Kitteh says, “I likes video games too. Can has play?” Pew pew pew!

(via icanhascheezbuger)

Live Longer

In the news today was the story of how scientists have discovered a way to manipulate skin cells into behaving like embryonic stem cells. Which means they have the ability to turn into any kind of human tissue with the obvious potential of being used in the future to cure diseases and to replace faulty organs. It can also aid in medical research.

If the recipe for stem cell-like behavior can be perfected, individualized pluripotent cells could be created to reflect a particular disease condition — for example, allowing researchers to test potential treatments for Parkinson’s disease on living human neurons created in a culture dish.

Skin cells made to mimic stem cells - Cloning and stem cells- msnbc.com

This advance in medical research will in turn lead to more advances in medicine. Having better medicine technology may reduce ethical dilemmas such as whether to euthanise a terminally ill or severely handicapped loved one, but new ones are introduced.

How will we behave if we know we can live longer? Will we become less motivated and less concerned about personal achievements? How will we behave if we know we can repair any part of our bodies? Will we become more selfish and reckless in our actions and behaviour?

Will we deny this technology to persons we deem to be criminal and deviant, thus breeding them out eventually? Who gets to say who’s criminal and deviant?

Looking even further ahead, being able to recreate copies of our cells would mean that we can clone ourselves too. If we can afford it, should we be allowed to make copies of ourselves and live perpetually?

Will our societies become rigid in structure with stringent rules and laws governing genetics and our identities like that shown in the movie “Gattaca“? Or will it be a genetic madhouse as depicted in the videogame “BioShock“?

A “gene bank” in the video game Bioshock

Bringing this discussion closer to the present, the immediate effect of us living longer and healthier is the planet’s population growing at an ever greater exponential rate. Which leads nicely to the next section.

Killing the Planet

Just a few days ago, after a UN climate conference in Valencia, Spain, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had said that governments must do more to fight global warming.

Ban said that he had just been on a trip to see ice shelves breaking up in Antarctica and the melting Torres del Paine glaciers in Chile. He also visited the Amazon rainforest, which he said was being “suffocated” by global warming.

“I come to you humbled after seeing some of the most precious treasures of our planet - treasures that are being threatened by humanity’s own hand,” he said.

“These scenes are as frightening as a science fiction movie,” Ban said. “But they are even more terrifying, because they are real.”

Global warming action urgent: UN chief - Environment - smh.com.au

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented a report which says,

Human activity is “very likely” to be the cause of rising temperatures and that deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, are needed to avert ever more heatwaves, melting glaciers, extinctions and rising sea levels.

UN climate talks agree on blueprint for action - Environment - smh.com.au

Even if you think global warming is over-hyped, an ever increasing population creates more energy needs which will pollute the environment further. Plus it puts greater strains on the resources of our planet. Ever dwindling resources will lead to more people fighting over them. In a very simple nutshell, all human fighting and wars is essentially a fight to control resources: oil, land, minerals, food and water.

Global warming will lead to greater human conflict, so it’ll be hellish one way or another.

What am I trying to say?

Knowing the environmental impact the human race has on the planet mutes my enthusiasm for any kind of medical advances which will prolong our lives and makes us healthier. It also makes me ambivalent about having kids, and sometimes it makes me callous about people dying of hunger, in a war, a natural disaster or during an outbreak of a virulent disease.

With the possible exception of natural disasters (and maybe not if sea levels continue to rise), all of those things listed above can be directly or indirectly traced back to a problem with overpopulation.

But every species has the instinctive urge to procreate and perpetuate the species. The question for us is: will the human race be smart enough to rein back those urges to give the planet a chance to recuperate and heal itself?

How do you tell someone that they’ve failed miserably on the Internet by just using pictures? Here’s how. And these pictures definitely DO NOT FAIL.

This last one, maybe the dog just wants some oral?

More here:
WallStreetFighter: Thread Busters: 10 Signs Your Post Just Sucked

p0psicle @ stock.xchng

Being the king of short relationships, I’ve never had a girlfriend over any of the major holidays or events like Valentine’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s. I once had a girlfriend with whom I lasted long enough to go through Easter with, but that’s not usually a holiday one would associate with couples like the other three are.

Whether it’s a subsconscious decision, or fate and luck are both playing a funny joke on me, I don’t know. But because I’ve never ever had a girlfriend over those holidays, I don’t feel sad or lonely when the days arrive since I wouldn’t know the difference. Heh.

It could be a blessing in disguise though because I know of people who get depressed if they don’t have someone to kiss or hold over the holidays. I notice that this happen with women more often than men. Sometimes, their behaviour would border on desperation - they’d rather have anyone than no one.

Me? I love the holidays. With the possible exception of Valentine’s Day (even though I think I’d be good at it), which I feel a mild-disdain for its over-commercialisation and for giving couples an excuse to gloat over singles, I enjoy being unattached during those times. The primary reason is because the end of year parties are so much more fun as a single person.

So do any of you feel depressed if you were single over the holidays, and you’d feel a desperate urge to hook up with someone and anyone? Or are you like me and think “Fuck it! I’m gonna get wasted and snog some strangers”?

I have a long held belief that money and friends do not mix. If I can help it, I follow a few simple rules:

1. Do not lend money to friends.
2. Do not borrow money from friends.
3. Repay money owed from social outings on the spot, or very quickly soon after.

I hate having to ask for my money back from a friend, and it will only happen once. That is, if you don’t take the initiative or feel the urgency to repay the money to me, that will be the last time that you can expect any monetary favours from me.

Once bitten and twice shy and all that - words spread quickly too if this is a consistent behaviour. You will find your social circle shrink as a result.

They say that you shouldn’t mix business with friends, and that is usually because of money. Two people may share similar interests and business ideas, but the way they think money and funds should be handle could be completely different. Only mix money and friends if you are prepared to lose that friend. This applies to lovers too.

Avoid sexually transmitted debt | NEWS.com.au

Do unto others …

I feel uneasy anytime I have to make a friend wait for their money back because I know how sucky it is to feel being owed money. And just like how you should handle any other kinds of debt (especially those with interests attached), if you come into any kind of windfall or if you have the spare cash in hand, you should always pay off the debts first. That is why I always repay at the first opportunity.

Don’t be a leech and don’t be a tight-arse

Going against the few simple rules stated above, sometimes it’s good to be generous and not be petty. In this sense, you are no longer “lending” or “borrowing” money. It’s a give and take situation. A simple example would be buying rounds of drinks at the pub. When it’s your turn to shout, don’t pretend you don’t know the rules or that it’s your turn.

Similarly, don’t order expensive items on the menu and then later on insist that everyone split the bill. You know your food cost more and you should pay for it. We are not here to subsidise your meals. If you can’t afford to eat expensive normally, don’t do it when you are out with us. Or hang out with us because you expect that we will be paying most of the time.

The above two examples are quick and easy ways to cut yourself out from future group outings. Don’t be surprised if no one bothers to call you to go out anymore.

Sometimes, it also shows a lot of class if you don’t remember whose round it was or if you don’t think like this: “they bought cheap drinks too, so I’m only going to buy cheap drinks when it’s my shout”. This bar analogy can be applied to many other social situations as well.

However, don’t feel the need to be generous if you really can’t afford it. For example, if you don’t think you got the money to buy the next round, a subtle way out is to decline your friend’s shout. If you don’t accept their drink, then you won’t feel obligated to shout them next.

If you do unto others as you would have done unto you, people will enjoy hanging out with you

As long as you are not a tight-arse, and you return money that you owe quickly without them having to ask for it, then people will like hanging out with you. Because after all, money can’t buy true friends so why let it ruin your social reputation?

Unless of course, you prefer money to true friends. In which case, I wouldn’t want to associate with you.

Facebook addict? You know the terms “notifications”, profile pictures, wall, “news feed”, “top friends” etc.? Then you’d get this. OMG Hilarious!

Stay tuned, or just keep hitting refresh over and over.

(via College Humor)

Like Mulan, a woman should take charge of her life when necessary

I had a conversation with a friend in her early 30s a couple weeks ago. She had just broken up with her boyfriend of close to 5 years. I brought up a couple of points that I felt strongly about and I thought I’d share them with you.

1. A woman has a finite window in her life when she can have kids safely, easily and without too much complications. If she wants children but the man who she’s with cannot commit, or does not want to have children with her, then she has to cut her losses short and move on. In this case, listening to her biological clock is the right thing to do.
2. A single woman in her 30s who’s confident, and who’s established in her career should stop playing the coquettish woman she was in her 20s. If she likes a man, she should make the first move. Stuff “The Rules” and take the initiative. Men really love that. I know I do. And if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter - you don’t want an insecure man anyway. You ain’t got time to dick around.