... better than chance is a pretty general science term that means "Yes, we can do it. Not perfectly, but better than chance."
In the world of science reporting, it means "Eh, not by accident, but not worth writing home about". If they could predict it at 95% accuracy, you bet they'd be reporting it. It's just the way science journalism works.
There is a difference between using them, and shoe-horning them in where they don't add to the conversation in an attempt to make yourself look cool. As for adding to the conversation: pot, meet kettle.
Yup, you're right, the UN declaration is only valid if you've signed it. IIRC, the US hasn't signed the one about the rights of the child. Small wonder.
Hey man I'll cut your grass if you let me smoke pot all day and not pay any taxes. Illegals have it pretty damn sweet - none of the bullshit the rest of us have to put up with. I pay a fuckload of money to live in the USA. If they are willing to do the same, then I dig them. Otherwise, STFU.
Haha, nice sarcasm.
Or deluded ramblings... either way, there's no way you're serious.
Why? Two problems with your statement. "Illegal" immigrants pay almost as much in tax as legal ones, because in the USA, taxes are split between purchase tax/property tax and income tax. So they're still paying taxes, more or less, depending on which state they're in. Second of all, the US tax rate is crazy, CRAZY low. You may think your taxes are high, but that's only because you havn't bothered to look and see that in the rest of the civilized world, folks pay 3-4x more than you... happily. Why? Because their governments don't suck, mostly.
Can you provide a reference to the part of the constitution that says the U.S. has a duty to protect non-citizens who are here illegally? And please, feel free to pay for the education and medical bills for these non-citizens.
The AC who posted that it's a constitutional duty is an idiot. The constitution is flawed, look at the "status" of negros after! (no change).
The unalienable rights of which the AC speaks are guaranteed by the US participation in the UN, and adherence to the charter of rights and freedoms.
Now, I know from 2000-2008, you americans got used to ignoring rights and freedoms, but that has changed. You've got to stop abusing people and play nice, or big brother china is going to call your debts due and make you his woman.
so by your logic, because 'some' officers 'may' abuse this law, we should not have it? by that logic, we should not have highways, because some people abuse them by speeding. we should not have internet, because some people might abuse it by stealing music. This is like that bullshit law that was offered up a while back to ban those tiny ziploc bags, because some people use them to sell drugs. need i go on? Just because your theoretical 'some' may abuse this law, and 'harass brown people' does not mean that every cop in AZ is going out tonight with his nightstick and gun to pull over every brown person and rape them in the ass with his baton. Stop with moronic blanket demonizing of the entire AZ police force.
By that logic, we should allow officers to shoot on sight, and give them all a license to kill. I mean, we should *trust* people, even if we're sure that some of the cops will abuse the privilege, it's for the greater good!
Do you really think in a state where brown skin is the majority that cops will waste their time bugging everyone who is brown skinned? We in AZ are aware there are a lot of legal Hispanics here, don't insult us with your assumptions.
Sorry Arizona, we've given you the benefit of the doubt too many times, and you've consistently proven us wrong. Maybe stop smurfing up so hard and you'll get some goodwill.
I would have expected a more thoughtful discussion here on slashdot. Actually it makes me kind of sad. I wonder whether most people here grew old and a bit too inflexible in their lines of thought?
Actually, I think most of the low UUID folk no longer post here. They've moved onto more enlightened climes.
Don't feed the troll who is attempting to undermine my credibility; it only gives him more credibility. On the other hand, countertrolling the trolls is one of Slashdot's great pleasures. If this MMORPG had classes I would like mine to be countertroll. (It has score and achievements, why not classes?) So if you can make one or two comments which cause him to waste his time making dozens, then you get points. But if you attempt to engage him directly, he rubs his hands together and cackles with glee over how much more clever he is than you are.
I no longer wonder why so many people say "Don't feed the trolls". Do you?
Or maybe there is a reason his records are sealed. Because they would make it plain he is a below average shlub who was admitted and honored more for his biography and 'diversity' than his ability.
... lol... same reason his birth certificate couldn't be found. Brilliant PR... let the loonies make the right wing look completely half-cocked, so no one wants to affiliate themselves with the right, gain votes, and get in.
But hey. You're free to believe whatever you want, and I'm free to believe you're an idiot.
I'm curious what country you're living in (actually, no, I think I can guess)... because there are very few nationalities that generalize their conditions of life to the rest of the world.
And you wouldn't ask yourself "Hey, how can these people be so smart and so stupid all at once?"
Maybe you need to think past the obvious a little more often.
I would never pretend to be good at something medical; that doesn't make me stupid, just that that is not where my strength lies. In the same way, I don't expect my doctor to be good with a computer, beyond what he needs to get his job done (EHR and all that).
I tell my users who are down on themselves about technology every day that they are good at something I'm lousy at...we all have our strengths.
Your way of approaching it ("How can you be so smart but so stupid?") is just arrogant and very off-putting to people. That attitude is what gives IT a bad image, and makes people want to avoid us when they should be working with us. If you can remember that they have their strengths, too, you won't come across as so arrogant, and you may just make someone's day for caring a bit more.
You manage to work a toothbrush just fine, like the rest of us. Technology isn't a specialized field, it's EVERYWHERE. If you can't be bothered to learn how to drive, you can't drive a car. But for some reason, people seem to think that they don't *have* to learn to operate a simple point and click interface. It's not like we're living in the 80s with straight cli and no real application for computers outside accounting. Computers are *everywhere*. I'm not anti-specialization. I'm anti-ignorance. I'm against people being unwilling to conform to some basic, BASIC social values. Like... not being incompetent. I don't expect my doctor to be able to build a PC. But I do expect him to avoid clicking randomly on boxes that say "CLICK ME" while browsing his pron. And likewise, I don't expect everyone to be able to perform open heart surgery. But I *do* expect people to know which end goes up in a human being, and to keep pointy objects from entering their body.
Ps. You have terrible metaphors. Maybe that's what passes for education these days, or maybe you just live in a red state. Either way, learn something or stfu. It's embarrassing to share the "human" label with you.
Heh, being a mormon (And not one of those crazy-utah-rd republican mormons), I *always* laugh when other religious folk bash my belief system. From an atheist, I'll just respond with "Hey man, I'm not stepping on your rights to gay-marry and drink" (even if there are many other mormons that do that...). From another religious person, I usually say "Dude, your religion is just as messed up... and I'm not the one preaching to you".
And just like *every* group, there are a few loudmouths that overstep their bounds and claim the right to speak for the masses and make everyone look foolish. And, if you view religion as a system of beliefs... then atheism is a system of beliefs about the world. Sure, some of it can be proven, other parts are just solid speculation. Like... every religion. So, I believe that I'm going to be reborn. Technically? So does every atheist who ascribes to that pesky thing about atom theory, and matter being neither create-able or destroy-able. I'm okay with religion, because there are things that no one can explain...
Oh, and then there is scientology. Man, that religion isn't just messed up - they're out of this world. At least with *my* religion, you don't have to spend millions to feel "special" enough to continue your astral journey.
While I agree he's a nut, I would be careful throwing stones. Let me put it this way: As a Christian, you most likely believe some or all of this:
...a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
Unlike some of the other posters, I don't really want to turn this into a religious argument, but might I suggest that you just leave it as "he's a nut", something we can all agree on.
Well, I don't want to overgeneralize, but most atheists that overgeneralize about Christians don't know much about christianity - just what they've been told by their other overgeneralizing atheist friends.
Some of the scariest, craziest people I've ever met have been incredibly nice.
... and most of the A-holes I've met are religious. Too bad they're just the very vocal minority that gives most reasonable religious folk a bad reputation.
Slashdot Mirror
... better than chance is a pretty general science term that means "Yes, we can do it. Not perfectly, but better than chance."
In the world of science reporting, it means "Eh, not by accident, but not worth writing home about". If they could predict it at 95% accuracy, you bet they'd be reporting it. It's just the way science journalism works.
We use cultural references all the time.
There is a difference between using them, and shoe-horning them in where they don't add to the conversation in an attempt to make yourself look cool. As for adding to the conversation: pot, meet kettle.
ok pop quiz hotshot.
ok pop quiz hotshot, on a scale of 1 to infinity, how cool does this phrase make you in 1990?
Yup, you're right, the UN declaration is only valid if you've signed it. IIRC, the US hasn't signed the one about the rights of the child. Small wonder.
Hey man I'll cut your grass if you let me smoke pot all day and not pay any taxes. Illegals have it pretty damn sweet - none of the bullshit the rest of us have to put up with. I pay a fuckload of money to live in the USA. If they are willing to do the same, then I dig them. Otherwise, STFU.
Haha, nice sarcasm.
... happily. Why? Because their governments don't suck, mostly.
Or deluded ramblings... either way, there's no way you're serious.
Why? Two problems with your statement. "Illegal" immigrants pay almost as much in tax as legal ones, because in the USA, taxes are split between purchase tax/property tax and income tax. So they're still paying taxes, more or less, depending on which state they're in. Second of all, the US tax rate is crazy, CRAZY low. You may think your taxes are high, but that's only because you havn't bothered to look and see that in the rest of the civilized world, folks pay 3-4x more than you
Can you provide a reference to the part of the constitution that says the U.S. has a duty to protect non-citizens who are here illegally? And please, feel free to pay for the education and medical bills for these non-citizens.
The AC who posted that it's a constitutional duty is an idiot. The constitution is flawed, look at the "status" of negros after! (no change).
The unalienable rights of which the AC speaks are guaranteed by the US participation in the UN, and adherence to the charter of rights and freedoms.
Now, I know from 2000-2008, you americans got used to ignoring rights and freedoms, but that has changed. You've got to stop abusing people and play nice, or big brother china is going to call your debts due and make you his woman.
so by your logic, because 'some' officers 'may' abuse this law, we should not have it? by that logic, we should not have highways, because some people abuse them by speeding. we should not have internet, because some people might abuse it by stealing music. This is like that bullshit law that was offered up a while back to ban those tiny ziploc bags, because some people use them to sell drugs. need i go on? Just because your theoretical 'some' may abuse this law, and 'harass brown people' does not mean that every cop in AZ is going out tonight with his nightstick and gun to pull over every brown person and rape them in the ass with his baton. Stop with moronic blanket demonizing of the entire AZ police force.
By that logic, we should allow officers to shoot on sight, and give them all a license to kill. I mean, we should *trust* people, even if we're sure that some of the cops will abuse the privilege, it's for the greater good!
Do you really think in a state where brown skin is the majority that cops will waste their time bugging everyone who is brown skinned? We in AZ are aware there are a lot of legal Hispanics here, don't insult us with your assumptions.
Sorry Arizona, we've given you the benefit of the doubt too many times, and you've consistently proven us wrong. Maybe stop smurfing up so hard and you'll get some goodwill.
Precisely ... but IMO, at least in concept, a virtual fiat currency like this could work well for items in a virtual "fiat world", no?
Look to EVE online for how it works for them.
Except it's not backed up by anything, it can literally lose value overnight, good luck finding a sucker to pay for it after that.
You mean, like every other fiat currency? USD? Euro? Etc. Etc.
Bitcoins are quite similar to most forms of fiat money. If enough people don't endorse it, use it or accept it, it's worthless.
I would have expected a more thoughtful discussion here on slashdot. Actually it makes me kind of sad. I wonder whether most people here grew old and a bit too inflexible in their lines of thought?
Actually, I think most of the low UUID folk no longer post here. They've moved onto more enlightened climes.
Don't feed the troll who is attempting to undermine my credibility; it only gives him more credibility. On the other hand, countertrolling the trolls is one of Slashdot's great pleasures. If this MMORPG had classes I would like mine to be countertroll. (It has score and achievements, why not classes?) So if you can make one or two comments which cause him to waste his time making dozens, then you get points. But if you attempt to engage him directly, he rubs his hands together and cackles with glee over how much more clever he is than you are.
I no longer wonder why so many people say "Don't feed the trolls". Do you?
Or maybe there is a reason his records are sealed. Because they would make it plain he is a below average shlub who was admitted and honored more for his biography and 'diversity' than his ability.
... lol ... same reason his birth certificate couldn't be found. Brilliant PR ... let the loonies make the right wing look completely half-cocked, so no one wants to affiliate themselves with the right, gain votes, and get in.
But hey. You're free to believe whatever you want, and I'm free to believe you're an idiot.
A sue-happy world.
I'm curious what country you're living in (actually, no, I think I can guess) ... because there are very few nationalities that generalize their conditions of life to the rest of the world.
I know it sucks, but in a sue-happy world that one nice thing you do for someone could be misconstrued as an invasion of privacy
... wait, you mean a sue-happy country, right?
. I'm a 30 year old man.
On the internet, you can be ANYONE.
And you wouldn't ask yourself "Hey, how can these people be so smart and so stupid all at once?" Maybe you need to think past the obvious a little more often.
I would never pretend to be good at something medical; that doesn't make me stupid, just that that is not where my strength lies. In the same way, I don't expect my doctor to be good with a computer, beyond what he needs to get his job done (EHR and all that). I tell my users who are down on themselves about technology every day that they are good at something I'm lousy at...we all have our strengths. Your way of approaching it ("How can you be so smart but so stupid?") is just arrogant and very off-putting to people. That attitude is what gives IT a bad image, and makes people want to avoid us when they should be working with us. If you can remember that they have their strengths, too, you won't come across as so arrogant, and you may just make someone's day for caring a bit more.
You manage to work a toothbrush just fine, like the rest of us. Technology isn't a specialized field, it's EVERYWHERE. If you can't be bothered to learn how to drive, you can't drive a car. But for some reason, people seem to think that they don't *have* to learn to operate a simple point and click interface. It's not like we're living in the 80s with straight cli and no real application for computers outside accounting. Computers are *everywhere*. I'm not anti-specialization. I'm anti-ignorance. I'm against people being unwilling to conform to some basic, BASIC social values. Like ... not being incompetent. I don't expect my doctor to be able to build a PC. But I do expect him to avoid clicking randomly on boxes that say "CLICK ME" while browsing his pron. And likewise, I don't expect everyone to be able to perform open heart surgery. But I *do* expect people to know which end goes up in a human being, and to keep pointy objects from entering their body.
Ps. You have terrible metaphors. Maybe that's what passes for education these days, or maybe you just live in a red state. Either way, learn something or stfu. It's embarrassing to share the "human" label with you.
Heh, being a mormon (And not one of those crazy-utah-rd republican mormons), I *always* laugh when other religious folk bash my belief system. From an atheist, I'll just respond with "Hey man, I'm not stepping on your rights to gay-marry and drink" (even if there are many other mormons that do that...). From another religious person, I usually say "Dude, your religion is just as messed up ... and I'm not the one preaching to you".
... then atheism is a system of beliefs about the world. Sure, some of it can be proven, other parts are just solid speculation. Like ... every religion. So, I believe that I'm going to be reborn. Technically? So does every atheist who ascribes to that pesky thing about atom theory, and matter being neither create-able or destroy-able. I'm okay with religion, because there are things that no one can explain...
And just like *every* group, there are a few loudmouths that overstep their bounds and claim the right to speak for the masses and make everyone look foolish. And, if you view religion as a system of beliefs
Oh, and then there is scientology. Man, that religion isn't just messed up - they're out of this world. At least with *my* religion, you don't have to spend millions to feel "special" enough to continue your astral journey.
OMG My UUID contains numbers.... that happen to match with a random piece of ID that I already possessed.
I joined in 1999 so assuming UIDs were given out sequential order...
It's definitely the right era though.
I guess I was an old fart already in 1999.
Git off my lawn!!
Hey, since no intelligent being from the 90s tries to emulate larry the cable guy on purpose, I suggest that you are not, in fact, from the 90s.
While I agree he's a nut, I would be careful throwing stones. Let me put it this way: As a Christian, you most likely believe some or all of this:
...a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
Unlike some of the other posters, I don't really want to turn this into a religious argument, but might I suggest that you just leave it as "he's a nut", something we can all agree on.
Well, I don't want to overgeneralize, but most atheists that overgeneralize about Christians don't know much about christianity - just what they've been told by their other overgeneralizing atheist friends.
See what I did there?
Some of the scariest, craziest people I've ever met have been incredibly nice.
... and most of the A-holes I've met are religious. Too bad they're just the very vocal minority that gives most reasonable religious folk a bad reputation.
Wait, so if someone makes the assessment that people who hear voices and believe in invisible friends are crazy, they're automatically a nihilist?
Sorry, atheist != nihilist.
... And christian != crazy right wing nutjob ... no matter what the US right wing is trying to portray.
so is it a ponzi scheme?
No, it's called fiat money. Same as every other currency in existence.