I should know better than to argue evolution on Slashdot, but what the hey, I'll bite.
First, my field is MIS. Yes, I've read the posts about worthless MIS profs, and I'm probably one of them. You can reference my many GNU apps I've contributed to OSS. I've contributed patches to several OSS projects, most recently Spyce. I know assembly, C, C++, currently teach Java, python, and a few others. Yes, I've programmed several genetic algorithms for use in real situations. However, I was trained in the scientific method just like other scientists. Most PhDs are very much the same as far as science goes. But no, I'm not a specialist in evolution or biology. I should have been more clear.
I won't nitpick your post. Let me just talk about the mathematics of evolution. I may believe in God, but I am not against evolution. God and evolution are not mutually exclusive, and evolution may just be right. My post said that from a scientific perspective, evolution doesn't seem to hold weight with me.
The human body is a base-4 computer (A,G,C,T). Take one side of DNA, and you essentially have computer code. The human genome project suggests we have about 30,000 genes. While genes is not the same as bits (it's a collection of base-4 "bits", I'll use them for the mathematics.
To get to where we are now, we'd need at least 30,000 mutations (actually quite a bit more) that were useful enough to select over other mutations. If we assume an x percent successful mutation (quite liberal) rate, we'd need x^30,000 mutations.
The universe is believed to be about 13 billion years old. Thats 297648000 billion seconds, or y^17. How many mutations would be required per second to get to x^30,000? Statistically, I just don't see it.
Again, I'm not against evolution from a "God" perspective. I'm against it from a mathematics perspective. Just like any theory, it's useful because it allows us to model the world and understand at some level. I think evolution will be a great step to a more correct theory at some point.
I just get very bothered that people (even some scientists) think evolution is "truth", when science never proclaims to find truth. It's a *theory*.
Newton, Einstein, and others were all shown to be wrong in time, even though their theories were elegant and helped us do wonderful things (like go to the moon, fly, etc.). String theory right now is quite interesting, but it's probably not the final theory either.
Sorry, but natural selection (the strong survive) has been shown over and over (which gives us confidence in it). Evolution, OTOH, has never been demonstrated or shown in an experiment. To demonstrate evolution would require watching a planet from start to finish, which we have not yet done.
Showing that moths with gray wings blend in, and thus survive while the white-winged moths are eaten provides evidence for natural selection, not evolution.
Something not taught in school that should be is that evolution is dependent upon natural selection, but not the other way around. The earth could have been populated by God/Aliens/someone creating species in a test tube somewhere and populating the earth. Natural selection would just as easily occur with this hypothesis.
BTW, I'm a scientist, so I'm quite skeptical of most theories, including evolution. We've never proven anything except that theories are WRONG. There is no such thing as proving a theory right (i.e. as truth). You can never say that the next observation won't conflict the theory and prove it wrong.
Evolution is so mathematically improbable that I'm surprised that most scientists just accept it. It's a great theory to explain things right now (which is why we use it), but there's a good chance it will probably be proven false someday.
iChat works extremely well. I've used it to videoconference back to my family from all sorts of places. I've used other solutions, but the iChat thing is really pretty neat.
Firewalls get in the way sometimes, but you just have to make sure the *receiving* computer can be seen externally. This means that sometimes I have to call my wife, and sometimes she has to call me. We usually hook up via cell phone first and then initiate the iChat. My kids love the program.
..."It's Good For Marketing". In our eyes, the best AV product is one that sits quietly and takes care of email viruses silently, without adding to the mass email problem.
However, in the eyes of an AV company, a silent, seamless program is the LAST thing they want. These companies want the PHB's to know their product is working, and they want visibility.
This is a classic case of marketing desires winning over technological needs. This is the reason I use open source projects -- they (most of them, anyway) do their job without the need for advertising.
I respectfully disagree. I grew up in the mountains of Utah, and I have a 4WD truck that I take off-road quite often. I also have a FWD van and have owned several FWD cars. The FWD is great in the snow on regular roads, but the 4WD truck is simply better on both regular roads and offroad.
The reason for this is most of the time traction is not zero, as you say. Traction might be zero once in a while (such as braking), but 90 percent of the time four wheels is simply better than two. At least, that's my experience.
how is this different in security? Everyone is doing the standard "invasion of privacy" and "lack of security" response here. I'll agree it lessens privacy a little more (as if it could go any lower), but is it any less secure than anything else.
Consider, for example, the following: 1. We give our credit cards to a less-than minimum wage employee each time we pay for a meal at a restaraunt. The credit card leaves our sight for several minutes. 2. We give our credit card with no signature over the phone and internet all the time. 3. Does anyone match the signature on the credit card with the signature you provide anyway? I've seen it done in some cities, but here in the West people normally give you the card back before you even sign. 4. This could go on, but the point is made.
Credit cards work because the companies cover the losses (for the most part). It's cheaper to cover losses than to prevent them. These watches and whatever else comes in the future will probably work the same.
You miss the point of computers then... Any geek knows that half of each day must be spent on fiddling with settings to improve performance or GUI by fractions of a percent!
(Back in college, my friends used to say that I'd "accidentally" crash my computer just so I could set it up again...I think we all know this syndrome)
It all works very well together. They've done an excellent job.
For example, X11 has a full package (if installing from fink) as well as a "dummy" package you install if you install from Apple. The dummy package takes care of all dependency problems with other packages. I've got Apple's X11 installed, yet I've installed KDE, Gnome, and others from fink.
I'm a Debian die-hard as well, but I use OS X for my powerbook. I've installed YDL before and it is very nice.
However, in your sister's situation, I'd install fink on the machine. Fink is a port of a good portion of the Unix programs in Linux, and it uses apt-get for its manager. It's very Debian-like. Plus you get to keep OS X.
There's also a couple of other fink-like ports out there, but they're all in the process of merging.
At the risk of biting a troll, you are misinformed. There is no nudity in the temple. You are covered at all times, unless you want to count the dressing/locker room or bathrooms.
I should know, I was married there and attend the temple monthly. I've also looked into the history of temple practice throughout time. I realize there are web sites that say nudity is in the temple, but I can assure you they don't know what they are talking about.
As a devout Mormon, I have to second the first reply to this one. There is no such "13th tribe" doctrine in Mormonism. Mormons believe that a portion of the ancestry of Native Americans descend from Ephraim and Manassah, part of the regular 12 tribes accepted by most of Christandom.
According to our belief, they crossed the Pacific ocean around 600 b.c., or just before Jerusalem fell. Another group came to the Americas much earlier as well (at the time of the Tower of Babel). But there is no such thing as a 13th tribe in the religion.
As a professor in a WiFi-enabled building, I've enjoyed sharing playlists with other iTunes users in the building for weeks now. Other than further loading the already-loaded 802.11b network, it's been a lot of fun.
I pay an extra $10 for unlimited data services through my cell phone on Sprint. It's called "Vision" and it has been around for several years. The data minutes don't count against your regular cell minutes.
Overall, it works really well. It's not as slick as the PCMCIA card Sprint offers, but it works just as well, uses the exact same network & speeds, and even turns heads when they seem me surfing my laptop over my cell phone.
This was on NPR a couple of day ago -- specifically the Diane Ream show. Go look it up. And NPR is *liberal*! Yet they still showed very clear how slavery was right smack center.
Anyone who doesn't believe the core issue was slavery doesn't understand the time period. Yes, the actual political reasons were otherwise (states rights, right of secession, etc.), but the core issue *was* slavery.
companies like the one that edits out all the parts of DVDs that they think you shouldn't see
Companies are free to do whatever they want. If there's a market for it, companies will produce product. It doesn't force anything upon you.
There's also many companies (Blockbuster, Hollywood Video) on about every corner here who sell the regular, unedited videos.
It's all about choice. Get over it if everyone doesn't choose to view what you do. Personally, I don't care to watch the videos from the edited store *or* the unedited stores. There's better things to do with my life (like read Slashdot, of course:).
HELLO MODERATORS? MOD THIS GUY UP! I'm getting the file from this torrent at over 144k/s.
Re:We had been thinking about using kylix
on
Kylix in Limbo
·
· Score: 1
I came through Pascal -> Delphi -> Java -> Python. I can tell you that Python and wxWindows are great. Python alone is especially great, and although wxWindows has its quirks, it's not bad and works well for me.
Add to that the fact that you can create Python executable files (.exe) for Windows, and Win users will never know it's not a C++ or Delphi program.
I assume from your post that you are new to Python. Welcome! It is very Delphi-type-of-Pascal-like and you'll probably feel right at home.
Have we lost all sense of decency here? Yes, I know this is/., but I can't believe this comment was modded up. Some of us believe Jesus is our God. I'm not asking you to believe in Jesus, or to have any feelings toward him or anyone else, but you'd think we'd be enlightened enough to have respect for others' religious beliefs.
I have no problem with people bashing Windows (many times that is me) or any other company or technology. That's just technology and we all have fun with it.
I don't have any belief in Allah (as worshiped by Islam), Buddha, Sol, Rah, or any other figure in other religions, but I *do* respect others right to worship as they choose.
And don't tell me making statements such as this are "you're right to worship". We can all worship as we choose without being disrespectful to one another's beliefs.
Yes, I know -- expecting a little decency on/. might be asking for too much. But for a bunch of supposedly enlightened geeks, I'm embarrassed to call myself one of you at times.
What's so special about Ports? I've been using FreeBSD lately, and I'm an experienced Debian user.
Some/. readers rave about Ports, but after using it for several weeks, I still prefer apt-get. Unless I'm missing someting, ports is not as automated. apt-get automatically finds the software, downloads, and installs the debs. apt4rpm does the same. Fink does the same. Ports has extra steps.
Anyone want to "enlighten" me?
Disclaimer: I'm running a stable server and installing binary packages. I'm not interested in compiling from source, so that part of Ports isn't important to me. I'd be using Gentoo if compiling from source was important.
Now, before I get flamed for how dumb flip covers are (yes, I know it looks like a star trek communicator), let me argue why they are so important.
My Treo 300's flip cover is terribly scratched because, well, cell phones/pdas get thrown around a lot. But, since the flip cover is integrated into the phone and protects the screen, my screen is as smooth as the day I bought it.
If I upgrade to a 600, I'll have to purchase an after-market protection. Whether it is a leather cover, hard case, or otherwise, it will not be as integrated as the 300's flip cover.
An added bonus -- since the 300's flip cover is see-through, I often use my PDA with the flip cover down. You can't use the stylus or keyboard when it's down, but you can read an ebook, a grocery list, or the address book just fine.
BTW, I love my 300. The processor is weak, the screen is low res, it's almost unviewable outside, but it has excellent integration of the pda and phone. For example, you can be on the phone (speakerphone or ear bud) and modify your calendar at the same time. Small integrations like that are what make the Treo a Treo.
Well, maybe not real spam (at least, real email spam:). I've now been sent the "raed this" text at least 4 times in my email. Mom brother in law, father in law, mother, and someone else I hardly know.
What we have here, folks, is a new email "virus" in the making. We'll be getting this from distant relatives 20 years from now (with about 80 pages of forward headers).
Slashdot Mirror
(Replying to my post) Sorry for the bad math, folks. It's late here.
:)
The funny thing is I can get a +3 Informative ranking (at least, that's the rating as of right now) on Slashdot with it.
I should know better than to argue evolution on Slashdot, but what the hey, I'll bite.
First, my field is MIS. Yes, I've read the posts about worthless MIS profs, and I'm probably one of them. You can reference my many GNU apps I've contributed to OSS. I've contributed patches to several OSS projects, most recently Spyce. I know assembly, C, C++, currently teach Java, python, and a few others. Yes, I've programmed several genetic algorithms for use in real situations. However, I was trained in the scientific method just like other scientists. Most PhDs are very much the same as far as science goes. But no, I'm not a specialist in evolution or biology. I should have been more clear.
I won't nitpick your post. Let me just talk about the mathematics of evolution. I may believe in God, but I am not against evolution. God and evolution are not mutually exclusive, and evolution may just be right. My post said that from a scientific perspective, evolution doesn't seem to hold weight with me.
The human body is a base-4 computer (A,G,C,T). Take one side of DNA, and you essentially have computer code. The human genome project suggests we have about 30,000 genes. While genes is not the same as bits (it's a collection of base-4 "bits", I'll use them for the mathematics.
To get to where we are now, we'd need at least 30,000 mutations (actually quite a bit more) that were useful enough to select over other mutations. If we assume an x percent successful mutation (quite liberal) rate, we'd need x^30,000 mutations.
The universe is believed to be about 13 billion years old. Thats 297648000 billion seconds, or y^17. How many mutations would be required per second to get to x^30,000? Statistically, I just don't see it.
Again, I'm not against evolution from a "God" perspective. I'm against it from a mathematics perspective. Just like any theory, it's useful because it allows us to model the world and understand at some level. I think evolution will be a great step to a more correct theory at some point.
I just get very bothered that people (even some scientists) think evolution is "truth", when science never proclaims to find truth. It's a *theory*.
Newton, Einstein, and others were all shown to be wrong in time, even though their theories were elegant and helped us do wonderful things (like go to the moon, fly, etc.). String theory right now is quite interesting, but it's probably not the final theory either.
Sorry, but natural selection (the strong survive) has been shown over and over (which gives us confidence in it). Evolution, OTOH, has never been demonstrated or shown in an experiment. To demonstrate evolution would require watching a planet from start to finish, which we have not yet done.
Showing that moths with gray wings blend in, and thus survive while the white-winged moths are eaten provides evidence for natural selection, not evolution.
Something not taught in school that should be is that evolution is dependent upon natural selection, but not the other way around. The earth could have been populated by God/Aliens/someone creating species in a test tube somewhere and populating the earth. Natural selection would just as easily occur with this hypothesis.
BTW, I'm a scientist, so I'm quite skeptical of most theories, including evolution. We've never proven anything except that theories are WRONG. There is no such thing as proving a theory right (i.e. as truth). You can never say that the next observation won't conflict the theory and prove it wrong.
Evolution is so mathematically improbable that I'm surprised that most scientists just accept it. It's a great theory to explain things right now (which is why we use it), but there's a good chance it will probably be proven false someday.
iChat works extremely well. I've used it to videoconference back to my family from all sorts of places. I've used other solutions, but the iChat thing is really pretty neat.
Firewalls get in the way sometimes, but you just have to make sure the *receiving* computer can be seen externally. This means that sometimes I have to call my wife, and sometimes she has to call me. We usually hook up via cell phone first and then initiate the iChat. My kids love the program.
..."It's Good For Marketing". In our eyes, the best AV product is one that sits quietly and takes care of email viruses silently, without adding to the mass email problem.
However, in the eyes of an AV company, a silent, seamless program is the LAST thing they want. These companies want the PHB's to know their product is working, and they want visibility.
This is a classic case of marketing desires winning over technological needs. This is the reason I use open source projects -- they (most of them, anyway) do their job without the need for advertising.
I respectfully disagree. I grew up in the mountains of Utah, and I have a 4WD truck that I take off-road quite often. I also have a FWD van and have owned several FWD cars. The FWD is great in the snow on regular roads, but the 4WD truck is simply better on both regular roads and offroad.
The reason for this is most of the time traction is not zero, as you say. Traction might be zero once in a while (such as braking), but 90 percent of the time four wheels is simply better than two. At least, that's my experience.
I second this! I would love to rewind radio the way I do my TV (TiVo)
how is this different in security? Everyone is doing the standard "invasion of privacy" and "lack of security" response here. I'll agree it lessens privacy a little more (as if it could go any lower), but is it any less secure than anything else.
Consider, for example, the following:
1. We give our credit cards to a less-than minimum wage employee each time we pay for a meal at a restaraunt. The credit card leaves our sight for several minutes.
2. We give our credit card with no signature over the phone and internet all the time.
3. Does anyone match the signature on the credit card with the signature you provide anyway? I've seen it done in some cities, but here in the West people normally give you the card back before you even sign.
4. This could go on, but the point is made.
Credit cards work because the companies cover the losses (for the most part). It's cheaper to cover losses than to prevent them. These watches and whatever else comes in the future will probably work the same.
Nothing's changed here, people. Move along...
You miss the point of computers then... Any geek knows that half of each day must be spent on fiddling with settings to improve performance or GUI by fractions of a percent!
(Back in college, my friends used to say that I'd "accidentally" crash my computer just so I could set it up again...I think we all know this syndrome)
...because you both get dirty. But the pig enjoys it.
It all works very well together. They've done an excellent job.
For example, X11 has a full package (if installing from fink) as well as a "dummy" package you install if you install from Apple. The dummy package takes care of all dependency problems with other packages. I've got Apple's X11 installed, yet I've installed KDE, Gnome, and others from fink.
However, in your sister's situation, I'd install fink on the machine. Fink is a port of a good portion of the Unix programs in Linux, and it uses apt-get for its manager. It's very Debian-like. Plus you get to keep OS X.
There's also a couple of other fink-like ports out there, but they're all in the process of merging.
At the risk of biting a troll, you are misinformed. There is no nudity in the temple. You are covered at all times, unless you want to count the dressing/locker room or bathrooms.
I should know, I was married there and attend the temple monthly. I've also looked into the history of temple practice throughout time. I realize there are web sites that say nudity is in the temple, but I can assure you they don't know what they are talking about.
As a devout Mormon, I have to second the first reply to this one. There is no such "13th tribe" doctrine in Mormonism. Mormons believe that a portion of the ancestry of Native Americans descend from Ephraim and Manassah, part of the regular 12 tribes accepted by most of Christandom.
According to our belief, they crossed the Pacific ocean around 600 b.c., or just before Jerusalem fell. Another group came to the Americas much earlier as well (at the time of the Tower of Babel). But there is no such thing as a 13th tribe in the religion.
I didn't realize iTunes had changed its name! :)
As a professor in a WiFi-enabled building, I've enjoyed sharing playlists with other iTunes users in the building for weeks now. Other than further loading the already-loaded 802.11b network, it's been a lot of fun.
Again, why is this news???
I pay an extra $10 for unlimited data services through my cell phone on Sprint. It's called "Vision" and it has been around for several years. The data minutes don't count against your regular cell minutes.
Overall, it works really well. It's not as slick as the PCMCIA card Sprint offers, but it works just as well, uses the exact same network & speeds, and even turns heads when they seem me surfing my laptop over my cell phone.
This was on NPR a couple of day ago -- specifically the Diane Ream show. Go look it up. And NPR is *liberal*! Yet they still showed very clear how slavery was right smack center.
Anyone who doesn't believe the core issue was slavery doesn't understand the time period. Yes, the actual political reasons were otherwise (states rights, right of secession, etc.), but the core issue *was* slavery.
Companies are free to do whatever they want. If there's a market for it, companies will produce product. It doesn't force anything upon you.
There's also many companies (Blockbuster, Hollywood Video) on about every corner here who sell the regular, unedited videos.
It's all about choice. Get over it if everyone doesn't choose to view what you do. Personally, I don't care to watch the videos from the edited store *or* the unedited stores. There's better things to do with my life (like read Slashdot, of course
HELLO MODERATORS? MOD THIS GUY UP! I'm getting the file from this torrent at over 144k/s.
I came through Pascal -> Delphi -> Java -> Python. I can tell you that Python and wxWindows are great. Python alone is especially great, and although wxWindows has its quirks, it's not bad and works well for me.
Add to that the fact that you can create Python executable files (.exe) for Windows, and Win users will never know it's not a C++ or Delphi program.
I assume from your post that you are new to Python. Welcome! It is very Delphi-type-of-Pascal-like and you'll probably feel right at home.
Have we lost all sense of decency here? Yes, I know this is /., but I can't believe this comment was modded up. Some of us believe Jesus is our God. I'm not asking you to believe in Jesus, or to have any feelings toward him or anyone else, but you'd think we'd be enlightened enough to have respect for others' religious beliefs.
/. might be asking for too much. But for a bunch of supposedly enlightened geeks, I'm embarrassed to call myself one of you at times.
I have no problem with people bashing Windows (many times that is me) or any other company or technology. That's just technology and we all have fun with it.
I don't have any belief in Allah (as worshiped by Islam), Buddha, Sol, Rah, or any other figure in other religions, but I *do* respect others right to worship as they choose.
And don't tell me making statements such as this are "you're right to worship". We can all worship as we choose without being disrespectful to one another's beliefs.
Yes, I know -- expecting a little decency on
Trout are hard to catch? I usually get my limit within an hour or two. What kind of fisherman are you? :-)
What's so special about Ports? I've been using FreeBSD lately, and I'm an experienced Debian user.
/. readers rave about Ports, but after using it for several weeks, I still prefer apt-get. Unless I'm missing someting, ports is not as automated. apt-get automatically finds the software, downloads, and installs the debs. apt4rpm does the same. Fink does the same. Ports has extra steps.
Some
Anyone want to "enlighten" me?
Disclaimer: I'm running a stable server and installing binary packages. I'm not interested in compiling from source, so that part of Ports isn't important to me. I'd be using Gentoo if compiling from source was important.
*The flip cover*.
Now, before I get flamed for how dumb flip covers are (yes, I know it looks like a star trek communicator), let me argue why they are so important.
My Treo 300's flip cover is terribly scratched because, well, cell phones/pdas get thrown around a lot. But, since the flip cover is integrated into the phone and protects the screen, my screen is as smooth as the day I bought it.
If I upgrade to a 600, I'll have to purchase an after-market protection. Whether it is a leather cover, hard case, or otherwise, it will not be as integrated as the 300's flip cover.
An added bonus -- since the 300's flip cover is see-through, I often use my PDA with the flip cover down. You can't use the stylus or keyboard when it's down, but you can read an ebook, a grocery list, or the address book just fine.
BTW, I love my 300. The processor is weak, the screen is low res, it's almost unviewable outside, but it has excellent integration of the pda and phone. For example, you can be on the phone (speakerphone or ear bud) and modify your calendar at the same time. Small integrations like that are what make the Treo a Treo.
Well, maybe not real spam (at least, real email spam :). I've now been sent the "raed this" text at least 4 times in my email. Mom brother in law, father in law, mother, and someone else I hardly know.
What we have here, folks, is a new email "virus" in the making. We'll be getting this from distant relatives 20 years from now (with about 80 pages of forward headers).