> The capacity for remote control of human beings is scary. Imagine having your actions > involuntarily overriden by a remote source. Scary stuff...
The likely reality of "human remote control", if it's done at all, is scarier: being rewarded through your pleasure centers until you want nothing more than to follow the commands. Your actions aren't involuntarily overriden, you are *eager* to follow any commands given.
> The thing that amazes me is that people will absolutely insist there is only the body. Then, > someone shows them the mind, and they say, "Okay, I accept I was wrong about the body thing. There is a mind."
Nope, the mind is simply a physical phenomenon produced by the brain. The "software" to the brain's "hardware", if you will. The way the mind can be completely changed by simple manipulation of the brain is proof of this. The mind is *not* something beyond the body, so your premise is null.
> I would suggest you all consider NOT shopping at Walmart -- for anything at all -- read this please
I got about through about five paragraphs of "Oh, it's horrible! They *make money!* Dear God, *they employ people!*" and gave up in disgust. Maybe later on they made some real points, but that was about all I could take.
Depends on whether or not he knew he would be searched when he bought the tickets. If he didn't know and the ticket sale never mentioned it, he has an awfully good chance of getting his money back, nonrefundable or not, if he threatens to bring the lawyers out.
> > The Alamo has become a fantastic tourist trap in spite of being a horrific military failure"
> Err, no. The stand at the Alamo delayed the Mexian troops while the Texas army finally got it's act together.
Err, yes. The Alamo was an indefensible site with no military importance. The defenders could've delayed the Mexican army better elsewhere. Not that the Mexicans did any better; Santa Ana was so impatient that he ordered ill-prepared infantry assaults that predictably got slaughtered. All he had to do was wait for his artillery to catch up and the Texans were doomed (which is what happened in the end). The Alamo was an amazing display of military incompetence by both sides.
> if you really got into the game, eventually most of us came to a point of saying 'wait, wtf > do I care if Im human?'
Well, for one thing, if you let your essence go to zero (and every implant reduced your essence), you died, which tended to crimp your playing style. If you were after pure power, you were actually better off forgoing implants altogether and becoming a mage.
Aha! Just as Outlook finally vindicated all the lusers who believed the "Good Times" hoax, this will vindicate all the newbies who thought their mouse was a foot pedal!
> BTW- it has about 50 pages of footnotes, so it is not like he is pulling his theories out of his butt.
Unless, of course, he's also pulling the footnotes out of his butt. Footnotes are not meant to admired for their sheer mass--"Oooh, lookit all the footnotes! He *must* be a scholar!"--but to be followed, checked, and used to see if his sources truly do support his conclusions.
> The IRS can't require you to be successful as a business.. If you go bankrupt, you get to write it off..
The IRS cannot mandate your success. What they can and *will* do is maintain that a "business" that never makes a profit is no business at all and disallow the deduction of your expenses. The general rule is if you cannot show a profit in two of the past five years, the IRS will rule it is not a business but a hobby and disallow ALL your deductions. The IRS can get *very* hard-assed about what constitutes a deductable business expense for the self-employed.
> Hell, look at Enron.. It even works on a macro scale.
The rules are different for corporations than for individuals, since what an individual does may or may not be a business while a corporation is a business by definition.
> To wit: If you buy a multifamily home and renovate it, you can write off the cost of the > renovation. You do not, at any point, HAVE TO have tennants.
Try it. The IRS will disabuse you of this notion VERY quickly.
> They were repetive, unimaginative and unfunny. The best jokes are subtle - making it blatantly > obvious makes it extremely unfunny. That is why you were flamed.
Then why did almost all the flames complain that it made it impossible to determine what the real news stories were?
> Scary movies? All you gotta watch is the news. Hate to say it, but from what I've seen, if your >kid is gone for more than a day and you don't know where he or she is, they're probably dead. >--It's a joke, laugh.--
Y'know, if you're going to make posts like that, you *really* oughta consider changing your sig...
Chris Mattern
Re:We had a name for CS students that didnt like U
on
MS: Use the Source, Luke!
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
> Its a difference between people who just want to know how to use something vs the people that want to understand it.
No, it's worse than that. It's the difference between people who want a certificate to show a prospective employer that *says* they know how to use something versus the people that want to understand it.
Slashdot Mirror
Uhh...you must have missed the appeals court ruling where they upheld every charge Microsoft was found guilty on.
Chris Mattern
> The capacity for remote control of human beings is scary. Imagine having your actions
> involuntarily overriden by a remote source. Scary stuff...
The likely reality of "human remote control", if it's done at all, is scarier: being rewarded through your pleasure centers until you want nothing more than to follow the commands. Your actions aren't involuntarily overriden, you are *eager* to follow any commands given.
Chris Mattern
> Okay. Find me a scientist who'll agree that
> The world is a flate plate on a turtle's back
I have here the chief librarian of a *very* prestigious University who will testify to that very fact:
"Ook. Ook ook ook."
Er, I may have to get an interpreter...
Chris Mattern
BTW, he says you forgot the elephants...
Very well put; somebody needs to mod that up. BTW, the grandparent post gets extra points for it's nice use of educrat JargonAcronyms (TM).
Chris Mattern
> Most households have lower net worth, adjusting for inflation, than they did in 1983, when the Dow was still at 1,000.
This might have something to do with the fact that most households *have fewer people in them now*.
Chris Mattern
> The thing that amazes me is that people will absolutely insist there is only the body. Then,
> someone shows them the mind, and they say, "Okay, I accept I was wrong about the body thing. There is a mind."
Nope, the mind is simply a physical phenomenon produced by the brain. The "software" to the brain's "hardware", if you will. The way the mind can be completely changed by simple manipulation of the brain is proof of this. The mind is *not* something beyond the body, so your premise is null.
Chris Mattern
> I would suggest you all consider NOT shopping at Walmart -- for anything at all -- read this please
I got about through about five paragraphs of "Oh, it's horrible! They *make money!* Dear God, *they employ people!*" and gave up in disgust. Maybe later on they made some real points, but that was about all I could take.
Chris Mattern
Depends on whether or not he knew he would be searched when he bought the tickets. If he didn't know and the ticket sale never mentioned it, he has an awfully good chance of getting his money back, nonrefundable or not, if he threatens to bring the lawyers out.
Chris Mattern
> > The Alamo has become a fantastic tourist trap in spite of being a horrific military failure"
> Err, no. The stand at the Alamo delayed the Mexian troops while the Texas army finally got it's act together.
Err, yes. The Alamo was an indefensible site with no military importance. The defenders could've delayed the Mexican army better elsewhere. Not that the Mexicans did any better; Santa Ana was so impatient that he ordered ill-prepared infantry assaults that predictably got slaughtered. All he had to do was wait for his artillery to catch up and the Texans were doomed (which is what happened in the end). The Alamo was an amazing display of military incompetence by both sides.
Chris Mattern
> if you really got into the game, eventually most of us came to a point of saying 'wait, wtf
> do I care if Im human?'
Well, for one thing, if you let your essence go to zero (and every implant reduced your essence), you died, which tended to crimp your playing style. If you were after pure power, you were actually better off forgoing implants altogether and becoming a mage.
Chris Mattern
And not only that, you gotta think it in Russian...
Chris Mattern
Aha! Just as Outlook finally vindicated all the lusers who believed the "Good Times" hoax, this will vindicate all the newbies who thought their mouse was a foot pedal!
Chris Mattern
> BTW- it has about 50 pages of footnotes, so it is not like he is pulling his theories out of his butt.
Unless, of course, he's also pulling the footnotes out of his butt. Footnotes are not meant to admired for their sheer mass--"Oooh, lookit all the footnotes! He *must* be a scholar!"--but to be followed, checked, and used to see if his sources truly do support his conclusions.
Chris Mattern
> The IRS can't require you to be successful as a business.. If you go bankrupt, you get to write it off..
The IRS cannot mandate your success. What they can and *will* do is maintain that a "business" that never makes a profit is no business at all and disallow the deduction of your expenses. The general rule is if you cannot show a profit in two of the past five years, the IRS will rule it is not a business but a hobby and disallow ALL your deductions. The IRS can get *very* hard-assed about what constitutes a deductable business expense for the self-employed.
> Hell, look at Enron.. It even works on a macro scale.
The rules are different for corporations than for individuals, since what an individual does may or may not be a business while a corporation is a business by definition.
> To wit: If you buy a multifamily home and renovate it, you can write off the cost of the
> renovation. You do not, at any point, HAVE TO have tennants.
Try it. The IRS will disabuse you of this notion VERY quickly.
Chris Mattern
> They were repetive, unimaginative and unfunny. The best jokes are subtle - making it blatantly
> obvious makes it extremely unfunny. That is why you were flamed.
Then why did almost all the flames complain that it made it impossible to determine what the real news stories were?
Chris Mattern
Well, at least I didn't accuse him of being Guy Gardner...
Chris Mattern
> I wonder how long until they figure out my name isn't really Hal Jordan?
Well, of course it isn't; he's dead. You're Kyle Raynor, right?
Chris Mattern
Can *you* say "inflammable" means "easily set on fire" and not the opposite?
Chris Mattern
> Scary movies? All you gotta watch is the news. Hate to say it, but from what I've seen, if your
>kid is gone for more than a day and you don't know where he or she is, they're probably dead.
>--It's a joke, laugh.--
Y'know, if you're going to make posts like that, you *really* oughta consider changing your sig...
Chris Mattern
> Its a difference between people who just want to know how to use something vs the people that want to understand it.
No, it's worse than that. It's the difference between people who want a certificate to show a prospective employer that *says* they know how to use something versus the people that want to understand it.
Chris Mattern
You mean like this?
Chris Mattern
Were you ever able to knock out that damn bull?
Chris Mattern
> TRON is sort of a John the Baptist predicting the coming of Flynn, but he has his own user,
> and provides a key tool in the defeat of the evil one.
But then Bob wanted his keytool back.
Chris Mattern
"Glitch, BS'n'P!"
For those of you wondering where Guatemala *actually* comes from, it means "Land of the Trees" in Maya-Toltec.
Chris Mattern
"What you mean you discover us? *We* discover *you*!"
"*You* discovered *us*?"
"We discover you on beach here. Is all how you look at it."
"Oh yeah, never thought of that..."
Chris Mattern