but programmers sure know how to fiddle with their tools. The result is a fertile ecology of ideas and source code, fed by the enthusiasm of application developers who know how to "scratch an itch."'"
The quotes at the end just make it sound even more like it's a euphemism
Sure, if that's how you interpret it. The verse by itself, robbed of context, could be used as a spiritual whitewash by those wanting to justify their own evils. Matthew 10:34-37 (for the record, I'm not a fan of KJV and the like, this is the first result on google):
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
I would interpret it as a warning that becoming a Christian is going to cause contention, and will cause problems with other people around you. A rather extreme example of what people can expect as a result of their decision, but not a call to war. Of course, you could also go into the Old Testament and the horrible things that happen there, but then I'd need to bring up my view of the bible (essentially a record of Humanity trying to relate to God with various degrees of accuracy, not necessarily being the word of God). That's then likely going to spiral into a full-blown scriptural debate that will make this look on topic
Shame that you have to go AC to state something that's that obvious. Looking at Christians about 600 years ago, they're pretty much a carbon copy of modern islam, with witch hunts and having women basically as home slaves on one end (compare woman headdress from 600 years ago in catholic heartland of Italy and modern islamic woman headdress), and killing off scientists and seeking political control on other.
Speaking as a Christian, I wish I could disagree with you, but I'd just be trying to fool myself. Some of the most arrogant, judgemental and hypocritical people I've met are Christians. And the sad thing is, I can't even say that we've ultimately improved - the various molestation charges, the extremely loud stereotypical evangelists that scream at you if you question their logic, and so on.
The Vatican really just needs to learn it's doing nothing more than making us alllookbad
You know, what's always bugged me about Fermat's Last Theorem is, what if he didn't actually have a proof? That he made the note in the margin knowing that someone would one day find it, and then chase after a theory that may or may not have actually existed - it being a coincidence that the statement is correct. It would have been a fantastic way to troll the entire mathematical community.
Based upon what I see in the article, the kid is quite normal socially - maybe even above normal since he's quite able to effectively tutor people ten years his senior.
While the aspergers diagnosis is already been pointed out, I'd like to add that this the "more effectively" thing here is wrong. I have aspergers. I'm only a first year undergraduate math student and can't do the stuff this kid does, but I was smart enough to - with some help by speech pathologists - learn to function properly, to the point where people are surprised if I tell them I have the condition. However, I still struggle with social interaction, and if I encounter a situation that doesn't fit into one of the models (if this happens, do this, etc.) I've built then I don't know how I should proceed. Before I was diagnosed, I can remember growing up, and any friends I had were always older than me or younger than me - the difficulty lies in being able to communicate with people our own age. I can only speak for myself here, but communicating with people from other age groups was always easier.
For someone with an extremely high intelligence, it is possible that he's worked out how social interactions work. I know people who've been to P.D. seminars run by people with full-blown autism, who have masters degrees and PhDs. It doesn't necessarily mean that he still doesn't struggle with it. He could, like me, just have built up a series of models for behaviour that he follows.
I know I deserve a whoosh for this, but I'm in a pedantic mood So long as we're ignoring the huge figures of people moving here from overseas: Actually, we're the grandchildren of petty theives. The nasty ones all would've been hanged back in England.
Depends on the person and their own individual beliefs - that, and you're assuming that all Christians actually follow what they say, and have a real faith. I know many Christians from various denominations that attend church simply because they were raised that way - "Sunday Christians" who act very piously then proceed to bitch about others, turn away from people in need and generally do everything that they shouldn't be doing. I'm a Christian (not Catholic though), and sadly I have to agree with a lot of the criticisms of Christians that I hear
Taken from Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary
CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
The godly multitudes walked to and fro
Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
With pious mien, appropriately sad,
While all the church bells made a solemn din —
A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
With tranquil face, upon that holy show
A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
"God keep you, strange," I exclaimed. "You are
No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
And yet I entertain the hope that you,
Like these good people, are a Christian too."
He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
It made me with a thousand blushes burn
Replied — his manner with disdain was spiced:
"What! I a Christian? No, indeed! I'm Christ."
—G.J.
I'm not sure what can really be done to change copyright duration. At this stage, nobody is talking to anyone else and the situation is only getting worse as the views of the most vocal out of both crowds become increasingly polarised. The *AA's stance on copyright is well known, and opposing it we have "Operation Payback is a Bitch". I have to wonder what would happen if instead of this escalating 'war' - some new, draconian way to prevent infringement, which is cracked within a week - record companies had accepted piracy was going to happen and attempted a rational response.
The current state of copyright protection and laws isn't helping anybody, and the only people who are getting hurt are the honest customers - Various company's (most recently Ubisoft)'s game-breaking DRM, the Sony rootkit, the heavy handedness of the *AA's response when they find someone they can accuse of copyright infringement*, they're driving their own customers away, in what appears to be the death throes of a failing business model. On the other side we've got Anonymous. Enough said.
The only hope I can see is for the various Pirate Parties to gain some sort of influence. I mean, we occasionally hear about it, but I've never once seen them mentioned in the mainstream media (In countries such as Sweden it might be different, I don't know). That, and the *AA need to stop this crusade and start considering the idea of rational discussion. Of course, the day that happens is the day unicorns will frolic in the grass whilst it rains beer.
If you're running firefox, install the moderatrix script for greasemonkey. It adds a confirmation button. I haven't had mod points since the site redesign so I'm not sure if it's still in working order, but if that's the case then it should be fixed soon
Yes, but it's a proof of concept. Keep in mind that this is using off-the-shelf hardware. If someone picks this up and starts to work with it, then it's only going to get better with time. I'd imagine the first televisions would be similarly "not any good", and then think back when telegrams were the only way to communicate with others. Give it time.
I did horrible horrible things to the people in that game - swimming pools with no ladders to get out of, setting off fireworks inside so that they burned to death, shutting them in a 1x1 square of walls so that they had so sleep in their own urine as they starved to death... I can't imagine that this would be any different. If I had a global simulator, after I'd done any real work I'd start seeing how many different ways I could cause the world to burn.
I think he was referring to the insurance file. But I agree with you - putting up a file and effectively saying "if we go down then this thing gets opened" isn't blackmail. It's simply a protective measure.
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but this one managed to get to me.
Or maybe God didn't give you mod points because you would have modded down his post? Perhaps God didn't give me mod points to mod you down, because he's embarrassed to be involved in this rather pathetic argument?
Seriously, what's wrong with his post? He expressed a belief in a God. He didn't attack anyone, or scream at us that we're all going to burn in hell unless we follow the teachings of the Bible/Torah/Quarn/whatever. He simply expressed his view on the matter in a polite way. You, however, are being an asshat.
You probably consider yourself superior to the religious types, and throw them all in the one "evangelical nutcase" basket. Let's presume for a moment that you're right, and that everyone that believes in a higher power are all idiots who've never truly examined what they believe. They all want to convert you to their faith or they won't associate with you, and they all refuse to have a logical discussion about their beliefs.
If you really want to consider yourself better then these types of people, then be better than these types of people. Wanting to mod something down because you don't agree with it doesn't just make you as bad as these people, it makes you worse because you consider yourself to be above such things.
Let's leave close-minded bigotry to a small but loud group out of the religious crowd
Slashdot Mirror
It's not a matter of should, it's a matter of the sad facts of today's world. It shouldn't be passed onto the public, but it will anyway.
but programmers sure know how to fiddle with their tools. The result is a fertile ecology of ideas and source code, fed by the enthusiasm of application developers who know how to "scratch an itch."'"
The quotes at the end just make it sound even more like it's a euphemism
Matthew 10:34-37 (for the record, I'm not a fan of KJV and the like, this is the first result on google):
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
I would interpret it as a warning that becoming a Christian is going to cause contention, and will cause problems with other people around you. A rather extreme example of what people can expect as a result of their decision, but not a call to war.
Of course, you could also go into the Old Testament and the horrible things that happen there, but then I'd need to bring up my view of the bible (essentially a record of Humanity trying to relate to God with various degrees of accuracy, not necessarily being the word of God). That's then likely going to spiral into a full-blown scriptural debate that will make this look on topic
If Jesus came back and saw what's going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up.
- -Woody Allen
Shame that you have to go AC to state something that's that obvious. Looking at Christians about 600 years ago, they're pretty much a carbon copy of modern islam, with witch hunts and having women basically as home slaves on one end (compare woman headdress from 600 years ago in catholic heartland of Italy and modern islamic woman headdress), and killing off scientists and seeking political control on other.
Speaking as a Christian, I wish I could disagree with you, but I'd just be trying to fool myself. Some of the most arrogant, judgemental and hypocritical people I've met are Christians. And the sad thing is, I can't even say that we've ultimately improved - the various molestation charges, the extremely loud stereotypical evangelists that scream at you if you question their logic, and so on.
The Vatican really just needs to learn it's doing nothing more than making us all look bad
Tim Minchin's 'Pope Song' ought to sum this up
You know, what's always bugged me about Fermat's Last Theorem is, what if he didn't actually have a proof? That he made the note in the margin knowing that someone would one day find it, and then chase after a theory that may or may not have actually existed - it being a coincidence that the statement is correct. It would have been a fantastic way to troll the entire mathematical community.
Based upon what I see in the article, the kid is quite normal socially - maybe even above normal since he's quite able to effectively tutor people ten years his senior.
While the aspergers diagnosis is already been pointed out, I'd like to add that this the "more effectively" thing here is wrong. I have aspergers. I'm only a first year undergraduate math student and can't do the stuff this kid does, but I was smart enough to - with some help by speech pathologists - learn to function properly, to the point where people are surprised if I tell them I have the condition. However, I still struggle with social interaction, and if I encounter a situation that doesn't fit into one of the models (if this happens, do this, etc.) I've built then I don't know how I should proceed.
Before I was diagnosed, I can remember growing up, and any friends I had were always older than me or younger than me - the difficulty lies in being able to communicate with people our own age. I can only speak for myself here, but communicating with people from other age groups was always easier.
For someone with an extremely high intelligence, it is possible that he's worked out how social interactions work. I know people who've been to P.D. seminars run by people with full-blown autism, who have masters degrees and PhDs. It doesn't necessarily mean that he still doesn't struggle with it. He could, like me, just have built up a series of models for behaviour that he follows.
Oblig.
Links to goatse, don't click
No, you select which desktop environment you wish to use (It's a drop-down list from memory) before you log in
Wait, what? The post authors are confusing me here. Outsider replies to himself, calling himself a douchebag?
Sybil, is that you?
I know I deserve a whoosh for this, but I'm in a pedantic mood
So long as we're ignoring the huge figures of people moving here from overseas: Actually, we're the grandchildren of petty theives. The nasty ones all would've been hanged back in England.
I'd ask what the difference is, but I'd probably get modded as flamebait =P
Depends on the person and their own individual beliefs - that, and you're assuming that all Christians actually follow what they say, and have a real faith. I know many Christians from various denominations that attend church simply because they were raised that way - "Sunday Christians" who act very piously then proceed to bitch about others, turn away from people in need and generally do everything that they shouldn't be doing.
I'm a Christian (not Catholic though), and sadly I have to agree with a lot of the criticisms of Christians that I hear
Taken from Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary
CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
The godly multitudes walked to and fro
Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
With pious mien, appropriately sad,
While all the church bells made a solemn din —
A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
With tranquil face, upon that holy show
A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
"God keep you, strange," I exclaimed. "You are
No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
And yet I entertain the hope that you,
Like these good people, are a Christian too."
He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
It made me with a thousand blushes burn
Replied — his manner with disdain was spiced:
"What! I a Christian? No, indeed! I'm Christ."
—G.J.
But he's obviously newer if he actually reads the article anyway ;-)
I'm not sure what can really be done to change copyright duration. At this stage, nobody is talking to anyone else and the situation is only getting worse as the views of the most vocal out of both crowds become increasingly polarised. The *AA's stance on copyright is well known, and opposing it we have "Operation Payback is a Bitch". I have to wonder what would happen if instead of this escalating 'war' - some new, draconian way to prevent infringement, which is cracked within a week - record companies had accepted piracy was going to happen and attempted a rational response.
The current state of copyright protection and laws isn't helping anybody, and the only people who are getting hurt are the honest customers - Various company's (most recently Ubisoft)'s game-breaking DRM, the Sony rootkit, the heavy handedness of the *AA's response when they find someone they can accuse of copyright infringement*, they're driving their own customers away, in what appears to be the death throes of a failing business model. On the other side we've got Anonymous. Enough said.
The only hope I can see is for the various Pirate Parties to gain some sort of influence. I mean, we occasionally hear about it, but I've never once seen them mentioned in the mainstream media (In countries such as Sweden it might be different, I don't know). That, and the *AA need to stop this crusade and start considering the idea of rational discussion. Of course, the day that happens is the day unicorns will frolic in the grass whilst it rains beer.
If you're running firefox, install the moderatrix script for greasemonkey. It adds a confirmation button. I haven't had mod points since the site redesign so I'm not sure if it's still in working order, but if that's the case then it should be fixed soon
Do you think that they might still be a bit rattled after the release of this?
Yes, but it's a proof of concept. Keep in mind that this is using off-the-shelf hardware. If someone picks this up and starts to work with it, then it's only going to get better with time. I'd imagine the first televisions would be similarly "not any good", and then think back when telegrams were the only way to communicate with others. Give it time.
*force choke*
I find your lack of original conversation disturbing.
I did horrible horrible things to the people in that game - swimming pools with no ladders to get out of, setting off fireworks inside so that they burned to death, shutting them in a 1x1 square of walls so that they had so sleep in their own urine as they starved to death... I can't imagine that this would be any different. If I had a global simulator, after I'd done any real work I'd start seeing how many different ways I could cause the world to burn.
Does this make me a bad person? =P
I think someone's been listening to too many government press releases
I think he was referring to the insurance file. But I agree with you - putting up a file and effectively saying "if we go down then this thing gets opened" isn't blackmail. It's simply a protective measure.
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but this one managed to get to me.
Or maybe God didn't give you mod points because you would have modded down his post? Perhaps God didn't give me mod points to mod you down, because he's embarrassed to be involved in this rather pathetic argument?
Seriously, what's wrong with his post? He expressed a belief in a God. He didn't attack anyone, or scream at us that we're all going to burn in hell unless we follow the teachings of the Bible/Torah/Quarn/whatever. He simply expressed his view on the matter in a polite way. You, however, are being an asshat.
You probably consider yourself superior to the religious types, and throw them all in the one "evangelical nutcase" basket. Let's presume for a moment that you're right, and that everyone that believes in a higher power are all idiots who've never truly examined what they believe. They all want to convert you to their faith or they won't associate with you, and they all refuse to have a logical discussion about their beliefs.
If you really want to consider yourself better then these types of people, then be better than these types of people. Wanting to mod something down because you don't agree with it doesn't just make you as bad as these people, it makes you worse because you consider yourself to be above such things.
Let's leave close-minded bigotry to a small but loud group out of the religious crowd
I like this - I think I'll stow it away for future use