Wow. If it was up to me, I'd bitch slap both parties. The problem isn't Democrats or Republicans, the problem is Democrats AND Republicans. Both parties are very incompetent. Instead of trying to help the people, both parties are more worried about the agenda's the superpac's are paying them for.
I'm with you on this. And it is undeniable that a lot of the really bad stuff started under Bush. But it has gotten far worse -- and there has been a lot more of it -- under the Democrats.
Time to get some people with real principles back in office. Vote both the Republicans AND the Democrats out. Get some independent thinkers in.
Read George Washington's second Farewell Address. The part about the damage that party politics does to government By The People.
The point is that yes, these things can be used to build bombs. Or drugs. Simply for the same reason they are useful for non-drug, non-bomb related uses: They are powerful oxidizing agents, powerful reducing agents or versatile solvents. They react well with various other chemicals and hence are very useful for various purposes.
Hey... SpaceShip One was basically powered by burning superballs... butadiene "rubber".
Apparently you think using Slashdot is all about insulting people. Somehow I think occasionally having a messed up thread layout is the lesser of these two problems.
Yes, that's why the IPCC's 1990 and 1995 reports claimed to unequivocally detect AGW. If the IPCC were simply assessing AGW rather than uncritically promoting it, the IPCC might have said that they couldn't yet unequivocally detect AGW.
This discussion wasn't about 1990 or 1995. It was about today. Further, your argument has absolutely nothing to do with what I stated above.
Halloween is over. Time to take down the straw men.
As for "conspiracy", nobody mentioned anything like that until i.kazmi did. A charter is a document, not a conspiracy.
If I (just hypothetically) were to form a non-profit with a charter that said the organization's purpose was to "assess alien abductions and their effects", do you think that organization would go around claiming that alien abductions never happen? Of course it wouldn't. It would promote the idea of alien abductions... because without them or at least a belief in them, the organization would cease to exist, and any officers of the organization would lose their paychecks.
MightyMartian asked volovski if he's mentally ill. How bizarre that Jane answers for volovski. Is Jane volovski's psychologist, or is Jane the same person as volovski?
The way this thread appeared in my browser, the reply looked like it was to me. How bizarre that you think that's bizarre.
Pardon me. That is correct. Some years ago they announced that they were going to discontinue VB but they never did.
As far as I was concerned,.NET pretty much ruined VB. I used C#.NET for a while and didn't much like that, either. I mean, come on! Having to manually attach click and keypress events to a button? WTF? Any self-respecting button object should have those properties already defined. (Else what is the button good for?)
I am given to understand (from a former co-worker) that MS has now fixed many of the things that used to make.NET so awful.
So the last VB version I thought was really worth using was VB 6. But the newer stuff may be worth another look.
The IPCC was set up in 1988 to assess global warming and its impacts.
The IPCC was not created to determine whether AGW exists. It was created to promote AGW and tell everybody that it DOES exist. Anything else out of its collective mouth is against its charter.
So of course it says AGW exists. The entire reason IPCC exists is to say so.
It also had the advantage of being close to a standard untill MS teurned it into QBasic then dumped it.
Yes and no. MS didn't "dump" QBasic.
QBasic was turned into a full-blown compiled language, QuickBasic, which actually sold for a pretty reasonable price. QBasic still remained for some years after that. QBasic -> QuickBasic was actually pretty nice in that it turned BASIC into an actual procedural language, rather than being restricted to line-numbered spaghetti code.
QuickBasic evolved into the Microsoft Basic Professional Development System. As of version 7.1, PDS gained an awesome highly optimized compiler, which compiled programs that were often more performant than C (except for graphics). The compiler contained many optimizations that we take for granted today: shortcutting of conditionals, etc.
PDS 7.1 was interesting, in that it had a huge collection of add-on libraries you could compile into your code. Among those was a text-based, mousable user interface system with buttons, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc. The next stage was that PDS, with that library included by default, was marketed as Visual BASIC for DOS.
Obviously, Visual BASIC for Windows followed soon after. Other languages followed, like Visual C++. Versions came and went, up to VB 6, at which point it all became Visual Studio, with different languages but a common base. Visual Studio became Visual Studio.NET, etc. etc.
So Microsoft didn't "dump" QBasic. It gradually morphed into the programming tools they offer today. (Some good, some not so good.)
Along the way, Microsoft eventually DID dump BASIC. Despite Bill Gates' public promise that Microsoft would "ALWAYS" support the BASIC programming language. But then he hasn't been exactly honest about a lot of other things either.
but many people are so strong in defaulting to the 'more government is bad' position that they are unable to admit when these situations arise
But you and the other responder above seem to have misunderstood me. I didn't say government was always bad. I just said it has to be watched (like a hawk). "Necessary evil" doesn't mean it's always evil... it means something you'd generally rather do without but probably can't.
My point was that even when it's doing things we might all agree are good, it has to be watched to make sure it's doing it right and efficiently, not doing it improperly or corruptly, or overstepping its bounds (all things the Obama administration, among others, is notorious for.)
If SIMPS can be found, examination of their behavior in interactions would tend to prove or disprove fundamental ideas of the standard model.
Yes, but that's what they said about WIMPS, too, and look where that has gone so far. (Pretty much nowhere.)
Hey, if I come up with some complex theory postulating DUMPs (Dubious Universal Massive Particles), can I get funding too? After all, proving their existence would force major changes to the standard model.
I'm not saying I trust Guinness. But anybody who actually trusts the U.S. government -- especially in its current state -- needs to have their head examined.
Government is not something to "trust". It is something to watch over, with a constantly suspicious eye. Government is not your savior, it is a necessary evil, as our founders made abundantly clear.
The guys (and woman) who died in Challenger were heroes. The casualties from this crash were like the people who died building the Empire State Building.
I'm not sure I agree, but I think there's a lot to say on both sides of this.
Here's what gets me though: while this was the 4th powered test flight, it was the first with a different fuel.
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How in the world can you say that??? Together they get over 98% of the vote. Tell us all once again, please, where exactly is the incompetence?
Maybe YOU can explain to us all what connection you imagine there is between getting votes and competence.
Wow. If it was up to me, I'd bitch slap both parties. The problem isn't Democrats or Republicans, the problem is Democrats AND Republicans. Both parties are very incompetent. Instead of trying to help the people, both parties are more worried about the agenda's the superpac's are paying them for.
I'm with you on this. And it is undeniable that a lot of the really bad stuff started under Bush. But it has gotten far worse -- and there has been a lot more of it -- under the Democrats.
Time to get some people with real principles back in office. Vote both the Republicans AND the Democrats out. Get some independent thinkers in.
Read George Washington's second Farewell Address. The part about the damage that party politics does to government By The People.
You can't hide a uranium enrichment program. Nor can you hide a plutonium breeding program.
But you CAN hide tons of enriched uranium, and plutonium, which have "gone missing" from those programs over the years.
The point is that yes, these things can be used to build bombs. Or drugs. Simply for the same reason they are useful for non-drug, non-bomb related uses: They are powerful oxidizing agents, powerful reducing agents or versatile solvents. They react well with various other chemicals and hence are very useful for various purposes.
Hey... SpaceShip One was basically powered by burning superballs... butadiene "rubber".
Cobalt chloride, potassium permanganate, etc. etc. I don't remember all the nasty reactive stuff that was in my chemistry sets back in the day.
Maybe not in the 60s, but in the 50s you could get radioactivity experiment kits.
Apparently I misunderstood your earlier comment. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Apparently you think using Slashdot is all about insulting people. Somehow I think occasionally having a messed up thread layout is the lesser of these two problems.
ICBM, UCBM, we all see... ewwww gross.
Yes, that's why the IPCC's 1990 and 1995 reports claimed to unequivocally detect AGW. If the IPCC were simply assessing AGW rather than uncritically promoting it, the IPCC might have said that they couldn't yet unequivocally detect AGW.
This discussion wasn't about 1990 or 1995. It was about today. Further, your argument has absolutely nothing to do with what I stated above.
Halloween is over. Time to take down the straw men.
As for "conspiracy", nobody mentioned anything like that until i.kazmi did. A charter is a document, not a conspiracy.
If I (just hypothetically) were to form a non-profit with a charter that said the organization's purpose was to "assess alien abductions and their effects", do you think that organization would go around claiming that alien abductions never happen? Of course it wouldn't. It would promote the idea of alien abductions... because without them or at least a belief in them, the organization would cease to exist, and any officers of the organization would lose their paychecks.
Is that a "conspiracy"? No. It's a charter.
MightyMartian asked volovski if he's mentally ill. How bizarre that Jane answers for volovski. Is Jane volovski's psychologist, or is Jane the same person as volovski?
The way this thread appeared in my browser, the reply looked like it was to me. How bizarre that you think that's bizarre.
Are you mentally ill?
No, but the people NYC likes to elect for Mayor seem to be. I wouldn't let Bloomberg or Giuliani play in my back yard, much less vote for them.
Pardon me. That is correct. Some years ago they announced that they were going to discontinue VB but they never did.
.NET pretty much ruined VB. I used C# .NET for a while and didn't much like that, either. I mean, come on! Having to manually attach click and keypress events to a button? WTF? Any self-respecting button object should have those properties already defined. (Else what is the button good for?)
.NET so awful.
As far as I was concerned,
I am given to understand (from a former co-worker) that MS has now fixed many of the things that used to make
So the last VB version I thought was really worth using was VB 6. But the newer stuff may be worth another look.
The IPCC was set up in 1988 to assess global warming and its impacts.
The IPCC was not created to determine whether AGW exists. It was created to promote AGW and tell everybody that it DOES exist. Anything else out of its collective mouth is against its charter.
So of course it says AGW exists. The entire reason IPCC exists is to say so.
I'm pretty sure that's what author of TFA was saying.
"I can't afford it so it's a waste of time."
Sour grapes.
2, how about free internet access for all?
Because this is NYC. You know, the land of "Fuck everybody else, as long as we have a deal."
It also had the advantage of being close to a standard untill MS teurned it into QBasic then dumped it.
Yes and no. MS didn't "dump" QBasic.
.NET, etc. etc.
QBasic was turned into a full-blown compiled language, QuickBasic, which actually sold for a pretty reasonable price. QBasic still remained for some years after that. QBasic -> QuickBasic was actually pretty nice in that it turned BASIC into an actual procedural language, rather than being restricted to line-numbered spaghetti code.
QuickBasic evolved into the Microsoft Basic Professional Development System. As of version 7.1, PDS gained an awesome highly optimized compiler, which compiled programs that were often more performant than C (except for graphics). The compiler contained many optimizations that we take for granted today: shortcutting of conditionals, etc.
PDS 7.1 was interesting, in that it had a huge collection of add-on libraries you could compile into your code. Among those was a text-based, mousable user interface system with buttons, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc. The next stage was that PDS, with that library included by default, was marketed as Visual BASIC for DOS.
Obviously, Visual BASIC for Windows followed soon after. Other languages followed, like Visual C++. Versions came and went, up to VB 6, at which point it all became Visual Studio, with different languages but a common base. Visual Studio became Visual Studio
So Microsoft didn't "dump" QBasic. It gradually morphed into the programming tools they offer today. (Some good, some not so good.)
Along the way, Microsoft eventually DID dump BASIC. Despite Bill Gates' public promise that Microsoft would "ALWAYS" support the BASIC programming language. But then he hasn't been exactly honest about a lot of other things either.
but many people are so strong in defaulting to the 'more government is bad' position that they are unable to admit when these situations arise
But you and the other responder above seem to have misunderstood me. I didn't say government was always bad. I just said it has to be watched (like a hawk). "Necessary evil" doesn't mean it's always evil... it means something you'd generally rather do without but probably can't.
My point was that even when it's doing things we might all agree are good, it has to be watched to make sure it's doing it right and efficiently, not doing it improperly or corruptly, or overstepping its bounds (all things the Obama administration, among others, is notorious for.)
That's what I said.
Well, chalk it up to misunderstanding, but I don't think my interpretation was unreasonable because you used the word "additional".
Google already gets that information if you're signed in.
That's what *I* said. :)
If SIMPS can be found, examination of their behavior in interactions would tend to prove or disprove fundamental ideas of the standard model.
Yes, but that's what they said about WIMPS, too, and look where that has gone so far. (Pretty much nowhere.)
Hey, if I come up with some complex theory postulating DUMPs (Dubious Universal Massive Particles), can I get funding too? After all, proving their existence would force major changes to the standard model.
Correct.
I'm not saying I trust Guinness. But anybody who actually trusts the U.S. government -- especially in its current state -- needs to have their head examined.
Government is not something to "trust". It is something to watch over, with a constantly suspicious eye. Government is not your savior, it is a necessary evil, as our founders made abundantly clear.
You and Davester666 missed my whole point.
If you set your phone down next to you in some public place, you'll see it sitting there and everything is fine.
But somebody could have stolen a module from the side that isn't visible. Sure, you'll notice when you pick it up, I don't dispute that.
Of course, you probably shouldn't set your phone down like that. But people do.
The guys (and woman) who died in Challenger were heroes. The casualties from this crash were like the people who died building the Empire State Building.
I'm not sure I agree, but I think there's a lot to say on both sides of this.
Here's what gets me though: while this was the 4th powered test flight, it was the first with a different fuel.
These are all things that many of us have been warning about, for many years.
The "privacy policy" and consumer warnings should be required to be on the OUTSIDE of the box. If it won't fit... don't do it.
And anything that may be privacy-intrusive should be opt-in ONLY.
"never didn't very well" should have been "did not work very well".
Yeah, fuck them! How dare they try to protect themselves from theft on PRIVATE property that no one is REQUIRED to go to. Fuck them indeed.
It is not "theft". Whatever you may think of copyright infringement, IT IS NOT THEFT. It is a legally completely distinct area of law.
When you steal, you deprive someone of the use of the stolen item. When you copy, you aren't depriving anyone of use of the item.
That may seem like an ethically immaterial difference to you, but I assure you the difference is actually quite enormous.