Chinese being the poor victims of yellow oppression.
The problem we have, human beings and the world in general, is that the indignant response of vengeance and generally devaluing human life such that innocent victims of war become mere 'collateral damage' which is excused because 'they were on the other side' is what allows atrocity in the first place.
The fact that Japanese civilians fell victim to the atrocity of nuclear bombing is just as bad as the fact that Chinese civilians fell victim to the atrocities commited by Japanese troops.
The fact that the one occured cannot reduce the atrocity of the other.
Nukes are evil and any nation that possesses them is, virtually by definition, a terrorist state.
Ok so some Japanese civilians in Nagasaki and Hiroshima might have had relatives who participated in atrocities. And this makes them liable to the extent that nuking them is ok?
Let me ask you this, if there had been no nuke, would it be justifiable to round up the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and put them into concentration camps, for example or maybe just lethal injection? To punish them for the things that other Japanese people had done?
Yes, I am certain that almost all of those children, babies, pregnant women, buddhist monks and nuns and convalescent old folks all bore a collective responsibility for Japanese war crimes and were duly nuked in punishment.
"because it is RESISTANT to crystallization under such conditions"
Heres a thought.
Will this sort of effect be important in hibernation and cryogenic storage of human beings?
Think about it like this, we develop a way to freeze people and thaw them out, test it for a few years here on Earth, deploy the system for space trials and find that the human body reacts quite differently to crystalisation under microgravity.
"You go back to kill your father, but you'd arrive after he'd left the room, you wouldn't find him, or you'd change your mind," said Professor Greenberger.
"As long as the government doesn't take their cable away they don't give a rat's ass what it does"
I strongly suggest that the American public get up, out of their chairs, walk over to the window, open the window up and yell at the top of their lungs;
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more! I'm a human being, goddammit, my life has value!"
Even so, any outfit that upgrades production systems from woody to sarge without first testing the procedure on virtual environments *deserves* to lose the business.
Its called 'survival of the least dumb' (something like 'survival of the fittest' but we are talking about geeks so 'fit' doesn't apply).
Seriously, I expect this to happen where I work; we've already had people randomly decide to upgrade production systems to sarge. Its just a matter of time before we are pulling out the backup tapes.
I still see people with half a dozen servers to build working through (for example) the debian installer, pressing buttons and typing shit in. This is, IMO, a waste of time and brain power.
Most of the configuration details could just as well be kept in a database and automatically deployed. It would also save on typos. Which I see a lot of.
"people have been doing houses for several thousand years. We've got the basic idea down pretty well. We've been doing graphical computer systems for how long? 30 years, maybe? And computers, how long have we had those?"
This is a valid point.
To me, the way we develop software, the way we manage computer systems seems horrifically primitive and crude.
I believe that we are at the beginning of something like a 'neolithic period' of computing; we are just beginning to be able to shape sophisticated tools and combine crude components of tools into more useful devices.
In truth I am thinking more in terms of sysadmin type work rather than development because thats my job.
But 'fully automated installers' are in their infancy and many people simply don't trust them. Consequently system integrators have to 'bang rocks together' to get systems built.
Automated monitoring systems are here but automated repair mechanisms still seem a long way off, again because many people just don't trust them and would rather a human being get out of bed at 3am to fix a computer rather than develop systems that can repair themselves.
"My BETTER suggestion/solution: a screen than can be gimbaled 360 degrees in the horizontal and 90 degrees in the vertical. Project 2 polarized HIGH-resolution images on it for high-resolution stereo imaging"
Yeah but you are still tied to either the viewer inside a viewable area, looking out, with the screen moving around them, or the viewer outside the viewable area, looking in, with the screen moving around to follow their gaze.
My even *better* suggestion is to mount the display on a *robot* that follows them around (actually, following them around in *front* of them) holding a screen up and maintaining it for optimum 3d viewing.
Also note the potential entertainment value of watching people walking around like that and the pranks that could be played.
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Chinese being the poor victims of yellow oppression.
The problem we have, human beings and the world in general, is that the indignant response of vengeance and generally devaluing human life such that innocent victims of war become mere 'collateral damage' which is excused because 'they were on the other side' is what allows atrocity in the first place.
The fact that Japanese civilians fell victim to the atrocity of nuclear bombing is just as bad as the fact that Chinese civilians fell victim to the atrocities commited by Japanese troops.
The fact that the one occured cannot reduce the atrocity of the other.
Nukes are evil and any nation that possesses them is, virtually by definition, a terrorist state.
Ok so some Japanese civilians in Nagasaki and Hiroshima might have had relatives who participated in atrocities. And this makes them liable to the extent that nuking them is ok?
Let me ask you this, if there had been no nuke, would it be justifiable to round up the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and put them into concentration camps, for example or maybe just lethal injection? To punish them for the things that other Japanese people had done?
"I'm sorry those people suffered, and I'm sorry those people died, but I'm not sorry the nuclear attacks happened."
Let me guess. Yank?
Welcome to my 'foes' list.
"Sympathy for the Japanese is largely misplaced."
Yes, I am certain that almost all of those children, babies, pregnant women, buddhist monks and nuns and convalescent old folks all bore a collective responsibility for Japanese war crimes and were duly nuked in punishment.
"but if it's true then I don't see how anyone can view Nagasaki as anything but a war crime."
I don't see how anyone can view use of nuclear weapons against any civilian population as anything but a war crime.
"Next they'll report that Bush won a second term in office"
And after that, they'll report that Bush won a third term in office.
"because it is RESISTANT to crystallization under such conditions"
Heres a thought.
Will this sort of effect be important in hibernation and cryogenic storage of human beings?
Think about it like this, we develop a way to freeze people and thaw them out, test it for a few years here on Earth, deploy the system for space trials and find that the human body reacts quite differently to crystalisation under microgravity.
My favorite quote of all time on this sort of thing is Rene Descartes who said and I quote;
"If ever it is found that the speed of light is anything other than infinite, then it may be said that I know nothing in matters of philosophy."
"After all, why should anyone be allowed to have a personal duplicate of Michael Jackson at home."
Maybe it could be used as a form of punishment? Something like distributed penal servitude.
The Quantum Gods will prevent paradoxes from forming.
Wherever we see paradox and inconsistency in nature, we can be sure that its ultimate cause is our own lack of imagination.
To me, it seems perfectly reasonable that one can travel to the past. But once one has, it would be impossible to return to *exactly* the same future.
For some reason I always think of the ending of J.G.Frazier 'The Golden Bough' when I read about modern, 'scientific', cosmology.
The comparison of magic, religion and science is extremely apt even after all this time. *Especially* after all this time.
One great big unscientific cop-out;
"You go back to kill your father, but you'd arrive after he'd left the room, you wouldn't find him, or you'd change your mind," said Professor Greenberger.
Sounds more like 'faith' to me.
"As long as the government doesn't take their cable away they don't give a rat's ass what it does"
I strongly suggest that the American public get up, out of their chairs, walk over to the window, open the window up and yell at the top of their lungs;
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more! I'm a human being, goddammit, my life has value!"
(and watch the movie 'Network')
Its worse than that; if Anakin gets post traumatic stress disorder then the Jedi tradition is a load of bunk.
But I guess you *can* trademark Numbers...
Why won't they just stick to the basics?
Fire it up on your intel based PC, running windows. If it doesn't work at all, mark it down for requiring non-standard hardware.
"It works rather well given the conditions that the authour is also is American, white and middle class."
Well, son, pass it along to homeland security! Those are exactly the sort of terrorists they should be after!
Even so, any outfit that upgrades production systems from woody to sarge without first testing the procedure on virtual environments *deserves* to lose the business.
Its called 'survival of the least dumb' (something like 'survival of the fittest' but we are talking about geeks so 'fit' doesn't apply).
Seriously, I expect this to happen where I work; we've already had people randomly decide to upgrade production systems to sarge. Its just a matter of time before we are pulling out the backup tapes.
"What is there to automate?"
I still see people with half a dozen servers to build working through (for example) the debian installer, pressing buttons and typing shit in. This is, IMO, a waste of time and brain power.
Most of the configuration details could just as well be kept in a database and automatically deployed. It would also save on typos. Which I see a lot of.
"people have been doing houses for several thousand years. We've got the basic idea down pretty well. We've been doing graphical computer systems for how long? 30 years, maybe? And computers, how long have we had those?"
This is a valid point.
To me, the way we develop software, the way we manage computer systems seems horrifically primitive and crude.
I believe that we are at the beginning of something like a 'neolithic period' of computing; we are just beginning to be able to shape sophisticated tools and combine crude components of tools into more useful devices.
In truth I am thinking more in terms of sysadmin type work rather than development because thats my job.
But 'fully automated installers' are in their infancy and many people simply don't trust them. Consequently system integrators have to 'bang rocks together' to get systems built.
Automated monitoring systems are here but automated repair mechanisms still seem a long way off, again because many people just don't trust them and would rather a human being get out of bed at 3am to fix a computer rather than develop systems that can repair themselves.
Primitive.
"Actually, no, I don't have to admire evil, no matter how efficient or effective it is. Evil is still evil, and never worth admiring."
I have to disagree.
For example, I greatly admire Adolph Hitler for his public speaking skills.
In fact he missed his true vocation; he could have been the greatest stand-up comic Germany has ever known...
"For example, I am jewish, but not by blood...converted when I was quite little, actually."
I'm curious. Would you count as Jewish enough for Israel? They have pretty tough ultra-orthodox rules on conversion...
"I wonder what the people who complain that Debian is outdated will say now?"
'snigger'?
Look up Stanislaw Lems 'Non Serviam' for an excellent short story on this topic.
It features in Hoffstader & Dennett 'Minds I'
"My BETTER suggestion/solution: a screen than can be gimbaled 360 degrees in the horizontal and 90 degrees in the vertical. Project 2 polarized HIGH-resolution images on it for high-resolution stereo imaging"
Yeah but you are still tied to either the viewer inside a viewable area, looking out, with the screen moving around them, or the viewer outside the viewable area, looking in, with the screen moving around to follow their gaze.
My even *better* suggestion is to mount the display on a *robot* that follows them around (actually, following them around in *front* of them) holding a screen up and maintaining it for optimum 3d viewing.
Also note the potential entertainment value of watching people walking around like that and the pranks that could be played.
"or by growing bacteria in a lab then extracting the vitamin."
;)
My God! What kind of vegan would kill and eat living bacteria!?!?!?!
I wouldn't have thought a vegan would use miso for that matter...
I suppose you wear leather shoes too... or use plastics that may contain the remains of dead dinosaurs?
Shame on you