In one of Terry Pratchett's earlier novels, Strata I think, there was talk of a 'caretaker' robot morris - the population of Earth had been nearly wiped out and a bunch of robots would dance the morris dance to keep it alive.
... to buy a shedload of cheap DVD players and VCRs unencumbered by any of this crap. Keep 'em in the loft 'til they're needed, wheel 'em out one by one as they break.
Unless... this is a scheme to make us buy shedloads of cheap DVD players and VCRs. Argh! What's the conscientious paranoid supposed to do with himself nowadays?
If an EU nation decided to temporarily scramble GPS because of an imminent, threatened or ongoing "terrorist" attack, would the US government find that acceptable?
My original comment has been modded down as a troll, which gives some idea of which way the wind is blowing on Slashdot today.
However. I will stand by my statement that atheism is a belief system. Given that any god or gods are divine by definition, their existence is unlikely to be proven by physical science - therefore ANY statement about their existence or otherwise must be a leap of faith of some sort.
Personally I have no strong religious leanings and neither know nor care whether god exists or not. If there IS a god, then he/she/it/they would seem to be capricious and unkind, given the general evidence of the world around us - I'm quite happy muddling along without their approval or assistance, ta very much.
Atheism is as much a belief system as any other religion. Just as there's no way to conclusively prove the existence of God, so there's no way to conclusively disprove it - an atheist is essentially making a leap of faith in decided that there is no God.
Secularism is, or should be, different. A secular government is effectively stating that religion is irrelevant to its duties - its citizens may be Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Satanist or whatever they please, and the government will give them the same rights and protection as anyone else.
There's a huge gap between theory and practice though, as evidenced by the recent moves in France to ban students from wearing any religious items. THAT is a variety of atheism - declaring that someone's beliefs will not be respected in government sponsored institutions because it suits the government of the day.
It always seemed to me that the fates of Neroon and Lennier got switched. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Lennier to sacrifice himself on the Starfire wheel and have Neroon get all possessive and nasty over Delenn?
I just watched Aliens again recently after seeing Alien Vs Predator and I felt like crying. It's like seeing your best friend devolve into a mollusc.
The only film that has really given me the screaming wiggins for years is The Grudge. Christ, I nearly shat myself when I first saw it. Second time around was even worse, because I knew exactly when the brown trouser moments were incoming and got myself completely wound up way in advance. Plus the cinema was completely empty. Man, that was not a pleasant experience.
Correct, KDE is not a window manager. It is a desktop environment, which tries to provide a rich user experience. Great. If it helps entice people to user Linux, or the BSDs for that matter, great.
There are many light window managers. Also correct. I'm not disputing any of this. Nor am I disputing that there are a lot of kool packages (sorry!) in KDE. I just wish it were easier to extract only the packages I like and use them without having to install the whole deal. As I said, I also have the same problem with GNOME, so I'm not picking on KDE.
Maybe I shouldn't have replied to a post titled "REAL WINDOW MANAGERS"...
Good call. The problem I have with both KDE and GNOME is that some packages offered as part of the desktop are so dependent on various other components that they're unusable on their own. I don't use GNOME at all but have had to install the full shebang when I install Slackware, because working out the various dependencies for a few packages is just too much work.
If Microsoft integrates a browser with a file manager, or hints at integrating a media player or anything else in the OS, everyone cries foul, so why is that considered good practice in the major *nix environments?
I'd much rather see a truly modular system, so the the user is free to pick and choose a window manager, a file manager, a browser, a messenger etc. and have them all play nice together, regardless of whether they are part of KDE or GNOME or standalone projects.
For the record: Slackware, Fluxbox and ROX-Filer all the way, baby.
Is it just me, or is there a tendency to say that hardware supports Windows, but is supported by Linux/Unix? As if the only thing that keeps Windows stumbling onwards is a big pile of hard drives and sound cards propping up its carcass...
Interesting that two of the three stinky movies you mention were directed by the same prize sweaty-arsed rat cock who directed Alien Vs Predator.
Why? Sweet Zombie Jesus, why did anyone let him near AvP? I saw it two days ago and I'm still so fucking angry I want to take an angle-grinder to the guy's face.
I may have mentioned this before, but Anton LaVey suggested that the next big industry will be the production of robotic companions, because they can be programmed to provide the exact type of stimulation or gratification that the user requires, thus avoiding the need to interact with real people who are imperfect at best.
Natch, the Slashdot model will look like Princess Leia, know how to handle a soldering iron, and talk about how great Linux is. Or something...
There may also be an easily-repairable Wesley Crusher model for those 'GNYAR!' moments. Or Jar Jar Binks. Or that ultimate nightmare, Jar Jar Crusher.
Slashdot Mirror
THEY DO NOTHING!
Hah! Beat you to it by a minute, dude. (See my post above...) However, knowing my luck you'll be modded up and I'll be labelled a troll. ;)
I think the population problem was down to Mindquakes, if memory serves - what exactly that refers to I don't recall.
In one of Terry Pratchett's earlier novels, Strata I think, there was talk of a 'caretaker' robot morris - the population of Earth had been nearly wiped out and a bunch of robots would dance the morris dance to keep it alive.
... to buy a shedload of cheap DVD players and VCRs unencumbered by any of this crap. Keep 'em in the loft 'til they're needed, wheel 'em out one by one as they break.
Unless... this is a scheme to make us buy shedloads of cheap DVD players and VCRs. Argh! What's the conscientious paranoid supposed to do with himself nowadays?
Since Bill feels free to label anyone who disagrees with him as a communist, may we all feel free to label him a twat?
If an EU nation decided to temporarily scramble GPS because of an imminent, threatened or ongoing "terrorist" attack, would the US government find that acceptable?
... it's pretty clear that Tony Blair has been morphing into Thatcher for years.
Shame he doesn't have her balls, though.
Well said.
Perhaps I should have posted as an AC myself, as my original posting has been labelled a troll...
Never mind...
My original comment has been modded down as a troll, which gives some idea of which way the wind is blowing on Slashdot today.
However. I will stand by my statement that atheism is a belief system. Given that any god or gods are divine by definition, their existence is unlikely to be proven by physical science - therefore ANY statement about their existence or otherwise must be a leap of faith of some sort.
Personally I have no strong religious leanings and neither know nor care whether god exists or not. If there IS a god, then he/she/it/they would seem to be capricious and unkind, given the general evidence of the world around us - I'm quite happy muddling along without their approval or assistance, ta very much.
Atheism is as much a belief system as any other religion. Just as there's no way to conclusively prove the existence of God, so there's no way to conclusively disprove it - an atheist is essentially making a leap of faith in decided that there is no God.
Secularism is, or should be, different. A secular government is effectively stating that religion is irrelevant to its duties - its citizens may be Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Satanist or whatever they please, and the government will give them the same rights and protection as anyone else.
There's a huge gap between theory and practice though, as evidenced by the recent moves in France to ban students from wearing any religious items. THAT is a variety of atheism - declaring that someone's beliefs will not be respected in government sponsored institutions because it suits the government of the day.
It always seemed to me that the fates of Neroon and Lennier got switched. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Lennier to sacrifice himself on the Starfire wheel and have Neroon get all possessive and nasty over Delenn?
...refer to OOo as Uhuru Software, now?
Yes, I know it's a bit ropey...
I just watched Aliens again recently after seeing Alien Vs Predator and I felt like crying. It's like seeing your best friend devolve into a mollusc.
The only film that has really given me the screaming wiggins for years is The Grudge. Christ, I nearly shat myself when I first saw it. Second time around was even worse, because I knew exactly when the brown trouser moments were incoming and got myself completely wound up way in advance. Plus the cinema was completely empty. Man, that was not a pleasant experience.
Still gonna get it on DVD though.
Correct, KDE is not a window manager. It is a desktop environment, which tries to provide a rich user experience. Great. If it helps entice people to user Linux, or the BSDs for that matter, great.
There are many light window managers. Also correct. I'm not disputing any of this. Nor am I disputing that there are a lot of kool packages (sorry!) in KDE. I just wish it were easier to extract only the packages I like and use them without having to install the whole deal. As I said, I also have the same problem with GNOME, so I'm not picking on KDE.
Maybe I shouldn't have replied to a post titled "REAL WINDOW MANAGERS"...
Good call. The problem I have with both KDE and GNOME is that some packages offered as part of the desktop are so dependent on various other components that they're unusable on their own. I don't use GNOME at all but have had to install the full shebang when I install Slackware, because working out the various dependencies for a few packages is just too much work.
If Microsoft integrates a browser with a file manager, or hints at integrating a media player or anything else in the OS, everyone cries foul, so why is that considered good practice in the major *nix environments?
I'd much rather see a truly modular system, so the the user is free to pick and choose a window manager, a file manager, a browser, a messenger etc. and have them all play nice together, regardless of whether they are part of KDE or GNOME or standalone projects.
For the record: Slackware, Fluxbox and ROX-Filer all the way, baby.
... everyone knows I'm The Daddy.
Is it just me, or is there a tendency to say that hardware supports Windows, but is supported by Linux/Unix? As if the only thing that keeps Windows stumbling onwards is a big pile of hard drives and sound cards propping up its carcass...
...searching the SCO website for the phrase 'litigious bastards'. It returns an error message: #1040 Too Many Connections.
Made me laugh, anyway.
Dumper than average?
Dump chimp?
You fail English? That's unpossible!
No, no, no! Slackware = Vulcans. Been around forever, totally logical, slight air of superiority.
Actually, scratch that. At least Vulcans mate at least once every seven years.
Having seen Alien Vs Predator, might I suggest Paul Anderson? Also responsible for Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and Event Horizon?
What a gonad.
Go, Enigma Man, Go!
And what really chafes is that he's currently modded funnier than me.
GNYAR!
... make light work.
Interesting that two of the three stinky movies you mention were directed by the same prize sweaty-arsed rat cock who directed Alien Vs Predator.
Why? Sweet Zombie Jesus, why did anyone let him near AvP? I saw it two days ago and I'm still so fucking angry I want to take an angle-grinder to the guy's face.
I may have mentioned this before, but Anton LaVey suggested that the next big industry will be the production of robotic companions, because they can be programmed to provide the exact type of stimulation or gratification that the user requires, thus avoiding the need to interact with real people who are imperfect at best.
Natch, the Slashdot model will look like Princess Leia, know how to handle a soldering iron, and talk about how great Linux is. Or something...
There may also be an easily-repairable Wesley Crusher model for those 'GNYAR!' moments. Or Jar Jar Binks. Or that ultimate nightmare, Jar Jar Crusher.