Nice keyboard, conservative screen and No-Internal-Moving-Parts = 8 to 10 hours on a standard battery. With an extended battery, (if I ever manage to find one), the machine will get up to 15 hours on one charge. Not ideal, but better than a 'down by lunch time' modern machine.
When a portable word processor is all you really need, that's all you should really buy. Best part is that after shipping and a spare battery, I paid only about $275 on ebay.
Too bad the Alphasmart Dana is too bloody expensive for what it is. (Over $450 for a keyboard and an LCD screen???) But the real shame is that the QuickPad Pro seems like it was rushed to market before the programmers finished their job. That puppy got between 50 and 100 hours on a set of 4 AA's, but their internal word processor only edits.txt documents; that is, the largest file size you can open is 64Kb and you don't get to use italics or other basic formatting. Awesome machine in every respect other than the lame software.
Although. . , (after I'd made my purchase of the Jornada 820), a tech support guy for the QuickPad company got back to me and told me that while those limits were true, the machine was nonetheless able to run an old DOS copy of Word if you could find one, which had no such restraints. This is very cool, though, like I said, I learned this after I'd bought a different machine. Ah well. In any case, the QuickPad is just barely this side of a heavy purchase; $300 before shipping costs!
I also suspect that I own the last board put out by anybody which still had an ISA slot. Last one out the factory door in a long, long while. I needed it for my trusty scanner's proprietory card.
It was that, or trying to get a decent scanner with a viewing bed larger than a sheet of typing paper. Sheesh.
Anakin was raped and beaten as a child and enjoyed torturing small animals?
There are real monsters out there, and Star Wars is better off staying in the realm of lessons which can be learned from by those who are seeking enlightenment. Psychopaths don't learn from moral lessons about how attachment and fear and seeking control are roads to the Dark Side.
I was visiting an art class where the kids and teachers were actually honestly worried about tracing pictures out of books because of copyright laws.
I put as solid an end to that nonsense as I could, saying, "Tracing pictures is a great way to learn how to draw, so do it whenever you feel like it and don't worry about it. Nobody with a clean brain is going to care if you hang a drawing of Sponge Bob on your fridge, and if they do, it's their problem. Geez."
Then I gave a speech about how fear and over-control are the death of creativity, and that the world is currently insane, and not to fall for other people's psychological issues. Draw whatever you want. Sheesh.
The thing that really stood out was how the moronic laws and idiot debates are actually taken to heart by children and burned into their brains as Right and Wrong in the same way that "Looking Both Ways Before You Cross The Street" is burned in. Or, "Obey Authority Even If It's Totally, Obviously Insane".
I had no idea when it aired and didn't bother to check.
I didn't watch an episode of Buffy until second season. If it weren't for friends with video recorders, I'd never see anything. And these days, without a television in my life, this is more true than ever before.
Doesn't mean Firefly wasn't good. It just means it wasn't marketed very well. That slack has been picked up with the DVD release. It's going to do fine.
Wrong word. Sorry. I should have said something like, "Removing the thing will restore U.S. law to its state before the patriot act was implemented." --Or some other awkwardly worded true-ism.
Whatever. The larger point regarding Executive Orders and the illusion of democracy remains.
Removing the thing will restore the constitution to its original rule-set. It seems to me that your caution stems from the fact that if the same abuse of congress happens again, it will be better if there are some fascist laws already in place. My question to that is, what would prevent those existing corrupt laws from being altered, (like with PATRIOT ACTII, for instance), if it 'happens again'?
Not that it matters anyway. The whole system of the 'Executive Order' renders the entire U.S. system of democratic government null & void should the administration ever decide to act on those powers. The patriot act just a bit of warming water, (as in the boiling frog analogy), and arguing over it is redundant when Bush, or any president, can legally become dictator for life at any time.
The U.S. system needs some purging and major restructuring if it can be taken seriously. Right now the whole thing is a big, stupid distraction to keep people occupied for years on end while the real game goes down, as it currently is.
2. Jump in! If you love computers, build and program them. Stay up those late, late nights tinkering! --The same goes with any field. In many (if not all) cases, you can learn much of what you need to know through the following of your own fascination than you can in school. You don't need to be attending school in order to visit a library! You don't need to be paying a school thousands of dollars before you can approach a professional to ask his/her opinions about what areas of knowledge are important. Knowledge is available to ANYBODY who seeks it with enough passion! We ALL have passion within us. We simply need to allow ourselves to access it!
3. Apprentice. --Go and offer to sharpen pencils for free at the company you want to join and do that for two months. You will learn a lot, and you will make connections, and if it is the field you truly want to be in, then you will eventually find your services in demand. Passion and Light are attractive to everybody, and people will pay you to stay and share yourself with the company. Companies are no different than tribes of hunter/gatherers. If you demonstrate your worth within the tribe, then you will find yourself welcomed. Hopefully, the tribe you choose will be worthy of you, and if it is not, then you can re-shape it so that it becomes something greater and more beautiful than when you first approached it. All tribes, no matter how sickly and forcibly contorted they are in today's society, secretly want to be healthy and happy and vibrant!
We ALL have this power to affect our world!
For the most part, formal education is a practice in creating submissive meat cows for the dark system. --Living your Light is the way you can transcend the feeding cycle.
It is a fluke that he was able to overcome the barriers setup by the plutocracy and end up leading apple (and filthy rich). It is not wise or practical for him to give such advice.
Flukes don't happen. Those who are honestly striving to live their light will contact the right people and events at the right time. That's how the Universe works. The trick is having self-knowledge and faith enough to create and utilize opportunity. Remember; it is a falsehood to say that Opportunity knocks quietly and but once. In truth, Opportunity is pounding at the door all the time!
What would be better? For millions to fail and end up hungry or for them to put in their time, hard work and dedication to end up better selves.
Bettering yourself can be done in many, many more places than the narrow halls of 'formal education'.
Failure only happens when you are not honest with yourself and do not put in the work to grow as necessary.
There is a lot of theory that you simply can't pick up in the real world and yes, the theory does help you a better programmer.
Is knowledge not available to any who seek with enough passion and drive?
You say that, "I'm really not learning anything horibly new I couldn't learn on my own", but then a sentence later you tell us that, "And there is a lot about "Computer Science" I would have never learned on my own."
You seem to be unclear in your convictions. I would suggest that your first statement is the true one while the second is the lie you tell yourself in order to feel better.
"I want to be able to teach Computer Science. That's what I've always wanted to do."
This is good, but why would you want to teach within an education system you clearly do not respect? Here is a little known secret: There are ALWAYS alternative solutions to ALL problems; they simply require imaginative thinking in order to be found. This can be done by engaging your passion and your internal light. There are other ways to share the knowledge which interests you, and be rewarded and valued for doing so, without all of the foolish hoop jumping which is clearly depressing for you.
I am sorry to prod in such difficult areas, and I only wish you the very best of luck!
I would be curious to know how many people think a degree is more useful than experience and how many people get one because they think they need to in order to get in.
If you allow the system to dictate and define what it means to be employed and make a living, then you will have to submit to the system's rules. I encourage everybody to reject all of that. There are a million ways to live a happy, effective life which don't involve HR departments and meaningless hoop-jumping.
I'd offer the following advice to any who ask: Determine what your passion is in life, figure out a way to express it effectively, and to go out and do it. Make up your own game and ignore the system rules. The Universe will help you! When you are on your path, things just naturally fall into place. Only the System will tell you otherwise.
Magic is real, and it's not really magic. We are all free.
I don't think I would have stayed at school; school is about three things; 1) Gaining knowledge necessary to be effective on your chosen path. 2) Building connections with the other people you'll be traveling with on that path, and 3) Winning approval enough to be allowed a place in the society you wish to join.
It sounds to me like you'd achieved all of those things on your own terms before reaching the standard finish line. I'd have hopped off the scholastic treadmill at that point. In the future, when it comes time to living your light, practical portfolios of direct experience far outweigh diplomas!
Luckily, you're beyond the question now! I wish you well on your journey!
Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Jobs are all NOT average Joe's!
Yes they are. They just happened to see through the lie, which is that only some people have light within them.
We ALL have light within us which is meant to be expressed. We are simply taught to ignore this part of ourselves. We are taught that the world is a mean place which only rewards submissive behavior, (following rules). It tries to punish the Gates and the Dells and the Jobs of the world, and when it fails, it labels them as being somehow superior in a way which most people are not. This is a lie! We are all special and unique, and if we all followed our passions in life, the world would work without so much needless misery and waste.
But it's not the solution for the millions of average people.
Being 'average' is a product of one's choices. Or you can choose to express your uniqueness. If you do, the Universe will help you in extraordinary ways which seem like magic! Or you can choose to believe the programming pushed on you at school, and believe you are a shmuck who does not deserve to lead a powerful, wonderful life.
Love yourself, have faith in your passion, and get going!
Universities seem like a good idea on paper but they are not so great when it comes to execution. Most of the really successful people I know in life left school early or never bothered going in the first place.
I am pretty sure, that Apple Corp. HR is looking for resumes with high credentials. In fact, I would not be surprized if today's computerised HR systems would send to trash automatically the "drop-out" resumes. Maybe S. Jobs or the HR director at Apple can confirm or deny this.
I would venture to guess that working for Apple Corp is not a path of passion, but rather a path of submission, and being submissive, accepting the rules of how one is to lead one's life, is what school teaches. Having to 'get a job' is a lie. It is entirely possible to live without wearing a leash and be part of a chain gang.
Why not start your own computer company? Innovate through passion and create! --If you are truly meant to find work with a big computer company, then you will find work with a big computer company regardless of what the HR staff thinks or approves of. The Universe doesn't care about resumes. The Universe rewards faith in oneselve, and the following of one's light.
Other professions (law, medicine, etc.) simply deny any right to even "give it a try" without formal diplomas - regardless of how geniuos one might be.
Law? In essence, law is about helping people get along and resolve conflict. There are many ways to be involved in this than to 'be a lawyer'! --The dark side of law is about following ego and greed, which are false impressions of true passion, and so of course they are closely linked to school.
Medicine? Actually, there are plenty of practicing healers who don't have formal diplomas, and some of them do a far better job than the drug sales people we call medical professionals.
There are many, many artificial boundaries and rules in this world, none of which should be followed without careful consideration.
-FL
Regulations for the ignorant, and Fire safety.
on
The Evil in E-Mail
·
· Score: 1
Building permits exist for a reason. They became very obviously necessary after large parts of major urban centers kept burning down, for one. For another, people are too willing to compromise quality to save money, and that would lead to unsafe structures. Home builders do things as cheaply and shoddily as possible while remaining within codes - those laws are the only thing preventing houses from falling down on their owners. The government steps in to regulate these things because the layman home buyer can't reasonably be expected to understand what makes a sound structure, nor can he actually verify it for himself once the house is finished. There are other practical issues: when houses connect to public utilities, they need to interface in such a way that they don't interfere with the safety and reliability of that utility.
The key here is exactly as you put it, "The layman home buyer". --I am tired of having my life and creative freedom curtailed because most people choose not to empower themselves. I want to build my OWN house. --This means, I am taking the time to research house construction, and I will hire some skilled labor to help me out. If people feel the need for building codes to protect them, then they can have them, and such houses can be labeled 'Government Certified'. They can get an insurance break. (I don't need or want insurance, either, thank-you very much.) There are ways to create these rules and laws which would offer 'protection' to those who want it, and allow those like me to waive it all so I can get on with my life and build it however I choose to.
You know, if there's a law that says you have to be grid-connected, that doesn't mean you actually have to use that connection.
Actually, it's not that simple. I know a couple who were told it would cost them $15,000 just to have the power company sink poles and run cable up to their house, which is set back about 600 meters from the road in a stand of woods. They would rather spend $15,000 on solar panels and electronics than pay the power company to connect them to the grid.
As for a straw-bale house, I'd imagine that such a thing would be completely engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds if a fire broke out. There's probably a reason why they won't let you build one.
There are some Straw Bale houses which have stood for over a thousand years. --The straw itself is plastered over with mud/concrete on the inside and outside of the structure so that it is not even visible, and thus offers almost no danger of fire. The insulative qualities of straw bale are generally superior to even the 'high tech' materials in most modern buildings. And such houses are fast, sturdy and much less expensive to build.
The reason the government doesn't want people building alternative housing, is that it makes people free. --With clever design, NO money needs to be spent on oil-based utilities. Geo-thermal energy can heat a house for free, (minus the start-up costs), forever, and a good bank of solar cells and chemical batteries can provide all the electricity you could ever need. If everybody had a house built this way, the power utilities would go broke and they know it. The government is a tool used to protect their line of profit.
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."
-Tacitus
Government is already too invasive. I'm already forced to seek a building permit before I can erect a structure on my own property. The fines for ignoring this, (and say, having the gall to build a solar powered house which is not connected to the AC power grid, or (horrors!) a straw-bale house), are huge and the government's reasons for these laws are utterly ridiculous.
Any professor who suggests that we should be looking to monitor email content is not thinking clearly. The Government already has their nose in everything, and telling us that, "It's For Our Own Good," is NOT a valid excuse.
It's MUCH more important that people be able to make mistakes -and even die through their own faults- than live ensnared in the safe-keeping of a bunch of ignorant civil servants who are trying to build a Starfleet future where everybody dresses the same, and nobody is allowed to think or act outside a bunch of pre-set 'safe' boundaries designed for middle-class suburbanites who exist in eternal ignorance of the real world, who actually believe in the Discovery Channel, who drink milk, and live in absolute terror of anything you can't experience beyond the confines of a nice, respectable department store.
I find it hard to believe that the US government is intentionally evil. This notion of a sinister shadow lurking, waiting to enslave us all is childish and should be left at the movies.
The reason you find it hard to believe is that you are probably a human who wouldn't knowingly harm others for personal gain. However. . , it is entirely probable that the same kind of psychopathic behavior which led to the collapse of Enron and the trillion-dollar piracy which devastated more than 20 other huge corporations in the same six month period is also comfortably installed in the halls of government.
There are monsters out there, they lie amazingly well, have enormous charisma, and they are naturally drawn to and vie for positions of power from which to inflict their misery and chaos upon the world. Psychopathy is not a myth. It is a medically proven reality, and it is active in the world right now.
This does not mean that ALL of the government is bad. But it does mean that the highest seats of power are almost certainly occupied by a number of individuals with no compassion or ethics and who are hell-bent on torturing the world. Judge the tree by the fruit it bears!
Bush's weird speach and dialogue problems are typical of the psychopathic mind. Psychopaths who have been caught and studied illustrate this. Look it up. There's a lot of information for those who are willing to learn.
Either directly or indirectly a portion of the American government orchestrated the attack on 9-11 specifically to create the current situation.
Everybody has heard this before, and anybody who bothers to investigate the matter properly, (that is, beyond reading poorly researched and outright false articles in Popular Science, will come to the same conclusion. --If they have the courage to overcome the mountains of state-installed mind-programming and look the beast in the face without flinching.
Those who are not afraid to look around will recognize the dangers. These are the people who have a chance of saving their own necks before the axe falls.
But for your benefit, here's a quick run-down of the reasons why some people are concerned. ..
During the warming-up period of a fascist state, newly acquired powers are not immediately or broadly abused. This is to prevent difficulties in placing even more dangerous powers into being.
Currently, we are in the phase of the placement of the new laws and the raising of everybody's comfort level regarding things like tanks in NY streets.
We can look to things like nation-wide tests of the new population control systems, such as Project Falcon, as later stages in the warm-up period. --Note that the new powers of co-ordinated arrests had nothing to do with 'terrorists', but were directed inwards at US citizenry. As always, there is a semi-reasonable excuse behind this action. "They all had warrants!" But the fact remains that such an action would have been inconceivable even only five years ago. Today it happened with little notice. That's how it works.
The big step we're all nervously waiting to see manifest is another staged 'terrorist' attack on US soil, during which the arrest sweeps will begin in earnest of non-criminals and general trouble-makers who threaten the new system by questioning it.
Slashdotters won't be in trouble until that point. But you are certainly free to pretend that everything is fine until that moment, when it will be too late to act.
Regular people are basically murmuring and screwing up the courage to leave the US. Most won't, and will trust in their luck to ride the waves of fascism and fear and the eventual real attacks from other nations anxious to stop the spread of American imperialism.
Personally, I'm not crying myself to sleep over these people that will die alone because they can't control themselves to do things in moderation. Most problems people have with vices come down to this. Geeks are no different. I believe in survival of the fittest. I think these people should stay where they are so there is no risk of them breeding. Oh, and of course...Yes, nothing is ever the individual's fault. It's always somebody or something elses fault. (rolls eyes)
It's a good thing you've never once in your life needed help, compassion or time to grow up and get your act together.
Those who strictly believe in the survival of the fittest with no shades of gray have been sold a faulty bill of goods without thinking it through carefully enough. If the fittest were the most worthy of survival, then sharks and psychopaths should be given the world without complaint or resistance since they are un-hindered by such weaknesses as emotions, compassion, and ethics which prevent others from defining and dominating the food chain.
Honestly, this is just empty nonsense. For example if someone is claiming something, anything, then it is up to them to prove their claims or at least share their evidence for review, not least because as the claimant they are the best placed person to understand what claim it is exactly that they are making.
Well, that's certainly the argument many of us have been sold, and it in many situations it is certainly an effective approach, particularly in the exploration of material reality. But it is by no means the only or the final answer despite the ever-present sales pitch to the contrary.
In the area of consciousness and spirit, the journey is personal. Simple as that. There is no necessity to prove any claims since the approval of others is entirely irrelevant.
Those who wait for a larger public authority to sanction their personal search will wait indefinitely, and remain stuck within the limits of the material. Consider that statement!
--When trying to find your Soul, you must have a strong belief in your own convictions regardless of public opinion and public approval; you must be able to believe in yourself in order to believe in yourself.
As for the whole burden of proof argument, here's a for-instance. ..
I am a ten-year old boy and I am splashing through a stream with my pant-legs rolled up. I catch sight of a turtle swimming under the surface. I cry out in excitement, "Hey! A turtle!"
The other boys twenty feet away, if they are also excited about life and exploring and seeing new and wonderful things, will come running to see. If they are lucky, they might also catch a glimpse of a turtle.
By contrast, the adult who has been successfully programmed by the Matrix (for lack of a better term), is well-steeped in the half-valid mantras of scientific method and many irrational biases he doesn't accept are within him, will stay rooted to the ground and say, "That would be nice if it were true, but I don't believe in turtles. I will not expend effort to walk all the way over there to look for myself until you first come to me with evidence that you saw a turtle. I do not want to appear foolish, splashing around in the water with my pant legs rolled up. What would the other adults think?"
Now, what difference does it make to me if the rooted adult does not want to believe in turtles or bother walking over to look for himself? Why should I go to any effort at all to prove that I experienced something special? What benefit is there to me, as I have already had the experience and have been enriched by it? --Certainly, it would be nice if the adult were to grow and gain from a similar experience, but I am certainly not under any obligation to push. Let the adult stay in his comfortable although limited bubble where turtles remain mere fables. For my part, the Turtle is enough. I do not crave the approval of rooted adults, and those who do will always be under the control of those who dispense approval.
A witness who has gained a powerful insight but who is scared of submitting his insight to criticsm or review should really question why they think they are right and are worried about why they think everyone else may disagree.
Scared? Hm. . . While ridicule from the biased is never pleasant, Fear of it is primarily a barrier only to those who are already under its control. Those who have attained freedom did so by ignoring the 'dangers' of being laughed at. They have overcome the fear of not conforming. This is an important early step everybody must take before it is possible to find one's soul.
And just for the record, I'd like to make it clear that I do not fear alternate opinions or criticisms or being laughed at. Indeed, I've already said I'd be willing to tell about my explorations, and I have done so many times in the past. It can certainly be an interesting exercise, though, as I have said, it is also an ultimately pointless exercise as my experiences are my own and cannot be proven to have happened. They hold no validity to anybody but me.
From the article. . . "Immersed in role-playing games and comic fantasy worlds, many have found real-life personal conflict difficult to cope with-- one cause, some say, for a massive increase in the social problem of hikikomori , or shut-ins. Now numbering as many as 1 million nationwide, the shut-ins -- mostly men in their twenties or thirties -- typically live in their parents' homes, rarely leaving their rooms."
This is the part I found interesting. --Minus the sensationalist hype.
Should we really be surprised to see this kind of behavior pattern in a society which rigorously punishes people for trying to be unique individuals, for having the gall to actually try to maintain any kind of self-love and respect?
Men are expected to stand out, to express themselves in order to gain power in this world, so of course they are going to have problems when they are forced to grow up under the confines of a no-win situation. I'm not surprised at all that so many of them give up and opt out. Relationships require self-confidence and a wide variety of dynamic social skills which are certainly not taught by punishing people for stepping out of line to experiment with their lives when they are kids.
The retreat into fantasy of a million working-age males isn't their fault. It's the fault of a seriously messed up society.
"The nail which stands up will be hammered down."
Ugh. There are many types of population control and herding in effect in the world, but this particular one really steams me.
I wanted to know what evidence that was so rather than asking me what evidence I would be convinced by it might be better if you defined what you meant by soul and presented your evidence for it's existence.
No, interestingly, it really wouldn't. Knowledge is always more powerful when it is won for oneself rather than given, especially in this case. This is not to say that I would necessarily be averse to telling you about my own personal explorations into the subject, but they would be of little use to you. My experiences can only ever be stories to you, unverifiable to anybody but me. You need to find your own path and your own experiences for any decisions you make about what you will and will not believe to hold any power.
I find it interesting that True things do not need constant repeating in order to remain true, while Falsehoods must be constantly repeated to remain powerful. It is possible to spot lies by the constancy and insistence with which they are repeated.
One such falsehood is propagated by the ever-present fictional court-room drama in our media, that the burden of proof automatically lies upon the shoulders of the claimant. --It is interesting that when exploring matters of consciousness, awareness and the non-material world, such a system fails. But if everybody believes that the burden of proof lies with the claimant, then nobody will ever search. It is a tidy way to lock people into limited thought and behavior patterns.
A witness who has gained a powerful insight is under no obligation to share it, much less stand on trial for the benefit of others. These are personal journeys. The evidence is there, it is different for each person, and when you find it, you will almost certainly not be able to share it directly with others.
So, what you are really saying is that there is no evidence for anything like a soul but you can convince yourself you have one if you try hard enough.
Trying hard enough is required for any pursuit, but being properly convinced does indeed require worthy evidence, of which there is plenty. So no, your interpretation of my words is not at all accurate.
What is a soul? What kind of evidence would be convincing to you?
I was expecting to see some examples of evidence for a soul but instead you have simply said ( to sum up your post in one sentance ) that you should just use your imagination and construct something equating to a soul from you desires.
I must respectfully disagree. I do not encourage wishful thinking. If I had only one sentence to work with, (and thankfully, I did not), I'd have said something like, "Proof of the soul may only be found by each individual alone, the task being possible through the use of the amazing faculties of awareness and thought each of us is equipped with."
Proof of Awareness is one of the oldest logic problems in philosophy. It is generally agreed that it is logically impossible to prove to another that one is aware, since nobody can prove that the universe is not an artifical construct which only the observer experiences. All you can ever do is prove to yourself that you are aware.
Proving the existence of the Soul to yourself is somewhat more complex than merely proving awareness, which is self-evident ("I think, therefore I exist"). It can be done, however, once you start trying to work out what the soul is exactly, what it is made from, and how it connects to and interacts with the rest of the Universe. Those questions have answers, and they have nothing to do with desire and fear and wishful thinking. This has to do with logical deductions leading from direct experiences available to anybody, and from imaginative questions designed to test reality.
After all. . . How can one offer evidence for the Soul without there first being a definition offered? Start there, and move outward.
Interestingly. . , once one has proven to oneself the existence of the Soul, it becomes possible to determine whether or not another person has a soul. The building blocks need to be discovered first.
Which suggests you think there is an awful lot of evidence for the existence of a 'soul' but then seem to get lost in a sea of nonsense and don't actually provide any links or information as to what this evidence is.
Perhaps you are reading selectively? --A good deal of energy and thought was spent constructing my previous post so that I would be expressing myself as clearly as possible using clean English. (Although I did mis-spell the word 'rationalities' in one paragraph with an 'n').
Still, to interpret my efforts as a, 'sea of nonsense' when I was making an earnest effort to communicate what I see as a clear picture, suggests that either you are deliberately mis-understanding, or that there are perhaps blocks in your ability to perceive. (Which, incidentally, is directly connected to this whole subject.)
Finding evidence of the soul is one of the chief challenges of existing in this reality, and it is a challenge which must in the beginning be faced alone by each individual until the concept of 'alone' is suddenly recognized as irrelevant. Once you have found evidence, further growth is very fast and a vast array of perceptive abilities and qualities of reality start to become available to you. There is great power in this!
Use your imagination and work from there. How might one test for such a thing? Think of experiments and logical conclusions which might assist in your exploration. If you are offered the answers directly, they will be of little use to you. You must build your own definitions, make your own calculations and theories and then perform your own tests. In doing so, you will also build up your understanding of reality and how it works as well as acquire the tools you will need for further growth.
Unfounded belief that, 'No Such Thing Exists,' is an article of faith no more rational than that of the True Believer. Not seeing evidence does not mean that no evidence exists. It is there if you choose to find it.
Slashdot Mirror
Nice keyboard, conservative screen and No-Internal-Moving-Parts = 8 to 10 hours on a standard battery. With an extended battery, (if I ever manage to find one), the machine will get up to 15 hours on one charge. Not ideal, but better than a 'down by lunch time' modern machine.
When a portable word processor is all you really need, that's all you should really buy. Best part is that after shipping and a spare battery, I paid only about $275 on ebay.
Too bad the Alphasmart Dana is too bloody expensive for what it is. (Over $450 for a keyboard and an LCD screen???) But the real shame is that the QuickPad Pro seems like it was rushed to market before the programmers finished their job. That puppy got between 50 and 100 hours on a set of 4 AA's, but their internal word processor only edits
Although. . , (after I'd made my purchase of the Jornada 820), a tech support guy for the QuickPad company got back to me and told me that while those limits were true, the machine was nonetheless able to run an old DOS copy of Word if you could find one, which had no such restraints. This is very cool, though, like I said, I learned this after I'd bought a different machine. Ah well. In any case, the QuickPad is just barely this side of a heavy purchase; $300 before shipping costs!
-FL
I also suspect that I own the last board put out by anybody which still had an ISA slot. Last one out the factory door in a long, long while. I needed it for my trusty scanner's proprietory card.
It was that, or trying to get a decent scanner with a viewing bed larger than a sheet of typing paper. Sheesh.
-FL
There are real monsters out there, and Star Wars is better off staying in the realm of lessons which can be learned from by those who are seeking enlightenment. Psychopaths don't learn from moral lessons about how attachment and fear and seeking control are roads to the Dark Side.
-FL
I put as solid an end to that nonsense as I could, saying, "Tracing pictures is a great way to learn how to draw, so do it whenever you feel like it and don't worry about it. Nobody with a clean brain is going to care if you hang a drawing of Sponge Bob on your fridge, and if they do, it's their problem. Geez."
Then I gave a speech about how fear and over-control are the death of creativity, and that the world is currently insane, and not to fall for other people's psychological issues. Draw whatever you want. Sheesh.
The thing that really stood out was how the moronic laws and idiot debates are actually taken to heart by children and burned into their brains as Right and Wrong in the same way that "Looking Both Ways Before You Cross The Street" is burned in. Or, "Obey Authority Even If It's Totally, Obviously Insane".
Bavarian Fire Drills are for chumps.
-FL
I didn't watch an episode of Buffy until second season. If it weren't for friends with video recorders, I'd never see anything. And these days, without a television in my life, this is more true than ever before.
Doesn't mean Firefly wasn't good. It just means it wasn't marketed very well. That slack has been picked up with the DVD release. It's going to do fine.
-FL
Whatever. The larger point regarding Executive Orders and the illusion of democracy remains.
-FL
Not that it matters anyway. The whole system of the 'Executive Order' renders the entire U.S. system of democratic government null & void should the administration ever decide to act on those powers. The patriot act just a bit of warming water, (as in the boiling frog analogy), and arguing over it is redundant when Bush, or any president, can legally become dictator for life at any time.
The U.S. system needs some purging and major restructuring if it can be taken seriously. Right now the whole thing is a big, stupid distraction to keep people occupied for years on end while the real game goes down, as it currently is.
-FL
1. Figure out where your passions are pointed.
2. Jump in! If you love computers, build and program them. Stay up those late, late nights tinkering! --The same goes with any field. In many (if not all) cases, you can learn much of what you need to know through the following of your own fascination than you can in school. You don't need to be attending school in order to visit a library! You don't need to be paying a school thousands of dollars before you can approach a professional to ask his/her opinions about what areas of knowledge are important. Knowledge is available to ANYBODY who seeks it with enough passion! We ALL have passion within us. We simply need to allow ourselves to access it!
3. Apprentice. --Go and offer to sharpen pencils for free at the company you want to join and do that for two months. You will learn a lot, and you will make connections, and if it is the field you truly want to be in, then you will eventually find your services in demand. Passion and Light are attractive to everybody, and people will pay you to stay and share yourself with the company. Companies are no different than tribes of hunter/gatherers. If you demonstrate your worth within the tribe, then you will find yourself welcomed. Hopefully, the tribe you choose will be worthy of you, and if it is not, then you can re-shape it so that it becomes something greater and more beautiful than when you first approached it. All tribes, no matter how sickly and forcibly contorted they are in today's society, secretly want to be healthy and happy and vibrant!
We ALL have this power to affect our world!
For the most part, formal education is a practice in creating submissive meat cows for the dark system. --Living your Light is the way you can transcend the feeding cycle.
-FL
Flukes don't happen. Those who are honestly striving to live their light will contact the right people and events at the right time. That's how the Universe works. The trick is having self-knowledge and faith enough to create and utilize opportunity. Remember; it is a falsehood to say that Opportunity knocks quietly and but once. In truth, Opportunity is pounding at the door all the time!
What would be better? For millions to fail and end up hungry or for them to put in their time, hard work and dedication to end up better selves.
Bettering yourself can be done in many, many more places than the narrow halls of 'formal education'.
Failure only happens when you are not honest with yourself and do not put in the work to grow as necessary.
-FL
Is knowledge not available to any who seek with enough passion and drive?
You say that, "I'm really not learning anything horibly new I couldn't learn on my own", but then a sentence later you tell us that, "And there is a lot about "Computer Science" I would have never learned on my own."
You seem to be unclear in your convictions. I would suggest that your first statement is the true one while the second is the lie you tell yourself in order to feel better.
"I want to be able to teach Computer Science. That's what I've always wanted to do."
This is good, but why would you want to teach within an education system you clearly do not respect? Here is a little known secret: There are ALWAYS alternative solutions to ALL problems; they simply require imaginative thinking in order to be found. This can be done by engaging your passion and your internal light. There are other ways to share the knowledge which interests you, and be rewarded and valued for doing so, without all of the foolish hoop jumping which is clearly depressing for you.
I am sorry to prod in such difficult areas, and I only wish you the very best of luck!
-FL
If you allow the system to dictate and define what it means to be employed and make a living, then you will have to submit to the system's rules. I encourage everybody to reject all of that. There are a million ways to live a happy, effective life which don't involve HR departments and meaningless hoop-jumping.
I'd offer the following advice to any who ask: Determine what your passion is in life, figure out a way to express it effectively, and to go out and do it. Make up your own game and ignore the system rules. The Universe will help you! When you are on your path, things just naturally fall into place. Only the System will tell you otherwise.
Magic is real, and it's not really magic. We are all free.
-FL
It sounds to me like you'd achieved all of those things on your own terms before reaching the standard finish line. I'd have hopped off the scholastic treadmill at that point. In the future, when it comes time to living your light, practical portfolios of direct experience far outweigh diplomas!
Luckily, you're beyond the question now! I wish you well on your journey!
-FL
Yes they are. They just happened to see through the lie, which is that only some people have light within them.
We ALL have light within us which is meant to be expressed. We are simply taught to ignore this part of ourselves. We are taught that the world is a mean place which only rewards submissive behavior, (following rules). It tries to punish the Gates and the Dells and the Jobs of the world, and when it fails, it labels them as being somehow superior in a way which most people are not. This is a lie! We are all special and unique, and if we all followed our passions in life, the world would work without so much needless misery and waste.
-FL
Being 'average' is a product of one's choices. Or you can choose to express your uniqueness. If you do, the Universe will help you in extraordinary ways which seem like magic! Or you can choose to believe the programming pushed on you at school, and believe you are a shmuck who does not deserve to lead a powerful, wonderful life.
Love yourself, have faith in your passion, and get going!
Universities seem like a good idea on paper but they are not so great when it comes to execution. Most of the really successful people I know in life left school early or never bothered going in the first place.
I am pretty sure, that Apple Corp. HR is looking for resumes with high credentials. In fact, I would not be surprized if today's computerised HR systems would send to trash automatically the "drop-out" resumes. Maybe S. Jobs or the HR director at Apple can confirm or deny this.
I would venture to guess that working for Apple Corp is not a path of passion, but rather a path of submission, and being submissive, accepting the rules of how one is to lead one's life, is what school teaches. Having to 'get a job' is a lie. It is entirely possible to live without wearing a leash and be part of a chain gang.
Why not start your own computer company? Innovate through passion and create! --If you are truly meant to find work with a big computer company, then you will find work with a big computer company regardless of what the HR staff thinks or approves of. The Universe doesn't care about resumes. The Universe rewards faith in oneselve, and the following of one's light.
Other professions (law, medicine, etc.) simply deny any right to even "give it a try" without formal diplomas - regardless of how geniuos one might be.
Law? In essence, law is about helping people get along and resolve conflict. There are many ways to be involved in this than to 'be a lawyer'! --The dark side of law is about following ego and greed, which are false impressions of true passion, and so of course they are closely linked to school.
Medicine? Actually, there are plenty of practicing healers who don't have formal diplomas, and some of them do a far better job than the drug sales people we call medical professionals.
There are many, many artificial boundaries and rules in this world, none of which should be followed without careful consideration.
-FL
The key here is exactly as you put it, "The layman home buyer". --I am tired of having my life and creative freedom curtailed because most people choose not to empower themselves. I want to build my OWN house. --This means, I am taking the time to research house construction, and I will hire some skilled labor to help me out. If people feel the need for building codes to protect them, then they can have them, and such houses can be labeled 'Government Certified'. They can get an insurance break. (I don't need or want insurance, either, thank-you very much.) There are ways to create these rules and laws which would offer 'protection' to those who want it, and allow those like me to waive it all so I can get on with my life and build it however I choose to.
You know, if there's a law that says you have to be grid-connected, that doesn't mean you actually have to use that connection.
Actually, it's not that simple. I know a couple who were told it would cost them $15,000 just to have the power company sink poles and run cable up to their house, which is set back about 600 meters from the road in a stand of woods. They would rather spend $15,000 on solar panels and electronics than pay the power company to connect them to the grid.
As for a straw-bale house, I'd imagine that such a thing would be completely engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds if a fire broke out. There's probably a reason why they won't let you build one.
There are some Straw Bale houses which have stood for over a thousand years. --The straw itself is plastered over with mud/concrete on the inside and outside of the structure so that it is not even visible, and thus offers almost no danger of fire. The insulative qualities of straw bale are generally superior to even the 'high tech' materials in most modern buildings. And such houses are fast, sturdy and much less expensive to build.
The reason the government doesn't want people building alternative housing, is that it makes people free. --With clever design, NO money needs to be spent on oil-based utilities. Geo-thermal energy can heat a house for free, (minus the start-up costs), forever, and a good bank of solar cells and chemical batteries can provide all the electricity you could ever need. If everybody had a house built this way, the power utilities would go broke and they know it. The government is a tool used to protect their line of profit.
-FL
-Tacitus
Government is already too invasive. I'm already forced to seek a building permit before I can erect a structure on my own property. The fines for ignoring this, (and say, having the gall to build a solar powered house which is not connected to the AC power grid, or (horrors!) a straw-bale house), are huge and the government's reasons for these laws are utterly ridiculous.
Any professor who suggests that we should be looking to monitor email content is not thinking clearly. The Government already has their nose in everything, and telling us that, "It's For Our Own Good," is NOT a valid excuse.
It's MUCH more important that people be able to make mistakes -and even die through their own faults- than live ensnared in the safe-keeping of a bunch of ignorant civil servants who are trying to build a Starfleet future where everybody dresses the same, and nobody is allowed to think or act outside a bunch of pre-set 'safe' boundaries designed for middle-class suburbanites who exist in eternal ignorance of the real world, who actually believe in the Discovery Channel, who drink milk, and live in absolute terror of anything you can't experience beyond the confines of a nice, respectable department store.
-FL
of a sinister shadow lurking, waiting to enslave us all is childish and should be left
at the movies.
The reason you find it hard to believe is that you are probably a human who wouldn't knowingly harm others for personal gain. However. . , it is entirely probable that the same kind of psychopathic behavior which led to the collapse of Enron and the trillion-dollar piracy which devastated more than 20 other huge corporations in the same six month period is also comfortably installed in the halls of government.
There are monsters out there, they lie amazingly well, have enormous charisma, and they are naturally drawn to and vie for positions of power from which to inflict their misery and chaos upon the world. Psychopathy is not a myth. It is a medically proven reality, and it is active in the world right now.
This does not mean that ALL of the government is bad. But it does mean that the highest seats of power are almost certainly occupied by a number of individuals with no compassion or ethics and who are hell-bent on torturing the world. Judge the tree by the fruit it bears!
Bush's weird speach and dialogue problems are typical of the psychopathic mind. Psychopaths who have been caught and studied illustrate this. Look it up. There's a lot of information for those who are willing to learn.
Either directly or indirectly a portion of the American government orchestrated the attack on 9-11 specifically to create the current situation.
Everybody has heard this before, and anybody who bothers to investigate the matter properly, (that is, beyond reading poorly researched and outright false articles in Popular Science, will come to the same conclusion. --If they have the courage to overcome the mountains of state-installed mind-programming and look the beast in the face without flinching.
-FL
But for your benefit, here's a quick run-down of the reasons why some people are concerned. .
During the warming-up period of a fascist state, newly acquired powers are not immediately or broadly abused. This is to prevent difficulties in placing even more dangerous powers into being.
Currently, we are in the phase of the placement of the new laws and the raising of everybody's comfort level regarding things like tanks in NY streets.
We can look to things like nation-wide tests of the new population control systems, such as Project Falcon, as later stages in the warm-up period. --Note that the new powers of co-ordinated arrests had nothing to do with 'terrorists', but were directed inwards at US citizenry. As always, there is a semi-reasonable excuse behind this action. "They all had warrants!" But the fact remains that such an action would have been inconceivable even only five years ago. Today it happened with little notice. That's how it works.
The big step we're all nervously waiting to see manifest is another staged 'terrorist' attack on US soil, during which the arrest sweeps will begin in earnest of non-criminals and general trouble-makers who threaten the new system by questioning it.
Slashdotters won't be in trouble until that point. But you are certainly free to pretend that everything is fine until that moment, when it will be too late to act.
Regular people are basically murmuring and screwing up the courage to leave the US. Most won't, and will trust in their luck to ride the waves of fascism and fear and the eventual real attacks from other nations anxious to stop the spread of American imperialism.
-FL
It's a good thing you've never once in your life needed help, compassion or time to grow up and get your act together.
Those who strictly believe in the survival of the fittest with no shades of gray have been sold a faulty bill of goods without thinking it through carefully enough. If the fittest were the most worthy of survival, then sharks and psychopaths should be given the world without complaint or resistance since they are un-hindered by such weaknesses as emotions, compassion, and ethics which prevent others from defining and dominating the food chain.
-FL
Well, that's certainly the argument many of us have been sold, and it in many situations it is certainly an effective approach, particularly in the exploration of material reality. But it is by no means the only or the final answer despite the ever-present sales pitch to the contrary.
In the area of consciousness and spirit, the journey is personal. Simple as that. There is no necessity to prove any claims since the approval of others is entirely irrelevant.
Those who wait for a larger public authority to sanction their personal search will wait indefinitely, and remain stuck within the limits of the material. Consider that statement!
--When trying to find your Soul, you must have a strong belief in your own convictions regardless of public opinion and public approval; you must be able to believe in yourself in order to believe in yourself.
As for the whole burden of proof argument, here's a for-instance. .
Now, what difference does it make to me if the rooted adult does not want to believe in turtles or bother walking over to look for himself? Why should I go to any effort at all to prove that I experienced something special? What benefit is there to me, as I have already had the experience and have been enriched by it? --Certainly, it would be nice if the adult were to grow and gain from a similar experience, but I am certainly not under any obligation to push. Let the adult stay in his comfortable although limited bubble where turtles remain mere fables. For my part, the Turtle is enough. I do not crave the approval of rooted adults, and those who do will always be under the control of those who dispense approval.
A witness who has gained a powerful insight but who is scared of submitting his insight to criticsm or review should really question why they think they are right and are worried about why they think everyone else may disagree.
Scared? Hm. . . While ridicule from the biased is never pleasant, Fear of it is primarily a barrier only to those who are already under its control. Those who have attained freedom did so by ignoring the 'dangers' of being laughed at. They have overcome the fear of not conforming. This is an important early step everybody must take before it is possible to find one's soul.
And just for the record, I'd like to make it clear that I do not fear alternate opinions or criticisms or being laughed at. Indeed, I've already said I'd be willing to tell about my explorations, and I have done so many times in the past. It can certainly be an interesting exercise, though, as I have said, it is also an ultimately pointless exercise as my experiences are my own and cannot be proven to have happened. They hold no validity to anybody but me.
-FL
This is the part I found interesting. --Minus the sensationalist hype.
Should we really be surprised to see this kind of behavior pattern in a society which rigorously punishes people for trying to be unique individuals, for having the gall to actually try to maintain any kind of self-love and respect?
Men are expected to stand out, to express themselves in order to gain power in this world, so of course they are going to have problems when they are forced to grow up under the confines of a no-win situation. I'm not surprised at all that so many of them give up and opt out. Relationships require self-confidence and a wide variety of dynamic social skills which are certainly not taught by punishing people for stepping out of line to experiment with their lives when they are kids.
The retreat into fantasy of a million working-age males isn't their fault. It's the fault of a seriously messed up society.
"The nail which stands up will be hammered down."
Ugh. There are many types of population control and herding in effect in the world, but this particular one really steams me.
-FL
No, interestingly, it really wouldn't. Knowledge is always more powerful when it is won for oneself rather than given, especially in this case. This is not to say that I would necessarily be averse to telling you about my own personal explorations into the subject, but they would be of little use to you. My experiences can only ever be stories to you, unverifiable to anybody but me. You need to find your own path and your own experiences for any decisions you make about what you will and will not believe to hold any power.
I find it interesting that True things do not need constant repeating in order to remain true, while Falsehoods must be constantly repeated to remain powerful. It is possible to spot lies by the constancy and insistence with which they are repeated.
One such falsehood is propagated by the ever-present fictional court-room drama in our media, that the burden of proof automatically lies upon the shoulders of the claimant. --It is interesting that when exploring matters of consciousness, awareness and the non-material world, such a system fails. But if everybody believes that the burden of proof lies with the claimant, then nobody will ever search. It is a tidy way to lock people into limited thought and behavior patterns.
A witness who has gained a powerful insight is under no obligation to share it, much less stand on trial for the benefit of others. These are personal journeys. The evidence is there, it is different for each person, and when you find it, you will almost certainly not be able to share it directly with others.
-FL
Trying hard enough is required for any pursuit, but being properly convinced does indeed require worthy evidence, of which there is plenty. So no, your interpretation of my words is not at all accurate.
What is a soul? What kind of evidence would be convincing to you?
-FL
I must respectfully disagree. I do not encourage wishful thinking. If I had only one sentence to work with, (and thankfully, I did not), I'd have said something like, "Proof of the soul may only be found by each individual alone, the task being possible through the use of the amazing faculties of awareness and thought each of us is equipped with."
Proof of Awareness is one of the oldest logic problems in philosophy. It is generally agreed that it is logically impossible to prove to another that one is aware, since nobody can prove that the universe is not an artifical construct which only the observer experiences. All you can ever do is prove to yourself that you are aware.
Proving the existence of the Soul to yourself is somewhat more complex than merely proving awareness, which is self-evident ("I think, therefore I exist"). It can be done, however, once you start trying to work out what the soul is exactly, what it is made from, and how it connects to and interacts with the rest of the Universe. Those questions have answers, and they have nothing to do with desire and fear and wishful thinking. This has to do with logical deductions leading from direct experiences available to anybody, and from imaginative questions designed to test reality.
After all. . . How can one offer evidence for the Soul without there first being a definition offered? Start there, and move outward.
Interestingly. . , once one has proven to oneself the existence of the Soul, it becomes possible to determine whether or not another person has a soul. The building blocks need to be discovered first.
-FL
Perhaps you are reading selectively? --A good deal of energy and thought was spent constructing my previous post so that I would be expressing myself as clearly as possible using clean English. (Although I did mis-spell the word 'rationalities' in one paragraph with an 'n').
Still, to interpret my efforts as a, 'sea of nonsense' when I was making an earnest effort to communicate what I see as a clear picture, suggests that either you are deliberately mis-understanding, or that there are perhaps blocks in your ability to perceive. (Which, incidentally, is directly connected to this whole subject.)
Finding evidence of the soul is one of the chief challenges of existing in this reality, and it is a challenge which must in the beginning be faced alone by each individual until the concept of 'alone' is suddenly recognized as irrelevant. Once you have found evidence, further growth is very fast and a vast array of perceptive abilities and qualities of reality start to become available to you. There is great power in this!
Use your imagination and work from there. How might one test for such a thing? Think of experiments and logical conclusions which might assist in your exploration. If you are offered the answers directly, they will be of little use to you. You must build your own definitions, make your own calculations and theories and then perform your own tests. In doing so, you will also build up your understanding of reality and how it works as well as acquire the tools you will need for further growth.
Unfounded belief that, 'No Such Thing Exists,' is an article of faith no more rational than that of the True Believer. Not seeing evidence does not mean that no evidence exists. It is there if you choose to find it.
-FL