One other thing (since I replied to your post already). I stopped buying replacements for broken items and stopped paying handymen/mechanics these past two years. I do all my own maintenance on my vehicles as well as around the house. Find yourself a good 'fix it yourself' manual (good ones have exploded diagrams of most home appliances, like dishwashers, washing machines, etc.) and start collecting some tools. Start doing your own maintenance on everything (even the stuff that still works but could be better) unless of course it is dangerous or requires some specialized hydraulic jack or something. This has two advantages. First, it stimulates your mind (just like coding or engineering as a hobby does). Secondly, it puts you on a first name basis with your Sears and Home Depot staff, which make for some great deals and friends. Finally, the reasons to do it are A) you save money, B) your upper body (forceps, wrists, fingers, etc.) start toning and and getting stronger, and C) you build your confidence. Seriously, maintenance as a hobby is good stuff, and quite fulfilling. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a toaster to go debug.
I started running after I got my first cubicle jockey job. Thirty minutes of pushing myself hard after work every day and ten minutes of stretching before and after. This qualifies as the 'exercise you tack on the end of your day' category, but I feel great. My legs are in excellent shape. I have more energy than I ever used too. I have a much more 'get shit done' attitude. I'm not nearly as lazy. Of course for the first few months I was just tired and sore all the time. Nowadays, however, after a year's worth of running, I feel great. It works for me =)
I agree, a sedentary lifestyle is a problem as well as unhealthy. My recommendation, start doing outdoorsy stuff on weekends and afternoons. Pick up some sort of board sport or something. If you are new at it, it will always suck for the first couple of months. Have some perseverance though and soon you will find you have a great new hobby. The plus side of a steady workout is that you can indulge yourself. Build some muscles, increase your metabolism, you can start eating some hearty meals. Good stuuf.
Also, you mentioned you have kids, try getting involved in a sport or something with them. Take 'em hiking. Some of my best home memories involved my dad and I wandering around in the forest finding old deer skeletons and such on the weekend =)
Kopete only works with my webcam through my MSN account. From what I understand, Skype is the way to go for online video support in Linux. I can see how switching would be a pain in the ass, but if you want an alternative to the Vista setup, you might look into that one.
The FIRST thing Linux guys say when you mention you are having problems with a distro, is 'You should install the latest release.'
I installed Ubuntu 8.04 about the time that Ubuntu 9.04 was being released. I have been posting to linux and ubuntu help forums for over a year and a half regarding everything from gaming to networking to hardware compatibility to perl code. I have never once seen someone tell me, "You should upgrade to the latest release." The closest I have ever heard as a response to one of my inquires has been, "Here, add these updated repositories to your list of repositories." Which isn't really the same thing....at all.
I've got news for all of you: we like our OSes because they're simple and functional,
That's news to me. I kicked Windows at home because I started getting migraines from clenching my jaw too hard every time I worked on my computer for extended periods. I clench my jaw when I get frustrated at things not working. So far, I've learned an important lesson in patience with Ubuntu, but I've yet to get the literal headaches that Microsoft gave me. Incidentally, my Xbox is starting to move towards that jaw clenching experience as well.
Re:Woody Woodpecker says, Use Tor + SSL!
on
Hiding From Google
·
· Score: 1
For all you know, he works for a government contractor or agency. It is possible he has access to data that most folk don't. That and that alone can make him a target of various entities without him even knowing it.
Of course, for the majority of people what you say is likely very true. However, it is important to note that slashdot is a very techie skewed crowd and folks who work in techie fields have a lot of attractive job options in the sensitive data world.
Last I checked, there is an AdBlock extension for Chrome. In face, there appear to be more and more extensions popping up for Chrome each day. You might want to do some searching about customizing and extending Chrome before you resign yourself to just doing without.
I wouldn't rule the armed forces out as a corrupt branch of the government entirely. Most of the folk in the armed forces (well, all of them) are related to the American population and have a vested interest in this country (read country, not government). From what I've seen regarding the military's actions lately, the military doesn't seem to give a damn about Congress. In fact, most of the ranking officers I know have a blatant disrespect for a large portion of the American government and politicians in general. On top of that, they tend to have a very pragmatic, can-do attitude. If things in America came down to a shit flinging fight between the U.S. Government and it's population, I am not convinced that the entirety of the United States military would fire on its own citizens, much less side with a bunch of grand standing, pontificating panty-waists in Washington. Then again, that's just a trend I've noticed.
That is the main difference, a food maker can easily put more in to make their product more appealing why leaving the price pretty low.
See, this is the problem I see. Since it is so cheap, food makers put HFCS in everything. Seriously, spend an afternoon reading the ingredients list of most items at a common grocery store. HFCS is in just about everything nowaday to make it taste better (subjective). That means that in any given meal, a combination of various products, you get a rather large dosing of HFCS. If this happened every once in a great bit, that wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, it makes it very hard to take HFCS in in small levels and, as such, a large amount of Americans end up processing a lot of monosacharides in a given day. That's the real problem with HFCS. It's not that HFCS is, by it's very nature, bad. The problem is that it is everywhere. Finding food in America without it (or at least in California) theses days requires you to fork over some extra cash. I would wager that's a significant part of the reason why American obesity and diabetes levels are so high there days.
This particular bit made me snicker and reminded me of, "Thank You For Smoking:"
"Steve's embarrassed by the content of the negotiation or he would be more supportive of transparency," said Love, not one to hold back in his rhetoric. Keeping negotiations secret is how "you get big fees to be a lobbyist," since only the "insiders" have access to the process.
That came from one of the panel members calling for more transparency to the ACTA negotiations.
However, I must say that this next part struck me as extremely interesting:
But he also made the fair point that he's not the one doing the negotiating. The US Trade Representative, which handles ACTA, is ultimately responsible. Though it has repeatedly pledged transparency, none has been forthcoming
The he referred to is the MPAA/RIAA lobbyist: Steven Metalitz. Now, it's important to remember that he is just a lobbyist, so shifting blame away from those he represents is his job. That being said, I figure we should all still cheerfully hate on the IP MAFIAA's. However, he did bring up the fact that the USTR is the one handling the negotiations. Currently, that position is held by Ron Kirk, a fella from Texas. Looking at his Wikipedia article, he doesn't appear to have anything particularly outstanding, good or bad, in his political record. That being said, perhaps he is playing in a league (international politics) that he is not quite up to snuff on yet. I would wager that people could contact his office en masse (if we could find that info, I haven't found a lot with a few simple Google's) and show him just how important an issue this transparency is. In other words, he may still be new enough at these games that he hasn't completely grown callous to the American Public. Then again, this is all just guess work on my part.
One other thing to keep in mind is that he doesn't seem to have been in the national spotlight all that much, at least not that I can find. Maybe if we put him under the heat lamp of mass public disclosure regarding these meetings he will comply with public demands to avoid a serious burn./shrug
When you "buy" music you are buying a license to use that music in a limited fashion.
Really? I don't remember signing any license agreements when I purchased my last CD. I don't recall signing any license agreements before entering the local venue for a show. I also don't recall signing any license agreements when I e-mailed my favorite bands and asked for a burned copy of their singles that I couldn't find on albums.
In fact, I would assert that I don't license a damn thing when I access music. I purchase it. I purchase the physical media. I purchase the song. I purchase the album artwork. If I am buyging music, (ie giving money to someone else in exchange for something I can listen to) that is my copy of the damn music. If I decide to burn that copy to my computer so that I can recut the cd after I scratch it, that's my right, because it is my damn copy.
Or are you saying that when I buy my jeans from Wal-Mart I am licensing those too? What about buying my tools at Sears, did I license those? What about my DVD player? Come to think of it, have I just been shopping at a Rent-A-Center my whole life and not realized it? Bullshit.
Governments had a big incentive too - relatively recent financial crisis was still looming in the news, so it was convenient to have a "serious" topic that would shift the attention away from their f***ups.
Not to sound like a tinfoil hatter, but I also noted that the news of the swine flu came, conveniently, around the time that the healthcare discussion in the US started picking up speed. What better way to make people aware of the fact that they have crappy helathcare than by getting them to a doctor for a vaccination from a world ending plague? I'm not saying it's all part of some evil plan, but the time did seem like a very convenient coincidence for healthcare advocates in my opinion.
I'm sorry to hear it hit you all so hard. My roomate and I were diagnosed after a trip to Bakersfield. We didn't take any medication or anything (meaning no sore throat serum and what not). My roomate threw up solid for a weekend. I had to stop jogging for a week and a half because my trachea was swollen. Other than that, we did just fine. Actually, once I started jogging again my lung capacity actually get better, faster because I was still pushing myself with a partially swollen air pipe. I am not saying that the swine flu was some conspiracy, but from my experience, it really was overblown.
Although I do have some advice if you care to take it. If you notice that your recovery times from diseases are long (as in six weeks), try eating an apple every day. I know that sounds cliche but it really is a huge vitamin C boost for your immune system, not to mention delicious. Seriously, I munch apples regularly and it definitely helps you feel better quicker.
It is against the law to profit from your crimes in this country.
Which country would that be? I know it can't be America. It appears that we sponsor crime in this country with bailouts to ensure that folks do make a profit...at least, that's what the most recent round of Wall Street bonuses seems to say./shrug
Because most google employees are also slashdot readers. They knew that they would get pwnd, but could then point the finger at Microsoft. They also knew the security analysis would show this and an article would end up on slashdot, thus earning even more Microsoft ire. Slowly, but surely, Google has been manipulating the roving hordes of OSS fanatics without them even knowing it. They're in our brains man! Their next move is going to be to get an article posted with a link to some of Microsoft's servers so that the slashdotters can bring Microsoft to its knees. This is corporate warfare in full swing man! Strap on your helmets and sharpen your perl skills. Before we know it Microsoft is going to retaliate with countless numbers of Balmer-bots 2.0 which shriek 'Developers!' at the top of their sound range and use chairs as ammunition. Apple will step into the fray when people least expect it with the iThink mind control device and try to use Google's followers against them. Luckily for all of us (maybe?) Google knows that the best exploit vector is social engineering and has been doing it to us for years! We are just pawns in an unholy game of compu-corporate chess. The only real question you should be asking is, would you rather be a pawn, or a knight?
Wow...I don't suppose you have any aspirations of becoming a Hollywood writer do you? I think that's the most original and entertaining thing I have seen in a decade. =)
I looked under the clause regarding biological weapons and didn't see it there. Apparently both are cited in the clause regarding weapons of mass defamation though...
Yeah...that one's proof that its time for me to get back to work.
I still can't figure out how to metamoderate. I've been on the site for over a year now and have never once seen a link asking if I have metamoderated recently. I have browsed the FAQ and every other scrap of info I can find about it on slashdot but, so far as I can tell, there isn't a single place that tells you what button or whatever to click on a comment to metamoderate it. I don't know, I suppose I am just doing it wrong.
Based on the pictures, it looks like this thing sticks a few inches off of your face while worn. That could make maintenance in tight areas (read: under low riding cars) a bit of a problem/pain in the ass. I know when I crawl under my little deuce coup, even when the back end is lifted off the ground, My face is about 4 inches under the frame. I think these goggles could make that clearance, but I could easily see this being a problem in other models and in other areas of the vehicle.
It certainly seems like an interesting idea, nonetheless. I would love to see it hit the civilian market at a low enough price. I have to admit, though, that I would be irked if vehicles and other machines began to be designed in such a way that this piece of hardware was near essential to work on them. If it has a low cost, sure, then it might not be a big deal. However, if it has a high cost like some code-readers and is essential to work on your own vehicle, well, that would make me start ranting about my lawn and my Phillips screwdrivers.
Wow, really? To date we have two Martian rovers on the planet and the Phoenix lander. We also managed to land the Viking 1 and Viking 2 probes and a Soviet probe that transmitted for 22 seconds and quit out on us. So, to clarify, we have 5-6 successful surface missions for an entire planet that lost its atmosphere millions of years ago. Millions of years is a long time for the geophysical structure of the planet to change/morph/transform. It's not a big stretch of the imagination to think that any signs of life (fossils, some kind of living bacteria, etc) could have been buried awhile ago. There is also the possibility that any life that still does exist on Mars (or any signs of life) exist in a very small niche area of the planet, where the conditions are just right. So we have a combined 5 active spacecraft to explore an planet's entire surface and you are surprised that we haven't happened to stumble upon the types of evidence we are looking for? (which could also be a limiting factor). Just to put things in perspective, mankind has been actively wandering around this particular planet for more than 15,000 years and there are still a few places we haven't managed to explore. I think we can be forgiven for not finding life on a different planet in the last 40 years of exploration just yet. Sheesh. Why was this modded anything but 'retarded, unsound cynicism?'
The best method that I've found is to pay attention to them but make it look like you aren't. That mysterious, tough guy thing really seems to work well.
There's a series on either the History or Discovery channel titled, "The Evolution of Sex." I don't recall the answer they gave, but they had an entire episode devoted to the evolutionary pressures that led to human genitalia evolution. If you have the gumption to go looking for the answer, that might be a good place to start. It's also quite an interesting series if you are interested in this type of discussion.
Slashdot Mirror
One other thing (since I replied to your post already). I stopped buying replacements for broken items and stopped paying handymen/mechanics these past two years. I do all my own maintenance on my vehicles as well as around the house. Find yourself a good 'fix it yourself' manual (good ones have exploded diagrams of most home appliances, like dishwashers, washing machines, etc.) and start collecting some tools. Start doing your own maintenance on everything (even the stuff that still works but could be better) unless of course it is dangerous or requires some specialized hydraulic jack or something. This has two advantages. First, it stimulates your mind (just like coding or engineering as a hobby does). Secondly, it puts you on a first name basis with your Sears and Home Depot staff, which make for some great deals and friends. Finally, the reasons to do it are A) you save money, B) your upper body (forceps, wrists, fingers, etc.) start toning and and getting stronger, and C) you build your confidence. Seriously, maintenance as a hobby is good stuff, and quite fulfilling. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a toaster to go debug.
I started running after I got my first cubicle jockey job. Thirty minutes of pushing myself hard after work every day and ten minutes of stretching before and after. This qualifies as the 'exercise you tack on the end of your day' category, but I feel great. My legs are in excellent shape. I have more energy than I ever used too. I have a much more 'get shit done' attitude. I'm not nearly as lazy. Of course for the first few months I was just tired and sore all the time. Nowadays, however, after a year's worth of running, I feel great. It works for me =)
I agree, a sedentary lifestyle is a problem as well as unhealthy. My recommendation, start doing outdoorsy stuff on weekends and afternoons. Pick up some sort of board sport or something. If you are new at it, it will always suck for the first couple of months. Have some perseverance though and soon you will find you have a great new hobby. The plus side of a steady workout is that you can indulge yourself. Build some muscles, increase your metabolism, you can start eating some hearty meals. Good stuuf.
Also, you mentioned you have kids, try getting involved in a sport or something with them. Take 'em hiking. Some of my best home memories involved my dad and I wandering around in the forest finding old deer skeletons and such on the weekend =)
Kopete only works with my webcam through my MSN account. From what I understand, Skype is the way to go for online video support in Linux. I can see how switching would be a pain in the ass, but if you want an alternative to the Vista setup, you might look into that one.
The FIRST thing Linux guys say when you mention you are having problems with a distro, is 'You should install the latest release.'
I installed Ubuntu 8.04 about the time that Ubuntu 9.04 was being released. I have been posting to linux and ubuntu help forums for over a year and a half regarding everything from gaming to networking to hardware compatibility to perl code. I have never once seen someone tell me, "You should upgrade to the latest release." The closest I have ever heard as a response to one of my inquires has been, "Here, add these updated repositories to your list of repositories." Which isn't really the same thing....at all.
I've got news for all of you: we like our OSes because they're simple and functional,
That's news to me. I kicked Windows at home because I started getting migraines from clenching my jaw too hard every time I worked on my computer for extended periods. I clench my jaw when I get frustrated at things not working. So far, I've learned an important lesson in patience with Ubuntu, but I've yet to get the literal headaches that Microsoft gave me. Incidentally, my Xbox is starting to move towards that jaw clenching experience as well.
For all you know, he works for a government contractor or agency. It is possible he has access to data that most folk don't. That and that alone can make him a target of various entities without him even knowing it.
Of course, for the majority of people what you say is likely very true. However, it is important to note that slashdot is a very techie skewed crowd and folks who work in techie fields have a lot of attractive job options in the sensitive data world.
Food for thought.
Last I checked, there is an AdBlock extension for Chrome. In face, there appear to be more and more extensions popping up for Chrome each day. You might want to do some searching about customizing and extending Chrome before you resign yourself to just doing without.
I wouldn't rule the armed forces out as a corrupt branch of the government entirely. Most of the folk in the armed forces (well, all of them) are related to the American population and have a vested interest in this country (read country, not government). From what I've seen regarding the military's actions lately, the military doesn't seem to give a damn about Congress. In fact, most of the ranking officers I know have a blatant disrespect for a large portion of the American government and politicians in general. On top of that, they tend to have a very pragmatic, can-do attitude. If things in America came down to a shit flinging fight between the U.S. Government and it's population, I am not convinced that the entirety of the United States military would fire on its own citizens, much less side with a bunch of grand standing, pontificating panty-waists in Washington. Then again, that's just a trend I've noticed.
That is the main difference, a food maker can easily put more in to make their product more appealing why leaving the price pretty low.
See, this is the problem I see. Since it is so cheap, food makers put HFCS in everything. Seriously, spend an afternoon reading the ingredients list of most items at a common grocery store. HFCS is in just about everything nowaday to make it taste better (subjective). That means that in any given meal, a combination of various products, you get a rather large dosing of HFCS. If this happened every once in a great bit, that wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, it makes it very hard to take HFCS in in small levels and, as such, a large amount of Americans end up processing a lot of monosacharides in a given day. That's the real problem with HFCS. It's not that HFCS is, by it's very nature, bad. The problem is that it is everywhere. Finding food in America without it (or at least in California) theses days requires you to fork over some extra cash. I would wager that's a significant part of the reason why American obesity and diabetes levels are so high there days.
"Steve's embarrassed by the content of the negotiation or he would be more supportive of transparency," said Love, not one to hold back in his rhetoric. Keeping negotiations secret is how "you get big fees to be a lobbyist," since only the "insiders" have access to the process.
That came from one of the panel members calling for more transparency to the ACTA negotiations.
However, I must say that this next part struck me as extremely interesting:
But he also made the fair point that he's not the one doing the negotiating. The US Trade Representative, which handles ACTA, is ultimately responsible. Though it has repeatedly pledged transparency, none has been forthcoming
The he referred to is the MPAA/RIAA lobbyist: Steven Metalitz. Now, it's important to remember that he is just a lobbyist, so shifting blame away from those he represents is his job. That being said, I figure we should all still cheerfully hate on the IP MAFIAA's. However, he did bring up the fact that the USTR is the one handling the negotiations. Currently, that position is held by Ron Kirk, a fella from Texas. Looking at his Wikipedia article, he doesn't appear to have anything particularly outstanding, good or bad, in his political record. That being said, perhaps he is playing in a league (international politics) that he is not quite up to snuff on yet. I would wager that people could contact his office en masse (if we could find that info, I haven't found a lot with a few simple Google's) and show him just how important an issue this transparency is. In other words, he may still be new enough at these games that he hasn't completely grown callous to the American Public. Then again, this is all just guess work on my part.
/shrug
One other thing to keep in mind is that he doesn't seem to have been in the national spotlight all that much, at least not that I can find. Maybe if we put him under the heat lamp of mass public disclosure regarding these meetings he will comply with public demands to avoid a serious burn.
When you "buy" music you are buying a license to use that music in a limited fashion.
Really? I don't remember signing any license agreements when I purchased my last CD. I don't recall signing any license agreements before entering the local venue for a show. I also don't recall signing any license agreements when I e-mailed my favorite bands and asked for a burned copy of their singles that I couldn't find on albums.
In fact, I would assert that I don't license a damn thing when I access music. I purchase it. I purchase the physical media. I purchase the song. I purchase the album artwork. If I am buyging music, (ie giving money to someone else in exchange for something I can listen to) that is my copy of the damn music. If I decide to burn that copy to my computer so that I can recut the cd after I scratch it, that's my right, because it is my damn copy.
Or are you saying that when I buy my jeans from Wal-Mart I am licensing those too? What about buying my tools at Sears, did I license those? What about my DVD player? Come to think of it, have I just been shopping at a Rent-A-Center my whole life and not realized it? Bullshit.
I know we don't have the technology for a robot to keep its balance well enough on two legs
Actually, we do. Check out Dexter by Anybots based in the Silicon Valley. Let's see, this should get you started. Here is their official website.
Governments had a big incentive too - relatively recent financial crisis was still looming in the news, so it was convenient to have a "serious" topic that would shift the attention away from their f***ups.
Not to sound like a tinfoil hatter, but I also noted that the news of the swine flu came, conveniently, around the time that the healthcare discussion in the US started picking up speed. What better way to make people aware of the fact that they have crappy helathcare than by getting them to a doctor for a vaccination from a world ending plague? I'm not saying it's all part of some evil plan, but the time did seem like a very convenient coincidence for healthcare advocates in my opinion.
I'm sorry to hear it hit you all so hard. My roomate and I were diagnosed after a trip to Bakersfield. We didn't take any medication or anything (meaning no sore throat serum and what not). My roomate threw up solid for a weekend. I had to stop jogging for a week and a half because my trachea was swollen. Other than that, we did just fine. Actually, once I started jogging again my lung capacity actually get better, faster because I was still pushing myself with a partially swollen air pipe. I am not saying that the swine flu was some conspiracy, but from my experience, it really was overblown.
Although I do have some advice if you care to take it. If you notice that your recovery times from diseases are long (as in six weeks), try eating an apple every day. I know that sounds cliche but it really is a huge vitamin C boost for your immune system, not to mention delicious. Seriously, I munch apples regularly and it definitely helps you feel better quicker.
It is against the law to profit from your crimes in this country.
Which country would that be? I know it can't be America. It appears that we sponsor crime in this country with bailouts to ensure that folks do make a profit...at least, that's what the most recent round of Wall Street bonuses seems to say. /shrug
Because most google employees are also slashdot readers. They knew that they would get pwnd, but could then point the finger at Microsoft. They also knew the security analysis would show this and an article would end up on slashdot, thus earning even more Microsoft ire. Slowly, but surely, Google has been manipulating the roving hordes of OSS fanatics without them even knowing it. They're in our brains man! Their next move is going to be to get an article posted with a link to some of Microsoft's servers so that the slashdotters can bring Microsoft to its knees. This is corporate warfare in full swing man! Strap on your helmets and sharpen your perl skills. Before we know it Microsoft is going to retaliate with countless numbers of Balmer-bots 2.0 which shriek 'Developers!' at the top of their sound range and use chairs as ammunition. Apple will step into the fray when people least expect it with the iThink mind control device and try to use Google's followers against them. Luckily for all of us (maybe?) Google knows that the best exploit vector is social engineering and has been doing it to us for years! We are just pawns in an unholy game of compu-corporate chess. The only real question you should be asking is, would you rather be a pawn, or a knight?
Wow...I don't suppose you have any aspirations of becoming a Hollywood writer do you? I think that's the most original and entertaining thing I have seen in a decade. =)
I looked under the clause regarding biological weapons and didn't see it there. Apparently both are cited in the clause regarding weapons of mass defamation though...
Yeah...that one's proof that its time for me to get back to work.
There is a reason that the Chinese are playing such an active role in Africa.
Don't forget South America.
I still can't figure out how to metamoderate. I've been on the site for over a year now and have never once seen a link asking if I have metamoderated recently. I have browsed the FAQ and every other scrap of info I can find about it on slashdot but, so far as I can tell, there isn't a single place that tells you what button or whatever to click on a comment to metamoderate it. I don't know, I suppose I am just doing it wrong.
\overit
Based on the pictures, it looks like this thing sticks a few inches off of your face while worn. That could make maintenance in tight areas (read: under low riding cars) a bit of a problem/pain in the ass. I know when I crawl under my little deuce coup, even when the back end is lifted off the ground, My face is about 4 inches under the frame. I think these goggles could make that clearance, but I could easily see this being a problem in other models and in other areas of the vehicle.
It certainly seems like an interesting idea, nonetheless. I would love to see it hit the civilian market at a low enough price. I have to admit, though, that I would be irked if vehicles and other machines began to be designed in such a way that this piece of hardware was near essential to work on them. If it has a low cost, sure, then it might not be a big deal. However, if it has a high cost like some code-readers and is essential to work on your own vehicle, well, that would make me start ranting about my lawn and my Phillips screwdrivers.
Could we organize a slashdot effect run on Baidu? ....
Wow, really? To date we have two Martian rovers on the planet and the Phoenix lander. We also managed to land the Viking 1 and Viking 2 probes and a Soviet probe that transmitted for 22 seconds and quit out on us. So, to clarify, we have 5-6 successful surface missions for an entire planet that lost its atmosphere millions of years ago. Millions of years is a long time for the geophysical structure of the planet to change/morph/transform. It's not a big stretch of the imagination to think that any signs of life (fossils, some kind of living bacteria, etc) could have been buried awhile ago. There is also the possibility that any life that still does exist on Mars (or any signs of life) exist in a very small niche area of the planet, where the conditions are just right. So we have a combined 5 active spacecraft to explore an planet's entire surface and you are surprised that we haven't happened to stumble upon the types of evidence we are looking for? (which could also be a limiting factor). Just to put things in perspective, mankind has been actively wandering around this particular planet for more than 15,000 years and there are still a few places we haven't managed to explore. I think we can be forgiven for not finding life on a different planet in the last 40 years of exploration just yet. Sheesh. Why was this modded anything but 'retarded, unsound cynicism?'
The best method that I've found is to pay attention to them but make it look like you aren't. That mysterious, tough guy thing really seems to work well.
There's a series on either the History or Discovery channel titled, "The Evolution of Sex." I don't recall the answer they gave, but they had an entire episode devoted to the evolutionary pressures that led to human genitalia evolution. If you have the gumption to go looking for the answer, that might be a good place to start. It's also quite an interesting series if you are interested in this type of discussion.