So once you have enough guns to force your neighbors to recognize you as legitimate, you get to abuse your populace without them doing anything about it?
I'd also like to note that, in the FF series at least, "White Mages" do protective spells, "Black Mages" do destructive spells, and "Blue Mages" steal their opponent's powers and use them as if they were their own.
Or, an even better explanation: The "noise" is the result of electrical interference from ion engines and ion exhaust creating feedback in the POV ship's systems.
Luser: That sounds all well and good, but what happens if someone walks up and opens my "Door"?
MS:
Linux: Don't buy a house from this man! You need a secure entry and exit system! Our house plans are completely free, and there are plenty of liscensed contractors that can build one for you at a very reasonable price! Plus, it doesn't come with a door unless you ask for one - which, incidentally, I wouldn't! Thieves can get in, after all.
Luser: So... how do I get in?
Linux: We have two cannon-powered one-way pneumatic chutes, which are synchronized and studded with sensors so that only authorized objects and people sprayed with this special reflective paint can get in! And you have to know which chute is which, or you get blown to smithereens! Plus, the whole house uses the same chute system for everything - heating, cooling, garbage disposal - and the entire surface is studded with spinning, rotating blades!
Luser: But... my kids! What if they -
Linux: You'll get used to it! It comes with these notes scribbled directly by the designers of the chute! And there's even free plans for adding a doorknob and a doorbell to the chute iris, so you can make it feel just like their "doors", but with the added security of spinning, rotating blades!
Luser: But I...
Apple: Our doors come with locks on them. And you get real-marble floors and an indoor heated swimming pool!
Huh. The trouble with that is, machine-gunning the HR department just kills a bunch of line employees and middle managers - it just makes your downsizing decisions easier. Sabotage actually hurts the bottom line.
I would now like to posit Dill's Corrolary to Godwin's Law:
"Pedophiles" may replace "Nazis" with no noticable change in effect. The initial choice of whether to invoke "pedophile" or "Nazi" invariably sets a precedent, which tends to crystalize the debate towards that invocation.
If there's ONE antivirus suite for a particular OS, then how long will it be before virus writers start figuring out vulnerabilities within the AV suite itself, and create viruses that are effectively unkillable until the next major release of the AV subsystem?
Not at all, but it (and the Tom Robbins book mentioned below) are rather rare examples. I'm currently writing a research white paper in the second person, but it's not something that's very common as a literary device.
Very true. The problem is, cellphones are an enabling technology for loud and obnoxious behavior. Think about it - a loud and obnoxious person is only loud and obnoxious when talking to other (usually ALSO loud and obnoxious, otherwise they would become irritated and leave) people. This is limited to times when other such people are available for conversations. Without cellphones, loud and obnoxious people must travel in packs in order to display their attrocious behavior. With cellphones, they can have conversations which are infuriating to third parties WITHOUT a readily available friend. Cellphones serve to DOUBLE the amount of effective distraction, since each side of the conversation is just as distracting as the other, and they are now in two distinct locales, each spreading irritation and social discomfort to passersby. You're doubling the area of interaction between jerk and society, thereby doubling the rate of exposure.
Sure it was. But we like viciously proving our superiority here, especially when it means viciously proving our superiority by making other people out to sound like THEY were viciously implying THEIR superiority.
You parsed his statement wrong. He was implying that "I'm at the store, do you need something?" and "Are you alright? I'll be right over." are examples of IMPORTANT conversations, and that most conversations WEREN'T like that at all. I.e., most cellphone conversations consist of things like:
"Ohmygod, did you see what she was wearing at the party last night!? I know! Totally! Total! Skank! So Joey says, he says, hang on a sec, I've got another call - Jamie! Ohmygod, where did you get that dress last night? That was so hot! No way. NO WAY. NOOO WAAY. Wow, cool! You'll have to take me by there sometime. Listen, my mom's on the other line, I'm at the store getting her medication. Thanks babe! - So anyway, guess who THAT was? Yep. I told her I was talking to my mom. Can you believe her? I just... hold on, I got another call - Heeey, Thom... what're you doing later tonight? I dunno, Joey's out of town... I thought maybe we could - yeah. Your place? Sure. Bye. - Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. THOM just called me. We are hooking up TONIGHT. SO SURREAL. No. No, of course not. Michelle, if you tell Joey you are DEAD. Do you understand me? Dea..."
If a judge approves a wire tap, and only 60% or less of those warrents lead to convictions (not just an arrest), then we have a problem. A Judge needs probable cause, and for me probable cause means the police already has strong evidence the person is going to break a crime.
How do you keep that from encouraging collusion among judges, to increase conviction rates?
Yes, and I live in Alabama. In can be over 90 and 99% humidity for over 100 days.
I live in Arizona. It can be over 110 and under 4% humidity for over 6 hours a day. Regardless of how many days it hits that temperature, ONCE is enough to kill off a few thousand people from heat stroke, if they don't have some cooling system or adequate water (either will do). Around here, we get the thermal opposite of the Minnesota's "bumsicles".
Careful, Americans get particularly rabid regarding anything remotely related to sex with minors (repression, anyone?). The last thing you want is some international age-of-consent law forced down the EU/UN's throats, set firmly at 21 "just in case".
Personally, I've always assumed that complex intelligence requires a certain amount of raw materials to get started, and those materials just aren't available in first- and second-generation stars. It took the first 12 billion years of the Universe to cook enough hydrogen down into heavier elements, before there was enough chemical diversity to even make complex organic life possible. So chances are, any other intelligent species are going to be at about the same point in their evolution as we are, give or take a few million years.
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By the logic I just specified, it isn't. Whether an entity is "justified" in acting has very little to do with how that entity actually acts.
So once you have enough guns to force your neighbors to recognize you as legitimate, you get to abuse your populace without them doing anything about it?
Sounds about right.
Or better, BUILD it into a search engine. A distributed P2P search engine.
I'd also like to note that, in the FF series at least, "White Mages" do protective spells, "Black Mages" do destructive spells, and "Blue Mages" steal their opponent's powers and use them as if they were their own.
You got *TESLA*? All I got were these stupid bug-eyed red aliens, all named John.
Or, an even better explanation: The "noise" is the result of electrical interference from ion engines and ion exhaust creating feedback in the POV ship's systems.
Smart business, then. Use laws to tank a company that's competing with local business, let local business purchase the company, then repeal the law.
Luser: That sounds all well and good, but what happens if someone walks up and opens my "Door"?
MS:
Linux: Don't buy a house from this man! You need a secure entry and exit system! Our house plans are completely free, and there are plenty of liscensed contractors that can build one for you at a very reasonable price! Plus, it doesn't come with a door unless you ask for one - which, incidentally, I wouldn't! Thieves can get in, after all.
Luser: So... how do I get in?
Linux: We have two cannon-powered one-way pneumatic chutes, which are synchronized and studded with sensors so that only authorized objects and people sprayed with this special reflective paint can get in! And you have to know which chute is which, or you get blown to smithereens! Plus, the whole house uses the same chute system for everything - heating, cooling, garbage disposal - and the entire surface is studded with spinning, rotating blades!
Luser: But... my kids! What if they -
Linux: You'll get used to it! It comes with these notes scribbled directly by the designers of the chute! And there's even free plans for adding a doorknob and a doorbell to the chute iris, so you can make it feel just like their "doors", but with the added security of spinning, rotating blades!
Luser: But I...
Apple: Our doors come with locks on them. And you get real-marble floors and an indoor heated swimming pool!
Luser: oooooh...
Apple: That'll be $3,999,999.95 please.
Huh. The trouble with that is, machine-gunning the HR department just kills a bunch of line employees and middle managers - it just makes your downsizing decisions easier. Sabotage actually hurts the bottom line.
Out of curiosity, why did someone mod this 'overrated'?
I would now like to posit Dill's Corrolary to Godwin's Law:
"Pedophiles" may replace "Nazis" with no noticable change in effect. The initial choice of whether to invoke "pedophile" or "Nazi" invariably sets a precedent, which tends to crystalize the debate towards that invocation.
Thank you.
Here's the monoculture problem again, though.
If there's ONE antivirus suite for a particular OS, then how long will it be before virus writers start figuring out vulnerabilities within the AV suite itself, and create viruses that are effectively unkillable until the next major release of the AV subsystem?
Not at all, but it (and the Tom Robbins book mentioned below) are rather rare examples. I'm currently writing a research white paper in the second person, but it's not something that's very common as a literary device.
'You' is second-person. And other than Zork or CYOA, there isn't much popular literature written in the second person.
ERROR: STACK OVERFLOW
Very true. The problem is, cellphones are an enabling technology for loud and obnoxious behavior. Think about it - a loud and obnoxious person is only loud and obnoxious when talking to other (usually ALSO loud and obnoxious, otherwise they would become irritated and leave) people. This is limited to times when other such people are available for conversations. Without cellphones, loud and obnoxious people must travel in packs in order to display their attrocious behavior. With cellphones, they can have conversations which are infuriating to third parties WITHOUT a readily available friend. Cellphones serve to DOUBLE the amount of effective distraction, since each side of the conversation is just as distracting as the other, and they are now in two distinct locales, each spreading irritation and social discomfort to passersby. You're doubling the area of interaction between jerk and society, thereby doubling the rate of exposure.
Sure it was. But we like viciously proving our superiority here, especially when it means viciously proving our superiority by making other people out to sound like THEY were viciously implying THEIR superiority.
You parsed his statement wrong. He was implying that "I'm at the store, do you need something?" and "Are you alright? I'll be right over." are examples of IMPORTANT conversations, and that most conversations WEREN'T like that at all. I.e., most cellphone conversations consist of things like:
"Ohmygod, did you see what she was wearing at the party last night!? I know! Totally! Total! Skank! So Joey says, he says, hang on a sec, I've got another call - Jamie! Ohmygod, where did you get that dress last night? That was so hot! No way. NO WAY. NOOO WAAY. Wow, cool! You'll have to take me by there sometime. Listen, my mom's on the other line, I'm at the store getting her medication. Thanks babe! - So anyway, guess who THAT was? Yep. I told her I was talking to my mom. Can you believe her? I just... hold on, I got another call - Heeey, Thom... what're you doing later tonight? I dunno, Joey's out of town... I thought maybe we could - yeah. Your place? Sure. Bye. - Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. THOM just called me. We are hooking up TONIGHT. SO SURREAL. No. No, of course not. Michelle, if you tell Joey you are DEAD. Do you understand me? Dea..."
and so on.
If a judge approves a wire tap, and only 60% or less of those warrents lead to convictions (not just an arrest), then we have a problem. A Judge needs probable cause, and for me probable cause means the police already has strong evidence the person is going to break a crime.
How do you keep that from encouraging collusion among judges, to increase conviction rates?
Yes, and I live in Alabama. In can be over 90 and 99% humidity for over 100 days.
I live in Arizona. It can be over 110 and under 4% humidity for over 6 hours a day. Regardless of how many days it hits that temperature, ONCE is enough to kill off a few thousand people from heat stroke, if they don't have some cooling system or adequate water (either will do). Around here, we get the thermal opposite of the Minnesota's "bumsicles".
Careful, Americans get particularly rabid regarding anything remotely related to sex with minors (repression, anyone?). The last thing you want is some international age-of-consent law forced down the EU/UN's throats, set firmly at 21 "just in case".
To add to the list I would also highly recommend "How the mind works" by Stephen Pinker
Awesome, I'll look into that one as well.
Why we Lie, by David Livingston Smith
The Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris
Personally, I've always assumed that complex intelligence requires a certain amount of raw materials to get started, and those materials just aren't available in first- and second-generation stars. It took the first 12 billion years of the Universe to cook enough hydrogen down into heavier elements, before there was enough chemical diversity to even make complex organic life possible. So chances are, any other intelligent species are going to be at about the same point in their evolution as we are, give or take a few million years.
Stop the Planet of the Simpsons, I want to get off!