It's always interesting when words take on a particular connotation. Myth and legend are great examples since they really do mean the same thing but somehow a legend is expected to have some basis in fact while a myth is taken to mean something that is a complete fabrication.
I have a B.S. and M.S. in math and have been doing software development ever since I got out of grad school in 1980. My first job was with the Operations Research Department at TRW's Defense and Space Systems Group. I wrote software for optimizing the launch order for ICBMs and doing optimal target assignments which meant I was at least applying my math skills. After that I went on to a variety of projects that didn't directly involve math skills.
It's bad enough that these businesses in the US exist to collect donations which go to pay for their land, buildings and the ridiculously high salaries of priests, preachers, pastors or whatever they want to me called and do it all tax-free because it's "religion." But they go on to insult the whole educational process in every way possible by asserting things without evidence or experiment or verification of any kind. Some people even get real PhD's in this crap.
"The profession of shaman has many advantages. It offers high status with a safe livelihood free of work in the dreary, sweaty sense. In most societies it offers legal privileges and immunities not granted to other men. But it is hard to see how a man who has been given a mandate from on High to spread tidings of joy to all mankind can be seriously interested in taking up a collection to pay his salary; it causes one to suspect that the shaman is on the moral level of any other con man. But it is a lovely work if you can stomach it." [Lazarus Long, _Time enough for Love_, by Robert Heinlein]
A PhD in ancient Greek or Roman or other mythologies is "okay" but to declare a difference between that and "religious studies" is simply ridiculous and I demand an explanation of the fundamental difference between "mythology" and "religion." You have to realize that today's "religion" will be tomorrow's mythology right? Just as today's mythology was yesterday's religion?
Simple. Religion is what you believe; myths are what others believe or with another Heinlein quote:
One man's religion is another man's belly laugh. [Robert Heinlein]
Coffee got me through my undergraduate years. I worked nights (11:00 pm to 7:00 am), went to classes until early afternoon and then slept until time to get up for work. Probably drank 10 to 15 cups of coffee a day. The worst was the day I noticed my desk shaking and it was my own left arm twitching.
Still drink abot six cups a day of the "real stuff" (not decaf). Love the taste of coffee. I'll even drink decaf in the evening just so I can enjoy the taste. I got "the habit" long before college from my parents. Dad passed away at 90 but mom is still going at 97 (and still drinking coffee).
I heard lots of Packard built Merlins at the 2007 Gathering of Mustangs and Legends at Rickenbacker AFB outside of Columbus Ohio. The overflight of a couple of dozen Mustangs in a "51" formation was particularly nice. More recently, I recorded the overflight of 19 B-25s at the 70th reunion of the Doolitlle Tokyo Raiders at Wright-Patterson AFB. Turn up your speakers and enjoy the "noise." That many bombers in the air is just something you don't see or hear anymore.
Why stop at a USB stick? Use a USB powered external hard disk. I've been running Fedora Core 16 on the company's laptop that way for several months now. What's really nice is that the external hard disk has become my "portable computer." I just leave the work laptop at the office and boot my personal laptop with it when I'm working at home. You just need CPUs with the same width (64 bit or 32 bit) since FC16 (and I think recent Ubuntu) creates the X config on the fly. Since everything is on *my* hard disk, no worries if I get some workplace inappropriate e-mail or something.
Oh yeah, I get to run Linux this way and keep the OEM install of Windoze in case I have to do something corporate-ish that isn't supported on Linux.
I was going to post, "It's not a bug. It's a feature" but replying to your post will do.
I ended up vacationing in Silverton Colorado in mid-September 2001. The B&B we stayed in had no TV and only one phone and it was at the foot of the stairs with guest room all on the second floor. Even better, Silverton had (and I think continues to have) absolutely no cell phone service. The town has even acted to PREVENT carriers from installing cell towers.
It's an absolutly fantastic place to really get away from it all and be almost impossible to reach short of someone sending a courrier. Great hiking in the summer and awesome skiing in the winter.
Another vote for Xfce here. I like the UI to be snappy and Xfce is supposedly designed for light weight platforms. I put it on something like my Fedora VM server box for DOM-0 (6 core Athlon and 16GB of RAM) and it's amazingly fast and does what I want instead of getting in my way.
I think of GNOME 3 as Bob for Linux. As per the other posters who note that developers don't run it, I'm guessing it will got the way of Mocrosoft Bob.
Nah. Sounds way too healthy. But if I get a really militant response I add that I usually have to add a healthy dose of MSG since the V types I keep meeting are pretty tasteless (e.g., see the comment a couple of posts down).
I've been subscribing to the treeware edition since about 1980. I find the articles to be very approachable across a variety of fields. Besides the paper mag, the e-mail digests are great for keeping up with what's current. The editors of both do a fantastic job of picking out what's important so the signal to noise ratio is really good. The scope is also good since the coverage includes all fields of "science" as well as technology. Obviously, the treeware edition isn't free but it's definitely worth the price of a subscription.
No, I'm comparing vigilantes to vigilantes. Just because a bunch of people perceive the law to be wrong it stll doesn't justify taking the law into their own hands.
Absolutely true. But I think you'll find that the underground railroad was a *non-violent* movement. I don't have a problem with boycotts, non-violent social disobedience, protests, and similar forms of protest. I have a problem with vigilantes taking the law into their own hands. The gist of this thread and several others seemed to be vigilante attacks are good with no thought given to when the same tactics and justifications were used by people we all consider as bad.
Just a historical reminder. Both the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis (before they came to power) used the same language for taking the law into their own hands. The only thing that keeps similar groups from using the same tactics to terrorize their targets and even, possibly, gain power is the rule of law. Yes, this time, the target of the vigilantes is a reprehensible dirt bag. Just remember that not all vigilantes are the good guys.
Personally, I worry more about what various businesses can find out about me and other FaceBook users than I do about the government. The 4th Amendment works fairly well at keeping the government from doing "fishing expeditions" and I don't have a problem with the government getting access to data if they have a warrant based on probable cause. These restrictions don't apply to businesses that buy their way into FB to do data mining or that create cute little applications that require that you reveal everything to them in return for accessing the application.
I consider very carefully whether or not to reveal any personal information on FB beyond what I need to "show" so that people can find me. Most of this information is publicly available (i.e., phone book type stuff). It just isn't linked to me on FB where it can also be linked to my "friends." I'm going to do what I can to keep it that way.
One of the news reports commented that the plan is to "dispose of" his body (their words). This will be done to prevent any sort of tomb or grave site from becoming a shrine to the "martyr." A very good and pragmatic plan.
Now, about your lack of a sense of humor at what I thought was just a humorous plea not to waste some good bacon....
Hell don't use something tasty like bacon. Get a few 55 gallon drums of pig offal from a pork processor like Homel and mix his sad carcass in with that stuff.
Slashdot Mirror
I question the results...
Suggestion: find out what kind of dat she's having before you challenge her:
Bipolar sufferer Kay Redfield Jamison...
Cheers,
Dave
Excuse me? You can't do better than Heinlein.
Cheers,
Dave
It's always interesting when words take on a particular connotation. Myth and legend are great examples since they really do mean the same thing but somehow a legend is expected to have some basis in fact while a myth is taken to mean something that is a complete fabrication.
Alternatively, a myth is an effeminate moth. :D
Cheers,
Dave
I have a B.S. and M.S. in math and have been doing software development ever since I got out of grad school in 1980. My first job was with the Operations Research Department at TRW's Defense and Space Systems Group. I wrote software for optimizing the launch order for ICBMs and doing optimal target assignments which meant I was at least applying my math skills. After that I went on to a variety of projects that didn't directly involve math skills.
Cheers,
Dave
I'll insert myself here by saying "YES."
It's bad enough that these businesses in the US exist to collect donations which go to pay for their land, buildings and the ridiculously high salaries of priests, preachers, pastors or whatever they want to me called and do it all tax-free because it's "religion." But they go on to insult the whole educational process in every way possible by asserting things without evidence or experiment or verification of any kind. Some people even get real PhD's in this crap.
"The profession of shaman has many advantages. It offers high status with a safe livelihood free of work in the dreary, sweaty sense. In most societies it offers legal privileges and immunities not granted to other men. But it is hard to see how a man who has been given a mandate from on High to spread tidings of joy to all mankind can be seriously interested in taking up a collection to pay his salary; it causes one to suspect that the shaman is on the moral level of any other con man. But it is a lovely work if you can stomach it." [Lazarus Long, _Time enough for Love_, by Robert Heinlein]
A PhD in ancient Greek or Roman or other mythologies is "okay" but to declare a difference between that and "religious studies" is simply ridiculous and I demand an explanation of the fundamental difference between "mythology" and "religion." You have to realize that today's "religion" will be tomorrow's mythology right? Just as today's mythology was yesterday's religion?
Simple. Religion is what you believe; myths are what others believe or with another Heinlein quote:
One man's religion is another man's belly laugh. [Robert Heinlein]
Coffee got me through my undergraduate years. I worked nights (11:00 pm to 7:00 am), went to classes until early afternoon and then slept until time to get up for work. Probably drank 10 to 15 cups of coffee a day. The worst was the day I noticed my desk shaking and it was my own left arm twitching.
Still drink abot six cups a day of the "real stuff" (not decaf). Love the taste of coffee. I'll even drink decaf in the evening just so I can enjoy the taste. I got "the habit" long before college from my parents. Dad passed away at 90 but mom is still going at 97 (and still drinking coffee).
Cheers,
Dave
I heard lots of Packard built Merlins at the 2007 Gathering of Mustangs and Legends at Rickenbacker AFB outside of Columbus Ohio. The overflight of a couple of dozen Mustangs in a "51" formation was particularly nice. More recently, I recorded the overflight of 19 B-25s at the 70th reunion of the Doolitlle Tokyo Raiders at Wright-Patterson AFB. Turn up your speakers and enjoy the "noise." That many bombers in the air is just something you don't see or hear anymore.
Cheers,
Dave
Maybe we should take a vote on this.
Cheers,
Dave
Why stop at a USB stick? Use a USB powered external hard disk. I've been running Fedora Core 16 on the company's laptop that way for several months now. What's really nice is that the external hard disk has become my "portable computer." I just leave the work laptop at the office and boot my personal laptop with it when I'm working at home. You just need CPUs with the same width (64 bit or 32 bit) since FC16 (and I think recent Ubuntu) creates the X config on the fly. Since everything is on *my* hard disk, no worries if I get some workplace inappropriate e-mail or something.
Oh yeah, I get to run Linux this way and keep the OEM install of Windoze in case I have to do something corporate-ish that isn't supported on Linux.
Cheers,
Dave
I was going to post, "It's not a bug. It's a feature" but replying to your post will do.
I ended up vacationing in Silverton Colorado in mid-September 2001. The B&B we stayed in had no TV and only one phone and it was at the foot of the stairs with guest room all on the second floor. Even better, Silverton had (and I think continues to have) absolutely no cell phone service. The town has even acted to PREVENT carriers from installing cell towers.
It's an absolutly fantastic place to really get away from it all and be almost impossible to reach short of someone sending a courrier. Great hiking in the summer and awesome skiing in the winter.
Cheers,
Dave
Another vote for Xfce here. I like the UI to be snappy and Xfce is supposedly designed for light weight platforms. I put it on something like my Fedora VM server box for DOM-0 (6 core Athlon and 16GB of RAM) and it's amazingly fast and does what I want instead of getting in my way.
I think of GNOME 3 as Bob for Linux. As per the other posters who note that developers don't run it, I'm guessing it will got the way of Mocrosoft Bob.
Cheers,
Dave
Nah. Sounds way too healthy. But if I get a really militant response I add that I usually have to add a healthy dose of MSG since the V types I keep meeting are pretty tasteless (e.g., see the comment a couple of posts down).
Cheers,
Dave
My usual response when someone is introduced to me as or says they are a vegan or vegetarian...
"I like vegetarians. They're really good with a little bar-b-cue sauce."
Cheers,
Dave
that talking on a cell phone causes stupidity.
Cheers,
Dave
+1 on Scientific American.
I've been subscribing to the treeware edition since about 1980. I find the articles to be very approachable across a variety of fields. Besides the paper mag, the e-mail digests are great for keeping up with what's current. The editors of both do a fantastic job of picking out what's important so the signal to noise ratio is really good. The scope is also good since the coverage includes all fields of "science" as well as technology. Obviously, the treeware edition isn't free but it's definitely worth the price of a subscription.
Cheers,
Dave
No, I'm comparing vigilantes to vigilantes. Just because a bunch of people perceive the law to be wrong it stll doesn't justify taking the law into their own hands.
Cheers,
Dave
Absolutely true. But I think you'll find that the underground railroad was a *non-violent* movement. I don't have a problem with boycotts, non-violent social disobedience, protests, and similar forms of protest. I have a problem with vigilantes taking the law into their own hands. The gist of this thread and several others seemed to be vigilante attacks are good with no thought given to when the same tactics and justifications were used by people we all consider as bad.
Cheers,
Dave
Just a historical reminder. Both the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis (before they came to power) used the same language for taking the law into their own hands. The only thing that keeps similar groups from using the same tactics to terrorize their targets and even, possibly, gain power is the rule of law. Yes, this time, the target of the vigilantes is a reprehensible dirt bag. Just remember that not all vigilantes are the good guys.
Cheers,
Dave
Not the point. Page 3 == really nice, high class boobies.
(And, no, I don't need to talk to Dr. Phil about my mammary fixation)
Cheers,
Dave
News International I understand. The Sun, too, I guess. But why in the name of all that is holy would they take down Page 3?
Cheers,
Dave
I posted a Hitchhiker comment to "The world will end..." poll and got no responses.
Cheers,
Dave
Find the biggest damned party I can around here and then raise hell.
Cheers,
Dave
Personally, I worry more about what various businesses can find out about me and other FaceBook users than I do about the government. The 4th Amendment works fairly well at keeping the government from doing "fishing expeditions" and I don't have a problem with the government getting access to data if they have a warrant based on probable cause. These restrictions don't apply to businesses that buy their way into FB to do data mining or that create cute little applications that require that you reveal everything to them in return for accessing the application.
I consider very carefully whether or not to reveal any personal information on FB beyond what I need to "show" so that people can find me. Most of this information is publicly available (i.e., phone book type stuff). It just isn't linked to me on FB where it can also be linked to my "friends." I'm going to do what I can to keep it that way.
Cheers,
Dave
One of the news reports commented that the plan is to "dispose of" his body (their words). This will be done to prevent any sort of tomb or grave site from becoming a shrine to the "martyr." A very good and pragmatic plan.
Now, about your lack of a sense of humor at what I thought was just a humorous plea not to waste some good bacon....
Cheers,
Dave
Hell don't use something tasty like bacon. Get a few 55 gallon drums of pig offal from a pork processor like Homel and mix his sad carcass in with that stuff.
Cheers,
Dave