I know! Would you trust a doctor who, at the age of 15, wasn't operating on his pets?
Nonsequitur. I would expect that a high school graduate has taken at least one Biology course. More than 23 years ago, when I was in high school, I already had computer classes and experience. In a world where cursive writing is being dropped from grammar school because everyone is expected to be typing, you'd better have some computer experience...and if you want to get into computer science, you'd better at least know BASIC, PASCAL or some other beginners programming language...better know what an array is, a for-next loop, if-else conditional branch etc...in other words, know some of the basics.
The reason you can't convince the bible-thumpers is because they have been indoctrinated since birth through churches, televangelists and others trying to push religious agendas. They've been brainwashed to the point where a rational argument or demonstration will not win them over. They are impervious to facts and scientific evidence involving empirical data. Intelligent Design is nothing more than Creationism re-branded in an attempt to circumnavigate the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution (which has helped to keep religion out of public schools)...This was proven in the court case: Kitzmiller v. Dover.
Prior to 6PM, I will be asking everyone who believes in the rapture if I can HAVE THEIR STUFF. If they will be leaving this world, they can't take their worldly possessions with them so, they might as well give me their stuff. Of course, all transactions will be final. In other words, if May 21st, 2011 comes and goes just like any other day, I won't be returning any possessions to their former suckers....er, I mean owners:D
If somebody opened a "Linux Store" I guarantee you that it, too, would trigger the same parts of the brain for certain people.:)
For some people, probably. Not for me...To use an analogy: I used to be a big J.R.R. Tolkien fan and read Lord of the Rings several times. Then, the movies came out. The movies were great but built up a lot of hype with a franchise, huge cult following, etc. to the point where it was no fun for me to be a Tolkien fan anymore. So, I stopped being a fan.
Atheism is a "religion" as much as religions are religions
The (obvious) problem with this is that there are about 100 atheists in the world who actually give a shit enough about atheism or religion to proselytize it, compared to millions of god-lovers who won't just leave the rest of us alone.
Atheism is as much a religion as not-stamp-collecting is a hobby. Atheism is a lack of belief and for many atheists, its more an acknowledgement of science. When Atheists refer to "God", they are usually talking about the supernatural God of Abraham shared by both the New Testament, Old Testament and K'uran but it refers to any supernatural God of any religion.
I think it would be interesting to compare brain scans of different factions of computer programmers. Any number of programmer religious wars: vi vs emacs, Unix vs Windows, GUI vs CLI, indenting with blanks vs tabs, C vs Perl vs Ruby vs.Net vs Python vs JavaScript.
You left out JAVA, the one true programming language, you INFIDEL!
We're not bashing Apple or their products. We're bashing the culture of Apple-Fandom. Yes, other OS's have their fanboys, too. However, my impression of Microsoft product users is most use it simply because they have to. I know of very few MS Windows users who cream their jeans and sing high praise of Microsoft. Apple has shortcomings too, mainly that Apple products are expensive and customers are forced to use Apple hardware. I'm mainly a Linux user...and yes, Linux has its fanboys too and each distro has its own cult following.
Unless you make social policies for India or China, why would you even have to consider population control? China has roughly a similar geographical size to the U.S. yet China's population is 1.3 Billion and the U.S. is barely 300 million. Given a choice between forced sterilisation, standing by idly as millions starve, OR bankrupting the economy with social services that feed an over-sized population...which would you choose. I bet any leader (except a deeply religious one) from any professional background would at least consider sterilisation. As for engineers being heartless bastards prone to making "the scariest social policies" and considering themselves intellectually superior, speak for yourself...Your generalisations about engineers and scientists is unfounded.
It seems to me that people, who make laws affecting the economy of the country, should understand the implications of these laws. Hence they should be versed in law and, more importantly, macro economics.
The alternative is worse: laws that have good intention, but end up having good economic reaction only in short term. While in the long term the reaction would be completely reversed, making the consequences the opposite of what was intended. This is quite common in economics.
George "Dubya" Bush had an MBA so I assume that would mean he understood macro-economics. Yet, his two terms as president helped lead the U.S. into the worst recession since the Great Depression of the early 20th century.
I said it a few comments down... but I will take lawyers, polisci majors, bankers, and economists who support liberal democracy in a heartbeat over scientific leaders who endorse prison camps, massive censorship, brutal suppression of political dissent, for some reason want to crush the most non-threatening people on the face of the planet, and who (at the very minimum tolerate) endorse forced sterilization!
Regarding forced sterilisation...Uh, why would that ever be considered by a leader of any professional background in countries other than India or China? The U.S. and China are of similar geographical size yet the U.S. population is roughly 300M but China's population is 1.3 BILLION. What other options are there besides watching people starve to death or bankrupting the economy with social services that feed an oversized population? Also, those generalisations you made about "scientific leaders" is unfounded. Judging by your tone and criticisms, I'm guessing you're a pro-lifer, a conservative and a bible-thumper who despises what your type refers to as the "intellectual elite".
science fiction is not just about space operas and space battles. There are many sub genres within science fiction: alternate reality, alternate history, cyber-punk, bio-punk, etc...just to name a few. Plus, there are many concepts not yet explored in sci-fi TV shows as is evident from the hundreds and hundreds of good science fiction novels written in the past century that were never adapted to the screen or TV. Then of course, there were some that were adapted to the screen or TV, albeit poorly (ex: BattleField Earth, RiverWorld).
Well, Futurama was canceled because executes at Fox didn't like it. So, they moved it to obscure timeslots which lowered the ratings and justified a cancellation. Futurama is sci-fi and it did eventually make a return on Comedy Central due to all the fan letters. That lends some evidence to suggest Science Fiction is NOT a sub-genre with a small, insignificant audience as the network executives believe.
If the cable companies could get enough subscribers for a Premium Service, then making SyFy premium might be a good idea. I too am sick of the wrestling, ghost-chasing shows and low-grade sci-fi shows. Sadly however, the media network executives seem to regard science fiction as a sub-genre with a small audience made up mostly of children and 40 year old virgins who live in their mother's basement. So, I don't think SyFy will ever go premium.
I see a problem with the History Channel too. The History Channel has become over-run with Ice-Road Truckers, Ax-Men, Swamp-Men, and Larry the Cable Guy featuring obscure elements of American society (like rodeo clowning)...That's not history. I'm also sick of the plethora of pawnshop shows such as PawnStars and American Pickers. I would pay for History Channel as a premium service if they would do away with all that cr*p but again, I see a problem similar to that of the SyFy channel: too small an audience.
So this plan would encourage more people to get Liberal Arts degrees and fewer people to get engineering and science degrees. Yeah, that makes sense for the nation:P
I have a BS in electrical engineering. I was a mixed signal board-level designer for years but after a lay-off and the job market dried up, i went back to school for a masters in computer science. There's still the looming threat of outsourcing but there are still plenty of jobs for application and server-level programmers. Plus, I enjoy programming and still working on the technical side of things. I would never enjoy management...In the past I looked into MBA programs. Managing people just seems like a baby-sitting job and managing money involves little creation or problem-solving abilities.
Its true that the golden age of sci-fi literature with the likes of Asimov, Robert Heinlein, PKD, Frederick Pohl, Arthur C. Clark, William Gibson and others is mostly gone but there are still a few good novels that come out periodically from authors like China Melville, Richard Morgan, etc. I stay away from the "juvenile vampire" stuff that has saturated the silver screen and recent literature. Joe Haldeman still writes good works...I really liked "The Accidental Time Machine".
Science Fiction doesn't fair much better. Its ironic because the stories of the bible are just as fantastic and incredible as modern science fiction and fantasy, yet it is the longest-running #1 best seller (of fiction, IMO) but people actually consider it all historical fact.
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I know! Would you trust a doctor who, at the age of 15, wasn't operating on his pets?
Nonsequitur. I would expect that a high school graduate has taken at least one Biology course. More than 23 years ago, when I was in high school, I already had computer classes and experience. In a world where cursive writing is being dropped from grammar school because everyone is expected to be typing, you'd better have some computer experience...and if you want to get into computer science, you'd better at least know BASIC, PASCAL or some other beginners programming language...better know what an array is, a for-next loop, if-else conditional branch etc...in other words, know some of the basics.
The reason you can't convince the bible-thumpers is because they have been indoctrinated since birth through churches, televangelists and others trying to push religious agendas. They've been brainwashed to the point where a rational argument or demonstration will not win them over. They are impervious to facts and scientific evidence involving empirical data. Intelligent Design is nothing more than Creationism re-branded in an attempt to circumnavigate the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution (which has helped to keep religion out of public schools)...This was proven in the court case: Kitzmiller v. Dover.
Prior to 6PM, I will be asking everyone who believes in the rapture if I can HAVE THEIR STUFF. If they will be leaving this world, they can't take their worldly possessions with them so, they might as well give me their stuff. Of course, all transactions will be final. In other words, if May 21st, 2011 comes and goes just like any other day, I won't be returning any possessions to their former suckers....er, I mean owners :D
Supposedly, a movie for Altered Carbon is coming out soon too.
If somebody opened a "Linux Store" I guarantee you that it, too, would trigger the same parts of the brain for certain people. :)
For some people, probably. Not for me...To use an analogy: I used to be a big J.R.R. Tolkien fan and read Lord of the Rings several times. Then, the movies came out. The movies were great but built up a lot of hype with a franchise, huge cult following, etc. to the point where it was no fun for me to be a Tolkien fan anymore. So, I stopped being a fan.
Atheism is a "religion" as much as religions are religions
The (obvious) problem with this is that there are about 100 atheists in the world who actually give a shit enough about atheism or religion to proselytize it, compared to millions of god-lovers who won't just leave the rest of us alone.
This is true. You nailed it.
Atheism is as much a religion as not-stamp-collecting is a hobby. Atheism is a lack of belief and for many atheists, its more an acknowledgement of science. When Atheists refer to "God", they are usually talking about the supernatural God of Abraham shared by both the New Testament, Old Testament and K'uran but it refers to any supernatural God of any religion.
I think it would be interesting to compare brain scans of different factions of computer programmers. Any number of programmer religious wars: vi vs emacs, Unix vs Windows, GUI vs CLI, indenting with blanks vs tabs, C vs Perl vs Ruby vs .Net vs Python vs JavaScript.
You left out JAVA, the one true programming language, you INFIDEL!
We're not bashing Apple or their products. We're bashing the culture of Apple-Fandom. Yes, other OS's have their fanboys, too. However, my impression of Microsoft product users is most use it simply because they have to. I know of very few MS Windows users who cream their jeans and sing high praise of Microsoft. Apple has shortcomings too, mainly that Apple products are expensive and customers are forced to use Apple hardware. I'm mainly a Linux user...and yes, Linux has its fanboys too and each distro has its own cult following.
Unless you make social policies for India or China, why would you even have to consider population control? China has roughly a similar geographical size to the U.S. yet China's population is 1.3 Billion and the U.S. is barely 300 million. Given a choice between forced sterilisation, standing by idly as millions starve, OR bankrupting the economy with social services that feed an over-sized population...which would you choose. I bet any leader (except a deeply religious one) from any professional background would at least consider sterilisation. As for engineers being heartless bastards prone to making "the scariest social policies" and considering themselves intellectually superior, speak for yourself...Your generalisations about engineers and scientists is unfounded.
It seems to me that people, who make laws affecting the economy of the country, should understand the implications of these laws. Hence they should be versed in law and, more importantly, macro economics. The alternative is worse: laws that have good intention, but end up having good economic reaction only in short term. While in the long term the reaction would be completely reversed, making the consequences the opposite of what was intended. This is quite common in economics.
George "Dubya" Bush had an MBA so I assume that would mean he understood macro-economics. Yet, his two terms as president helped lead the U.S. into the worst recession since the Great Depression of the early 20th century.
I said it a few comments down... but I will take lawyers, polisci majors, bankers, and economists who support liberal democracy in a heartbeat over scientific leaders who endorse prison camps, massive censorship, brutal suppression of political dissent, for some reason want to crush the most non-threatening people on the face of the planet, and who (at the very minimum tolerate) endorse forced sterilization!
Regarding forced sterilisation...Uh, why would that ever be considered by a leader of any professional background in countries other than India or China? The U.S. and China are of similar geographical size yet the U.S. population is roughly 300M but China's population is 1.3 BILLION. What other options are there besides watching people starve to death or bankrupting the economy with social services that feed an oversized population? Also, those generalisations you made about "scientific leaders" is unfounded. Judging by your tone and criticisms, I'm guessing you're a pro-lifer, a conservative and a bible-thumper who despises what your type refers to as the "intellectual elite".
The 700 Club is already building a spaceship so a Missionary can be started there.
Agile for the win!
science fiction is not just about space operas and space battles. There are many sub genres within science fiction: alternate reality, alternate history, cyber-punk, bio-punk, etc...just to name a few. Plus, there are many concepts not yet explored in sci-fi TV shows as is evident from the hundreds and hundreds of good science fiction novels written in the past century that were never adapted to the screen or TV. Then of course, there were some that were adapted to the screen or TV, albeit poorly (ex: BattleField Earth, RiverWorld).
Well, Futurama was canceled because executes at Fox didn't like it. So, they moved it to obscure timeslots which lowered the ratings and justified a cancellation. Futurama is sci-fi and it did eventually make a return on Comedy Central due to all the fan letters. That lends some evidence to suggest Science Fiction is NOT a sub-genre with a small, insignificant audience as the network executives believe.
If the cable companies could get enough subscribers for a Premium Service, then making SyFy premium might be a good idea. I too am sick of the wrestling, ghost-chasing shows and low-grade sci-fi shows. Sadly however, the media network executives seem to regard science fiction as a sub-genre with a small audience made up mostly of children and 40 year old virgins who live in their mother's basement. So, I don't think SyFy will ever go premium. I see a problem with the History Channel too. The History Channel has become over-run with Ice-Road Truckers, Ax-Men, Swamp-Men, and Larry the Cable Guy featuring obscure elements of American society (like rodeo clowning)...That's not history. I'm also sick of the plethora of pawnshop shows such as PawnStars and American Pickers. I would pay for History Channel as a premium service if they would do away with all that cr*p but again, I see a problem similar to that of the SyFy channel: too small an audience.
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So this plan would encourage more people to get Liberal Arts degrees and fewer people to get engineering and science degrees. Yeah, that makes sense for the nation :P
The typewriter died out because they never implemented an "Any" key.
I have a BS in electrical engineering. I was a mixed signal board-level designer for years but after a lay-off and the job market dried up, i went back to school for a masters in computer science. There's still the looming threat of outsourcing but there are still plenty of jobs for application and server-level programmers. Plus, I enjoy programming and still working on the technical side of things. I would never enjoy management...In the past I looked into MBA programs. Managing people just seems like a baby-sitting job and managing money involves little creation or problem-solving abilities.
Is Jack Daniels Old No. 7 the Premium fuel?
Its true that the golden age of sci-fi literature with the likes of Asimov, Robert Heinlein, PKD, Frederick Pohl, Arthur C. Clark, William Gibson and others is mostly gone but there are still a few good novels that come out periodically from authors like China Melville, Richard Morgan, etc. I stay away from the "juvenile vampire" stuff that has saturated the silver screen and recent literature. Joe Haldeman still writes good works...I really liked "The Accidental Time Machine".
Science Fiction doesn't fair much better. Its ironic because the stories of the bible are just as fantastic and incredible as modern science fiction and fantasy, yet it is the longest-running #1 best seller (of fiction, IMO) but people actually consider it all historical fact.
...but 10X stronger than a sheet of steel. If these can be used as stationery, gone forever is the excuse: "the dog ate my homework"