Virgin Birth is making a baby (e.g., Jesus) even though you're a virgin. Immaculate Conception is making a baby (e.g., Mary) that does not have Original Sin. Entirely different concepts.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association website, no state has a ban on hands-free phones. Thus, I suspect the bit about "hands-free phones" is a mistake on the part of the blogger.
So... the phone itself is irrelevant. The problem is that you're having a conversation. Can we make it illegal to have a conversation with a person who is in the car with you?
"a circle is the same as an ellipse or a parabola (the curve of the Cheshire cat's grin). Taking the notion to its extreme, what works for a circle should also work for a baby."
It's been a while since I studied topology, but as I recall, a circle is homeomorphic to (topologically the same as) an ellipse, but not a parabola or a baby.
That does not mean that additional wealth cannot be created without infusion of additional resources.
I know it's counterintuitive for most people with a "hard science" background... I struggled with it as an undergrad. But economics is not a zero-sum game. I give you $150 and you give me an hour of labor. We've both benefited by the trade. If we are really acting freely, we've both benefited (or we wouldn't have engaged in the trade), so we are both wealthier than we were before. This is the fundamental basis of perpetual economic growth... given a free market* in which to pursue trades, wealth increases as trades are made.
The claim you're responding to is that "our resources are limited." There are only so many hours of labor that are available. There is only so much money available (we can print more, but that devalues it). The exchange of $150 for an hour of labor creates wealth, but there's a limit to it.
I suspect that the author of the article about Adam may have been a bit overzealous when she described the robot as "revolutionary."
First, I have to give Professor Russell credit for some extremely clever names: Adam (ADAptive Mobile robot), and Eden (EDucational ENvironment).
That said, nothing in the article suggests there is anything remarkable about the robot. The most telling line in the article is "Adam was activated with a basic level of competence, which let him know to back off if he hit a wall, and to feed when he saw a flower." That's two very important abilities Adam didn't have to learn.
It is certainly possible that Adam uses some revolutionary AI algorithm, and if so I would be very interested in it, but I have a hunch that Adam is just an exercise in building a basic robot with a basic learning algorithm and a clever naming scheme.
The solution to the quality loss when ripping mp3's is to burn to CD and then rip back to AAC, which shouldn't cause any loss in quality because it is the same compression scheme that you started out with. The only thing that will be different is that the DRM will have been erased.
My father, who is 72 years old and doesn't even know how to turn on a computer, read this article and is now running around touting the greatness of Linux and predicting MicroSloth's downfall. Unbelievable.
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No, that is not "immaculate conception."
Virgin Birth is making a baby (e.g., Jesus) even though you're a virgin. Immaculate Conception is making a baby (e.g., Mary) that does not have Original Sin. Entirely different concepts.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association website, no state has a ban on hands-free phones. Thus, I suspect the bit about "hands-free phones" is a mistake on the part of the blogger.
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
So... the phone itself is irrelevant. The problem is that you're having a conversation. Can we make it illegal to have a conversation with a person who is in the car with you?
"a circle is the same as an ellipse or a parabola (the curve of the Cheshire cat's grin). Taking the notion to its extreme, what works for a circle should also work for a baby."
It's been a while since I studied topology, but as I recall, a circle is homeomorphic to (topologically the same as) an ellipse, but not a parabola or a baby.
That does not mean that additional wealth cannot be created without infusion of additional resources.
I know it's counterintuitive for most people with a "hard science" background... I struggled with it as an undergrad. But economics is not a zero-sum game. I give you $150 and you give me an hour of labor. We've both benefited by the trade. If we are really acting freely, we've both benefited (or we wouldn't have engaged in the trade), so we are both wealthier than we were before. This is the fundamental basis of perpetual economic growth... given a free market* in which to pursue trades, wealth increases as trades are made.
The claim you're responding to is that "our resources are limited." There are only so many hours of labor that are available. There is only so much money available (we can print more, but that devalues it). The exchange of $150 for an hour of labor creates wealth, but there's a limit to it.
The window is one year, but it begins when you first offer the invention for sale, not when you invent it.
IANAL, though.
What? Male sex?
Well, I guess we know whats on your mind... think adjective, not verb.
Don't you mean, "Think noun, not noun?"
I suspect that the author of the article about Adam may have been a bit overzealous when she described the robot as "revolutionary."
First, I have to give Professor Russell credit for some extremely clever names: Adam (ADAptive Mobile robot), and Eden (EDucational ENvironment).
That said, nothing in the article suggests there is anything remarkable about the robot. The most telling line in the article is "Adam was activated with a basic level of competence, which let him know to back off if he hit a wall, and to feed when he saw a flower." That's two very important abilities Adam didn't have to learn.
It is certainly possible that Adam uses some revolutionary AI algorithm, and if so I would be very interested in it, but I have a hunch that Adam is just an exercise in building a basic robot with a basic learning algorithm and a clever naming scheme.
The solution to the quality loss when ripping mp3's is to burn to CD and then rip back to AAC, which shouldn't cause any loss in quality because it is the same compression scheme that you started out with. The only thing that will be different is that the DRM will have been erased.
My father, who is 72 years old and doesn't even know how to turn on a computer, read this article and is now running around touting the greatness of Linux and predicting MicroSloth's downfall. Unbelievable.