Well, you got me. Last time I saw a Bud (I don't think it was a Bud Lite) the alcohol content was 1.5 or so. Could be the different brewing standards for different regions. Saw some about this in trying to support my claim.
Yes, but Canada has more coast than the U.S. (or international water boundaries if you are thinking of commenting about all inlets not needing more coverage than passing by), which is the governing factor on whether a fleet is effective. Ours fails miserably there. Also, our subs are DIESELS, and probably totally ineffective in patrolling our arctic (under ice) coast. Still an important job, was moreso during the cold (Punny) war. And one of them is a training vessel and probably doesn't leave dock.
And then there's the specs. Where's our aircraft carrier? Biggest one in Canada would either be made of lego, or it belongs to the americans (no, I don't know when the last time and american aircraft carrier was in our international waters). Oh yeah, and during the military actions, when we sent out 5 ships to the Middle East, and they had to turn back after an accident (or equipment failre, doesn't matter does it?). All fear the Canadian Navy.
Also, note the difference. U.S deployable battle force, Canadian total fleet. Note also that of those 34 ships, 12 (that's over a third!) are coastal defence (useless unless we're attacked, only nearly useless if we are).
All this, and we still can't patrol about half of our coast. So do I think our navy is a joke? You bet. Do I think it behooves to be as polite as possible given that prior to 9/11 you could get a Canadian passport without going to the store yourself (aiding the terrorists!!) and we would be totally useless under just about any military attack? Oh yeah.
Please note that I think our soldiers are great, and have proven themselves on a battle-by-battle basis since 1812. Before then, we only fought with ourselves.:) The big issues listed above are political and financial. If someone should decide to attack, I don't think that will hold them back.
As in your case, there are exceptions to the rule. But I've heard a number of times, from both Canadians and Americans, about Americans putting stickers of the Canadian flag on their luggage in order to get better treatment while travelling internationally. More anecdotal evidence, but still something to think about...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we're all a great bunch of people. In fact, I don't rate our leader much higher than yours (he prefers to engage in strong-arm tactics at home).
Re:Implications for Phonics vs. Whole-word Debate?
on
Can You Raed Tihs?
·
· Score: 1
Our brains are fairly sophisticated, and probably use both, when the situation warrants it. Phonics applies verbal language to written language. English uses subsections of a word to alter meaning (prefix, root, suffix). Between these two, you can craft just about any word in english based on it's definition or pronunciation, and decode any word fairly quickly. Toss in pattern recognition, and the occasional descrambling, and it's all easy.
But you'll notice that this statement was specially crafted. None of these words have both prefixes and suffixes, and few have prefixes or suffixes (not counting tense modifiers). There are also no conjunctions (multiple words combined into one - right def'n?), with the exception of 'without'. That means less decoding (and shorter words), leaving this to be an easy task for pure pattern recognition.
None of this detracts from what you said about reading comprehension at a basic level, although you may see differences if a person reads something with a lot of new words (phonics' strong point). Also, there may be differences if more processing time is spent on comprehending (learning), than on reviewing or reading for the sake of enjoyment. I've noticed this with myself.
Hebrew is an interesting case in this discussion. Their vowels are (mostly) modifiers on the standard consonents, and were often left out in ancient texts. If you did this in english, Los Angeles would become Ls Angls (yes, the A would remain). Note that this is fine if you have the proper context (i.e., know the language being written in), but could be more difficult if you were trying to decipher it in the future (ancient written language). In a way, complete, correctly written language partly contains the code to decipher it, like any redundant message.
And now the test: Th qck brwn fx jmpd ovr th lzy dg. Hw's tht fr a smpl tst of or mnds' txt prsng cpblts? Maybe not so easy for everything...
Our beer typically has 3 (4.5%/vol) times the alcohol content, some of them nearly 5 (7%/vol). Our lite beer has as much alcohol as american beer. At least with that you can be over 15, drinking beer, and have the chance to actually get drunk. I suspect that the drunk drivers in the U.S. aren't getting drunk on their beer - they wouldn't have time to get from the bathroom to the car...
Look around the store when next you buy your CD-Rs. There are audio CD-Rs that are $1 to $3 per disc, and still have the higher-quality gold foil...and what is essentially an ad saying that this is a better media for audio/video archiving (after all you may not care about a backup a year from now). Given the lifespan of the cheaper CD-Rs, I wouldn't pay 77 cents for them, and certainly not to the recording industry.
Yep, Canada is socialist. Love it or hate it, that's what we are. But fascist? Come now. There are four points to define fascism. We have the option to remove our dictator every 3 to 5 years; I have to agree with the stringent socioeconomic controls; we don't use (much) terror, and I haven't heard of any censorship:) ; and we're generally considered one of the more polite nations (probably something to do with a zillion square miles of land and about a dozen ships in our military fleet).
Now stop calling us fascist or we'll stop letting you buy our beer!
My 1GHz laptop works better than my 200 MHz desktop. Oh wait, that's just processing power...
'Better' can refer to the totality of the experience. If we both close our eyes, someone claps, and we both try to point at him, the blind guy will probably do a better job. His hearing is better, just maybe not better at collecting raw information.
Of course, this has been done before. MS does it on most most of their OS (and office?) installs, but they only advertise for themselves. Oh yeah, and charge you for the chance.
If you're really upset by ads, do what I do - ignore them, or laugh. Marketspeak is quite funny as long as you remember that it isn't true...
Stats don't have to be smart - they're numbers, after all. People are dumb, and don't examine the source of the stats - which study, who funded it (possible, not guaranteed, bias), methodology, sample size, etc. And since they're dumb, they don't care to verify if their information is correct.
Like another responder said, 50% of humans are below average. What concerns me more is that I suspect the value considered average is dropping...
I'm starting a petition to replace Captain Obvious with ObviousMan! This is professionally* drawn, timely, and he has a cool logo. If nothing else, ou have to love the logo.
*Of course I didn't ask the author! This is/. for God's sake!
No one forced them to use Kazaa, nor do I feel much pity for those who don't become informed in the risks involved with their activities, from downloading music, to nutrition, to sex.
That said, I don't agree with companies providing tools that are primarily used for illegal purposes, but there is a long and rich history with that, Kazaa being one of the least offenders. Think guns designed to be easily modifiable from semi-auto to auto.
Personal responsibility vs. victim risk is the key. Balance those two and you can.....piss both sides off.:)
If anyone's guilty it's the Kazaa for charging the fee for a service they couldn't legally provide.
Perhaps Kazaa sells software, and the P2P (Peer to Peer) service isn't paid for at all? After all, their servers are quite likely disconnected from the filesharing portion of the software - wasn't that the lesson learned from Napster? And the $30 gets rid of the ad, so it's conceivable that there is no connection at all to Kazaa's servers (although I doubt that).
Now, are you saying that RIAA should sue Kazaa for providing software that can be used for illegal purposes? Should we also sue concrete companies for allowing mobsters to make unusually heavy shoes? Maybe we should also register fist-sized rocks (they break windows!) and big sticks (they break bones!) too.
Here's a news flash. The company network is NOT US Mail (certainly not if you don't live in the U.S.;). Also, unencrypted email is more similar to postcards, where no expectation of privacy is reasonable - kind of like getting mad at people for reading the sign you put in your front yard. Your paper mail that is sent specifically to you and not to your position would still be protected by whatever laws apply to such in your region.
Shh!!! You're going to tarnish the United States' reputation as a benefactor to other nations. While you're at it, please don't mention Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, or Nicaragua either.
Actually Robertson screws (the ones with a tapered square to drive it) were patented. Not that I disagree with you about the patent thing, and this did occurr when the preferred method was to machine a slot across the screw, so I would call that innovative.
Where did I say I was against them risking their lives? In fact, I'm not. I just said they were risking their lives, and it should be done in a manner to minimize risk to those uninvolved.
We got where we are in the aircraft industry by using contests and prizes. It motivates people who aren't established in the industry (or to join an unestablished industry) to try out their ideas, and accept the risks for the chance of a huge reward (and hopefully not 'the great reward'). Think of it as a way of short-circuiting the old-boys network.
Also, you can be sure people are going to die because of this. People died trying to get to Asia, cross the Atlantic, get to the north pole, discover redioactivity, (nearly died) to discover electricity, and create trains, automobiles and airplanes. Why do you think this advance will cost less than most of the others? That's the nature of the game. Now as far as general destruction, that's easy, too. Launch over deserted land or over water, and you'll minimize the risk to uninvolved individuals.
Ultimately, advancement requires risk. Large, established organizations are adverse to risk, leaving two options: slowed (or stalled) innovation, or introduction of players willing to take risks. I personally would like to see something more advanced than the space shuttle, and at the rate NASA is going, I'll be waiting another decade or three for them to do that.
Go a few more steps. Data should have rights. Please forward all yours to me. Free the data!
My ideas are mine to do what I will with. If I wish to hoard them, and not share them with you, that should be my right. I owe my ideas nothing. In fact, I can think up all kinds of ways to benefit humanity, and still have no obligation to share them with you. They are MY ideas, to examine, refine, and ponder over on long sleepless nights.
Conversely, I don't think someone should be allowed to call shotgun on ideas. If you think it up, it's your idea, too. But if you take it from me, I deserve some compensation for taking that idea to the point of usability.
There has to be a middle ground, where individuals and corporations are rewarded for coming up with new ideas, while not stifling competition. Two that I think would be useful are the requirement to submit a working model of a patent idea (can't patent pie-in-the-sky ideas), and should have different lifetimes in different industries (if you can't make your money from your idea within 5 years in the software industry, you probably never will).
But let's stop assigning abstract principles to abstract entities. That's almost as absurd as assigning rights to buildings, or the old cliche "Information wants to be free".
Slashdot Mirror
Well, you got me. Last time I saw a Bud (I don't think it was a Bud Lite) the alcohol content was 1.5 or so. Could be the different brewing standards for different regions. Saw some about this in trying to support my claim.
Budweiser. Is that American for water? I'm surprised they sell it in Canada. I can just see it now..."No, I don't drink lite beer - this is American!"
Right back at ya!
Yes, but Canada has more coast than the U.S. (or international water boundaries if you are thinking of commenting about all inlets not needing more coverage than passing by), which is the governing factor on whether a fleet is effective. Ours fails miserably there. Also, our subs are DIESELS, and probably totally ineffective in patrolling our arctic (under ice) coast. Still an important job, was moreso during the cold (Punny) war. And one of them is a training vessel and probably doesn't leave dock.
:) The big issues listed above are political and financial. If someone should decide to attack, I don't think that will hold them back.
And then there's the specs. Where's our aircraft carrier? Biggest one in Canada would either be made of lego, or it belongs to the americans (no, I don't know when the last time and american aircraft carrier was in our international waters). Oh yeah, and during the military actions, when we sent out 5 ships to the Middle East, and they had to turn back after an accident (or equipment failre, doesn't matter does it?). All fear the Canadian Navy.
Also, note the difference. U.S deployable battle force, Canadian total fleet. Note also that of those 34 ships, 12 (that's over a third!) are coastal defence (useless unless we're attacked, only nearly useless if we are).
All this, and we still can't patrol about half of our coast. So do I think our navy is a joke? You bet. Do I think it behooves to be as polite as possible given that prior to 9/11 you could get a Canadian passport without going to the store yourself (aiding the terrorists!!) and we would be totally useless under just about any military attack? Oh yeah.
Please note that I think our soldiers are great, and have proven themselves on a battle-by-battle basis since 1812. Before then, we only fought with ourselves.
As in your case, there are exceptions to the rule. But I've heard a number of times, from both Canadians and Americans, about Americans putting stickers of the Canadian flag on their luggage in order to get better treatment while travelling internationally. More anecdotal evidence, but still something to think about...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we're all a great bunch of people. In fact, I don't rate our leader much higher than yours (he prefers to engage in strong-arm tactics at home).
Our brains are fairly sophisticated, and probably use both, when the situation warrants it. Phonics applies verbal language to written language. English uses subsections of a word to alter meaning (prefix, root, suffix). Between these two, you can craft just about any word in english based on it's definition or pronunciation, and decode any word fairly quickly. Toss in pattern recognition, and the occasional descrambling, and it's all easy.
But you'll notice that this statement was specially crafted. None of these words have both prefixes and suffixes, and few have prefixes or suffixes (not counting tense modifiers). There are also no conjunctions (multiple words combined into one - right def'n?), with the exception of 'without'. That means less decoding (and shorter words), leaving this to be an easy task for pure pattern recognition.
None of this detracts from what you said about reading comprehension at a basic level, although you may see differences if a person reads something with a lot of new words (phonics' strong point). Also, there may be differences if more processing time is spent on comprehending (learning), than on reviewing or reading for the sake of enjoyment. I've noticed this with myself.
Hebrew is an interesting case in this discussion. Their vowels are (mostly) modifiers on the standard consonents, and were often left out in ancient texts. If you did this in english, Los Angeles would become Ls Angls (yes, the A would remain). Note that this is fine if you have the proper context (i.e., know the language being written in), but could be more difficult if you were trying to decipher it in the future (ancient written language). In a way, complete, correctly written language partly contains the code to decipher it, like any redundant message.
And now the test: Th qck brwn fx jmpd ovr th lzy dg. Hw's tht fr a smpl tst of or mnds' txt prsng cpblts? Maybe not so easy for everything...
Our beer typically has 3 (4.5%/vol) times the alcohol content, some of them nearly 5 (7%/vol). Our lite beer has as much alcohol as american beer. At least with that you can be over 15, drinking beer, and have the chance to actually get drunk. I suspect that the drunk drivers in the U.S. aren't getting drunk on their beer - they wouldn't have time to get from the bathroom to the car...
Look around the store when next you buy your CD-Rs. There are audio CD-Rs that are $1 to $3 per disc, and still have the higher-quality gold foil...and what is essentially an ad saying that this is a better media for audio/video archiving (after all you may not care about a backup a year from now). Given the lifespan of the cheaper CD-Rs, I wouldn't pay 77 cents for them, and certainly not to the recording industry.
Yep, Canada is socialist. Love it or hate it, that's what we are. But fascist? Come now. There are four points to define fascism. We have the option to remove our dictator every 3 to 5 years; I have to agree with the stringent socioeconomic controls; we don't use (much) terror, and I haven't heard of any censorship :) ; and we're generally considered one of the more polite nations (probably something to do with a zillion square miles of land and about a dozen ships in our military fleet).
Now stop calling us fascist or we'll stop letting you buy our beer!
I've always thought that if I were to loose a limb in an accident...Hot damn, I have a new project!
First step, cut off arm...
My 1GHz laptop works better than my 200 MHz desktop. Oh wait, that's just processing power...
'Better' can refer to the totality of the experience. If we both close our eyes, someone claps, and we both try to point at him, the blind guy will probably do a better job. His hearing is better, just maybe not better at collecting raw information.
Of course, this has been done before. MS does it on most most of their OS (and office?) installs, but they only advertise for themselves. Oh yeah, and charge you for the chance.
If you're really upset by ads, do what I do - ignore them, or laugh. Marketspeak is quite funny as long as you remember that it isn't true...
Stats don't have to be smart - they're numbers, after all. People are dumb, and don't examine the source of the stats - which study, who funded it (possible, not guaranteed, bias), methodology, sample size, etc. And since they're dumb, they don't care to verify if their information is correct.
Like another responder said, 50% of humans are below average. What concerns me more is that I suspect the value considered average is dropping...
I'm starting a petition to replace Captain Obvious with ObviousMan! This is professionally* drawn, timely, and he has a cool logo. If nothing else, ou have to love the logo.
/. for God's sake!
*Of course I didn't ask the author! This is
No one forced them to use Kazaa, nor do I feel much pity for those who don't become informed in the risks involved with their activities, from downloading music, to nutrition, to sex.
:)
That said, I don't agree with companies providing tools that are primarily used for illegal purposes, but there is a long and rich history with that, Kazaa being one of the least offenders. Think guns designed to be easily modifiable from semi-auto to auto.
Personal responsibility vs. victim risk is the key. Balance those two and you can.....piss both sides off.
If anyone's guilty it's the Kazaa for charging the fee for a service they couldn't legally provide.
Perhaps Kazaa sells software, and the P2P (Peer to Peer) service isn't paid for at all? After all, their servers are quite likely disconnected from the filesharing portion of the software - wasn't that the lesson learned from Napster? And the $30 gets rid of the ad, so it's conceivable that there is no connection at all to Kazaa's servers (although I doubt that).
Now, are you saying that RIAA should sue Kazaa for providing software that can be used for illegal purposes? Should we also sue concrete companies for allowing mobsters to make unusually heavy shoes? Maybe we should also register fist-sized rocks (they break windows!) and big sticks (they break bones!) too.
Here's a news flash. The company network is NOT US Mail (certainly not if you don't live in the U.S. ;). Also, unencrypted email is more similar to postcards, where no expectation of privacy is reasonable - kind of like getting mad at people for reading the sign you put in your front yard. Your paper mail that is sent specifically to you and not to your position would still be protected by whatever laws apply to such in your region.
Bacteria only multiply out of control in very favourable conditions.
This is also the case for computer viruses. And thanks to Microsoft, the Internet is one vast petri dish...
Yes - now only the slashdotters that hate both India and America will say this research is useless/incomplete/redundant.
Shh!!! You're going to tarnish the United States' reputation as a benefactor to other nations. While you're at it, please don't mention Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, or Nicaragua either.
Your level of paranoia impresses me. You're my hero. I'd subscribe to your newsletter, but I don't want to give out my address. :)
.sig isn't new...
And no, the
Actually Robertson screws (the ones with a tapered square to drive it) were patented. Not that I disagree with you about the patent thing, and this did occurr when the preferred method was to machine a slot across the screw, so I would call that innovative.
Where did I say I was against them risking their lives? In fact, I'm not. I just said they were risking their lives, and it should be done in a manner to minimize risk to those uninvolved.
We got where we are in the aircraft industry by using contests and prizes. It motivates people who aren't established in the industry (or to join an unestablished industry) to try out their ideas, and accept the risks for the chance of a huge reward (and hopefully not 'the great reward'). Think of it as a way of short-circuiting the old-boys network.
Also, you can be sure people are going to die because of this. People died trying to get to Asia, cross the Atlantic, get to the north pole, discover redioactivity, (nearly died) to discover electricity, and create trains, automobiles and airplanes. Why do you think this advance will cost less than most of the others? That's the nature of the game. Now as far as general destruction, that's easy, too. Launch over deserted land or over water, and you'll minimize the risk to uninvolved individuals.
Ultimately, advancement requires risk. Large, established organizations are adverse to risk, leaving two options: slowed (or stalled) innovation, or introduction of players willing to take risks. I personally would like to see something more advanced than the space shuttle, and at the rate NASA is going, I'll be waiting another decade or three for them to do that.
Go a few more steps. Data should have rights. Please forward all yours to me. Free the data!
My ideas are mine to do what I will with. If I wish to hoard them, and not share them with you, that should be my right. I owe my ideas nothing. In fact, I can think up all kinds of ways to benefit humanity, and still have no obligation to share them with you. They are MY ideas, to examine, refine, and ponder over on long sleepless nights.
Conversely, I don't think someone should be allowed to call shotgun on ideas. If you think it up, it's your idea, too. But if you take it from me, I deserve some compensation for taking that idea to the point of usability.
There has to be a middle ground, where individuals and corporations are rewarded for coming up with new ideas, while not stifling competition. Two that I think would be useful are the requirement to submit a working model of a patent idea (can't patent pie-in-the-sky ideas), and should have different lifetimes in different industries (if you can't make your money from your idea within 5 years in the software industry, you probably never will).
But let's stop assigning abstract principles to abstract entities. That's almost as absurd as assigning rights to buildings, or the old cliche "Information wants to be free".