Are prions alive? For the purposes of this discussion, why do you think they are they more or less alive than viruses, or why do you think they are the same as viruses with respect to being alive?
That's an excellent question and I can tell you right now I don't have the knowledge or understanding to provide a good answer. I totally accept that life is one of the most difficult of things to classify (beyond my high school understanding of MRSGREF) and as such I've perhaps misspoken in my earlier post.
Many people would substitute the phrase "beings of a type (i.e. species) which at their peak intellect are typically sufficiently intelligent" or "... sufficiently self-aware" for "living", using their own definition of "sufficiently."
If I may be contrary for a moment, does intelligence necessarily need to come into the discussion? Actually I'm a little confused by your last statement sorry.
Are we talking about a delimiter, or a cut-off, between beings having souls or not? Or is this about what constitutes a 'being' regardless of the potential of having a soul?
Because you cant afford the retail version and think you have some right to get it at the OEM price this makes them greedy?
That's not what I said at all and you know it. You are purposefully mis-characterising the intent of my post so you can get yourself all pissed off and behave like a Microsoft apologist for great social justice. My issue is with Microsoft's price-gouging, I even offered a suggestion as to how much I feel the 'right to virtualise' is worth to me. Not $500, right? But feel free to ignore that if it gets in the way of your screeching.
...
Fuck you and your entitlist mentality! They give you a discount for its use in a particular scenario and then you just expect to be able to get that discount in all situations, so it is *you* who is the greedy fuck in this case!
Yeah, you can call me names if you like. Your unnecessary ad-hominen rubbish aside, I'll point out that Microsoft offer a discount because - and only because - it suits Microsoft to do so. They are not depriving themselves of revenue out of the goodness of their hearts.
As for my 'entitlist(sic) mentality', I'll also point out that I have already paid for the operating system, so what matter is it whether it runs on a piece of metal and silicon or on a virtual piece of metal and silicon itself on a piece of metal and silicon? As long as I'm not still running the original machine, why should I be in violation of the licensing agreement? What business is it of Microsoft what I do with my computers?
Besides, what heinous crime is this that it demands such an outraged response in Microsoft's defence? Should we simply accept the will of our corporate masters and their convoluted demands without fuss like good little drones?
Realistically, I am just not at risk due to this behavior.
Well, don't give them money.
Sure, I agree. MS do indeed have a product that people want, however this doesn't invalidate the argument that MS are greedy. This is the original point I was trying to make, not that there weren't alternatives.
Like yourself, I *will* buy Windows OEM with a machine (ex-lease works for me) and again, like yourself, I'd violate the OEM licencing terms by running the copy as a VM if it suited me to do so.
My point is that whilst I'd happily pay another $50 for the right to do so legally, I'm damned if I'm going to shell out over $500* for an OS I've already paid for. Ergo, Microsoft are a bunch of greedy fucks.
I've even got an OEM XP sticker on my PC case, just barely legible, so I don't have to use it without paying.
If I'm not mistaken, one cannot legally virtualise an OEM edition of Windows. That's just not cricket. One is instead required to purchase a full retail version of the software to gain this right.
Assuming my facts are still accurate, that makes Microsoft exactly the sort of greedy fucks Dunbal calls them out to be.
Anything that makes inmates feel like they have a positive connection to greater society is a good thing.
Exactly. Unless we intend to lock up all prisoners for ever, the vast majority will be released back into society eventually.
Do we want released inmates re-integrated with society as smoothly as possible, or do we want them back amongst us harbouring a deep resentment due to the way they were treated in prison? It's our choice.
Exactly. Either there are no souls, or every living being has a soul, right down to viruses and bacteria.
If a soul is more or less how we collectively imagine it to be, what possible value is having a soul if some classes of living beings can exist without it?
Absolutely. I too feel this is a pretty well-established fixed upper limit on a body's physical speed through spacetime.
Of course, I live in hope that Humanity will eventually develop methods to 'skip around' the pesky limitations of physics in the universe as we currently know it. That said, no evidence is available to assist me. Even if such a thing is possible we might be talking about a technology tens of thousands of years ahead of our current tech level.
Perhaps in time we'll learn to employ gravity with similar ease to our methods for utilising the electromagnetic force. Likely, this will be only one of many, many prerequisite technologies needed to achieve interstellar travel.
Without the tech itself we can only speculate. However limited we are, the beautifully elegant Alcubierre drive concept (which we're all no doubt familiar with) was still the product of an imagination of our time, even as desperately limited as it is. Some Humans are really very clever. We may well yet crack this nut, only time will tell.
As the AC said, for a very limited torque; 15 Newton-Meters. For a sense of scale, the recommended torque on a lug nut for a car tire is typically around 8-10 times that.
Please forgive my ignorance Smidge but I find that number quite astounding although I have no reason to doubt your comment.
Isn't 150NM about what a small car is putting out in terms of torque? Admittedly one (rightly or wrongly) is supposed to stand on lug nuts to tighten them properly, is this what is meant here?
Just seems quite a lot to me with my limited understanding of the topic.
As a Kiwi who voted for the present government (and would do so again - sane alternatives just don't exist) I'm not sure if your your post is +1 Insightful or -1 DamnTheTruthHurts.:)
Seems rather hypocritical, to me. But then, they are the big money, changing the nation's laws to suit American interests.
Why would you expect foreign powers to deal with individual persons the same way as they would the democratically-elected governing party of a sovereign nation?
He's guilty of absolutely nothing, and he's actually fairly nice guy.
Oh I'm sure his victims felt just the same, they'd agree he's a charismatic and likeable chap. I imagine it was all very buddy-buddy until he walked away with their money.
Only by those who have no fucking idea what they're talking about.
I'm confused, your response to boristhespider seems a bit harsh as his posts are usually very high quality, in particular his comprehension of advanced astrophysics (from my layman POV). Am I missing something here?
There are a lot of people who apparently consider the process of execution wholly unsatisfying if the condemned fails to suffer in the process.
I saw a doco wherein a chap campaigning for quick and painless executions was unpleasantly surprised by the volume of opposition to the idea. Those opposed were very sure they wanted the condemned to suffer on their way out.
Actually, I'd bet dust bunnies are more a function of static electricity, friction, and irregular air currents than gravity. I wonder if anyone's ever researched dust bunny formation? I bet you could get a fun igNobel for that.
Perhaps not an IgNobel but you sure can have a lot of fun screwing around with stuff like that in space. Who knows, you might just solve the odd mystery while you're at it.:-)
Sound inconvenient? It is a fucking plague. Tough shit.
Completely agree. Common sense is the only consistent solution to most of Humanity's problems. Unfortunately, we all know how 'commonly' it can be found in the wild.
I used my seat belt before there were laws stating you had to do so. Why in hell would you need such a law in the first place?
If accidents caused by stupid resulted in their own injury and death without affecting the rest of us, I'd be in agreement with you - that's Darwin at his good work!
Unfortunately, stupid often kills or injures other people and when stupid doesn't put on his or her seatbelt and crashes non-fatally, we all get to pay to patch up their bloody carcasses.
Seatbelts, airbags, side-intrusion bars.. all there to mitigate against the actions of stupid (and self), because we worked out long ago it's less expensive for society if stupid doesn't horrifically mangle themselves and others when they inevitably do something.. stupid.
Quarantine anyone coming from Africa. Was a little critical thinking too fucking hard?
Wise advise you could stand to learn from yourself. Apparently it is 'too fucking hard', based on your original suggestion. But don't let that stop you from lashing out like a drunken monkey now.
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Are prions alive? For the purposes of this discussion, why do you think they are they more or less alive than viruses, or why do you think they are the same as viruses with respect to being alive?
That's an excellent question and I can tell you right now I don't have the knowledge or understanding to provide a good answer. I totally accept that life is one of the most difficult of things to classify (beyond my high school understanding of MRSGREF) and as such I've perhaps misspoken in my earlier post.
Many people would substitute the phrase "beings of a type (i.e. species) which at their peak intellect are typically sufficiently intelligent" or "... sufficiently self-aware" for "living", using their own definition of "sufficiently."
If I may be contrary for a moment, does intelligence necessarily need to come into the discussion? Actually I'm a little confused by your last statement sorry.
Are we talking about a delimiter, or a cut-off, between beings having souls or not? Or is this about what constitutes a 'being' regardless of the potential of having a soul?
Because you cant afford the retail version and think you have some right to get it at the OEM price this makes them greedy?
That's not what I said at all and you know it. You are purposefully mis-characterising the intent of my post so you can get yourself all pissed off and behave like a Microsoft apologist for great social justice. My issue is with Microsoft's price-gouging, I even offered a suggestion as to how much I feel the 'right to virtualise' is worth to me. Not $500, right? But feel free to ignore that if it gets in the way of your screeching.
...
Fuck you and your entitlist mentality! They give you a discount for its use in a particular scenario and then you just expect to be able to get that discount in all situations, so it is *you* who is the greedy fuck in this case!
Yeah, you can call me names if you like. Your unnecessary ad-hominen rubbish aside, I'll point out that Microsoft offer a discount because - and only because - it suits Microsoft to do so. They are not depriving themselves of revenue out of the goodness of their hearts.
As for my 'entitlist(sic) mentality', I'll also point out that I have already paid for the operating system, so what matter is it whether it runs on a piece of metal and silicon or on a virtual piece of metal and silicon itself on a piece of metal and silicon? As long as I'm not still running the original machine, why should I be in violation of the licensing agreement? What business is it of Microsoft what I do with my computers?
Besides, what heinous crime is this that it demands such an outraged response in Microsoft's defence? Should we simply accept the will of our corporate masters and their convoluted demands without fuss like good little drones?
fsck it, fsck it, fsck it, I promised myself I wouldn't forget the asterisk explanation:
* in NZ dollars and relating to retail Win 7 Pro or Ultimate; Windows 8 Pro is less than half this price.
Realistically, I am just not at risk due to this behavior.
Well, don't give them money.
Sure, I agree. MS do indeed have a product that people want, however this doesn't invalidate the argument that MS are greedy. This is the original point I was trying to make, not that there weren't alternatives.
Like yourself, I *will* buy Windows OEM with a machine (ex-lease works for me) and again, like yourself, I'd violate the OEM licencing terms by running the copy as a VM if it suited me to do so.
My point is that whilst I'd happily pay another $50 for the right to do so legally, I'm damned if I'm going to shell out over $500* for an OS I've already paid for. Ergo, Microsoft are a bunch of greedy fucks.
I've even got an OEM XP sticker on my PC case, just barely legible, so I don't have to use it without paying.
If I'm not mistaken, one cannot legally virtualise an OEM edition of Windows. That's just not cricket. One is instead required to purchase a full retail version of the software to gain this right.
Assuming my facts are still accurate, that makes Microsoft exactly the sort of greedy fucks Dunbal calls them out to be.
Anything that makes inmates feel like they have a positive connection to greater society is a good thing.
Exactly. Unless we intend to lock up all prisoners for ever, the vast majority will be released back into society eventually.
Do we want released inmates re-integrated with society as smoothly as possible, or do we want them back amongst us harbouring a deep resentment due to the way they were treated in prison? It's our choice.
Exactly. Either there are no souls, or every living being has a soul, right down to viruses and bacteria.
If a soul is more or less how we collectively imagine it to be, what possible value is having a soul if some classes of living beings can exist without it?
The speed limit is c. It's the law.
Absolutely. I too feel this is a pretty well-established fixed upper limit on a body's physical speed through spacetime.
Of course, I live in hope that Humanity will eventually develop methods to 'skip around' the pesky limitations of physics in the universe as we currently know it. That said, no evidence is available to assist me. Even if such a thing is possible we might be talking about a technology tens of thousands of years ahead of our current tech level.
Perhaps in time we'll learn to employ gravity with similar ease to our methods for utilising the electromagnetic force. Likely, this will be only one of many, many prerequisite technologies needed to achieve interstellar travel.
Without the tech itself we can only speculate. However limited we are, the beautifully elegant Alcubierre drive concept (which we're all no doubt familiar with) was still the product of an imagination of our time, even as desperately limited as it is. Some Humans are really very clever. We may well yet crack this nut, only time will tell.
That's genius right there Cap. Lawyers can be among the most challenging clients to support.
Great explanation, thank you very much. :)
As the AC said, for a very limited torque; 15 Newton-Meters. For a sense of scale, the recommended torque on a lug nut for a car tire is typically around 8-10 times that.
Please forgive my ignorance Smidge but I find that number quite astounding although I have no reason to doubt your comment.
Isn't 150NM about what a small car is putting out in terms of torque? Admittedly one (rightly or wrongly) is supposed to stand on lug nuts to tighten them properly, is this what is meant here?
Just seems quite a lot to me with my limited understanding of the topic.
As a Kiwi who voted for the present government (and would do so again - sane alternatives just don't exist) I'm not sure if your your post is +1 Insightful or -1 DamnTheTruthHurts. :)
Seems rather hypocritical, to me. But then, they are the big money, changing the nation's laws to suit American interests.
Why would you expect foreign powers to deal with individual persons the same way as they would the democratically-elected governing party of a sovereign nation?
He's guilty of absolutely nothing, and he's actually fairly nice guy.
Oh I'm sure his victims felt just the same, they'd agree he's a charismatic and likeable chap. I imagine it was all very buddy-buddy until he walked away with their money.
To live paycheck-to-paycheck as an adult is to fail at life, or at least to fail at being an adult.
Assuming the adult in question is earning something more than just a basic living wage, I completely agree with you.
Quelle suprise: there are precious few adults to be found amongst an over-abundance of idiotic, petulant children in adult bodies.
There's not enough money in the world to stabilize the middle east.
I beg to differ: the US nuclear stockpile is largely a sunk cost. :-p
Only by those who have no fucking idea what they're talking about.
I'm confused, your response to boristhespider seems a bit harsh as his posts are usually very high quality, in particular his comprehension of advanced astrophysics (from my layman POV). Am I missing something here?
Awesome, right on the head - thanks SuricouRaven. :)
quick, reliable, and painless
There are a lot of people who apparently consider the process of execution wholly unsatisfying if the condemned fails to suffer in the process.
I saw a doco wherein a chap campaigning for quick and painless executions was unpleasantly surprised by the volume of opposition to the idea. Those opposed were very sure they wanted the condemned to suffer on their way out.
Actually, I'd bet dust bunnies are more a function of static electricity, friction, and irregular air currents than gravity. I wonder if anyone's ever researched dust bunny formation? I bet you could get a fun igNobel for that.
Perhaps not an IgNobel but you sure can have a lot of fun screwing around with stuff like that in space. Who knows, you might just solve the odd mystery while you're at it. :-)
If that's the case I'd love to meet some of these Asian girls you mention!
Seriously though, I was just being a bit flippant rather than making an actual criticism of your comment. :)
This would explain why nerdy and geeky men typically hook up with Asian women.
..and here was I foolishly thinking it was because the Asian women in question were hot.
Sound inconvenient? It is a fucking plague. Tough shit.
Completely agree. Common sense is the only consistent solution to most of Humanity's problems. Unfortunately, we all know how 'commonly' it can be found in the wild.
I used my seat belt before there were laws stating you had to do so. Why in hell would you need such a law in the first place?
If accidents caused by stupid resulted in their own injury and death without affecting the rest of us, I'd be in agreement with you - that's Darwin at his good work!
Unfortunately, stupid often kills or injures other people and when stupid doesn't put on his or her seatbelt and crashes non-fatally, we all get to pay to patch up their bloody carcasses.
Seatbelts, airbags, side-intrusion bars.. all there to mitigate against the actions of stupid (and self), because we worked out long ago it's less expensive for society if stupid doesn't horrifically mangle themselves and others when they inevitably do something .. stupid.
Quarantine anyone coming from Africa. Was a little critical thinking too fucking hard?
Wise advise you could stand to learn from yourself. Apparently it is 'too fucking hard', based on your original suggestion. But don't let that stop you from lashing out like a drunken monkey now.