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User: vitamine73

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Comments · 52

  1. Re:Nope on Are Fake Geeks Dooming Real Ones? · · Score: 1

    The difference between nerds and geeks: "I am not a nerd, Bart. Nerds are smart!" -Milhouse Van Houten

    Nope, dorks are the stupid ones : http://bit.ly/crED1j

  2. Re:Slashdot achievements on Slashdot Launches User Achievements · · Score: 1

    sans aucun doute!

  3. Re:That's odd... on Hippies Say WiFi Network Is Harming Their Chakras · · Score: 1

    (oh and there is obviously a difference between Christians and hippies, for starters the fact that Christians actually have a purpose and generally act very sensibly)

    nonsense: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/01/another_shooting.php

  4. Re:That's ok on IOC Trademarks Part of Canadian National Anthem · · Score: 1

    Well... considering that Quebec never signed the constitution it is certainly wrong to claim that language is the only significant difference... and that's just one example.

  5. Re:Intelligent Design, Stupid Tactics on Review of Discovery Institute's Evolution Textbook · · Score: 1

    *THAT's* when you can trot out the "God did it"s

    that does not solve their problem because it doesn't explain anything and leads to an infinite loop if you then try to "explain" the existence of god in the same way: "who/what made god?" ... "who/what made the who/what that made god?" and so on. moreover...

    Intelligent Design is just: observe and explain

    actually, it's more like: find an explanation, then try to come up with "evidence" supporting it. They also love quote-mining.

  6. Re:A better address to use ... on What Happens When You Reply To ALL of Your Spam · · Score: 1

    double your fun: put the crap from snailmail spammer A in snailmail spammer's B pre-paid envelope, and vice-versa.

  7. Re:Those German Boardgames on Back to the Board - Carcassonne · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hey, I agree that these are great games, but the article seems to be about games for beginners. Puerto Rico and Tigris and Euphrates certainly do not fit in these category. I think however that great games like the different flavors of carcassone, and even El grande, and Power Grid are great for beginners and seasonned players alike. Settlers of Catan is really cool if you play with the Cities & knigths expansion, but a bit lame (IMHO) without, that is a lot of rules to stomach for a starting player. My favorites also include Caylus (yes, I like both Puerto Rico AND Caylus;) and Princes of Florence, but I would recomend neither to starting players.

    A great place to look for games is boardgamegeek that as listings by ranking, number of players, etc..

    That being said, anyone wants wood for sheep?

  8. Re:Do what I did on How to Handle Political Telemarketing? · · Score: 1

    Actually, in one election I just told all of them that if they kept calling I was *definetly* going to vote against them... never heard from them again, lived happily ever after and so on...

  9. this looks like a free... trial! on The Next Round in the Virtualization Wars · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the download page at microsoft indicates that, while the license type is "free", it as a limitation of 45 days!

    Miscellaneous
    Number of Downloads 89,052
    Uninstaller Included? Yes
    License Type Free
    Limitations 45-day trial

  10. Re:Qualifies as "Literacy" IMHO... on What Should One Know to be Truly Computer Literate? · · Score: 1

    I think you forgot some basics. To take up a car analogy popular in this thread, most people know the basic parts that make a car a car: an engine, a steering wheel, tires, brakes. I think computer literacy should start there also, what are the different (basic) parts that make up a computer, what do they do: CPU, RAM, ROM, storage, input devices...

  11. Re:The following.... on What Should One Know to be Truly Computer Literate? · · Score: 1

    You make a very good point, I have encoutered the same problems trying to teach my mom. Of particular interest is this:

    READ DIALOG BOXES. This goes with the "no one from Nigeria" stuff. I can't tell you how many people I've helped with computers or errors or questions where the process of helping them consisted of "Did you read the dialog box?" "What does the dialog box say?" "So what should you do?" and that helped them.

    What is interesting here is that this applies pretty much to any teaching situation. I teach stastistics, ecology and evolution to undergrad biology students, mostly in problem solving situations. Most of the times one asks me a question, I manage to have them find the answer just by asking the right questions in return. Sometimes it's a simple case of "Did you re-read the problem" which is analogous to "Did you read the dialog box?", but you can also effectively apply this method with 'real' problem solving.

  12. One wor(l)d... on Lessons GMs Can Learn from World of Warcraft · · Score: 1
  13. Re:Pardon my ignorance but on Pittsburgh Professors Challenge Darwin · · Score: 1

    Evolution drives to maximize utility

    Actually, no! this is a comment misconception: in biology 'evolution' only means change. This can be result of both random and directed ('driven' to use your phrasing) processes. Examples of random processes are mutation, which generates genetic diversity within a population, and genetic drift, which reduces genetic diversity within a population. Natural selection however is a driven process by which individuals that perfom better then others (because they have better survival, fecundity and reproductive success) contribute more to the genetic composition of subsequent generation, hereby changing the genetic composition of these generation (nb: selection can both reduce or maintain genetic diversity, it cannot create genetic diversity within a population). You are talking about natural selection and are impliyng that evolution == natural selection, which it is not!

    The environnement shift you are referring to is just one of many processes put forward by Gould and Eldredge to back their theory. Another important one does not rely on natural selection at all: in peripatric speciation a small part of a large population is somehow cut off from this main population, genetic drift (the random loss of alleles in a small population) and the absence of gene flow between these population leads to the rapide appearance of a new species.

  14. Re:Pardon my ignorance but on Pittsburgh Professors Challenge Darwin · · Score: 1

    *not* read

  15. Re:Pardon my ignorance but on Pittsburgh Professors Challenge Darwin · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have read their original research, put this clearly seems to be a new form of Gould's and Eldredge's theory.

  16. Re:mobile internet, not much fun, even if improved on Should Businesses Have Mobile Friendly Websites? · · Score: 1

    Have you tried this?

  17. Re:Just use IMAP on Email On Both the Desktop and the Laptop? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Exactly, and if you want double protection for some important messages, just forward them (just those or all!) to a gmail account. You can set up filters to redirect mails from certain persons, or on certain subjects, or just everything, automatically!

  18. I will probably be soon be a part of the 4.2% on NSF Reports No Geek Shortage · · Score: 1

    since I am finishing a Ph.D in evolutionnary biology but am passioned by cooking, gaming, and technology! How could I go on to be a faculty staff?????? at least this adventure (that is what a Ph.D. is for those of you who don't know!) will haw been worth my whyle! indeed, I have learned much sciencewise and humanwise! althougth I am feed up with this academic stuff (in a professionnal sort of way) I am veryu glad to have gone trougth it! (sorry for the english mistakes, I am french canadian, québécois, if you like!)

  19. Re:Method of living for the socially challenged: W on How About a Nice Game of Global Thermonuclear War? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Anybody else notice how they use "Weapons of Mass Destruction" when speaking off the "enemy", but off "nuclear weapons" (not WMDs I guess!) when speaking about the americans?
    Please, stand up and, for the sake of humanity, don't let this happen!

  20. Re:It's not that he failed the Turing test... on How I Failed the Turing Test · · Score: 2, Funny

    > Hello, I am Eliza.
    * ooh eliza... I missed you
    > Oh... ?

  21. Re:Next study.... on Report Claims Men More Intelligent Than Women · · Score: 1

    Actually from TFA:

    The professor has caused outrage in the past with claims that white people are more intelligent than blacks and that criminal traits are genetically inherited.

    The quote is from the third one, but they all mention this!

  22. Re:Atmospheric depth on The Impact of Planescape Torment · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the only computer RPG you can get trough without a fight, seriously!
    yes, fallout (1) was also great, but it stood out not only for its story but also for its analog interface that was out off this world, but PST was just a wicked story in which you could actually roleplay if you had the brains and charisma to do it! just a memorable piece

  23. sympatric != sibling on Looking at Birds in a Whole New Spectrum · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm not sure this is what the poster meant, but it is implied by the text! Sympatric species (or more precisely populations...) occupy the same area at a given time. Populations that do not occupy the same area are called allopatric.

    On the other hand, the notion of sibling species refers to a phylogenetic tree, they are species that who share an exclusive most recent commont ancestor. They are more often called sister species.

    So, yes, this new technique could be very useful to distinguish between cryptic (that look the same in practically every way) species that live in sympatry (and allopatry for that matter), but they need not be sibling for this to matter!

  24. Re:What IS podcasting? on iTunes 4.9 With Podcasting Support · · Score: 2, Informative


    Podcasts of news (and other) shows are also offered by public radio stations such as the BBC, CBC and SRC.

  25. Well, that remains to be seen... on First Look at Apple's Intel Developer Macs · · Score: 2, Insightful