Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Davideo said 3:36PM on 4-04-2008
It seems like everyone has missed a major point of this article. "Consume food and create energy" is nothing new. What do you think your body cells do? And its not as if there's an infinite amount of food on the Earth to support enough artificial cells to "turn us into slaves." How would a microscopic cell turn everyone into slaves anyways?
And on the point of "creating life," a single cell does not exactly qualify as life. Life as many of you are thinking of it is SENTIENT life. A cell is nothing near this, it is simply a chemical factory. Sentient life requires billions of cells, a whole mess of differentiation, a complete nervous system, and self-awareness.
A single artificial cell is NOWHERE close to creating life. The only similarity to life is fact that life uses cells in order to be alive. Like the "square is always rectangle but a rectangle is not always a square" idea. Cells can exist without sentient life but life cannot exist without cells.
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Marianne Whitney said 2:42PM on 8-21-2007
Creating even the resemblense of human life is not right. The bible warns of just such a time in this world. Hasn't anyone noticed that our planet is the only one left with intelllegent life? Others have tried to duplicate God's work and they are no longer here in our universe.Why? Because they too became super intelligent and tried to create. We already have a population explosion going on.
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tazmaster said 3:07PM on 8-21-2007
i totally agree with you Marianne,and this world really needs to slow itself down before it self destructs.
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Michael said 3:24PM on 8-21-2007
Marianne Whitney says: "Others have tried to duplicate God's work and they are no longer here in our universe." What others? Marianne may know something that the rest of us don't. Oh, not to mention that "the bible warns about such a time." Just out of curiosity what do you think the bible says regarding this? I think that it could lead to applications that haven't even been thought of yet and everyone could benefit from it.
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e said 4:25PM on 8-21-2007
Marianne: have you toured the entire universe, after which you found out there is no life anywhere else? If so, let me know how you did it. Hurry.
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BR said 5:30PM on 8-21-2007
It's so ignorant to say anything to the tune of "well we shouldn't do it because god wouldn't want us to" or "the bible says not to".
If it takes believing in(or should I say fearing) god for you to act humanely or do the right thing, then by all means, go for it. I'm by no means anti-religious. The bible is a collection of feel good stories (or ones that scare you into being controlled) of all different religions of the time created in order to unite the people under one church.
"Hasn't anyone noticed that our planet is the only one left with intelligent life?"
Are you serious? Do you honestly think that our planet is the only one with intelligent life in the universe? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard..EVER. How self-centered can people be? It's good that you have faith and believe in god. There's nothing wrong with that. But why wouldn't god stick life on other planets out there as well? if he created all that, why wouldn't he use some it? Because the bible says so? oh wait...it doesn't. no where in the bible does it say that earth is the one true place that life can and will exist.
I hope they do one day create machines like Data (pictured). I wish they'd use them to replace all the sheep holding back humankind from actually getting anywhere or making any kinds of real advancements.
Believing in god is one thing. Believing in a book that was put together to control the masses by fear is another. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a lot of the stories are based loosely on facts. The point is, those facts are altered and taken from other sources to get people like you to believe what they (the religious leaders) want and so you'll keep on contributing to their control with your wallet.
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james.m.k said 1:13AM on 8-22-2007
Switched.com asked in a poll:
> Is human-created life dangerous?
> Yes
> No
How about rather than a nonsence poll like this (and countless others) adding "I don't know", and seeing how many people actually make the rational answer?
Or even something like the following:
Yes
I suspect so
I don't know
I suspect not
No
But that, I suspect is too much to ask.
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james.m.k said 1:17AM on 8-22-2007
Marianne Whitney said:
> Hasn't anyone noticed that our planet is the
> only one left with intelllegent life? Others
> have tried to duplicate God's work and they
> are no longer here in our universe.Why?
> Because they too became super intelligent and
> tried to create.
No, I never noticed this.
If you have a method to travel to other worlds where you could verify such a statement, perhaps you would be as good as to share it with the rest of us.
Otherwise I think you been partaking in too much of the sacramental wine... or peyote, or little cigarettes, or crack.
Maybe scientist can invent intelligent life, and the droning of such... well... drones will fade out
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CoolBeans said 2:08AM on 8-22-2007
GIVE ME A BREAK!! Like this world isn't overpopulating itself already!! And why are humans trying to play God? And what is the point of creating these little organisms... so they can eat and turn their food into energy...wow, plants do the same thing.. why dont you try finding a cure for cancer or something useful to this world...
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TheAutocrat said 4:14AM on 8-22-2007
We were created. Why should we try and create? The pictures I draw do not draw pictures themselves.
And if you're about to say, "Oh how do you know we were created?" then keep reading.
I don't believe I am coincidentally existant, and i think it's not logical to believe so. I don't think we should dabble into creating life. It doesnt help those already living, unless you want to make them into slaves... and we got rid of that a long time ago. We don't want another civil war do we? Especially over things we created ourselves. So whats the real point of spending tons of money on making microscopic organisms that can make energy out of what they consume?
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dogonit said 7:48AM on 8-22-2007
this is called a test tube baby
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james.m.k said 7:34AM on 8-23-2007
CoolBeans sadi:
> what is the point of creating these little organisms...
Possibly to invoke rash responses with only emotion behind them?
>why dont you try finding a cure for cancer or something useful to this world...
Hmm... Yes...
So you are saying that creating life would teach you nothing about life... I see your point...
Right...
Silly me, I always thought that creating something gives you insight into it that you could never otherwise achieve.
But I see now that ignorance is preferable. Thanks!
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taylikeapuma said 12:29PM on 8-28-2007
ok first off how does anyone know exactly whats out in the universe and whats not? my ponit exactly. i think we should do whatever comes naturally as human beings. if you wanna make new non-human life GO AHEAD im not gonna stop you. but i dont think its a perfect idea. just beware [and this is gonna sound geeky i know] ill be sitting here laghing if it blows up in your face and those new being take over the planet and we are all taken as slaves. ok i wont be laughing but im sure you get my point. =]
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Scott said 2:22PM on 8-28-2007
You had to know that the Doomsayers would come out of the woodwork on this one. From abolishing slavery to condeming space travel to the criminal denial of stem cell research the Bible has been used as an excuse to condemn progress for centuries.
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billy Z said 7:57PM on 8-28-2007
who the hell is worried about slavery ...? humans becoming their FOOD is what im talking about!!!! and just think of the horrible unthinkable things that slaughter houses do to live animals now to feed us ... i can only imagine they would do just the same to us !!!
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conspiriology said 2:14AM on 8-30-2007
When the Atheist has to defend his position on what God tells us to believe by faith, it is because Any discussion on science is better then anything those "dumb bible bimbos" have to say.
As for Atheists,,
"they believe anything "as long as it's not in the Bible.-Napoleon"
The Bible calls those who deny a Creator, "foolish" Only people who major in the mindless pursuit to disprove GOD can look this silly this deaf dumb and blind. To deny the creator they would have us believe that a painting didn't have a painter, that a building didn't have a builder, and that creation had no Creator or that evolution didn't have it's Darwin.
They believe a theory but explain as fact. While they laugh at our use of the Bible as our standard of truth often criticizing us for how old it is or that there is no credible witness to say exactly what happened when Christ walked the earth etc,
They see no problem with this at all when it comes to saying this or that happened or was likely to happened 70 billion years ago.
70 BILLION.
It takes approximately 65 years JUST to count to a billion but an Atheist knows JUST what happened that millennium down to the day or days the transition took place evolving. I hope it didn't take long anyway. One thing I like about OUR God's way of doing things,,
He gets the job done so that at least man will live to see it done
They don't believe the Bible simply because they consider themselves too "intelligent
I submit that all Darwin has done is come up with a "theory" that after all these years,, is no closer to figuring out where we came from WHY we are hear and where we are going then when it was first published.
What is the purpose of our existence? Where is the missing link? And what came first, the chicken or the egg?
The Bible says that the wisdom of this world is "foolishness" Greek moros: "stupidity" with God. It also says that when men profess themselves to be wise, they become fools (stupid).
God made us for Himself, there is no missing link--because every animal brought forth after its own kind, and that the first chicken came first, and the first egg came second. Looking for any other answer is the idiocy of pseudo intellectual junk science or the religion of Atheism.
Whatever Atheists can prove as I have yet to see a single shred of unfalsifiable proof that we are a happy accident.
I have seen Atheists here criticizing creation, asking why GOD lets this happen or lets people kill other people. This assumes GOD flies around the universe rescuing people like superman. I have seen an analogy about judging a book by it's cover because ugly people get a more raw deal in life and this too proves GOD doesn't exist.
This then is a flaw attributed to natural selection and the more flaws they find the more they prove that this is a mess here. This attempt to show how stupid it actually is and how an intelligent creator could have had no part in it then.
Clever?
Not in the least.
eliminating the "intelligent" part of the design, what does the Atheist do?? How does he make his presentation?
This is the angle they use.
He gives a review or critique of Gods work picking out flaws that indicate that a GOD or the one they can disprove by finding mistakes in his work. This by the way is done without any experience as a GOD themselves.
What GOD would have his chosen circumcise themselves was one question.
Why didn't GOD just do it for them?
I think this pretty much sums up the kind of GOD an atheist would be.
First we would all be some quasi "Aryan Stepford being" having no free will and would be forced by Atheist superior craftsmanship to do no wrong. This to take that objection about why god lets bad things happen out of the equation. NOW that's a GOD we can believe in!
I mean it must be because as GOD goes,, not adding this trait raises the question, "what god would do that kind of thing"
Whats good for the goose I always say.
So already we are making a better GOD and in this illustration, we use Natural selection without intelligent design just to see what we come out with . We will even allow them the benefit to use there own ideas they approved of and won't be used against them as part of a creator red herring.
The atheists acting as GOD will create a perfect race of beautiful people with nippless males and great eyesight moreover this is all going to be proven can be done by natural selection without the benefit of intelligence. The Atheist GOD will create beings to pro-create with someone that brings out the best overall appearance in their offspring.
This is so the Atheist deity will not be held accountable for having anyone of his zombie beings, prejudiced by an ugly appearance. Or judging books by their cover.
What we have then is "MODEL MAN" !!
This albeit real VOGUE on the outside Vague on the inside prototype would then have to have a series of super complex biological biochemical systems in place to bring forth LIFE from itself.
This also must be done without the use of ANY components that have been used before.
The next task is to breath life from nothing into this being. (How they do that I have no idea but I bet they say it will take Billions and Billions and Billions and Billions and Billions of years.
For some reason,, I kinda think it would take that long or longer lol.
Now we have to elect the Atheist among them to play God to prove this unfalsifiable theory testable.
Ah I think I have a way we can allow the Atheist being maker, to act as a BIG BANG to get the ball rolling in a way they won't be incriminating themselves or have us use any excuse that THEY MADE IT SO IT WAS INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
What we want to prove here is that evolution works by using many of there own suggestions and arguments
Now who to have as the BIG BANG to start things off
mmmmmm
While he criticizes us for lack of knowledge in macro-evolution and science, while needing someone to explain the basic principles of fetus development. ( Makes a little more sense when you have someone who knows how to create life from whence there was NONE).
I suggest BR' as the one to expedite the intitial charge of this experiment. He will be the one to create the nippless males the pre-circumsized chosen tribe, the Aryan stepford being with no free will. Now how does he do this without us calling him a creator thereby falsifying the experiment?
I mean we want to be impartial and it does present a problem but it is also the reason I think BR is best suited for the job. He has all the ideas for that perfect primordial soup. We give him a ample amount of nothing with a dash of more nothingness and Ill even thrown in some of his own eyeball designs, heck Ill even allow those to have living cells in them
to take the intelligent Design part out.
We need to remove BR's brain
Obviously,thats been done.
Ready?
GO!
Well? GO.. Make life ! if ya can't do it here you can't do it anywhere. Self Creating Matter pffft what a nincompoop
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Worldsmoved said 8:29AM on 9-20-2007
It's a tradgedy that people look at science from a theological view and to quote supposed sacred scriptures as reason for thier opposition. As a parent I have been reduced to saying 'cos I said so' when I am presented with a question I can't answer from my kids. It shows my inadeqacy. Pity the theists can't see that by saying 'cos the bible says' just shows they don't have an adequate answer to the question. Maybe they should just be honest and say "Hey I have no resoned argument of my own. My only refuge is to say cos I say so." Maybe theists should just stick to their theisms and leave the real things to those qualified to comment.
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China Blue said 12:36PM on 10-09-2007
Artificial life has already been created..it's name is Mitt Romney
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kunaiblaze said 7:00PM on 10-09-2007
People these days are so pathetic. They're pathetic to the extent of using the bible as a theological excuse for their oppositions. Worldsmoved, I totally agree with you, although I'm only 14. Reasoning due to scripture is most importantly, stating that they are true, which is not proven. I'm not an atheist, as one may state from my comment, for I am merely suggesting that this is a SCIENTIFIC issue. Using God's name to condone science is just too weak...
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JMPace said 7:38PM on 10-09-2007
The only thing we know about creation by God is that he/she/it created us in it's own image. Did you ever imagine, we don't know what God looks like, but we know part of His / Her / It's image is that of Creator so it makes total and totally moral sense that we should try to be Creators, because that is what God made us to do and be.
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