Mod me down if you want... but I want to be counted. I agree with you. Fervant patriotism is just a dangerous as any kind of 'Fundamental' religion is... Bottom line: Use your 'F'ing brain and try thinking for yourself...
The USA.. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... freedom of speech... privacy... what is happening to these liberties? I don't know what's in store, but i will pray we retain our common sense when we start handing out search warrants.
The problem that immedatley comes to mind though, is: if the factory is the property of the society/community, then who tends it? In much the same way that Communism tends to lead to low productivity and property falling into disrepair, it seems ot me that such a system will lead to a considerable decline in quality of life for all.
Thank you, but all things considered I prefer the system we have. Hardly perfect but we avoid the Public Park problem, in which everyone uses and enjoys a space, but noone cares for it, which leads to its destruction.
Re:The freedom to swing your fist
on
Freedom or Power?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Freedom and private property go hand in hand. They are mutually inclusive concepts and cannot exist without each other. This is one reason communism cannot work.., there can be no true practical freedon if we do not have the right to claim things as our own and that includes, as others have already written, the right to express control over our creations.
The choice to give it away, or destroy it is the decision of the creator of that work.
Well, i agree with you on many levels. Scientific inquiry is always open to other theories, but the wodely accepted one is what is discussed above.
as for why mammals werent wiped out, my understanding is that small mammals *were* affected, but much less so because of prior behavior and being on a different level of the food-chain. This allowed small mammals to continue to find food which couldnt sustain the huge bodies of the dinosaurs. If dinos were reptilian, a lower mean temperature would have bee na double blow. Either way, i think your right about climate affecting dinos. Impending ice-ages, changes in ocean currents, and other events would have forced a change on dinos eventually. But I still believe meteor strikes pushed things along much faster.
I have to respectfully disagree. Declining numbers isn't necessarily the road to extinction, It could have been a step toward speciation.A sudden catastrophic event, however, which gave no time to adapt as a species would push them over the brink into extinction.
Actually (unfortunatly i cant supply a link) there's very good evidence that a huge meteor hit the Yucatan peninsula about 65 million years ago, sending a huge firestorm across what is now N. America, and I recall a theory that suggested Iceland was the result of a meteor strike (the rock dated to about 65 million y.a.) But, of course, its all still on-going.
Well, the end result is that evolution is fueled by environmental change, not stability. Stability leads to specialization and 'over-specialization' and that leads to extinction if the environment changes (that statement *is* based on empirical evidence).
well, as for birds evolving from dinsaurs, there's conflicting evidence.
But there is growing speculation of a kind of 'in-between' state that was neither fully warm-blooed or cold-blooded. THe problem is that this evidence doesnt really survive in the fossil record, so may never really gain credence. The belief that dinosaurs were cold-blooded is based on coparisons between modern day reptile bone structure and fossil evidence. Good arguments have been made that they were warm-blooded, but still there isnt enough evidence to disprove anything.
The concept of fitness is being overly simplified here.
First, 'Survival of the fittest' isn't enough; the concept was later amended to 'Survival of the reproductively fit'. Individual survival is meaningless if the entity doesn't pass on it's succesful traits to the next generation.
Second, dinosaurs were terrifically fit for the eons during which they were around. Remember, the whole complex of species of dinosaurs existed on earth in that form for approximatly 150 million years... give or take. Don't quote me, but contrast that with the human species current time on earth (maybe 500,000 years at the outside) and simple numbers tells you dinosurs were a 'more successful' species. Mammals require more energy to self-regulate their body temperature, and energy is ultimately a deciding factor in evolution.
In short, fitness is defined by an equation which involves: Behavior, Environment, and Physiology. If the environment is stable, creatures become very specific in their behavior and physiology. By contrast, if the environment is in constant flux, behavior and physiology will remain plastic as a function of the need to be adaptable.
This is why humans were able to spread out across the planet... non-specific physiology and plastic templates for behavior. If you look at the body of data on climate and and compare it to the kind of flora and fauna of the time, you'll see large animals can do very well in certain climates. Large mammals for instance are better adapted to cold climates (ie. the wooly mammoth and the the numerous whales in the oceans, it retains body heat), or climates where food is plentiful. Size also protects against predators, but is now working against elephants as the environment and humans wipe them out.
In short, if the environment on earth had not been so constant for so very long, and then changed so radically in so short a time, dinosaurs would still be around. Fitness is purely relative, adaptability is not.
I shudder at the thought of what the M$ monoploy is doing to our world too. Although, I suppose we *can* still go out and buy a different dictionary, although I have never heard of installing a diff dictionary to spell-check with.
The other option of *adding* words to your dictionary, of course, still exists. (But will it always?)
I guess I'm messed up, cause I thought the original inception of our current internet *wasn't* private either. So, what's the rukus? (aside from them already having one)
My apology, I should have clarified that I was addressing the Value-add of the distrobution and support, not the actual OS. There are true free-market affects acting on those prices. Taking me as an example, as a newbie to Linux, i had a choice of several distros and i *need* the support they offer to learn how to work with the OS.
Much like others in my position. MS still has their monopoly to leverage their presence... Red Hat does not.
It is not our moral duty as 'Americans' to have a foreign policy which helps Afghanistan. If Aghanistan had an *internal* policy which weren't so reprehensible then maybe "American foreign policy" would change. But you cannot blame the US for Afghani civil war.
You cannot make the US responsible for the last 10 years in Afghanistan. This *can* be traced back to a time when the US was trying to help Afghanistan retain it's own sovereignty; would you prefer *that* policy change?
An open and fair market is what capitalism is based on. Only through competition can we determine what the appropriate price of any good or service should be; it's called "Fair market value" and assume a free and open market.
If you do not have thriving competition, you do not know what the price should be. MS holds 92% of the market, their prices are not determined by a frre and open market, but rather by what the company feels they can charge without causing undue attention... rest assured their prices will creep up slowly enough to not create too much alarm and rest assured the 'dictate' the price.
Take as an example the 'niche market' of Linux. Look at the varying prices between distros. $30-$40 for a basic distro, $70 for some bells and whistles, $110 for a complete package... I can think of 4 different distros off the top of my head. *This* is a free and open market.
Prices for these essentially identical products are detrmined by what the seller can get in a competitive market, not by dictate.
If the price of Windows (TM) changes, it is because MS feels like it, not because they feel competitve pressure, or need to raise it.
I have to agree. When i saw this thread i figured it might get around to Verizon bashing. But in all fairness, every time I'm in Manhattan tooling around the lower west side, I see Verizon crews hunkered down over a manhole.
Mind you, this is at any time of the night. They have a massive job to get done. And while I'm no fan of them either (I've seen and heard about all of the ways they know how to Ass-up a job) I haven't had any bad experiences.
These days (esp in Manhattan) i think are bringing out the best in every one. When it's over, maybe Verizon will be able to get back to its regular way of screwing things up. But for now, they seem to really be doing their best.
I cant speak to whether its fake or not, but i saw a feature on TV about the making of this (Entertainment Tonight or something of its ilk) and one of the animators was saying that part of the idea behind Aki was that she could be a virtual actrss and not just a character for FF. If this is the case then its perfectly legitimate to include peublic hair on the CG model. Your actress has to be complete if you want to audition her.
Slashdot Mirror
The first commercial pub absolutely has to be Neil Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age'
LOL... Thanks, that was really funny.
I'm with you brother.
Mod me down if you want... but I want to be counted. I agree with you. Fervant patriotism is just a dangerous as any kind of 'Fundamental' religion is... Bottom line: Use your 'F'ing brain and try thinking for yourself...
The USA.. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... freedom of speech... privacy... what is happening to these liberties? I don't know what's in store, but i will pray we retain our common sense when we start handing out search warrants.
The problem that immedatley comes to mind though, is: if the factory is the property of the society/community, then who tends it? In much the same way that Communism tends to lead to low productivity and property falling into disrepair, it seems ot me that such a system will lead to a considerable decline in quality of life for all.
Thank you, but all things considered I prefer the system we have. Hardly perfect but we avoid the Public Park problem, in which everyone uses and enjoys a space, but noone cares for it, which leads to its destruction.
Freedom and private property go hand in hand. They are mutually inclusive concepts and cannot exist without each other. This is one reason communism cannot work.., there can be no true practical freedon if we do not have the right to claim things as our own and that includes, as others have already written, the right to express control over our creations.
The choice to give it away, or destroy it is the decision of the creator of that work.
It is becoming apparent that we should form some kind of House Committee on Unamerican Activities, or something...
No, The Onion has a staff of very clever writers.
Well, i agree with you on many levels. Scientific inquiry is always open to other theories, but the wodely accepted one is what is discussed above.
as for why mammals werent wiped out, my understanding is that small mammals *were* affected, but much less so because of prior behavior and being on a different level of the food-chain. This allowed small mammals to continue to find food which couldnt sustain the huge bodies of the dinosaurs. If dinos were reptilian, a lower mean temperature would have bee na double blow. Either way, i think your right about climate affecting dinos. Impending ice-ages, changes in ocean currents, and other events would have forced a change on dinos eventually. But I still believe meteor strikes pushed things along much faster.
I have to respectfully disagree. Declining numbers isn't necessarily the road to extinction, It could have been a step toward speciation.A sudden catastrophic event, however, which gave no time to adapt as a species would push them over the brink into extinction.
Actually (unfortunatly i cant supply a link) there's very good evidence that a huge meteor hit the Yucatan peninsula about 65 million years ago, sending a huge firestorm across what is now N. America, and I recall a theory that suggested Iceland was the result of a meteor strike (the rock dated to about 65 million y.a.) But, of course, its all still on-going.
Well, the end result is that evolution is fueled by environmental change, not stability. Stability leads to specialization and 'over-specialization' and that leads to extinction if the environment changes (that statement *is* based on empirical evidence).
well, as for birds evolving from dinsaurs, there's conflicting evidence.
But there is growing speculation of a kind of 'in-between' state that was neither fully warm-blooed or cold-blooded. THe problem is that this evidence doesnt really survive in the fossil record, so may never really gain credence. The belief that dinosaurs were cold-blooded is based on coparisons between modern day reptile bone structure and fossil evidence. Good arguments have been made that they were warm-blooded, but still there isnt enough evidence to disprove anything.
The concept of fitness is being overly simplified here.
First, 'Survival of the fittest' isn't enough; the concept was later amended to 'Survival of the reproductively fit'. Individual survival is meaningless if the entity doesn't pass on it's succesful traits to the next generation.
Second, dinosaurs were terrifically fit for the eons during which they were around. Remember, the whole complex of species of dinosaurs existed on earth in that form for approximatly 150 million years... give or take. Don't quote me, but contrast that with the human species current time on earth (maybe 500,000 years at the outside) and simple numbers tells you dinosurs were a 'more successful' species. Mammals require more energy to self-regulate their body temperature, and energy is ultimately a deciding factor in evolution.
In short, fitness is defined by an equation which involves: Behavior, Environment, and Physiology. If the environment is stable, creatures become very specific in their behavior and physiology. By contrast, if the environment is in constant flux, behavior and physiology will remain plastic as a function of the need to be adaptable.
This is why humans were able to spread out across the planet... non-specific physiology and plastic templates for behavior. If you look at the body of data on climate and and compare it to the kind of flora and fauna of the time, you'll see large animals can do very well in certain climates. Large mammals for instance are better adapted to cold climates (ie. the wooly mammoth and the the numerous whales in the oceans, it retains body heat), or climates where food is plentiful. Size also protects against predators, but is now working against elephants as the environment and humans wipe them out.
In short, if the environment on earth had not been so constant for so very long, and then changed so radically in so short a time, dinosaurs would still be around. Fitness is purely relative, adaptability is not.
I shudder at the thought of what the M$ monoploy is doing to our world too. Although, I suppose we *can* still go out and buy a different dictionary, although I have never heard of installing a diff dictionary to spell-check with.
The other option of *adding* words to your dictionary, of course, still exists. (But will it always?)
I guess I'm messed up, cause I thought the original inception of our current internet *wasn't* private either. So, what's the rukus? (aside from them already having one)
My apology, I should have clarified that I was addressing the Value-add of the distrobution and support, not the actual OS. There are true free-market affects acting on those prices. Taking me as an example, as a newbie to Linux, i had a choice of several distros and i *need* the support they offer to learn how to work with the OS.
Much like others in my position. MS still has their monopoly to leverage their presence... Red Hat does not.
It is not our moral duty as 'Americans' to have a foreign policy which helps Afghanistan. If Aghanistan had an *internal* policy which weren't so reprehensible then maybe "American foreign policy" would change. But you cannot blame the US for Afghani civil war.
You cannot make the US responsible for the last 10 years in Afghanistan. This *can* be traced back to a time when the US was trying to help Afghanistan retain it's own sovereignty; would you prefer *that* policy change?
The very foundation of your argument is faulty.
An open and fair market is what capitalism is based on. Only through competition can we determine what the appropriate price of any good or service should be; it's called "Fair market value" and assume a free and open market.
If you do not have thriving competition, you do not know what the price should be. MS holds 92% of the market, their prices are not determined by a frre and open market, but rather by what the company feels they can charge without causing undue attention... rest assured their prices will creep up slowly enough to not create too much alarm and rest assured the 'dictate' the price.
Take as an example the 'niche market' of Linux. Look at the varying prices between distros. $30-$40 for a basic distro, $70 for some bells and whistles, $110 for a complete package... I can think of 4 different distros off the top of my head. *This* is a free and open market.
Prices for these essentially identical products are detrmined by what the seller can get in a competitive market, not by dictate.
If the price of Windows (TM) changes, it is because MS feels like it, not because they feel competitve pressure, or need to raise it.
ummm... OT i know, but does this mean you could code a perl necklace into your Anna Kounikova pic? ::grin::
So how long before this cluster converts all energy in the universe into heat?
I have to agree. When i saw this thread i figured it might get around to Verizon bashing. But in all fairness, every time I'm in Manhattan tooling around the lower west side, I see Verizon crews hunkered down over a manhole.
Mind you, this is at any time of the night. They have a massive job to get done. And while I'm no fan of them either (I've seen and heard about all of the ways they know how to Ass-up a job) I haven't had any bad experiences.
These days (esp in Manhattan) i think are bringing out the best in every one. When it's over, maybe Verizon will be able to get back to its regular way of screwing things up. But for now, they seem to really be doing their best.
... to the PC sometimes.
I could play Tempest and Omega Race for days... i still have fantasies of finding the old cabinet games someday. And I loved Battlezone...
erm, me too.
;)
*But* I did finally jump into the water and install the Mandrake 8.0 release last night.
Good god, i had to do something to get away from M$. Damn EQ keeps me coming back.
I cant speak to whether its fake or not, but i saw a feature on TV about the making of this (Entertainment Tonight or something of its ilk) and one of the animators was saying that part of the idea behind Aki was that she could be a virtual actrss and not just a character for FF. If this is the case then its perfectly legitimate to include peublic hair on the CG model. Your actress has to be complete if you want to audition her.
The *only* name I've ever heard that sounded better for the Tick? ...
John Tesh.
Right voice, right build, right amount of campiness. But Puddy is a great call.
my $.02
It's not the "makin' a buck" anyone really has a problem with (if I may speak for everyone ;) ),
It's the frivolous patenting of the obvious.
What CDNow has chosen to do is akin to me patenting the ability to collate paperwork through the mail... hey... have I just struck gold or what?!