Just to clarify, not all Christians believe in a rapture occurring before the tribulation years. There are actually a multitude of varying views on just exactly when this rapture will occur. Strangely enough, the wikipedia article is surprisingly accurate on this subject.
I personally believe that we have at least a few hundred more years before this event may occur (feel free to message me if you really want to know why), but Matthew 24:38-40 says that "in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."
Anyone who says they know the absolute date of the coming of Jesus is flat out in contradiction of the scripture on which they base their claim.
But back to something more on topic - why, exactly, are we worried about the end of the habitability of earth when that end is hundreds of millions of years away? In the last 10,000 years, we've gone from simple tools to landing craft on mars and sending probes outside of our solar system (have they broken that barrier yet, or are they still just close to breaking it?). If we've done that in roughly 10,000 years, what will things look like if we actually do have another 10,000, let alone another 500,000 or even 500,000,000 years in which to learn and grow?!?
This is exactly why the Wii is succeeding. Parents pick it up for their kids, but end up learning how to play along with them, and then get hooked on the games themselves. Goes to show that marketing methods can outweigh graphics enough to build a pretty strong "niche" market.
And before you dive into blasting me as one of those idiotic blind faith believers... let me say that I am one of those rare individuals who admits that he is not 100% certain of many things, but still chooses to believe creation over evolution in light of the lack of proof that macro, inter-species evolution occurs, but also chooses to believe in the concepts of micro, intra-species evolution, and admits that the humans we see today are far removed from the physical characteristics of the humans from even 3-4 millenia ago, while still doubting that we are actual descendants from monkeys or apes (though I am open to incontrovertible evidence that proves me wrong).
My opinion on why we are so similar genetically is simply that God started with a basic genetic template for all life (similar to how an artist chooses to paint a picture using an "impressionist" style, and then sticks to it for the whole painting). Then, as any good artist does, God used varied "shades of color" within this style to create his masterpiece. In my opinion, monkeys and man are simply different "shades of color" within the masterpiece, with Man as the central figure. The major difference between the two is that God gave man dominion over the rest of the masterpiece, and gave us the responsibility to care for the overall work of art.
Regardless of my opinion and my interpretation of the existing data, if someone comes along and shows that they have found absolute proof that we are direct descendants from apes (i.e. they have found an actual "monkey man"), and it is confirmed by other scientists to not be a hoax, then I will be forced to adjust my beliefs accordingly.
I second this. Those of us who believe in the teachings of Christ should try to teach any who will listen, but it is clear in scripture that should any community not wish to receive us, we should move on to another community. If, however, even a few people in a community wish to hear what we have to say, we should stay, but teach only to those who wish to hear it.
I always understood this to mean that we should advertise that we are having church services, and even go so far as to give a brief description of what we're all about (Burger King, UHaul, various universities, etc., do that in their ads, so it's no different, really), and that we're to have services that are open to the public, and that we can even go into the community to do good, and speak of Christ to those who ask why we are fixing that playground or replacing that neighbors roof, etc., and that we can even hold services in public spaces, such as local parks, etc., but that we are not to go stand in front of a porno store or abortion clinic yelling at people that go in there that we think their choices are sending them to hell, regardless of whether or not our understanding of scriptures makes that a true statement from us.
I'm so fed up with the majority of "believers" giving real believers a bad name.
5 out of the top 6 at Google are directly related to what I actually wanted to know... articles about why Microsoft Windows is too expensive.
3 out of the 6 at Microsoft's Bing search engine return results for why their direct competitor, Apple, has such expensive computers. 1 more out of the remaining three appears to be somewhat related to my search by at least being about windows games, but no... look at the clip telling me why Bing thought this was relevant:
Official Games for Windows Forums... why are macbooks so expensive i mean i saw a better windows pc laptop for half the price and double the specs and looks so why
Of the remaining 2 top 6 results, one is about vinyl windows just like Google's one stray result, and the other is about internet hosting companies charging more for windows based hosting... this is the only result that even remotely comes close to answering my question. So... 4 out of the top 6 listed look bad for a direct competitor and don't answer my question, 1 is irrelevant noise, and one is marginally relevant, but still noise. Bing sucks, and is certainly biased against anything negative being said about Microsoft.
Your link? Yeah, it's on the first page of the Google results, but it is the second to the last result, and is the only Apple related link, and even that link directly mentions Windows in the comments, and Windows 7 is linked all over the friggin place on this article's page!
If I had mod points, I'd be modding you insightful! I am a married geek, and trust me FCAdcock is absolutely dead on with the "5 love languages" book. It changed our marriage, and now I'm a very happily married man, if you catch my drift. She's also a very emotionally satisfied wife. Win-win!
Good point. I had forgotten about intent being used to determine the severity of a crime.
My point, however, it that it is hard (if not impossible) to do this "without trampling over everyone's rights."
Take, for example, laws against possessing the materials with which to make a bomb. Those same materials are common household items, or hobbyist materials. The strong attempt to make it illegal to intend to build a bomb has severely restricted the rights of those who simply wish to experiment and learn, or those who wish to build real, fully functional rockets as a hobby.
A lot of our nation's technology was built by someone doing something that if done today would be considered "terrorist activity", and this is a problem.
But I digress. The point is that when we attempt to legislate intent as opposed to actions, we start down a slippery slope to "thought crimes" where it is argued that intending to break a law is, in and of itself, against the law, so we are punished for considering to break a law.
Again, if I don't intend to make profit, but do, how is this distinguishable to an outsider from my intending to make profit? What if I chose to mod boxes for all of my friends (and their friends), for free, but every single one of them insisted on giving me $50 for my time. Is this the same as what this guy is getting pinned to the wall for? He just set a reasonable rate for his time, and did the work for others. So, if what he does is illegal, then it is required that what I do for my friends to be considered illegal, and I absolutely see a problem with not being able to tinker with hardware I legally own or not being able to tinker with hardware that another owns at their request.
Exactly. I am planning on modding my Xbox to use XBMC so I can stream my videos from my server through my projector and enjoy my own "home theatre" using my own legally purchased DVDs that are ISOs on my server. So, according to the DMCA, when I load Rainbow 6 and use a save game from a memory card that has a specifically modified save game on it, I am committing a felony? Taking my useless XBox and turning it into a useful piece of electronics with a little knowhow is somehow illegal because it could be used to circumvent copyright?
CRAP, my PC could be used to circumvent copyright. Should I be arrested for owning a dozen PCs (I do) or modifying PCs so that they are capable of infringing copyright by installing more than one DVD-RW drive in a box? It's not much differnent. I am 'assisting' in circumvention by installing the hardware and software (both legal to purchase!) into a box as service for someone.
Sleazy seeming or not, this guy was performing a service on hardware for the individual since the individual didn't know how to do it. Is it breaking the law if a friend comes over with his PC, a stack of his personally owned DVDs, and asks me to help him get them onto his computer so he can watch them on the laptop or on his iPod?
Ghah, this whole thing is ridiculous. I need to move to Mars or something... get far enough away from the MAFIAA that they can't do anything about us pioneers... anyone with me?
So, what's the difference between me modding my own hardware and then saying "well, done with that fun hack... I'm putting this on eBay so I can get my next toy to see if I can hack it" and this guy hacking the hardware and then selling it? Really, what, specifically is different? Intent?
Good luck making intent illegal without trampling all over everyone's rights.
Seeing as how there are people smuggling legal drugs like cigarettes (due to the high taxes on legit products offering high profits for illegitimate imports), legalizing drugs may or may not have the effect you expect it to.
Are you aware that logging companies actually use "forest management" to increase the health of forests, and with proper forest replanting, buying a book can actually be good for the environment? Think, reading the book creates no carbon emissions. In fact, that book is full of sequestered carbon.
Your computer, on the other hand, is running on electricity, which is guaranteed to be, in some part, powered by a coal plant somewhere. So, your computer is producing CO2, but that book is sequestering it.
So, buying books can, and often is, better for the environment than reading something online.
Unless you are in business for yourself and successful.
Even being successfully in business for yourself isn't a dream job every day. You can still find yourself working 80-90 hour weeks, getting yelled at by customers who don't understand that the problem was their inability to spell check their engraving request (and you don't really have the option of just telling them "tough luck, spell check next time" because word of mouth brings in 80% of your new customers)...
Suffice it to say that being in business for yourself, while great, isn't all roses, lollipops, and sunshine.
Wait... I need to run out and patent the niche market missed in this patent. I'll make millions in lawsuits!
Abstract
A method of swing on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on a standard swing suspended by two ropes from a substantially horizontal bar other than a tree induces side to side motion by pulling alternately on one rope and then the other.
This is exactly why I use Google Docs... HTML based, allows CSS for styling. All in all, it just does the job well, and I can access my "application" from any computer with access to the internet.
The only problem with this is that it will all fall apart when some student complains to their parents that their phone was "stolen" by a teacher, and further complains that a lot of minutes on their prepaid phone are now gone.
Yes, we know the student would be lying, and the teacher would know the student is lying, but would Timmy's mom trust Timmy, or the teacher? Trust me, she'd trust her kid, and file a complaint (or lawsuit) about theft against the teacher.
Students nowadays learn early on to game the system, and to pit the authority figures in their lives against one another: Mom vs. Dad, Dad vs. the Principal, Mom vs. the Teacher, Teacher vs. Teacher, etc. Any attempt to do the right thing will have to take this current day problem into account, addressing the loopholes kids will used to pit authority against each other.
The older systems, or a competitor will come out with a device that offers downloadable games and a way to back them up, and people will buy that. Or, people will get nostalgic and set up their NES system and have a blast instead of spending money on locked down hardware.
How are banquet frozen dinners at Walmart lower quality than banquet frozen dinners at ACME or Genuardis or Giant or wherever? At walmart, they are cheaper.
Except then the jerk to your right cuts in and almost runs you off the road because you left 3/4ths of a car length of space between you and the car in front of you.
The problem is that for the "3 second rule" to work, everyone has to voluntarily follow it.
No, it's more like a copy of what you said is available to anyone on request. Most people won't request it because they don't even know it's there, but it is there available to view/hear at any moment by anyone who cares.
Well, your comment makes the same basic point I was trying to make, that suing is not a good idea, and it sounded to me like a lot of others were saying "they were not in compliance... SUE!"
However if the company paid they might not as the public relations disaster would be much worse than any possible income from encouraging enforcement of their license
This was my point exactly.
The letter of the law says "you can sue." The climate of the public opinion says "well, you could sue, but it's just not a good PR move." So you don't sue.
So you insult me "Lovely spin there, mister" and then say exactly what I was saying!
I mean, don't they still teach Assembly, COBOL and basic tube processor design in the good schools even though we've gone way past these "quaint" technologies?
Slashdot Mirror
Just to clarify, not all Christians believe in a rapture occurring before the tribulation years. There are actually a multitude of varying views on just exactly when this rapture will occur. Strangely enough, the wikipedia article is surprisingly accurate on this subject.
I personally believe that we have at least a few hundred more years before this event may occur (feel free to message me if you really want to know why), but Matthew 24:38-40 says that "in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."
Anyone who says they know the absolute date of the coming of Jesus is flat out in contradiction of the scripture on which they base their claim.
But back to something more on topic - why, exactly, are we worried about the end of the habitability of earth when that end is hundreds of millions of years away? In the last 10,000 years, we've gone from simple tools to landing craft on mars and sending probes outside of our solar system (have they broken that barrier yet, or are they still just close to breaking it?). If we've done that in roughly 10,000 years, what will things look like if we actually do have another 10,000, let alone another 500,000 or even 500,000,000 years in which to learn and grow?!?
This is exactly why the Wii is succeeding. Parents pick it up for their kids, but end up learning how to play along with them, and then get hooked on the games themselves. Goes to show that marketing methods can outweigh graphics enough to build a pretty strong "niche" market.
You gotta be excited about saying this in binary!
Yes, please... this.
And before you dive into blasting me as one of those idiotic blind faith believers... let me say that I am one of those rare individuals who admits that he is not 100% certain of many things, but still chooses to believe creation over evolution in light of the lack of proof that macro, inter-species evolution occurs, but also chooses to believe in the concepts of micro, intra-species evolution, and admits that the humans we see today are far removed from the physical characteristics of the humans from even 3-4 millenia ago, while still doubting that we are actual descendants from monkeys or apes (though I am open to incontrovertible evidence that proves me wrong).
My opinion on why we are so similar genetically is simply that God started with a basic genetic template for all life (similar to how an artist chooses to paint a picture using an "impressionist" style, and then sticks to it for the whole painting). Then, as any good artist does, God used varied "shades of color" within this style to create his masterpiece. In my opinion, monkeys and man are simply different "shades of color" within the masterpiece, with Man as the central figure. The major difference between the two is that God gave man dominion over the rest of the masterpiece, and gave us the responsibility to care for the overall work of art.
Regardless of my opinion and my interpretation of the existing data, if someone comes along and shows that they have found absolute proof that we are direct descendants from apes (i.e. they have found an actual "monkey man"), and it is confirmed by other scientists to not be a hoax, then I will be forced to adjust my beliefs accordingly.
I second this. Those of us who believe in the teachings of Christ should try to teach any who will listen, but it is clear in scripture that should any community not wish to receive us, we should move on to another community. If, however, even a few people in a community wish to hear what we have to say, we should stay, but teach only to those who wish to hear it.
I always understood this to mean that we should advertise that we are having church services, and even go so far as to give a brief description of what we're all about (Burger King, UHaul, various universities, etc., do that in their ads, so it's no different, really), and that we're to have services that are open to the public, and that we can even go into the community to do good, and speak of Christ to those who ask why we are fixing that playground or replacing that neighbors roof, etc., and that we can even hold services in public spaces, such as local parks, etc., but that we are not to go stand in front of a porno store or abortion clinic yelling at people that go in there that we think their choices are sending them to hell, regardless of whether or not our understanding of scriptures makes that a true statement from us.
I'm so fed up with the majority of "believers" giving real believers a bad name.
Top 6 results from Google:
Top 6 results from Bing:
Why are Mac's So Expensive? - Yahoo! Answers
why so expensive?. - Games for Windows Live
Why are vinyl windows so expensive? who provides them cheapest ...
Why are windows hosting providers so expensive? - Community Server
Why are Macbooks so expensive? - Yahoo! Answers
WikiAnswers - Why are Apple Macs so expensive
5 out of the top 6 at Google are directly related to what I actually wanted to know... articles about why Microsoft Windows is too expensive.
3 out of the 6 at Microsoft's Bing search engine return results for why their direct competitor, Apple, has such expensive computers. 1 more out of the remaining three appears to be somewhat related to my search by at least being about windows games, but no... look at the clip telling me why Bing thought this was relevant:
Official Games for Windows Forums ... why are macbooks so expensive i mean i saw a better windows pc laptop for half the price and double the specs and looks so why
Of the remaining 2 top 6 results, one is about vinyl windows just like Google's one stray result, and the other is about internet hosting companies charging more for windows based hosting... this is the only result that even remotely comes close to answering my question. So... 4 out of the top 6 listed look bad for a direct competitor and don't answer my question, 1 is irrelevant noise, and one is marginally relevant, but still noise. Bing sucks, and is certainly biased against anything negative being said about Microsoft.
Your link? Yeah, it's on the first page of the Google results, but it is the second to the last result, and is the only Apple related link, and even that link directly mentions Windows in the comments, and Windows 7 is linked all over the friggin place on this article's page!
If I had mod points, I'd be modding you insightful! I am a married geek, and trust me FCAdcock is absolutely dead on with the "5 love languages" book. It changed our marriage, and now I'm a very happily married man, if you catch my drift. She's also a very emotionally satisfied wife. Win-win!
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20090417_Cigarette_smuggling_may_be_on_the_rise.html
Good point. I had forgotten about intent being used to determine the severity of a crime.
My point, however, it that it is hard (if not impossible) to do this "without trampling over everyone's rights."
Take, for example, laws against possessing the materials with which to make a bomb. Those same materials are common household items, or hobbyist materials. The strong attempt to make it illegal to intend to build a bomb has severely restricted the rights of those who simply wish to experiment and learn, or those who wish to build real, fully functional rockets as a hobby.
A lot of our nation's technology was built by someone doing something that if done today would be considered "terrorist activity", and this is a problem.
But I digress. The point is that when we attempt to legislate intent as opposed to actions, we start down a slippery slope to "thought crimes" where it is argued that intending to break a law is, in and of itself, against the law, so we are punished for considering to break a law.
Again, if I don't intend to make profit, but do, how is this distinguishable to an outsider from my intending to make profit? What if I chose to mod boxes for all of my friends (and their friends), for free, but every single one of them insisted on giving me $50 for my time. Is this the same as what this guy is getting pinned to the wall for? He just set a reasonable rate for his time, and did the work for others. So, if what he does is illegal, then it is required that what I do for my friends to be considered illegal, and I absolutely see a problem with not being able to tinker with hardware I legally own or not being able to tinker with hardware that another owns at their request.
Exactly. I am planning on modding my Xbox to use XBMC so I can stream my videos from my server through my projector and enjoy my own "home theatre" using my own legally purchased DVDs that are ISOs on my server. So, according to the DMCA, when I load Rainbow 6 and use a save game from a memory card that has a specifically modified save game on it, I am committing a felony? Taking my useless XBox and turning it into a useful piece of electronics with a little knowhow is somehow illegal because it could be used to circumvent copyright?
CRAP, my PC could be used to circumvent copyright. Should I be arrested for owning a dozen PCs (I do) or modifying PCs so that they are capable of infringing copyright by installing more than one DVD-RW drive in a box? It's not much differnent. I am 'assisting' in circumvention by installing the hardware and software (both legal to purchase!) into a box as service for someone.
Sleazy seeming or not, this guy was performing a service on hardware for the individual since the individual didn't know how to do it. Is it breaking the law if a friend comes over with his PC, a stack of his personally owned DVDs, and asks me to help him get them onto his computer so he can watch them on the laptop or on his iPod?
Ghah, this whole thing is ridiculous. I need to move to Mars or something... get far enough away from the MAFIAA that they can't do anything about us pioneers... anyone with me?
So, what's the difference between me modding my own hardware and then saying "well, done with that fun hack... I'm putting this on eBay so I can get my next toy to see if I can hack it" and this guy hacking the hardware and then selling it? Really, what, specifically is different? Intent?
Good luck making intent illegal without trampling all over everyone's rights.
Seeing as how there are people smuggling legal drugs like cigarettes (due to the high taxes on legit products offering high profits for illegitimate imports), legalizing drugs may or may not have the effect you expect it to.
Are you aware that logging companies actually use "forest management" to increase the health of forests, and with proper forest replanting, buying a book can actually be good for the environment? Think, reading the book creates no carbon emissions. In fact, that book is full of sequestered carbon.
Your computer, on the other hand, is running on electricity, which is guaranteed to be, in some part, powered by a coal plant somewhere. So, your computer is producing CO2, but that book is sequestering it.
So, buying books can, and often is, better for the environment than reading something online.
Unless you are in business for yourself and successful.
Even being successfully in business for yourself isn't a dream job every day. You can still find yourself working 80-90 hour weeks, getting yelled at by customers who don't understand that the problem was their inability to spell check their engraving request (and you don't really have the option of just telling them "tough luck, spell check next time" because word of mouth brings in 80% of your new customers)...
Suffice it to say that being in business for yourself, while great, isn't all roses, lollipops, and sunshine.
Wait... I need to run out and patent the niche market missed in this patent. I'll make millions in lawsuits!
Abstract
A method of swing on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on a standard swing suspended by two ropes from a substantially horizontal bar other than a tree induces side to side motion by pulling alternately on one rope and then the other.
This is exactly why I use Google Docs... HTML based, allows CSS for styling. All in all, it just does the job well, and I can access my "application" from any computer with access to the internet.
The only problem with this is that it will all fall apart when some student complains to their parents that their phone was "stolen" by a teacher, and further complains that a lot of minutes on their prepaid phone are now gone.
Yes, we know the student would be lying, and the teacher would know the student is lying, but would Timmy's mom trust Timmy, or the teacher? Trust me, she'd trust her kid, and file a complaint (or lawsuit) about theft against the teacher.
Students nowadays learn early on to game the system, and to pit the authority figures in their lives against one another: Mom vs. Dad, Dad vs. the Principal, Mom vs. the Teacher, Teacher vs. Teacher, etc. Any attempt to do the right thing will have to take this current day problem into account, addressing the loopholes kids will used to pit authority against each other.
NES isn't locked to downloads. I can resell my games. This is what I meant.
First Sale doctrine needs to be kept in the case of any form of product distribution.
The older systems, or a competitor will come out with a device that offers downloadable games and a way to back them up, and people will buy that. Or, people will get nostalgic and set up their NES system and have a blast instead of spending money on locked down hardware.
How are banquet frozen dinners at Walmart lower quality than banquet frozen dinners at ACME or Genuardis or Giant or wherever? At walmart, they are cheaper.
Except then the jerk to your right cuts in and almost runs you off the road because you left 3/4ths of a car length of space between you and the car in front of you.
The problem is that for the "3 second rule" to work, everyone has to voluntarily follow it.
No, it's more like a copy of what you said is available to anyone on request. Most people won't request it because they don't even know it's there, but it is there available to view/hear at any moment by anyone who cares.
Well, your comment makes the same basic point I was trying to make, that suing is not a good idea, and it sounded to me like a lot of others were saying "they were not in compliance... SUE!"
So... we're in agreement.
However if the company paid they might not as the public relations disaster would be much worse than any possible income from encouraging enforcement of their license
This was my point exactly.
The letter of the law says "you can sue." The climate of the public opinion says "well, you could sue, but it's just not a good PR move." So you don't sue.
So you insult me "Lovely spin there, mister" and then say exactly what I was saying!
Extremely high standards at Starfleet Academy?
I mean, don't they still teach Assembly, COBOL and basic tube processor design in the good schools even though we've gone way past these "quaint" technologies?