The second group that some people imagine may know the future are specialists of various kinds. They don't either. As a limiting case, I remind you there is a new kind of specialist occupation-I refuse to call it a discipline, or a field of study-called futurism. The notion here is that there is a way to study trends and know what the future holds. That would indeed be valuable, if it were possible. But it isn't possible. Futurists don't know any more about the future than you or I. Read their magazines from a couple of years ago and you'll see an endless parade of error.
OT: Older RPN HP calculators had the feedback just right IMO. Push forward, then positive feel when it "clicked". That's not the same requirement as a keyboard though where button-pushing is much faster.
I'm aware of this. I'm Canadian and I'm used to people from different geographic regions confusing me for being an American. Just to prove that I'm REALLY a Canadian, I'm going to apologize for your misunderstanding, OK?
I'm now coincidentally watching (and recording) 'The Host', an Asian-made monster/horror story on pay TV. It's quite good, actually, with all the usual undertones. Then again, I like Godzilla movies.
And maybe I'm suffering from old fartism, but some of the more shlocky stuff lately seems to be, uh, more of the same gore for gore's sake.
Monty Python's Contractual Obligations Album
Decomposing Composers
Intro (spoken): Right ho, darling. Yeh, be home
about 8:30. No, no I'll go on a
bike.
Verse: Beethoven's gone but his music lives on,
And Mozart don't go shoppin' no more,
You'll never meet Liszt or Brahms again,
And Elgar doesn't answer the door.
Schübert and Chopin used to chuckle and laugh,
Whilst composing a long symphony,
But one hundred and fifty years later,
There's very little of them left to see.
Chorus: They're decomposing composers,
There's nothing much anyone can do,
You can still hear Beethoven,
But Beethoven cannot hear you.
Verse: Händel and Haydn and Rachmaninov,
Enjoyed a nice drink with their meal,
But nowadays no-one will serve them,
And their gravy is left to congeal.
Verdi and Wagner delighted the crowds,
With their highly original sound,
The pianos they played are still working,
But they're both six feet underground.
Chorus: They're decomposing composers,
There's less of them every year,
You can say what you like to Debussy,
But there's not much of him left to hear.
Finish: Claude Achille Debussy, died 1918.
Christophe Willebaud Gluck, died 1787.
Carl Maria von Weber, not at all well
1825, died 1826. Giacomo Meyerbeer,
still alive 1863, not still alive 1864.
Modeste Mussorgsky, 1880 going to parties,
no fun anymore 1881.
Johan Nepomuck
Hummel, chatting away nineteen to the
dozen with his mates down the pub every
evening 1836, 1837 nothing.
X-Acto knives (as I used to know them) are short-bladed (less than 1" long) hobby knives with a knurled, threaded doohickey to attach the blade to the handle. Box-cutters (as I know them) are those plastic-handled, retracting, snap-off blade segment knives where the blade can extend quite a distance from the handle. Both are quite sharp, with the box-cutter being the more "dangerous" one since it can potentially cut more deeply.
You like references to celebrities, is that important to you or only useful for your current troll? Yeah, I'm a sucker, but it's with a big "FU" attached,
Look, I now work in a field that is filled with "lusers". My background is 25+ years of engineering experience and I'm now having to deal with CAD newbies.
Call me back when you have similar experience. I'm sure you'll have something to say. Just don't place it in a bad light.
Oh wait, you're either just a troll with unlimited amounts of time to provoke, prod, prevaricate and waste time (while secretly snickering at your cleverness).
It's a great job if you can get it. Journalism these days is generally something that requires one to toe the official line and follow what the editors' general direction is. Don't go into it seeking or expecting the truth, you'll be really disappointed.
Based on this reply I've come to the conclusion that your intellect is way beyond mine and I can understand why there might be "issues" in understanding.
If you could distill the IQ 180 down to room temp I might be able to follow you.
Also please remember that intelligence is a gift meant to be shared with others. Those with high intellect typically don't rant on about politics, they're too busy doing real work.
The internet is wonderful but it also provides a level playing field for bored teens to paste together sophisticated-sounding bafflegab and snicker at their deception at home in Mom's basement.
I do like your notions of idealism, that's worth a lot (much more than the general public realizes). But one cannot live a life of perceived oppression and just keep bitching about it unless they intend to live out their days being a martyr. There are already enough self-determined losers in the world.
That's not what human existence is all about! Does it make you smile or make you laugh to see a little kid, barely able to walk, stumble around as s/he finds their feet? When you see a happy family together are you offended/cynical or do you think, "that's cool." When you see an expensive auto go by, do you think, "what a rich bastard asshole", or "man, that's a nice car"?
If 95% of the world's population were moral, decent, human beings, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today.
If things and people are as bad as you say you wouldn't be able to freely write in this forum or anywhere else, you'd be rounded-up and put in a Gulag of some sort (and I'd fight to make sure that didn't happen even though I disagree with you). I'd also not have the freedom to reply to you.
And what exact "mess" are we collectively in today, the latest looming, scary catastrophe? Perhaps your time would be better spent trying to improve your local situation rather than preaching doom and gloom. But the latter is easier to do from a keyboard and you're certain to find lots of sympathizers online where whining can be a socially rewarded lifestyle in the form of sharing mutual misery and defeatism.
Decent human beings will run for office to try to change things. Been there, done that, got my ass kicked, but it was still worth doing.
OK, now I see. You're a failed politician and are bitter. Now I understand your rants, but losing gracefully is usually considered to be a positive character trait. Whining is not.
Don't bother debating this type of person, "the science is settled" (as if they'd recognize real scientific methods even if it hit them in the face). The global warming crowd are a cult based on trading "credits" designed to funnel money from western countries. In everything I've seen in the media on the subject I don't think I've ever heard mentioned that India and China are exempt.
Yeah, the eco-weenies' mantras get tiresome after a while. It's my opinion that they don't care for the "environment" as much as they yearn for media attention and donor dollars.
Now I understand your earlier statement about all humans being inherently dark and violent. You prefer the companionship of animals, who of course cannot annoy you with contradictions to your world view. That's OK by me, but it's also kind of sad.
Please give Bear and Toby a cookie for me and a nice head-pat.
One should not generalize excessively. Such a statement often reflects back on the owner of it's opinion.
You should have qualified the statement with a percentage. Do you often think people are "out to get you" or are afraid of people in general? Do you have no faith in the concept that 95% of all people are decent human beings?
Slashdot Mirror
Why is parent modded funny? Paint.net is quite the neat, free program (hint, it's *not* MS Paint). I still prefer my old copy of PSP8 though.
South-central Alberta (between Calgary and Red Deer in Western Canada) is known to be one of the worlds more severe "hail belts".
Here's a photo taken shortly after a violent hailstorm in Calgary a couple of years ago:
http://opti-grab.ca/images/hail_calgary_august_2006.jpg
I also have video of it, think I should post the link?
A nuclear safety officer is hardly on the 'inside of' the LHC team.
Remember that Stanton T. Friedman is a a nuclear physicist.
The second group that some people imagine may know the future are specialists of various kinds. They don't either. As a limiting case, I remind you there is a new kind of specialist occupation-I refuse to call it a discipline, or a field of study-called futurism. The notion here is that there is a way to study trends and know what the future holds. That would indeed be valuable, if it were possible. But it isn't possible. Futurists don't know any more about the future than you or I. Read their magazines from a couple of years ago and you'll see an endless parade of error.
From http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-whyspeculate.html
I often wear my ThinkGeek Pi T-shirt to work and chicks dig it. I get laid by supermodels all the time because of it.
OK, not really, but sometimes people ask about it, think it's cool and ask where can they get one.
OK, OK, in reality, the stains from thrown, half-empty beer cans from passing cars do wash out fairly well (I walk to work).
You probably wanted to write, "lest we forget". I hope she doesn't settle for the dangleage and pushes on.
a lot like using your credit card to buy lottery tickets.
Dammit, there goes my retirement plan.
OT: Older RPN HP calculators had the feedback just right IMO. Push forward, then positive feel when it "clicked". That's not the same requirement as a keyboard though where button-pushing is much faster.
I thought this scam had already been outed.
I'm aware of this. I'm Canadian and I'm used to people from different geographic regions confusing me for being an American. Just to prove that I'm REALLY a Canadian, I'm going to apologize for your misunderstanding, OK?
I'm now coincidentally watching (and recording) 'The Host', an Asian-made monster/horror story on pay TV. It's quite good, actually, with all the usual undertones. Then again, I like Godzilla movies.
And maybe I'm suffering from old fartism, but some of the more shlocky stuff lately seems to be, uh, more of the same gore for gore's sake.
Monty Python's Contractual Obligations Album
Decomposing Composers
Intro (spoken): Right ho, darling. Yeh, be home about 8:30. No, no I'll go on a bike.
Verse: Beethoven's gone but his music lives on,
And Mozart don't go shoppin' no more,
You'll never meet Liszt or Brahms again,
And Elgar doesn't answer the door.
Schübert and Chopin used to chuckle and laugh,
Whilst composing a long symphony,
But one hundred and fifty years later,
There's very little of them left to see.
Chorus: They're decomposing composers,
There's nothing much anyone can do,
You can still hear Beethoven,
But Beethoven cannot hear you.
Verse: Händel and Haydn and Rachmaninov,
Enjoyed a nice drink with their meal,
But nowadays no-one will serve them,
And their gravy is left to congeal.
Verdi and Wagner delighted the crowds,
With their highly original sound,
The pianos they played are still working,
But they're both six feet underground.
Chorus: They're decomposing composers,
There's less of them every year,
You can say what you like to Debussy,
But there's not much of him left to hear.
Finish: Claude Achille Debussy, died 1918.
Christophe Willebaud Gluck, died 1787.
Carl Maria von Weber, not at all well 1825, died 1826.
Giacomo Meyerbeer, still alive 1863, not still alive 1864.
Modeste Mussorgsky, 1880 going to parties, no fun anymore 1881.
Johan Nepomuck Hummel, chatting away nineteen to the dozen with his mates down the pub every evening 1836, 1837 nothing.
X-Acto knives (as I used to know them) are short-bladed (less than 1" long) hobby knives with a knurled, threaded doohickey to attach the blade to the handle. Box-cutters (as I know them) are those plastic-handled, retracting, snap-off blade segment knives where the blade can extend quite a distance from the handle. Both are quite sharp, with the box-cutter being the more "dangerous" one since it can potentially cut more deeply.
You like references to celebrities, is that important to you or only useful for your current troll? Yeah, I'm a sucker, but it's with a big "FU" attached, Look, I now work in a field that is filled with "lusers". My background is 25+ years of engineering experience and I'm now having to deal with CAD newbies.
Call me back when you have similar experience. I'm sure you'll have something to say. Just don't place it in a bad light.
Oh wait, you're either just a troll with unlimited amounts of time to provoke, prod, prevaricate and waste time (while secretly snickering at your cleverness).
It's a great job if you can get it. Journalism these days is generally something that requires one to toe the official line and follow what the editors' general direction is. Don't go into it seeking or expecting the truth, you'll be really disappointed.
If I ever met you in person my first instinct wouldn't be to punch you in the face.
I'm a few points down from you, admittedly.
Are you aware of how I'm subtly changing your thought processes as we continue this discussion?
You are quite verbose.
Based on this reply I've come to the conclusion that your intellect is way beyond mine and I can understand why there might be "issues" in understanding.
If you could distill the IQ 180 down to room temp I might be able to follow you.
Also please remember that intelligence is a gift meant to be shared with others. Those with high intellect typically don't rant on about politics, they're too busy doing real work.
The internet is wonderful but it also provides a level playing field for bored teens to paste together sophisticated-sounding bafflegab and snicker at their deception at home in Mom's basement.
Regards,
Paul
Two questions, Tom, if I may intrude:
-How old are you
-Do you have children
I do like your notions of idealism, that's worth a lot (much more than the general public realizes). But one cannot live a life of perceived oppression and just keep bitching about it unless they intend to live out their days being a martyr. There are already enough self-determined losers in the world.
That's not what human existence is all about! Does it make you smile or make you laugh to see a little kid, barely able to walk, stumble around as s/he finds their feet? When you see a happy family together are you offended/cynical or do you think, "that's cool." When you see an expensive auto go by, do you think, "what a rich bastard asshole", or "man, that's a nice car"?
Regards,
Paul
If 95% of the world's population were moral, decent, human beings, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today.
If things and people are as bad as you say you wouldn't be able to freely write in this forum or anywhere else, you'd be rounded-up and put in a Gulag of some sort (and I'd fight to make sure that didn't happen even though I disagree with you). I'd also not have the freedom to reply to you.
And what exact "mess" are we collectively in today, the latest looming, scary catastrophe? Perhaps your time would be better spent trying to improve your local situation rather than preaching doom and gloom. But the latter is easier to do from a keyboard and you're certain to find lots of sympathizers online where whining can be a socially rewarded lifestyle in the form of sharing mutual misery and defeatism.
Decent human beings will run for office to try to change things. Been there, done that, got my ass kicked, but it was still worth doing.
OK, now I see. You're a failed politician and are bitter. Now I understand your rants, but losing gracefully is usually considered to be a positive character trait. Whining is not.
Best of luck in the future, and cheers.
Don't bother debating this type of person, "the science is settled" (as if they'd recognize real scientific methods even if it hit them in the face). The global warming crowd are a cult based on trading "credits" designed to funnel money from western countries. In everything I've seen in the media on the subject I don't think I've ever heard mentioned that India and China are exempt.
Yeah, the eco-weenies' mantras get tiresome after a while. It's my opinion that they don't care for the "environment" as much as they yearn for media attention and donor dollars.
Now I understand your earlier statement about all humans being inherently dark and violent. You prefer the companionship of animals, who of course cannot annoy you with contradictions to your world view. That's OK by me, but it's also kind of sad.
Please give Bear and Toby a cookie for me and a nice head-pat.
Humans ARE dark, aggressive, and violent.
One should not generalize excessively. Such a statement often reflects back on the owner of it's opinion.
You should have qualified the statement with a percentage. Do you often think people are "out to get you" or are afraid of people in general? Do you have no faith in the concept that 95% of all people are decent human beings?
Why, are you Charlton Heston?
Yeesh, reminds me of Under a Killing Moon from waaay back. Apparently it was somewhat ground-breaking at the time on my 8MB 286DX2. Amazing graphics!
Pong and "both ways in the snow" comments coming in 3, 2, 1...