Buy a cellphone and they will do a credit check on you before they hand over the phone. To do the credit check they need a SSN. So somewhere in the phone company's database your SSN is tied to your phone number.
Kerry isn't perfect (though you must be really paranoid if you think he can be as bad as Dubya), but even if he is just as bad as Bush it is still better to have him in the White House for the next 4 years than allowing the present idiot to consolidate his position any further. Government should have lots of checks and balances. At the moment everything is controlled by one party, so a lot of those checks have disapeared.
Ideally Kerry wins and spends four years doing nothing but fighting with the Republicans. A government in stalemate is much better than a government who can do whatever it wants.
Don't really see anything wrong with this. In any field there are people who have proved their ability to extend the boundaries of knowledge about that field, and there is nothing wrong with them being able to have a shortcut to making their ideas public.
What would be wrong is if his ideas were accepted without any scepticism. Somehow I don't think it is going to happen in this case. Proving somebody like Hawking wrong is a good way to make your career as a physicist.
This is not the same thing as giving a platoform to an idiot like Prince Charles to spout off about crap he doesn't know anything about (nanotech and cancer for example). This is a somebody with intimate knowledge of the field who thinks he has solved an important problem.
So killing a couple of hundred thousand civilians is a necesary evil?
Would you then say that Iraq killing a hundred thousand Kurds was just a necesary evil as well? I mean, that was a really effective way to stop a civil war from tearing the country apart.
You seem to complain about the Japanese not apologizing for Nanking, but then say they don't deserve an apology for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both were acts of war against civilians and pretty hard to defend moraly. I think the Japanese deserve an apology just as much as the Chinese do.
Apologies don't bring anybody back from the dead, but at least it brings home the point that the action was wrong. It is pretty sad that neither the US or Japan want to admit that they did something wrong a lifetime ago. Hell, they weren't even the only ones - lets not forget Dresden.
The Germans might have been evil incarnate in that war, but these days they at least tend to admit that they were wrong.
So why not get rid of any of the other petty dictatorships? You can't throw a rock in Africa without hitting one.
I mean, it isn't like Iraq was doing much before they got invaded. They were a contained problem without the ability to do much damage to anybody. So why not go after a petty dictator that would have made a real difference.
BTW, wouldn't you have considered the Kurdish problem in Iraq about as close to a civil war as you can get? Most of the action might have happend years ago, but the splits are still there. Remember when Sadam gassed 1000s of Kurds for not supporting him? Sounds like a civil war to me. Or doesn't it count if the gassing happened when the US is friends with the guy doing the gassing?
Actually, I think they did the right thing. They allowed their members, who are technology professionnals, to make thier opinions known. This is like complaining that the people running the voting booths doesn't tell you why you should not vote for a particulat candidate.
Why have an opinion poll if you are going to bias it from the beginning?
You know, somewhere an engineer working for an oil company just turned slacking off and reading Slashdot into the largest bonus he is ever going to get. An you aren't even going to get royalties...:)
Hey, moron, I am amazed at your ability to identify ACs. How do you do that?
Anyway, slow day at work so why not give some meaning to a poor little troll's life? Plus I stopped the idiot who modded my last two comments as trolls from doing some real damage. Personally I think that was time well spent!:)
You sound like some of the kids I went to school with. Getting bullied a lot? Girls not talking to you? Frustrated about nobody taking you seriously and so you are venting on Slashdot?
Here is some advice: work hard at school and it will get better when you grow up.
At least you can spell "fuckhead", but there is simply no way you can defend the use of "4 u". It's simply bad grammar. I guess everything I have been hearing about the miserable quality of our schools is true.
I can only hope that when you finally pass through puberty your hormones will settle down and you can apply yourself to your schoolwork again. Otherwise I am afraid there here isn't much hope for you.
You know what they say, the lottery is a tax on people who can't do math.:)
Real estate is probably a good bet, but with Mr. Greenspan about to start raising the rates that little party is probably at an end as well. Figures, I am planning to buy a place in the next few months. With my luck that can only mean the real estate market is in for a big dive.
Actually know a couple of Afrikaners up in Toronto. Which part of that snow covered wasteland up North have you made it to?
Dude, at least learn to spell Linux correctly. Spelling Linux wrong in two posts just makes you look like an idiot, rather than someone who might have a valid point.
With a sig like "Ja well no fine" there is only one country in the world you can be from... which is amusing as I actually knew an actuary from there who spent a lot of time looking for ways to make money from playing the horses.
I think he had some success, but not enough to make it all worth it.
Co-worker bought one of these, and ran into the DRM trying to rip it to his ipod. So I tried it on my Linux box and it copied without a problem.
The guy was so pissed off about the whole thing that he ended up returning the CD. End result was that he is now a Linux fan, has DRM free MP3s of the album, and the RIAA didn't get cent out of the deal. There is some karma at work there somewhere...:)
From the Wired article: "I just have my fingers crossed that my girlfriend gets her blog back," said software programmer Tom Gortell. "She feels like someone just sucked out her brains. I don't get it, it's just an online journal, right? But she feels like her entire life has been stolen."
The guy works as a programmer and he never told her to make backups? And then he tells Wired that he doesn't get why she is upset. Somebody better e-mail him the number of a good florist.
But seriously, he should have told her to make backups. Free service. You get what you pay for. What more can you say?
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, in some ways you do.
Buy a cellphone and they will do a credit check on you before they hand over the phone. To do the credit check they need a SSN. So somewhere in the phone company's database your SSN is tied to your phone number.
Draw your own conclusions from there...
Yep. Everything is dying. Aint entropy a bitch? :)
You could always save some money and buy a BMW...
OK, that might be the most sensible and optimistic thought I've seen yet.
:)
We can only hope...
I think of it this way...
Kerry isn't perfect (though you must be really paranoid if you think he can be as bad as Dubya), but even if he is just as bad as Bush it is still better to have him in the White House for the next 4 years than allowing the present idiot to consolidate his position any further. Government should have lots of checks and balances. At the moment everything is controlled by one party, so a lot of those checks have disapeared.
Ideally Kerry wins and spends four years doing nothing but fighting with the Republicans. A government in stalemate is much better than a government who can do whatever it wants.
May I suggest this solution?
Don't really see anything wrong with this. In any field there are people who have proved their ability to extend the boundaries of knowledge about that field, and there is nothing wrong with them being able to have a shortcut to making their ideas public.
What would be wrong is if his ideas were accepted without any scepticism. Somehow I don't think it is going to happen in this case. Proving somebody like Hawking wrong is a good way to make your career as a physicist.
This is not the same thing as giving a platoform to an idiot like Prince Charles to spout off about crap he doesn't know anything about (nanotech and cancer for example). This is a somebody with intimate knowledge of the field who thinks he has solved an important problem.
So killing a couple of hundred thousand civilians is a necesary evil?
Would you then say that Iraq killing a hundred thousand Kurds was just a necesary evil as well? I mean, that was a really effective way to stop a civil war from tearing the country apart.
I'm confused...
You seem to complain about the Japanese not apologizing for Nanking, but then say they don't deserve an apology for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both were acts of war against civilians and pretty hard to defend moraly. I think the Japanese deserve an apology just as much as the Chinese do.
Apologies don't bring anybody back from the dead, but at least it brings home the point that the action was wrong. It is pretty sad that neither the US or Japan want to admit that they did something wrong a lifetime ago. Hell, they weren't even the only ones - lets not forget Dresden.
The Germans might have been evil incarnate in that war, but these days they at least tend to admit that they were wrong.
So why not get rid of any of the other petty dictatorships? You can't throw a rock in Africa without hitting one.
I mean, it isn't like Iraq was doing much before they got invaded. They were a contained problem without the ability to do much damage to anybody. So why not go after a petty dictator that would have made a real difference.
BTW, wouldn't you have considered the Kurdish problem in Iraq about as close to a civil war as you can get? Most of the action might have happend years ago, but the splits are still there. Remember when Sadam gassed 1000s of Kurds for not supporting him? Sounds like a civil war to me. Or doesn't it count if the gassing happened when the US is friends with the guy doing the gassing?
Thanks. I actually did the Google thing after my last comment. Interesting...
Confusing though. Why isn't Bush and Co. all over this? It would pretty much get rid of all the criticism they are facing about Iraq.
I can't figure out if you are trolling or not... you either have a really good point or you are a really good troll.
What is the Nichols/Yousef link? Real question, not trying to troll.
I believe a good ol' paper petition would have given it more credibility.
Yeah, I know I really prefer signing paper petitions. They are so much harder to fake.
Signed,
Chuck. U. Farley
Actually, I think they did the right thing. They allowed their members, who are technology professionnals, to make thier opinions known. This is like complaining that the people running the voting booths doesn't tell you why you should not vote for a particulat candidate.
Why have an opinion poll if you are going to bias it from the beginning?
You know, somewhere an engineer working for an oil company just turned slacking off and reading Slashdot into the largest bonus he is ever going to get. An you aren't even going to get royalties... :)
They also found that the Drudge Report and Fox News Special Report were pretty much at the true center of the political spectrum.
That is just about the scariest things I have read this year...
Hey, moron, I am amazed at your ability to identify ACs. How do you do that?
:)
Anyway, slow day at work so why not give some meaning to a poor little troll's life? Plus I stopped the idiot who modded my last two comments as trolls from doing some real damage. Personally I think that was time well spent!
You sound like some of the kids I went to school with. Getting bullied a lot? Girls not talking to you? Frustrated about nobody taking you seriously and so you are venting on Slashdot?
Here is some advice: work hard at school and it will get better when you grow up.
At least you can spell "fuckhead", but there is simply no way you can defend the use of "4 u". It's simply bad grammar. I guess everything I have been hearing about the miserable quality of our schools is true.
I can only hope that when you finally pass through puberty your hormones will settle down and you can apply yourself to your schoolwork again. Otherwise I am afraid there here isn't much hope for you.
You know what they say, the lottery is a tax on people who can't do math. :)
Real estate is probably a good bet, but with Mr. Greenspan about to start raising the rates that little party is probably at an end as well. Figures, I am planning to buy a place in the next few months. With my luck that can only mean the real estate market is in for a big dive.
Actually know a couple of Afrikaners up in Toronto. Which part of that snow covered wasteland up North have you made it to?
Dude, at least learn to spell Linux correctly. Spelling Linux wrong in two posts just makes you look like an idiot, rather than someone who might have a valid point.
With a sig like "Ja well no fine" there is only one country in the world you can be from... which is amusing as I actually knew an actuary from there who spent a lot of time looking for ways to make money from playing the horses.
I think he had some success, but not enough to make it all worth it.
Linux rips it just fine.
:)
Co-worker bought one of these, and ran into the DRM trying to rip it to his ipod. So I tried it on my Linux box and it copied without a problem.
The guy was so pissed off about the whole thing that he ended up returning the CD. End result was that he is now a Linux fan, has DRM free MP3s of the album, and the RIAA didn't get cent out of the deal. There is some karma at work there somewhere...
Am I the only one who is getting sick of the knee-jerk "use google" reactions to "Ask /." questions?
Dunno... why don't you ask Google rather than Slashdot?
(Yes, I'm joking. I actually feel the same way).
From the Wired article: "I just have my fingers crossed that my girlfriend gets her blog back," said software programmer Tom Gortell. "She feels like someone just sucked out her brains. I don't get it, it's just an online journal, right? But she feels like her entire life has been stolen."
The guy works as a programmer and he never told her to make backups? And then he tells Wired that he doesn't get why she is upset. Somebody better e-mail him the number of a good florist.
But seriously, he should have told her to make backups. Free service. You get what you pay for. What more can you say?