Er? As far as I know no medical studies anywhere in the world conducted under even the slightest ethical supervision don't give patients an opt-in to clinical trials. They don't know that they're receiving a drug, but they do know they're being experimented on and have consented to it in advance (itself an interesting, but ethically necessary complication to testing).
Not that I agree with GP either, but parent obviously doesn't understand clinical testing practices.
Quite. There were accusations that the Met made an unusually large number of uncharged arrests at Notting Hill this year so they could build up a profile of black Londoners.
(Notes for Americans and other foreigners; the Met=the London police force which has a history of racism and locking up opposition MPs. The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest Afro-Caribbean festival in the UK)
The big nelected factor in most reports is the effect on sunlight at the beginning/end of the day, when the ambient light is flashing because of the blades.
Oh, no, I see what you're getting at. Yeah, it was wrong of me to use it as a synonym, but I can't think of another good one.
Besides, is it possible to be a free-thinker and a member of organised religion? Even if you do believe in god and decide to 'submit' to him, isn't that sacrificing any claim to being a freethinker? cf. the story of Abraham and Isaac, where Abraham is glorified for sacrificing intellectual and moral independence to god, a classic example of Nietzsche's so-called slave morality. Hardly free-thinking.
I think you're confusing a free thinker with someone who disagrees with everyone around them, as opposed to one who forms an independent judgement. Otherwise no more than 50% of the population could ever be freethinkers, a self-obvious nonsense.
Evolution is not a belief, it is a scientific fact which can be tested. I'm sorry, but I get edgy when people start using belief to refer to things which are falsifiable.
The moderation system is a form of mind control, in a way. It works well when there is some balance, as there is, for example, in the capitalism/socialism debates that crop up every now and then. It is also good for dragging people back to reality as a good hard link trumps most other considerations.
We do need to be aware that the Slashdot mod system can sometimes promote groupthink. For example, because the vast majority of Slashdotters are freethinkers (atheists, agnostics, irreligious etc.), as indeed am I, it does tend to drive away or silence those who aren't.
I'm glad someone even skimmed that rambling tirade to find interesting points. The less concise you are, the crazier you sound. Though ranting on about the 'power' of Slashdot does make you sound even more nuts, as it basically has none.
I think this is showing a distinct generation gap. The only thing funny about the Star Wars reference was that it was so condescending about something so insignificant. It's not like the Star Wars films were that great anyway, they're just well-executed B-movie grade sci-fi nonsense. You can't treat the release of Star Wars like the fucking Renaissance.
I know I'm going to be hunted down and killed for saying that, but it's my honest opinion. It's not even like the acting in the new three is *that* much worse than the old three.
Because it searches stuff Google can't access because of pay barriers. I have to be on the college network to get at this stuff.
BTW, this is not especially revolutionary as Google Scholar from my university can search this stuff. Don't know quite how it works, but it seems to tie in with SFX and/or Metalib. Only it works much better than Metalib.
The energy market and train market examples are misleading. The "train market" doesn't exist. The rail network is a heavily regulated network of private monopolies. The prices are rising because the government mandates that fares have to rise a minimum 2% over inflation p.a. in order for the rail companies to pay them for the privilege of running a railway*.
The energy market is liberalised *in the UK*. The rest of Europe still has massive taxpayer-subsidised behemoths which just came in and took over. State interference in the energy market hasn't gone, it's just different states**. Also, we have no gas storage capacity, which has caused other problems.
I think your argument about natural monopoly is a good one, especially with railways. There's little reason the energy market couldn't be dramatically liberalised though.
* Source:The Private Eye **E.ON, npower are German, EdF French.
Slashdot Mirror
Cash theft is a significantly more proven technology than any of these other methods.
"Hi, me and my friends want to buy this aircraft carrier. Can we split the check evenly over 21 million debit cards?"
Disagreeing with someone doesn't mean your mouse should instantly jump to the flamebait or troll options
No, in those circumstances "Overrated" is traditional on Slashdot.
Er? As far as I know no medical studies anywhere in the world conducted under even the slightest ethical supervision don't give patients an opt-in to clinical trials. They don't know that they're receiving a drug, but they do know they're being experimented on and have consented to it in advance (itself an interesting, but ethically necessary complication to testing).
Not that I agree with GP either, but parent obviously doesn't understand clinical testing practices.
Quite. There were accusations that the Met made an unusually large number of uncharged arrests at Notting Hill this year so they could build up a profile of black Londoners.
(Notes for Americans and other foreigners; the Met=the London police force which has a history of racism and locking up opposition MPs. The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest Afro-Caribbean festival in the UK)
I think it only applies to England and Wales, as Northern Ireland has devolved justice too. Does anyone know the situation re: NI?
I may be killed for asking this, nevertheless...
Does anyone know whether the original Starcraft will run on Vista?
(I also have an Ubuntu partition, so could use Wine if that works better...)
Ah, overrated, the coward's mod. Why couldn't someone have modded this for the flamebait it is?
Maybe the newer distros come with even longer words.
Does that count as bloat?
The big nelected factor in most reports is the effect on sunlight at the beginning/end of the day, when the ambient light is flashing because of the blades.
Oh, no, I see what you're getting at. Yeah, it was wrong of me to use it as a synonym, but I can't think of another good one.
Besides, is it possible to be a free-thinker and a member of organised religion? Even if you do believe in god and decide to 'submit' to him, isn't that sacrificing any claim to being a freethinker? cf. the story of Abraham and Isaac, where Abraham is glorified for sacrificing intellectual and moral independence to god, a classic example of Nietzsche's so-called slave morality. Hardly free-thinking.
I think you're confusing a free thinker with someone who disagrees with everyone around them, as opposed to one who forms an independent judgement. Otherwise no more than 50% of the population could ever be freethinkers, a self-obvious nonsense.
believing in evolution
Evolution is not a belief, it is a scientific fact which can be tested. I'm sorry, but I get edgy when people start using belief to refer to things which are falsifiable.
It's their new marketing strategy.
Well done on producing one of the most concise and insightful posts I've ever seen on Slashdot.
Writing a letter is just throwing a temper tantrum.
The moderation system is a form of mind control, in a way. It works well when there is some balance, as there is, for example, in the capitalism/socialism debates that crop up every now and then. It is also good for dragging people back to reality as a good hard link trumps most other considerations.
We do need to be aware that the Slashdot mod system can sometimes promote groupthink. For example, because the vast majority of Slashdotters are freethinkers (atheists, agnostics, irreligious etc.), as indeed am I, it does tend to drive away or silence those who aren't.
I'm glad someone even skimmed that rambling tirade to find interesting points. The less concise you are, the crazier you sound. Though ranting on about the 'power' of Slashdot does make you sound even more nuts, as it basically has none.
That is a Ponzy scheme, it works on times of inflation and that's all, without severe inflation, if fails.
It doesn't work with inflation, people just think it's working.
I think this is showing a distinct generation gap. The only thing funny about the Star Wars reference was that it was so condescending about something so insignificant. It's not like the Star Wars films were that great anyway, they're just well-executed B-movie grade sci-fi nonsense. You can't treat the release of Star Wars like the fucking Renaissance.
I know I'm going to be hunted down and killed for saying that, but it's my honest opinion. It's not even like the acting in the new three is *that* much worse than the old three.
I don't think +5 is enough for this. Can we change to mod system to allow +10?
Sorry, familiarity makes me forget to clarify, that's SFX OpenURL software
Because it searches stuff Google can't access because of pay barriers. I have to be on the college network to get at this stuff.
BTW, this is not especially revolutionary as Google Scholar from my university can search this stuff. Don't know quite how it works, but it seems to tie in with SFX and/or Metalib. Only it works much better than Metalib.
...mea culpa
...
I love you, and I want to have your babies.
Perhaps, but that economy was built on the quality and diversity of product, not simple market forces.
Erm, they are market forces?
The energy market and train market examples are misleading. The "train market" doesn't exist. The rail network is a heavily regulated network of private monopolies. The prices are rising because the government mandates that fares have to rise a minimum 2% over inflation p.a. in order for the rail companies to pay them for the privilege of running a railway*.
The energy market is liberalised *in the UK*. The rest of Europe still has massive taxpayer-subsidised behemoths which just came in and took over. State interference in the energy market hasn't gone, it's just different states**. Also, we have no gas storage capacity, which has caused other problems.
I think your argument about natural monopoly is a good one, especially with railways. There's little reason the energy market couldn't be dramatically liberalised though.
* Source:The Private Eye
**E.ON, npower are German, EdF French.
Don't they call them car-port sales there?
I have lived in England all my life and I've never heard "car-port". What does it mean?