And you're also free to bear arms and legally able to defend your home, property or yourself - something that isn't quite as possible in some European countries. If somebody'd run up to you wielding a knife, screaming "I'LL KILL YOU", it'd be illegal to shoot the bastard in my (current) country until he stabs and seriously wounds you, and even then you'd get in big trouble.
Oh, and we also tell our women to always carry a condom with them in case they get raped, instead of telling them to carry a gun to shoot any rapist scumbag approaching them.
Well, try to present your information in a different fashion then. I'm not saying your post isn't informative (and I certainly mean no offense against you), it's just really, really horrible to look at;) .
Not really. Sure, there are a lot of poor pirates out there, but there are also these who already managed to hijack a ship and the ransom they often get is incredibly high. It's just a matter of time before they'd be mounting similar devices - especially since it's actually more useful for them than for the merchant crews, as pirates actually need the crew alive and the ship intact while the merchants would do better with the pirates having a cup of tea with Davy Jones.
but if a particular shipping company got a reputation for arming their crews pirates would probably at the very least treat them more harshly when captured, or execute them just to be safe.
On the other hand, if a particular shipping company gets a reputation for shooting the crap out of wannabe-pirates, they might stay away from ships of that company altogether (at least as long as there are more lucrative-less risk targets around).
One of Kurzweil's observations is that as soon as we can create a machine equivalent to a human brain, we can create a machine more powerful than a human brain.
Which would also mean that we wouldn't be that far away from creating a machine capable of enhancing the human brain.
oh your one of those people that think IQ is everything and strength or stamina are not neccessary
Playing devil's advocate here (the poster you're responding to is a lame troll posting the same crap over and over again, and you're also pretty wrong to say that genetically Africans tend to be great athletes and Westerners are better scientists) - stamina and strength can both be acquired through training, intelligence only in a very limited fashion. So yeah, intelligence is more precious than physical strength.
I mean, if it becomes clear that rather than being just blacks, whites.... whatevers.... on a cosmological scale where there is actual non-terrestrial life.... shouldn't it be clear that we all are just the one race?
Hopefully, yes. But I doubt it. There can be a metric fsckton of contradicting information, some people will still believe in utterly wrong things. Just look at all the Creationists or 9/11 truthers out there.
Doesn't stop people here from constantly citing 1984 (completely ignoring that the book wasn't that much about surveillance but socialism gone wrong, but that's not as convenient now, is it?) or Brave New World.
Without any doubt many Russians died for their country (or more accurately, were forced to die for their country), and they did indeed contribute to the defeat of the Nazis - *they* wouldn't have managed to do it by themselves, and remember, in the beginning, they were even allies. I'm not saying the Russians weren't necessary, but claiming that it was them who saved our asses is a gross exaggeration.
Oh, also, men lost != contribution to Germany's defeat.[/offtopic]
Yeah, Canada, where you can't even just switch doctors if the one you've got keeps failing to do his job. I'm not particularly against a semi-state funded healthcare system, but looking at the Canadian healthcare system I can completely understand why US citizens are so afraid of socialized healthcare.
Personally, I think the parents should have just started homeschooling.
Sadly, homeschooling (which has both it's advantages and disadvantages, just like "regular" school does) isn't available for everybody. I don't know how it is in the US, but here (an European country), it's a pretty expensive thing to do - it either costs you a lot of money by hiring a home teacher or a lot of time by teaching your kid yourself, and neither time nor money are too available for the majority of the working population.
Slashdot Mirror
Make that a paintball marker or softair gun. Germany has a record of banning "realistic-looking" markers.
And you're also free to bear arms and legally able to defend your home, property or yourself - something that isn't quite as possible in some European countries. If somebody'd run up to you wielding a knife, screaming "I'LL KILL YOU", it'd be illegal to shoot the bastard in my (current) country until he stabs and seriously wounds you, and even then you'd get in big trouble.
Oh, and we also tell our women to always carry a condom with them in case they get raped, instead of telling them to carry a gun to shoot any rapist scumbag approaching them.
That, and replacing a hand is one thing - replacing your entire body sans brain is another.
Well, try to present your information in a different fashion then. I'm not saying your post isn't informative (and I certainly mean no offense against you), it's just really, really horrible to look at ;) .
THE GAME
You actually watched that movie?
Here, have some bleach for your eyes.
Dude - you just gave me eye cancer.
Not really. Sure, there are a lot of poor pirates out there, but there are also these who already managed to hijack a ship and the ransom they often get is incredibly high. It's just a matter of time before they'd be mounting similar devices - especially since it's actually more useful for them than for the merchant crews, as pirates actually need the crew alive and the ship intact while the merchants would do better with the pirates having a cup of tea with Davy Jones.
but if a particular shipping company got a reputation for arming their crews pirates would probably at the very least treat them more harshly when captured, or execute them just to be safe.
On the other hand, if a particular shipping company gets a reputation for shooting the crap out of wannabe-pirates, they might stay away from ships of that company altogether (at least as long as there are more lucrative-less risk targets around).
One of Kurzweil's observations is that as soon as we can create a machine equivalent to a human brain, we can create a machine more powerful than a human brain.
Which would also mean that we wouldn't be that far away from creating a machine capable of enhancing the human brain.
oh your one of those people that think IQ is everything and strength or stamina are not neccessary
Playing devil's advocate here (the poster you're responding to is a lame troll posting the same crap over and over again, and you're also pretty wrong to say that genetically Africans tend to be great athletes and Westerners are better scientists) - stamina and strength can both be acquired through training, intelligence only in a very limited fashion. So yeah, intelligence is more precious than physical strength.
Score: 2, Nobody cares?
I mean, if it becomes clear that rather than being just blacks, whites.... whatevers.... on a cosmological scale where there is actual non-terrestrial life.... shouldn't it be clear that we all are just the one race?
Hopefully, yes. But I doubt it. There can be a metric fsckton of contradicting information, some people will still believe in utterly wrong things. Just look at all the Creationists or 9/11 truthers out there.
And don't forget about the gardener!
+1 War of the Worlds reference.
I dated a girl in high school that had excessive godliness
Considering you are posting on Slashdot...was her surname .png?
Doesn't stop people here from constantly citing 1984 (completely ignoring that the book wasn't that much about surveillance but socialism gone wrong, but that's not as convenient now, is it?) or Brave New World.
Without any doubt many Russians died for their country (or more accurately, were forced to die for their country), and they did indeed contribute to the defeat of the Nazis - *they* wouldn't have managed to do it by themselves, and remember, in the beginning, they were even allies. I'm not saying the Russians weren't necessary, but claiming that it was them who saved our asses is a gross exaggeration.
Oh, also, men lost != contribution to Germany's defeat.[/offtopic]
I can haz cheezburger?
Besides, Interesting gives Karma, Funny does not. Some people want to give people Karma for especially good jokes...
Yeah, Canada, where you can't even just switch doctors if the one you've got keeps failing to do his job. I'm not particularly against a semi-state funded healthcare system, but looking at the Canadian healthcare system I can completely understand why US citizens are so afraid of socialized healthcare.
Personally, I think the parents should have just started homeschooling.
Sadly, homeschooling (which has both it's advantages and disadvantages, just like "regular" school does) isn't available for everybody. I don't know how it is in the US, but here (an European country), it's a pretty expensive thing to do - it either costs you a lot of money by hiring a home teacher or a lot of time by teaching your kid yourself, and neither time nor money are too available for the majority of the working population.
No, that's already 1984 Oceania.
Or maybe he's Superman.
Approximately 14.4.