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User: Grishnakh

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  1. It's non-trivial based on our current understanding of physics, but we're so primitive we've barely even left our own planet, so I don't put much faith in our understanding of physics being complete. We still haven't reconciled General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. The problem with the Ancient Alien theory is that there just isn't any good *supporting* evidence. It does make for a nice-sounding though farfetched hypothesis as to how humans might have invented various religions, but again other than crazy religious texts making wild claims about supernatural phenomena, and trying to explain it away with this ET stuff, there just isn't any evidence. But still, it's more plausible than that supernatural stuff (gods, demons, angels, etc.) actually being real. Biological beings from another planet with highly advanced technology not understood by primitive peoples is still more believable than what major religions claim is real. So, the way I see it, while I don't really believe either one, the guy who spouts ancient alien theories is less of a crackpot than the people who go to church or mosque.

  2. I'd like to know why people laugh so much at "ancient alien theorists" or anyone who believes that stuff. Personally, I don't, because the evidence is just way too flimsy, however, what I question is why they get derision, while the large majority of humanity who believes in one of the main religions does not. Why are everyday Christians and Muslims not called "crackpots" too?

    Which "theory" is more plausible? Ancient aliens visited the Earth and had some kind of hand in humanity's development, OR there's a supernatural being who talks to ancient peoples with burning bushes and orders some tribes to commit genocide against other tribes and doesn't want us eating pork? At least the first one has some sort of scientific plausibility. There's no evidence aliens exist, but there's a LOT of stars and planets out there, and if we evolved on this one, it's possible a civilization evolved somewhere else, and it's remotely possible they visited here. Again, there's no evidence for this really, but it's still more plausible than some angry deity magically parting the Red Sea, killing all the firstborn in Egypt, causing "miracles", "angels" existing and having something to do with us even though no one can produce any evidence for it, the Earth being 6500 years old despite all geological evidence to the contrary, etc. Yet people who believe all this stuff are never dismissed as "crackpots", only "devout" or even "normal", depending on the extent of their beliefs (the 6500yo Earth people are generally considered extremists most places except the USA).

  3. Re:Protect their IP? on HP To Issue 'Optional Firmware Update' Allowing 3rd-Party Ink (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    It isn't rocket science, but it also isn't just taking a bucket of carbon black and mixing it with water. The claim that there is IP involved is hardly ridiculous.

    The claim that HP inkjet ink is *that* different from the inkjet ink used in all the competitors' products is, however, as is the claim that only HP could possibly make ink that works well in their printer.

  4. Re:"New company?" on HP To Issue 'Optional Firmware Update' Allowing 3rd-Party Ink (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    They could just get Carly to play herself. It looks like she's jobless right now anyway, so maybe she'd like a new gig.

  5. This is a waste of time and effort. Cable TV is not a need, it's a luxury service, and it's quickly becoming obsolete anyway. Internet service is a real *need* in modern society, just like other telecom services and electricity, but cable TV is not like this, it's purely for entertainment. Let the cablecos treat their TV customers however they want, and focus regulation on ISPs (which also happen to be cablecos in many cases).

    Why should I care if Rolls-Royce, Coach, or DeBeers were screwing over their customers?

  6. Re:Don't worry! on Across US, Police Officers Abuse Confidential Databases (ap.org) · · Score: 2

    Police unions are not at all like unions for corporate employees. The employer of the police is the government (at some level), which is elected by the people.

    Personally, I don't think the police should even be allowed to have a union. Their employer, the city government, does not have a profit motive like a corporation, nor is it owned by a single person or handful of people like privately-held companies.

  7. Re:You play checkers, Russians play chess on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    What makes you think that Putin is not also a dork?
    Have you seen any of the situations he is trying to create, showing that he is actually a superman?

    Did you miss how he rather masterfully seized Crimea with very little bloodshed, while the western powers were unable or unwilling to do anything about it? He's not a superman, but he's no idiot either.

    Jeb Bush or Ted Cruz would have been more regular and respectable Republican candidates that I could have supported, compared to Trump.

    Ted Cruz is a religious loon whose views are even more right-wing and extreme than Trump's. Even other Republicans in Congress hated him with a passion. Jeb was about as establishment as you can get, and rode on his brother's legacy which only hurt him. But primaries these days tend to choose polarizing figures it seems, so someone "safe" and rather middle-of-the-road like Jeb had no chance.

  8. Re:How a tyrant & dictator on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    Out of curiosity, why do you say Trump and Hillary? Would it be the same to you to say Donald and Clinton?

    No.

    Go look at the campaign stickers and such for both candidates. Trump's stickers and signs all say "TRUMP" (or "TRUMP / PENCE"). Hillary's signs all say "Hillary 2016" or similar.

    "Clinton" refers to Bill Clinton, the former president. Hillary herself uses her first name to try to make a name for herself, instead of simply being "Bill Clinton's wife". It's actually a smart move. "Clinton" isn't even her last name, it's "Rodham"; she merely adopted the Clinton name when she married Bill, and honestly, it's an archaic and patriarchal old custom that really has outlived its usefulness IMO, and that's coming from someone who is not a big fan of SJWs, "safe spaces" and all that other crap going on in the far left these days. I'm no fan of Hillary, but if I were a woman politician, I'd also want to make a name for myself on my own merits and accomplishments, not my husband's (though she touts her "experience" of being First Lady way too much IMO which tarnishes this).

  9. Re:Why not invade Redmond? on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    You must have missed the part where I said it takes about 20 minutes to install. That's "usable" in my book, especially compared to Windows 10 where installation and updates are a complete PITA, and the user interface once you finally get it running is an abomination.

  10. There are people who die everyday do to defend your way of life.

    No, there aren't. Citation needed.

    There are people who die everyday who stand by to put themselves in the line of fire on your behalf. There are others who die everyday to ensure you and your family can be saved from a fire. There are more people who die everyday who standby to pull you out of your wrecked car. There are even more people who die everyday and risk their life to provide you with medical care. Their are pilots who standby to rush you to the hospital in a critical event. They don't plan on sacrificing themselves for you specifically, but it happens sometimes.

    None of those people is actually deliberately committing suicide in order to save another person.

    There's a bunch of people (400k I think) working at Amazon to sell you crap and ship that crap to you. They (most of them) have to drive to work every day. Driving a car in America is one of the most likely ways of dying, right behind heart attacks and cancer, and if you're younger, it's *the* most likely way for you to die, and therefore, the most risky thing you can do.

    I'm sorry, but I'm not going to hail Amazon tech workers as heroes for "risking their lives" every day to write code to help sell me stuff online.

    Granted, rushing into burning buildings is probably more dangerous that braving Seattle traffic (though I'm really not sure; firefighters don't actually die that often these days), but it isn't quite the same as jumping onto a grenade.

    Every one of us risks dying every day to do whatever it is we do. Some activities are more risky than others (staying at home carries the risks of home invasion and carbon monoxide poisoning), but very few of them are *that* dangerous and likely to kill you (more than medical problems due to old age). There is greater risk with some jobs, namely firefighting and piloting (esp. in smaller aircraft and helicopters; not in big jets, you're much more likely to die in a car or maybe even getting hit by an asteroid). EMS piloting is a little dangerous because of wire strikes. Point is, none of these people are out there with the idea of "sacrificing themselves" for anyone. They're doing a mildly more dangerous job than the average perhaps, hoping to help people, and get paid for it, and they accept the risk that comes along with it. The risk they carry in these jobs is probably nowhere near as great as, for instance, underwater welding, which is not directly tied to saving anyone's life.

    Everything you do carries some risk, and we all do a risk/benefit computation when we do it. If someone is trapped in a wrecked car and I have the tools and ability to free them, do I do that or leave them in there? When was the last time a wrecked car exploded? It's quite rare these days; they usually just catch fire, so the risk is worth it to anyone who signs up for that job. When was the last time a Medivac helicopter crashed and killed the pilot? I'm sure it's happened, but it's probably much less often than some guy with more money than brains and a private pilot's license wrecking (private pilots crash all the time; Medivacs, not so much). There again, the risk is surely worth it to the pilot to have that job. None of these people are jumping on grenades.

    And if you're talking about cops, their risk is much lower than that of taxi drivers. They're not stepping in front of bullets for anyone, because they're not there fast enough to make a difference in almost every case. That's TV show drama. Cops just show up afterwards and either shoot an unarmed black guy or just arrest someone and take down a report for them to be prosecuted for the crime.

  11. Re:Why not invade Redmond? on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    Regardless of the technology (I don't particularly like MS') you should know that coming up with an operating system, a desktop and usable applications is not an easy task.

    I find it very, very easy. I just go to linuxmint.com and look for the "download" link. Installing takes about 20 minutes tops. Much simpler, faster, and easier than messing with Windows. Updating my work computer to Win10 (not my choice) took ages.

    What's the Russian version be like?

    Probably some Linux distro with a new theme? What's so hard about that?

  12. Re:Let me foresee what will happen... on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    And what exactly is the problem with that? Any sane and competent national government will want to run their operations with software that they fully control, and that has backdoors that only they have the key to.

    Of course, you can argue that any backdoors are dangerous because the wrong people could learn about them and exploit them, but we're talking about replacing Microsoft software here: that stuff is already known to have backdoors. Substituting software that you've audited to not have backdoors, and have instead inserted your own backdoors into, is a big step up from software that a foreign government has backdoor access to.

  13. Re:How a tyrant & dictator on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: -1, Troll

    How do you know Putin didn't say that he likes Trump in an effort to get more Americans to vote for Hillary? Americans aren't exactly known for being big fans of Russia or Putin.

  14. Re: News Flash! on Elon Musk: First Humans Who Journey To Mars Must 'Be Prepared To Die' (theverge.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Would die to save your mother? Your father? Your wife and/or kids? How about another person and their family? Would you let a dozen people die to save yourself?

    I don't know about you, but my mother is elderly and not likely to live that much longer unfortunately. I'm quite sure she would *not* want me sacrificing myself for her. In fact, I have a hard time imagining *any* parent who would want that. Parents, unless they're sociopaths (or their kid's a real shitball), *always* want their children to outlive them.

    If I had any kids, and I had spent many years and my resources raising them and providing for them, the last thing I'd want is to have them sacrifice themselves so I can live a little longer. They're young; I'm presumably not.

    For normal, rational people, the only people they should be really willing to die for are their kids, and maybe their spouse (usually the wife more than the husband, as part of that "women and children first" idea that goes back to antiquity). Parents, no (this doesn't mean you shouldn't try to save them, but not if it's an obvious suicide mission). Strangers? Not so much; maybe if it's a bunch of them.

    Others have died so you could live.

    No, they haven't. My life has never been in mortal danger where someone had to sacrifice themselves for me to avoid death. (In fact, I don't think my life's ever been in mortal danger at all, unless there was some close call somewhere that I was never even aware of.)

  15. Re:Simple fix, just requires money on Across US, Police Officers Abuse Confidential Databases (ap.org) · · Score: 1

    Bottom line:

    Never date a cop.

  16. Re:Don't worry! on Across US, Police Officers Abuse Confidential Databases (ap.org) · · Score: 2

    Yes, but they don't deserve to make that much money for one night of work.

    Hospital workers have to cover holidays too, and they don't win the lottery when they take that shift.

  17. Re: Just don't buy HP on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Stock up on a years supply of toner and let us know if it works after the 6 month mark.

    Yeah, why wouldn't it? I've had the same toner cartridge in there now for at least 3 years, and I print to it every few days at a minimum. Works great.

    Alternatively try to print from Win10 on that 13-year old printer.

    Why would I give a shit about that? Besides, it's a Postscript printer; if Windows can't handle that, then Windows is broken.

  18. Re:I though every one was going paperless on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the reply, this is actually good to know in case I have to deal with that in the future.

    For my side business, I usually ship using 6"x9" manila envelopes, so a 4x6 sticker fits on that just fine. But my next project is to see if I can just use a laser printer with the paper path going straight through to print directly on the envelope, bypassing the sticker altogether.

  19. Re:Top 40 this week vs decades on YouTube-MP3 Ripping Site Sued By IFPI, RIAA and BPI (torrentfreak.com) · · Score: 1

    I agree with the sentiment, to a point, but honestly, I really hate classic rock stations. Yes, that 30-year period is chock-full of great music, but these stupid stations manage to ruin it by playing the same small handful of songs over and over and over. It ignores so much more great music from that time, while making us sick to death of those excellent songs by overplaying them so much.

  20. Re:I though every one was going paperless on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Peeling and sticking 4x6 labels is far easier.

    And I'm not sure how you can reduce a label to 80% and have it still work, though I'm admittedly somewhat ignorant on barcode standards. Do the labels still even scan?

    Sticky labels are dirt cheap if you buy them in bulk on Ebay.

  21. Re: Just don't buy HP on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    I'm fairly sure the 2x00 series printers used Canon engines.

    Anyway, my 2300 is 13 years old now and still works great, though the plastic is yellowing. The 2200d I have before that was great too, but was slower and didn't have as many features, but it was quite reliable.

  22. Re:I though every one was going paperless on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    What in the fuck are you yapping about? Has the Apple cult driven you completely insane?

    I never said anything about paperless anything; we're talking about printing here.

    And WTF are you talking about with aluminum? Aluminum isn't environmentally-unfriendly, especially not in the minute quantities it might be used in thermal paper. It's certainly a lot better than using a bunch of plastic packing tape to tape labels to packages.

  23. I've actually never seen anyone with a chromebook. People do use smartphones, but not for real work.

  24. Re:HP employee here on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Not quite: Ebay these days is actually still pretty useful, depending on what you're shopping for. I'm using it more than Amazon now, as the prices are frequently better. I've gotten lots of great stuff on there in the past year even: used cellphones, used laptops, new-old-stock items, etc. So Meg didn't quite manage to drive it into the ground.

    Carly and HP, however, is another story....

  25. Re:I though every one was going paperless on EFF Calls On HP To Disable Printer Ink Self-Destruct Sequence (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    If you're doing that, you must be really clueless about ecommerce mail order, or you just got started and haven't figured out the proper way to do shipping.

    The way you ship stuff is you buy a Zebra 4x6 label printer, and print your postage labels on that. Then you just peel and stick. You can even print these labels from within PayPal, though you can get better rates through places like encidia.com if you do a lot of volume (there's a monthly fee for those places though, so it's only worth it if you ship a lot of stuff).