I've lived here in Wisconsin all 23 years of my life, and on Sunday I saw the most impressive display of northern lights I've ever witnessed. The phenomena isn't unheard of here, but still rather uncommon. Sunday night's view was almost unbelievable, though... A huge patch of the sky was glowing, stretching nearly horizon to horizon. Being a bit of an astronomy buff, I love times like this because it ignites interest in the topic. Even among nerds, it seems interest in astronomy is sporadic at best... and among non-nerds, it's amazing how little even highly intelligent and educated people know about basic astronomy. I suppose the media doesn't help much since they get things wrong half the time. I've seen several TV shows say that seasons are caused by Earth's distance from the Sun... heh, guess "axis" is too hard a concept for the media? Maybe it's not a politically correct word...;)
Actually, I enjoy talking with people that are clueless about astronomy because they tend to be the ones that show the most interest once they realize just how mysterious the universe is... Go astronomy!
You reminded me of The Daily Show's coverage of the election... Ed Helms said that with the re-election of Bush, if you want to have gay sex or visit a library it's probably the last night to do that. Then he said "Personally, I'm planning to kill two birds with one stone" and the audience went nuts.
Sure, if you can name one right that has been taken away from YOU.
How about the right to know if the government has peaked at my medical records, or noticed what books I've checked out at the library? Now, I can't prove they have, but no one can prove they have not since I simply don't have the right to know. I would like that right, and I would like the right to not have to think "Anything I check out here can be used against me" while I browse for books.
If the US government wants freedom to be "on the march" shouldn't we, as an example to the nations we wish to make free, be steadfast in preserving our own rights and freedoms? While the death of 4,000 on 9/11 was of course a tragedy and measures need to be taken to make us safer, is sacrificing freedom worth it? About 40,000 people die in car accidents every year, yet we don't have a "war on cars" that I am aware of, and I'm pretty sure in every state you can drive before you are legally an adult.
Americans are still very emotional about 9/11, and will likely remain that way for years to come, just as it was with Pearl Harbor. However we can learn from history, and I tend to believe that perhaps half a century from now the PATRIOT Act will be viewed almost as negatively as the Japanese Internment after Pearl Harbor is viewed today.
Hey everyone, I followed this guy's instructions and uploaded the torrent for you. So in case you're scared to use vim or it is not working for you, just click here.
This country has an abysmal record on safely disposing toxic waste products of all kinds
Bush actually signed a document saying "the Air Force base near Groom Lake, Nevada" (that's Area 51) can simply ignore any safety protocols for disposing of toxic waste. Now, I'm no tin-foil hat and I seriously doubt there is anything of E.T. origin at Area 51, but I do wonder just what sort of mess they've made there, and where they are dumping it.
I'm sorry, but I have to ask... why clean off the dirt to simply have George Lucas then proceed drop his drawers and take a giant, nutty shit over all the reels?
Not only were women free in ancient Egypt, recent archaeological evidence suggests that the Pyramid of Kufu wasn't built by slaves but rather by skilled workers who were treated very well. They were provided with relatively advanced medical care, even as far as successful amputations in the case of a crushed limb. One of the main sources of motivation among these workers was a friendly rivalry between camps, with one camp attempting to get more work done than another in a given day. Workers actually left some graffiti inside the Pyramid supporting this theory (the ancient graffiti was discovered when treasure hunters used explosives in the inner chambers). The graffiti was basically a sort of "We got this done ahead of Team B because we're the best" type of boasting. All this points to not slaves motivated to work by the whips of their masters, but workers who were not only treated well but prided themselves in working. So basically, our perception of slavery in ancient Egypt is extremely exaggerated.
I have the solution to the environmental problems of this planet. How about we get all the tree-huggers, and all the Big Oil Company CEOs together to settle this matter once and for all.... IN A STEEL CAGE MATCH!
I knew someone was going to compare Google to Microsoft at some point. Here's the huge difference: People always hated Microsoft! Somewhere the notion developed that Microsoft started out as a great little company and turned evil, or that everyone used to love them "back in the day" but now hates them. Both of these are false. Microsoft started out by charging money for what others were willing to give away for free (BASIC for example) and they were always hated for it. There was never a period in Microsoft's history where they were even remotely as revered as Google is today. Google has enriched the world, while Microsoft has a long history of using the world to make the company richer, from day one.
"I was only about 40% happy with the original award. There were things we just couldn't do when I first got it. The new award, I am 95% happy with. The fans of the awards may take some issue with it, but the award is for me, not them."
Spoiling the joke by explaining it here: The 40% figure is what Lucas said about how happy he was with the original Star Wars when it was finished in 1977. He then went on to say he was 95% happy with Episode I. Which proves that the less happy he is with a film, the more happy everyone else is...;)
I swear it looks like Bush is still trying to win that first debate... Everyone was dissapointed with his perfomance. His camp should just suck it up and concentrate on tonight, but instead they have to resort to "Kerry cheated! Vote Bush!" which makes them seem overly desperate.
Honestly, unless it was some mind-controlling pen that made Bush perform the way he did, they should just drop it.
All that from a game that started out with complaints of being "too cute for its own good" or something like that, heh. I never got a chance to play it since I never owned an N64. The N64 era was when I started getting into PC gaming which left little funds to support a simultaneous console addiction.
Though when it comes to banned games, I think the most amusing story is the German version of Half-Life. Valve apparently added in robotic soldiers instead of people for that release, and even though that version was released months after the original, it still sold around 50,000 copies. Insane. Maybe shooting tin men is actually more fun?
I thought exactly the same thing about this... In the original DX, you work for a counter-terrorist group. Turns out the government in DX is so corrupt and twisted that you end up joining the "terrorists" in order to find a cure for the government sponsored plague.
Yeah, a plot like that would really fly well today. It's funny, though, I've played through DX about a half-dozen times... and each time I play through it again, the closer to home some of the "shadow government" themes hit. Really, it's getting kinda scary, and I tend to wonder what people would think of the plot in DX ten or twenty years from now...
and include instances such as Larry receiving below-screen fellatio from Koko
So, is Max Payne also banned in Australia? There's a rather obvious example of fellatio in the graphic novel... and just in case you missed the obvious hints, when it cuts back to the game the boss you fight has his pants around his ankles.
Now, maybe I'm just different, but I've got 45,000 files spread across 1300 directories in my Home directory
Holy shit! I have two sort of catch all directories for my personal files, the largest containing a paltry 4,992 files in 329 folders. And I thought I was a pack-rat. But perhaps you simply produce a lot of files in your average computing sessions.
It's interesting how different people can perceive a certain number of files in different ways. An example that has stuck in my mind occurred a couple years ago when I was taking a networking course. A group I was working with needed a router configuration file, and I assumed that a PC used for entering in these files would have one stored. I suggested someone sitting there to search for all text files. A mere 90 files showed up and he was visibly agitated, and instructed me to find a config file in those results by abruptly rising from the seat and proclaiming "You do it, Einstein boy." Of course to me 90 files was not a large number to sift through and thankfully someone had clearly titled a router config file, so it didn't take me more than a few seconds.
So yeah, you have a lot of files. But to the disgruntled user in my example 90 text files is a lot and I'm sure his brain would likely explode if he ever had to manage an amount of files nearly as massive as those in your home directory. Different strokes and all that I guess.
But back on topic, the tinfoil hat in me tends to believe that the only logical reason to embed metadata into files on personal computers would be in order to allow third party programs to collect and upload that metadata for marketing purposes. Heh... It seems pretty obvious to me, which means some marketing bastard somewhere is thinking of it right now.
As for your last point it just might be case that I want isolated applications because I want to run a Mozilla browser, but a Eudora mail client. Isolated applications allow you to mix and match, not simply run all the stuff in the monolithic app separately.
A very wise observation of course, yet I'm inclined to point out that which I'm sure you're already aware (and others have mentioned previously)... on the subject of ending task on a single program, obviously it is preferable to have only your browser bork on you rather than your browser and email client (especially if you're typing up a lengthy email). So even for people like me who run both Firefox and Thunderbird, there's yet another reason to pick them over the moz suite, including those the parent posters mentioned (such as the memory consumption).
Oh, by the way, I loved reading your Ewok dinning tips last night... most informative, I can't wait to put them to use!
We have no idea what unit this point five is, so perhaps that ends up meaning "really fucking fast."
I think it proabably was meant to be taken that way, since he outran the Empire's ships which seemed to be pretty cutting edge.
If you want to get really upset with Star Wars science though, how about deflecting blasters with a light saber? Sure, I suppose you could say it's possible with The Force... but even the way blaster weapons are shown, they appear to behave more like projectile weapons than lasers, what with a visible beam that flies out toward its target instead of hiting it the instant the trigger is pulled (as you'd expect from a laser weapon).
But yeah... It's just a movie so I think I'll shutup now...;)
Re:Another stupid ask slashdot
on
Am I a Spam Zombie?
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Elitist attitudes like this are always amusing to me... Requests for this guy to search google don't answer his question... He wants to know what we, a group of tech savvy folk, recommend. It's harder for google to answer that directly than a simple ask slashdot. To all the moaners out there, stop reading Ask Slashdot or just stop reading the site alltogether. Questions like these are how people learn, and serve as starting point for disscusion here.
We should never insult folks for asking "stupid" questions, but rather admire the courage it took to ask.
Wheaton seems to have some sort of belief that he's extra-deserving and infallible because he was part of Star Trek
What the fuck are you talking about? Wheaton is the first person to point out he's a has-been actor. He only made that site at the request of fans. Wheaton is very down to earth, and admits he's just a geek.
I'd like to know just where you got your impression of him...
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, I enjoy talking with people that are clueless about astronomy because they tend to be the ones that show the most interest once they realize just how mysterious the universe is... Go astronomy!
You reminded me of The Daily Show's coverage of the election... Ed Helms said that with the re-election of Bush, if you want to have gay sex or visit a library it's probably the last night to do that. Then he said "Personally, I'm planning to kill two birds with one stone" and the audience went nuts.
How about the right to know if the government has peaked at my medical records, or noticed what books I've checked out at the library? Now, I can't prove they have, but no one can prove they have not since I simply don't have the right to know. I would like that right, and I would like the right to not have to think "Anything I check out here can be used against me" while I browse for books.
If the US government wants freedom to be "on the march" shouldn't we, as an example to the nations we wish to make free, be steadfast in preserving our own rights and freedoms? While the death of 4,000 on 9/11 was of course a tragedy and measures need to be taken to make us safer, is sacrificing freedom worth it? About 40,000 people die in car accidents every year, yet we don't have a "war on cars" that I am aware of, and I'm pretty sure in every state you can drive before you are legally an adult.
Americans are still very emotional about 9/11, and will likely remain that way for years to come, just as it was with Pearl Harbor. However we can learn from history, and I tend to believe that perhaps half a century from now the PATRIOT Act will be viewed almost as negatively as the Japanese Internment after Pearl Harbor is viewed today.
Hey everyone, I followed this guy's instructions and uploaded the torrent for you. So in case you're scared to use vim or it is not working for you, just click here.
I cannot resist the urge to link to this amusing bash.org quote on the subject of cereal mascots.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20 030916-4.html
Bush actually signed a document saying "the Air Force base near Groom Lake, Nevada" (that's Area 51) can simply ignore any safety protocols for disposing of toxic waste. Now, I'm no tin-foil hat and I seriously doubt there is anything of E.T. origin at Area 51, but I do wonder just what sort of mess they've made there, and where they are dumping it.
I'm sorry, but I have to ask... why clean off the dirt to simply have George Lucas then proceed drop his drawers and take a giant, nutty shit over all the reels?
Not only were women free in ancient Egypt, recent archaeological evidence suggests that the Pyramid of Kufu wasn't built by slaves but rather by skilled workers who were treated very well. They were provided with relatively advanced medical care, even as far as successful amputations in the case of a crushed limb. One of the main sources of motivation among these workers was a friendly rivalry between camps, with one camp attempting to get more work done than another in a given day. Workers actually left some graffiti inside the Pyramid supporting this theory (the ancient graffiti was discovered when treasure hunters used explosives in the inner chambers). The graffiti was basically a sort of "We got this done ahead of Team B because we're the best" type of boasting. All this points to not slaves motivated to work by the whips of their masters, but workers who were not only treated well but prided themselves in working. So basically, our perception of slavery in ancient Egypt is extremely exaggerated.
Oh, wait a minute, that's WWE now... Nevermind.
I knew someone was going to compare Google to Microsoft at some point. Here's the huge difference: People always hated Microsoft! Somewhere the notion developed that Microsoft started out as a great little company and turned evil, or that everyone used to love them "back in the day" but now hates them. Both of these are false. Microsoft started out by charging money for what others were willing to give away for free (BASIC for example) and they were always hated for it. There was never a period in Microsoft's history where they were even remotely as revered as Google is today. Google has enriched the world, while Microsoft has a long history of using the world to make the company richer, from day one.
Unfortunately, as Jon Stewart has mentioned, there are photos of him online that would disqualify him from getting a job at the post office.
"I was only about 40% happy with the original award. There were things we just couldn't do when I first got it. The new award, I am 95% happy with. The fans of the awards may take some issue with it, but the award is for me, not them."
Spoiling the joke by explaining it here: The 40% figure is what Lucas said about how happy he was with the original Star Wars when it was finished in 1977. He then went on to say he was 95% happy with Episode I. Which proves that the less happy he is with a film, the more happy everyone else is... ;)
Honestly, unless it was some mind-controlling pen that made Bush perform the way he did, they should just drop it.
Though when it comes to banned games, I think the most amusing story is the German version of Half-Life. Valve apparently added in robotic soldiers instead of people for that release, and even though that version was released months after the original, it still sold around 50,000 copies. Insane. Maybe shooting tin men is actually more fun?
Yeah, a plot like that would really fly well today. It's funny, though, I've played through DX about a half-dozen times... and each time I play through it again, the closer to home some of the "shadow government" themes hit. Really, it's getting kinda scary, and I tend to wonder what people would think of the plot in DX ten or twenty years from now...
So, is Max Payne also banned in Australia? There's a rather obvious example of fellatio in the graphic novel... and just in case you missed the obvious hints, when it cuts back to the game the boss you fight has his pants around his ankles.
"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."
(Testimony to the House of Representatives, 1982)" (source)
So you have this disease? Sounds rough. Please stay healthy and keep posting.
He said he felt that the main problem was the developers would start shying away from the HD due this... Which unfortuantely is probably true.
Holy shit! I have two sort of catch all directories for my personal files, the largest containing a paltry 4,992 files in 329 folders. And I thought I was a pack-rat. But perhaps you simply produce a lot of files in your average computing sessions.
It's interesting how different people can perceive a certain number of files in different ways. An example that has stuck in my mind occurred a couple years ago when I was taking a networking course. A group I was working with needed a router configuration file, and I assumed that a PC used for entering in these files would have one stored. I suggested someone sitting there to search for all text files. A mere 90 files showed up and he was visibly agitated, and instructed me to find a config file in those results by abruptly rising from the seat and proclaiming "You do it, Einstein boy." Of course to me 90 files was not a large number to sift through and thankfully someone had clearly titled a router config file, so it didn't take me more than a few seconds.
So yeah, you have a lot of files. But to the disgruntled user in my example 90 text files is a lot and I'm sure his brain would likely explode if he ever had to manage an amount of files nearly as massive as those in your home directory. Different strokes and all that I guess.
But back on topic, the tinfoil hat in me tends to believe that the only logical reason to embed metadata into files on personal computers would be in order to allow third party programs to collect and upload that metadata for marketing purposes. Heh... It seems pretty obvious to me, which means some marketing bastard somewhere is thinking of it right now.
A very wise observation of course, yet I'm inclined to point out that which I'm sure you're already aware (and others have mentioned previously)... on the subject of ending task on a single program, obviously it is preferable to have only your browser bork on you rather than your browser and email client (especially if you're typing up a lengthy email). So even for people like me who run both Firefox and Thunderbird, there's yet another reason to pick them over the moz suite, including those the parent posters mentioned (such as the memory consumption).
Oh, by the way, I loved reading your Ewok dinning tips last night... most informative, I can't wait to put them to use!
We have no idea what unit this point five is, so perhaps that ends up meaning "really fucking fast."
I think it proabably was meant to be taken that way, since he outran the Empire's ships which seemed to be pretty cutting edge.
If you want to get really upset with Star Wars science though, how about deflecting blasters with a light saber? Sure, I suppose you could say it's possible with The Force... but even the way blaster weapons are shown, they appear to behave more like projectile weapons than lasers, what with a visible beam that flies out toward its target instead of hiting it the instant the trigger is pulled (as you'd expect from a laser weapon).
But yeah... It's just a movie so I think I'll shutup now... ;)
We should never insult folks for asking "stupid" questions, but rather admire the courage it took to ask.
What the fuck are you talking about? Wheaton is the first person to point out he's a has-been actor. He only made that site at the request of fans. Wheaton is very down to earth, and admits he's just a geek.
I'd like to know just where you got your impression of him...