Extensions allow me to visually scan a file list quickly, telling me exactly what's in that list regardless of the names users give the files. Why would I want to give that up? Why would I want to make this process more difficult?
I agree. jpg2 is clearer and much easier to spot if one is doing a visual scan of files. I see no reason to shorten this to 'jp2'. In any event a four-character extension would still be short and yet long enough to allow for a more definitive label (e.g., '.html', '.text', etc.)
This is exactly why I always build my own machine. I know the quality of the components, I know how they work together, and I know that they've been properly installed. Furthermore if anything goes wrong putting it together the only person to blame is me.
I haven't seen a great deal of attention paid to workmanship by large manufacturers like Dell, and there always seems to be a substandard part or two in the batch that has to be replaced - often a shitty low-end motherboard or some other knock-off with known problems.
It's good enough for me. The picture is much crisper than any CRT I've ever seen and there's no flicker, ever. Which is great for my eyes, now that they're no longer young.
I could care less how Quake looks. Deus Ex looks just as good as it did on my old 17-inch monitor, and Thief looks better. But then I'm not particularly anal about these things.
If this was New York city, it'd be governed by the Second Amendment just like every other part of the United States. Which means you can, indeed, purchase a gun (although getting a carry-conceal permit is virtually impossible in that pox-ridden, benighted city).
Max
two problems with this, apart from all the others
on
Time Travel
·
· Score: 2
I see two additional problems with this time travel crap:
- you couldn't possibly travel into the future. The future doesn't exist; it's created moment to moment by the actions and interactions of everything from the tiniest particles to the largest galaxies, including along the line human intent and decision making. There is no 'future' to travel to; just the present and the past. Anyone who claims otherwise is stupidly obviating free will, and free will is apparent to even the most clueless of us. If so, please remove yourself from the argument as your nihilist nonsense is boring, pathetic, and incredibly juvenile.
- if a person traveling backwards in time were to either create an alternate timeline (and universe), or simply drop into that alternate timeline/universe, this would invalidate the Laws of Thermodynamics, i.e., 'energy can neither be created nor destroyed....'. Removing yourself from the current universe would 'destroy' the energy for this universe, while creating it for the alternate universe. Both things are fundamentally impossible; were it not so, the basic underpinnings of physics itself would fall completely apart, and as they haven't during the last 8-10 billion years I don't see them collapsing any time soon.
Time travel is a crock. Fun for SF "what if" stories (which I really enjoy) but that's all it is - fiction. There will never be time travel and putting a tiny bit of thought into the matter will not only show you why, but also why this is a good thing.
Max
Re:An explanation of why this man is a crank.
on
Time Travel
·
· Score: 2
The guy you linked to is why I pumped out the term "fuckwit" 20 years ago. He's the ultimate example: someone who clearly lacks the wit to understand the arguments of his superiors, yet is arrogant to believe that it isn't his lack of brain matter that's at fault but rather the reasoning of those who surpass him in intelligence.
A rational human being would say "I am incapable of following the logic of this argument, as I lack the brainpower and/or training required for this exercise. But I trust the judgement of those who're clearly my intellectual superiors and whose theories have been widely accepted as true among empiricists." Please note that at no time does the author *ever* admit that anyone is his intellectual superior with respect to the items he addresses.
In sum total: a fuckwit, dictionary-definition style. If the term were in Webster's, this guy's picture would be right next to it.
It's one thing to insist on using whatever means are possible to protect the copyright on what the courts have deemed your property. But where the RIAA and MPAA are concerned they want to control not just their property, but the entire *genre* of property regardless of who it belongs to.
These vermin are well aware that if they implement their protectionist schemes and piss off the consumer that said consumer - not a big fan of corporate welfare - will take his business elsewhere. The only way they can protect their position in the 21st century, against forces that'd in a truly capitalist market would make the lot of them obsolete within the year, is to legislate themselves monopoly powers by purchasing congressman. They have to make sure that they not only control access to their property but *everyone else's as well*. That's the only way the whole welfare-oriented house of cards can stand for any length of time. Without this monopoly and the power of the government to stand behind it protectionist measures would simply drive consumers into the arms of competitors.
If ever there was firm indication that America is *not* capitalist, and is becoming less capitalist as time goes on, this is it. I have no idea what to call this economic system (corporate statism?) but it has nothing whatsoever to do with capitalism and is, in fact, fundamentally opposed to capitalism at its core. Because capitalism would wipe these bastards off the face of the map.
Bullets are cheaper, and the effect of them more permanent.
My guess is that using ammo on those elected representatives who sell out to corporate interests would have a far more fundamental influence upon their thinking than simply playing the same game as the other johns. A whore is a whore is a whore, after all.
Hey, it worked wonders for our Founding Fathers; why not us as well?
That's funny - I'm for life extension no matter what the price. Immortality, even. And hoping that such a thing is possible in my lifetime.
The way I figure it, everyone who's against immortality can choose not to undergo the medical treatments required for it. They can stay true to their beliefs and die of old age, leaving the rest of us the hell alone.
Now, anyone who thinks that pushing mortality on other folks who don't want it is a good idea is looking for a bullet between the eyes. Another healthy way to 'cleanse' the human race of people who insist on trying to force their morals on others.
There's no such thing as a 'partial birth abortion'. That term is hysterical propaganda used by religious fundamentalists in an attempt to force their rather distasteful version of morality down everyone else's throats.
If you're against abortion, don't have one. If you think for some odd reason that cloning is immoral (though I've never heard a reasoned argument as to *why* it's immoral) then don't clone yourself.
Unless you're a religious fundamendalist of some sort, it's rather ridiculous to assert that an 8-week-old embryo is a child. If such an embryo is deformed, then abort it; it's that simple.
And I'll be one of the last, shoving my (now illegal).38 into the face of the government implanter saying "over my fucking dead body...".
Which will be soon enough, as anyone who actually goes armed and refuses the chip Must Have Something To Hide(TM), and therefore is a terrorist. Or a drug dealer. Or whatever the hell we're at war with then.
By all that's holy, let Canada resist this brand of obscenity. I'd hate to run there only to find that they're acting the lap-dog to American politicians....
Any god who goes around threatening eternal damnation simply because you won't get on your knees and kiss his ass isn't worth the time of day.
One of the things I really despise about fundamentalist religious zealots is their insistence that if you don't follow belief 942 of god 361 then you're going to get it good in the end - forever and ever and ever.
I think I'd rather see somethind done along the lines of "Eye of Cat". No large amounts of cash needed; only Cat requires computer animation (and perhaps some of the delusional scenes later in the book).
Although I doubt 95% of the audience would actually get the ending without it being explained to them....
Still, it's chock full of action, character development, and even does the Hollywood Politically Correct thing by putting Native Americans in a good light.
"Space: Above and Beyond" tanked because the series was continually moved around from day to day and time to time, often given the worst viewing slots and with very little warning.
Why? Because, behind the scenes, one of the two primary people involved in the series managed to *really* piss someone off high in management, so in revenge he fucked with the programming to make it impossible for people to look foward to seeing it at the same time, on the same day, every week. It was one of the most blatant power ploys in TV going on at the time.
Which doesn't relieve a person for being a blithering idiot by putting said coffee - which any rational person would assume is bloody hot - between one's legs.
The 'duuuuhhh!' factor here is rather huge, no matter what temperature the coffee was at.
I doubt you have any idea of what the word 'moral' means either, since you can't distinguish between the words 'theft' and 'copyright violation' either.
There is no 'legalistic' definition of capitalism. Capitalism is a theory, not a law.
There is no 'culture of capitalism'. Capitalism is either practiced to one degree or another, or it isn't.
Donated labor does *not* have anything to do with capitalism. It isn't contrary to capitalism, nor antithetical to capitalism. There is no difference between labor donated to a charity, a church, or an open-source project under capitalism. It's *all* donated labor and has nothing whatsoever to do with capitalism.
You think that somehow, because a person donates labor, this 'opposes' capitalism in some sense. It doesn't. This is purely a thing of your imagination - and Microsoft's, for that matter.
Capitalism *has nothing to say about donated labor*. Neither the theory nor the rather limited practice address donated labor at all. Only labor-for-sale has anything to do with capitalism.
Once again, pick up an economics text book if this idea confuses you. I can't stress this enough. This has nothing to do with 'profit'. Capitalism doesn't require that donated labor be profitable, or that all labor be sold; BECAUSE IT DOESN'T ADDRESS THE NOTION OF DONATED LABOR AT ALL.
Seriously, why the fuck should 'fairness' have anything to do with local broadcasting, TV, or any other commercial endeavor of this nature?
Screw this shit-for-brains concept; capitalism has nothing to do with this crap. It's another attempt to fuck capitalism up with protectionist schemes and legal corporate welfare. If the local goes out of business because it's outcompeted then -
I often find that people who use the word 'gay' as an insult are ineffectual, impotent little boys whose attempts at masculinity are generally met with derisive laughter by the fairer sex.
Slashdot Mirror
Extensions allow me to visually scan a file list quickly, telling me exactly what's in that list regardless of the names users give the files. Why would I want to give that up? Why would I want to make this process more difficult?
Max
I agree. jpg2 is clearer and much easier to spot if one is doing a visual scan of files. I see no reason to shorten this to 'jp2'. In any event a four-character extension would still be short and yet long enough to allow for a more definitive label (e.g., '.html', '.text', etc.)
Max
This is exactly why I always build my own machine. I know the quality of the components, I know how they work together, and I know that they've been properly installed. Furthermore if anything goes wrong putting it together the only person to blame is me.
I haven't seen a great deal of attention paid to workmanship by large manufacturers like Dell, and there always seems to be a substandard part or two in the batch that has to be replaced - often a shitty low-end motherboard or some other knock-off with known problems.
Max
It's good enough for me. The picture is much crisper than any CRT I've ever seen and there's no flicker, ever. Which is great for my eyes, now that they're no longer young.
I could care less how Quake looks. Deus Ex looks just as good as it did on my old 17-inch monitor, and Thief looks better. But then I'm not particularly anal about these things.
Max
If this was New York city, it'd be governed by the Second Amendment just like every other part of the United States. Which means you can, indeed, purchase a gun (although getting a carry-conceal permit is virtually impossible in that pox-ridden, benighted city).
Max
I see two additional problems with this time travel crap:
- you couldn't possibly travel into the future. The future doesn't exist; it's created moment to moment by the actions and interactions of everything from the tiniest particles to the largest galaxies, including along the line human intent and decision making. There is no 'future' to travel to; just the present and the past. Anyone who claims otherwise is stupidly obviating free will, and free will is apparent to even the most clueless of us. If so, please remove yourself from the argument as your nihilist nonsense is boring, pathetic, and incredibly juvenile.
- if a person traveling backwards in time were to either create an alternate timeline (and universe), or simply drop into that alternate timeline/universe, this would invalidate the Laws of Thermodynamics, i.e., 'energy can neither be created nor destroyed....'. Removing yourself from the current universe would 'destroy' the energy for this universe, while creating it for the alternate universe. Both things are fundamentally impossible; were it not so, the basic underpinnings of physics itself would fall completely apart, and as they haven't during the last 8-10 billion years I don't see them collapsing any time soon.
Time travel is a crock. Fun for SF "what if" stories (which I really enjoy) but that's all it is - fiction. There will never be time travel and putting a tiny bit of thought into the matter will not only show you why, but also why this is a good thing.
Max
The guy you linked to is why I pumped out the term "fuckwit" 20 years ago. He's the ultimate example: someone who clearly lacks the wit to understand the arguments of his superiors, yet is arrogant to believe that it isn't his lack of brain matter that's at fault but rather the reasoning of those who surpass him in intelligence.
A rational human being would say "I am incapable of following the logic of this argument, as I lack the brainpower and/or training required for this exercise. But I trust the judgement of those who're clearly my intellectual superiors and whose theories have been widely accepted as true among empiricists." Please note that at no time does the author *ever* admit that anyone is his intellectual superior with respect to the items he addresses.
In sum total: a fuckwit, dictionary-definition style. If the term were in Webster's, this guy's picture would be right next to it.
Max
It's one thing to insist on using whatever means are possible to protect the copyright on what the courts have deemed your property. But where the RIAA and MPAA are concerned they want to control not just their property, but the entire *genre* of property regardless of who it belongs to.
These vermin are well aware that if they implement their protectionist schemes and piss off the consumer that said consumer - not a big fan of corporate welfare - will take his business elsewhere. The only way they can protect their position in the 21st century, against forces that'd in a truly capitalist market would make the lot of them obsolete within the year, is to legislate themselves monopoly powers by purchasing congressman. They have to make sure that they not only control access to their property but *everyone else's as well*. That's the only way the whole welfare-oriented house of cards can stand for any length of time. Without this monopoly and the power of the government to stand behind it protectionist measures would simply drive consumers into the arms of competitors.
If ever there was firm indication that America is *not* capitalist, and is becoming less capitalist as time goes on, this is it. I have no idea what to call this economic system (corporate statism?) but it has nothing whatsoever to do with capitalism and is, in fact, fundamentally opposed to capitalism at its core. Because capitalism would wipe these bastards off the face of the map.
Max
Bullets are cheaper, and the effect of them more permanent.
My guess is that using ammo on those elected representatives who sell out to corporate interests would have a far more fundamental influence upon their thinking than simply playing the same game as the other johns. A whore is a whore is a whore, after all.
Hey, it worked wonders for our Founding Fathers; why not us as well?
Max
That's funny - I'm for life extension no matter what the price. Immortality, even. And hoping that such a thing is possible in my lifetime.
The way I figure it, everyone who's against immortality can choose not to undergo the medical treatments required for it. They can stay true to their beliefs and die of old age, leaving the rest of us the hell alone.
Now, anyone who thinks that pushing mortality on other folks who don't want it is a good idea is looking for a bullet between the eyes. Another healthy way to 'cleanse' the human race of people who insist on trying to force their morals on others.
Max
There's no such thing as a 'partial birth abortion'. That term is hysterical propaganda used by religious fundamentalists in an attempt to force their rather distasteful version of morality down everyone else's throats.
If you're against abortion, don't have one. If you think for some odd reason that cloning is immoral (though I've never heard a reasoned argument as to *why* it's immoral) then don't clone yourself.
Max
Unless you're a religious fundamendalist of some sort, it's rather ridiculous to assert that an 8-week-old embryo is a child. If such an embryo is deformed, then abort it; it's that simple.
Max
Morality has nothing to do with cloning. Oooh, wait, I forgot - some folks think that cloning *itself* is immoral! Silly me!
Max
Jesus man, you actually *want* to live in a country where half the population thinks it's French???
Max
And I'll be one of the last, shoving my (now illegal) .38 into the face of the government implanter saying "over my fucking dead body...".
Which will be soon enough, as anyone who actually goes armed and refuses the chip Must Have Something To Hide(TM), and therefore is a terrorist. Or a drug dealer. Or whatever the hell we're at war with then.
By all that's holy, let Canada resist this brand of obscenity. I'd hate to run there only to find that they're acting the lap-dog to American politicians....
Max
Any god who goes around threatening eternal damnation simply because you won't get on your knees and kiss his ass isn't worth the time of day.
One of the things I really despise about fundamentalist religious zealots is their insistence that if you don't follow belief 942 of god 361 then you're going to get it good in the end - forever and ever and ever.
Bite me, already.
Max
I think I'd rather see somethind done along the lines of "Eye of Cat". No large amounts of cash needed; only Cat requires computer animation (and perhaps some of the delusional scenes later in the book).
Although I doubt 95% of the audience would actually get the ending without it being explained to them....
Still, it's chock full of action, character development, and even does the Hollywood Politically Correct thing by putting Native Americans in a good light.
Max
"Space: Above and Beyond" tanked because the series was continually moved around from day to day and time to time, often given the worst viewing slots and with very little warning.
Why? Because, behind the scenes, one of the two primary people involved in the series managed to *really* piss someone off high in management, so in revenge he fucked with the programming to make it impossible for people to look foward to seeing it at the same time, on the same day, every week. It was one of the most blatant power ploys in TV going on at the time.
And it worked.
Max
And don't forget how chic it is for the young and wet-behind-the-ears to criticize the giants in SF for their 'crap' writing.
Max
Which doesn't relieve a person for being a blithering idiot by putting said coffee - which any rational person would assume is bloody hot - between one's legs.
The 'duuuuhhh!' factor here is rather huge, no matter what temperature the coffee was at.
Max
I doubt you have any idea of what the word 'moral' means either, since you can't distinguish between the words 'theft' and 'copyright violation' either.
Max
There is no 'legalistic' definition of capitalism. Capitalism is a theory, not a law.
There is no 'culture of capitalism'. Capitalism is either practiced to one degree or another, or it isn't.
Donated labor does *not* have anything to do with capitalism. It isn't contrary to capitalism, nor antithetical to capitalism. There is no difference between labor donated to a charity, a church, or an open-source project under capitalism. It's *all* donated labor and has nothing whatsoever to do with capitalism.
You think that somehow, because a person donates labor, this 'opposes' capitalism in some sense. It doesn't. This is purely a thing of your imagination - and Microsoft's, for that matter.
Max
Capitalism *has nothing to say about donated labor*. Neither the theory nor the rather limited practice address donated labor at all. Only labor-for-sale has anything to do with capitalism.
Once again, pick up an economics text book if this idea confuses you. I can't stress this enough. This has nothing to do with 'profit'. Capitalism doesn't require that donated labor be profitable, or that all labor be sold; BECAUSE IT DOESN'T ADDRESS THE NOTION OF DONATED LABOR AT ALL.
Sometimes you just have to shout....
Max
Seriously, why the fuck should 'fairness' have anything to do with local broadcasting, TV, or any other commercial endeavor of this nature?
Screw this shit-for-brains concept; capitalism has nothing to do with this crap. It's another attempt to fuck capitalism up with protectionist schemes and legal corporate welfare. If the local goes out of business because it's outcompeted then -
- too
- fucking
- bad
*That's* capitalism.
Max
I often find that people who use the word 'gay' as an insult are ineffectual, impotent little boys whose attempts at masculinity are generally met with derisive laughter by the fairer sex.
Max