked it up on Google Maps - the Sat photos look awesome! So that parkway, does it, um, have a speed limit? (No interest in going 150, but 90 can occasionally be enjoyable on interesting roads.) "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 06:48pm - 5903 days | #31 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
I was going to suggest trying Google Street View but apparently Google's prying eyes have yet to turn toward Canada. You can drive across the Golden Gate Bridge or most other famous American bridges with it. Not quite the same thing, but nifty none-the-less. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 06:45pm - 5903 days | #30 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
lol - I will bear that in mind, I'm guessing that is something like ordering some specific champagne when you are Vegas? "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 06:43pm - 5903 days | #29 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Whoops - I guess you already answered my previous question :-) I'd say the Rockies are closer to you (unless you insist on staying in Canada, lol) but I gotta say I'd choose the Alps every time - much more interesting and lots of great driving roads to boot! Though apparently Switzerland itself is very strange about driving, Italy (if you are in an Italian supercar) and Germany I hear are the best places in Western Europe for driving. Then again, most people don't rent a car when they visit Europe, so this probably isn't of much interest. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 06:35pm - 5903 days | #27 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Wow - how far east are you in Canada? I checked the distance from St. John's in Newfoundland to both Zürich, Switzerland and Boulder Colorado and even that far east Boulder came in the winner at 2632 miles (4235km) - Zürich was 2805 miles (4514km). Granted that's pretty damn close to the same and given the choice I pick Switzerland myself, lol Wait, you aren't in Grise Fiord, Nunavut, are you? That would be bloody far away! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 03:45pm - 5904 days | #57 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Of course that is unless one of the religions is correct. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-23-08 03:43pm - 5904 days | #56 | |||
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Now that I will agree with - at no point did I say Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary was the single authoritative source for a definition, just an authoritative source as regarded by the population at large. If we reference your previous remark toward calling it this (Merriam-Webster as an "authoritative source", especially on religious or philosophical issues? Gimme a break.) it seems you are simply stating that Merriam Webster shouldn't be considered an authoritative source, in this regard I think you can see why I disagreed. I was using one specific definition as not a sole definition but to illustrate that I was not confused that a difference exists between religion and belief. As it turns out, the root of the confusion is because I replied to this statement: "Why everybody (even porn users) implies that adult models cannot honestly believe in something?" When I replied I will admit I wasn't as precise as I could have been and instead of saying "religious belief" I simply said "belief" a number of times. In retrospect I can see how this brought you to the conclusion that I had the concepts jumbled up. Keeping track of what every post is in reference to and the delayed times between posting can confuse arguments. These posts are a series of letters, but the writers (myself included) often forget that whatever post they are replying to might not be as fresh in the minds of their reader as it is in their own mind at the time of writing. So, I hope that original confusion is thoroughly clarified. Back to our current tangent, I do agree there are many authoritative and widely accept definitions. In fact the first time that I referred to Merriam Webster as "an authoritative source" I said directly prior to that "There may be many definitions of 'belief' ". It may be noted that the definition in question was "belief" not "religion", but again many definitions are abound. The Webster's Unabridged that I happen to have here list 6 definitions plus a little paragraph on synonyms for the word.
As Wittyguy rather succinctly and I rather elaborately explained before - I do not think that belief is "completely external" I was simply stating that the catalyst that spurns the creation of the belief is at least in part, always external. A substantial part of the catalyst could be internal like in the case of a hallucination or in the manner suggested in the oft referenced "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Julian Jaynes. (For those that haven't run across this book, simply put he suggests that early humans had a stronger connection between the right and left side of the brain, causing people to frequently experience Command Hallucinations that was interpreted as the voice of a god. This seems a plausible explanation for why in the past strange acts were considered reasonably explained when a person said "This god told me to do it.". It was easy to accept since most people had heard from a god at one time or another.) Of course, the latter would only explain old beliefs that have now been passed down, from generation to generation. I think it is an interesting concept so I thought I'd mention it. Anyway, I do not think the world is completely deterministic and I'm beginning to think that we may be arguing for the same side with neither of us having adequately explained our position to the other.
You reasoning seems sound enough, I'd have to brush up on my logic again to make sure it is 100% valid logic, but I don't see any glaring errors. Again, your post here seems to be pushing the idea that beliefs aren't created by entirely external elements - which I agree with. The origin of a belief, the components that made it what its, generally are external, but the way it was assembled and of course that occasional spark of internal stimulation, that is what makes the final product. Beliefs, ideas and thoughts can often be examples of the sum of the parts being less than the whole. So, with enough deliberation, I think it has been shown that we were largely saying the same thing. That said, I'm not sure I entirely understand your connection between Christianity's "free will" and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The concept of "free will" in a universe under the thumb of an omniscient god always seemed rather puzzling to me. It begs the question: Is it seen as a difference to an observant being if the observed must do the action or chooses the action that the observing being already knows the observed will do? I suppose for an omniscient god, observing us would be like rereading an old book. Still if something, anything, knows the final outcome - how is it different from determinism? As for the Uncertainty Principle, that simply states that in quantum physics, the more precisely you know the value of one of a pair of certain conjugate variables, the less precisely you know the value of the other half of the pair. The principle relates to the concept of particles as waves and waves as particles - the difficulty of the concepts to be described and understood largely explains why quantum physics had so much trouble being accepted by the scientific community. Amusingly, the oft referenced "Schrödinger's cat" was originally devised to illustrate the absurdity superposition in quantum mechanics. The Uncertainty Principle is certainly an interesting chapter in quantum physics, but I'm not quite sure I see it as exactly a validation that science doesn't support determinism - the interesting thing is the quantumly determinism might be valid in the sense that a determinist might say that when you roll that die, due to preceding events it will land on 6. Quantum physics would show that yes, it did land on 6 - it also landed on 1 and on 2 and so on as all outcomes have occured. We just happen to be observing only one of the outcomes. Still, I would say I believe the world not to be deterministic. Not that it would change anything if it were, I just like to imagine that if any higher beings exist, we can keep them on their toes. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |||
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| 10-23-08 02:45pm - 5904 days | #23 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
lol - I heard that when they were filming 300 in Montreal, Gerard Butler could be found at the strip clubs every night "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 08:00pm - 5904 days | #15 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
w00t - now I have even more incentive to visit Montreal some more! Oh and um, that would be bad for your vacations I suppose, but who wants to visit the US anyway? Why not go to the Caribbean or something? :-D "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 07:06pm - 5904 days | #49 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Very true! And would that be considered taking God's name in vain? It was once pointed out that in America, with its impressive attachment to religion, politicians have to talk about their faith and ask for the blessing of God more than almost any politicians elsewhere - even Italian politicians mere feet away from the Vatican. (Sadly I cannot remember who originally made this observation.) "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 07:02pm - 5904 days | #48 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Wittyguy has done a fine job of bringing the discussion back to the original topic of the thread - which I must admit was easy to lose site of in much of the previous commentary. I generally agree with the summarization of my opinion on the topics at hand. The thought exercise near the end about the wearing of religious jewelry while performing acts of sin cause for excommunication reminds me of a scenario the Roman Catholic church used in teaching of children years ago. I ran across it specifically from my Mother whom was taught it by Nuns when she was in Catholic school. The scenario is this: You are imprisoned by a group of people that worship a false idol. They give you two options, worship their idol or be slaughtered before it. The church's stance was that you refuse to cooperate and be slaughtered. My mother, being a rather rational person, explained that she felt the best choice was to pretend to worship the idol while secretly worship her God - so as to live to fight another day. As I recall she got a smack across the knuckles for that one. Interestingly, she still considers herself to be a good Roman Catholic despite significant deviation from the dogma of the Church. She knows the Church's stances relatively well, she simply doesn't agree with all of their interpretation of the scriptures. I would say this example is a decent illustration of the blurred lines Wittyguy was discussing. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo Edited on Oct 22, 2008, 07:09pm (Toadsith: Grammar.) | |
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| 10-22-08 05:10pm - 5904 days | #45 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
By the way, as a general note, I do want to thank everybody so far for their input - I do find this all quite enjoyable and do hope none of it has offended anybody. I must point out a character trait of mine (some might label it a flaw) is that while my opinion differs from the opinion of others, I am always happy to argue indefinitely. If you succeed in making me agree with your opinion I will try to stop and not start playing the "Devil's Advocate"... which I've also been known to do. At any rate, no hard feelings I hope, and specific thanks for what so far has been an enjoyable and spirited argument to asmith12, messmer, Wittyguy and everybody else that has as participated thus far. Pardon my brief interruption - let us continue! "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 04:58pm - 5904 days | #44 | |||
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Merriam Webster tends to be a great choice for describing how the populace currently defines a specific "term" as you put it. I would contend that they are generally regarded as a rather authoritative source for definitions of various terminologies. If you would prefer, I have a copy of the unabridged version near me, though the definitions provided by that book can become a bit cumbersome quickly. Still, since you profess dissatisfaction with the source material, please feel free to provide alternatives. But onward to Terms & Concepts: You wish us to dismiss the terms and agree upon the concepts, a noble wish indeed. The problem is describing the concept properly - which leads us back to the terms, as they are used to describe the concept. So they themselves must be described accurately as well. In a sense, this could go on forever. As for my confusion, it was explained earlier but appears to have been overlooked. I was not confused about the difference of the underlying concept of religion versus the concept of general belief, it turns out that I was simply confused by your statement, which I had interpreted as using the term belief loosely rather than strictly.
As I said, similar, not identical. You will indeed find differences, but the overwhelming similarities, even as the interview progresses, is rather telling of how dependent beliefs are upon the input an individual receives.
Please do dispute - for in my knowledge of religion, it is a wonderful descriptor of the culture that follows it. Their technology, history, art, music, everything is visible in a culture's religion - and once a religion is dominate in a culture it both molds the culture and is molded by the culture. However I would contend that similarities of new religions to old religions, even monotheistic versus polytheistic, shows their origins are hardly internal. Anyway, I'm confused by this sentence, once the parenthetical statements are removed: "Even if we accept that origins are external, even in this case it doesn't provide any argument that "something" is an internal one" "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |||
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| 10-22-08 04:20pm - 5905 days | #41 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
No problem, I'll save you the effort. 1: capable of being put to use ; especially : serviceable for an end or purpose <useful tools> 2: of a valuable or productive kind <do something useful with your life> - Merriam Webster The sentence is asking for specific examples of inaction, as in lack of the bringing about of an alteration by force or through a natural agency, being capable of being put to use as a tool or method for change of a social paradigm. You see the social paradigm is that which the inaction would be working upon - and the sentence is asking for examples of inaction successfully modifying it. So no, useful has no direct implication of dealing with social paradigm - it is a very versatile word that way. I'm not trying to copy Katie Couric, so I'll happily belabor the point and ask again: What are some specific examples of inaction being used as a method of change in a social paradigm? "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 04:09pm - 5905 days | #39 | ||
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Earlier you stated you thought I was mixing up "religion" and "belief". By locating official definitions of the word "belief" I was attempting to clarify the meaning of the word so no more notions of "mixing up" would occur. There may be many definitions of "belief" - I was simply choosing an authoritative source as a place to start. I feel the source of the definition used at the argument's core does indeed change the strength of the argument. I could just as easily base my arguments off the rantings of Beeble, the local schizophrenic bum, however - I don't think any statements stemming from that source would be regarded with much weight by the community at large, and rightly so I might add.
Aside from the fact that exactly the same input for two individuals would be very difficult to provide, it is important to note that different people only might make completely different beliefs from that input. Talking to individuals from a small congregation will quickly illustrate how similar beliefs can be. Humans are innately social creatures and ignoring that will make understanding how they behave much more difficult. Their interaction makes them in many ways as much as their DNA builds them. The beliefs formed by an individual may be an internalized state, but attributing at as "ONLY to 'something' within" ignores so much of the origins of that belief. As belief is an idea, a state of the mind, a way of thinking, it isn't a finite and tangible object that can be examined by itself. Its history, its origins are as much a part of it as a description of its current state is. Its origins are generally, in all ways, external - sometimes one source but usually many sources. What makes humans change may be how we each assemble ideas slightly differently, but assembled they are. It is what spurned Issac Newton to famously say: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | ||
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| 10-22-08 01:11pm - 5905 days | #36 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Agreed, many games have inaction as a useful strategy - it is as the scenario approaches the sheer complexity of real world social interaction where it becomes less and less of a useful option. Of course, another point due to the complexity of these systems is that one could argue that inaction, in reality, is a feasible impossibility. Since minute actions can set off changes of immense proportions (i.e. the old "if a butterfly flaps its wings" concept) and add to that that humans alone are nearly incapable of perfect repetition of behavior (despite being capable of coming extraordinarily close to perfection given enough practice) - perhaps I should not label Tolerance as inaction and instead label it a useless action in real world social interaction scenarios. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 12:41pm - 5905 days | #34 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Those two sentences right there quite thoroughly sum up both why I am sometimes absent from the forum for sizable lengths of time and why I like to have topics like this welcome in the forum. As they say: "Well said, good man, well said." "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 12:33pm - 5905 days | #32 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
I'm curious, what examples are there of inaction being useful as a tool for change of a social paradigm? Certainly Gandhi is not an example - he was non-violent, certainly, but he was hardly a proponent of inaction - he was an expert showman and negotiator. I will grant you that inaction in some instances may not cause harm, but I can't think of any instance of inaction changing social patterns. I am especially curious about example of all possible actions in a group social situation being worse than inaction. My automatic response to scenarios like that is simply that those claiming that all possible actions are bad simply have not found all of the possible actions yet - I do not believe in a no-win scenario in a real world environment. I understand that the odds can be stacked heavily against a win, but there is always something that can done to improve the odds, even if it is just a smidgen. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-22-08 12:21pm - 5905 days | #31 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
If you are talking about belief strictly by itself, the primary definition is an internal affair: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing - Merriam Webster In my previous statements I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that you were talking more specifically of religious belief, which falls more along the lines of the secondary definition of belief: something believed ; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group - Merriam Webster If religious beliefs are a tenet or body of tenets held by a group, that brings the external influence back into play. Even with the primary definition of belief, it talks of trust or confidence in something external to the believer. For example, I believe in the consistent influence of gravity in my everyday life. It would be wildly impractical for me to have to check that things fall toward the ground every time that force is involved with my daily activities. By believing in the constant of presence of gravitational acceleration, I need not waste my day checking on it before proceeding with an action. I will grant you that a sole individual can develop a large group of beliefs in that nature without the interaction of other humans - but a vast bulk of beliefs, religious or not, from the extreme to the mundane, are passed from human to human by various methods. So I would maintain beliefs are still largely shaped by external though they are the states of the internal. In general, it is a frustratingly vague topic that can be argued many ways with various ranges of success - one of the reasons why psychology frequently gets nailed with the label of "pseudo science". Behavioral Psychology, that is an interesting subset that I like - cleanly documented experiments with repeatable results, and fascinating to boot. As for the topic of porn models seen as "second class citizens" - I do want to note that I said "regular contributers", not most and particularly not all Porn Users. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-21-08 02:44pm - 5906 days | #24 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
Communication is a skill I doubt I'll ever master - but I fear I keep trying. I must admit that I largely began writing that "I deny tolerance" bit in a thinly veiled reference to Gregory Corso's poem "Marriage", which I was reading recently as a close friend of mine is getting married soon. So I probably came on a little stronger than necessary, but I found it amusing at the time. As you said though: communication isn't always easy - so I fear there were more nuances being broadcast in that piece than I had originally intended. None-the-less, I always like people to call me out on my arguments if I'm not making sense (or for any other reason), as I believe it improves my writing as well as my thinking. Of course, I'd never rule out throwing out the baby with the bath water, to paraphrase Leonard Cohen, I don't like children anyhow. Which reminds me, I never did finish that post in that thread about pregnant models... a brain like a sieve... "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo Edited on Oct 21, 2008, 07:37pm (Toadsith: URL Typo.) | |
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| 10-21-08 02:33pm - 5906 days | #23 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
That is a very specific scenario and while the action that was chosen may not have helped the situation, it doesn't dispute the point that tolerance is inaction and as I said before, rather useless. I describe it as useless because it does not spark any form of change in the population deciding upon tolerance over other options. I still agree with Issac Asimov's character Salvor Hardin in "Foundation" who had a plaque on his office wall stating: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Sometimes a society's leaders are incompetent for the situation they are placed in and they have to resort to violence. Tolerance can be an alternative, but I feel generally the society is overlooking other and better alternatives when they are choosing tolerance. There is always more than one choice - even if you have to cheat to make it happen, the Kobayashi Maru is an excellent example of that. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 10-21-08 02:21pm - 5906 days | #21 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
As Porn Users is about porn in general, I think this is a perfectly reasonable topic. If you are watching a porn scene and model has a cross prominently displayed on her person, one will invariably take notice. I myself have also noticed the rise of religious paraphernalia displayed by models in porn scenes. Granted I wasn't interested enough to start a forum thread, but since it is a topic directly related to watching porn, I see it in no way out of place. I also wanted to point out that you asked why "everybody (even porn users" imply that adult models cannot honestly believe in something and then off-handedly stated that "most of them don't really believe". Of all us that replied, only one person didn't explicitly state that the models may fully believe in the faith they are displaying on their person. So by this small sampling, I don't think it is fair to say everybody implies the models can't have a religious faith. I also have found very little evidence that any of the regular contributors think of the models as "second class" citizens - most of us are big fans and would go "oh! oh! Isn't that so-and-so?" if we saw them on the street. Just because we wouldn't necessarily choose their lifestyle had we the choice, doesn't mean we respect them any less. I also would not choose the lifestyle of an Olympic athlete - I still respect them greatly for their accomplishments. As for faith, I would honestly question the faith of an Enron CEO - I generally believe most high level CEOs to be sociopaths, that is how they can rationally make the hard decisions required for the job, and while religion is extremely logical, it isn't wildly rational. Still, people like to say belief is about what is inside us, but in general it is relying on instructions outside of us to live our life by. People can get great personal comfort from the structure of a religious belief system, but it is hardly an internal affair. Rarely are beliefs a person's own - they are passed on from person to the another via our multitudes of communication. This is highly evident in persons with mental illness, you can see the number of living Messiahs, Alien Abductees, et cetera - rise and fall based on what large stories are covered in the mainstream media. Generally this would be monitoring of Paranoid Schizophrenics - these people are getting tons of internal stimuli, but even that is tainted by external stimuli. To have a truly unique and independent religious belief system, you'd need a Helen Keller type. Of course people modify their religious beliefs internally, but belief in general remains an external structure for both thought and behavior - largely what makes it such a powerful force for control of a populace. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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