Slashdot Mirror

http://blog.macmillanspeaks.com/ There's your culprit NOT Amazon! Looks closely at this Kindle book http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fear-Culture-Manipulates-ebook/dp/B001AO0GOK/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Note that it says "This price was set by the publisher". MacMillen led the charge for control of ebook pricing on all platforms. Apple was the first to sign the deal allowing this in their attempt to try and break into this industry. Supposedly the industry, the publishers, get LESS money on each sale than they did before. Rocket scientists aren't they?

Don't be pissed off at Amazon about the prices. Amazon actually has a program that allows authors to self publish with them and the authors that do make MORE money than they do via traditional publishing. A couple of them have blogs documenting this but I don't have the link handy. I think ads are a mistake, I'll believe Amazon is this stupid when I see more than a patent app and actually see such an ad in a book. Assuming of course that prices ever come down enough for me to be willing to buy another ebook. I stopped 6months ago when this crap began. Prices on Kindle books jumped as much as $4 overnight when this hit and they have yet to come down. That book I linked is just the latest one I wanted and didn't buy because of it. I could easily find ten more just like it if I tried... Oh do note how long ago that book was published. So much for publishers claims that they would drop prices over time - I guess Penguin didn't sign up for that deal.

People who buy Kindles read more, I know I sure do - or did. Then the publishers got greedy, took over the pricing, and now ebooks cost as much or more than paper books if they are produced by a major publisher. Here's the latest book I WAS interested in http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fear-Culture-Manipulates-ebook/dp/B001AO0GOK/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2 It was first published TWO YEARS ago. The ebook costs more than the hardcover and I cannot lend, share, nor sell it when done.

Thank these asshats -> http://blog.macmillanspeaks.com/

Actually ebooks are now often MORE expensive than paper books. Seriously. Here's the latest book I WAS looking to buy from Amazon - note the chart with the prices

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fear-Shouldnt-Ourselves-Greater/dp/B001U0OGAY/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

I haven't found a torrent - yet. I won't buy the paper version. This is by far not the first ebook I've found in this situation.

Can we hit up other vices as well? Booze and tobacco are obvious, but I can find pathologically addicted people for virtually any hobby.

> The fundamental assumption is that there is some kind of mystical brain/mind dualism.
> Mind is nothing more than categorized recollected experience extrapolated to understand unfolding or future/potential events.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at your total ignorance. Materialism has long been disproved / shown to be incomplete. Brain != Mind.

For starters I would recommend:

  - Peter Russell, The Primacy of Consciousness
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7799171063626430789#

- Lynne McTaggart, The Intention Experiment
http://www.amazon.com/Intention-Experiment-Using-Thoughts-Change/dp/0743276965/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

Are you that blissfully unaware of what the founder of the quantum theory, Max Plank, said back in 1931 ??
    "I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness."

Finally, as a mystic, you are completely blind to the levels of consciousness. To use a computer analogy, the brain is the hardware, the mind the software, the spirit the electricity.

Pop one of these AKDL1's on it, and the machine is immune to trojans.

Been done. Check out Breathers: A Zombie's Lament in which the main character is, "a newly risen zombie, he's forced to live in his parents' basement, attend Undead Anonymous meetings just to get out of the house, and endure abuse of all kinds from the living." A fun read.

A bit off topic but I also enjoyed this Amazon review of an equally-ridiculous product. http://www.amazon.com/review/R2HXVIKJY27SHC/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Best part: "With a watch like this you don't need to tell time, you tell people what time it is."

IMHO one of the best articles explaining the audiophile consumer phenomenon of flushing money down the toilet is the following:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#gordongow

Basically, Gordon Gow (of McIntosh audio, nothing to do with the computer company) built a system to demo at trade shows whereby 50 feet of his "mistery" speaker cable could be A/B compared against the "high-end" cables from companies like Monster. Nobody could tell the difference.

Gordon's cable was two pairs of heavy-gauge Radio Shack lamp cord twisted together, at something like $0.18/foot. Basically, he proved that if the speaker cable is heavy enough to handle the power & impedance, and non-corrosive so it doesn't turn nasty colors after sitting in a humid basement for 6 months, then it is really all that is necessary for any audio setup. ...and this is in the analog domain. Denon sells a farking "audiophile" ethernet cable for $2500. The product reviews are hilarious BTW.

This reminds me of the Slashdot story on several-thousand-dollar ethernet cables from Monster a few years back. *sigh*

That wasn't monster, it was Denon. But you are right in the fact that monster cables are ridiculously priced.

On another note, there are actually some computer cables, such as Ultra320 SCSI cables, that do really well in transferring small signal data. The reason is because they are in a twisted pair configuration (on the good cables), and that cuts down on electromagnetic leakage. That said, the frequencies Ultra320 SCSI operates at are way beyond what anyone would ever need for audio which is in the kHz range. Ultra320 and its cousin Ultra320 transmit at 80 and 160 MHz, respectively.

A bit off topic but I also enjoyed this Amazon review of an equally-ridiculous product. http://www.amazon.com/review/R2HXVIKJY27SHC/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

I suspected it about 7 years ago when facing depression issues. I suggested it to the psychiatrist I was seeing at the time, but he didn't see it. I guess he was looking for someone lower functioning in that regard. Anyway, I moved somewhere sunnier and the depression issues went away, and life went on.

Then I ended up talking to a new friend. We clicked instantly. Being an aspie herself, she totally saw it in me. So I started researching. I read a lot of books. But one book in particular read almost like a biography of myself: The Complete Guide to Asperger Syndrome by Tony Attwood. I never felt so understood or explained in my life. If you suspect you have AS, read the book. If it makes sense, it's pratically certain.

You know... the $1000 MSRP Glorified Ethernet cable ?

It must improve sound quality, speed, performance, or something.

This disproving the suggestion of this post that a cable can't improve the quality of 1s and 0s...

I mean.... why else would people spend so much on a special link cable, if it were not better than your run of the mill Ethernet cable?

Surely such a reputable manufacturer would not consider trying to sell people a useless product. Right?

I mean... look at all the cabling/media choices we have even for just plain Ethernet cable Cat3, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat5e 24 AWG, Cat6, Cat6a, Cat7.....

We can also use the cheap connectors, or the gold plated ones.

There's gotta be some reason people are willing to spend the extra for gold plated Cat6a or 5e, for their home networks....

Meh...

http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-K2-terminated-speaker-cable/dp/B000J36XR2/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

And the reviews are just as good. ;)

Something... happens with them.

(For the lazy readers out there: http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/dp/B000I1X6PM)

I always wonder...where did the fools get all these money to spend in the first place?

I can't even afford a $2,500 ethernet cable, even when I'm supposedly spending my money wisely.

Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable 2 used from $2,499.98 1 refurbished from $999.99 Read the reviews.

If it begins to be used to track people's movements about an area, say using fastpass / bridge toll / toll booth RFID in conjunction with other sources of information you can get a pretty good view of who is where and when and build patterns from that. If they begin to correlate the data and build a norm then the authorities can say they have probable cause to cause you grief. Cory Doctorow's book Little Brother

The single "best" story of zombifying parasites have to be the Sacculina barnacles. Read this to lose some sleep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacculina

The basics: Barnacle attaches itself to crab. Weaves tendrils throughout crabs central nervous system to take control of the crab and also leach neutrients from it. The crab stops growing and molting at that part. It will not engage in normal behavior like regrowing lost limbs. Anything behavior that does not serve the parasite is suppressed If the crab is a female, the barnacles sprouts an internal egg sac at the exact place a crabs would be and causes the crab to care for the eggs as if it is its own.

If the crab is a male? IT REWIRES THE CRABS INTERNAL PLUMBING AND *MAKES* IT A FEMALE!!

Truly insane stuff. I remember first reading about them in the book Parasite Rex (highly recommended, btw), and one biologist recounts the crabs behavior when it feels the parasite latch on to a joint in its armor. At first, the crab is panicked, flailing around, trying to scrape the damn thing off. Then, as the hours go by, and the parasite takes over its system, it slowly stops its resistance, until it becomes a zombie crab. It will then be used up and discarded.

Pretty horrifying, if you ask me. No crab deserves to go out like that. :)

I've read a certain British book recently: http://www.amazon.com/Global-Warming-Other-Bollocks-Science/dp/1844547183

They have numbers and figures to prove that British rail is FAR, FAR MORE subsidized and far less efficient than the road network. Their explanation seems quite plausible: most of the railway tracks is empty at any given moment, while road is constantly filled with the column of vehicles.

If we take this into account, coaches seem to be much more optimal way of medium-range passenger transportation.

Actually, there is a fundamental reason for that. The problem is that, at least presently, we use TTL logic that requires distinct and stable detection of on and off states. Without that, errors creep in and things go wonky after that. It's the way we have designed every bit of digital electronic gear to date.

There is a large body of research on analog VLSI and neural systems, e.g. Carver Mead's book is 20 years old now.

Ooops... make that Carver Mead, Addison Wesley 1989

I have ADHD. I've had it since I was a young child. It has been diagnosed independently at various points in my life by several psychiatrists and psychologists, most of whom are ADHD specialists. I have no doubt that ADHD continues to be overdiagnosed, especially by family physicians who don't have enough knowledge and experience on the subject. However, there are also a lot of people on Slashdot who know even less about it but still go on and on about how ADHD doesn't exist and parents just need to be more tolerant. It's not all about the parents.

Right now, I'm in the home stretch of a PhD in computer science. Getting to this point would have been nearly impossible if it weren't for getting treatment for the ADHD. At first, I tried to do without the medicine. I don't like it and I worry about the long-term effects. However, I wasn't getting things done and I was sinking into a hole to a point where I knew I couldn't possibly finish the PhD if I didn't get treatment. As it stands, medication is one component of the overall plan for coping with my inability to concentrate on my work and get things done normally. I've learned a lot of strategies from reading bits here and there, and just studying the problem as I worked my way through undergrad and now grad school. There are dozens of tactics that I use regularly that have worked well. As one example, I carry a supply of earplugs everywhere I go and use them whenever I need to study or work. There's no silver bullet, but together, they have helped a lot.

That said, without the medicine, I don't think I could accomplish what I'm trying to do. That's not a lack of confidence. It's just a realization that if you have to read 5+ research papers a week on top of a bunch of other stuff, it's not going to work if it takes you an hour to read two pages - 4-5 hours for a 10-page conference paper of any substance. Before I got on the medicine, people around me thought I might end up dropping out.

While I totally agree that overdiagnosis of ADHD is a problem, it would be kinder if folks here would recognize that for some people, ADHD it really is an important component of the problem and getting treatment can help them get on their way.

There are a variety of perspectives out there, but one that is gathering steam (and makes a lot of sense to me personally) is Thomas Brown's work on executive functioning. A couple of references:

• http://www.drthomasebrown.com/pdfs/ef_article.pdf
• http://www.amazon.com/Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Unfocused-University/dp/0300119895/

1. Go to the Amazon page for Calculus: Early Transcendentals
2. Click the cover image (Click to look inside!)
3. Go to the Lulu page for Calculus Twirly Exponentials Volume 1
4. Click on the Preview link (under the cover image)
5. Look at the cover page of both: they are different
6. Look at the first page of both (and every page after): they are the same

I've refreshed to make sure it's not a temporary bug with Lulu that has been fixed. It happens every time.

Speaking of mementos, there's a book carried by Amazon called Memento: My Life In Stories, that could provide a guided structure for capturing some of what you're looking for. I've been thinking about buying copies for my surviving relatives. http://www.amazon.com/Memento-Life-Stories-Michael-McQueen/dp/0811873757/

What Kurzweil doesn't understand could fill a book.

Several in fact.

HP's board used a technique usually only employed by private dicks, called "pretexting", to round up all the private cell numbers of board numbers, so they could figure out who leaked a HP story to CNET. This was in '06:

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2006/09/71730

This company makes Intel look like shangra-la. Working for HP, even at the top levels, is akin to working for Uncle Joe Stalin in '43. They're gonna know who you are and where you live, who you talk to and if you like giving it hookers up the butt. Everything and more, for the HP paycheck.


Remind yourself of the company history and tactics when deciding on that new printer.

There needs to be a book on HP like Jackson' book on Intel:
http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Intel-Andrew-Powerful-Company/dp/052594141X

HP, Cisco, Intel - all of these are cultures of paranoia and spying. Much of it has been documented in books like the one above. Caveat emptor.

If it was consumer focused, this feature would be advertised as a selling point on cell phones

Well, some people think it's a good idea, but notice that unless they wanted to mandate radio quality, it's not likely to have even a minor benefit. I just send the kids off on a road trip with a couple new video players. These are great little no-name devices - they play most formats, come with enough storage for a long car trip (900Kb mpeg4 via ffmpeg), do audio, video, ebooks - and FM radio.

Now, that last one seems odd, doesn't it? I thought so and decided to check it out, just for grins. Now, I don't live in an area with much on the dial, and I have good radios at the house for picking up more distant stations, but there are 3-4 strong local stations that can be heard anywhere. Except on these little things. The FM radio is effectively useless, the strongest stations cut in and out.

My suspicion is some marketdroid insisted on that extra feature, but whoever designed the unit for sale (or at the Chinese reference design) knew that almost nobody would use it and keeping the price low was the biggest goal. So they put in a very very cheap, worthless radio. All that really results in is a slightly higher price, more UI clutter, and probably slightly reduced battery life.

Any mandate like this would likely result in the same course of action, mostly causing harm. Of course, mandating radios in telephones isn't one of the enumerated Powers of Congress last I looked, so I can't blame the *AA or corrupt politicians quite so much as the People who let them get away with this nonsense. And, perhaps ultimately, they'll be the ones who wind up shouldering the outcome with crappier phones.

What I want IS the old stuff. I want the ORIGINAL series on DVD ... Why can't we just buy the original cut?

You can. Sure, you have to get the special edition versionsas well, but this DVD set includes all the originals on "bonus discs." You can also find the orignal-only DVD single discs used as well.

Is it about "winning" the argument

It's about winning the argument.

You don't even need a hub then: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-RJ45SPLITTER-Splitter-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00009XSZE

Wrong. I've got the original retail boxes for both Burning Crusader and Lich King on a bookshelf behind me right now.

http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Pc/dp/B000067FDW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1281883998&sr=8-3

Actually they did a release of the special editions a number of years back that had the original theatrical prints

IT's still available from some places such as http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Episode-IV-Widescreen/dp/B000FQJAIW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1281865521&sr=8-1

J

Yeah. As an example of good, early tablet use, take a look at hacked ePODs one ' s

http://www.amazon.com/Salton-EP1-ePods-Handheld-Computer/dp/B00004YNWY

http://www.lonnypaul.com/epods-hacking-info-archive/2005/11/29/

This artifact from a dot-com flameout was hacked early in the 2000's to allow web surfing and remote desktoping from the underlying MIPS Windows CE impelmentation. A handful of WiFi-b cards were supported. I had one, and everybody thought, at the time, it was really the bee's knees.

That is NOT a Troll, as any (old and experienced) mechanic can tell you!

The British car and motorcycle industries tried manfully to commit suicide. They built pretty, beautifully finished, delicate unreliable junk.

That worked until Japan and Germany ate their lunch by producing tough, reliable vehicles you didn't have to be a skilled mechanic to keep on the road. I grew up working on both the cars and bikes, and have no desire to go back. They were fine vehicles by 1940s reliability standards, but that was a long time ago even in the 1960s when the decline began.

Here's the classic on the Britbike implosion, the car story is similar:

http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Happened-British-Motorcycle-Industry/dp/1859604277

And, I've found a good solution. There is an app that lets you create and load topo maps for free to your sd card (AlpineQuest) which only requires GPS to work, and numerous apps that let you disable any service (radio, 3g/2g/1g, gps, etc) so that the phone doesn't even look for service. and use a solar charger ($15 for a decent one on amazon) if charge is an issue (also charges with AA batteries). Also would come in handy with an app called Compass that gives you GPS elevation and (obviously) a digital compass. either that, or get a garmin fortrex gps for $107

And, I've found a good solution. There is an app that lets you create and load topo maps for free to your sd card (AlpineQuest) which only requires GPS to work, and numerous apps that let you disable any service (radio, 3g/2g/1g, gps, etc) so that the phone doesn't even look for service. and use a solar charger ($15 for a decent one on amazon) if charge is an issue (also charges with AA batteries). Also would come in handy with an app called Compass that gives you GPS elevation and (obviously) a digital compass. either that, or get a garmin fortrex gps for $107

Carrying guns is far more offensive than lumping two disgusting organisations in with each other.

Why? If I carry a gun correctly you won't even know it is there. Why is that offensive?

Do you also find it offensive when people have fire extinguishers in their homes?

Do you also find it offensive when people have baseball bats, tire irons, golf clubs, and similar lethal bludgeons? How about petrol: that has been used to burn down buildings with people inside. Is it offensive to possess petrol?

Guns have been used to murder people. Guns have also been used to stop a violent crime. My claim is that law-abiding people with guns are not the source of violence in society.

This is the trouble with the NRA, they tell lies like those.

Actually, I was thinking of a book called The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy which has lengthy discussion about England. And I am mystified that you think it is a lie to call England a largely non-violent place.

My claim is that England could get rid of its ban on handguns, and it would not become more violent as a result. Violence is a result of people, not of instruments, and the people of England are largely non-violent.

violence has actually halved.

I took a look at those statistics. According to those, only 19% of violent incidents involved a weapon of any kind. Yet all violence went down, not just firearm-related violence. Are you seriously claiming that a ban on handguns led to an immediate reduction in all forms of violence? If so, why hasn't it ever worked that way in the USA?

that's exactly what happened. An incredible decrease in violence.

References, please. As far as I know, there has been a steady decrease in violence in the past ten or fifteen years, while at the same time, gun control laws have been relaxing. The Brady law has sunset, and the majority of states now make it easy for law-abiding citizens to legally carry a handgun. According to your theories, shouldn't violent crime be increasing in the United States?

And perhaps you can explain to me why there are more per-capita violent crimes in Washington D.C., where handguns are banned, than there are in Olympia, WA, where handguns are not banned? If I'm doing my maths correctly, there are over four times as many violent crimes per person in Washington D.C. than in Olympia. Since you don't seem to be a fan of the NRA, I got my numbers from the FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/data/table_06.html

And note that when you go to the FBI Uniform Crime Report web site, there is a caution against directly comparing cities to rank them in terms of violence. The caution lists many variables to consider. I submit to you that if you consider all those variables you are likely to get a better prediction on the amount of violence than if you just consider availability of firearms.

It's this kind of blatent lying about life or death matters that makes it OK to lump the NRA in with the Ku Klux Klan.

Is the FBI in on this blatant lying also?

I suspect that I will not be able to persuade you of anything, so I will leave you with just two thoughts:

0) Be suspicious of any overly-simplistic rule, such as "guns inevitably drive people to acts of violence". Society is more complicated than that.

1) Remember that people who disagree with you might not be lying bastards worthy of your hate. It sounds like your views on firearms are rather different than my own, but I don't hate you, and I hope you don't hate me.

steveha

Cheap lithium ion batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Droid-1300mah-Standard-Battery/dp/B00317ZW48

$6.28 including shipping, cheap enough for you?

If you want a spare battery charger it runs ~$10.

Of you could use a device that charges the phone from AAs, you can even use that on your iPhone.

I'm sorry to hear that. This is what little help I can provide:
    "Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals" by Thomas Moore
    http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Nights-Soul-Finding-Through/dp/1592400671
"When it comes to spiritual growth, we humans are solar-seeking beings; eager for the bright lights of clarity and the bliss of illumination. Paradoxically, we all need to walk through the shadow of the dark night in order to discover a life worth living, according to psychotherapist and spiritual commentator Thomas Moore. Unlike depression, which is more of an emotional state, Moore calls the dark night a slow transformation process, which is fueled by a profound period of doubt, disorientation and questioning. Ultimately, a journey into the dark night will reshape the very meaning of your life. As a self-proclaimed "lunar type," Moore is comfortable leading his clients and readers into the shadows, where ambiguities and mysteries lurk around every corner. He describes the dark night journey in stages, starting with feeling distant from your life even as you continue to go through the motions. The second phase is "liminality," meaning living on the threshold between the known self and the unknown self. This is perhaps the most uncomfortable phase as the dark night may "take you away from the cultivation and persona you have developed in your education and from family learning," he explains. After dwelling in this murky darkness, there's a stage of "re-incorporation," in which one integrates the profound inner transitions into daily life. Like a tour guide to the underworld, Moore leads readers through all these phases, offering tools and rituals for making the journey more tolerable or at least more meaningful. He also speaks to the many arenas and stages of life in which we might find ourselves stumbling through the dark, with chapters on marriage, parenting, sexuality, creativity and health. The scope is ambitious, and at times the structure seems disjointed--but this is perhaps Moore's best contribution since Care of the Soul, proving once again that he is a wise and formidable spiritual teacher. (Gail Hudson)"

I feel vouchers will address many issues with the public school system. I vote for people who support putting in a voucher system. Other than voting my energy will primarily be focused on my children's upbringing and not "the public" upbringing. My wife is the alpha educator in our house.

We can't agree on healthcare or retirement policies how on Earth would I convince others to adopt a specific learning methodology?

For those interested a great read on our public education system: http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory/dp/0865716315

Thats the underlying idea of Silverglate's "Three Felonies a Day". I haven't read the book yet myself but the general points he makes in his discussion seems well founded. There's a youtube vid if you feel like a general overview - the Wall Street Journal has a brief summary as well.

By exposing how one has acted and reacted in the past, it makes it easier for one to predict how one will act and react in the future. Also, it may be transparent to one who is not in the middle of the conflict as to how certain information can expose tactics, capabilities, and sensitive information. You ask for a specific example. I'd love to give you a specific example, but I think it's enough to state that the kind of information that wikileaks is getting a hold of is the kind of documentation spys were trying to obtain in the past.

OMG General Petraeus is a spy!

http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Corps-Counterinsurgency-Field-Manual/dp/0226841510

When it comes to geeky options I believe donating your brain to the Harvard Brain Tissue Center is tops. http://www.brainbank.mclean.org/ Just generally donating your body for research is an excellent option as well. For an entertaining look at what might happen there I recommend the book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826/

I believe a book titled "The Media Equation" came to this conclusion over twenty years ago.
http://www.amazon.com/Media-Equation-Television-Information-Publication/dp/1575860538/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281639501&sr=8-1

Good book for anyone interested in the media field.

Freedom of speech has always taken a backseat to the notion of national security, even when it is a false notion. This isn't new, but the amount of security we are told we need seems to have increased dramatically.

It was getting better until recently... the history of the limitation of free speech in the US has showed, over two centuries, a gradual trend of easing of restrictions during times of conflict/war.

This trend is in danger of changing, with inroads against it made under GWB and not being reversed as yet under BHO.

Geoffrey Stone's Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism is a very approachable and enlightening read on the topic.

http://www.amazon.com/Daemon-Daniel-Suarez/dp/0451228731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281627152&sr=8-1 That's basically what this book is about. It's a pretty entertaining read. It's about the owner of a gaming company, and he knew he was going to die, so he has all these programs running to check for his obituaries, and it sets forth a big series of events. I really liked it.

Yes, that's a stupid example (although our context is written language, so the spoken intonation is irrelevant)

Better ones:

Slow, children crossing.
Look at that huge, hot dog!
Eat here, and get gas.
Go, get him doctors.
After we left, Grandma, Mum and I skipped about in the park. (-v- "After we left Grandma, Mum and I skipped about in the park.")

All from Lynne Truss' illustrated guide to why commas do matter.

Why, commas do matter!

So what was your source that supported non-differentiation between the two categories?

My... source? My single source? Well, if I have to boil it down to just one (and discount any supporting evidence or writings)... I would go with reason based on history (for a start).

Given how explicit the Constitution is about some things... such as certain election processes or the Presidential oath of office... it seems odd that such an important thing such as declaring war is left so vague... that leaves two options either a) it is so well understood what the meaning was that no further expansion is necessary, or b) something that will be expanded upon by statute at a later time.

You would no doubt be quick to point out that A is the correct answer (which it is) and that it proves your case... only that assumes that declarations of war were at the time known and understood to be a written document which always contains the words "declaration of war" right up at the top... forgetting the meaning of the word declaration.

I'll pause here as you look it up.

Now let's go back to the signing of the Constitution... do you think it was well understood that a formal declaration of war follow an exact format, starting with the title "Declaration of War"... or that it was simply understood and accepted that such a declaration have a few key parts... such as why you are initiating military force, against who, and possibly conditions for the ceasing of hostilities?

For simplicity, go back to the Wikipedia article I linked to earlier on Declaration of war and refer to the first sentence (emphasis mine):

A declaration of war (aka DOW, DoW) is a formal performative speech act or signing of a document by an authorized party of a government in order to initiate a state of war between two or more nations.

Note 'speech act'... which means (in short) that such a declaration does not have to take the form of a written communication/act, but can be delivered not only verbally, but almost certainly entail the aspects I listed above... or do you wish to continue to claim that even that address/speech must contain the words "declaration of war" in that order?

More so... seems kind of odd, doesn't it, that it took until the 1907 Hague Convention before they formalized such a thing? Though even then... they didn't do that, did they? To quote Article 1 of Hague III:

Contracting Powers recognize that hostilities between themselves must not commence without previous and explicit warning, in the form either of a reasoned declaration of war or of an ultimatum with conditional declaration of war.

More uses of the word 'declaration'... but still no definition of what constitutes 'declaration of war' is... now what is a declaration again? Oh yes... simply a formal (and usually public) statement... so based on a continued lack of formal and explicit definition of what exactly constitutes a 'declaration of war'... we are left with the need of a dictionary!

Declaration we've already defined, and war... well that's pretty self-explanatory... so together we have a formal statement (written or not) that a state of hostility (very possibly resulting in armed conflict) now exists between one nation/group and another.

But when it comes to something you can read... good chapter on a related subject in the book Men In Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America when discussing the run-up to Iraq. Be warned though... the book reads like a legal brief (meticulously detailed and dry)... though that isn’t surprising given the aut