"As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know."
My initial sarcasm was merely pointing out that intelligent life can still 'exist' or could have 'existed' elsewhere regardless of not having colonized the entire galaxy.
The absence of evidence, with assumptions built upon quite a lack of knowledge is a pretty weak argument for the non-existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
Such knowledge gaps as:
Alien space travel speeds and limitations or lack thereof, the amount of hospitable planets (which could differ greatly with each species), their distances from each other, their distance from us, alien rates of reproduction, resource consumption, the multitude of possibilities that could have led to either a cessation of colonization, the destruction of a given alien species, the amount of intelligent alien species that ever lived to progress far enough to accomplish planetary colonization, etc..
Look from the context of humans being the 'intelligent aliens', and the observer is considering the lack of galactic colonization as a means of determining the lack of intelligent life.
We're intelligent beings, we haven't colonized any other planets. So.. we must not exist.
There, I solved the fanciful paradox of bundled assumptions.
/me slaps you off your high horse.
My father left the carpentry business due to back problems. He now takes care of his two young daughters at home while building virtual products within Second Life.
He owns land to accommodate his 1) entertainment venue of choice and 2) his humble and casual business venture. He pays USD to maintain his ownership of the virtual land, which could be considered an investment. Honestly though, he'd be spending money either way. It's his entertainment.
The interesting part is that he makes plenty of profit (I'll have to ask what he nets monthly). He recently purchased a new media center PC with dual widescreen LCDs, with plenty to spare from his SL business.
So who's really being duped here? The guy (with barely any technical know-how) who's enjoying the entertainment of a virtual world while making real cash profit as a stay-at-home father with very little risk OR the dick who considers him part of some pyramid scheme, incapable of managing his own funds?
(Disclaimer: I have no business in SL, I just spend USD to get what I want)
The problem is, unlike the mute button on TV, or ad-blocking features in Firefox extensions, I'm locked in while playing a game. It's like having ads on the screen while I'm watching a movie.
Even during the downtime in a game, like during zone-loading, I'm watching the loading screen like an idiot waiting to get to the other side, particularly in PVP or time-critical situations. If I have to watch a loading screen with ads for Paxil or Geico, it won't be easy to ignore. Then I'll just cancel the subscription.
Unfortunately, I doubt the few people who vote with their money will outweigh the ad companies who do the same.
Here's some info to help clear up the confusion regarding use of SSNs (from the Social Security Administration's site):
If a business or other enterprise asks you for your SSN, you can refuse to give it. However, that may mean doing without the purchase or service for which your number was requested. For example, utility companies and other services ask for a Social Security number, but do not need it; they can do a credit check or identify the person in their records by alternative means.
Giving your number is voluntary, even when you are asked for the number directly. If requested, you should ask why your number is needed, how your number will be used, what law requires you to give your number and what the consequences are if you refuse. The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give your Social Security number. The decision is yours.
Specific laws require a person to provide his/her SSN for certain purposes. While we cannot give you a comprehensive list of all situations where an SSN might be required or requested, an SSN is required/requested by:
* Internal Revenue Service for tax returns and federal loans
* Employers for wage and tax reporting purposes
* States for the school lunch program
* Banks for monetary transactions
* Veterans Administration as a hospital admission number
* Department of Labor for workers' compensation
* Department of Education for Student Loans
* States to administer any tax, general public assistance, motor vehicle or drivers license law within its jurisdiction
* States for child support enforcement
* States for commercial driver's licenses
* States for Food Stamps
* States for Medicaid
* States for Unemployment Compensation
* States for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
* U.S. Treasury for U.S. Savings Bonds
States can further regulate and restrict private use of social security numbers.
For example:
"In Michigan, in almost all instances it is illegal to require a Social Security number to be written on a check as a condition of acceptance of that check."
When did Social Security cards bear the legend "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION"?
The first Social Security cards were issued starting in 1936 and did not have this language.
SSA's policy is that the Social Security card is not an identity document. The card only verifies that the SSN on the card is assigned to an individual whose name is on the card. It does not verify that the person presenting the card is the person named on the card.
Therefore, the January 1946 version of the card first contained the language at the bottom of the card reading "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PURPOSES -- NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION." Then the language was changed beginning with the September 1961 version of the card to read: "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND TAX PURPOSES - NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION". However, the language was removed beginning with the January 1972 version of the card because it was confusing to employers and others who viewed it because they were not sure whether to accept it as evidence of the individual's SSN. The language has not been on subsequent versions of the card.
Google is complying with the laws of the nation they're doing business with. Google isn't a political activist group out to Bushwhack (pun-intended) nations with the freedoms we hold dear. It's a corporation that provides a means for accessing information on the net.
Are these the same people bitching about Bush pushing our version of democracy around the world? And if so, how the hell is this any different?
It isn't the job of companies to do business internationally with the intent of breaking laws and changing foreign government policy. That's the CIA. Feel free to apply.
Call me crazy, but I think open source alternatives to commonly used Windows apps will turn the tables eventually.
My fiance and I have replaced MS Office with Open Office, Outlook Express with Thunderbird, Internet Explorer with Firefox, etc.. All of which *also* run on linux.
If these apps required a chunk of cash to use, more people would have second thoughts on even trying them, since most users already purchased apps (Windows-only often) to meet their needs.
Once I can fulfill my computer needs on Linux I'll switch (yes gaming=needs).
Until then, I'll tweak WinXP to my liking and make good use of my firewall and antivirus software.
Slashdot Mirror
"Dammit Jim, I'm a Doctor, not a conduit."
~ Bones
In other words..
"As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know."
- Rumsfeld: Underrated Poet, Dastardly Villain, Humble Astrophysicist(?)
DoD news briefing 2002
Sidereal rotation period (hrs): 1407.6
Length of day (hrs): 4222.6
Source: NASA
Hey, it might be worth it just to find out if he's one of those crazy mofos that types URLs into his browser's search bar.
My initial sarcasm was merely pointing out that intelligent life can still 'exist' or could have 'existed' elsewhere regardless of not having colonized the entire galaxy.
The absence of evidence, with assumptions built upon quite a lack of knowledge is a pretty weak argument for the non-existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
Such knowledge gaps as:
Alien space travel speeds and limitations or lack thereof, the amount of hospitable planets (which could differ greatly with each species), their distances from each other, their distance from us, alien rates of reproduction, resource consumption, the multitude of possibilities that could have led to either a cessation of colonization, the destruction of a given alien species, the amount of intelligent alien species that ever lived to progress far enough to accomplish planetary colonization, etc..
Look from the context of humans being the 'intelligent aliens', and the observer is considering the lack of galactic colonization as a means of determining the lack of intelligent life.
We're intelligent beings, we haven't colonized any other planets. So.. we must not exist.
There, I solved the fanciful paradox of bundled assumptions.
/me slaps you off your high horse. My father left the carpentry business due to back problems. He now takes care of his two young daughters at home while building virtual products within Second Life. He owns land to accommodate his 1) entertainment venue of choice and 2) his humble and casual business venture. He pays USD to maintain his ownership of the virtual land, which could be considered an investment. Honestly though, he'd be spending money either way. It's his entertainment. The interesting part is that he makes plenty of profit (I'll have to ask what he nets monthly). He recently purchased a new media center PC with dual widescreen LCDs, with plenty to spare from his SL business. So who's really being duped here? The guy (with barely any technical know-how) who's enjoying the entertainment of a virtual world while making real cash profit as a stay-at-home father with very little risk OR the dick who considers him part of some pyramid scheme, incapable of managing his own funds? (Disclaimer: I have no business in SL, I just spend USD to get what I want)
The problem is, unlike the mute button on TV, or ad-blocking features in Firefox extensions, I'm locked in while playing a game. It's like having ads on the screen while I'm watching a movie.
Even during the downtime in a game, like during zone-loading, I'm watching the loading screen like an idiot waiting to get to the other side, particularly in PVP or time-critical situations. If I have to watch a loading screen with ads for Paxil or Geico, it won't be easy to ignore. Then I'll just cancel the subscription.
Unfortunately, I doubt the few people who vote with their money will outweigh the ad companies who do the same.
For those of you who dislike messing with PDFs, here's the google cache in HTML Format
Here's some info to help clear up the confusion regarding use of SSNs (from the Social Security Administration's site):
If a business or other enterprise asks you for your SSN, you can refuse to give it. However, that may mean doing without the purchase or service for which your number was requested. For example, utility companies and other services ask for a Social Security number, but do not need it; they can do a credit check or identify the person in their records by alternative means.
Giving your number is voluntary, even when you are asked for the number directly. If requested, you should ask why your number is needed, how your number will be used, what law requires you to give your number and what the consequences are if you refuse. The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give your Social Security number. The decision is yours.
Specific laws require a person to provide his/her SSN for certain purposes. While we cannot give you a comprehensive list of all situations where an SSN might be required or requested, an SSN is required/requested by:
* Internal Revenue Service for tax returns and federal loans* Employers for wage and tax reporting purposes
* States for the school lunch program
* Banks for monetary transactions
* Veterans Administration as a hospital admission number
* Department of Labor for workers' compensation
* Department of Education for Student Loans
* States to administer any tax, general public assistance, motor vehicle or drivers license law within its jurisdiction
* States for child support enforcement
* States for commercial driver's licenses
* States for Food Stamps
* States for Medicaid
* States for Unemployment Compensation
* States for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
* U.S. Treasury for U.S. Savings Bonds
Source: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/
----States can further regulate and restrict private use of social security numbers.
For example:
"In Michigan, in almost all instances it is illegal to require a Social Security number to be written on a check as a condition of acceptance of that check."Source:http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-3 4739_20942-103001--,00.html
----And some boring history:
When did Social Security cards bear the legend "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION"?
The first Social Security cards were issued starting in 1936 and did not have this language.
SSA's policy is that the Social Security card is not an identity document. The card only verifies that the SSN on the card is assigned to an individual whose name is on the card. It does not verify that the person presenting the card is the person named on the card.
Therefore, the January 1946 version of the card first contained the language at the bottom of the card reading "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PURPOSES -- NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION." Then the language was changed beginning with the September 1961 version of the card to read: "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND TAX PURPOSES - NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION". However, the language was removed beginning with the January 1972 version of the card because it was confusing to employers and others who viewed it because they were not sure whether to accept it as evidence of the individual's SSN. The language has not been on subsequent versions of the card.
Source: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/
Are these the same people bitching about Bush pushing our version of democracy around the world? And if so, how the hell is this any different?
It isn't the job of companies to do business internationally with the intent of breaking laws and changing foreign government policy. That's the CIA. Feel free to apply.
My fiance and I have replaced MS Office with Open Office, Outlook Express with Thunderbird, Internet Explorer with Firefox, etc.. All of which *also* run on linux.
If these apps required a chunk of cash to use, more people would have second thoughts on even trying them, since most users already purchased apps (Windows-only often) to meet their needs.Once I can fulfill my computer needs on Linux I'll switch (yes gaming=needs).
Until then, I'll tweak WinXP to my liking and make good use of my firewall and antivirus software.
You + me... + her too, simultaneous
You + me... + your momma + your sister =
Simultaneous lovin' baby, * two or three...