The issue there is that you can have a disclaimer which says that none of these claims have been evaluated, even if it's not actually legible due the the TV screen resolution.
A disclaimer that is non-legible is not a disclaimer. If it didn't have to be legible, they could just flash it for one frame.
Thanks to the Reagan administration, IIRC, advertising for medications is OK. You can also say whatever you want, as long as there's technically a disclaimer included, even if it's too long or small to be read.
If it's a bonna fide medicine, they have to say the disclaimers that the FDA requires they say. All the commericals I've seen have had perfectly legible disclaimers, one after the other, while the program was playing.
The infinity razer springs to mind
Actually, their ads state they will give you them at "no" cost -- plus shipping and handling.
I think there was a Constitutional amendment a few years back that gave all corporations the right to fuck consumers
Actually, it was in the Constitution. Article I, Section 10. "No state shall... pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts".
They can fuck you any way they want, so long as it's in the contract. You have the responsibility to read, understand, and use the courts to enforce any contract you enter.
I mean, now Congress is trying to pass a law that gives our phone company immunity for breaking the law designed to protect us.
Congress wants to pass a law that extends the FISA court, and grants civil (not criminal!) immunity to any telecommunications company that did what the government told them to do. In fact, there's even an express time limit on this provision of the bill -- "authorized by the President during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on January 17, 2007;" (link)
If the President breaks the law, we vote him out of office or impeach him. If the President's men break the law because he told them to, and we don't impeach the president, then he can just pardon them. And you can't sue either one in the courts. That's what the AG's are for.
Why the hell should a private company be the only one holding the bag for a wrong done to someone, at the behest of the President of the United States?
In some countries, it's illegal to use the word "free" if it is contingent on making a payment, for anything, at any time.
That's what we here in the United States call an "unwarranted abridgement of free speech."
In some other countries, you can't say "The Queen is a whore" or "Islam sucks", either. Me, I'll take the squirrelly advertising to preserve my near-absolute freedom of expression, thank you very much.
Back in the fricking' BETA, Vista would run fairly sluggishly for the first day or so, as it indexed every file you've got. Then, it ran more or less at a constant speed.
If you want to give Vista a test, give it at LEAST a week.
Now, it runs great, and uses about 2/3 the ram that was being consumed by Vista
Wait... you know enough to check the RAM, but not enough to do a google search for Vista using too much ram?.
(Hint: Vista is your memory manager. Why should it waste cycles loading and un-loading files so you can have "free" ram when it can just, you know, keep some in memory until a program actually asks for the space?)
How do they fix it? No idea. They need a new OS. Not the one they've been promising for 5 years, something new, and good. But at this point, you have to beat Apple (ha!), Microsoft (plenty of investment), RIM (took what could have been Palm's market), plus every other cell phone company.
0: Look up "Palm OS Nova" on the Google. the Folio was killed last year precisely because it wasn't going to be the same OS as the PDAs. Nova fixes that.
1: Apple? The iPod is a music player first, and PDA second. The iPhone is a phone, then music player, then PDA. Wake me up when I can attach a keyboard, sync the calendar + contacts + to-do + memo two-way to my PC, and get music or videos from anywhere to play on it.
2; Yeah, Microsoft is the boogey-man. But Windows Mobile is still Windows, and can be out-done by a good enough UI. Note how Palm still manages to sell an ancient OS.
3: RIM sells smartphones, not PDAs. Palm sells both. All they need to do if they want to end-run around RIM is, well, be Palm.
4: Symbian OS is a joke, and I haven't heard enough about Android to know if it's a worry for anyone but symbian. And that's Palm's competition. Not Motorola or Sony or the like. Just the OS.
Frankly, I think they're gone. It's just time. I don't know if anyone could bring it back.
Palm was gone a year ago, when the Folio happened. To recover from a gaff like that--invent the cheap Linux mini-laptop catagory and then fail to sell a single unit!--requires new blood and several years.
They got new blood, and it's not even been a full year yet. I'm cautiously optimistic about Palm pulling off a hail mary over the next few years. Short of Apple releasing a $200 WiFi/Bluetooth PDA, I don't see anything from anyone that would knock Palm's plans out of the park.
They've got a pretty strict monopoly on stuff for the Palm, and they'll charge you for anything. There's nothing free in the world of the Palm.
What are you, paid by Motorola?
I went five years never buying software for my palm -- because I could get all I needed for free. And now that I do buy some software, I almost always have at least two strong competitors for what I want to pick up. As often as not, I can get free-as-in-beer or OSS software for it.
On my TX right now, beyond the basic:
AudiblePlayer (for audiobooks)
PocketTunes
Documents To Go (reads Office 2007 files better than OOo, and works better than PocketWord!)
TCPMP 0.66 -- GPL'd and plays TiVo's videos. CorePlayer is a non-GPL'd release of the same thing, with built-in AAC support.
Filez -- an OLD OOS file manager.
Google Maps, and a LiveJournal client.
"Eat Watch", the hacker's diet custom weight log.
HandDBase 3 -- a simple database program
HandyShopper -- a free as in beer shopping list program
And a whole bunch of games from PDAmill, a company that went out of business because it's games were too "non-palm" to sell well enough.
And beyond the list above, there's software to use the Palm as a remote control, emulate video game consoles, and connect to a windows desktop via desktop-sharing.
What the hell do you want to do with your PDA that Palm doesn't have software for? (And, for that matter, have you ever wondered why the biggest release for any new PDA platform, from PocketPC to Nokia's Linux things, is a Palm OS emulator?)
The hardware is fine, but there's no software to do what I want to do with it.
Until then, they're going to get raped by the PocketPC, because it has a more open platform, and the Blackberry, because it does the few things anyone cares about better.
The Palm Hardware is NOT fine. Why did the LifeDrive have only 32 MB of ram? Why doesn't the TX have a microphone OR a vibrating alarm? Why do my TX, my Treo 600, my friend's Centro, and my old zire 71 all use ENTIRELY different power and accessory connectors?
If PocketPC is ahead in the market, it's simply because they've gotten better hardware and newer releases. Palm hasn't released a new PDA in three years. THREE YEARS! And the darn things still make up 10% of their sales volume.
On a completely unrelated note, Palm is opening their platform in the only way they can, thanks to the most bone-headed management call a company can make. ("Palm OS" is no longer owned by Palm, y'know) They're going to have a Linux-based PDA OS out next year, code-named "Nova", and they'll either return to glory to sink to obscurity based on that.
Wake me when someone acts against real estate agents who are supposed to be representing the buyers stop getting commissions paid by the sellers. This is an obvious and massive conflict of interest. Real estate agents exist to match buyers and sellers. Technically, you both hire one -- and it's only a potential conflict of interest if your actual agent shows you a house she also acts as the seller's agent for.
Which is why you may want to hire your own inspector and lawyer.
And before anyone tells me that a realtor is necessary -- I bought a house in the US (for several hundred thousand dollars) with no agents involved on either side of the deal. I bought a T-Shirt without ever leaving my home. Are you saying Wal-Mart is unnecessary?
Hold on...
Besides, they ask a lot of [A]merican [focused] questions[. I]f I don't know the animals in [E]nglish, I'm [-] screwed, if I don't know the states of the United States[,] I'm [-] screwed.
This is in no way fair for people from Mexico[,] like [myself,] or from any other place. You're right. You are already screwed. But it wasn't the test that screwed you.
I really wish that I could take another view of this, but in a time where ID can be entertained by anybody as scientific when even at the most basic level it's problematic(As somebody else pointed out elsewhere an intelligent being would not design something as complicated as a person, complexity is just not the sign of a well designed anything), I'd be naive to believe otherwise. Psst. Most of the greatest scientists in history believed in Intelligent Design.
I'm just saying, mere belief in a religion does not make someone incapable of science.
5 reasons a geek should buy Vista, off the top of my head:
* 4 GB of memory supported on 32-bit Vista. * Backup to DVD-R or CD-R * MUCH better Wi-Fi control * Restore Points can be set for user files, not just system files * New UI technique -- hit windows key, type the name of your file or program, and hit enter. (The upgraded Explorer has a whole bunch of new and useful bits, but this is the one I miss the most from the Beta.)
If I could upgrade the three PCs my wife and I have for less than $100 total, I'd do it. But since I can't, Vista isn't worth the upgrade price -- but I wouldn't shy away from it if I were purchasing a new computer.
Even if she has to use Windows for something work related, if she's doing anything where she wants privacy, what's wrong with a LiveCD? It's Linux, that's what. Our poster already asked his "friend" that option, and it was rejected for some existing reason.
If they work things out, you are the guy who tried to help her get out of the marriage. For what it's worth -- be aware that interference in someone else's marriage is a tort in some states. Which means that, if alleged in court, the other spouse can sue you for damages.
Do you want to wind up in court and potentially paying for someone else's divorce? (To say nothing of a charge of adultery, which is still a crime in some states and can conceivably lead to jail time.)
Honestly, if you're at the point in a relationship where you're spying on each other, it's time to just throw in the towel and find a partner you can trust. Maybe, maybe not.
For all we know, this elaborate game of deception and control is foreplay for this couple. While it's definitely time to ask if this is the kind of relationship BeeazleBub's "friend" wants to be in, the answer is not an automatic "no".
Marriage is "til death do you part", not "until we aren't happy anymore." If you want the latter, don't get married, just live together and, if one "spouse" stays home, considering getting a lawyer and specifying the terms of the "contract." (trust me -- it'll be cheaper than paying for the eventual divorce.)
Dark matter is non-interacting. It only exerts a gravitational force. No, not at all.
Dark Matter is a theoretical answer to "the universe has more matter than it looks like." If the universe, in fact, actually has more matter, then there's less, possibly zero, need for the hand-waving "Dark matter" theory.
Unless an astrophycisst (sic - lazy) has actual numbers as to what % of the total matter is "dark", we won't know what effect, if any, this discovery has on the dark-matter theory.
The idea of nuclear war has become something we've adapted to knowing of but not thinking about. Contemplating that even now, today, in 2008, one finger pushing the wrong button could send the warheads flying 1: Nuclear war still terrifies us. It terrified us after Hiroshima, and it terrifies us today. But we don't think about it too much.
2: Actually, it's one finger pressing several buttons. And usually turning a key. And in most cases, selecting a target.
if there is a beneficial affect from praying, then over a large sample it will differentiate between the praying and non-praying. To evaluate prayer requires a three-part test: did the individual pray, was their relationship with God sufficient to justify intercession, and did God intercede in the expected way.
Using statistics to measure prayer is like using statistics to measure requests to governors for parole excemption without being able to screen your applications for good behavior or political connections.
On the explaintation side, I have had a lengthy discussion with a pastor... [whose] premise was 'god was love' and although he used as much ambiguity as he could, the general premise seemed to be that he did not believe in a god as an entity Did you ask him that question, or just assume it from his emphasis on God's love?
Most pastors are not theologians, and it's complex to reconcile the premise of God with the apparent non-existence of miracles. But the truth is, neither miracles nor "God's existence as an entity" is a requirement of Christianity -- well, depending on how you define entity, that is.
But anyway, yes I'm happy to carry on the discussion, but I think we have exhausted the relevence to this this topic, so it is not the best place to do so:) Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you wish to -- [Slashdot-name]@gmail.com
Are you high? I not only never said that, I no more have a religion than a bald man has a hairstyle. You're just being intentionally offensive now. Either that or socially retarded. No, I'm just intentionally not following your hairstyle--I mean, religion.
To take your religion's parable a bit further, you're not a bald man. You're a man who shaved his head bald. I mean, unless you're trying to say that your religion is a mental defect.
I know that being called a religion is deeply offensive to Atheists. But being offended by a mere categorization is s your problem, not mine.
Anyway.
Atheism isn't about being enemies, you silly person. It's about lack of belief in supernatural entities, with an emphasis on those who are given credence for having broad powers of creation. I don't believe in a god or gods. No, Atheism is belief in the non-existance of deities. A simple "lack of belief" would treat them as a possible uncertainty.
I fear you really are this stupid. Let me put it another way:
YOU HAVE AN AFFIRMATIVE BELIEF THAT GODS DO NOT EXIST.
It's not something you have proof for. You don't have any scientific study that can conclusively prove that there isn't a six-foot high roman god walking around in Greece, dressed like an ordinary person and hiding his powers. You got to the point in your growth where every single member of our civilization gets to, asked yourself "is there a god", and you said no.
This puts you in an extreme minority in America, so you did what most extreme minorities do -- you took up the dogma and rhetoric of your chosen religion, and went from there.
What is it? The world is waiting. Are you REALLY this stupid?
I'm not going to go listing the evidence for a flat earth, an alien invasion, or JFK. If you're all all curious, it's there for the taking. You're just being an asshat.:)
The truth is there is no such thing as a spooky or scary weapon Actually, it's just the opposite. There's no such thing as a NON-spooky or scary weapon. If it's not a dangerous implement of death, it's not a weapon.
On further consideration...
The explaination you give is crap. If there was some sort of god being with that amount of power, who creates beings to fail, tortures his son/himself for this and says thats all ok then, all I ask is that you love me or I will send you to be tortured forever. What sort of immoral weirdo would consider this a being worthy of worship? I'll assume you want a serious answer. So, I'll give you one -- but in another comment. It's a big question, and deserves its own answer. (Plus I suspect you'll comment on the whole damn thing.) If you want a serious, honest answer, let me know and I'll give you one. If not, well, I've reached the point of "say the gospel", and the next step is up to you. Either you say "tell me more", or I shake the dust from my sandals and move along.
1: "beliefs" 2: No, Maybe, yes, more than you'd think. 3: Gospel time!
1: Excellent, I feel myself improving already.
Yay!
2: Indeed so? How so?
Allow me to specify, for clarity's sake.
So are all these people with their different believes right? (No) Are they all wrong? (Maybe) Is one particular view right? ((Yes)) Are they prepared to define it without eventually trying to redefine it under scrutiny? (more than you'd think)
Expand the third to "yes, there is one objective reality".
The second is, well, me defining my belief in a way that will not cause me to need to redefine it latter.
God exists. He created everything, and commanded us to behave justly and rightly. We all failed, and for this we deserve to burn in hell. But -- Good news! -- He loves us. So, he sent Jesus Christ to show us a better way, and Jesus died a rather painful death in the effort. If you do your best to live as Jesus showed you, and most importantly love Him and God, He'll keep you out of Hell and you'll live forever with Him (and, by extension, everyone else who loves Him.)
Skipping the unprovable or mystic variations, that's Christianity.
No, that's your take on it.
Yes, that's Christianity. It's my religion at its core, and I challenge you to find any Christian who disagrees with it. ("You left out X" does not count as disagreeing with it!)
Christianity is NOT "Jesus died for my sins." Not "Love thy neighbor." Not "all gays go to hell!" Just "God Exists, He Loves You, He'll get you out of Hell if you love Him back."
(Note that the hell construct is "deserve to", not "God will throw you in". Belief in a literal Hell is not necessary for Christianity, only some kind of punishment for sin, even if only as a naturally occurring consequence of our actions.)
Anyway.
The explaination you give is crap. If there was some sort of god being with that amount of power, who creates beings to fail, tortures his son/himself for this and says thats all ok then, all I ask is that you love me or I will send you to be tortured forever. What sort of immoral weirdo would consider this a being worthy of worship?
I'll assume you want a serious answer. So, I'll give you one -- but in another comment. It's a big question, and deserves its own answer. (Plus I suspect you'll comment on the whole damn thing.)
If you buy a lottery ticket, you might win a crazy amount of money. Statistically you won't -- but every few weeks, someone does.
I don't think you really understand statistics.
Said by the unfaithful, who was afraid to dream.
I didn't say the lottery ticket was a good investment, or that it was in any way rational to expect to ever profit or even have a friend or acquaintance profit.
I said that statistics are large scale, and do not dictate the course of an individual sample. Go take a course in statistics -- the basic theory declaims that supposition, and recognizes outliers and the long tail and all the other crazy things.
Or do you really have 2.5 kids and a dog?
Again, so praying is of no benefit - by what you say you are just as likely to benefit without praying.
Nope. You're thinking like a writer who thinks "boy, I just need to get lucky, and I'm a bestseller." Prayer is a request for God to break the rules of Creation for you. Just as with asking anyone to perform a task, statistics have far less to do with it than the nature of the task and your relationship with the person being asked.
So you like to pick-n-mix approach, and feel you have the knowledge to know which bits are supposed to be listened to, and which are 'wrong'?
Hell yes. Are you incapable of filtering out truth from fiction? Or understanding allegory? Or innuendo? It doesn't req
On a side note...
I insist on bringing non-existence into it because that's the state of evidence for the proposition that there is a god. None "None" would mean that there is no evidence of any kind that is ever valid for scientific verification. But there's a ton of evidence -- just none of it enough to scientifically prove God's existance. There's also evidence for a flat earth, alien invasion, and JFK's assassination. "No proof" is not the same as "no evidence".
I don't extend belief to propositions that are outside the realm of known physics That is your personal prerogative, and we're not discussing what qualifications YOU choose to determine your own, personal, belief. We're not even discussing the reasonable rules and standards of evidence for convincing someone else of the veracity of your beliefs.
The only topic we're engaged in is the possible states of "belief in divinity." We're not discussing who's right--we're only discussing what positions are possible for a person to wrongly hold.
I'm sure it's comforting dogma for an atheist like yourself to hold that your religion is the default state of mankind. Most religions have that as part of their dogma, and it's a good thing. But the logical fallacy that comes from that--"you're either with us or you're with our sworn enemy"--is no more true for Atheism that it is true for Fundamentalist Christianity and Satanism.
Slashdot Mirror
You're on the watch list? Wow.
Oh, you're not? Ok, then. Stop saying you are.
Sheesh.
The issue there is that you can have a disclaimer which says that none of these claims have been evaluated, even if it's not actually legible due the the TV screen resolution.
A disclaimer that is non-legible is not a disclaimer. If it didn't have to be legible, they could just flash it for one frame.
Thanks to the Reagan administration, IIRC, advertising for medications is OK. You can also say whatever you want, as long as there's technically a disclaimer included, even if it's too long or small to be read.
If it's a bonna fide medicine, they have to say the disclaimers that the FDA requires they say. All the commericals I've seen have had perfectly legible disclaimers, one after the other, while the program was playing.
The infinity razer springs to mind
Actually, their ads state they will give you them at "no" cost -- plus shipping and handling.
I'm surprised they haven't been sued yet.
I think there was a Constitutional amendment a few years back that gave all corporations the right to fuck consumers
Actually, it was in the Constitution. Article I, Section 10. "No state shall ... pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts".
They can fuck you any way they want, so long as it's in the contract. You have the responsibility to read, understand, and use the courts to enforce any contract you enter.
I mean, now Congress is trying to pass a law that gives our phone company immunity for breaking the law designed to protect us.
Congress wants to pass a law that extends the FISA court, and grants civil (not criminal!) immunity to any telecommunications company that did what the government told them to do. In fact, there's even an express time limit on this provision of the bill -- "authorized by the President during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on January 17, 2007;" (link)
If the President breaks the law, we vote him out of office or impeach him. If the President's men break the law because he told them to, and we don't impeach the president, then he can just pardon them. And you can't sue either one in the courts. That's what the AG's are for.
Why the hell should a private company be the only one holding the bag for a wrong done to someone, at the behest of the President of the United States?
In some countries, it's illegal to use the word "free" if it is contingent on making a payment, for anything, at any time.
That's what we here in the United States call an "unwarranted abridgement of free speech."
In some other countries, you can't say "The Queen is a whore" or "Islam sucks", either. Me, I'll take the squirrelly advertising to preserve my near-absolute freedom of expression, thank you very much.
I used it for about 4 hours
Stop.
Back in the fricking' BETA, Vista would run fairly sluggishly for the first day or so, as it indexed every file you've got. Then, it ran more or less at a constant speed.
If you want to give Vista a test, give it at LEAST a week.
Now, it runs great, and uses about 2/3 the ram that was being consumed by Vista
Wait... you know enough to check the RAM, but not enough to do a google search for Vista using too much ram?.
(Hint: Vista is your memory manager. Why should it waste cycles loading and un-loading files so you can have "free" ram when it can just, you know, keep some in memory until a program actually asks for the space?)
How do they fix it? No idea. They need a new OS. Not the one they've been promising for 5 years, something new, and good. But at this point, you have to beat Apple (ha!), Microsoft (plenty of investment), RIM (took what could have been Palm's market), plus every other cell phone company.
0: Look up "Palm OS Nova" on the Google. the Folio was killed last year precisely because it wasn't going to be the same OS as the PDAs. Nova fixes that.
1: Apple? The iPod is a music player first, and PDA second. The iPhone is a phone, then music player, then PDA. Wake me up when I can attach a keyboard, sync the calendar + contacts + to-do + memo two-way to my PC, and get music or videos from anywhere to play on it.
2; Yeah, Microsoft is the boogey-man. But Windows Mobile is still Windows, and can be out-done by a good enough UI. Note how Palm still manages to sell an ancient OS.
3: RIM sells smartphones, not PDAs. Palm sells both. All they need to do if they want to end-run around RIM is, well, be Palm.
4: Symbian OS is a joke, and I haven't heard enough about Android to know if it's a worry for anyone but symbian. And that's Palm's competition. Not Motorola or Sony or the like. Just the OS.
Frankly, I think they're gone. It's just time. I don't know if anyone could bring it back.
Palm was gone a year ago, when the Folio happened. To recover from a gaff like that--invent the cheap Linux mini-laptop catagory and then fail to sell a single unit!--requires new blood and several years.
They got new blood, and it's not even been a full year yet. I'm cautiously optimistic about Palm pulling off a hail mary over the next few years. Short of Apple releasing a $200 WiFi/Bluetooth PDA, I don't see anything from anyone that would knock Palm's plans out of the park.
They've got a pretty strict monopoly on stuff for the Palm, and they'll charge you for anything. There's nothing free in the world of the Palm.
What are you, paid by Motorola?
I went five years never buying software for my palm -- because I could get all I needed for free. And now that I do buy some software, I almost always have at least two strong competitors for what I want to pick up. As often as not, I can get free-as-in-beer or OSS software for it.
On my TX right now, beyond the basic:
AudiblePlayer (for audiobooks)
PocketTunes
Documents To Go (reads Office 2007 files better than OOo, and works better than PocketWord!)
TCPMP 0.66 -- GPL'd and plays TiVo's videos. CorePlayer is a non-GPL'd release of the same thing, with built-in AAC support.
Filez -- an OLD OOS file manager.
Google Maps, and a LiveJournal client.
"Eat Watch", the hacker's diet custom weight log.
HandDBase 3 -- a simple database program
HandyShopper -- a free as in beer shopping list program
And a whole bunch of games from PDAmill, a company that went out of business because it's games were too "non-palm" to sell well enough.
And beyond the list above, there's software to use the Palm as a remote control, emulate video game consoles, and connect to a windows desktop via desktop-sharing.
What the hell do you want to do with your PDA that Palm doesn't have software for? (And, for that matter, have you ever wondered why the biggest release for any new PDA platform, from PocketPC to Nokia's Linux things, is a Palm OS emulator?)
The hardware is fine, but there's no software to do what I want to do with it.
Until then, they're going to get raped by the PocketPC, because it has a more open platform, and the Blackberry, because it does the few things anyone cares about better.
The Palm Hardware is NOT fine. Why did the LifeDrive have only 32 MB of ram? Why doesn't the TX have a microphone OR a vibrating alarm? Why do my TX, my Treo 600, my friend's Centro, and my old zire 71 all use ENTIRELY different power and accessory connectors?
If PocketPC is ahead in the market, it's simply because they've gotten better hardware and newer releases. Palm hasn't released a new PDA in three years. THREE YEARS! And the darn things still make up 10% of their sales volume.
On a completely unrelated note, Palm is opening their platform in the only way they can, thanks to the most bone-headed management call a company can make. ("Palm OS" is no longer owned by Palm, y'know) They're going to have a Linux-based PDA OS out next year, code-named "Nova", and they'll either return to glory to sink to obscurity based on that.
Which is why you may want to hire your own inspector and lawyer. And before anyone tells me that a realtor is necessary -- I bought a house in the US (for several hundred thousand dollars) with no agents involved on either side of the deal. I bought a T-Shirt without ever leaving my home. Are you saying Wal-Mart is unnecessary?
This is in no way fair for people from Mexico[,] like [myself,] or from any other place. You're right. You are already screwed. But it wasn't the test that screwed you.
I'm just saying, mere belief in a religion does not make someone incapable of science.
5 reasons a geek should buy Vista, off the top of my head:
* 4 GB of memory supported on 32-bit Vista.
* Backup to DVD-R or CD-R
* MUCH better Wi-Fi control
* Restore Points can be set for user files, not just system files
* New UI technique -- hit windows key, type the name of your file or program, and hit enter. (The upgraded Explorer has a whole bunch of new and useful bits, but this is the one I miss the most from the Beta.)
If I could upgrade the three PCs my wife and I have for less than $100 total, I'd do it. But since I can't, Vista isn't worth the upgrade price -- but I wouldn't shy away from it if I were purchasing a new computer.
Let me guess: you're single?
"Trust" means "I trust that I know my partner, and know what they are capable of and what they can be relied upon."
It does NOT mean "I trust my partner to do X."
For example, my wife can't trust me to take out the trash, and I can't trust her to change the oil in our car. Does that mean we should get a divorce?
Do you want to wind up in court and potentially paying for someone else's divorce? (To say nothing of a charge of adultery, which is still a crime in some states and can conceivably lead to jail time.)
For all we know, this elaborate game of deception and control is foreplay for this couple. While it's definitely time to ask if this is the kind of relationship BeeazleBub's "friend" wants to be in, the answer is not an automatic "no".
Marriage is "til death do you part", not "until we aren't happy anymore." If you want the latter, don't get married, just live together and, if one "spouse" stays home, considering getting a lawyer and specifying the terms of the "contract." (trust me -- it'll be cheaper than paying for the eventual divorce.)
Dark Matter is a theoretical answer to "the universe has more matter than it looks like." If the universe, in fact, actually has more matter, then there's less, possibly zero, need for the hand-waving "Dark matter" theory.
Unless an astrophycisst (sic - lazy) has actual numbers as to what % of the total matter is "dark", we won't know what effect, if any, this discovery has on the dark-matter theory.
2: Actually, it's one finger pressing several buttons. And usually turning a key. And in most cases, selecting a target.
Using statistics to measure prayer is like using statistics to measure requests to governors for parole excemption without being able to screen your applications for good behavior or political connections. On the explaintation side, I have had a lengthy discussion with a pastor
Most pastors are not theologians, and it's complex to reconcile the premise of God with the apparent non-existence of miracles. But the truth is, neither miracles nor "God's existence as an entity" is a requirement of Christianity -- well, depending on how you define entity, that is. But anyway, yes I'm happy to carry on the discussion, but I think we have exhausted the relevence to this this topic, so it is not the best place to do so
To take your religion's parable a bit further, you're not a bald man. You're a man who shaved his head bald. I mean, unless you're trying to say that your religion is a mental defect.
I know that being called a religion is deeply offensive to Atheists. But being offended by a mere categorization is s your problem, not mine.
Anyway. Atheism isn't about being enemies, you silly person. It's about lack of belief in supernatural entities, with an emphasis on those who are given credence for having broad powers of creation. I don't believe in a god or gods. No, Atheism is belief in the non-existance of deities. A simple "lack of belief" would treat them as a possible uncertainty.
I fear you really are this stupid. Let me put it another way:
YOU HAVE AN AFFIRMATIVE BELIEF THAT GODS DO NOT EXIST.
It's not something you have proof for. You don't have any scientific study that can conclusively prove that there isn't a six-foot high roman god walking around in Greece, dressed like an ordinary person and hiding his powers. You got to the point in your growth where every single member of our civilization gets to, asked yourself "is there a god", and you said no.
This puts you in an extreme minority in America, so you did what most extreme minorities do -- you took up the dogma and rhetoric of your chosen religion, and went from there.
I'm not going to go listing the evidence for a flat earth, an alien invasion, or JFK. If you're all all curious, it's there for the taking. You're just being an asshat.
1: "beliefs"
2: No, Maybe, yes, more than you'd think.
3: Gospel time!
1: Excellent, I feel myself improving already.
Yay!
2: Indeed so? How so?
Allow me to specify, for clarity's sake.
So are all these people with their different believes right? (No) Are they all wrong? (Maybe) Is one particular view right? ((Yes)) Are they prepared to define it without eventually trying to redefine it under scrutiny? (more than you'd think)
Expand the third to "yes, there is one objective reality".
The second is, well, me defining my belief in a way that will not cause me to need to redefine it latter.
God exists. He created everything, and commanded us to behave justly and rightly. We all failed, and for this we deserve to burn in hell. But -- Good news! -- He loves us. So, he sent Jesus Christ to show us a better way, and Jesus died a rather painful death in the effort. If you do your best to live as Jesus showed you, and most importantly love Him and God, He'll keep you out of Hell and you'll live forever with Him (and, by extension, everyone else who loves Him.)
Skipping the unprovable or mystic variations, that's Christianity.
No, that's your take on it.
Yes, that's Christianity. It's my religion at its core, and I challenge you to find any Christian who disagrees with it. ("You left out X" does not count as disagreeing with it!)
Christianity is NOT "Jesus died for my sins." Not "Love thy neighbor." Not "all gays go to hell!" Just "God Exists, He Loves You, He'll get you out of Hell if you love Him back."
(Note that the hell construct is "deserve to", not "God will throw you in". Belief in a literal Hell is not necessary for Christianity, only some kind of punishment for sin, even if only as a naturally occurring consequence of our actions.)
Anyway.
The explaination you give is crap. If there was some sort of god being with that amount of power, who creates beings to fail, tortures his son/himself for this and says thats all ok then, all I ask is that you love me or I will send you to be tortured forever. What sort of immoral weirdo would consider this a being worthy of worship?
I'll assume you want a serious answer. So, I'll give you one -- but in another comment. It's a big question, and deserves its own answer. (Plus I suspect you'll comment on the whole damn thing.)
If you buy a lottery ticket, you might win a crazy amount of money. Statistically you won't -- but every few weeks, someone does.
I don't think you really understand statistics.
Said by the unfaithful, who was afraid to dream.
I didn't say the lottery ticket was a good investment, or that it was in any way rational to expect to ever profit or even have a friend or acquaintance profit.
I said that statistics are large scale, and do not dictate the course of an individual sample. Go take a course in statistics -- the basic theory declaims that supposition, and recognizes outliers and the long tail and all the other crazy things.
Or do you really have 2.5 kids and a dog?
Again, so praying is of no benefit - by what you say you are just as likely to benefit without praying.
Nope. You're thinking like a writer who thinks "boy, I just need to get lucky, and I'm a bestseller." Prayer is a request for God to break the rules of Creation for you. Just as with asking anyone to perform a task, statistics have far less to do with it than the nature of the task and your relationship with the person being asked.
So you like to pick-n-mix approach, and feel you have the knowledge to know which bits are supposed to be listened to, and which are 'wrong'?
Hell yes. Are you incapable of filtering out truth from fiction? Or understanding allegory? Or innuendo? It doesn't req
The only topic we're engaged in is the possible states of "belief in divinity." We're not discussing who's right--we're only discussing what positions are possible for a person to wrongly hold.
I'm sure it's comforting dogma for an atheist like yourself to hold that your religion is the default state of mankind. Most religions have that as part of their dogma, and it's a good thing. But the logical fallacy that comes from that--"you're either with us or you're with our sworn enemy"--is no more true for Atheism that it is true for Fundamentalist Christianity and Satanism.