"Try even the most polite and well reasoned critisism of apple, and youre gone."
Its truly amazing how a company with such a small share of the overall computing market can polarize people so much; make of that what you will. Still, I've noticed the best way to start a flame war is to say something polite and well reasoned in Apple's favour, so I suppose it evens out.
"And then there's painting attractive girls like animals and having them sit in cages in busy urban areas, wearing nothing but body paint."
That sounds like a good way to encourage cruelty to animals. "Stop killing animals and we'll take away the nude chicks"...sounds like a bad deal to me.
It might have something to do with the cooking method, or the fact that South American soccer players have a different diet to New Guinea highlanders. I'm surprised about the "softer than beef" part, I would have thought soccer players were all tough and stringy...
That said, the highlanders have a longer tradition of cannibalism, so I'm prepared to take their word for it (a good rule: never argue with the angry looking guy holding the spear, he has ways of getting his point across).
"Plus it isn't all that often that a lion gets an arse whuppin' from herbivores."
That's actually what I was driving at: when you've got great big teeth and claws, folks think twice about waking you up. I should have made the humourous intent a bit more obvious ("Insightful"? That was unexpected...).
Still, you're right: an antelope needs 18 hours to eat because grass has a very low energy density. Antelopes have a higher energy density than grass, so if you eat antelopes rather than grass you spend less time eating. I suspect lions sleep a lot because the television on the Serengeti plains isn't too good (although the pygmy channel has some good shorts).
"And maybe someone can explain to me why this refered to carnivores and herbivores..."
I'm guessing the aim was to equate diet and waking hours with "superiority" (a totally artificial concept which really can't be applied to ecology. Any species not extinct is superior by default). Its a statement I've often heard used by vegans. IMO, if we weren't meant to eat animals they wouldn't be made of meat.
My sympathies on the workload, BTW. I've had a few 32 hour days myself, so I can really see where the lion is coming from...
"...the Chinese relished the taste of human flesh."
I think the actual wording was "the Chinese ate human flesh with relish". People don't taste too good, kind of like pork* left in the sun for a day or two, so anything that covers the flavour is an improvement...
That's crazy talk!! We'd have to model pancakes on Colorado, which in turn would lead to mass suicides of truck-stop cooks. Truck drivers will starve, transport will grind to a halt and the rest of the economy will collapse as supply fails, prices skyrocket and inflation runs rampant destroying the value of the dollar and making savings worthless.
Please, think of the pancakes! Some things are more important than theology.
"The knowledge divide will be noticable in geographic quantities as large swarms of the populace have been completely left behind."
That assumes the fundamentalist trend* won't spread. I'd be very worried if we start seeing competition between governing bodies to be the most "Christian". Hmmm, come to think of it...
*This whole issue reminds me of an early Asimov story called "Trends"; its so apt its almost spooky.
Basically the same attitude as Darwin. Unfortunately there are those who refuse to accept that the universe (or God's handiwork, if you want) is substantially more complex than the initial report suggests.
"If you will read, the argument is not to remove the teaching of evolutionary theory from the classroom, but rather expose the students to other, valid theories of orgins as well."
I'd believe that if it were creation theories other than the Judeo-Christian were being discussed. Give me a solid, tangible reason why Hindu or Aztec creation isn't valid that can't equally be applied to Christian creationism, and I'm sold.
"Yet the two get lumped under the same statement more often than not."
That's because the noisy minority cite the support of the silent majority, and by remaining silent the majority effectively agrees (well, they aren't saying otherwise, are they?). I'm not saying the majority of Christians want gay marriage outlawed or even care that much, just that not visibly caring makes the more extreme voices harder to ignore.
"Honestly I wish both sides would learn to grow up and work out their differences."
Considering this debate has been going for a few centuries, I have to point out that people don't live long enough to grow up that much.
"The secular progressives don't like the thought of a Christian state..."
Not only the secular, but people of unrelated religions. I suppose its a question of finding a teachable theory that is equally objectionable to all religions, since it is impossible to have a standard curriculum based on differing content, and education that mandates learning one religion is effectively hobbling the realization of religious freedom.
"Archaeology does not make predictions, is that not a science?"
Archaeology doesn't make predictions, but it does draw hypotheses based on available evidence which can't be verified any other way. "Prediction" is probably the wrong word in a definition of science.
"The fundemental basis of some science is not falsifiable because they are definitions."
Falsifiable in this context simply means that a method exists to prove something false (testable by experiment); F=ma is testable, but rarely proves false*. Again, its probably the wrong word because of it's more literal definition.
*Rarely? I had a high school science teacher whose pracs never went right, and I mean NEVER!. In her hands, HCl had the corrosive power of water and friction gave a net energy gain; I think I learned more nutting out why the pracs didn't work than I would have if they did. Interestingly, her class was my closest approach to religion: a few prayers were said the day she turned up with some radioisotopes, because if anyone could make a few grams of yttrium go critical, it was her...
'If you are not real...[snip]...this is all just a mental exercise."
I've found that the best way of dissuading someone from claiming that they are just a brain-in-a-jar is by punching them in the nose. Its a method of demonstrating that even if reality is only a perception, its a perception that is powerful enough to kill you and should be taken, for all intents and purposes, as truly real.
That includes just ignoring it when the memo to dump the waste in the river crosses your inbox?
That depends on whether you value principles over paychecks. Unfortunately, since such an act requires complicity at all levels and does actually happen, I'd say principles seem to take second place.:(
Slashdot Mirror
"Almost by definition, few people are experts."
Not really: "x" is an unknown quantity, and "spurt" is a drip under pressure. I'd say a lot of people qualify.
"Try even the most polite and well reasoned critisism of apple, and youre gone."
Its truly amazing how a company with such a small share of the overall computing market can polarize people so much; make of that what you will. Still, I've noticed the best way to start a flame war is to say something polite and well reasoned in Apple's favour, so I suppose it evens out.
A cubic assload? Shit a brick...
"My dad had pissed on it and woke it up."
Now that's real hunting, a direct hit with only his bare...uh...actually, that's a mental picture I don't want.
"And then there's painting attractive girls like animals and having them sit in cages in busy urban areas, wearing nothing but body paint."
That sounds like a good way to encourage cruelty to animals. "Stop killing animals and we'll take away the nude chicks"...sounds like a bad deal to me.
"looking like a skeleton doesn't mean unhealthy."
That depends on how much you look like a skeleton. 100% is very unhealthy, but at least you're guaraneed not to get any worse.
It might have something to do with the cooking method, or the fact that South American soccer players have a different diet to New Guinea highlanders. I'm surprised about the "softer than beef" part, I would have thought soccer players were all tough and stringy...
That said, the highlanders have a longer tradition of cannibalism, so I'm prepared to take their word for it (a good rule: never argue with the angry looking guy holding the spear, he has ways of getting his point across).
Allow me to invite you for lunch and you can find out ;)
"Plus it isn't all that often that a lion gets an arse whuppin' from herbivores."
That's actually what I was driving at: when you've got great big teeth and claws, folks think twice about waking you up. I should have made the humourous intent a bit more obvious ("Insightful"? That was unexpected...).
Still, you're right: an antelope needs 18 hours to eat because grass has a very low energy density. Antelopes have a higher energy density than grass, so if you eat antelopes rather than grass you spend less time eating. I suspect lions sleep a lot because the television on the Serengeti plains isn't too good (although the pygmy channel has some good shorts).
"And maybe someone can explain to me why this refered to carnivores and herbivores..."
I'm guessing the aim was to equate diet and waking hours with "superiority" (a totally artificial concept which really can't be applied to ecology. Any species not extinct is superior by default). Its a statement I've often heard used by vegans. IMO, if we weren't meant to eat animals they wouldn't be made of meat.
My sympathies on the workload, BTW. I've had a few 32 hour days myself, so I can really see where the lion is coming from...
Koalas aren't bears, they're marsupials. "Koala bear" is like saying "Dalmation cat" or "alpaca horse": totally different genus.
"I was at the Apple Store yesterday talking with several employees about the lack of AntiVirus for Tiger."
Curious. I installed Tiger yesterday, and discovered a new user account had been added: "Clam AV".
Required sleep time isn't really a measure of superiority; perhaps lions sleep up to 20 hours a day because they can.
"...the Chinese relished the taste of human flesh."
I think the actual wording was "the Chinese ate human flesh with relish". People don't taste too good, kind of like pork* left in the sun for a day or two, so anything that covers the flavour is an improvement...
*Hence the New Guinea expression "long pig".
That's crazy talk!! We'd have to model pancakes on Colorado, which in turn would lead to mass suicides of truck-stop cooks. Truck drivers will starve, transport will grind to a halt and the rest of the economy will collapse as supply fails, prices skyrocket and inflation runs rampant destroying the value of the dollar and making savings worthless.
Please, think of the pancakes! Some things are more important than theology.
"The knowledge divide will be noticable in geographic quantities as large swarms of the populace have been completely left behind."
That assumes the fundamentalist trend* won't spread. I'd be very worried if we start seeing competition between governing bodies to be the most "Christian". Hmmm, come to think of it...
*This whole issue reminds me of an early Asimov story called "Trends"; its so apt its almost spooky.
"I see science as the study of God's creation."
Basically the same attitude as Darwin. Unfortunately there are those who refuse to accept that the universe (or God's handiwork, if you want) is substantially more complex than the initial report suggests.
"Why can't we all live together and celebrate our differences...?"
What's Hindi for "amen"?
"If you will read, the argument is not to remove the teaching of evolutionary theory from the classroom, but rather expose the students to other, valid theories of orgins as well."
I'd believe that if it were creation theories other than the Judeo-Christian were being discussed. Give me a solid, tangible reason why Hindu or Aztec creation isn't valid that can't equally be applied to Christian creationism, and I'm sold.
"Yet the two get lumped under the same statement more often than not."
That's because the noisy minority cite the support of the silent majority, and by remaining silent the majority effectively agrees (well, they aren't saying otherwise, are they?). I'm not saying the majority of Christians want gay marriage outlawed or even care that much, just that not visibly caring makes the more extreme voices harder to ignore.
"Honestly I wish both sides would learn to grow up and work out their differences."
Considering this debate has been going for a few centuries, I have to point out that people don't live long enough to grow up that much.
"The secular progressives don't like the thought of a Christian state..."
Not only the secular, but people of unrelated religions. I suppose its a question of finding a teachable theory that is equally objectionable to all religions, since it is impossible to have a standard curriculum based on differing content, and education that mandates learning one religion is effectively hobbling the realization of religious freedom.
"...and several glaring weaknesses in our anatomy."
Conclusive proof that humans are not the result of intelligent design: the testicles are on the outside.
"Archaeology does not make predictions, is that not a science?"
Archaeology doesn't make predictions, but it does draw hypotheses based on available evidence which can't be verified any other way. "Prediction" is probably the wrong word in a definition of science.
"The fundemental basis of some science is not falsifiable because they are definitions."
Falsifiable in this context simply means that a method exists to prove something false (testable by experiment); F=ma is testable, but rarely proves false*. Again, its probably the wrong word because of it's more literal definition.
*Rarely? I had a high school science teacher whose pracs never went right, and I mean NEVER! . In her hands, HCl had the corrosive power of water and friction gave a net energy gain; I think I learned more nutting out why the pracs didn't work than I would have if they did. Interestingly, her class was my closest approach to religion: a few prayers were said the day she turned up with some radioisotopes, because if anyone could make a few grams of yttrium go critical, it was her...
'If you are not real...[snip]...this is all just a mental exercise."
I've found that the best way of dissuading someone from claiming that they are just a brain-in-a-jar is by punching them in the nose. Its a method of demonstrating that even if reality is only a perception, its a perception that is powerful enough to kill you and should be taken, for all intents and purposes, as truly real.
Plus, it's quite satisfying...
"It is ignorant scared little apes who are the problem."
I think you'll find the correct word is "primate".
That includes just ignoring it when the memo to dump the waste in the river crosses your inbox?
:(
That depends on whether you value principles over paychecks. Unfortunately, since such an act requires complicity at all levels and does actually happen, I'd say principles seem to take second place.