Hint: you're not supposed to watch TV/Movies in a "normally lit" room. I suggest you read up on how to setup a proper viewing environment. ALL screens, glossy or otherwise, suffer from inappropriate lighting.
I still prefer CRTs. They may be "old fashioned" but at least they were scratch-proof (real glass, not plastic), could be easily cleaned (windex), and made brighter pictures. Yes, until the screen fades (which starts from day 1 of use). In three years time, the screen will be noticeably faded, and in 5 years I find them unusable because the colors are so bad. Plus why would you be scratching your screen in the first place? I have several LCDs and none of them are scratched. I just don't get how that happens.
Everything I've read says it costs over $50b per year. That's not chump-change. That doesn't include the cost of time it takes for someone to fix their identity either, which can be extremely time consuming.
But this chart: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/wgtimus2w.htm says we import about ~1m barrels a day of gasoline. That equals about 19.5 million gallons of gas, no? 48 - 19.5 = we're still short about 28.5 million gallons per day.
The big oil companies haven't been making their profit by virtue of artificially controlling the supply, they've been doing it by selling more than they've ever sold before. The profits reaped last year and the year previous wasn't because of raising their profit margins (I.E. raising prices to increase their profit margin), they've been doing it by selling more petrol than in any years previous. Interesting but according to this page: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mttupus2a.htm you don't know what you're talking about. Our consumption has gone up very slowly and steadily since the 70's to the point where it's unbelievably predictable.
They have to deal with literally thousands of different mixtures of gasoline being shipped among this country, the different ways to refine them, and finally the shipping, and they're only pulling 3% profit. Well, Exxon makes over 10% profit and that's a POST-tax profit. Their pre-tax profit is dramatically higher (17.9%) which is amazingly high for a commodity business.
Bitch at your governments for taxing gas so much... Actually gas taxes in the States are pretty low compared to other western nations. The tax we collect doesn't even cover all the costs for maintaining the roads and dealing with the pollution and environmental damage created by the industry and the consumers of its products. But sure, blame the government...
I would suggest learning a bit more about what you're talking about before calling other people morons.
I'm going to call bullshit. My facts are simply this: in spite of all the crying about refining capacity, I have yet to see a sign at a gas station since the late 70's saying "Sorry, we're out of gas. Try again tomorrow".
So if we're short over 48 million gallons per day as you suggest, who's not getting their gasoline??
Philosophically, I think you are 100% correct, but scientifically the best you can say is that there is no evidence for gods etc (and so religion should receive no recognition or support from a rational society) - but that's all. You say "that's all" like it's no big deal but that's how science works. From a scientific perspective, it is the job of the theologian to provide the theory and proof of a given religion's representation or existence of God to be true. Atheists are atheists because nobody has provided any proof whatsoever for the existence of "God" other than referring to an ancient book who's veracity cannot be proven.
As far as I can tell, there's three reasons people believe in a religion/god:
1) Life is hard so it gives them hope that things will get better no matter how sucky they might be on earth (however this may not happen until the afterlife, Armageddon, etc.).
2) People want to dump the responsibility for their lives on a mythic being. Being able to say something is "God's plan" takes all the responsibility off of them. (The funny part here is that, according to the bible, God gave man free will but that doesn't seem to stop these folk.)
3) People cannot grasp "coincidence" as an idea. They think when something unusual happens that it must be some kind of magic (much like the cavemen thought of fire) or "God" did it (or his agents). I've seen people use this time and time again to reaffirm their faith in a supreme being pulling all the strings. Of course, in a world of almost infinite possibility it's a given that occasionally weird, strange, unusual things will happen.
The christian religion has numerous logic flaws associated with it like how do they explain god's intervention in their lives when he gave man free will. If God is all powerful and knows everything than by definition your life is but a script so what's the point of doing anything? Christians need to decide whether they believe in this free will idea OR whether they believe everything is predestined. Right now, they seem unable or unwilling to work that out.
Truth be told, I wish I believed in God. It would make life easier for me to deal with but I have yet to see any proof (even the slightest bit) whatsoever of its existence.
This works both ways. There are sites that I run into all the time that only work properly with IE but I only use Firefox. I won't use sites that require IE unless I have no other choice and there is almost always another choice.
I read the whole article and nothing was actually revealing probably because he failed to say anything negative whatsoever about his former company (and everyone has something negative to say about their employer), yet he offers no real reason why he left but it's supposedly an interview about his leaving Microsoft...
Sorry for the run-on sentence.
Where's your evidence? I at least posted information regarding the regulations in place to prevent this very thing. Unless you can post something from a reputable source, it's just your opinion. Also, just because people have been convicted of drug dealing, etc. while in the military doesn't mean they entered the military to escape judgment. I was in the military and worked with a guy who turned out to be a high profile thief. He entered legitimately but decided he could make a ton of money selling NVGs to people in South America.
Remember in some parts of the US, a young guy getting into trouble can "join-up" to get prosecution dropped. This is patently false and there are specific military regulations that say so. See http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/joinprison.htm for more info.
Outside of breaking encryption, math is rarely required for hacking and the US has as much muscle as any country when it comes to breaking encryption courtesy of the NSA.
Of course the funniest thing you said was, "if there's no security holes the only thing you can do is DDoS it off the net". Are you kidding me? There are ALWAYS security holes. You may not find them but they are there. There is no such thing as an impenetrable system.
I'm fully aware that slaves were spread throughout the 13 colonies (although the vast majority were in the South).
I'm not aware of any free transcripts. If I was aware of them, I would have cited them. Since you have declared their existence, please show me.
Yes, I'm a cunt because you're wrong and I won't come to see your fucked up version of truth (which is to make up whatever makes you feel better about yourself). Please continue to support your candidate who gets spoon-fed racist bullshit every week. I think that's great! Of course, I assume you would never vote for someone indoctrinated by Fallwell or Robertson? Fucking hypocrite.
What, you want me to cite well known American history? This isn't secret shit, buddy. Again, get a fucking education. I don't ignore the slaves but they had virtually nothing to do with the establishment of the US. They pretty much built the South and lots of other shit but that's a different issue entirely.
Seriously, how do I site spots in a video? It's video you moron! Watch the fucking videos yourself, you lazy piece of shit. Again, you're just pissed off because you have no fucking idea what you're talking about but it doesn't change the fact that Wright IS A RACIST PIECE OF SHIT, or that Obama loves that racist piece of shit, or that he's been going to his sermons for 20 fucking years, or that he's been retired and replaced by another racist piece of shit.
Your comment about the slave votes has nothing to do with it. The constitution wasn't written and approved until well after the FUCKING REVOLUTIONARY WAR WAS OVER. Learn your goddamn history. Slavery had nothing to do with the FOUNDING of the country. Learn vocabulary too. Do you want a history lesson about tea parties and taxation without representation, etc? That's what FOUNDED the fucking country.
You're just pissed because I'm right. All you do is spout bullshit that has nothing to do with the points I was making, which were:
Wright is a racist fuckhead.
Here's let me repeat my original argument in case you missed that...
Wright is a racist fuckhead.
Feel free to come up with a valid argument of how I'm wrong other than "I've never heard those statements so it doesn't fucking matter to me" or "I'm too lazy to watch the fucking videos". Seriously, you actually think you use logic in this discussion? Cute.
Finally, I don't give a flying fuck about Libertarians. I'm guessing you think you know my politics so you throw shit like that out there for me to chew on but I have a very rare political stance so don't pretend to know me -- you don't.
I am well aware of the history of slavery in this country. Slavery is a crucial part of the history of this country but is not responsible for the "founding" of this country. Read up on the revolutionary war and it's precursors for more info. If you know your history well enuff, you know that slavery almost kept the revolution from happening in the first place. You confuse the founding of the country with what helped it grow.
Yes, it's still a racist nation but it's NOTHING like it was even 50 years ago. There will always be racism: it's human nature to find someone to hate for our troubles. As long as there's different races, this will always be so. Again, how you can relate racism today to what it was in the 1700s is mind boggling. As for the middle easterners...yeah, they get that in Europe too and it's worse there. In any event, I don't see any middle easterners being turned into slaves, or openly disparaged except by a few nut-jobs. But I guess we should pretend it's just like the old days because of a few nuts, right?
Give me a fucking break
I'm not going to site anything because they are all in audio clips. Feel free to google for them, they are trivially easy to find. The fact that you haven't even heard them is interesting. You defend him so strongly and don't even know what he said??
You can quote Fallwell and Robertson but I don't give a shit about them. They the biggest fucking assholes on the planet but who cares? We're talking about Wright. The questions isn't whether Fallwell and Robertson are racist assholes...we already know that.
I am well aware of the history of slavery in this country. Slavery is a crucial part of the history of this country but is not responsible for the "founding" of this country. Read up on the revolutionary war and it's precursors for more info. If you know your history well enuff, you know that slavery almost kept the revolution from happening in the first place.
I don't like the Republicans or the Democrats. Both parties are pathetic. I consequently am not limited to voting for McCain or Obama (or Hilary as the case may be). This is only an either/or proposition for people who have mistakenly fallen into the trap/"self fulfilling prophecy" of believing that only a Dem or Repub can win.
Finally, I'm stunned that you can sit there and say this guy isn't a racist. You know nothing of what he said and don't seem to care when you hear about it. You've already decided he isn't racist without even knowing what the fuck he said. You give him more credit than you give me because you think I may have quoted him out of context. Fair enuff...listen to his hate fill speech yourself. The only thing he doesn't do is come right out (at least not in public) and say things like "white people are fucking evil". However, EVERYTHING he says in reference to white people has that message in the subtext.
Obama's preacher isn't a racist. He went too far with "God damn America" (in one speech), but what he said was "God damn America so long as it's killing innocent people all the time", which is actually what any decent preacher who believes in damnation (they're all supposed to) would have to say. Because that's what the religion says. Sorry but the guy is racist. Why is he a racist?
1) He praises Farrakhan: "He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest," Wright said. "Minister Farrakhan will be remembered as one of the 20th and 21st century giants of the African-American religious experience." He also refers to him as a pillar of "integrity". Please note that Mr. Right and Mr. Farrakhan are very good friends. I assume you don't want to enter a debate as to whether Farrakhan is racist considering how utterly blatant he was about it (and an anti-Semite to boot).
3) Wright says things like "Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!". His racism is so strong that he doesn't even know how the country was founded nor does he recognize the tremendous gains made toward equality. To even equate early slavery to what we have now is irresponsible and incites riotous attitude. Not surprising from a Farrakhan fan, I suppose.
4) Wright refers to the United States as the "U.S. of K.K.K.A."
5) Wright says, "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." Are you fucking kidding me??
Then there's his rewriting of God Bless America. Please, this guy is ridiculously racist. He only gets away with it because he's a preacher. If a white person were to say similar things, there would be a huge uproar.
You're just being an Obama apologist by defending this preacher of his. I don't like McCain or the Republicans at all right now but there's no way I could vote for a man who's willing to go to a blatantly racist preacher. This is way beyond just some philosophical disagreements over how to interpret things in the bible. This is racism, pure and simple, and you should seriously reflect on why you're defending it.
Would you support mandatory liability insurance in other areas like employment? It's not required by law in the US but almost every employer has it anyway otherwise a single incident could destroy your business. Also, most businesses require that other companies doing work on their property have such insurance. I'm an independent consultant and I have a $1,000,000 general corporate liability as required by my contract. Note that it does not cover things like errors and omissions which is more applicable to a software developer like myself. E&O insurance is also very very expensive where liability is pretty cheap.
the problems with robotics is mainly one of adequate sensory input I agree. I also think it's one of the big problems with AI. How can we expect anything to ever act remotely human if it doesn't perceive the world in the same way a human does? Your perception defines your reality.
I fully read your post and understand it. I'm sorry you have such a limited imagination for such things but I'll try and make this simple for you:
Theory of mind is bullshit. Sorry but that's for idiotic academics that have such limited imaginations that they have to put an artificial restriction in place. Eventually, humans WILL understand how the human brain works. Once you know how it works, there's always the opportunity to improve on it. It's just that simple.
Once again you fall into the trap that humans are somehow magical beings, that we're somehow unknowable...that we're like God. We're not. We're biological machines with various abilities and limitations just like any other animal on this planet. Once you understand that, then you will understand that we can learn what we truly are and how we truly work and make something better. It may not even be software in a circuit. OPEN YOUR FUCKING MIND.
What makes you think that we'll be able to replicate or even approximate the human thought process any time soon? I didn't put a time-line on it; I have no idea how long it will take. Of course we have a long way to go, but I'm responding to the previous poster who implied it would simply never happen...ever.
Hell, we're having problems even getting computers/machines to work out simple things like moving limbs without falling over, or reacting in order to avoid being hit by an object, but you think we're going to be able to teach them to use higher-order brain functions? Robotics is an entirely different issue. There are already robots that can walk and run. Granted, there are none that can handle obstacles as well as a human but these problems will get worked out in time. There's no reason to think otherwise.
Or, if you prefer a religious reply: we're the result of God's divine intervention, and can never hope to match His work;) I don't:)
Your statements are based on the faulty premise that computers will never be able to learn, or at least learn as well as a human. I would never make such an assumption. People have an elevated sense of themselves. It's bullshit. We're just fancy bio-computers. Once we understand how that really works, we're be able to replicate it and (probably) improve on it.
Performance criteria are always part of a design and cruddy programmers who hide their incompetence with the above mantra should be fired. Bravo! Well said, sir. I'm sick and tired of people throwing out that mantra for every excuse they need to say performance doesn't matter till later. It's a one-size-fits-all stream of bullshit tossed about by the simple minded who don't understand the context of the original statement, and who don't know when it really applies.
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Hint: you're not supposed to watch TV/Movies in a "normally lit" room. I suggest you read up on how to setup a proper viewing environment. ALL screens, glossy or otherwise, suffer from inappropriate lighting.
Everything I've read says it costs over $50b per year. That's not chump-change. That doesn't include the cost of time it takes for someone to fix their identity either, which can be extremely time consuming.
But this chart: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/wgtimus2w.htm says we import about ~1m barrels a day of gasoline. That equals about 19.5 million gallons of gas, no? 48 - 19.5 = we're still short about 28.5 million gallons per day.
I would suggest learning a bit more about what you're talking about before calling other people morons.
I'm going to call bullshit. My facts are simply this: in spite of all the crying about refining capacity, I have yet to see a sign at a gas station since the late 70's saying "Sorry, we're out of gas. Try again tomorrow".
So if we're short over 48 million gallons per day as you suggest, who's not getting their gasoline??
As far as I can tell, there's three reasons people believe in a religion/god:
1) Life is hard so it gives them hope that things will get better no matter how sucky they might be on earth (however this may not happen until the afterlife, Armageddon, etc.).
2) People want to dump the responsibility for their lives on a mythic being. Being able to say something is "God's plan" takes all the responsibility off of them. (The funny part here is that, according to the bible, God gave man free will but that doesn't seem to stop these folk.)
3) People cannot grasp "coincidence" as an idea. They think when something unusual happens that it must be some kind of magic (much like the cavemen thought of fire) or "God" did it (or his agents). I've seen people use this time and time again to reaffirm their faith in a supreme being pulling all the strings. Of course, in a world of almost infinite possibility it's a given that occasionally weird, strange, unusual things will happen.
The christian religion has numerous logic flaws associated with it like how do they explain god's intervention in their lives when he gave man free will. If God is all powerful and knows everything than by definition your life is but a script so what's the point of doing anything? Christians need to decide whether they believe in this free will idea OR whether they believe everything is predestined. Right now, they seem unable or unwilling to work that out.
Truth be told, I wish I believed in God. It would make life easier for me to deal with but I have yet to see any proof (even the slightest bit) whatsoever of its existence.
This works both ways. There are sites that I run into all the time that only work properly with IE but I only use Firefox. I won't use sites that require IE unless I have no other choice and there is almost always another choice.
I read the whole article and nothing was actually revealing probably because he failed to say anything negative whatsoever about his former company (and everyone has something negative to say about their employer), yet he offers no real reason why he left but it's supposedly an interview about his leaving Microsoft... Sorry for the run-on sentence.
Where's your evidence? I at least posted information regarding the regulations in place to prevent this very thing. Unless you can post something from a reputable source, it's just your opinion. Also, just because people have been convicted of drug dealing, etc. while in the military doesn't mean they entered the military to escape judgment. I was in the military and worked with a guy who turned out to be a high profile thief. He entered legitimately but decided he could make a ton of money selling NVGs to people in South America.
Outside of breaking encryption, math is rarely required for hacking and the US has as much muscle as any country when it comes to breaking encryption courtesy of the NSA. Of course the funniest thing you said was, "if there's no security holes the only thing you can do is DDoS it off the net". Are you kidding me? There are ALWAYS security holes. You may not find them but they are there. There is no such thing as an impenetrable system.
Oh boy, one fucking transcript for a single sermon, fuckhead. The racist stuff he's said is spread over several sermons.
I'm fully aware that slaves were spread throughout the 13 colonies (although the vast majority were in the South). I'm not aware of any free transcripts. If I was aware of them, I would have cited them. Since you have declared their existence, please show me. Yes, I'm a cunt because you're wrong and I won't come to see your fucked up version of truth (which is to make up whatever makes you feel better about yourself). Please continue to support your candidate who gets spoon-fed racist bullshit every week. I think that's great! Of course, I assume you would never vote for someone indoctrinated by Fallwell or Robertson? Fucking hypocrite.
What, you want me to cite well known American history? This isn't secret shit, buddy. Again, get a fucking education. I don't ignore the slaves but they had virtually nothing to do with the establishment of the US. They pretty much built the South and lots of other shit but that's a different issue entirely.
Seriously, how do I site spots in a video? It's video you moron! Watch the fucking videos yourself, you lazy piece of shit. Again, you're just pissed off because you have no fucking idea what you're talking about but it doesn't change the fact that Wright IS A RACIST PIECE OF SHIT, or that Obama loves that racist piece of shit, or that he's been going to his sermons for 20 fucking years, or that he's been retired and replaced by another racist piece of shit.
Your comment about the slave votes has nothing to do with it. The constitution wasn't written and approved until well after the FUCKING REVOLUTIONARY WAR WAS OVER. Learn your goddamn history. Slavery had nothing to do with the FOUNDING of the country. Learn vocabulary too. Do you want a history lesson about tea parties and taxation without representation, etc? That's what FOUNDED the fucking country.
You're just pissed because I'm right. All you do is spout bullshit that has nothing to do with the points I was making, which were:
Wright is a racist fuckhead.
Here's let me repeat my original argument in case you missed that...
Wright is a racist fuckhead.
Feel free to come up with a valid argument of how I'm wrong other than "I've never heard those statements so it doesn't fucking matter to me" or "I'm too lazy to watch the fucking videos". Seriously, you actually think you use logic in this discussion? Cute.
Finally, I don't give a flying fuck about Libertarians. I'm guessing you think you know my politics so you throw shit like that out there for me to chew on but I have a very rare political stance so don't pretend to know me -- you don't.
I am well aware of the history of slavery in this country. Slavery is a crucial part of the history of this country but is not responsible for the "founding" of this country. Read up on the revolutionary war and it's precursors for more info. If you know your history well enuff, you know that slavery almost kept the revolution from happening in the first place. You confuse the founding of the country with what helped it grow. Yes, it's still a racist nation but it's NOTHING like it was even 50 years ago. There will always be racism: it's human nature to find someone to hate for our troubles. As long as there's different races, this will always be so. Again, how you can relate racism today to what it was in the 1700s is mind boggling. As for the middle easterners...yeah, they get that in Europe too and it's worse there. In any event, I don't see any middle easterners being turned into slaves, or openly disparaged except by a few nut-jobs. But I guess we should pretend it's just like the old days because of a few nuts, right? Give me a fucking break
I'm not going to site anything because they are all in audio clips. Feel free to google for them, they are trivially easy to find. The fact that you haven't even heard them is interesting. You defend him so strongly and don't even know what he said??
You can quote Fallwell and Robertson but I don't give a shit about them. They the biggest fucking assholes on the planet but who cares? We're talking about Wright. The questions isn't whether Fallwell and Robertson are racist assholes...we already know that.
I am well aware of the history of slavery in this country. Slavery is a crucial part of the history of this country but is not responsible for the "founding" of this country. Read up on the revolutionary war and it's precursors for more info. If you know your history well enuff, you know that slavery almost kept the revolution from happening in the first place.
I don't like the Republicans or the Democrats. Both parties are pathetic. I consequently am not limited to voting for McCain or Obama (or Hilary as the case may be). This is only an either/or proposition for people who have mistakenly fallen into the trap/"self fulfilling prophecy" of believing that only a Dem or Repub can win.
Finally, I'm stunned that you can sit there and say this guy isn't a racist. You know nothing of what he said and don't seem to care when you hear about it. You've already decided he isn't racist without even knowing what the fuck he said. You give him more credit than you give me because you think I may have quoted him out of context. Fair enuff...listen to his hate fill speech yourself. The only thing he doesn't do is come right out (at least not in public) and say things like "white people are fucking evil". However, EVERYTHING he says in reference to white people has that message in the subtext.
1) He praises Farrakhan: "He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest," Wright said. "Minister Farrakhan will be remembered as one of the 20th and 21st century giants of the African-American religious experience." He also refers to him as a pillar of "integrity". Please note that Mr. Right and Mr. Farrakhan are very good friends. I assume you don't want to enter a debate as to whether Farrakhan is racist considering how utterly blatant he was about it (and an anti-Semite to boot).
3) Wright says things like "Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!". His racism is so strong that he doesn't even know how the country was founded nor does he recognize the tremendous gains made toward equality. To even equate early slavery to what we have now is irresponsible and incites riotous attitude. Not surprising from a Farrakhan fan, I suppose.
4) Wright refers to the United States as the "U.S. of K.K.K.A."
5) Wright says, "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." Are you fucking kidding me??
Then there's his rewriting of God Bless America. Please, this guy is ridiculously racist. He only gets away with it because he's a preacher. If a white person were to say similar things, there would be a huge uproar.
You're just being an Obama apologist by defending this preacher of his. I don't like McCain or the Republicans at all right now but there's no way I could vote for a man who's willing to go to a blatantly racist preacher. This is way beyond just some philosophical disagreements over how to interpret things in the bible. This is racism, pure and simple, and you should seriously reflect on why you're defending it.
I fully read your post and understand it. I'm sorry you have such a limited imagination for such things but I'll try and make this simple for you: Theory of mind is bullshit. Sorry but that's for idiotic academics that have such limited imaginations that they have to put an artificial restriction in place. Eventually, humans WILL understand how the human brain works. Once you know how it works, there's always the opportunity to improve on it. It's just that simple. Once again you fall into the trap that humans are somehow magical beings, that we're somehow unknowable...that we're like God. We're not. We're biological machines with various abilities and limitations just like any other animal on this planet. Once you understand that, then you will understand that we can learn what we truly are and how we truly work and make something better. It may not even be software in a circuit. OPEN YOUR FUCKING MIND.
Your statements are based on the faulty premise that computers will never be able to learn, or at least learn as well as a human. I would never make such an assumption. People have an elevated sense of themselves. It's bullshit. We're just fancy bio-computers. Once we understand how that really works, we're be able to replicate it and (probably) improve on it.