If "religion" means "set of beliefs" then actually everyone is not athiest, in fact everyone is "religious" including athiests (in this case their belief is that they don't believe in God). For an interesting read on the state of our "perfect science" that can not be questioned I found this on the internet a while back: The Case Against The Nuclear Atom
The problem with the claim that you are an atheist is that if you are an atheist then you believe there is no God, yet you want references to a "Lord Satan". If there is no God then where did Satan come from ? Either God created Satan which means there is a God and you are not an atheist, or if you truely believe there is no God then you must believe that everything came into existance by itself in which case you could not presume that there even exists a "spiritual" world where Satan or God or any other spiritual being could exist. The problem with that of course is the fact that the universe did not create itself and the universe itself testifies to this truth. It is God who created the universe and who created all the angels (satan is a fallen angel. The name Lucifer used to refer to satan in the Bible literally means "angel of light") and it is God who created all human beings.
Are just the "major" cities out or are all the areas between them out too ? I guess it is not as interesting to broadcast a small town with a power-outage, but I'm not sure from what I've heard if the power outages has somehow only affected major cities or if it has affected everything.
inside this building there is a level where no elevator can go and no stair can reach. This level is filled with doors. These doors lead to many places, hidden places, but one door is special. One door leads to the source...etc...
Now that the power is out we have only five minutes to find the door on that floor.
The web site mentions the rather strange fact that "intercepting satellite signals" is illegal. This may be a bit off topic, but it seems to me that this is very strange. Is it illegal to purchase or build your own radio receiver which will receive radio wave signals that are constantly broadcast into your home ? Of course not. Why then is it that when a satellite company broadcasts signals into my home, it is illegal for me to "intercept" those signals. Do they "own" the signal ? If so and if they don't want me to recieve their signal if I am not paying for it then why are they broadcasting it into my home? Can I sue them for invading my privacy by boradcasting signals into my home that I do not want to receive? I also find the use of the term "intercept" to be strange much the same way it is incorrect so say that making a copy of copyrighted software is "stealing". Just as copying software is not really "stealing" , it's "copying" so it is also true that when a satellite signal enters my home I am not "intercepting" it (because if I am , then who is it intended for ? As far as I know there is no one living underground below me), but rather I am "receiving" it, and it was the satellite company that sent it to me in the first place, even if I do not pay for it or ask for it. If I have the capability to build my own satellite reciever and decode the signals that are being sent into my home I see no reason why I should not be allowed to do so.
I found this interesting little bit at the end of the FAQ: Q: Do I need to download special software or get a CD-ROM to use SERVE?
A: All required software is downloaded automatically as needed when you access various parts of the SERVE website.
I'm no expert on "automatically downloading software" but I would not be surprised if that feature is specified to IE / Netscape and even if it is available on other browsers I would guess that the software itself that you are downloading is only for windows which is why they require that you have windows.
My other question is, if you have to download software to use the system, then really it's not an "internet based voting system". Rather the internet is just a medium for downloading windows software which actually does the voting. Why not actually make the system entirely web based ? There should not be a need to download extra software.
On another issue, I see lots of people talking about privacy issues relating to someone possibly being able to figure out how you voted. Maybe it's just me, but I see no problem with everyone having public access to how everyone else voted. Personally I don't know why people are so affraid. It's not like the government is going to come after you based on who you voted for. If I had a friend and I knew he voted differently than me I wouldn't suddenly not be his friend. I respect other people's point of view, further more if everyone had access to see what the computer system "says" they voted for it would be impossible for someone to fix the ballot because people would realize, "hey, I didn't vote for that person". Can someone really give me a good reason that isn't overly paranoid as to why the person you vote for should not be publicly accessable?
I can't believe that when I searched the list of replies to this article there is no mention of Gnucleus. Not only is it open source, but there is not spyware or anoying pop-up ads in the program. I have used quite a few different Gnutella clients and I have found gnucleus to be one of the better. Sadly, they don't have a linux verison, but you can get the source and probably figure out a way to make it work on Linux or you could just run it in on linux using a windows emulator like Wine.
If I could send a message back to my nieve 12-yearold self I would first send much information about why Microsoft is evil. I would tell myself to start researching Unix and try to find and meet people like Linux Trovalds and R.M.S.
I have been interested in programming for a long time, since before I was 12. However, in my early days I was totally ignorant and thought Microsoft was the best thing in the world (I always wished I could see the code for MS-DOS and Windows, I had been brain-washed into thinking that it was normal and acceptable for a company like Microsoft to hide all their source code).
I would also tell myself to research and start using Unix so that when Linux came around I'd be more prepared.
Also, I would tell myself to invest in Red Hat when they came out and probably IBM too.
" whats a bios? in all the newer computers ive seen that havent been built by the users, there is no bios."
Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about because all computers have a BIOS.
You ask "what's a bios" which indicates you don't know what it is and then you claim to know that there are computers without it ? How can you know that acomputer doesn't have a BIOS in it if you don't even know what a BIOS is to begin with?
MySQL is great, I love it. I recently taught myself how to use it along with Apache and PHP. One thing that I haven't found yet for MySQL that there should be is some software that would allow a less advanced user to still get the power and functionality of a database system. Basically something like the Microsoft Access front-end (because I have to admit that the microsoft access interface is simple enough that it allows people who don't know much about databases to utilitize them), but using MySQL as a database backend.
I have head (2X)^2... this is the "Estimation" I use. I have been programming for a long time and I hate it when a client comes to me and immediately wants a cost / time estimate before they have even given me any real details of the project. In these cases I take my estimate (x) and double that and then square it.
I couldn't believe this, but I wanted to see what Dictionary.com would say about the term "copyright" and to my surpise the definition had this to say in the last paragraph:
Use of copyright to restrict redistribution is actually immoral, unethical, and illegitimate. It is a result of brainwashing by monopolists and corporate interests and it violates everyone's rights. Copyrights and patents hamper technological progress by making a naturally abundant resource scarce. Many, from communists to right wing libertarians, are trying to abolish intellectual property myths.
'The costs are enormous to both industry and consumers.'
If it is so costly to both industry and consumers then why is it happening at all ? The truth of course as we all know is that it is only SLIGHTLY costly to businesses because they think that the poeple who copy or pirate their software would actually have paid for it at full price if they could not get it for free. This is only true of a small fraction of those who illegally copy software (notice I did not say "steal" because stealing implies taking something. When you make illegal copies of software you are not actually stealing, rather you are copying the software and the only thing that the companies are losing is money. The only reason that copying is considered bad or wrong is because the law says it is illegal, if there were not copyright laws and you could copy software all you wanted would you not copy software because you felt it was inherinetly wrong? I would hope not becuase that means that you are making ethical decisions based on law. Law should be based on ethics, not the other way around.)
Further more I do not see how it is costly to consumers at all. If I can get something for free as opposed to paying for it doesn't that save me money and isn't that the whole reason that software piracy is so prevalent (besides the ease with which it can be done). The industry may try to tell us that it is costly because they have to spend more money to protect their software, but isn't it true that the companies who spend the most on anti-piracy are probably the ones who have their software pirated the most.
First of all when did slashdot change from listing interesting and important news to a place where we ask questions about which laptops are better ? I have seen an alarming number of these types of "articles" recently which are nothing more than questions.
Second of 1024x768 is good for a laptop, I like my Fujitsu C Series Lifebook which has a max resolution of 1024x768 with 32 M colors, it also has 2 PCMCIA slots, a Fire-Wire out, S-Video out, and digital audio out for DVD's. A combo DVD player / CD-RW drive, 4 USB ports (no serial or ps/2 ports) , 1 parrallel port, infared communication port, 3.5 floppy drive, standard audio out and microphone input. Mine has a P3 800 mhz processor with 256 MB ram (came with 128 MB) and 20 gig HD. The only problem i've had with linux on this laptop is the sound doesn't work right.
Many people seem to think that by being fearful of a possible terrorist attack we are letting the terrorist win. After a recent plane crash in Queens, NY there has already been some talk of terrorism and the fear of terrorism, even though there is no evidence at this point to support a terrorist attack. As I think about this I am reminded that, "A concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that [are] real and immediate [is] the process of a rational mind." Now I don't know that there is always an immediate threat of terrorism, but there is a danger that is real and more immediate now than ever before. A concern for one's safety then is rational, but I keep hearing that if you are rational and concerned for your safety to the point where it affects the way you live then the terrorist have won. If you are not concerned for your safety then you are ignorant, and you probably believe the lie that having concern for your safety does in fact mean that the terrorist have won. So if we are rational people then the terrorist have won and if we are ignorant of what is going on around us then they have not won?
I think that there is no relationship between the terrorist winning or losing and our concern for our safety. The only way in which the terrorist have won, is in confusing people in to thinking that having a rational concern for their safety is illogical. Living your life as if nothing has happened is illogical. The fact of the matter is that "a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that [are] real and immediate [is] the process of a rational mind", and so this concern which has been fueled by the terrorist attacks does not mean that the terrorist have won. It means that we are logical, competent people who are concerned for our safety. The terrorists are not logical, competent people (and probably have no concern for their safety). The terrorists have only succeeded in confusing and angering the American people, and they are the ones who now should have a concern for their safety. They are in fact facing real and immediate danger.
I thought the movie was pretty funny too, but I must say I thought the gasoline fight was a little bit of a stretch for Hollywood. My dad once spilled just a little bit of gasoline on his face and insantly his eyes burned and he choked and coughed and we almost had to go to the hospital. He washed his eyes out for a couple min's before he could stand the pain and even then it was still burning...gasoline is very dangerous and deadly if swallowed yet they play in it like it's water or something.
I just downloaded the 2 ISO files for Mandrake 8.0 yesterday and now there is 8.1, what the heck... guess I'll have to waste another couple hours of company time and bandwidth to download again.
I've heard of cause and effect and I've also heard that just because event B happens after event A DOES NOT mean that event A caused event B. That is a major argumentative flaw, the reason the company probably went under was because of a bad business plan or the fact that most start up's (internet or not) do fail. I used to work at a place that had no problem with nerf gun's and they didn't go under...in fact they are expanding all the time, I only left because I found a better paying job (programming by the way). At my new job using nerf guns would probably not be smiled upon, and that's too bad. I enjoyed playing around in our free time. I find it hard to believe that someone can work 8 hours a day non-stop doing their job. Especially programming, I have been programming for over 10 years and you do have to stop now and then and think about what your doing. Often time's I get to the point where I can't think of what to do so I go to/. and read the news and then come back refreshed and ready to program some more.
Slashdot Mirror
If "religion" means "set of beliefs" then actually everyone is not athiest, in fact everyone is "religious" including athiests (in this case their belief is that they don't believe in God). For an interesting read on the state of our "perfect science" that can not be questioned I found this on the internet a while back: The Case Against The Nuclear Atom
The problem with the claim that you are an atheist is that if you are an atheist then you believe there is no God, yet you want references to a "Lord Satan". If there is no God then where did Satan come from ? Either God created Satan which means there is a God and you are not an atheist, or if you truely believe there is no God then you must believe that everything came into existance by itself in which case you could not presume that there even exists a "spiritual" world where Satan or God or any other spiritual being could exist. The problem with that of course is the fact that the universe did not create itself and the universe itself testifies to this truth. It is God who created the universe and who created all the angels (satan is a fallen angel. The name Lucifer used to refer to satan in the Bible literally means "angel of light") and it is God who created all human beings.
Are just the "major" cities out or are all the areas between them out too ? I guess it is not as interesting to broadcast a small town with a power-outage, but I'm not sure from what I've heard if the power outages has somehow only affected major cities or if it has affected everything.
inside this building there is a level where no elevator can go and no stair can reach. This level is filled with doors. These doors lead to many places, hidden places, but one door is special. One door leads to the source...etc... Now that the power is out we have only five minutes to find the door on that floor.
The web site mentions the rather strange fact that "intercepting satellite signals" is illegal. This may be a bit off topic, but it seems to me that this is very strange. Is it illegal to purchase or build your own radio receiver which will receive radio wave signals that are constantly broadcast into your home ? Of course not. Why then is it that when a satellite company broadcasts signals into my home, it is illegal for me to "intercept" those signals. Do they "own" the signal ? If so and if they don't want me to recieve their signal if I am not paying for it then why are they broadcasting it into my home? Can I sue them for invading my privacy by boradcasting signals into my home that I do not want to receive? I also find the use of the term "intercept" to be strange much the same way it is incorrect so say that making a copy of copyrighted software is "stealing". Just as copying software is not really "stealing" , it's "copying" so it is also true that when a satellite signal enters my home I am not "intercepting" it (because if I am , then who is it intended for ? As far as I know there is no one living underground below me), but rather I am "receiving" it, and it was the satellite company that sent it to me in the first place, even if I do not pay for it or ask for it. If I have the capability to build my own satellite reciever and decode the signals that are being sent into my home I see no reason why I should not be allowed to do so.
I found this interesting little bit at the end of the FAQ:
Q: Do I need to download special software or get a CD-ROM to use SERVE?
A: All required software is downloaded automatically as needed when you access various parts of the SERVE website.
I'm no expert on "automatically downloading software" but I would not be surprised if that feature is specified to IE / Netscape and even if it is available on other browsers I would guess that the software itself that you are downloading is only for windows which is why they require that you have windows.
My other question is, if you have to download software to use the system, then really it's not an "internet based voting system". Rather the internet is just a medium for downloading windows software which actually does the voting. Why not actually make the system entirely web based ? There should not be a need to download extra software.
On another issue, I see lots of people talking about privacy issues relating to someone possibly being able to figure out how you voted. Maybe it's just me, but I see no problem with everyone having public access to how everyone else voted. Personally I don't know why people are so affraid. It's not like the government is going to come after you based on who you voted for. If I had a friend and I knew he voted differently than me I wouldn't suddenly not be his friend. I respect other people's point of view, further more if everyone had access to see what the computer system "says" they voted for it would be impossible for someone to fix the ballot because people would realize, "hey, I didn't vote for that person". Can someone really give me a good reason that isn't overly paranoid as to why the person you vote for should not be publicly accessable?
I can't believe that when I searched the list of replies to this article there is no mention of Gnucleus. Not only is it open source, but there is not spyware or anoying pop-up ads in the program. I have used quite a few different Gnutella clients and I have found gnucleus to be one of the better. Sadly, they don't have a linux verison, but you can get the source and probably figure out a way to make it work on Linux or you could just run it in on linux using a windows emulator like Wine.
If I could send a message back to my nieve 12-yearold self I would first send much information about why Microsoft is evil. I would tell myself to start researching Unix and try to find and meet people like Linux Trovalds and R.M.S.
I have been interested in programming for a long time, since before I was 12. However, in my early days I was totally ignorant and thought Microsoft was the best thing in the world (I always wished I could see the code for MS-DOS and Windows, I had been brain-washed into thinking that it was normal and acceptable for a company like Microsoft to hide all their source code).
I would also tell myself to research and start using Unix so that when Linux came around I'd be more prepared.
Also, I would tell myself to invest in Red Hat when they came out and probably IBM too.
" whats a bios? in all the newer computers ive seen that havent been built by the users, there is no bios."
Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about because all computers have a BIOS.
You ask "what's a bios" which indicates you don't know what it is and then you claim to know that there are computers without it ? How can you know that acomputer doesn't have a BIOS in it if you don't even know what a BIOS is to begin with?
MySQL is great, I love it. I recently taught myself how to use it along with Apache and PHP. One thing that I haven't found yet for MySQL that there should be is some software that would allow a less advanced user to still get the power and functionality of a database system. Basically something like the Microsoft Access front-end (because I have to admit that the microsoft access interface is simple enough that it allows people who don't know much about databases to utilitize them), but using MySQL as a database backend.
I have head (2X)^2 ... this is the "Estimation" I use. I have been programming for a long time and I hate it when a client comes to me and immediately wants a cost / time estimate before they have even given me any real details of the project. In these cases I take my estimate (x) and double that and then square it.
'The costs are enormous to both industry and consumers.'
If it is so costly to both industry and consumers then why is it happening at all ? The truth of course as we all know is that it is only SLIGHTLY costly to businesses because they think that the poeple who copy or pirate their software would actually have paid for it at full price if they could not get it for free. This is only true of a small fraction of those who illegally copy software (notice I did not say "steal" because stealing implies taking something. When you make illegal copies of software you are not actually stealing, rather you are copying the software and the only thing that the companies are losing is money. The only reason that copying is considered bad or wrong is because the law says it is illegal, if there were not copyright laws and you could copy software all you wanted would you not copy software because you felt it was inherinetly wrong? I would hope not becuase that means that you are making ethical decisions based on law. Law should be based on ethics, not the other way around.)
Further more I do not see how it is costly to consumers at all. If I can get something for free as opposed to paying for it doesn't that save me money and isn't that the whole reason that software piracy is so prevalent (besides the ease with which it can be done). The industry may try to tell us that it is costly because they have to spend more money to protect their software, but isn't it true that the companies who spend the most on anti-piracy are probably the ones who have their software pirated the most.
Forgot to mention that laptop of mine has a built in 10/100 NIC and modem along with a monitor-out (for dual montiors)
First of all when did slashdot change from listing interesting and important news to a place where we ask questions about which laptops are better ? I have seen an alarming number of these types of "articles" recently which are nothing more than questions. Second of 1024x768 is good for a laptop, I like my Fujitsu C Series Lifebook which has a max resolution of 1024x768 with 32 M colors, it also has 2 PCMCIA slots, a Fire-Wire out, S-Video out, and digital audio out for DVD's. A combo DVD player / CD-RW drive, 4 USB ports (no serial or ps/2 ports) , 1 parrallel port, infared communication port, 3.5 floppy drive, standard audio out and microphone input. Mine has a P3 800 mhz processor with 256 MB ram (came with 128 MB) and 20 gig HD. The only problem i've had with linux on this laptop is the sound doesn't work right.
Many people seem to think that by being fearful of a possible terrorist attack we are letting the terrorist win. After a recent plane crash in Queens, NY there has already been some talk of terrorism and the fear of terrorism, even though there is no evidence at this point to support a terrorist attack. As I think about this I am reminded that, "A concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that [are] real and immediate [is] the process of a rational mind." Now I don't know that there is always an immediate threat of terrorism, but there is a danger that is real and more immediate now than ever before. A concern for one's safety then is rational, but I keep hearing that if you are rational and concerned for your safety to the point where it affects the way you live then the terrorist have won. If you are not concerned for your safety then you are ignorant, and you probably believe the lie that having concern for your safety does in fact mean that the terrorist have won. So if we are rational people then the terrorist have won and if we are ignorant of what is going on around us then they have not won?
I think that there is no relationship between the terrorist winning or losing and our concern for our safety. The only way in which the terrorist have won, is in confusing people in to thinking that having a rational concern for their safety is illogical. Living your life as if nothing has happened is illogical. The fact of the matter is that "a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that [are] real and immediate [is] the process of a rational mind", and so this concern which has been fueled by the terrorist attacks does not mean that the terrorist have won. It means that we are logical, competent people who are concerned for our safety. The terrorists are not logical, competent people (and probably have no concern for their safety). The terrorists have only succeeded in confusing and angering the American people, and they are the ones who now should have a concern for their safety. They are in fact facing real and immediate danger.
-Christopher Mark Beelby
Quotes from Catch-22
I thought the movie was pretty funny too, but I must say I thought the gasoline fight was a little bit of a stretch for Hollywood. My dad once spilled just a little bit of gasoline on his face and insantly his eyes burned and he choked and coughed and we almost had to go to the hospital. He washed his eyes out for a couple min's before he could stand the pain and even then it was still burning...gasoline is very dangerous and deadly if swallowed yet they play in it like it's water or something.
I just downloaded the 2 ISO files for Mandrake 8.0 yesterday and now there is 8.1, what the heck... guess I'll have to waste another couple hours of company time and bandwidth to download again.
I've heard of cause and effect and I've also heard that just because event B happens after event A DOES NOT mean that event A caused event B. That is a major argumentative flaw, the reason the company probably went under was because of a bad business plan or the fact that most start up's (internet or not) do fail. I used to work at a place that had no problem with nerf gun's and they didn't go under...in fact they are expanding all the time, I only left because I found a better paying job (programming by the way). At my new job using nerf guns would probably not be smiled upon, and that's too bad. I enjoyed playing around in our free time. I find it hard to believe that someone can work 8 hours a day non-stop doing their job. Especially programming, I have been programming for over 10 years and you do have to stop now and then and think about what your doing. Often time's I get to the point where I can't think of what to do so I go to /. and read the news and then come back refreshed and ready to program some more.