Calling something a "stereotype" isn't the same as saying it's "not true." That's a common misconception. But if you don't believe me, just head down to the protests and see for yourself. If you don't see at LEAST one drum circle or group of stereotypical hippies, then feel free to come back here and brag. But when you see SEVERAL of them, or even a MAJORITY of them--I want to sit down and reflect carefully on what a clueless fucking retard you are.
No, you weren't. Pretty much the only reason any kid ever drank that swill was because the astronauts had. Of course, that was back when kids really looked up to astronauts, and thought we would keep progressing in space.
That's why I coupled motivation AND money in my post. Wanting to go to Mars is not enough. If you called up the average American and asked them "Do you want to see us go to Mars?" You would probably get an 80%+ positive response. But if you followed that up with "Okay, will you send us $200 to help fund it?" that response rate would drop close to 0.
Is anyone else disturbed a little by the paleontologist in this article actually calling this thing a "Kraken"? Look I know that may be the cute nickname they use in the office, but it seems a little tawdry for a supposedly serious researcher to use the name of a mythological creature in a public context. Makes me think this guy is a PR-whore looking to promote his work with sensationalism. What's next, someone finding a new type of dinosaur and calling it a "Dragon"?
We make first contact with an intelligent alien species. Should that first contact be a robot claw reproducing the sound of our voice, or a human in a suit.
That depends on whether they're Vulcans or Romulans, of course.
Yes, humans would certainly be a lot better at searching for and finding life in person than any remote robot. But without at least some hint that such life even EXISTS in our solar system outside of earth, that's a pretty bizarre justification for a very expensive and resource-intensive manned space program. And even if it were a reason, if wouldn't justify the last 40 years of the manned space program. If life is out there in this solar system, it's sure as hell not sitting in low earth orbit. You're going to have to go to other planets and moons if you want to find life. And that's going to require a huge investment. Good luck getting that kind of scratch out of a bunch of first-world governments *already* spending way beyond their means.
This guy is actually proposing building research stations on the moon and Mars. And that's going to be an even bigger investment than just getting there. Is that doable? With enough motivation and money, sure. But that's the kind of motivation that's going to require sacrifice. Would you be willing to see your taxes double to pay for it? Would you be willing to give up one of the big government expenses/entitlements (Social Security, the military, Medicare) and funnel that money to NASA? If your answer is "no" to both of those questions, you can probably forget about your Mars bases. Exploration and colonization that far out isn't going to come cheap. That's going to be a pretty tough sell just to answer the philosophical question "Are we alone?" (especially when the answer may well turn out to be "Yes," at least in this solar system).
And for anyone who might suggest going *beyond* our solar system, well that's even more crazy/expensive. With the kind of propulsion we have now, even in the best case scenario it would take tens of thousands of years to reach even the closest other solar system. So unless you have a warp engine on the drawing board, you can pretty much forget that.
Most of the ones I've seen at these protests were STUDENTS, not grads. They're the same sort of professional protestors that show up at EVERY left-wing protest (i.e. college hippies). They show up with their drum circles, issue forth smug rhetoric to any reporter who'll stick a mic in their face, blog about fighting evil corporations on their brand-new MacBooks, smoke some weed, and then go back to school when mom and dad threaten to cut off their money.
The French Revolution was more about one group of powerful thugs overthrowing another group of powerful thugs (some have made the same case about the American Revolution too). It was only CLOAKED as a grass-roots revolution. REAL grass-roots revolutions are very rare.
I've been using Netflix since they started, and much as I love them, even I was left scratching my head over that one. It was such a bonehead move that the only logic I can see behind it is if they were hoping to quietly sell "Quikster" off later without generating any negative press for Netflix (and their stock). Otherwise it just feels like an insult to their customers (an we had already faced a price hike this year already).
I just can't see how they *wouldn't* expect a negative reaction from customers when you tell them "Now you'll have to visit two different sites, with different queues, different passwords, etc." It was taking something simple and making it a much bigger pain in the ass, for no apparent reason.
Look, I know no one likes to speak ill of the dead and all, but geez, last week's lovefest got WAY WAY WAY out of hand. Jobs was an important figure, no doubt, but the over-the-top platitudes were often more humorous and bizarre than heartfelt or touching. There were "expert" commentators on CNN calling Jobs the "most important person in the history of technology" with straight faces. People who didn't even KNOW the guy were crying like their daddy had just died. At one point I think I saw Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper make a teary-eyed pledge to throw themselves on his funeral pyre.
I doubt Jesus' apostles were as upset after the crucifixion as some of the supposedly objective "experts" and "journalists" I saw last week. It's not like I expected them to get into the more negative and tawdry aspects of his past with his body still warm, but I didn't expect such unabashed hero-worship and hagiography either. It was just shameful.
Hate to break it to you, but a lot of parents don't do their jobs very well (this is especially true with the more poorly-performing kids). I knew a lot of kids in school who got bad grades, but who had plenty of ability. They didn't excel academically because their parents encouraged them to excel in everything BUT academics. I also knew kids whose parents were basically not even there at all--not even providing for their basic needs, much less encouraging them to excel.
If this high school is anything like my old one, I think the smart kids would probably be more embarrassed by this than the dumb ones. I took way more abuse for being smart than any dumbass ever did for being a moron.
I'm pretty sure the kids already know who the dumb ones are anyway. My old school didn't have anything like this program. But if you had asked me to point out the smart kids and the dumbasses, I wouldn't have had any trouble doing it.
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Damn, the one time I don't have mod points.
I just can't believe that *Germans* would engage in such heavy-handed government repression.
See, this is why we shouldn't let kids name dinosaurs. It's the same way we ended up with the Dinosaurus Awesomous Timberlakeous back in the 90's.
Yeah, except later on he says "I think that these things were captured by the kraken," which is a little different than merely COMPARING it to one.
Calling something a "stereotype" isn't the same as saying it's "not true." That's a common misconception. But if you don't believe me, just head down to the protests and see for yourself. If you don't see at LEAST one drum circle or group of stereotypical hippies, then feel free to come back here and brag. But when you see SEVERAL of them, or even a MAJORITY of them--I want to sit down and reflect carefully on what a clueless fucking retard you are.
Just make sure to avoid the ones with acid for blood. Trust me, you DO NOT want to hit that, no matter how desperate you are.
BTW, am I the only one who found that stuff vile?
No, you weren't. Pretty much the only reason any kid ever drank that swill was because the astronauts had. Of course, that was back when kids really looked up to astronauts, and thought we would keep progressing in space.
That's why I coupled motivation AND money in my post. Wanting to go to Mars is not enough. If you called up the average American and asked them "Do you want to see us go to Mars?" You would probably get an 80%+ positive response. But if you followed that up with "Okay, will you send us $200 to help fund it?" that response rate would drop close to 0.
Is anyone else disturbed a little by the paleontologist in this article actually calling this thing a "Kraken"? Look I know that may be the cute nickname they use in the office, but it seems a little tawdry for a supposedly serious researcher to use the name of a mythological creature in a public context. Makes me think this guy is a PR-whore looking to promote his work with sensationalism. What's next, someone finding a new type of dinosaur and calling it a "Dragon"?
James T. Kirk wins.
Only at sucking Benjamin Sisko's dick.
We make first contact with an intelligent alien species. Should that first contact be a robot claw reproducing the sound of our voice, or a human in a suit.
That depends on whether they're Vulcans or Romulans, of course.
All we need to do is build a ship entirely out of neutrinos.
We will. It arrived there several years ago.
Yes, humans would certainly be a lot better at searching for and finding life in person than any remote robot. But without at least some hint that such life even EXISTS in our solar system outside of earth, that's a pretty bizarre justification for a very expensive and resource-intensive manned space program. And even if it were a reason, if wouldn't justify the last 40 years of the manned space program. If life is out there in this solar system, it's sure as hell not sitting in low earth orbit. You're going to have to go to other planets and moons if you want to find life. And that's going to require a huge investment. Good luck getting that kind of scratch out of a bunch of first-world governments *already* spending way beyond their means.
This guy is actually proposing building research stations on the moon and Mars. And that's going to be an even bigger investment than just getting there. Is that doable? With enough motivation and money, sure. But that's the kind of motivation that's going to require sacrifice. Would you be willing to see your taxes double to pay for it? Would you be willing to give up one of the big government expenses/entitlements (Social Security, the military, Medicare) and funnel that money to NASA? If your answer is "no" to both of those questions, you can probably forget about your Mars bases. Exploration and colonization that far out isn't going to come cheap. That's going to be a pretty tough sell just to answer the philosophical question "Are we alone?" (especially when the answer may well turn out to be "Yes," at least in this solar system).
And for anyone who might suggest going *beyond* our solar system, well that's even more crazy/expensive. With the kind of propulsion we have now, even in the best case scenario it would take tens of thousands of years to reach even the closest other solar system. So unless you have a warp engine on the drawing board, you can pretty much forget that.
A left-wing protest in San Francisco?!?!? Geez, this movement really *is* different.
Most of the ones I've seen at these protests were STUDENTS, not grads. They're the same sort of professional protestors that show up at EVERY left-wing protest (i.e. college hippies). They show up with their drum circles, issue forth smug rhetoric to any reporter who'll stick a mic in their face, blog about fighting evil corporations on their brand-new MacBooks, smoke some weed, and then go back to school when mom and dad threaten to cut off their money.
You wrong, man. They're all about effecting some sort of change...and stuff.
The French Revolution was more about one group of powerful thugs overthrowing another group of powerful thugs (some have made the same case about the American Revolution too). It was only CLOAKED as a grass-roots revolution. REAL grass-roots revolutions are very rare.
Sure, they have power, armies of private security, full control of the government, etc. But that's no match for the protestors' mighty drum circles!
I've been using Netflix since they started, and much as I love them, even I was left scratching my head over that one. It was such a bonehead move that the only logic I can see behind it is if they were hoping to quietly sell "Quikster" off later without generating any negative press for Netflix (and their stock). Otherwise it just feels like an insult to their customers (an we had already faced a price hike this year already).
I just can't see how they *wouldn't* expect a negative reaction from customers when you tell them "Now you'll have to visit two different sites, with different queues, different passwords, etc." It was taking something simple and making it a much bigger pain in the ass, for no apparent reason.
Look, I know no one likes to speak ill of the dead and all, but geez, last week's lovefest got WAY WAY WAY out of hand. Jobs was an important figure, no doubt, but the over-the-top platitudes were often more humorous and bizarre than heartfelt or touching. There were "expert" commentators on CNN calling Jobs the "most important person in the history of technology" with straight faces. People who didn't even KNOW the guy were crying like their daddy had just died. At one point I think I saw Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper make a teary-eyed pledge to throw themselves on his funeral pyre.
I doubt Jesus' apostles were as upset after the crucifixion as some of the supposedly objective "experts" and "journalists" I saw last week. It's not like I expected them to get into the more negative and tawdry aspects of his past with his body still warm, but I didn't expect such unabashed hero-worship and hagiography either. It was just shameful.
Isn't motivating children their parents job?
Hate to break it to you, but a lot of parents don't do their jobs very well (this is especially true with the more poorly-performing kids). I knew a lot of kids in school who got bad grades, but who had plenty of ability. They didn't excel academically because their parents encouraged them to excel in everything BUT academics. I also knew kids whose parents were basically not even there at all--not even providing for their basic needs, much less encouraging them to excel.
If this high school is anything like my old one, I think the smart kids would probably be more embarrassed by this than the dumb ones. I took way more abuse for being smart than any dumbass ever did for being a moron.
I'm pretty sure the kids already know who the dumb ones are anyway. My old school didn't have anything like this program. But if you had asked me to point out the smart kids and the dumbasses, I wouldn't have had any trouble doing it.
I thought that was IBM.
there's really no denying what the man accomplished was, well, insanely great.
Watch me.