Their lawyers say that no matter what country they are speaking about, so do their press releases, and their lobbyists, the only surprising thing is how many slashdotter's believe them. Really, I've lost count of the number of people who have told me Australia actually has "a great firewall" and if I try and set them straight they will argue the point with me from their basement in Texas.
Sorry for the fucked up quote tags:(
The missing quote is - "Can I sell you a book with an attached EULA that says you may only read it in a blue rocking chair, and if you violate that you have to give the book back with no refund, and you agree to the contract merely by purchasing the book?".
Can you enter into a contract just by buying something?
Buying something IS a contract! At it's most basic level it is an agreement to exchange physical items or services.
Yep, but having the audactity to treat a judge like a fool by attempting to enforce it in court would likely backfire and do serious damage to your bank account.
TOS stories are timeless philosphical tales as seen through the eyes of the flower power generation (who thought 'gay' meant 'happy' and 'homosexual' meant 'punching bag'), the stories just happen to occur on a spaceship.
I agree, I tried to wade through Tolkien as an adult but could never stay awake long enough to turn the page. For an 8yo I would suggest A wrinkle in time, I enjoyed immensly when I read it as a kid in the 60's. Unlike Tolkien it flows very well. The main charcters are kids a teenage girl hero and her younger brother, the writer does a great job of making them real by giving the charaters everyday kids problems. For example the girl is seen as a troublemaker at school and lacks self-confidence in her looks because of her red hair. It's educational without reading like a text book, it firmly plants science and math concepts into the child's mind by applying them to situations the hero's find themselves in, (a visit to a 2d planet is one example of that covers the concepts of higher spacial dimemtions).
But most importantly it's a great story about two kids growing up on an road trip through the universe, guided by wise beings who do not belittle their childhood concerns but rather expose them to experiences and hard choices that provides them with the perspective to deal with their own problems. The Harry Potter series does the same thing but in a different setting and with less educational value. Ultimately I belive the ability of these writers to relate to kids in this way via a fantasy world is why both books have been immensley popular with children. The fact that both books mention wicthcraft have also made them very unpopular with religious nutters, Both are high on the list of books that have garnered the most petitions to ban them in the US, wich to me is even more reason to give them to your kids and let them make up their own minds.
Now if someone could just explain to me why my 3yo grandaughter is facinated by kids shows that to me look and sound like they were the product of some really funky drugs? I'm not having a go at modern kids shows here, my favorite when I was very young was "Bill and Ben the flowerpot men" which as an adult appears every bit as fucked up as the modern stuff. Since I only had B/W TV as a young child, this universal urge to watch bizzare animated creatures wander around the screen can't be explained away by "bright colours".
There is a place called the "Dry Valleys" high in the Antartic mountains that is considered the best terrestrial proxy for Martian conditions. There has been no rain or snowfall there for two million years and it can get cold enough for dry ice to form (whether it does or not I don't know). Of course it has a denser and different atmosphere, but like Mars the humidity is for all practical purposes zero.
From the oblig. WP article: "The unique conditions in the Dry Valleys are caused, in part, by katabatic winds; these occur when cold, dense air is pulled downhill by the force of gravity. The winds can reach speeds of 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph), heating as they descend, and evaporating all water, ice and snow." Note that it states the ice "evaporates", as with Mars, water ice normally sublimates directly into the atmosphere rather than running off as melt water. Despite having similar tempratures and moisture levels to those found on Mars the WP page lists two groups of bacteria that are native to the area. One group lives inside granite the other underneath a glacier that protrudes into one of the valleys.
Life is incredibly durable, once it takes hold of a planet I find it hard to believe that anything short of a Venutian style "runaway greenhouse" will erase it. If life did once take hold of Mars in the distant past then I think it follows that it is still there,most probably just below the surface.
I have no idea, that was the OP's claim I just extraploated it to the point where the absurdity of her logic was obvious. That method of reasoning is called ad-absurdium for obvious reason.
Ummm, I'm not a democrat, and the reason I said "your constitution" is that I'm not an American either. Having said that, I did get an email signed by Michelle Obama telling me I could "own a piece of the democrat convention" for as little as $5.
This isn't a leak for domestic political purposes, it's a diplomatic press release concerning the current talks between the US and Iran. Basically it's saying "don't bullshit us we know what you are up to". However it's unlikely to have any effect on the talks since if they really did know what Iran was up to they would be presenting evidence rather than boasting about their hacking skills.
WRT Buddhism, full enlightenment is the erradication of all personal desire, in other words it's the philosphical equivalent to not giving a shit about anything.
Heaven and Hell are place names, heaven and hell are descriptions of situations or emotional states. "I'm in Heaven" implies I'm dead, "I'm in heaven" implies I'm on the recieving end of a blow job.
I work for Fujitsu, I'm a native english speaker, I've never been to Japan and can't speak/read/write a word of Japanese. However there are 175K employees so TFA is news to me too. The translation looks like it's a literal translation of a Japanese press release, as opposed to one written by someone with an understanding of the subject. As literal translations go it's a pretty good one (you should see what the auto-translator dumps in my inbox),
I understand where your coming from wrt the indutrial-military complex, but had we done what you suggest from the begining the Magna Carta would never have been written, let alone agreed to by the monarchy. It was wealthy merchants who forced the king to devolve some power to the people by refusing to fund his costly wars. To a lesser and more subtle extent, most of todays multi-nationals are also using their influence on politics to keep nations at peace in order to protect their own interests.
The reason corporations, governments, and society in general "don't work" is that humans (like many other predatory mammals) evolved to live in extended family tribes and throw turds at outsiders. 10K years ago we inveted agriculture which quickly lead to civilizations which requires massive 'tribes' to get thing done (or undone in the case of war). Evolution has had very little time to alter basic human nature to cope with this behavioural shift in our species. As an example most of us identify strongly with our own nations 'tribe' but every day thousands of members of that tribe die and we couldn't give a flying fuck about them unless we know them personally (ie: within our extended family tribe).
Problem is, even if one understands that, one is too busy throwing turds to do anything about it.
Making extensive use of, well, let's say "borrowed" technology
Yes, China borrowed from the US space program, which borrowed from the German V2 program, which borrowed from fireworks, which were invented by guess who? That's how civilizations progress, a failure to comprehend that basic fact of life is a failure to comprehend all of human history.
"They're starving back in China, so finish what you got." is a line from a John Lennon song, when I was a kid that's what mother's told their children when trying to persuade them to eat thier veggies. There were several famines due to Mao's "great leap" the worst of which was without doubt the worst in the 20th century (and perhaps of all time). I was too young to recall that one but I do recall the one in 1969 (the same year Armstrong set foot on the moon).
It's said (by who I don't recall) that China has dragged more people out of poverty in the last 4 decades than the rest of the world combined by simply raising the standard of living for their own people. Having wittnessed (from afar) the scale of the change since the gang of four were booted out in the 70's, I'm inclined to believe that claim.
Que paranoid rants about governments from 20-somethings with cheeto filled stomachs, in...3...2....1
Agree the two types of fire are different but what you describe as a 'wildfire' sounds more like a controlled burn.
The Black Saturday fire front here in Oz was moving at 120kmh due to gale force winds coming off the desert, it did most of the damage in a single afternoon. Spot fires were being ignited 20km downwind from the main front which was creating its own local winds due to the massive column of hot smoke rising 15km into the atmosphere. The 3000degC heat from the fire front was leathal at a range of 200 meters, one (un)lucky survivor had his windsceen melt and drip onto his legs while he was taking cover under the dashboard wrapped in a heavy wool blanket. Another similar bushfire I wittnesed up close and personal was the Ash Wednesday fires, both fires continued to burn more or less harmlessly for weeks after the damage was done, at one stage the AW front streached unbroken from Canberra to Mallacoota (~500km)
Yes you may have a few hours warning if your lucky (ie: phone/power/repeaters are still working), but most of time the only warning is a lot of smoke and no bird noises, it makes the roads just as confusing as a smoke filled building, you have no idea where the fire front is or which way it's headed until a 100m high wall of fire runs over you at high speed. Admittedly the Black Saturday fire is an extreme example but a bushfire front moving at highway speeds is not uncommon in this country and I believe smaller fire fronts in California can also reach similar speeds when driven by strong desert winds or running up the side of the Hollywood hills. Footage I've seen of these looks very similar, I recall seeing a yellow timber mansion sitting on top of the ridge, it was being filmed at a distance by a helicopter crew, it's heavily smouldering walls literally exploded into flame before the front even got to them. Much like a piece of paper bursts into flame when held above a candle flame.
Of course as you imply the smart thing to do for any fire is to have a plan before the fire starts, If you invest some non-trivial thought, money, and effort into things like not putting your mansion on top of a natural blow tourch, water tanks, roof sprinklers, pumps, dug-outs, fire-proof windows/shutters, etc, you and your property can stay and fight the worst firestorm, it's a safe bet that at least you will come out the other side relatively unscathed. If you're like most people and your plan is to evacuate, then evacuate, don't fuck around loading a 17 foot trailer or looking for the cat. The servers can be replaced, the trailer is a fucking Albotross on a smoke filled road where you may have difficulty seeing past your hood ornament and may be directed to turn around by fire fighters, and the cat can cope with a bushfire much better than you can.
*You - Not 'you' the AC, rather 'you' the Darwin award candidate that posted the question. A final piece of advise from someone who has wittnessed several serious bushfires first hand, if you are already working with the local fire brigade then ask them for advise on an evacuation plan in the case of bushfire rather than slashdot. I'm certainly no expert but looking at the immediate topology around the center (in 2d via google maps) it looks like the property sits on a small hill that itself sits at the bottom of a large natural bowl in the mountains, it also has a creek or river on one edge. Maybe with their help it would be relatively simple project to set up and defend the property as an official refuge point for the area. Which, if I'm guessing right, would be the kind of thing the center would be eager to advertise to their customers and insurance broker.;)
Slashdot Mirror
Their lawyers say that no matter what country they are speaking about, so do their press releases, and their lobbyists, the only surprising thing is how many slashdotter's believe them. Really, I've lost count of the number of people who have told me Australia actually has "a great firewall" and if I try and set them straight they will argue the point with me from their basement in Texas.
Especially if it's a secret sauce.
No, an "excuse" is a plea for understanding or forgiveness, "a reson that makes no sense" is just plain bullshit.
A prophetic summary of the comments to come?
Sorry for the fucked up quote tags :(
The missing quote is - "Can I sell you a book with an attached EULA that says you may only read it in a blue rocking chair, and if you violate that you have to give the book back with no refund, and you agree to the contract merely by purchasing the book?".
Can you enter into a contract just by buying something?
Buying something IS a contract! At it's most basic level it is an agreement to exchange physical items or services.
Yep, but having the audactity to treat a judge like a fool by attempting to enforce it in court would likely backfire and do serious damage to your bank account.
TOS stories are timeless philosphical tales as seen through the eyes of the flower power generation (who thought 'gay' meant 'happy' and 'homosexual' meant 'punching bag'), the stories just happen to occur on a spaceship.
I agree, I tried to wade through Tolkien as an adult but could never stay awake long enough to turn the page. For an 8yo I would suggest A wrinkle in time, I enjoyed immensly when I read it as a kid in the 60's. Unlike Tolkien it flows very well. The main charcters are kids a teenage girl hero and her younger brother, the writer does a great job of making them real by giving the charaters everyday kids problems. For example the girl is seen as a troublemaker at school and lacks self-confidence in her looks because of her red hair. It's educational without reading like a text book, it firmly plants science and math concepts into the child's mind by applying them to situations the hero's find themselves in, (a visit to a 2d planet is one example of that covers the concepts of higher spacial dimemtions).
But most importantly it's a great story about two kids growing up on an road trip through the universe, guided by wise beings who do not belittle their childhood concerns but rather expose them to experiences and hard choices that provides them with the perspective to deal with their own problems. The Harry Potter series does the same thing but in a different setting and with less educational value. Ultimately I belive the ability of these writers to relate to kids in this way via a fantasy world is why both books have been immensley popular with children. The fact that both books mention wicthcraft have also made them very unpopular with religious nutters, Both are high on the list of books that have garnered the most petitions to ban them in the US, wich to me is even more reason to give them to your kids and let them make up their own minds.
Now if someone could just explain to me why my 3yo grandaughter is facinated by kids shows that to me look and sound like they were the product of some really funky drugs? I'm not having a go at modern kids shows here, my favorite when I was very young was "Bill and Ben the flowerpot men" which as an adult appears every bit as fucked up as the modern stuff. Since I only had B/W TV as a young child, this universal urge to watch bizzare animated creatures wander around the screen can't be explained away by "bright colours".
There is a place called the "Dry Valleys" high in the Antartic mountains that is considered the best terrestrial proxy for Martian conditions. There has been no rain or snowfall there for two million years and it can get cold enough for dry ice to form (whether it does or not I don't know). Of course it has a denser and different atmosphere, but like Mars the humidity is for all practical purposes zero.
From the oblig. WP article: "The unique conditions in the Dry Valleys are caused, in part, by katabatic winds; these occur when cold, dense air is pulled downhill by the force of gravity. The winds can reach speeds of 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph), heating as they descend, and evaporating all water, ice and snow." Note that it states the ice "evaporates", as with Mars, water ice normally sublimates directly into the atmosphere rather than running off as melt water. Despite having similar tempratures and moisture levels to those found on Mars the WP page lists two groups of bacteria that are native to the area. One group lives inside granite the other underneath a glacier that protrudes into one of the valleys.
Life is incredibly durable, once it takes hold of a planet I find it hard to believe that anything short of a Venutian style "runaway greenhouse" will erase it. If life did once take hold of Mars in the distant past then I think it follows that it is still there,most probably just below the surface.
Off the top of my head "You're up shit creek" is a non-religious example.
Do you really think so?
I have no idea, that was the OP's claim I just extraploated it to the point where the absurdity of her logic was obvious. That method of reasoning is called ad-absurdium for obvious reason.
Ummm, I'm not a democrat, and the reason I said "your constitution" is that I'm not an American either. Having said that, I did get an email signed by Michelle Obama telling me I could "own a piece of the democrat convention" for as little as $5.
Says the guy who swallowed the "taxation is theft" meme, hook, line, and sinker.
This isn't a leak for domestic political purposes, it's a diplomatic press release concerning the current talks between the US and Iran. Basically it's saying "don't bullshit us we know what you are up to". However it's unlikely to have any effect on the talks since if they really did know what Iran was up to they would be presenting evidence rather than boasting about their hacking skills.
WRT Buddhism, full enlightenment is the erradication of all personal desire, in other words it's the philosphical equivalent to not giving a shit about anything.
Heaven and Hell are place names, heaven and hell are descriptions of situations or emotional states. "I'm in Heaven" implies I'm dead, "I'm in heaven" implies I'm on the recieving end of a blow job.
There is no hell in the old testament, baby Jesus fessed up to owning a dungeon in part 2.
I work for Fujitsu, I'm a native english speaker, I've never been to Japan and can't speak/read/write a word of Japanese. However there are 175K employees so TFA is news to me too. The translation looks like it's a literal translation of a Japanese press release, as opposed to one written by someone with an understanding of the subject. As literal translations go it's a pretty good one (you should see what the auto-translator dumps in my inbox),
PS: It's also the reason reality shows and soap operas are so popular, the actors become part of the viewer's family tribe.
Don't let corporations play in politics.
I understand where your coming from wrt the indutrial-military complex, but had we done what you suggest from the begining the Magna Carta would never have been written, let alone agreed to by the monarchy. It was wealthy merchants who forced the king to devolve some power to the people by refusing to fund his costly wars. To a lesser and more subtle extent, most of todays multi-nationals are also using their influence on politics to keep nations at peace in order to protect their own interests.
The reason corporations, governments, and society in general "don't work" is that humans (like many other predatory mammals) evolved to live in extended family tribes and throw turds at outsiders. 10K years ago we inveted agriculture which quickly lead to civilizations which requires massive 'tribes' to get thing done (or undone in the case of war). Evolution has had very little time to alter basic human nature to cope with this behavioural shift in our species. As an example most of us identify strongly with our own nations 'tribe' but every day thousands of members of that tribe die and we couldn't give a flying fuck about them unless we know them personally (ie: within our extended family tribe).
Problem is, even if one understands that, one is too busy throwing turds to do anything about it.
If good national health care is unconstitutional then obviously you need to ammend your constitution.
"There'll be an emergency a couple of hours from now..."
Thank god for that, it gives me just enough time to ask slashdot what to do with 50 servers and a 17' trailer.
Making extensive use of, well, let's say "borrowed" technology
Yes, China borrowed from the US space program, which borrowed from the German V2 program, which borrowed from fireworks, which were invented by guess who? That's how civilizations progress, a failure to comprehend that basic fact of life is a failure to comprehend all of human history.
[I'm] not very inclined to credit them for it
That's just sour grapes.
"They're starving back in China, so finish what you got." is a line from a John Lennon song, when I was a kid that's what mother's told their children when trying to persuade them to eat thier veggies. There were several famines due to Mao's "great leap" the worst of which was without doubt the worst in the 20th century (and perhaps of all time). I was too young to recall that one but I do recall the one in 1969 (the same year Armstrong set foot on the moon).
It's said (by who I don't recall) that China has dragged more people out of poverty in the last 4 decades than the rest of the world combined by simply raising the standard of living for their own people. Having wittnessed (from afar) the scale of the change since the gang of four were booted out in the 70's, I'm inclined to believe that claim.
Que paranoid rants about governments from 20-somethings with cheeto filled stomachs, in...3...2....1
Agree the two types of fire are different but what you describe as a 'wildfire' sounds more like a controlled burn.
;)
The Black Saturday fire front here in Oz was moving at 120kmh due to gale force winds coming off the desert, it did most of the damage in a single afternoon. Spot fires were being ignited 20km downwind from the main front which was creating its own local winds due to the massive column of hot smoke rising 15km into the atmosphere. The 3000degC heat from the fire front was leathal at a range of 200 meters, one (un)lucky survivor had his windsceen melt and drip onto his legs while he was taking cover under the dashboard wrapped in a heavy wool blanket. Another similar bushfire I wittnesed up close and personal was the Ash Wednesday fires, both fires continued to burn more or less harmlessly for weeks after the damage was done, at one stage the AW front streached unbroken from Canberra to Mallacoota (~500km)
Yes you may have a few hours warning if your lucky (ie: phone/power/repeaters are still working), but most of time the only warning is a lot of smoke and no bird noises, it makes the roads just as confusing as a smoke filled building, you have no idea where the fire front is or which way it's headed until a 100m high wall of fire runs over you at high speed. Admittedly the Black Saturday fire is an extreme example but a bushfire front moving at highway speeds is not uncommon in this country and I believe smaller fire fronts in California can also reach similar speeds when driven by strong desert winds or running up the side of the Hollywood hills. Footage I've seen of these looks very similar, I recall seeing a yellow timber mansion sitting on top of the ridge, it was being filmed at a distance by a helicopter crew, it's heavily smouldering walls literally exploded into flame before the front even got to them. Much like a piece of paper bursts into flame when held above a candle flame.
Of course as you imply the smart thing to do for any fire is to have a plan before the fire starts, If you invest some non-trivial thought, money, and effort into things like not putting your mansion on top of a natural blow tourch, water tanks, roof sprinklers, pumps, dug-outs, fire-proof windows/shutters, etc, you and your property can stay and fight the worst firestorm, it's a safe bet that at least you will come out the other side relatively unscathed. If you're like most people and your plan is to evacuate, then evacuate, don't fuck around loading a 17 foot trailer or looking for the cat. The servers can be replaced, the trailer is a fucking Albotross on a smoke filled road where you may have difficulty seeing past your hood ornament and may be directed to turn around by fire fighters, and the cat can cope with a bushfire much better than you can.
*You - Not 'you' the AC, rather 'you' the Darwin award candidate that posted the question. A final piece of advise from someone who has wittnessed several serious bushfires first hand, if you are already working with the local fire brigade then ask them for advise on an evacuation plan in the case of bushfire rather than slashdot. I'm certainly no expert but looking at the immediate topology around the center (in 2d via google maps) it looks like the property sits on a small hill that itself sits at the bottom of a large natural bowl in the mountains, it also has a creek or river on one edge. Maybe with their help it would be relatively simple project to set up and defend the property as an official refuge point for the area. Which, if I'm guessing right, would be the kind of thing the center would be eager to advertise to their customers and insurance broker.