> Actually, a "troll" is usually defined as someone who posts something inflammatory to elicit responses
I thought that was flamebait, whereas a troll was more along the lines of a Goatse/Tubgirl post or other such nonsense... which is intended to scar a person for life.
> Repeat after me: Correlation != causation. > > I saw a study that found an inverse correlation
I chose that exact word to avoid responses like yours (the first sentence of it anyway). I used "correlation" so no one would think I was claiming that the study suggested that it was the cause. Then I speculated on a possible reason. Nowhere did I make any absolute claims.
> Whether this is the power of prayer or the power of self suggestion is, of course, more a matter of philosophical debate rather than scientific debate.
Why can't it be discussed in both realms? If there can be some way to rule out self-suggestion (scientifically, of course), then it would add scientific credence to the religious source in the philosophical question. Of course, I do not know if there is or is not any way to rule that out... possibly an MRI, but I honestly don't know.
Not necessarily true. They take some soldiers who were wounded in battle and spend good of time and money to retrain them in certain fields... I know a guy who was a marine and never had any interest in computers at all. He took some shrapnel in the face, so they went and trained him in everything he could learn in networking, and now he's freaking great at it. The same could apply to many other aspects of technology.
> Then there should be a statistical difference between the mortality of praying Christians and non-praying. There isn't*, so again, it is proved wrong.
Not exactly the same thing, but I saw a study that found an inverse correlation between a patient's hospital stay and the number of people who said they were praying for the person (unbeknownst to the patient, as I recall). I consider it likely that the people who said they were praying for the patient thought they were doing enough just by praying, while those who were not actually went to see the person, putting them in better spirits. And a positive attitude will almost always shorten a hospital stay.
20 million acres = 871,200 million square feet This page claims "under excellent conditions we can get 62.5 watt-hours per square foot." That would be 54,450 billion* watt-hours. Assuming non-excellent conditions (75% of "excellent"?), that's 40,837.5 billion. These numbers don't mean much to me, but you asked for them. Feel free to correct my math, I was never that great.
Chaos != Free Will. You said yourself (basically) that it will react in a certain way, given certain input. Just because it is too wildly changing does not mean it is not predictable; we just haven't the computing power, nor information, to make such predictions.
Of course, the same could be argued for human free will.
He was a lawyer, so he knows that making fun of them is fine, but making straightforward claims of such legal wrongdoing would probably not work in his favor.
> now does anyone know where the beeping noise comes from in films when green on black appears one character at a time?
I believe that is the sound of geeks' censored swearing at the film for its technical inaccuracies -- such as monitors that beep every time a character is printed.... Just a guess.
> It's a test of their morality (or lack thereof), and they still have the chance to do the "right thing".
When I play "Grand Theft: Auto" or "Hitman" I don't get the feeling that the game creators are trying to see if I choose a moral path... Quite the opposite, in fact.
Slashdot Mirror
My T60 takes about 20 seconds. You need new trolling material.
8/10: Good troll, but you need more froth around the mouth area.
> Actually, a "troll" is usually defined as someone who posts something inflammatory to elicit responses
I thought that was flamebait, whereas a troll was more along the lines of a Goatse/Tubgirl post or other such nonsense... which is intended to scar a person for life.
> Repeat after me: Correlation != causation.
> > I saw a study that found an inverse correlation
I chose that exact word to avoid responses like yours (the first sentence of it anyway). I used "correlation" so no one would think I was claiming that the study suggested that it was the cause. Then I speculated on a possible reason. Nowhere did I make any absolute claims.
> Whether this is the power of prayer or the power of self suggestion is, of course, more a matter of philosophical debate rather than scientific debate.
Why can't it be discussed in both realms? If there can be some way to rule out self-suggestion (scientifically, of course), then it would add scientific credence to the religious source in the philosophical question. Of course, I do not know if there is or is not any way to rule that out... possibly an MRI, but I honestly don't know.
Not necessarily true. They take some soldiers who were wounded in battle and spend good of time and money to retrain them in certain fields... I know a guy who was a marine and never had any interest in computers at all. He took some shrapnel in the face, so they went and trained him in everything he could learn in networking, and now he's freaking great at it. The same could apply to many other aspects of technology.
> Then there should be a statistical difference between the mortality of praying Christians and non-praying. There isn't*, so again, it is proved wrong.
Not exactly the same thing, but I saw a study that found an inverse correlation between a patient's hospital stay and the number of people who said they were praying for the person (unbeknownst to the patient, as I recall). I consider it likely that the people who said they were praying for the patient thought they were doing enough just by praying, while those who were not actually went to see the person, putting them in better spirits. And a positive attitude will almost always shorten a hospital stay.
And if you didn't have that contract? You wouldn't get even that "small" amount of money.
Hey, when I take my pig out for a night on the town she is very clean, and a little perfume covers up the smell quite nicely, thank-you-very-much!
> "Give us money on the promise that Code remains GPL, always)"
Never believe promises when dealing with a company like MS. Require signed legal documents, reviewed by a very good lawyer.
Someone's never heard of "stop burying yourself" I see.
Yeah I had a brain fart and tried to stop the comment from posting, but didn't do it fast enough.
20 million acres = 871,200 million square feet
This page claims "under excellent conditions we can get 62.5 watt-hours per square foot." That would be 54,450 billion* watt-hours. Assuming non-excellent conditions (75% of "excellent"?), that's 40,837.5 billion. These numbers don't mean much to me, but you asked for them. Feel free to correct my math, I was never that great.
* that's "American billion"
Biofuels != Ethanol
> How is "being suppressed" the opposite of "not being permitted"?
"being suppressed" is the opposite of "being permitted". Way to read, Einstein.... err, Darwin.
Chaos != Free Will. You said yourself (basically) that it will react in a certain way, given certain input. Just because it is too wildly changing does not mean it is not predictable; we just haven't the computing power, nor information, to make such predictions.
Of course, the same could be argued for human free will.
> Just curious, what other licensed profession is fingerprinted and compared to a national criminal database annually?
Anyone who works in a hospital (like myself).
In other words, "GET OUT NOW, IT WILL KILL YOU!!!!! But have fun, it'll be great."
He was a lawyer, so he knows that making fun of them is fine, but making straightforward claims of such legal wrongdoing would probably not work in his favor.
> now does anyone know where the beeping noise comes from in films when green on black appears one character at a time?
I believe that is the sound of geeks' censored swearing at the film for its technical inaccuracies -- such as monitors that beep every time a character is printed.... Just a guess.
> So for that alone, I say I WILL NOT sign this petition.
Because he felt you up or because he gave your booze back?
> Also, why are you reading Slashdot at work? Shouldn't you, I dunno, work?
BWAHAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!! That's a good one. work...
> It's a test of their morality (or lack thereof), and they still have the chance to do the "right thing".
When I play "Grand Theft: Auto" or "Hitman" I don't get the feeling that the game creators are trying to see if I choose a moral path... Quite the opposite, in fact.
> Even with a list of 50, 100, even 500 canned phrases, it won't be long before you see repeats and your mind will instantly categorize it as "robot".
Ever heard wandering vendors at a sporting event? They say the same thing over, and over, and over... And no one (usually) thinks they are a robot.
"Beer here..." "dogs and nachos, dogs and nachos..."
Only money and mindshare.
Uh... a mirror?