, I was very dissappointed in the variety of cuisine, nightlife and people here in Bangor, Maine when I first arrived.
No offense to anyone in Maine, but that is not exactly a hotbed of culture.:) On the other hand, it's probably a more *pleasant* place to live than, say, Washington, DC.
If there is no God, and life is absurd (without any higher meaning), then should we all commit suicide? He did not give an answer to my satisfaction. He used this as a jumping off point to create a way of living that knew no rules, no obligation to anyone, and no feelings for other people. This is not how I choose to live my life.
What makes me sad is that very religious people can't make they're own meaning for their lives; they have to rely on some magical being in the sky to give it. And just because I don't believe in God doesn't mean that I have to be some amoral monster. I choose not to hurt people because I don't want people to hurt me.
-Guns? Please, let's not go there again. When the US finally realises that all it takes to stop kids shooting kids is not to give them guns we'll talk again...
Um, it's already illegal to "give them guns". I'm not aware of any school shooters who were in legal possession of the weapon(s) they used. So maybe we should blame the idiotic parents instead?
Other cameras are speed cameras on roads - nothing to fear if you are law abiding.
If I am law abiding, then they have no business watching me. This is one of my fundamental problems with cameras: you start off assuming *everyone* is guilty. The other problem, of course, is that it gives yet more power to the government. Oh, and I've seen several shows on TV using footage of people obtained from CCTV cameras. Did they ask all the people in the videos for permission?
Well, you go digging for bones. If you find pigeon bones in Cambrian strata, then evolutionary theory is in trouble.:)
Or, you check the DNA of humans versus chimpanzees. If they were vastly different (actually, they are something like 97% the same), then again, evolutionary theory would be in trouble.
It is easy to find one or two examples of rocks that have abnormally low levels of radioactive carbon isotopes
Actually, you don't use carbon isotopes for rocks, you use carbon isotopes for things that were once alive, and that is only good for a few tens of thousands of years.
For rocks, you use other radioactive elements with longer halflives.
Evolution, on the other hand, involves one species becoming a totally different species. Because of the time frames involved, it's extremely difficult to find examples.
There is no real evidence to support evolutionism or creationism.
Bzzt. Evolution just means that populations change over time. There is overwhelming evidence that this is true. See the talk.origins archive. The only thing the scientists are arguing about is *how* it happens.
Faith that Darwin was right (it is still a theory) or faith that God made everything...pick one, but it's still faith not fact.
The difference being, there is evidence that Darwin was (at least partly) right. And I should point out that you don't *prove* anything in science. The best you can get is a theory that hasn't been disproven... yet.
Show me an experiment into which you can provide falsification for the process of evolution.
Well, discovery of the remains of homo sapiens in the same strata as, say, homo erectus would sure throw a monkey wrench into the works. So to speak.:)
Let us remember what so many in the scientific establishment attempt to deny: evolution is nothing but a theory.
Um, no. "Evolution" means that the genetic makeup of a population changes over time. This is a fact as much as gravity is a fact. Now, there are several competing theories of evolution that explain how and why the change occurs. As far as I know, no one in the scientific establishment is attempting to deny that any of those theories are really theories.:)
If I had to sit in front of an SGI workstation for 8 hours a day,
Heh. I *do* sit in front of an SGI workstation for 8 hours a day, and let me tell you: it's easily the best development environment I've used. And I have a PC running Linux sitting right next to it; plugged into the same monitor.:)
This means that the branch prediction logic is up to the compiler, hence compilers have to get better for the Itanium architecture to become worthwhile.
Er, no, at least, not how I understand it. The Itanium essentially does both branches at the same time, and as soon as it can be determined which was the correct one, it throws out the results from the other.
I had the most inspiring teacher not in college, but in high school, in a field totally unrelated to CS.
Same here. In the 11th grade I took trigonometry, and the teacher was a nice guy, but he was one of those read-from-the-book teachers. I came out of trig not knowing much more than when I went in. In my senior year, I took Calculus with Mrs. Scales. One day she got frustrated that the class couldn't answer some trig-related questions, so she took one class period going over trig stuff, and I was immediately enlightened -- I *understood* what trig was all about. I got more out of those 40 minutes than I did the entire previous year.
I'm having trouble trying to think of *any* other teacher in high school or college who was as good.
Maybe my EE prof in my freshman year of college, although most of the class probably wouldn't agree with me.:) He used to encourage people to put down the calculators and think about what was going on in a circuit rather than plugging in numbers. Many people don't like that. They want to know what formula to use and that's it.
(Mildly offtopic): A few semesters later I started tutoring for that class, and I had a hell of a time getting people to work out a problem in their heads. I sometimes had to physically take their calculators away from them. Very frustrating.:(
Wouldn't we be better off spending that money to prevent all the disease, famine and war on our own planet before we go about fucking up all the other planets?
According to one episode of Connections, during the period of the Apollo program, American women spent the same amount of money on cosmetics as NASA did on getting to the moon. Tell me again about spending priorities?
It's not that I didn't like ender's game - i absolutely despise and abhor it. If it wasn't this famous, I wouldn't care - just another crappy book, but the level of reverence is absolutely repugnant!
Well, you are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.;)
I loved Ender's Game, and I didn't read it until I was about 26-27. Mind you, I thought the next two books were just crap; I didn't even buy the 4th one.
If they're capable of traveling faster than the speed of light (for all you UFO buffs out there), they must ALSO be capable of communicating faster than the speed of light.
That's a pretty big "if". Gigantic in fact.
That means they definitely are NOT communicating via radio waves.
Well, it depends. If you are *deliberately* trying to communicate with a civilization on a lower rung of the technology ladder, you don't send your message by subspace parcel post; you send it in some way that the receiver can, well, receive.
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No offense to anyone in Maine, but that is not exactly a hotbed of culture. :) On the other hand, it's probably a more *pleasant* place to live than, say, Washington, DC.
What makes me sad is that very religious people can't make they're own meaning for their lives; they have to rely on some magical being in the sky to give it. And just because I don't believe in God doesn't mean that I have to be some amoral monster. I choose not to hurt people because I don't want people to hurt me.
Anyway, this is all way off topic. :)
The only stuff I have bought online are airline tickets, my new PC, and stuff you can't find at the mall. If I order something online:
If I buy something at a store, I pay my sales tax, put it in the car, and drive home.
Maybe I'm just not e-nough. :)
Um, it's already illegal to "give them guns". I'm not aware of any school shooters who were in legal possession of the weapon(s) they used. So maybe we should blame the idiotic parents instead?
I have no problem with everyone (ie, the public) having cameras. It's the government having cameras that worries me.
the US is repeatedly mopping the brains of their schoolchildren off the floor.
Oh yes, it happens at least 3 times a day in every medium-to-large city! (rolls eyes)
If I am law abiding, then they have no business watching me. This is one of my fundamental problems with cameras: you start off assuming *everyone* is guilty. The other problem, of course, is that it gives yet more power to the government. Oh, and I've seen several shows on TV using footage of people obtained from CCTV cameras. Did they ask all the people in the videos for permission?
Squareness of the earth (Isaiah 11:12)
And 40:22 says 'circle' not 'sphere'. :)
Or, you check the DNA of humans versus chimpanzees. If they were vastly different (actually, they are something like 97% the same), then again, evolutionary theory would be in trouble.
Actually, you don't use carbon isotopes for rocks, you use carbon isotopes for things that were once alive, and that is only good for a few tens of thousands of years.
For rocks, you use other radioactive elements with longer halflives.
Here are some examples.
Bzzt. Evolution just means that populations change over time. There is overwhelming evidence that this is true. See the talk.origins archive. The only thing the scientists are arguing about is *how* it happens.
The difference being, there is evidence that Darwin was (at least partly) right. And I should point out that you don't *prove* anything in science. The best you can get is a theory that hasn't been disproven... yet.
Well, discovery of the remains of homo sapiens in the same strata as, say, homo erectus would sure throw a monkey wrench into the works. So to speak. :)
Um, no. "Evolution" means that the genetic makeup of a population changes over time. This is a fact as much as gravity is a fact. Now, there are several competing theories of evolution that explain how and why the change occurs. As far as I know, no one in the scientific establishment is attempting to deny that any of those theories are really theories. :)
Hmm, I wonder who the other two are.
Heh. I *do* sit in front of an SGI workstation for 8 hours a day, and let me tell you: it's easily the best development environment I've used. And I have a PC running Linux sitting right next to it; plugged into the same monitor. :)
Well, for one thing, if you are trying to put 10,000 things into a list, you probably need to redesign your interface.
Er, no, at least, not how I understand it. The Itanium essentially does both branches at the same time, and as soon as it can be determined which was the correct one, it throws out the results from the other.
A step up.... toward what?
Same here. In the 11th grade I took trigonometry, and the teacher was a nice guy, but he was one of those read-from-the-book teachers. I came out of trig not knowing much more than when I went in. In my senior year, I took Calculus with Mrs. Scales. One day she got frustrated that the class couldn't answer some trig-related questions, so she took one class period going over trig stuff, and I was immediately enlightened -- I *understood* what trig was all about. I got more out of those 40 minutes than I did the entire previous year.
I'm having trouble trying to think of *any* other teacher in high school or college who was as good.
Maybe my EE prof in my freshman year of college, although most of the class probably wouldn't agree with me. :) He used to encourage people to put down the calculators and think about what was going on in a circuit rather than plugging in numbers. Many people don't like that. They want to know what formula to use and that's it.
(Mildly offtopic): A few semesters later I started tutoring for that class, and I had a hell of a time getting people to work out a problem in their heads. I sometimes had to physically take their calculators away from them. Very frustrating. :(
According to one episode of Connections, during the period of the Apollo program, American women spent the same amount of money on cosmetics as NASA did on getting to the moon. Tell me again about spending priorities?
The NSF?
Oh, I dunno, in some ways the web was a lot better when this was still true.
Well, you are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong. ;)
I loved Ender's Game, and I didn't read it until I was about 26-27. Mind you, I thought the next two books were just crap; I didn't even buy the 4th one.
That's a pretty big "if". Gigantic in fact.
That means they definitely are NOT communicating via radio waves.
Well, it depends. If you are *deliberately* trying to communicate with a civilization on a lower rung of the technology ladder, you don't send your message by subspace parcel post; you send it in some way that the receiver can, well, receive.