Re:my opinion of 'Oryx and Crake'
on
Oryx and Crake
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· Score: 1
Books are not literally burned in Oryx and Crake but digital convergence produces all the same effects described in Fahrenheit 451. So, when people exclaim that this is not science fiction, I must say, I'm inclined to agree with them.
What? It explores digital convergence and resembles Fahrenheit 451, but it's not SF?
I find myself rereading parts because I have to let the words sink in a bit
If you haven't already, read some Gene Wolfe. Is that not SF either because the author is creative with language? Is SF constrained to be flat colourless prose?
Actually in this case it's not so much your IP they want as confirmation of your email.
Yes. That's what I meant. The Feds want the IP that requested the image; spammers would want the name of the file requested which presumably maps to the email address the (spam) message was sent to.
Some AC wrote: "Spammers do not use an invisible IMG link for IP address verification.". If you're referring to my post above, I didn't say they wanted your IP, but that they wanted to verify your address, meaning email. If they send a unique image URL that encodes the address a message was sent to, a request for that image shows the message was viewed.
Sorry but no is doesn't, I use outlook at work and i have to allow mine to return a reciept, if i cancel the request nothing is returned to the sender
But if you reeive an HTML message that includes an IMG link to the senders' site, when Outlook displays the image (even if it's an invisble 1 pixel one) they have your IP. There are ways to block this, but it's on by default. Spammers use this to verify your address.
They don't hop around all over the place. You pretty much have to go to a zoo to see one. Same for Dingos and Koalas
Not at all. You don't see roos near cities, and farmers don't like them because they compete for grass with cattle and sheep. But in any large areas of open country you'll find kangaroos. Koalas are more localised, they need specific trees, but not hard to find when they're around because they roar like lions. Dingos have a much lower profile, and are under a lot of pressure from feral dogs, let alone being shot by farmers.
Although drawing the line on free trade at "forced labor"... it's a political no-brainer. Which is why I won't herald it as brilliant or earth-shattering.
However, the US hasn't "drawn a line" against forced labour in many other countries, as long as they were supportive of US policies. As the Burmese junta isn't, Bush had nothing to lose, but it nevertheless was the right thing to do.
The more important question is, why would they use such an obscure (to us) unit of measurement in an article for us?
Because it wasn't written for "us". If you'd RTFA (which is only a few paragraphs), you might have noticed it was in The Economic Times, part of the India Times.
Which explains why he has closed off all trade with Burma, right?
That is the single foreign policy thing he's done that I agree with. Even though it's more likely due to the Burmese junta's close connections with the heroin trade rather than their repressive and genocidal policies.
Actually, I think it is elephant soccer, not polo.
Elephant Polo is now played in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand (and in India in colonial times). The players ride on elephants (directed my mahouts) and hit the ball with a (very long) mallet.
As of Monday, the pressure had declined a total of nine millimeters. That is equivalent to about one-quarter of a pound per square inch, said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield."
If NASA is rounding.174 to.25. no wonder they keep crashing.
Remember the Mars Climate Orbiter where one team used English units and the other used metric? Or is this one of those "Volkswagens per Library of Congress" things that journalists use because they think the public is innumerate?
The reason they'll be forced to is because if they don't, within a year putting your win98 box on the internet means it bluescreening instantly from viruses.
You can use 3rd party firewalls, eg Zonealarm, to protect an otherwsie vulnerable system. I do that at the moment with my Win98SE. Though I am planning to migrate to Win2K for stability reasons (and still use ZoneAlarm or similar).
Just because it isn't on CNN.COM or the New York Times it isn't credible? Remember it was fringe journalist Matt Drudge who broke the Lewinski story.
And as soon as he did it was covered by the NYT, Time, CNN and everyone else. Strangely, none of these have picked up this story. And the "respectable" media held back on the Lewinski story through fear of seeming sleazy, not because they really doubted the truth of the matter, a considersation which does not apply here.
>there are hundreds of scientists who'd kill to get their hands on one of these and publish analyses. If they did, people like you would find a reason not to believe anyway
No, I'm quite prepared to believe in evidence. All the evidence you have is abduction fantasies and a blurry photo on a website. If anyone really had such an artefact, it would be undeniable. It would be world-shaking. Sadly, it's not true.
Just where are these implants? These are photos, no provenance given (or parts deleted even). If they're real, why not sell them for $100 million?
If someone has one of these, why are they only documented with blurry photos on fringe websites -- there are hundreds of scientists who'd kill to get their hands on one of these and publish analyses.
We have lots of evidence, just no conclusive proof.
YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE. All you have is testimony unsupported by any physical evidence. I visited the links you gave. One is dead. The other is a rambling account of someone who had evidence of "nasal surgery" and "traumatic stress". Sorry, that doesn't prove anything, especially as the actual location and names of those involved has been removed.
Or how about evidence of implants being seen with MRIs?
Where are these implants? There's a Nobel Prize, a million dollar book advance and an appearance on 60 Minutes to any scientist who could produce one of these ubiquitous "implants".
As others have said absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.
However, absence of evidence in the case where if the events had occurred as alleged there would have been evidence is a strong indication that the stories are unfounded.
My final (re)statement: Thousands of reported close encounters; not one shred of physical evidence. Conclusion: self-delusion.
Even worse, that's just the one's AOL blocked. There's a lot that gets through despite their filters.
And there's a lot of non-spam that they do block. They bounced my messages to aol.com or netscape.com for 2 months and the bounce message blandly said my ISP had been blocked due to "complaints". No description of why, no way offered to be whitelisted. So I had to log onto my old dialup account to send. Most likely it was just virus ridden users, which the whole world suffers from.
I forgot, these aliens always make contact in the US. Or do you imply that every nation in the world is part of the cover-up? If so, one must assume then that the aliens already control every government...
The absence of proof is not a proof in itself.
Statistically, it is. There have been thousands of reported contacts. Not one single piece of physical evidence left behind -- no alien DNA in the rectum, no dead alien batteries, no alien cigarette butts, no used alien prohylactics, no alien pizza crust...
Look at the Cuban missile crisis if you doubt this theory. We were not going to accept those missiles being deployed. The choice for the Russians was war or removal. Nuclear War (it might not start there but it would end there) on the scale that you'd see between the US/USSR was unacceptable.
The Russians placed missiles in Cuba in response to American nuclear missiles being placed next to their borders in Turkey. JFK agreed to withdraw his missiles after the Russians did the same in Cuba. But, this doesn't contradict your point, you can't push too hard when the other side also has nukes.
There is too much history behind the phenomena. Nearly 50,000 years ago people were drawing things in caves that looked an awful lot like the UFOs that people still report seeing today. 800 years ago...
If 1% of these reports over the centuries were related to aliens, I have to ask: "Why isn't there ANY physical evidence?" Not a single artifact? Any scrap large enough to analyse would reveal isotopic differences from terrestrial elements, let alone any higher technology, symbols, nose-snot, foodwrappings, etc, etc. No matter what quarantine policy they might have, once they open the hatches (let alone crash, anal probe, or perform any other CE3K) there will be something that escapes.
One must regretfully conclude that UFOs are NOT aliens, but wishful thinking and delusions.
You're just too damn bored with whatever it is you're trying to pay attention to.
Since being a student at university, and through working at a job I grew to hate more and more, my coffee habit increased to over 10 cups a day, along with several cups of tea when I couldn't stand the taste any more. Then I got a dotcom job, where there was a espresso machine in the pantry. Probably a serious increase in the dose from the instant I used to drink.
Of course, the dotcom job didn't last and I've been un(der)employed ever since. One side effect is that I drink just one cup of (filter) coffee a day now, along with 2-3 cups of tea. I also drink rather more alcohol than I used to... on balance, I'm probably healthier, if poorer.
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What? It explores digital convergence and resembles Fahrenheit 451, but it's not SF?
I find myself rereading parts because I have to let the words sink in a bit
If you haven't already, read some Gene Wolfe. Is that not SF either because the author is creative with language? Is SF constrained to be flat colourless prose?
Yes. That's what I meant. The Feds want the IP that requested the image; spammers would want the name of the file requested which presumably maps to the email address the (spam) message was sent to.
Some AC wrote: "Spammers do not use an invisible IMG link for IP address verification.". If you're referring to my post above, I didn't say they wanted your IP, but that they wanted to verify your address, meaning email. If they send a unique image URL that encodes the address a message was sent to, a request for that image shows the message was viewed.
But if you reeive an HTML message that includes an IMG link to the senders' site, when Outlook displays the image (even if it's an invisble 1 pixel one) they have your IP. There are ways to block this, but it's on by default. Spammers use this to verify your address.
Not at all. You don't see roos near cities, and farmers don't like them because they compete for grass with cattle and sheep. But in any large areas of open country you'll find kangaroos. Koalas are more localised, they need specific trees, but not hard to find when they're around because they roar like lions. Dingos have a much lower profile, and are under a lot of pressure from feral dogs, let alone being shot by farmers.
However, the US hasn't "drawn a line" against forced labour in many other countries, as long as they were supportive of US policies. As the Burmese junta isn't, Bush had nothing to lose, but it nevertheless was the right thing to do.
Because it wasn't written for "us". If you'd RTFA (which is only a few paragraphs), you might have noticed it was in The Economic Times, part of the India Times.
That is the single foreign policy thing he's done that I agree with. Even though it's more likely due to the Burmese junta's close connections with the heroin trade rather than their repressive and genocidal policies.
Elephant Polo is now played in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand (and in India in colonial times). The players ride on elephants (directed my mahouts) and hit the ball with a (very long) mallet.
1 atmosphere = 14.7 psi = 760 mmHg .174 psi
=> 9 mmHg = 9/760*14.7 psi =
If NASA is rounding .174 to .25. no wonder they keep crashing.
Remember the Mars Climate Orbiter where one team used English units and the other used metric? Or is this one of those "Volkswagens per Library of Congress" things that journalists use because they think the public is innumerate?
You can't get a virus from a webpage. As for attacks on the browser, scripting etc, it's simple: don't use IE. There are lots of alternatives.
You can use 3rd party firewalls, eg Zonealarm, to protect an otherwsie vulnerable system. I do that at the moment with my Win98SE. Though I am planning to migrate to Win2K for stability reasons (and still use ZoneAlarm or similar).
I would have assumed that "Sid" referred to Sid Vicious if it hadn't been explained.
And as soon as he did it was covered by the NYT, Time, CNN and everyone else. Strangely, none of these have picked up this story. And the "respectable" media held back on the Lewinski story through fear of seeming sleazy, not because they really doubted the truth of the matter, a considersation which does not apply here.
>there are hundreds of scientists who'd kill to get their hands on one of these and publish analyses.
If they did, people like you would find a reason not to believe anyway
No, I'm quite prepared to believe in evidence. All the evidence you have is abduction fantasies and a blurry photo on a website. If anyone really had such an artefact, it would be undeniable. It would be world-shaking. Sadly, it's not true.
If someone has one of these, why are they only documented with blurry photos on fringe websites -- there are hundreds of scientists who'd kill to get their hands on one of these and publish analyses.
YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE. All you have is testimony unsupported by any physical evidence. I visited the links you gave. One is dead. The other is a rambling account of someone who had evidence of "nasal surgery" and "traumatic stress". Sorry, that doesn't prove anything, especially as the actual location and names of those involved has been removed.
Or how about evidence of implants being seen with MRIs?
Where are these implants? There's a Nobel Prize, a million dollar book advance and an appearance on 60 Minutes to any scientist who could produce one of these ubiquitous "implants".
As others have said absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.
However, absence of evidence in the case where if the events had occurred as alleged there would have been evidence is a strong indication that the stories are unfounded.
My final (re)statement: Thousands of reported close encounters; not one shred of physical evidence. Conclusion: self-delusion.
You may recall, I wasn't talking about "eye-witnesses" but the total absence of physical evidence despite thousands of "documented" encounters.
That was my point.
One only needs to conclude that the governments of earth would prefer to keep control over their people by not causing too much of an uproar.
Yes, all 200 plus national governments over the last thousand years have had this policy.
And there's a lot of non-spam that they do block. They bounced my messages to aol.com or netscape.com for 2 months and the bounce message blandly said my ISP had been blocked due to "complaints". No description of why, no way offered to be whitelisted. So I had to log onto my old dialup account to send. Most likely it was just virus ridden users, which the whole world suffers from.
A worm is an independent program. A virus is attached to an exisitng one.
I forgot, these aliens always make contact in the US. Or do you imply that every nation in the world is part of the cover-up? If so, one must assume then that the aliens already control every government...
The absence of proof is not a proof in itself.
Statistically, it is. There have been thousands of reported contacts. Not one single piece of physical evidence left behind -- no alien DNA in the rectum, no dead alien batteries, no alien cigarette butts, no used alien prohylactics, no alien pizza crust...
The Russians placed missiles in Cuba in response to American nuclear missiles being placed next to their borders in Turkey. JFK agreed to withdraw his missiles after the Russians did the same in Cuba. But, this doesn't contradict your point, you can't push too hard when the other side also has nukes.
If 1% of these reports over the centuries were related to aliens, I have to ask: "Why isn't there ANY physical evidence?" Not a single artifact? Any scrap large enough to analyse would reveal isotopic differences from terrestrial elements, let alone any higher technology, symbols, nose-snot, foodwrappings, etc, etc. No matter what quarantine policy they might have, once they open the hatches (let alone crash, anal probe, or perform any other CE3K) there will be something that escapes.
One must regretfully conclude that UFOs are NOT aliens, but wishful thinking and delusions.
What's amazing? Seems the best hope you have of not being nuked by NATO.
Since being a student at university, and through working at a job I grew to hate more and more, my coffee habit increased to over 10 cups a day, along with several cups of tea when I couldn't stand the taste any more. Then I got a dotcom job, where there was a espresso machine in the pantry. Probably a serious increase in the dose from the instant I used to drink.
Of course, the dotcom job didn't last and I've been un(der)employed ever since. One side effect is that I drink just one cup of (filter) coffee a day now, along with 2-3 cups of tea. I also drink rather more alcohol than I used to... on balance, I'm probably healthier, if poorer.