26% is a big difference. Consider the difference between 1st and also ran in the gold medal heat of the Olympics' 100 meters is usually something less than 15% faster than last place (unless the poor sap falls and doesn't finish)
At the 2000 Olympics the difference between 1st place (Maurice Greene, 9.87s) and last place (Kim Collins, 10.17s) was a mere 3%. For the sake of completeness I'll mention that Aziz Zakari didn't finish the race, but he's fast enough that it still have been within 4%.
What if your car is stolen? What if a valet borrows it? Or parking garage attendent (ala Ferris Bueller)? What if your brother takes it without your permission while you're on vacation? Basically, what if you don't give permission for someone to drive your car and that person runs a red light and gets caught by the camera? Is it up to you to prove you weren't driving and turn that person in?
He said if you cannot explain your idea to an intelligent freshman, then you don't really understand it yourself; an even better test might be to explain your idea to an intelligent twelve-year-old.
Many complex ideas require huge amounts of background knowledge to understand a concept. The freshman may be intelligent but simply lack the necessary background to grasp the concept. Obtaining this background knowledge could takes years of study or experience.
Even if truly understand a concept you're left with two choices when explaining it to someone without the requisite knowledge:
1. Provide the person with enough background information so they can understand the idea. This is impractical in many cases.
2. Simplify the concept to the point where the person can understand the idea. This often dilutes the idea far too much.
It's a good quote at face value, but doesn't seem to hold up.
It just seems like the current writers don't have a sense of subtlety, and so every joke is way overdone, and even sometimes replayed or drawn attention to just in case you missed it.
Exactly.
It seems like the writers are so proud of themselves that they have to make sure that everyone notices a joke. In older episodes the characters rarely noticed gags because they were meant for us, the viewers. Now characters will not only notice the gags, they'll discuss them. Being self-referential is fine in small doses, but it's just killing the Simpsons now.
Although it's not the perfect analogy, I believe that the lottery example was meant to convey the point that every case of piracy does not result in a lost sale. Just as a lottery player can't claim to have lost $10 million every time they lose, a software company can't say every incident of piracy costs them $50 (or whatever the software sells for).
It is quite relevant whether the pirate would have bought the product had piracy been impossible. Unfortunately the only way to tell for certain would be if a alternate world existed where piracy did not exist, yet all other variables remained the same. Aint gonna happen. I don't know exactly what percentage of pirates would have bought the product in this alternate world, but it's going to be pretty far from 100%.
So bash that lottery example all you want, just understand the message the poster was conveying.
I believe Chris was referring to the people with the decision-making power, not to the general population of Wilkes-Barre. The IT people made some poor decisions and they deserve to be called bozos. The people of Wilkes-Barre should also be upset with them.
Exactly how was I trolling on my post? The original poster decided the BSA wasn't all bad because their heavy-handed tactics weren't used against things he cared about. In fact, he had used them to squash a competitor. Please explain why what I stated should be considered trolling.
First, haggles over license increase the total cost of ownership for commercial software, which makes free (as in speech) software more attractive.
Supporting free software doesn't mean that you need to support the harassment of those that use commercial software. In many cases, they may have no choice but to use commercial software. Perhaps that what the bosses want or no free alternative exists. Sign the praises of free software all you want, but don't cheer for these mafioso tactics.
I used them to shut down a competing software retail store once. The place was selling Microsoft OEM software off the shelf. A call each to the BSA and to Microsofts Piracy line and the place was out of business in 4 months.:)
And you also like them because they bullied your competition? What about when one of your competitors send the BSA to audit you? Even if you're completely legal, you'll spend a good deal of time and money to prove this.
So your basic reasoning is that this is all a good thing because it's happening to people you don't care about. Who rated this so highly anyway?
It might be relevant if ALL the white guys got the product and ALL the brown guys got the cops called on them. This isn't the case here. Are you sure no minorities received the product? Did any other minorities get arrested?
Stop the damn racism rhetoric for a minute! Best Buy is an equal oppurtunity scammer. Some people got lucky and received the product, many didn't. Be smart and don't shop there.
Normal people don't pay for sex, so if a cop offers a prostitute money for sex, that's entrapment.
Actually, this doesn't really sound like entrapment. From the link provided by a parent post:
ENTRAPMENT - A person is 'entrapped' when he is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case.
However, there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the Government agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime.
Since the prostitute is obviously ready and willing to have sex for money, there is no entrapment. It would be a different matter if some average person was offered money for sex, especially if the officer had to persuade them. That would most likely be considered entrapment.
Dr Mel Thusian Ann Arbor University Director of Particle Acceleration
Just a question:
I went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and I've never heard of Ann Arbor University. Google hasn't either. Maybe you meant you meant that you teach at UMich but you're not listed in the university directory. I'm just trying to understand who's speaking here before I decide on your credibility.
How often do people really spend playing PS1 games on their PS2? If you have the PS1 games, you must have had a PS1, so why not just play that.
I orginally purchased a N64 and never owned a PS1. When I bought a PS2 last year, I bought a bunch of PS1 games such as Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Cross that I had never been able to play.
whether Celine's CD crashes your computer or it's just one of Windows' normally scheduled crashes.
Seriously though, even though most of us don't give a fsck about Celine Dion, it's only a matter of time until they try this on good music. The time to take stand is now.
If I had a nickel for every tax dollar wasted... I'd be pushing 5% extra value on my tax return.
I've read this statement over a dozen times. What the hell does it mean? Your tax return is government waste? The amount of your tax return is exactly equal to the amount the government wastes?
So is it also wholly unjust to check *every* passenger who gets on an airplane?
(my answer would be yes)
It is a completely different situation when the safety of all passengers is concerned. I do support profiling of passengers so that Middle Eastern passengers with one-way tickets receive more attention than Granny with a round trip to Vegas.
Since these Universal CDs are now absolutely uncopyable;), does that mean that stores will gladly accept returns. Many stores only allow exchanges, not returns, so that customers can't copy and then return. Since Universal CDs are now impossible (in theory) to copy, stores should have no objection to returned Universal CDs, right?
She had typed in our address in the form 123 Main St. Apt. 23, and the bank had us as 123 MAIN ST #23-- their computer didn't realize this was the same address and thought we were trying to defraud someone
Well, you have to admit that 123 Main St. does sound a little suspicious;)
The next breakthrough in track will probably be mental, not physical. I've been a huge track fan for many years and there's never been a perfectly run race. Even in races where a world record was set, the runner describes errors in his form or a missed step. The strongest current record is Michael Johnson's 19.32 s in the 200m set in 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. In a post-race interview he said that had a misplaced step on the turn and didn't have maximum efficiency at that point. If he had run an absolute "perfect" race, his time could have been in the 19.20 range.
Improvements in mental conditioning could lower the current world records. It would affect the longer distances to greater extent because there's so many more oppurtunities to make mistakes. The world records for the shorter distances already reflect near-perfect races.
This is from dictionary.com's definition of "ironic":
Usage Note: The words ironic, irony, and ironically are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable," in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market, where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency.
--------
My opinion:
Although the ruling being published in PDF format could be considered ironic by some, the situations described by Alanis Morrisette would probably be best described as unfortunate. Rain on your wedding day and a plane crash are very unfortunate and maybe even improbable, but certainly not ironic.
Although there is a good deal of ambiguitity some things are quite set.
- Prot can see ultraviolet light. Humans cannot see ultraviolet light. Thus, Prot is not human. While Prot inhabited the body of Robert, he had access to special abilities. These abilties didn't stay with Robert once Prot left.
- Prot had astronomical knowledge that would have been impossible without him being from K-PAX. The suggestions given in the movie were that he looked it up (it hadn't been published), he was a savant (he didn't have access to the necessary equipment), or even that he was a missing astrophysicist (he would have been recognized by his colleagues).
So it is nearly certain than an alien (Prot) was present in Robert's body until he left for K-PAX. It is extremely unlikely that Prot actually was Robert since near the end Prot spoke as if he was not Robert and he showed no signs of ever lying throughout the movie.
So while his motivations for coming in the first place or returning can be debated, it does seem to be a fact that Prot was alien.
Slashdot Mirror
26% is a big difference. Consider the difference between 1st and also ran in the gold medal heat of the Olympics' 100 meters is usually something less than 15% faster than last place (unless the poor sap falls and doesn't finish)
At the 2000 Olympics the difference between 1st place (Maurice Greene, 9.87s) and last place (Kim Collins, 10.17s) was a mere 3%. For the sake of completeness I'll mention that Aziz Zakari didn't finish the race, but he's fast enough that it still have been within 4%.
The point is that 26% is>/b> a big difference.
What if your car is stolen? What if a valet borrows it? Or parking garage attendent (ala Ferris Bueller)? What if your brother takes it without your permission while you're on vacation? Basically, what if you don't give permission for someone to drive your car and that person runs a red light and gets caught by the camera? Is it up to you to prove you weren't driving and turn that person in?
Get a frickin life! Who the hell corrects syntax in a joke?
He said if you cannot explain your idea to an intelligent freshman, then you don't really understand it yourself; an even better test might be to explain your idea to an intelligent twelve-year-old.
Many complex ideas require huge amounts of background knowledge to understand a concept. The freshman may be intelligent but simply lack the necessary background to grasp the concept. Obtaining this background knowledge could takes years of study or experience.
Even if truly understand a concept you're left with two choices when explaining it to someone without the requisite knowledge:
1. Provide the person with enough background information so they can understand the idea. This is impractical in many cases.
2. Simplify the concept to the point where the person can understand the idea. This often dilutes the idea far too much.
It's a good quote at face value, but doesn't seem to hold up.
It just seems like the current writers don't have a sense of subtlety, and so every joke is way overdone, and even sometimes replayed or drawn attention to just in case you missed it.
Exactly.
It seems like the writers are so proud of themselves that they have to make sure that everyone notices a joke. In older episodes the characters rarely noticed gags because they were meant for us, the viewers. Now characters will not only notice the gags, they'll discuss them. Being self-referential is fine in small doses, but it's just killing the Simpsons now.
Although it's not the perfect analogy, I believe that the lottery example was meant to convey the point that every case of piracy does not result in a lost sale. Just as a lottery player can't claim to have lost $10 million every time they lose, a software company can't say every incident of piracy costs them $50 (or whatever the software sells for).
It is quite relevant whether the pirate would have bought the product had piracy been impossible. Unfortunately the only way to tell for certain would be if a alternate world existed where piracy did not exist, yet all other variables remained the same. Aint gonna happen. I don't know exactly what percentage of pirates would have bought the product in this alternate world, but it's going to be pretty far from 100%.
So bash that lottery example all you want, just understand the message the poster was conveying.
I believe Chris was referring to the people with the decision-making power, not to the general population of Wilkes-Barre. The IT people made some poor decisions and they deserve to be called bozos. The people of Wilkes-Barre should also be upset with them.
Carbonite
Exactly how was I trolling on my post? The original poster decided the BSA wasn't all bad because their heavy-handed tactics weren't used against things he cared about. In fact, he had used them to squash a competitor. Please explain why what I stated should be considered trolling.
Your reasoning is just impeccable...
:)
First, haggles over license increase the total cost of ownership for commercial software, which makes free (as in speech) software more attractive.
Supporting free software doesn't mean that you need to support the harassment of those that use commercial software. In many cases, they may have no choice but to use commercial software. Perhaps that what the bosses want or no free alternative exists. Sign the praises of free software all you want, but don't cheer for these mafioso tactics.
I used them to shut down a competing software retail store once. The place was selling Microsoft OEM software off the shelf. A call each to the BSA and to Microsofts Piracy line and the place was out of business in 4 months.
And you also like them because they bullied your competition? What about when one of your competitors send the BSA to audit you? Even if you're completely legal, you'll spend a good deal of time and money to prove this.
So your basic reasoning is that this is all a good thing because it's happening to people you don't care about. Who rated this so highly anyway?
It might be relevant if ALL the white guys got the product and ALL the brown guys got the cops called on them. This isn't the case here. Are you sure no minorities received the product? Did any other minorities get arrested?
Stop the damn racism rhetoric for a minute! Best Buy is an equal oppurtunity scammer. Some people got lucky and received the product, many didn't. Be smart and don't shop there.
He's the King of Scorpions.
Normal people don't pay for sex, so if a cop offers a prostitute money for sex, that's entrapment.
Actually, this doesn't really sound like entrapment. From the link provided by a parent post:
ENTRAPMENT - A person is 'entrapped' when he is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case. However, there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the Government agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime.
Since the prostitute is obviously ready and willing to have sex for money, there is no entrapment. It would be a different matter if some average person was offered money for sex, especially if the officer had to persuade them. That would most likely be considered entrapment.
Carbonite
Dr Mel Thusian
Ann Arbor University
Director of Particle Acceleration
Just a question:
I went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and I've never heard of Ann Arbor University. Google hasn't either. Maybe you meant you meant that you teach at UMich but you're not listed in the university directory. I'm just trying to understand who's speaking here before I decide on your credibility.
There's a difference here, a book's main purpose ins't to be posted all about town with the sole intention of bilking people out of their money.
How often do people really spend playing PS1 games on their PS2? If you have the PS1 games, you must have had a PS1, so why not just play that.
I orginally purchased a N64 and never owned a PS1. When I bought a PS2 last year, I bought a bunch of PS1 games such as Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Cross that I had never been able to play.
Carbonite
whether Celine's CD crashes your computer or it's just one of Windows' normally scheduled crashes.
Seriously though, even though most of us don't give a fsck about Celine Dion, it's only a matter of time until they try this on good music. The time to take stand is now.
Carbonite
Dave Matthews Band should sue that beyatch for stealing their work.
Carbonite
If I had a nickel for every tax dollar wasted... I'd be pushing 5% extra value on my tax return.
I've read this statement over a dozen times. What the hell does it mean? Your tax return is government waste? The amount of your tax return is exactly equal to the amount the government wastes?
Carbonite
So is it also wholly unjust to check *every* passenger who gets on an airplane? (my answer would be yes)
It is a completely different situation when the safety of all passengers is concerned. I do support profiling of passengers so that Middle Eastern passengers with one-way tickets receive more attention than Granny with a round trip to Vegas.
Since these Universal CDs are now absolutely uncopyable ;), does that mean that stores will gladly accept returns. Many stores only allow exchanges, not returns, so that customers can't copy and then return. Since Universal CDs are now impossible (in theory) to copy, stores should have no objection to returned Universal CDs, right?
Carbonite
She had typed in our address in the form 123 Main St. Apt. 23, and the bank had us as 123 MAIN ST #23-- their computer didn't realize this was the same address and thought we were trying to defraud someone
;)
Well, you have to admit that 123 Main St. does sound a little suspicious
The next breakthrough in track will probably be mental, not physical. I've been a huge track fan for many years and there's never been a perfectly run race. Even in races where a world record was set, the runner describes errors in his form or a missed step. The strongest current record is Michael Johnson's 19.32 s in the 200m set in 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. In a post-race interview he said that had a misplaced step on the turn and didn't have maximum efficiency at that point. If he had run an absolute "perfect" race, his time could have been in the 19.20 range.
Improvements in mental conditioning could lower the current world records. It would affect the longer distances to greater extent because there's so many more oppurtunities to make mistakes. The world records for the shorter distances already reflect near-perfect races.
This is from dictionary.com's definition of "ironic":
Usage Note: The words ironic, irony, and ironically are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable," in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market, where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency.
--------
My opinion:
Although the ruling being published in PDF format could be considered ironic by some, the situations described by Alanis Morrisette would probably be best described as unfortunate. Rain on your wedding day and a plane crash are very unfortunate and maybe even improbable, but certainly not ironic.
Well I think as soon as the supreme court stopped the recount in florida, the fate was sealed for this entire case.
r id a_ballot_review_10.html
There's really no need for the election to have been brought into this discussion, but since you have you may want to read this article:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011112/ts/flo
Whether you believe in your heart that Bush won or lost, it's a fact that the Supreme Court did not affect the result.
I do believe that Microsoft deserves a harsher punishment than donating software, but it's a decent start.
Carbonite
Although there is a good deal of ambiguitity some things are quite set.
- Prot can see ultraviolet light. Humans cannot see ultraviolet light. Thus, Prot is not human. While Prot inhabited the body of Robert, he had access to special abilities. These abilties didn't stay with Robert once Prot left.
- Prot had astronomical knowledge that would have been impossible without him being from K-PAX. The suggestions given in the movie were that he looked it up (it hadn't been published), he was a savant (he didn't have access to the necessary equipment), or even that he was a missing astrophysicist (he would have been recognized by his colleagues).
So it is nearly certain than an alien (Prot) was present in Robert's body until he left for K-PAX. It is extremely unlikely that Prot actually was Robert since near the end Prot spoke as if he was not Robert and he showed no signs of ever lying throughout the movie.
So while his motivations for coming in the first place or returning can be debated, it does seem to be a fact that Prot was alien.
carbonite