"Anyway in a ST world France wouldn't exist anyway since if you weren't willing to do service in the military you pretty much were bred out of the human race since "Civilians" were only allowed to have 1 child per couple."
Got a reference for that one? As I recall, in the book you needed military service in order to gain your franchise (the ability to vote). Everyone had to serve for a limited period in som fashion (e.g. public service), but only military service conferred the vote.
So if you wanted a say in how the country was run, you had to prove that you had its best interests at heart by also being willing to die for it.
The ulimate "put your money where your mouth is" clause.
Just an FYI, but about 95% of my iPhone internet/email use occurs at work, home, or in a couple of local restaurants... ALL of which are WiFi enabled. So while EDGE is a bit pokey elsewhere, by and large it doesn't matter, because event though 3G beats EDGE, WiFi beats 3G.
"Windows Mobile is #1 in usability."
(ROTFLMAO) How in the world did you manage to say that with a straight face?
"There are almost an infinite number of apps available for Symbian and Windows Mobile..."
Yeah, but how many file managers and to do lists do you really need?
"Even if your interface is shiny, what can it actually do?"
Other than be a phone, web browser, email system, iPod, video iPod, SMS system, camera, photo album, clock, calendar, and so on and so forth? I guess you haven't seen what's coming via the SDK, have you?
"...m sure we can all agree iPhone is not a business device."
Well, since I use it for that purpose, no, we can't.
I don't know, buy a Prius and only drag out the supertruck when it's needed? Better planning of deliveries? Buy a smaller vehicle and tow trailers? You might consider it hyperbole, but 9-times-out-of-10 when I see a F-350 driving down the street it's hauling nothing but one guy yacking on a cell phone.
What happened was that the automakers ran a bill through Congress that allowed small businesses to buy big trucks and effectively write off the cost of the entire vehicle tax-wise. Free truck. So now we have a ton of 12MPG monstrosities wandering around just because someday they might move something. Assuming, of course, that they're not too afraid of scratching their truck bed liners...
Putting on my tinfoil hat, why do I suspect that the big media companies have more to gain from this than anyone else? "Well, your Honor, we made a reasonable effort to find the author, couldn't do so... and then we made the movie."
Putting words into my mouth. No, I don't think it's okay to lie, and I believe that most, if not all, of the scientists involved are acting in good faith and according to the best of our knowledge. And much of the empirical evidence, like melting glaciers and reduced polar ice, is hard to refute. SOMETHING is happening.
So the real question comes down to greenhouse gasses and to what amount they play in the equation. And that's where most of the opinion is divided.
Which means that we can: 1) do nothing; 2) reduce greenhouse emissions, and see if that helps.
Personally, I vote for number 2. Especially when, as I said, that also takes us in the direction of a cleaner environment, spurs development of alternative energy sources, and eliminates dependence on foreign oil and the associated political problems we have because of it (e.g. war).
And it's also in our best interests, economically, not to be paying billions of dollars importing oil. Not to mention the price of goods which are climbing due to ever higher shipping costs. Or mentioning that if we develop solutions to these problems we can sell them and reduce our trade deficits.
Hybrids have batteries rated for 200,000 to 300,000 miles. People will buy them, then replace those, which puts more of them on the used car market. Eventually, they'll work their way down the food chain. So will PHEVs and EVs.
And the trucking industry is already looking (and in some cases, implementing) hybrid technologies. And propane. And LNG. And hydrogen.
And it would help greatly if more people would stop whining and pointing out all of the reasons why something can't be done, and start focusing on solutions, and how it can...
Just as a consideration, you should try to find the History Channel's documentary on Life After People. It shows, rather dramatically, just how quickly technology fails when there's no one around to maintain it.
Also, while we would have guns and knives, what are we using them on? Each other? With a major eruption, thousands of square kilometers of material is thrown into the atmosphere, including ash and nasty sulfurs (think acid rain). Skys darken. Plants die. Animals that eat plants die. Plankton in the ocean, which also needs light, dies. Fish that eat plankton die. With no food, billions of humans die.
And with no one to maintain it, so does our massive technology base. No power, water, sanitation.
Unless, as the original article indicates, you're able to find some area that's less affected, or unless we can put together some nuclear-powered underground complex with a massive hydroponics garden in an EXTREMELY short period of time, the human race is screwed.
How serious is the event? How long is the aftermath? Decades? Longer? How long can you live without food? With the vast majority of the human race extinct and with no support structure, just how much technology will you really have?
A friend has a F-350 used almost entirely to haul stuff around under real world city driving conditions, and he feels lucky if he averages 12MPG. Though I guess that only equals 4.16 Priuses. My bad. Then again, I said "nearly" five. (grin)
'Course, the 2010/2011 version with the new batteries is said to do 90-100MPG, which gets me to eight. Or we can go with the today's model and add the current solar or PHEV up-conversions...
Still, going back to the original article, and assuming the DNA evidence is correct, my money's on Toba. Picture a single erruption over 2,800 times as violent at Mt. St. Helens.
Boom! Two booms, in fact. Though in fact they're environmental damage scenarios caused by specific events.
One being a major meteor or asteroid strike similar to the present theory held regarding the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event (Chicxulub). The second being a super-volcano erruption on the scale of the first Yellowstone event. Both of which could throw enough dirt, ash, and assorted junk into the atmosphere to cause serious climate change.
In fact, the 70,000 year old "near-extinction event" discussed in the article ties rather neatly into the massive Toba erruption that occurred in Sumatra, Indonesia right around 67,500 to 75,500 years ago.
Just in case you haven't noticed, the issues with gasoline and oil are not just environmental, but also political and economical.
With gas hitting $4 a gallon, a person's "choice" to drive, say, a Ford F-350 impacts everyone else. You can drive nearly five Priuses for the amount of fuel that one single vehicle consumes. I'm not too big on sending our children off to die halfway around the world in order find enough oil to support our current "way of life".
So if "global warming" also helps get people off the dime in terms of controlling pollution, considering and implementing alternative energy sources, energy conservation, and reducing our dependance on foreign oil, then "valid" science or not, I'm all for it. Especially as opposed to the "there's nothing wrong", "head in the sand" approach you seem to be advocating.
"We're not pissed because they needed help, we're pissed because being a Jedi was initially presented as something almost anybody could do if they were willing to train long and hard..."
Being a Jedi isn't like being Batman. There are enough references like "the force runs strong in our family" in the canon to indicate that one's ability to use the force is genetic, and inheritable.
Guessing again. However, Apple says otherwise, as their disk encryption system (FileVault) encrypts everything in a user's Home folder. Further, there's a tech note that says using FileVault with software like iMovie or Final Cut is contra-indicated due to the additional overhead.
"You can talk all about supposed efficiency gains of running electric vs ICE, but until there is a solid power-grid in place,(and possibly even after that) Electric is LESS practical than ICE."
Sorry to burst your self-imposed bubble, but you might find the following to be of interest....
"Since utilities have built enough power plants to provide electricity when people are operating their air conditioners at full blast, they have excess generating capacity during off-peak hours. As a result, according to an upcoming report from the Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory (PNNL), a Department of Energy lab, there is enough excess generating capacity during the night and morning to allow more than 80 percent of today's vehicles to make the average daily commute solely using this electricity. If plug-in-hybrid or all-electric-car owners charge their vehicles at these times, the power needed for about 180 million cars could be provided simply by running these plants at full capacity."
"Stay out of my car, my pocketbook, my life, and my government. We, The People will decide how to live our lives, not you, the enviro-commies."
Just in case you haven't noticed, it's not just environmental, but also politcal and economical. With gas hitting $4 a gallon, a person's "choice" to drive, say, a Ford F-350 impacts everyone else. You can drive nearly five Priuses for the amount of fuel that one single vehicle consumes.
I'm also not too big on adding trillions of dollars to the national debt, nor sending our children off to die elsewhere in order find enough oil to support your "choice".
You have rights, and you also have responsibilities. Grow up.
They called, asking to speak to me, then informed me that they thought my card number had been stolen, probably from a recent restaurant visit, and had I visited a massage parlor in San Francisco, ordered lobster in Austraila, and had drinks in Russia? Seriously.
I said no, and they said they'd cancel the number and ship a new card immediately to the address on file.
Further, any time I've contacted them, it's always the last four numbers of my SSN and a password I have on file. Anyone asking for the whole SSN simply isn't going to get it.
"I think these "I'm too smart to be tricked" claims I keep hearing from people are really amusing."
Actually, a few years ago (quite a few, actually) I had occassion to seriously study confidence games and scams and most have relatively obvious patterns. Money up front, "in good faith", "to hold your reservation", "for insurance", "in order to ship your prize", and so on, are clear beacons to anyone who'd give a half seconds thought to such things.
At any rate, I'll play by my rules, and you're free to play by yours...
"The spammers are trying to game Google's (and other search engine's) page ranking..."
Well, yes and no. But one thing you can do is do a simple scan and add a rel="nofollow" to any hrefs. This allows you to keep user-generated links on sites where they may be useful, while zapping the spammer's ability to game Google.
'Course, this doesn't help block spam links for Viagra.
" Clicking on a link in an email is a NORMAL internet task."
So much so that my bank and credit card company have both already told me in advance that they will NEVER send me an email asking for verification of account information. And the time my credit card number was stolen, they simply informed me of that fact and that they were sending out a new card.
The aforementioned rules have been working just fine for me so far, with no "difficulty" whatsoever.
Totally agree. In fact, PayPal is probably making things worse by insinuating that if you're using IE and you have a little green bar then you're absolutely safe.
"People who fall for phishing scams are not stupid."
How much intelligence does it take to never, ever assume an email or a call from a company asking for information or "verification" is actually from said company? Or to virus check your email? Add the old maxim, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" to the mix, and you've eliminated 99% of the problem...
"The PROBLEM is the scammers. Period."
There's also such a thing as painting a bulls-eye on your chest and turning yourself into a target.
"Crime is the fault of criminals, not the victims."
And an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As long as we're throwing around old quotes. Take the appropriate steps, in advance, and you greatly mimimize your chances of being criminalized.
"... so their little green bandaid is not going to fix anything."
I always thought this was a plot cooked up by VeriSign and Microsoft anyway. IE gets a cute little green bar that looks like it means something, and VeriSign charges four times as much money for the same certificate.
Slashdot Mirror
"Anyway in a ST world France wouldn't exist anyway since if you weren't willing to do service in the military you pretty much were bred out of the human race since "Civilians" were only allowed to have 1 child per couple."
Got a reference for that one? As I recall, in the book you needed military service in order to gain your franchise (the ability to vote). Everyone had to serve for a limited period in som fashion (e.g. public service), but only military service conferred the vote.
So if you wanted a say in how the country was run, you had to prove that you had its best interests at heart by also being willing to die for it.
The ulimate "put your money where your mouth is" clause.
Just an FYI, but about 95% of my iPhone internet/email use occurs at work, home, or in a couple of local restaurants... ALL of which are WiFi enabled. So while EDGE is a bit pokey elsewhere, by and large it doesn't matter, because event though 3G beats EDGE, WiFi beats 3G.
..."
"Windows Mobile is #1 in usability."
(ROTFLMAO) How in the world did you manage to say that with a straight face?
"There are almost an infinite number of apps available for Symbian and Windows Mobile
Yeah, but how many file managers and to do lists do you really need?
"Even if your interface is shiny, what can it actually do?"
Other than be a phone, web browser, email system, iPod, video iPod, SMS system, camera, photo album, clock, calendar, and so on and so forth? I guess you haven't seen what's coming via the SDK, have you?
"...m sure we can all agree iPhone is not a business device."
Well, since I use it for that purpose, no, we can't.
I don't know, buy a Prius and only drag out the supertruck when it's needed? Better planning of deliveries? Buy a smaller vehicle and tow trailers? You might consider it hyperbole, but 9-times-out-of-10 when I see a F-350 driving down the street it's hauling nothing but one guy yacking on a cell phone.
What happened was that the automakers ran a bill through Congress that allowed small businesses to buy big trucks and effectively write off the cost of the entire vehicle tax-wise. Free truck. So now we have a ton of 12MPG monstrosities wandering around just because someday they might move something. Assuming, of course, that they're not too afraid of scratching their truck bed liners...
Putting on my tinfoil hat, why do I suspect that the big media companies have more to gain from this than anyone else? "Well, your Honor, we made a reasonable effort to find the author, couldn't do so... and then we made the movie."
Putting words into my mouth. No, I don't think it's okay to lie, and I believe that most, if not all, of the scientists involved are acting in good faith and according to the best of our knowledge. And much of the empirical evidence, like melting glaciers and reduced polar ice, is hard to refute. SOMETHING is happening.
So the real question comes down to greenhouse gasses and to what amount they play in the equation. And that's where most of the opinion is divided.
Which means that we can: 1) do nothing; 2) reduce greenhouse emissions, and see if that helps.
Personally, I vote for number 2. Especially when, as I said, that also takes us in the direction of a cleaner environment, spurs development of alternative energy sources, and eliminates dependence on foreign oil and the associated political problems we have because of it (e.g. war).
And it's also in our best interests, economically, not to be paying billions of dollars importing oil. Not to mention the price of goods which are climbing due to ever higher shipping costs. Or mentioning that if we develop solutions to these problems we can sell them and reduce our trade deficits.
It's all interrelated.
Hybrids have batteries rated for 200,000 to 300,000 miles. People will buy them, then replace those, which puts more of them on the used car market. Eventually, they'll work their way down the food chain. So will PHEVs and EVs.
And the trucking industry is already looking (and in some cases, implementing) hybrid technologies. And propane. And LNG. And hydrogen.
And it would help greatly if more people would stop whining and pointing out all of the reasons why something can't be done, and start focusing on solutions, and how it can...
Just as a consideration, you should try to find the History Channel's documentary on Life After People. It shows, rather dramatically, just how quickly technology fails when there's no one around to maintain it.
Also, while we would have guns and knives, what are we using them on? Each other? With a major eruption, thousands of square kilometers of material is thrown into the atmosphere, including ash and nasty sulfurs (think acid rain). Skys darken. Plants die. Animals that eat plants die. Plankton in the ocean, which also needs light, dies. Fish that eat plankton die. With no food, billions of humans die.
And with no one to maintain it, so does our massive technology base. No power, water, sanitation.
Unless, as the original article indicates, you're able to find some area that's less affected, or unless we can put together some nuclear-powered underground complex with a massive hydroponics garden in an EXTREMELY short period of time, the human race is screwed.
How serious is the event? How long is the aftermath? Decades? Longer? How long can you live without food? With the vast majority of the human race extinct and with no support structure, just how much technology will you really have?
A friend has a F-350 used almost entirely to haul stuff around under real world city driving conditions, and he feels lucky if he averages 12MPG. Though I guess that only equals 4.16 Priuses. My bad. Then again, I said "nearly" five. (grin)
'Course, the 2010/2011 version with the new batteries is said to do 90-100MPG, which gets me to eight. Or we can go with the today's model and add the current solar or PHEV up-conversions...
Well, from a certain point of view, they've already managed to do THREE movies/books extremely well.
Still, going back to the original article, and assuming the DNA evidence is correct, my money's on Toba. Picture a single erruption over 2,800 times as violent at Mt. St. Helens.
Boom! Two booms, in fact. Though in fact they're environmental damage scenarios caused by specific events.
One being a major meteor or asteroid strike similar to the present theory held regarding the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event (Chicxulub). The second being a super-volcano erruption on the scale of the first Yellowstone event. Both of which could throw enough dirt, ash, and assorted junk into the atmosphere to cause serious climate change.
In fact, the 70,000 year old "near-extinction event" discussed in the article ties rather neatly into the massive Toba erruption that occurred in Sumatra, Indonesia right around 67,500 to 75,500 years ago.
Just in case you haven't noticed, the issues with gasoline and oil are not just environmental, but also political and economical.
With gas hitting $4 a gallon, a person's "choice" to drive, say, a Ford F-350 impacts everyone else. You can drive nearly five Priuses for the amount of fuel that one single vehicle consumes. I'm not too big on sending our children off to die halfway around the world in order find enough oil to support our current "way of life".
So if "global warming" also helps get people off the dime in terms of controlling pollution, considering and implementing alternative energy sources, energy conservation, and reducing our dependance on foreign oil, then "valid" science or not, I'm all for it. Especially as opposed to the "there's nothing wrong", "head in the sand" approach you seem to be advocating.
"We're not pissed because they needed help, we're pissed because being a Jedi was initially presented as something almost anybody could do if they were willing to train long and hard..."
Being a Jedi isn't like being Batman. There are enough references like "the force runs strong in our family" in the canon to indicate that one's ability to use the force is genetic, and inheritable.
"... you should be fine."
Guessing again. However, Apple says otherwise, as their disk encryption system (FileVault) encrypts everything in a user's Home folder. Further, there's a tech note that says using FileVault with software like iMovie or Final Cut is contra-indicated due to the additional overhead.
"You can talk all about supposed efficiency gains of running electric vs ICE, but until there is a solid power-grid in place,(and possibly even after that) Electric is LESS practical than ICE."
Sorry to burst your self-imposed bubble, but you might find the following to be of interest....
"Since utilities have built enough power plants to provide electricity when people are operating their air conditioners at full blast, they have excess generating capacity during off-peak hours. As a result, according to an upcoming report from the Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory (PNNL), a Department of Energy lab, there is enough excess generating capacity during the night and morning to allow more than 80 percent of today's vehicles to make the average daily commute solely using this electricity. If plug-in-hybrid or all-electric-car owners charge their vehicles at these times, the power needed for about 180 million cars could be provided simply by running these plants at full capacity."
http://www.evpowersystems.com/PHEVs%20Save%20Grid.htm
"Stay out of my car, my pocketbook, my life, and my government. We, The People will decide how to live our lives, not you, the enviro-commies."
Just in case you haven't noticed, it's not just environmental, but also politcal and economical. With gas hitting $4 a gallon, a person's "choice" to drive, say, a Ford F-350 impacts everyone else. You can drive nearly five Priuses for the amount of fuel that one single vehicle consumes.
I'm also not too big on adding trillions of dollars to the national debt, nor sending our children off to die elsewhere in order find enough oil to support your "choice".
You have rights, and you also have responsibilities. Grow up.
They called, asking to speak to me, then informed me that they thought my card number had been stolen, probably from a recent restaurant visit, and had I visited a massage parlor in San Francisco, ordered lobster in Austraila, and had drinks in Russia? Seriously.
I said no, and they said they'd cancel the number and ship a new card immediately to the address on file.
Further, any time I've contacted them, it's always the last four numbers of my SSN and a password I have on file. Anyone asking for the whole SSN simply isn't going to get it.
"I think these "I'm too smart to be tricked" claims I keep hearing from people are really amusing."
Actually, a few years ago (quite a few, actually) I had occassion to seriously study confidence games and scams and most have relatively obvious patterns. Money up front, "in good faith", "to hold your reservation", "for insurance", "in order to ship your prize", and so on, are clear beacons to anyone who'd give a half seconds thought to such things.
At any rate, I'll play by my rules, and you're free to play by yours...
If adding proper title and alt tags take more time and add more work, then the cost is not the same, now is it?
"The spammers are trying to game Google's (and other search engine's) page ranking..."
Well, yes and no. But one thing you can do is do a simple scan and add a rel="nofollow" to any hrefs. This allows you to keep user-generated links on sites where they may be useful, while zapping the spammer's ability to game Google.
'Course, this doesn't help block spam links for Viagra.
" Clicking on a link in an email is a NORMAL internet task."
So much so that my bank and credit card company have both already told me in advance that they will NEVER send me an email asking for verification of account information. And the time my credit card number was stolen, they simply informed me of that fact and that they were sending out a new card.
The aforementioned rules have been working just fine for me so far, with no "difficulty" whatsoever.
You've obviously never had a backup tape or an old Zip or Jaz drive fail to read because of differences in track calibrations or read heads.
Totally agree. In fact, PayPal is probably making things worse by insinuating that if you're using IE and you have a little green bar then you're absolutely safe.
"People who fall for phishing scams are not stupid."
How much intelligence does it take to never, ever assume an email or a call from a company asking for information or "verification" is actually from said company? Or to virus check your email? Add the old maxim, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" to the mix, and you've eliminated 99% of the problem...
"The PROBLEM is the scammers. Period."
There's also such a thing as painting a bulls-eye on your chest and turning yourself into a target.
"Crime is the fault of criminals, not the victims."
And an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As long as we're throwing around old quotes. Take the appropriate steps, in advance, and you greatly mimimize your chances of being criminalized.
"... so their little green bandaid is not going to fix anything."
I always thought this was a plot cooked up by VeriSign and Microsoft anyway. IE gets a cute little green bar that looks like it means something, and VeriSign charges four times as much money for the same certificate.