Thread: 2012

  1. #1
    Guest Sebastiani's Avatar
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    Exclamation 2012

    According to the ancient Maya culture, there is an important celestial cycle that runs 1,872,000 days (or roughly 25,625 years). This cycle was so central to their timekeeking that their Long Count calender in fact corresponds to the last fifth of it's period, the last day being December 21, 2012. There has been a lot of speculation about the significance of the cycle, but most likely it corresponds to the solar system's crossing through the plane of the galactic equator. The Mayans made several references to a 'spike of energy' originating from the center of the galaxy at this apex (interestingly, they were somehow aware of the fact that we orbit the Milky Way!), which could cause the sun to glow brighter, among other things. It's possible, I suppose, but then considering the shear magnitude of the galaxy, we are already so close to the juncture that we would probably be able to detect to some degree these changes already, wouldn't we? What do you think?
    Code:
    #include <cmath>
    #include <complex>
    bool euler_flip(bool value)
    {
        return std::pow
        (
            std::complex<float>(std::exp(1.0)), 
            std::complex<float>(0, 1) 
            * std::complex<float>(std::atan(1.0)
            *(1 << (value + 2)))
        ).real() < 0;
    }

  2. #2
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sebastiani View Post
    (interestingly, they were somehow aware of the fact that we orbit the Milky Way
    Yeah, the aliens explained a lot to us while they were building the pyramids among other things.

    My opinion is that we don't understand nearly as much as we think we do. Like those centuries before us who thought they had it all figured out and thought they had the proof to back it up... we can be wrong about almost everything we think we understand. All you need is something wrong in the foundation and then everything that's evolved from that would have to make sense.
    Last edited by SlyMaelstrom; 04-22-2009 at 08:20 AM.
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    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    I think most of us are so bored that many of us sit around thinking up new ways that civilization will destroy itself.

    I say its 100% bogus. Like I'm gonna listen to some ancient culture that practiced human sacrifice and did not have half the mathematics we have today. Complete and utter nonsense propogated by television channels that are more concerned with making a buck on hype and fear than broadcasting true scientific programs. Real science, if I recall, is far less dramatic than television.

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    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
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    2012 is a bunch of fiction.

    The year 2012 will simply be the end of the current baktun in the Mayan calendar, and the start of a new baktun. This happens roughly every 400 years (394.3 to be exact). It's essentially like a Mayan new years celebration event except it's a new-400-years event.
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  5. #5
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DavidP View Post
    The year 2012 will simply be the end of the current baktun in the Mayan calendar, and the start of a new baktun. This happens roughly every 400 years (394.3 to be exact). It's essentially like a Mayan new years celebration event except it's a new-400-years event.
    We're gonna get soooo wasted.
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  6. #6
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    That's nothing to get excited about. It's not like when the UNIX timestamp reached 123456789 or anything.
    "I am probably the laziest programmer on the planet, a fact with which anyone who has ever seen my code will agree." - esbo, 11/15/2008

    "the internet is a scary place to be thats why i dont use it much." - billet, 03/17/2010

  7. #7
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Nah, the Vermanii fleet arrives in 2011, not 2012. By 2012 they will have cleansed orbital object 23R-4782 and it will be ready for seeding with new biomes.

    BTW I got my CDL permit today, I'm getting my hazmat endorsement tomorrow Imagine me driving a 40 ton death machine filled with lethal chemicals down the highways of america, YEEEEHAWWWWWW!!!!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnRwQjTYfGI
    Last edited by abachler; 04-22-2009 at 07:12 PM.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by abachler View Post
    BTW I got my CDL permit today, I'm getting my hazmat endorsement tomorrow Imagine me driving a 40 ton death machine filled with lethal chemicals down the highways of america, YEEEEHAWWWWWW!!!!!!

    YouTube - East Bound and Down
    Changing careers?
    I thought you were a software developer.
    "I am probably the laziest programmer on the planet, a fact with which anyone who has ever seen my code will agree." - esbo, 11/15/2008

    "the internet is a scary place to be thats why i dont use it much." - billet, 03/17/2010

  9. #9
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Yes, but this will give me the experience I need to write an AI that will drive the trucks automatically.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by abachler View Post
    Yes, but this will give me the experience I need to write an AI that will drive the trucks automatically.
    They already have those (but it's a big secret). Homer Simpson already uncovered that conspiracy.
    "I am probably the laziest programmer on the planet, a fact with which anyone who has ever seen my code will agree." - esbo, 11/15/2008

    "the internet is a scary place to be thats why i dont use it much." - billet, 03/17/2010

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    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cpjust View Post
    That's nothing to get excited about. It's not like when the UNIX timestamp reached 123456789 or anything.
    It reached 1234567890.
    "The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it." - John Gilmore

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba View Post
    I think most of us are so bored that many of us sit around thinking up new ways that civilization will destroy itself.

    I say its 100% bogus. Like I'm gonna listen to some ancient culture that practiced human sacrifice and did not have half the mathematics we have today. Complete and utter nonsense propogated by television channels that are more concerned with making a buck on hype and fear than broadcasting true scientific programs. Real science, if I recall, is far less dramatic than television.
    Yeah.
    I'm not immature, I'm refined in the opposite direction.

  13. #13
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    I totally freaked out and forgot 2012 when I found out the polarity of the earth is reversing soon:
    Grand Unification: Earth's Flipping Magnetic Polarity
    NOVA | Magnetic Storm | When Compasses Point South | PBS
    Earth's Inconstant Magnetic Field
    Sometime duration the transition we may lose our main sheild from cosmic radiation for a while -- now is the time to invest in solar power.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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    If I'm not mistaken the jews have a similar calendar set-up to the mayans, where there's a secular calendar and a religious calender, and whenever they line up in certain ways is when big things are supposed to happen. I wonder when THAT calendar thinks the world'll end.

  15. #15
    Guest Sebastiani's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba View Post
    I think most of us are so bored that many of us sit around thinking up new ways that civilization will destroy itself.

    I say its 100% bogus. Like I'm gonna listen to some ancient culture that practiced human sacrifice and did not have half the mathematics we have today. Complete and utter nonsense propogated by television channels that are more concerned with making a buck on hype and fear than broadcasting true scientific programs. Real science, if I recall, is far less dramatic than television.
    Typical cultural arrogance. The Mayans were neither barbarians nor mathematically illiterate. Their society was and is quite sophisticated, in fact. My first girlfriend was Mayan and her family still practiced many of the traditions (except sacrifice, I think). I gained some perspective in the workings of the culture and was actually very impressed with their level of social grace and refinement. Their mathematics may not have been quite as sophisticated as ours is today, but was hardly primitive. Using simple methods (that could be taught to a preschooler, by the way) they were able to manipulate extremely large numbers quite easily. Their astronomical knowledge was extensive. They understood that the earth was a sphere and that it circled the sun, that the sun was a star, and many celestial cycles to a high degree of precision. As a people, they seem to be embrace a peaceful, joyful, and helpful attitude, as a whole, which I find quite refreshing. Another interesting thing (if not unnerving to my European sensibilities) is how much freedom their children are given. For example, it isn't uncommon to see a 6 year old helping out in the kitchen with the job of cutting the vegetables (with a very sharp knife)!

    I wan't implying an end-of-the-world scenario, either - just that there may be some cosmic significance to the cycle. But yeah, the more I research it, the more it seems that some of the claims may have been fabricated by New Age wierdos.
    Code:
    #include <cmath>
    #include <complex>
    bool euler_flip(bool value)
    {
        return std::pow
        (
            std::complex<float>(std::exp(1.0)), 
            std::complex<float>(0, 1) 
            * std::complex<float>(std::atan(1.0)
            *(1 << (value + 2)))
        ).real() < 0;
    }

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