Slashdot Mirror

Last time I checked, the term 'most' meant a majority.

Firefox, Safari and Opera may have significant market penetration, but 30% a majority does not make.

Now for my slashdot rant: I remember when slashdot used to post news. You know, 'news for nerds. stuff that matters'? Lately, the tagline might as well change to Slashdot: "Some idiot posted this somewhere on the web. We'll ride their coat tails."

These days, slashdot hardly has as much credit as celebrity gossip sites such as What Would Tyler Durden Do? and The Superficial. At least they're honest about the fact that they are posting little more than rumors.

The standard usage of the word "anecdote" refers to biographical information (of or pertaining to a person's life). Such as "I work in Atlanta. There are only three native Georgian's in my company of 50 employees. You see this everywhere."

My example, on the otherhand was not from my own life.

I brought up a company publically stating that their research has shown that the education in southern states is not high enough to have a competent workforce.

If you want more statistics...

Alas, it seems that "monetization" is the latest in (mis)management speak.

Uh-huh. You know, just because you aren't familiar with a word doesn't mean it's "management speak". It's been around since 1875, is derived from the Latin "moneta" and as far as I can tell is in every major dictionary.

Does not appear in my dictionary.


Really? According to Random House it's been in use since 1875. I guess it's time to retire that 1874 dictionary!

conscientious adj: meticulous; careful; painstaking; particular
From

Surely by definition, a conscientious web developer would be exactly the person who wouldn't, in fact, have all their heuristics and guidelines lying around on pieces of paper/mental notes/etc?

Not to discount the book, but I know in at least the case of the firm I work for, we wikify such matters, and they're regularly converted to a more formal procedures manual. Is this unusual for web development?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blob

BTW, "binary BLOB" makes about as much sense as "ATM machine".

You know, there are these people called contractors who are not employees but who often are called upon to create, improve, maintain, and use those databases.

Interesting that they break down the future of hydropower not by its advantages

I do not think it means what you think it means.

Erm, that would be SEMANTIC web, as in the word "semantic" (see http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/semantic) not Symantec, as in the security software company (see http://www.symantec.com/index.htm).

It's all semantics, anyway I guess. Jesus.

What a load! So, it's not censorship if the librarian decides not to include books because he finds them objectionable - after all, you can always go to a different library! It's not censorship if your country bans printing certain books - you can always pick them up in another country!

When anyone responsible for providing media omits some media because they find the content objectionable, that's censorship.

Definition of censor

A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.

Here, I'll help you with that:

or1 /r; unstressed r/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[awr; unstressed er] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
-conjunction
1. (used to connect words, phrases, or clauses representing alternatives): books or magazines; to be or not to be.
2. (used to connect alternative terms for the same thing): the Hawaiian, or Sandwich, Islands.
3. (used in correlation): either ... or; or ... or; whether ... or.
4. (used to correct or rephrase what was previously said): His autobiography, or rather memoirs, will soon be ready for publication.
5. otherwise; or else: Be here on time, or we'll leave without you.
6. Logic. the connective used in disjunction.

Why don't you use your own damn link, you stupid ass?

"Execution is not murder, self defense is not murder, military combat is not murder, ..."

Yes, those things are murder also. You've merely been conditioned to believe they are not

Wrong. Words have common meanings, definitions. We could not communicate otherwise. "Murder" is a word used to describe a specific type of killing, shown below. You seem to be confusing a subjective moral opinion with the accepted definition of a word. Merely believing that all forms of killing are immoral does not allow you to change the definition of a word.

murder
n.
1. The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/murder [reference.com]
"Murder is an illegal killing, the preceding are legal."

No, they are not. Circumstance is used to determine if punishment may be waived. Killing is always illegal. Proceeding with prosecution is at the whim of the State. Your State makes available the definitions of all crimes, read up on them.

Actually I've had an administration of justice class that covered where the use of deadly force was legal. I believe state statutes authorize the use of deadly force when executing a death warrant, in self defense, during the suppression of a riot, ... Perhaps you are confused by tangential issues, for example where a victim is charged with the possession of a firearm in a jurisdiction where they are prohibited.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?db=*&q=judg ement

All psychopaths, lack the capability to feel guilt

This is so wrong, it's absurd that anyone could actually believe something like this. You do quite simply not know what you are talking about. There are people with mental issues who don't feel guilt.

psychopath
n.
A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.

Let me tell you a little secret that will help you not make an ass of yourself: http://dictionary.reference.com.

"Execution is not murder, self defense is not murder, military combat is not murder, ..."

Yes, those things are murder also. You've merely been conditioned to believe they are not

Wrong. Words have common meanings, definitions. We could not communicate otherwise. "Murder" is a word used to describe a specific type of killing, shown below. You seem to be confusing a subjective moral opinion with the accepted definition of a word. Merely believing that all forms of killing are immoral does not allow you to change the definition of a word.

murder
n.
1. The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/murder
"Murder is an illegal killing, the preceding are legal."

No, they are not. Circumstance is used to determine if punishment may be waived. Killing is always illegal. Proceeding with prosecution is at the whim of the State. Your State makes available the definitions of all crimes, read up on them.

Actually I've had an administration of justice class that covered where the use of deadly force was legal. I believe state statutes authorize the use of deadly force when executing a death warrant, in self defense, during the suppression of a riot, ... Perhaps you are confused by tangential issues, for example where a victim is charged with the possession of a firearm in a jurisdiction where they are prohibited.

First of all, if you were right, that would still not make me a bigot. You, on the other hand, with your mindless aversion to differing points of view on the open source vs commericial software debate, are fairly close.

Second, you getting screwed over a few times is far from proof that problems that are hard to fix are given low priorities. All it proves is that problems that are hard to fix are hard to fix (and you are not very good at negotiating software contracts). In fact, your getting a response indicates that they did prioritize it fairly high, just that after an initial investigation they determined that a full fix would cause more problems than it would solve. High priorities do not guarentee results.

Its called Bacta. It was invented a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/List_of_Star_ Wars_substances

me too, its called Bacta http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/List_of_Star_ Wars_substances

semantics, semantics... jesus. Here's a better link for you:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/war

That there is quite an alledgeation to be making, eh?

nationalist
- noun
1. a person devoted to nationalism.
2. a member of a political group advocating or fighting for national independence, a strong national government, etc.
-adjective
3. Also, nationalistic. of, pertaining to, or promoting nationalism: the beginnings of a nationalist movement.
4. of, pertaining to, or noting a political group advocating or fighting for national independence, a strong national government, etc.
-- http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Nationali st

Nope, that's not it... Perhaps you mean racist?

I have always found it rather interesting, or perhaps contradictory, that the FSF claims they're all about making software "free" and yet their license is more restrictive than say the BSD license. The problem, I think, is that the FSF (and their chief proselytizer RMS) believes that part of freedom is the inability to create a system where there is less freedom. That is, they believe restrictions are necessary in order to prevent what they consider bad actors from reducing freedom down the line.

That is not a dictionary definition of freedom (see, e.g., http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom). The FSF's stance on "freedom" is a political philosophy; it's a means on maintaining freedom (perhaps); but it's not a state of freedom. The only true free software is that which is released into the public domain.

Let's say I release a piece of software to the world, and grant it to the public domain. No one can ever make that software "unfree". They simply cannot undo what I have done. On the other hand, they have the freedom to copy it, create derivative works based on it, perform it, display it, and distribute it. That seems to me to be a state of more freedom than the restrictions imposed by the GPL -- any version of the GPL. The GPL v3, of course, adds more restrictions than the GPL v2, making it less free.

So call a spade "a spade". Freedom is one thing -- the GPL is something less.

Disregarding the misspelling as a simple typo, I don't think that word means what you think it means. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=simul acrum

Get a life.
It isn't bad grammar to use a turn of phrase commonly accepted among most English speakers. Language is a tool used to communicate. Its *proper* usage is a reflection of how a given group *actually* uses it and not how a select group of bombastic experts believe it *should* be used.

"--Usage note Even though less has been used before plural nouns (less words; less men) since the time of King Alfred, many modern usage guides say that only fewer can be used in such contexts. Less, they say, should modify singular mass nouns (less sugar; less money) and singular abstract nouns (less honesty; less love). It should modify plural nouns only when they suggest combination into a unit, group, or aggregation: less than $50 (a sum of money); less than three miles (a unit of distance). With plural nouns specifying individuals or readily distinguishable units, the guides say that fewer is the only proper choice: fewer words; fewer men; no fewer than 31 of the 50 states. Modern standard English practice does not reflect this distinction." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/less

I think we're disagreeing on the definition of "bias".

To me, the factors you listed are merely incomplete presentations of the situation - bias is only when someone is deliberately giving you an incomplete presentation intended to influence your perception in a certain way.

Maybe I should have said "deliberate bias" instead, but people do have this tendency to smooth over details and decide that because offering a perfectly complete representation of facts is almost impossible, that's a get-out-of-jail-free card to engage in deliberate bias.

"the terms used to describe what these new toys do often allude the people who buy them"

No wonder they're baffled when the geeks try to speak English but don't know English.

Your analogy is a layer too deep. That would be compared to someone not knowing how to code a program, but still able to execute one. A better analogy would be, "My Mother doesn't know what PCV stands for in PCV Valve (positive crankcase ventilation), but she can still drive her car."

OTOH if the electronics industry were like the pharmacutical industry, we would have (at least) two names for every piece of electronics, one that is useful and descriptive (chemical), and one that is interesting and distinguishing (brand name). But wait, we already do don't we? For some reason, they are so much more interchangable in the electronics industry. MP3 player = IPod = Zune.

As far as acronyms go, the more complex the item, the harder it gets to usefully describe it in a short way.

Maybe, though, the article misses the point of Jargon the language, esp. the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group. The article should be about people joining a group, but don't care enough, or don't have the capacity to understand exactly what they are doing.

Bethesda is supporting MS and the Xbox. Morrowind came out for the Xbox

Um.

As for Japanese developers, the number is certainly growing. Namco, makers of the Xenosaga series, is working on a 360 RPG called Eternal Sonata. From Software (published by Ubisoft), just released Enchanted Arms recently (which I'm playing through, and it's decent so far). And the big news is that Mistwalker Studios is making a number of exclusive titles for the 360, Blue Dragon and Lost Oddysey. And then you've got all your traditional Japanese developers (Capcom, Konami, and even Square-Enix) with a slew of other titles, although they're not RPGs.

So you have 4 Japanese RPGs. Congratulations. Also, I like how you sneak some extra companies in at the end to try and strengthen your argument. You almost had me. Except oh wait we're talking about RPGs.

If Blue Dragon was a 360 launch title in Japan, then you'd certainly have many more system owners than the pitiful number now.

This looks like a fact, yet something's missing. Oh yeah, any evidence.

My gut feel (sic) is that there will be a lot of disgruntled wanna-be PS3 owners, (sic) who didn't get a chance to buy the console. (Remember, it is in EXTREMELY short supply, especially in Japan) Many of them will opt for a Wii, although there are probably a number of Sakaguchi fans that will opt for a 360 just to check out his latest creation. (FYI, Sakaguchi = creator of Final Fantasy, head of Mistwalker Studios)

My gut feeling is that you're full of crap. Speculation is great, but it helps to have some evidence to back up your assertions. You have none.

I think you meant "we Canadians are wont to be."

No that's just you we were calling fat, lazy, and stupid.

Wrong! 'That's' is present tense and 'were' is past tense.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/that's 'that's' != that was

You lose, and I'm an American. Nice try.

Read this and get back to me. You may be particularly interested in definition #2, which while a bit simplistic for brevity's sake, is what is usually meant when someone says "science". Just in case you don't wanna click the link, here ya go:

Science - 2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.

Please explain how you can integrate religion, which seeks to explain things based on supernatural premises which can't even be shown to exist, with science. First though, please show that the supernatural does exist. In which case, if that could be shown, it would only be able to be done so because it affects the physical world (otherwise how would you show it?). In which case it would then be subject to science.

Neither of those two articles do anything to show how religion can explain anything about the world. Wanting something to be does not make it so.

Like you, I learned to spell phonetically, but "masturbation" has no "e".

There are other, smaller examples. Native Americans have been granted rights to kill endangered animals, for instance -- I can't remember what tribe, but I think it was the Bald Eagle.

You are incorrect. Native American were allowed to possess the feathers of such animals but they were not permitted to kill them. For you or I it would have been a crime, punishable by time in a federal prison. For them, it was allowed.

Take marriage: How does having the state recognize your marriage make it any more of a "free exercise" of your religion? Credit ratings, tax breaks, etc -- can you show me these in your scripture?

I have never attempted to use religion to justify any of my positions. It's always a losing proposition because not even practitioners of the same religion can agree on every point.

Supposing the state only recognizes your marriage as a "civic union" -- in what way does this restrict your free exercise of religion?

I never said that it did. Please stop trying to put words in my mouth.

Which is why I suggest that people we would ordinarily put on death row should be separated from everyone else.

Until the appeals process is exhausted, they too even have the right to life.

You'd give up that quickly?

No. I mean that I disagree with you and would be willing to bet that you're incorrect.

Wow. Just wow. You never studied any philosophy, did you?

I feel completely confident taking this out of context here. That I can't come up with any specific examples does not, ever, mean that I can be sure none exist.

Are you intentionally misunderstanding what I'm saying, or are you really that incapable of inference?

No such examples exist. That is why you can't think of any.

She was already dead. Completely vegitative -- no brain at all.

Incorrect oh yet again... She was in a persistent vegetative state. She had severe brain damage and a large portion of her brain tissue had died and was replaced by spinal fluid. That's not the same thing as being completely vegetative with "no brain at all".

She wasn't going to recover. That much is true. She likely didn't feel any pain. I still can't agree with letting someone die from lack of sustenence.

Are you suggesting that you expect there to be some hope of recovery, such as re-growing a brain?

I'm suggesting that if you believe that it's ever acceptable to euthanize innocent human beings that you are beyond redemption.

For the record, not all pro-choice people believe that birth is the absolute cutoff. I'd argue that many sane people looking at this issue hate the idea of third-trimester abortions.

Then why do the Democrats oppose partial birth abortion bans?

I am suggesting that a creature which is alive, but not yet human, should not be given any rights at all simply because he has DNA.

If a fetus isn't human, what is it? A frog?

So does my big toe. Is my big toe a human being?

Only if you're a human fractal.

If it was, then every time a guy masturbates, he'd be guilty of murder -- not of kittens, but of billions of sperm, each of which have human DNA, and are thus human, by your logic.

No, by your twisted interpretation of my logic. You've obviously just stepped out of your element. You abviously don't know this, but sperm are not truly cells. They are gametes, they have half of the nuclear genetic material of a cell. In other words, they don't have 23 pairs of chromosomes. They have 23 individual chromosomes. These are combined with the 23 chromosomes in the mother's egg to produce a new and unique (with the exception of identical twins...down's syndrome...turner's syndrome...etc)human being. Sperm do have full mitochondrial DNA, but that's discarded at the time of conception.

Have a nice life.

LK

No, both words are correct.

calif

n : the civil and religious leader of a Muslim state considered to be a representative of Allah on earth; "many radical Muslims believe a Khalifah will unite all Islamic lands and people and subjugate the rest of the world"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=calif

He is protecting your ass and thats the thanks you give him

He is protecting you from what?
Weapons of mass destruction?
The Boogey Man?
Terrorism? [A terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.]

Cool!, I feel really really good to know that my government does not "protect my ass" the way Bush is doing it with you =o)

I didn't write the post you are referring to (although I agree with its sentiments).

So I am wrong because Vista is indeed GENERALLY bug for bug compatible with MS-DOS 2.0. Is that your assertion?

No, you are wrong because your whole flamefest hinges on the assertion that someone claimed Vista was "100% bug for bug compatible", when no-one (except you) said anything of the sort.

Is this one of those things where it's all going to depend on what definition of GENERALLY means?

Yes.

Kind of like how Bush redefines torture and then claims we don't torture people? I bet it will!.

Since I'm not American, your pitiful attempts at political trolling are even more of a waste of time than they would otherwise be.

What is your definition of GENERALLY such that vista is GENERALLY BUG FOR BUG COMPATIBLE WITH IT?

This will do.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hampster
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hamster
You learn something new every day.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hampster
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hamster
You learn something new every day.

unsolicitedly ??

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unsolicited ly

Prime as in Option 5 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=prime

String theory doesn't make testable predictions. Therefore it is not a theory: "A theory in technical use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena" It is in fact only a hypothesis.

This doesn't make it not science; it's just not a theory, and calling it a theory, no matter how sure you are it is right, is not science either.

To my mind, if someone has gone to the trouble to block adverts (and trouble it is - no browser does so by default), it implies that they have no interest whatsoever in them.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/voila

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viola

"One of these things is not like the other one ..."

Sing along kids, you know the words!

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/voila

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viola

"One of these things is not like the other one ..."

Sing along kids, you know the words!

from dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=till

till1 /tl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[til] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

-preposition
1. up to the time of; until: to fight till death.
2. before (used in negative constructions): He did not come till today.
3. near or at a specified time: till evening.
4. Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S.. before; to: It's ten till four on my watch.
5. Scot. and North England.
a. to.
b. unto.

-conjunction
6. to the time that or when; until.
7. before (used in negative constructions).

When ordinary people think 'regulation', they think 'government', not 'corporation'. You are the one redefining terms. Not I.

-verb (used with object), -lated, -lating.
1. to control or direct by a rule, principle, method, etc.: to regulate household expenses.
2. to adjust to some standard or requirement, as amount, degree, etc.: to regulate the temperature.
3. to adjust so as to ensure accuracy of operation: to regulate a watch.
4. to put in good order: to regulate the digestion.

1. a law, rule, or other order prescribed by authority, esp. to regulate conduct.
2. the act of regulating or the state of being regulated.
3. Machinery. the percentage difference in some quantity related to the operation of an apparatus or machine, as the voltage output of a transformer or the speed of a motor, between the value of the quantity at no-load operation and its value at full-load operation.
4. Electronics. the difference between maximum and minimum voltage drops between the anode and the cathode of a gas tube for a specified range of values of the anode current.
5. Sports. the normal, prescribed duration of a game according to the sport's regulations, exclusive of any extra innings, overtime period, etc.: The Knicks tied the score in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game into overtime.
-adjective
6. prescribed by or conforming to regulation: regulation army equipment.
7. usual; normal; customary: the regulation decorations for a Halloween party.

      1. The act of regulating or the state of being regulated.
      2. A principle, rule, or law designed to control or govern conduct.
      3. A governmental order having the force of law. Also called executive order.
      4. Embryology. The capacity of an embryo to continue normal development following injury to or alteration of a structure.
      5. Sports. The standard playing period for a timed game, prior to overtime or a shootout.

When ordinary people think 'regulation', they think 'government', not 'corporation'. You are the one redefining terms. Not I.

-verb (used with object), -lated, -lating.
1. to control or direct by a rule, principle, method, etc.: to regulate household expenses.
2. to adjust to some standard or requirement, as amount, degree, etc.: to regulate the temperature.
3. to adjust so as to ensure accuracy of operation: to regulate a watch.
4. to put in good order: to regulate the digestion.

1. a law, rule, or other order prescribed by authority, esp. to regulate conduct.
2. the act of regulating or the state of being regulated.
3. Machinery. the percentage difference in some quantity related to the operation of an apparatus or machine, as the voltage output of a transformer or the speed of a motor, between the value of the quantity at no-load operation and its value at full-load operation.
4. Electronics. the difference between maximum and minimum voltage drops between the anode and the cathode of a gas tube for a specified range of values of the anode current.
5. Sports. the normal, prescribed duration of a game according to the sport's regulations, exclusive of any extra innings, overtime period, etc.: The Knicks tied the score in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game into overtime.
-adjective
6. prescribed by or conforming to regulation: regulation army equipment.
7. usual; normal; customary: the regulation decorations for a Halloween party.

      1. The act of regulating or the state of being regulated.
      2. A principle, rule, or law designed to control or govern conduct.
      3. A governmental order having the force of law. Also called executive order.
      4. Embryology. The capacity of an embryo to continue normal development following injury to or alteration of a structure.
      5. Sports. The standard playing period for a timed game, prior to overtime or a shootout.

the government should not support science education programs that 'include concepts that are derived from ideology,' an apparent reference to creationism and its ideological cousin, intelligent design.