Actually, you cannot have any concept of free will without God.
From a purely objective and atheist standpoint*, you'd be nothing more than a mere captive to influences and environment: chemical, physical, social, medical, etc. As there is in atheology no divine spark (or soul, or whatever you care to label it), there is nothing in the human mind that should allow a person to decide anything for him or her self. In spite of that, people show the amazing ability to do that very thing quite often, when reason and influences state that their behaviors should be far different indeed.
You start from a VERY dubious unproven assumption and then proceed to base your entire argument on it. That is why there is no rational discussion with religious people. They have as the bedrock of all their arguments assumptions that have no basis in fact or evidence whatsoever. There's no way to contradict that, so I usually don't bother.
Why not just blame atrocities on men with funny mustaches. There is exactly the same amount of evidence linking that to atrocities as there is any particular belief system. A cult of personality is just that. No other reason is needed for the insanity. Just one person's quest for personal power at the expense of (in some cases) an entire country.
Why do so many Christians believe this? That there is no morality without enforcement by their sadistic deity? There are plenty of non-christian societies which function quite nicely without some threat of eternal punishment.
The simple fact of the matter is that when humans form a society, they decide on rules (many of which are unwritten) that members of that society must adhere to in order to make it work. Those who ignore those rules become outcasts or criminals. Most of the rules boil down to "don't intentionally harm others". Then there are rules that (for good or ill) protect the social hierarchy. That's pretty much it.
While what you say may be true, I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that a critical part of stopping the Soviets in Afghanistan was the anti-aircraft weapons provided by the USA. The mujaheddin were getting chewed up by helicopter gunships and negating that advantage was decisive.
Today’s infringement filing by HTC may be the first time that Google is exercising its patent portfolio to help an Android partner. The nine patents involved were transferred to HTC from Google on September 1. Three of the patents originated from Openwave Systems, two from Palm, and four from Motorola. These patents were acquired prior to Google’s $12.5 billion bid for Motorola...
So, Google acquired those patents from Motorola before their acquisition bid. Saying Google is Motorola is akin to saying that Google is IBM since they've acquired patents from them as well.
When KDE 4.0 came out, people had legitimate complaints. It had significantly reduced functionality compared to its predecessor. Around KDE 4.3, it became usable again. The KDE devs handled that launch very badly, but I've forgiven them.:-) I use (and LIKE) the current version of KDE.
I agree with you and I'll take it one step further: You're only a newbie when you first start using the system. After you learn how to use it, all this "simplification" is for nothing. Give me a system that has a bit of a learning curve, but is POWERFUL and once I learn it I will have the power at my fingertips and can use the system efficiently!
Kubuntu is my favorite distribution. Despite the controversy over KDE 4.0 --I hated it, used hacked kde 3.5 (now the trinity project) for a while, the KDE devs have come through and around 4.3 it became usable again. The only complaint that I have is that you can't turn off some of the graphical bling. I access some desktops using NX and some of the graphical touches slow it down quite a bit.
The problem with that is windows only recognizes the first partition on (small) removable media (it pretends that USB thumb drives are CDROMs). I have a USB thumb drive that has 2 partitions, but windows only sees the first one. So far as I know, this is with all versions of windows.
This problem does not exist with USB hard drives which windows correctly detects as an external hard drive.
On my friend's iPhone 4, I was able to make the signal attenuate to 0 just by holding the phone comfortably. I suspect that there is quite a bit of variability in the degree to which each phone is affected. (Strength of signal, skin conductivity, etc.)
So, because the screen looks better to me in person despite any (synthetic) color specs, uses less power and is better in bright environments, I've been mysteriously convinced by some shadow marketing scheme that I should accept some sort of "inferior engineering"?
Behold readers, the triumph of synthetic benchmarks over empirical data.
Obviously, I should ignore my own senses so that iluvcapra's admiration for "good engineering" is affirmed. I'm sure that if I do so, I can use colorimeters to show that the display that I find inferior is actually better. Or, maybe, I'm just spitballing here, I'll get the phone with the display that is the most pleasing to my eye. Radical for Slashdot, I know, but I'm putting it out there.
OLEDs have terrible color, its over-saturated and makes people think the image looks better in a subjective way.
Since I'm not using my phone to do pre-press for a magazine, or to edit video for a television program, I think that having the image look better in a subjective way is exactly what I want. I don't need hyper-accurate colors on my smartphone.
I own the original droid phone and I've compared the screen with my friend's Galaxy S. I prefer the SAMOLED.
Redbox is great if all you care about is recent releases. If you suddenly have, say, an 80's movie craving you aren't going to be able to rent "The Breakfast Club" at your local Redbox. Ditto with any foreign or "Cult Classic" movies.
It's true that I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get Firefox to work the way that I like. But, with its about:config and plugin configurability, I can (eventually) get it to work the way that I like.
Chrome lacks this configurability, and the rich assortment of addons that make Firefox unique. So, I hold my nose and continue using Firefox, because I can force it to behave the way I want.
What source have "they" (I presume you mean Google) not published? No phone running ICS has been released. Google has explained why they didn't release Honeycomb and they've committed to releasing the source for ICS soon after phones running ICS have been released. Ignorant troll is Ignorant.
The only post so far in the thread to actually run the numbers-- well done! If your assumptions are accurate (and I believe they are) the obvious conclusion is that about half of slashdot is composed of fiscal lunatics.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, you cannot have any concept of free will without God.
From a purely objective and atheist standpoint*, you'd be nothing more than a mere captive to influences and environment: chemical, physical, social, medical, etc. As there is in atheology no divine spark (or soul, or whatever you care to label it), there is nothing in the human mind that should allow a person to decide anything for him or her self. In spite of that, people show the amazing ability to do that very thing quite often, when reason and influences state that their behaviors should be far different indeed.
You start from a VERY dubious unproven assumption and then proceed to base your entire argument on it. That is why there is no rational discussion with religious people. They have as the bedrock of all their arguments assumptions that have no basis in fact or evidence whatsoever. There's no way to contradict that, so I usually don't bother.
Ah, yes-- the "overrated" moderation. The one that says, "I just don't agree, but I can't come up with a better reason than 'I don't like it'."
I fully expect this post to be modded "offtopic" for complaining about the moderation system, so have a blast.
Why not just blame atrocities on men with funny mustaches. There is exactly the same amount of evidence linking that to atrocities as there is any particular belief system. A cult of personality is just that. No other reason is needed for the insanity. Just one person's quest for personal power at the expense of (in some cases) an entire country.
Why do so many Christians believe this? That there is no morality without enforcement by their sadistic deity? There are plenty of non-christian societies which function quite nicely without some threat of eternal punishment.
The simple fact of the matter is that when humans form a society, they decide on rules (many of which are unwritten) that members of that society must adhere to in order to make it work. Those who ignore those rules become outcasts or criminals. Most of the rules boil down to "don't intentionally harm others". Then there are rules that (for good or ill) protect the social hierarchy. That's pretty much it.
While what you say may be true, I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that a critical part of stopping the Soviets in Afghanistan was the anti-aircraft weapons provided by the USA. The mujaheddin were getting chewed up by helicopter gunships and negating that advantage was decisive.
Besides, any occasion encouraging us to help each other through the long darkness is a good one.
Even if it's a pagan celebration of the winter solstice?
And earns Apple 30% ? Do they charge their cut on donations?
Link here: http://www.slashgear.com/htc-sues-apple-using-google-motorola-patents-07177865/
So, Google acquired those patents from Motorola before their acquisition bid. Saying Google is Motorola is akin to saying that Google is IBM since they've acquired patents from them as well.
When KDE 4.0 came out, people had legitimate complaints. It had significantly reduced functionality compared to its predecessor. Around KDE 4.3, it became usable again. The KDE devs handled that launch very badly, but I've forgiven them. :-) I use (and LIKE) the current version of KDE.
I agree with you and I'll take it one step further: You're only a newbie when you first start using the system. After you learn how to use it, all this "simplification" is for nothing. Give me a system that has a bit of a learning curve, but is POWERFUL and once I learn it I will have the power at my fingertips and can use the system efficiently!
(I use KDE on Kubuntu.)
Kubuntu is my favorite distribution. Despite the controversy over KDE 4.0 --I hated it, used hacked kde 3.5 (now the trinity project) for a while, the KDE devs have come through and around 4.3 it became usable again. The only complaint that I have is that you can't turn off some of the graphical bling. I access some desktops using NX and some of the graphical touches slow it down quite a bit.
Or, it could be that HTC and Samsung make Windows phones and would like to continue to do so.
Oh noes! Peppepz has lost his credibility with you! How will he go on?
Back on topic, as pointed out several times to you above, Google does not own Motorola Mobility.
The problem with that is windows only recognizes the first partition on (small) removable media (it pretends that USB thumb drives are CDROMs). I have a USB thumb drive that has 2 partitions, but windows only sees the first one. So far as I know, this is with all versions of windows.
This problem does not exist with USB hard drives which windows correctly detects as an external hard drive.
On my friend's iPhone 4, I was able to make the signal attenuate to 0 just by holding the phone comfortably. I suspect that there is quite a bit of variability in the degree to which each phone is affected. (Strength of signal, skin conductivity, etc.)
Set up a password safe and seal the master password in with your will. Make sure your siblings know how to get access to it.
This has the additional advantage of preventing you from having to memorize your new passwords.
So, because the screen looks better to me in person despite any (synthetic) color specs, uses less power and is better in bright environments, I've been mysteriously convinced by some shadow marketing scheme that I should accept some sort of "inferior engineering"?
Behold readers, the triumph of synthetic benchmarks over empirical data.
Obviously, I should ignore my own senses so that iluvcapra's admiration for "good engineering" is affirmed. I'm sure that if I do so, I can use colorimeters to show that the display that I find inferior is actually better. Or, maybe, I'm just spitballing here, I'll get the phone with the display that is the most pleasing to my eye. Radical for Slashdot, I know, but I'm putting it out there.
Since I'm not using my phone to do pre-press for a magazine, or to edit video for a television program, I think that having the image look better in a subjective way is exactly what I want. I don't need hyper-accurate colors on my smartphone.
I own the original droid phone and I've compared the screen with my friend's Galaxy S. I prefer the SAMOLED.
iPhone: 640 x 960 Galazy[sic]: 480 x 800
Galaxy Nexus: 720 x 1280 (4.65" screen 315 ppi)
Plus, while it may be a personal preference, SAMOLED >> LCD.
I lol'd
Redbox is great if all you care about is recent releases. If you suddenly have, say, an 80's movie craving you aren't going to be able to rent "The Breakfast Club" at your local Redbox. Ditto with any foreign or "Cult Classic" movies.
If only they would release a PS3 client for their streaming service. That is one of the things preventing me from seriously considering Prime.
It's true that I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get Firefox to work the way that I like. But, with its about:config and plugin configurability, I can (eventually) get it to work the way that I like.
Chrome lacks this configurability, and the rich assortment of addons that make Firefox unique. So, I hold my nose and continue using Firefox, because I can force it to behave the way I want.
What source have "they" (I presume you mean Google) not published? No phone running ICS has been released. Google has explained why they didn't release Honeycomb and they've committed to releasing the source for ICS soon after phones running ICS have been released. Ignorant troll is Ignorant.
The only post so far in the thread to actually run the numbers-- well done! If your assumptions are accurate (and I believe they are) the obvious conclusion is that about half of slashdot is composed of fiscal lunatics.