OK I am giving up mod points to ask this, what does everybody see in BattleStar Galactica?
The mini-series was on in OZ a couple of weeks back and I wasn't entirely convinced. For the first night I was wondering why nobody had noticed that the Cylons had destroyed that Human Cylon meeting place/station. Shouldn't they have detected them on radar? Alerted the fleet? Or ar we to believe that that single ambassador was the *only* person on the entire station? If the station had no importance, they why include it? Just to let the viewers know that a Cylon attack was coming? We already knew that!
The second night ended unexpectadly for me, it seemed it was building up to a climax that never happened. Was the climax the destruction of a ship with ~1300 people, where the only connection we had with that ship, that loss, was one little girl who we saw for 30 seconds? Or was the climax the reporter who was left on the ammo dump who turned out to be a Cylon?
A couple of nights ago I saw the first episode, and from what I had heard the series is better than the mini-series. I didn't think so. I was left wanting to like the show but not seeing much that grabs my attention. To me the acting seems a little wooden, but I can overlook that, the actors are after all still settleing in to a new role/show. Likewise I can accept that the story has a burdon of setting up the setting for the rest of the season. But at the moment I haven't found any attachment to the characters. the ship or anything.
I am surprised though that they managed to resist inserting some half-assed excuse for Starbuck to be stripped half naked (aka T'Pol and almost every episode of Enterprise). I have watched a fair amount of sci-fi in my time and found things to like in most (if not all) but I just can see what the appeal is in Battlestar Galactica.
Please tell me I missed something, please tell me it gets better...
After all, if we can track everyone and crime should drop by 500% across all boards, why shouldn't we?
How can crime drop by 500% you may wonder? Well that's when we get into the domain of anti-crime! (similar in many ways to anti-matter, but not so dangerous). We shall see anti-theft where a "crimial" forces $250 into your wallet and if you resist stabs himself and then throws himself into the gutter to die.
You will notice that there is no place in there for Atheism, since Atheism defaults to selfishness, which in turn implies no troublesome descendents.
Could you please explain how? I really can't understand where you got this from. I would have thought atheism leads to the most selfless acts. See, if you are religious you (in most religions) get rewarded (or not) after you die. Every good thing gets rewarded. You have a limited time on Earth but get rewarded for *eternity* for whatever you do.
An atheist doesn't think there is a god (and therefore an afterlife), no matter what an atheist does they will (in their mind) never get rewarded after death (you just rot in the ground). The *only* time a atheist has is right now during their life. Any help you receive limits the amount of time they have to enjoy their (comparatively) very limited life, while a religious person has eternity to enjoy "heaven" (or wherever they believe they go).
If you want a analogy: If I knew I was going to win a billion (eternal life), giving you $100 is nothing. If I only had $1000 (limited atheist life) giving you $100 is a bloody lot.
I'd love to have been a lighthouse keeper. Just imagine it, no having to deal with stupid plebs, not PHB's, no moronic customers who don't know the difference between "Ancient Eygpt" and "Ancient Greece" (seriously). You'd only have to talk to people once a month (or two, or three) when supplies are delivered.
It's not so much the story or the religious aspect of the book that I dislike. It's the quality of the writing that makes me gag (though I have seen worse). I imagine Slashdot won't approve of my position (given that the book is so popular), people get upset when somebody doesn't like their "you have *got* to read it" book of the month.
"The Da Vinci Code" sure does sell, but I don't see it winning any literary awards. There is quality and there is quantity, where the Da Vinci code fits in is an exercise for the reader (that's code for: I'm not game to trash it any more).
Not surprisingly, his previous unknown works are now selling quite well.
I blame my wife: I can't read or watch mainstream "entertainment" anymore eg hollywood blockbuster films and the majority of pulp fiction. Over Christmas I picked up a reader copy of a "best selling"/popular author, one which I had read a few works of previously, and couldn't get past the first chapter it was written so badly. The trouble with reading good literature is that reading anything below par becomes almost unbearable.
Still, the above is only my opinion. If you like the book, I'm glad, at least your reading something...
"How have I been recruited for active duty?" How would you expect me to know? You post AC, don't mention your name/age/country or any other info. Should I look into a crystal ball to see your whole life in action? I never said *you* had been recruited. Duh.
"...nobody I know has been to war under 18, nobody ive spoken to or heard about" Well if you, in all you wisdom, haven't heard about it it musn't be happening. Glad you cleared that up.
If you can't be bothered to help yourself don't expect anybody else to. Please, if you could at least *think* before you press "Submit" it would be an improvement.
From Wikipedia: "baryons are a family of subatomic particles" Translation: They were found by a bloke called Bary...
"Baryons are strongly interacting fermions.. and are described by Fermi-Dirac statistics" Translation: Bary likes girls (is a fermion). Fermi-Dirac statistics basically describe how attractive the girl is.
"Fermi-Dirac statistics, which apply to all particles obey the Pauli exclusion principle". Translation: Paul is gay and doesn't like girls.
"Bosons... do not obey the Exclusion principle." Translation: Bosons are sluts and will sleep with anything.
Now it gets complicated: "Baryons, along with mesons, belong to the family of particles known as hadrons, meaning they are composed of quarks."
Which makes sense when you later read: "Delta baryons... are composed of a combination of up and down quarks". Translation: Bary is getting it on with other attractive particles.
I'm sure you can follow the rest of the Wikipedia article now that I've got you started.
I know it's bad to respond to trolls, but I'll try and expand your mind a little OK?
The story blurb says "180 days in jail". Does that not make it clear to you that the person is going to jail? It seems pretty clear cut to me. I do not live in the country where this person was sentanced and I do not know the law of the country either so I have no idea how the USA treats it convicted criminals, for all I know they ship them overseas for torture.
I do know however that the USA recruits children for active duty. Given that and the the blurb I didn't think it too large a gap to assume that if the USA would send children to a war zone, they wouldn't have too much trouble sending them to jail.
I find it amusing that you critise me for your own narrow mind. I can only suggest you get out more. Have a nice day Anonymous Coward.
Without objecting in any way to your point, I do wonder how many hardened crim's this 16 yr old will meet in jail and what he will learn. Of course, we really have nothing to worry about as I have no doubt he will be a good reformed citizen when he emerges from jail 6 months from now.
"Creative usage of computers for teaching is a copout on the kids. By removing the teacher/student relationship and replacing it with an inanimate object..."
I object! You can't remove something that doesn't exist. I never knew any teacher who was approachable, or any students who thought teachers were approachable for any problem. I knew some kids who were seriously fucked up but there was no way they were going to a teacher for "help".
Besides, intimate relationships with inanimate objects is all the rage these days...
OK, spammers evade laws by doing things in other countries where laws don't affect them. So, how can we also take advantage of this? Are there countries where hiring an assassin is not illegal? Could a group of people simply not hire somebody to hunt down and kill the top 100 spammers?
I wonder if Billy would ever tell us something isn't a "top priority"? I can just imagine it: "Yeah, stability, we aren't really keen on that right at the moment, actually that's way down the list."
Thanks Bill, but with an inbox full of virus I get the feeling your "top priority" isn't as "top" as we would like.
By saying "Linux Distro G is best for me" you are trying to imply in people's minds that "G"entoo is the best, all the while claiming that each distro has it's own merits.
You later go on to say thet "There is no _one_ answer". This may seem straight forward, but once again you are implating in our subconcious by underlining the word "one". In combination with your previous subversive statements you are really saying:
*Gentoo* is *the* *one*.
Your very tricky but you won't get away with it that easy!
"The problem with Google taking over my desktop is that I would then be swapping one monopoly for another"
But that's the beauty of OSS, you can bet your ass that should Google base an OS off Linux there will be "gooix" clones, just as there are clones of RedHat Enterpri$e. Having Google get into Linux would mean better drivers, better hardware support etc. Just think, with the 100,000+ machines Google has, wouldn't they go to vendors with better Linux support? All the better for us...
Somebody please explain how democracy is a "basic human right". No, really, this isn't a troll, I really want to know... What makes you think that democracy is so fundamental to human life that we can't do without it? We die without food, water or oxygen but by no means is democracy necessary to survival, it is not even necessary to live a good, happy or worthwhile life.
And while I'm on the subject, the declaration of human rights is certainly a noble and worthy document but I only have to consider the expanse of the universe and our "human rights" don't seem so mighty after all. Do you think the asian tsunami cares about "human rights" of life, that the US Govt. cares about "right to trial" when they kidnap people, have them exported for torture and then imprisoned for years without trial? Maybe I could tell the next world killer comet to not deny me of our right to life and it will therefore have to alter course to miss the Earth...
Who was it that said "Civilisation is only three meals away from anarchy"?
We live in a world where we compete for resources with other people and animals on the planet, if we really wanted to end world hunger, we could. If we really wanted to stop war, we could. If we really wanted to stop the first world relying on third world debt, we could. We (as a whole) don't really want to do that because then we couldn't afford our next shopping spree on objects we don't really want or need while some poor bastard in Africa is scratching around in the dirt trying to pay off his countries debt to the first world and can't even afford to feed his family. That's the *reality* we live in, bleat about your "human rights" and freedoms all you want, but your "freedom" and the wealth you enjoy is paid for by the rest of the world who will only be "free" when people of the "first world" let them be free.
"I know that they are sucking power and sending that power back out as radiation directly into the side and front of my face (as they are surrounding two of the three sides of my head)"
I didn't know radiation could cause that much damage! Maybe you should get that checked by a doctor...
"As you get older you will realize that a 30 year old guy can not talk to a 16 year old. They are dumb! when I was 16 I did not think so but age changes interests and priorties. It is slow but it happens. Attractivness is not just physical but mental (in both meanings)."
I would generally agree with the above, except for one caveat: Talking to some children (say 5 - 12 years) can lead to some interesting conversations. They are young enough to need to ask questions (not always old enough to figure them out for themselves) and are less affected by social pressures and "norms". Additionally, many adults tend to underestimate children (something which used to really annoy me when I was in that age group) leaving a number of kids out there who want to talk about stuff but nobody to talk to.
In any case, trying to explain complex things in a less complex way can often help yourself understand it better. Even better, the mental development at that age is still such that you can actually see profound and interesting intellectual development in a short period of time.
Sometimes I wonder (given that most kids I know don't get much attention from their parents) if there is any correlation between children who don't get a enough attention and children being harmed.
OK, the parent poster makes a fair point about cases which have ruled in favour of EULA's but I still don't think they are fair or enforceable.
Consider: By the parent posters definition of a contract, when you make a purchase to buy software you enter into a contract. The three parts of a contract here are: 1. Offer: You offer to buy the software 2. Acceptance: The store accepts you offer 3. Consideration: You receive goods in exchange for money.
Consider now that you take the product home. By right of law you now have the right to *use* the product. You go to install the product so that you can use it and are offered another, *seperate*, usage contract. 1. Offer: You accept to use this product under even more limited ciscumstances than those given to you by law 2. Accpetance: Well, if you don't accept then your product doesn't work, you can't return it and are left with something unusable. 3. Consideration: For agreeing to the terms and conditions what do you receive? NOTHING!
EULA's presented *after* the sale are seperate from the contract of sale. You already have the right to use a product after you buy it, but the software company is restricting your rights of use by disabling your product unless you agree to another contract.
The majority of driving jobs for mining equipment (http://www.comcen.com.au/~heretic/humour/img/upsi dedown.jpg) go to women (millions of dollars of equipment, where time is money and trucks are running 24/7). Not only do they drive the trucks but support vehicles as well. Personnaly I know twice as many professional female drivers than male drivers.
I've just got to say: I love Iceland. Whenever I read, hear or see something about Iceland, it seems as though they are *doing* *something*.
Some may disagree with *what* they are doing (I generally agree), but at least they are active. IIRC they give (per capita) a great deal of money to aid less fortunate people, they are (as this article alludes to) active on global warming issues, they represent themselves well in the UN and they seem to have a lot of common sense (something which, in a world of increasing stupidity and ignorance, is becoming increasingly rare).
For example a snippet from http://www.iceland.org/culture_science.html "All inhabitants of Iceland have the right of access to the best possible health service at any given time for the protection of their mental, social and physical health. The law ensures that there is no discrimination against patients on the grounds of sex, religion, beliefs, nationality, race, skin colour, financial status, family relations or status in other respects. The average life expectancy for men in 1999 was 77. 5 years and for women 81. 4 years - these are among the world's highest averages. Infant mortality is among the lowest in the world, 5. 5 per 1,000 live births. "
(Now, some people don't seem to like the idea of universal health care, but personally I don't care for the dark ages.)
Maybe it comes from having a small population, and not having any physical borders with other countries, but I think Iceland are an inspiration:-)
Slashdot Mirror
OK I am giving up mod points to ask this, what does everybody see in BattleStar Galactica?
The mini-series was on in OZ a couple of weeks back and I wasn't entirely convinced. For the first night I was wondering why nobody had noticed that the Cylons had destroyed that Human Cylon meeting place/station. Shouldn't they have detected them on radar? Alerted the fleet? Or ar we to believe that that single ambassador was the *only* person on the entire station? If the station had no importance, they why include it? Just to let the viewers know that a Cylon attack was coming? We already knew that!
The second night ended unexpectadly for me, it seemed it was building up to a climax that never happened. Was the climax the destruction of a ship with ~1300 people, where the only connection we had with that ship, that loss, was one little girl who we saw for 30 seconds? Or was the climax the reporter who was left on the ammo dump who turned out to be a Cylon?
A couple of nights ago I saw the first episode, and from what I had heard the series is better than the mini-series. I didn't think so. I was left wanting to like the show but not seeing much that grabs my attention. To me the acting seems a little wooden, but I can overlook that, the actors are after all still settleing in to a new role/show. Likewise I can accept that the story has a burdon of setting up the setting for the rest of the season. But at the moment I haven't found any attachment to the characters. the ship or anything.
I am surprised though that they managed to resist inserting some half-assed excuse for Starbuck to be stripped half naked (aka T'Pol and almost every episode of Enterprise). I have watched a fair amount of sci-fi in my time and found things to like in most (if not all) but I just can see what the appeal is in Battlestar Galactica.
Please tell me I missed something, please tell me it gets better...
After all, if we can track everyone and crime should drop by 500% across all boards, why shouldn't we?
How can crime drop by 500% you may wonder? Well that's when we get into the domain of anti-crime! (similar in many ways to anti-matter, but not so dangerous). We shall see anti-theft where a "crimial" forces $250 into your wallet and if you resist stabs himself and then throws himself into the gutter to die.
You will notice that there is no place in there for Atheism, since Atheism defaults to selfishness, which in turn implies no troublesome descendents.
Could you please explain how? I really can't understand where you got this from. I would have thought atheism leads to the most selfless acts. See, if you are religious you (in most religions) get rewarded (or not) after you die. Every good thing gets rewarded. You have a limited time on Earth but get rewarded for *eternity* for whatever you do.
An atheist doesn't think there is a god (and therefore an afterlife), no matter what an atheist does they will (in their mind) never get rewarded after death (you just rot in the ground). The *only* time a atheist has is right now during their life. Any help you receive limits the amount of time they have to enjoy their (comparatively) very limited life, while a religious person has eternity to enjoy "heaven" (or wherever they believe they go).
If you want a analogy: If I knew I was going to win a billion (eternal life), giving you $100 is nothing. If I only had $1000 (limited atheist life) giving you $100 is a bloody lot.
I'd love to have been a lighthouse keeper. Just imagine it, no having to deal with stupid plebs, not PHB's, no moronic customers who don't know the difference between "Ancient Eygpt" and "Ancient Greece" (seriously). You'd only have to talk to people once a month (or two, or three) when supplies are delivered.
That would be perfect.
It's not so much the story or the religious aspect of the book that I dislike. It's the quality of the writing that makes me gag (though I have seen worse). I imagine Slashdot won't approve of my position (given that the book is so popular), people get upset when somebody doesn't like their "you have *got* to read it" book of the month.
"The Da Vinci Code" sure does sell, but I don't see it winning any literary awards. There is quality and there is quantity, where the Da Vinci code fits in is an exercise for the reader (that's code for: I'm not game to trash it any more).
Not surprisingly, his previous unknown works are now selling quite well.
I blame my wife: I can't read or watch mainstream "entertainment" anymore eg hollywood blockbuster films and the majority of pulp fiction. Over Christmas I picked up a reader copy of a "best selling"/popular author, one which I had read a few works of previously, and couldn't get past the first chapter it was written so badly. The trouble with reading good literature is that reading anything below par becomes almost unbearable.
Still, the above is only my opinion. If you like the book, I'm glad, at least your reading something...
If we are going to be talking about absolute crap, somebody should mention "The Da Vinci Code".
There is a reason it's called "pulp fiction" people. Pulp is what your brain turns into.
"Are you retarded or just trying to be a troll?"
: www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR22/FMR22updates.pdf+%2 2recruit+children%22+%22armed+forces%22+OR+army+US A+&hl=en
You think *I* need to prove I am not trolling?
But as you can't seem to do your own research:
http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:Gq6dud6ZPvYJ
"Governments which continue to recruit children for front-line combat include... the USA"
Happy now?
"How have I been recruited for active duty?"
How would you expect me to know? You post AC, don't mention your name/age/country or any other info. Should I look into a crystal ball to see your whole life in action? I never said *you* had been recruited. Duh.
"...nobody I know has been to war under 18, nobody ive spoken to or heard about"
Well if you, in all you wisdom, haven't heard about it it musn't be happening. Glad you cleared that up.
If you can't be bothered to help yourself don't expect anybody else to. Please, if you could at least *think* before you press "Submit" it would be an improvement.
From Wikipedia:
"baryons are a family of subatomic particles"
Translation: They were found by a bloke called Bary...
"Baryons are strongly interacting fermions.. and are described by Fermi-Dirac statistics" Translation: Bary likes girls (is a fermion). Fermi-Dirac statistics basically describe how attractive the girl is.
"Fermi-Dirac statistics, which apply to all particles obey the Pauli exclusion principle". Translation: Paul is gay and doesn't like girls.
"Bosons... do not obey the Exclusion principle." Translation: Bosons are sluts and will sleep with anything.
Now it gets complicated:
"Baryons, along with mesons, belong to the family of particles known as hadrons, meaning they are composed of quarks."
Which makes sense when you later read:
"Delta baryons... are composed of a combination of up and down quarks". Translation: Bary is getting it on with other attractive particles.
I'm sure you can follow the rest of the Wikipedia article now that I've got you started.
I know it's bad to respond to trolls, but I'll try and expand your mind a little OK?
The story blurb says "180 days in jail". Does that not make it clear to you that the person is going to jail? It seems pretty clear cut to me. I do not live in the country where this person was sentanced and I do not know the law of the country either so I have no idea how the USA treats it convicted criminals, for all I know they ship them overseas for torture.
I do know however that the USA recruits children for active duty. Given that and the the blurb I didn't think it too large a gap to assume that if the USA would send children to a war zone, they wouldn't have too much trouble sending them to jail.
I find it amusing that you critise me for your own narrow mind. I can only suggest you get out more.
Have a nice day Anonymous Coward.
I'm sorry but your post is too complex. Could you please summerise it in point form or possibly a powerpoint presentation?
Go Team!
PHB
Without objecting in any way to your point, I do wonder how many hardened crim's this 16 yr old will meet in jail and what he will learn. Of course, we really have nothing to worry about as I have no doubt he will be a good reformed citizen when he emerges from jail 6 months from now.
"Creative usage of computers for teaching is a copout on the kids. By removing the teacher/student relationship and replacing it with an inanimate object..."
I object! You can't remove something that doesn't exist. I never knew any teacher who was approachable, or any students who thought teachers were approachable for any problem. I knew some kids who were seriously fucked up but there was no way they were going to a teacher for "help".
Besides, intimate relationships with inanimate objects is all the rage these days...
OK, spammers evade laws by doing things in other countries where laws don't affect them. So, how can we also take advantage of this? Are there countries where hiring an assassin is not illegal? Could a group of people simply not hire somebody to hunt down and kill the top 100 spammers?
I'm sure that would put a dent in the spam.
I wonder if Billy would ever tell us something isn't a "top priority"? I can just imagine it:
"Yeah, stability, we aren't really keen on that right at the moment, actually that's way down the list."
Thanks Bill, but with an inbox full of virus I get the feeling your "top priority" isn't as "top" as we would like.
"I have always found Debian to be well-thought out and reliable, even for a Windows guy like me"
That's it. I'm switching...
HA! You can't fool me. Lets examine your post:
:
By saying "Linux Distro G is best for me" you are trying to imply in people's minds that "G"entoo is the best, all the while claiming that each distro has it's own merits.
You later go on to say thet "There is no _one_ answer". This may seem straight forward, but once again you are implating in our subconcious by underlining the word "one". In combination with your previous subversive statements you are really saying
*Gentoo* is *the* *one*.
Your very tricky but you won't get away with it that easy!
"The problem with Google taking over my desktop is that I would then be swapping one monopoly for another"
But that's the beauty of OSS, you can bet your ass that should Google base an OS off Linux there will be "gooix" clones, just as there are clones of RedHat Enterpri$e. Having Google get into Linux would mean better drivers, better hardware support etc. Just think, with the 100,000+ machines Google has, wouldn't they go to vendors with better Linux support? All the better for us...
"Because Rob Pike was the developer of Plan 9 at Bell Labs."
:-P
So, again, what makes you think they are planning an OS?
"Democracy is not an incompatible world view."
Somebody please explain how democracy is a "basic human right". No, really, this isn't a troll, I really want to know... What makes you think that democracy is so fundamental to human life that we can't do without it? We die without food, water or oxygen but by no means is democracy necessary to survival, it is not even necessary to live a good, happy or worthwhile life.
And while I'm on the subject, the declaration of human rights is certainly a noble and worthy document but I only have to consider the expanse of the universe and our "human rights" don't seem so mighty after all. Do you think the asian tsunami cares about "human rights" of life, that the US Govt. cares about "right to trial" when they kidnap people, have them exported for torture and then imprisoned for years without trial? Maybe I could tell the next world killer comet to not deny me of our right to life and it will therefore have to alter course to miss the Earth...
Who was it that said "Civilisation is only three meals away from anarchy"?
We live in a world where we compete for resources with other people and animals on the planet, if we really wanted to end world hunger, we could. If we really wanted to stop war, we could. If we really wanted to stop the first world relying on third world debt, we could. We (as a whole) don't really want to do that because then we couldn't afford our next shopping spree on objects we don't really want or need while some poor bastard in Africa is scratching around in the dirt trying to pay off his countries debt to the first world and can't even afford to feed his family. That's the *reality* we live in, bleat about your "human rights" and freedoms all you want, but your "freedom" and the wealth you enjoy is paid for by the rest of the world who will only be "free" when people of the "first world" let them be free.
"I know that they are sucking power and sending that power back out as radiation directly into the side and front of my face (as they are surrounding two of the three sides of my head)"
I didn't know radiation could cause that much damage! Maybe you should get that checked by a doctor...
"As you get older you will realize that a 30 year old guy can not talk to a 16 year old. They are dumb! when I was 16 I did not think so but age changes interests and priorties. It is slow but it happens. Attractivness is not just physical but mental (in both meanings)."
I would generally agree with the above, except for one caveat: Talking to some children (say 5 - 12 years) can lead to some interesting conversations. They are young enough to need to ask questions (not always old enough to figure them out for themselves) and are less affected by social pressures and "norms". Additionally, many adults tend to underestimate children (something which used to really annoy me when I was in that age group) leaving a number of kids out there who want to talk about stuff but nobody to talk to.
In any case, trying to explain complex things in a less complex way can often help yourself understand it better. Even better, the mental development at that age is still such that you can actually see profound and interesting intellectual development in a short period of time.
Sometimes I wonder (given that most kids I know don't get much attention from their parents) if there is any correlation between children who don't get a enough attention and children being harmed.
OK, the parent poster makes a fair point about cases which have ruled in favour of EULA's but I still don't think they are fair or enforceable.
Consider: By the parent posters definition of a contract, when you make a purchase to buy software you enter into a contract. The three parts of a contract here are:
1. Offer: You offer to buy the software
2. Acceptance: The store accepts you offer
3. Consideration: You receive goods in exchange for money.
Consider now that you take the product home. By right of law you now have the right to *use* the product. You go to install the product so that you can use it and are offered another, *seperate*, usage contract.
1. Offer: You accept to use this product under even more limited ciscumstances than those given to you by law
2. Accpetance: Well, if you don't accept then your product doesn't work, you can't return it and are left with something unusable.
3. Consideration: For agreeing to the terms and conditions what do you receive? NOTHING!
EULA's presented *after* the sale are seperate from the contract of sale. You already have the right to use a product after you buy it, but the software company is restricting your rights of use by disabling your product unless you agree to another contract.
Parent poster: Where is the "fair consideration"?
As a counter point to the parent poster:
i dedown.jpg) go to women (millions of dollars of equipment, where time is money and trucks are running 24/7). Not only do they drive the trucks but support vehicles as well. Personnaly I know twice as many professional female drivers than male drivers.
l es/reizen/aussie98/pics/road%20train.jpg,http://ww w.ausfuel.com.au/images/Volvo%20cruising.JPG,http: //www2.cemr.wvu.edu/~wwwasph/pictures/rdtrain.jpg , mining trucks http://www.comcen.com.au/~heretic/humour/img/what_ ute.jpg to APC's. The general procedure for getting people out of the way (of exceptionally wide loads) is for a cop to drive on the wrong side of the road with lights flashing. Mind you, this is on a 100km highway (where your going ~110km/h and the cop is going 40-50km/h) which doesn't leave a whole lot of time to get off the road.
The majority of driving jobs for mining equipment (http://www.comcen.com.au/~heretic/humour/img/ups
Granted, driving skills around here are far above average anyway, it is an almost daily occurance that you will be sharing the road with anything from road trains http://home.tiscali.nl/~rtmeulen/rtmfotografie/fi
I'd say women can drive just fine.
I've just got to say: I love Iceland. Whenever I read, hear or see something about Iceland, it seems as though they are *doing* *something*.
:-)
Some may disagree with *what* they are doing (I generally agree), but at least they are active. IIRC they give (per capita) a great deal of money to aid less fortunate people, they are (as this article alludes to) active on global warming issues, they represent themselves well in the UN and they seem to have a lot of common sense (something which, in a world of increasing stupidity and ignorance, is becoming increasingly rare).
For example a snippet from http://www.iceland.org/culture_science.html
"All inhabitants of Iceland have the right of access to the best possible health service at any given time for the protection of their mental, social and physical health. The law ensures that there is no discrimination against patients on the grounds of sex, religion, beliefs, nationality, race, skin colour, financial status, family relations or status in other respects. The average life expectancy for men in 1999 was 77. 5 years and for women 81. 4 years - these are among the world's highest averages. Infant mortality is among the lowest in the world, 5. 5 per 1,000 live births. "
(Now, some people don't seem to like the idea of universal health care, but personally I don't care for the dark ages.)
Maybe it comes from having a small population, and not having any physical borders with other countries, but I think Iceland are an inspiration
But have you checked out the 3D mode in Progress Quest?
http://www.progressquest.com/faq.php