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Yeah.  A real issue.  It's different in one way, however, because of the mixing that was more prevalent than here, so it seems they have more strata from what I've seen.
Also, I was at a history of slavery museum in Colombia, and learned that the average lifespan of the slaves in Brazil was 6 months after they were dragged off the boat.  Then after dying they were replaced.  As opposed to the States, where they were more e pensive and therefore kept as breeding stock.
I cant imagine that that would not cause a whole different flavor of psychic scarring in the population

So, My fiance is from Brazil. I've been down there a few times now, and try to keep my finger on the pulse of their current events.
I am pleased to find that Brazil is the long lost brother of the United States.  I mean, we're not the same thing, but the resemblance in many respects is hilarious. 

Good to see you're still kicking around too.
And I'm glad that we are still concerned about the cat's penis after all these years.

Still in Texas.
Doing life. Got divorced. Raising two boys. Getting married. Having a baby girl.
Growing another fantastic moustache.
Gaping at this world, laughing and weeping!

Hello, everybody.
My name is Iptuous, and this seems like a good year to pop in.

Hope everyone is healthy.

And garrison isnt on it anymore, which is a shame. Except for his singing. Dont miss that a bit.
Im now 39 and divorced, so i guess mid life hits square.
Still not as old as tgrr though.

Well at least the cool kids are around, right?
I figured itd be active since the world is hilarious now.

Just finished cryptonomicon.  I love stephenson, but his endings are always so unsatisfying.

 
Nice.  So whats the haps around here these days? We still at eachothers throats in a charming way?

Everyone still kickin?

LOL, yeah, I guess you're right. I just tend to think emergent AGI is so far off, it's not rteally worth bothering about. What I'm more looking forward to is something that I think much more likely and much more short term - I'll stick my neck on the line and predict that the Turing test will be passed in the next 2-5 years by a machine that does not possess anything even verging on human-level intelligence.

Given that we have an entire mirror-neuron architecture dedicated to projecting anthropomorphic intellect here there and everywhere at the drop of a hat, I suspect that either the next generation of AI assistants or maybe the generation after that will be able to act human enough to fool pretty much everyone except the people working on developing these systems.

At this point we will probably have mass hysteria and paranoia that AGI has arrived and we're all going to die.

we're  getting closer...

That bad, huh?

Hay everbody!
Is everyone still kicking?

i think i will trust the capable duck.

Fun! 
I was painting these some last year, and now that things are starting to get a little less hectic, i'd like to start up again.

have you checked out coolminiornot.com?
there's some bad ass motivation thar!

also, i found that the right paints make all the difference in the world. (not that i'm really great or anything)  i was using some testors model paints that i picked up from hobby lobby and they didn't look too hot.
invested in some miniatures paints from the comic shop, and immediately improved. 
oh.  and a desk magnifying glass/lamp that my wife got me for my birthday helped a ton, too....
oh, and, AND.  i made a pintle so i can hold on to it, rather than the miniature itself when paining.  that helps a lot too.  able to keep it much steadier, and not bump it so damned much.  i just took a playdoh container, punched a few holes in the bottom, and some small zip ties to hold the mini on it, and that works like a charm.  they have fancier ways, but i'm cheap if i can be.