Actually I think the parent was talking about thinking that you are somehow more important or more holy than others. Humility breeds good, pride breeds evil. It doesn't matter the religion.
So to say that we're better than them because Christ died here for us and not there for them is to make ourselves prideful and them inferior, which is the first step toward all the nasty things we do.
The reason we can't communicate with dolphins is that our existences are fundamentally different. Our language evolved in part because of the physics of sound in air, along with the structure of our mouths. Dolphin "language" evolved in the water with the unique dolphin anatomy. This means that, unlike human language, they can't be heard properly by either species which hampers efforts to translate it.
So if an alien species looks like us (has a mouth that serves respiratory and ingestion functions, a tongue) they probably evolved in similar circumstances and therefore have a basis for understanding.
But an incredibly different species could be extremely intelligent but we wouldn't be able to communicate (verbally, maybe even electronically) with them because their medium for thought transmission evolved in a completely different manner
Imagine a species that used special appendages to communicate, kind of like sign language. We wouldn't know where to begin because we don't have those appendages, and it would look like a bunch of flailing to us.
This is the most effective software piracy elimination scam ever. I wouldn't be suprised if the file actually came from Microsoft. People download it, hoping to gip them out of money, and they get all their stuff erased.
Workaround: Create a new user and run the "installer" from that account.
Sure they'll forget what their original mission is. But in any large population you'll have 1% or so who wants to leave. Once they get to where they're going, they can choose to leave everything behind and start a new world (very attractive to some), or to continue on in the ship with everyone they know, which will then spend some generations getting to another star system, or simply drifting around the universe.
Re:One good computer application - learning to typ
on
The Flickering Mind
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· Score: 1
The best way to learn how to type fast is to do IRC or IM. You have to type fast to keep up with the conversation, and you have to be accurate or you sound like a doof. A great app would be a communication tool (maybe using gaim) that would gauge accuracy and speed during a conversation and show it throughout to both yourself and the other person. You then compete to see who can get the higher score. Simple, interactive, social, and effective.
Re:Clifford Stoll's two books
on
The Flickering Mind
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· Score: 5, Insightful
A computer is a tool. A well prepared mind can make a computer do amazing things, just like a well prepared mind can make a hammer and chisel do amazing things. However, an unprepared mind will just turn the block of stone into a pile of dust. Let's focus on preparing the minds before giving them all the tools. Like the teacher removing all the fonts from the computer, we need to get people to think about what they're doing, not how it looks or is perceived. Reading, discussion, and experimentation are ways to do this, and while they can be done on a computer, the complexity of the system gets in the way. People learn how to use the computer to prepare their minds, when it should be the other way around.
The engineer that talked about the Prius "running off batteries and not using gas" must have been off his rocker, if what you describe is correct. The energy has to come from somewhere, and in the case of these hybrids, that's from the gas tank.
Actually, the Prius also gets energy from regenerative braking, so if you stop suddenly you're going to use more gasoline than if you give yourself enough room and stop gradually, allowing the generator to bleed your kinetic energy into the batteries. It even shows up on the display inside the car, one little diamond for each kilowatt (I think) of electricity reclaimed from inertia. Additionally, regenerative braking helps to reduce wear on the brake pads.
The engineer is right on... for the most part. Civics don't have the advantage that the Prius has in that the gas engine shuts off if it's sitting still. Apart from getting really weird looks from pedestrians, this saves energy (especially now that the new model's A/C is hooked up to an electric compressor). The Civic, OTOH, uses its gas engine constantly, and therefore only has the advantage of having a smaller engine compared to another Civic.
CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) is why so many companies are going into hybrids. The more hybrids they sell, the higher their average fuel economy and the more wasteful they can make their giant SUVs and luxury cars.
My mom routinely gets 45mpg out of her 2001 Prius, and that's with stop-and-go driving. I'm sure if she did exactly 55mph on the highway, she'd get more.
And besides, the Civic isn't a true hybrid. The Prius uses a much better system and a continously variable transmission that does a great job of keeping the engines at the rpms they were designed to be efficient at.
If you drive like you want to save gas, you will. I was able to squeeze 37mpg out of a 1990 Jetta by driving the speed limit, accelerating slowly, keeping RPMs down (shifting at 2000rpm) and turning off the engine on long, steep hills. Sure it pissed people off, but it saved me lots of money when I was a poor commuter college student.
Re:Space exploration is not taken seriously enough
on
Terrestrial Planet Finder
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· Score: 2, Insightful
How about a trillion tons of iron sitting in orbit, unoxidized, complete with thousands of tons of platinum-level metals that are extremely rare on earth and useful for electronics? That sounds profitable. And once you get off of earth, it costs very little to go anywhere, since it's mostly downhill. (Heck, with a little boost you could steal all your delta-v with gravitational boosts from the Earth and moon, as long as you had enough energy to survive.)
How does open source cause outsourcing? People are still needed to configure and support it, and since it's free, they can spend more to support it. Support (the kind found at enterprises) is very hard to outsource because it requires local people. Closed source can only be fixed by that company. Can someone explain their reasoning for me?
Of course some people would stay back. Most of the population of Europe stayed there (99%), but there's always going to be people who want to move away, for any number of reasons. (I can imagine that fundamentalist Muslims would love a place to get away from the pervasive 'threats' to their faith.) Once technology gets to the point where it's safe and cheap enough for ordinary people to move to space, that 1% will leave. Of course, this time it'll be 100 million instead of a few thousand.
If the craft is big enough you don't need a reasonable time frame. Make a self-sustaining colony that gets there in a few decades, or even a century, and it's still viable. We're not talking about trade between systems, just moving between systems. It took 66 days on a teeny boat for the Pilgrims to get to America, but they still came.
A race would leave their planet for a lot of reasons. There is a ton of resources in space, including rare minerals in the platinum group. Also, there are manufacturing processes that benefit from microgravity, particularly in the making of crystals for electronics. Finally, they'd run out of room eventually, and have to move somewhere.
But, then again, why would anyone have left Europe in the 1500s? Doesn't seem efficient.
Slashdot Mirror
I smack the monkey all the time and I don't get $50 for it. How do I get in on this?
The first thing I'd do is wipe it and install Linux.
"We need an intergalactic space cruiser to help spread the word of God."
So to say that we're better than them because Christ died here for us and not there for them is to make ourselves prideful and them inferior, which is the first step toward all the nasty things we do.
So if an alien species looks like us (has a mouth that serves respiratory and ingestion functions, a tongue) they probably evolved in similar circumstances and therefore have a basis for understanding.
But an incredibly different species could be extremely intelligent but we wouldn't be able to communicate (verbally, maybe even electronically) with them because their medium for thought transmission evolved in a completely different manner
Imagine a species that used special appendages to communicate, kind of like sign language. We wouldn't know where to begin because we don't have those appendages, and it would look like a bunch of flailing to us.
Yes, let's start a check-writing campaign so that J Lo and Britney know how much they're loved.
Oh, and take points for using acronyms like IANAL, STFU, RTFA, et cetera.
Workaround: Create a new user and run the "installer" from that account.
Look Ma! I'm a Hacker!!!
Sure they'll forget what their original mission is. But in any large population you'll have 1% or so who wants to leave. Once they get to where they're going, they can choose to leave everything behind and start a new world (very attractive to some), or to continue on in the ship with everyone they know, which will then spend some generations getting to another star system, or simply drifting around the universe.
The best way to learn how to type fast is to do IRC or IM. You have to type fast to keep up with the conversation, and you have to be accurate or you sound like a doof. A great app would be a communication tool (maybe using gaim) that would gauge accuracy and speed during a conversation and show it throughout to both yourself and the other person. You then compete to see who can get the higher score. Simple, interactive, social, and effective.
A computer is a tool. A well prepared mind can make a computer do amazing things, just like a well prepared mind can make a hammer and chisel do amazing things. However, an unprepared mind will just turn the block of stone into a pile of dust. Let's focus on preparing the minds before giving them all the tools. Like the teacher removing all the fonts from the computer, we need to get people to think about what they're doing, not how it looks or is perceived. Reading, discussion, and experimentation are ways to do this, and while they can be done on a computer, the complexity of the system gets in the way. People learn how to use the computer to prepare their minds, when it should be the other way around.
Sorry, my experience in the comparison is a little old. Have they always done this, or is it a new occurance?
iTunes is lacking features that SoundJam provided. An alarm clock, for one.
Why let someone else do it when you can follow in the footsteps of our hunter-gatherer ancestors?
No. It means you should get a car with as small an engine as you can stand and QUIT DRIVING LIKE A MANIAC!!! Then you save lots of money.
Actually, the Prius also gets energy from regenerative braking, so if you stop suddenly you're going to use more gasoline than if you give yourself enough room and stop gradually, allowing the generator to bleed your kinetic energy into the batteries. It even shows up on the display inside the car, one little diamond for each kilowatt (I think) of electricity reclaimed from inertia. Additionally, regenerative braking helps to reduce wear on the brake pads.
Moral of the Story: Buy a Prius!
My mom routinely gets 45mpg out of her 2001 Prius, and that's with stop-and-go driving. I'm sure if she did exactly 55mph on the highway, she'd get more.
And besides, the Civic isn't a true hybrid. The Prius uses a much better system and a continously variable transmission that does a great job of keeping the engines at the rpms they were designed to be efficient at.
If you drive like you want to save gas, you will. I was able to squeeze 37mpg out of a 1990 Jetta by driving the speed limit, accelerating slowly, keeping RPMs down (shifting at 2000rpm) and turning off the engine on long, steep hills. Sure it pissed people off, but it saved me lots of money when I was a poor commuter college student.
How about a trillion tons of iron sitting in orbit, unoxidized, complete with thousands of tons of platinum-level metals that are extremely rare on earth and useful for electronics? That sounds profitable. And once you get off of earth, it costs very little to go anywhere, since it's mostly downhill. (Heck, with a little boost you could steal all your delta-v with gravitational boosts from the Earth and moon, as long as you had enough energy to survive.)
How does open source cause outsourcing? People are still needed to configure and support it, and since it's free, they can spend more to support it. Support (the kind found at enterprises) is very hard to outsource because it requires local people. Closed source can only be fixed by that company. Can someone explain their reasoning for me?
Of course some people would stay back. Most of the population of Europe stayed there (99%), but there's always going to be people who want to move away, for any number of reasons. (I can imagine that fundamentalist Muslims would love a place to get away from the pervasive 'threats' to their faith.) Once technology gets to the point where it's safe and cheap enough for ordinary people to move to space, that 1% will leave. Of course, this time it'll be 100 million instead of a few thousand.
Go ahead, mod me flamebait... :-D
Another symptom of activist lawmakers illegally influencing the judiciary by creating mandatory sentencing laws.
If the craft is big enough you don't need a reasonable time frame. Make a self-sustaining colony that gets there in a few decades, or even a century, and it's still viable. We're not talking about trade between systems, just moving between systems. It took 66 days on a teeny boat for the Pilgrims to get to America, but they still came.
But, then again, why would anyone have left Europe in the 1500s? Doesn't seem efficient.