Cybernetic's comments

I've had an experience and ego-death on 500ug. I've done DMT once. That LSD experience produced hallucinations, including 'data' in my field-of-view like I was using an AR app. I was looking into a mirror as it was happening - the 'resolution' of the experience was so high-fidelity it seems impossible to have occurred. I wrote a very detailed report after and even have a video of me describing what I'm seeing only moments after I can back to my 'self' post ego-death. It was every bit as fascinating as DMT. That experience was the most significant of my life.

Yes, I completely agree. The 'abilities' I have due to Autism have been advantageous for me creatively and professionally, in spite of social struggles. Those abilities aside, people with ASD tend to have high levels of focus and deep knowledge (on one or several subjects), those traits are as important to identity as social norms. I wonder who I would be post treatment if this were available. Would I remember abilities I had that no longer exist? I was diagnosed late in life, at 40. I am comfortable with who I am and if there were any chance I'd lose myself to 'treatment' it would be a hard no for me.

I posted this response before I saw your thread (reposting here for context).

I have Autism. I don't know how I feel about this. It's exciting, but would a reversal remove advantageous traits of Autism too? There is little information about adults with Autism compared to what's available about adolescents. In my experience much of the info is about living with disabilities associated with Autism. I haven't found any research that focuses on the beneficial aspects of Autism - anecdotally I feel there are abilities of mind across the Autism spectrum that are especially useful, and for some, seemingly super-human. While one may gain some social skills, how much of their unique abilities would be lost to this process?

I have Autism. I don't know how I feel about this. It's exciting, but would a reversal remove advantageous traits of Autism too? There is little information about adults with Autism compared to what's available about adolescents. In my experience much of the info is about living with disabilities associated with Autism. I haven't found any research that focuses on the beneficial aspects of Autism - anecdotally I feel there are abilities of mind across the Autism spectrum that are especially useful, and for some, seemingly super-human. While one may gain some social skills, how much of their unique abilities would be lost to this process?

Last year for Halloween, I dressed as Hunter S Thompson (Fear and Loathing style). I remember being out and people remarking they really liked the costume, but how well I portrayed him. One person asked, "Are you on ether?" I replied, "No I'm on the spectrum." My normal body language movement is very fluid, seldom still. I don't hand flap, but I'm certain I have my own things. I feel masking will never do anything to change the conversation or raise awareness. ASD isn't entirely a disability, in fact to myself and likely many on this site (if you have it), there are aspects that are extraordinary if not super-human and quite beneficial day-to-day. The conversation about ASD seems to revolve only around the disabling aspects - expecting people to be something they are not, because their default mode is 'bad' does nothing to help.

Thanks for pointing this out... I was sure something was wrong with the site and it wasn't working - hover effects are 'invisible' on my MBP screen.

Native GPS systems are painfully slow, in my experience. I have a Subaru Impreza 2014. Its GPS usually tracks a full block behind we're I'm at. If I'm not paying attention and make a turn based on the voice-guidance alone, it's often a wrong turn. Re-routing takes a long time as well; too long to be useful. Additionally, I have to pay for annual map updates if I want them. To someone's point earlier, all interaction with the map is disabled while the car is in motion. It would be nice if it were unlocked so a passenger could use it.

So I use Google Maps on my phone. It's significantly faster, shows more meta-data relative to my route, e.g., delays and alternate route suggestions, and if it has to re-route it's usually immediate.

I'm looking forward to this, along with the Pencil, to carry with me for sketching/painting. I have no intended use for it, at the moment, other than as a drawing tablet. The smaller for factor is more appealing to me for this purpose.

I haven't seen mention of this since the news first broke, but is the FBI not asking Google for the same permissions? Is it simply that the FBI requested this access from Apple first?

"NPC firefighters and EMTs would extracted injured drivers from the wrecked cars and put them in ambulances, which then drive away to hospitals."

That happens to a small degree in Grand Theft Auto games. It tends to be more for comic effect than simulation, but it's a nice detail nonetheless. I hope one day games reach the fidelity you describe. It would be a fun world to wreak havoc in.

It definitely could have been a dream. It was a strange combination of the physical sensation of floating and falling, but also observing myself in the third person that was very unusual.

About 10 years ago, I had an experience that felt like I was out of my body. It occurred during the night while asleep. I woke up to find myself floating over the bed, just below the ceiling and against the wall opposite the bed.

I remember looking around the room and I could see myself and my wife asleep. It didn't register to me at that time, that I was looking at myself from outside my body. It felt like a dream and I didn't have any desire to try to fly around or through anything, I was content to float there and observe.

About a minute or two into the experience, I noticed something crawling across my pillow, towards my head. As I focused on it, it appeared to be a spider. This made me panic. I think the panic wasn't because of the spider, but that I suddenly realized I was floating in the air and looking at myself. I was overwhelmed with fear and felt myself suddenly fall into my body, at which point I woke up immediately. There was a physical sensation of light pressure when that happened. That experience felt like it lasted only a few minutes.

I jumped out of bed, turned on the some lights and looked all over. I pulled the blankets off the bed, turning over my pillow, etc. I woke up my wife and told her there was a spider on the bed. We spent a few minutes trying to find it, but to no avail. I never had anything like that happen before or since.

I don't know what actually happened, but the experience felt very real. There wasn't any alcohol or drugs involved, but I was in the Air Force at the time, so it could have been aliens. ;-)

Perhaps something similar to spoke-less bicycle wheels, that have a cover? I don't seem them very often, but they seem to be standard on bikes in indoor track races, e.g., Summer Olympics.

Do you have experience with specific recordings that aren't placebo? Can you please share links to those? I would be interested in listening to them, thanks!

It will be interesting to see how the home value estimates play out. Zillow and Trulia each have their own methodology for determining a home's value and the disparity between the value of each service lists can be significant.

I purchased a home two years ago in Portland, OR (South East). At the time of my purchase, its price on Zillow was listed as ~$70K less than it was appraised for (I had two appraisals and both were within $1K of one another). Trulia listed the value within $1K of the two appraisals.

In two years time, the value on Zillow is listed as the original purchase price. On Trulia, the value is ~$60K more (it is based on an average appreciation of 8% annually of homes in my neighborhood).

I know a home's value is only what someone is willing to pay for it, but the disparity in estimates between those two services has always bothered me.

I have been interested in the Surface Pro and now SP2 for the reason it appeals to Gabe. I considered buying a Wacom Cintiq for some time now, but it's difficult to justify its price, nearly the same as the SP2, when it's useful only when tethered to a computer, and then it's only useful for painting.

With the Surface Pro 2, which is only ~$100 more than a Wacom Cintiq, you get a comparable painting experience, and the additional benefits of having an portable laptop.

I think it comes down to what you intend to use if for and from that, how to draw your comparisons and justify whether it is right for you or not.

I feel your pain, this happens to me too. I thought extra RAM would help, but it didn't. I thought a clean install would help, but it didn't. I hope "DenverCoder9" is out there. :)