Keep in mind that "true" capitalism as you described it is not reached through Gov't interference with the market, but rather through market forces bringing things to equilibrium. It relies on people knowing what is best for themselves and thus not participating in any transactions that do not create wealth for them. Another point - "wealth" here is a relative term. What is wealth for me could be junk to you. Lets assume for the sake of example that you're a classical music fan, and I'm a hard rocker. If we both buy a Blindside CD, then chances are I created wealth for myself AND for the RIAA's lawyers while you only created wealth for the corporation and not for yourself, since the CD isn't really worth much to you. So really, some people could have bought a DRM'd CD and created wealth for themselves, lets say if they don't bother listening to music on their computer. For me, however, a DRM'd CD is worth less because there's a greater potential that I can't do what I want with it (listen on my computer, put it on my iPod, etc.)
heh. Way to pick on a misspelling to avoid developing a coherent and useful response. I stand in awe of your prowess in the realms of logic and reasoning.
P.S. It's spelt "fucktoid."
True, they wouldn't be all that useful with a desktop computer, but with a laptop they could have some merit and even moreso with something portable like my Palm T|X. I would assume that it would work with any device that has Bluetooth and plays music, right? Speaking of which, I'm still longing for the day when Apple releases a BT-capable ipod. Anyone think it'll happen?
Very true, but somewhat off topic. The problem with the Catholic Church (in medieval times, at least) is that they didn't give a crap and a half about what God thought, just what could get them more power. It wasn't academic at all during certain parts of its history (including the inquisition), just political. Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica," Augustine's "Confessions," and other ancient catholic works can still have plenty of relevance though, because those, like nearly all respectable theological works, weren't written during times of corruption. Keep in mind that I never said we should abandon independant thought, not by any means. I'm saying we should temper it with the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the Church.
By the way, would you lose all faith in science if I told that for thousands of years the leading European scientists believed in spontaneous generation (i.e. maggots spontaneously generating from rotten meat)?
Of course, it can't be disproven either. I find it hilarious when people point this out, because science, by definition, is experimental study of the natural world. When you leave the realm of the natural world, it isn't science anymore. That doesn't mean there isn't anything outside of the natural world, it just means that we can't come to any conclusions about it scientifically.
You've opened up one of the biggest cans of worms in Theology, but C.S. Lewis covered it quite succinctly in pointing out that no, the church is not God, but the church is probably a whole lot more qualified to interpret God's will, since two milleniums of millions of minds is probably better than a year or two of one mind. Don't get me wrong, independant thinking is great, but you shouldn't just "screw the middleman" and toss out all that accumulated wisdom. That would be like saying "screw the middleman" with science and not reading any textbooks or listining to any teachers, and instead just trying to prove the whole thing from Newton to Einstein from scratch. Sure you can try, but chances are you'll get something pretty far off from reality. Take everyone else's knowledge, learn about it, add your own thoughts, and decide for yourself. Don't just jump straight ahead to deciding.
I know I'm going to get modded down for this, but I'm saying it anyways because it must be said. Embryonic stem cell research has not produced any treatments yet, while adult and umbilical cord stem cells have produced or are close to producing hundreds of cures already. There is nothing that embryonic stem cells can do that umbilical cord stem cells can't, aside from pissing off pro-lifers.
Another thing that is MAJORLY wrong is that for some as yet unknown reason pharmaceutical companies can only patent research based on embryonic research and not on adult stem cells. That needs to change immediately, and I have a feeling that once it does change the push for embryonic research will subside a good deal since there isn't as much money to be made in it.
heh, no, he was definitely diagnosed correctly. He actually had his larynx removed before they started him on the experimental treatment (placebo) so he can only talk in whispers now. Somehow I doubt that they'd do that on a misdiagnosis.
Interesting note - he hadn't smoked a cigarette in something like six year, possibly more, at the time he was diagnosed. He got the cancer even though he had quit.
A good friend of my family had throat cancer from smoking for twenty-odd years, and he is now in permanant remission after being placed on the placebo of an experimental drug program. Chalk it up to prayer, or chalk it up to the placebo effect, your choice.
It's really easy. A friend of mine has a pez dispenser USB drive, he just yanked the case off the drive and epoxied it onto a Woodstock pez dispenser. I might do something like that sometime soon, it gives it a nice personal touch.
This is true, but the fact that it's easy to port games to the Revolution doesn't mean it'll have better games like the PS2 did, it just ensures that it'll have the same games, or at least most of the same games. Unless developers FOCUS their game-making on the Revolution, it'll be stuck with ports of games made primarily for the other platforms, which will make it equal to the others at the very most. Not better. You do have a point about the pricing, but my personal viewpoint is that unless I'm getting somethin a LOT better, I'm going to stick with my PC and PS2. I'd rather spend $400 on a huge improvement than $200 on a marginal one. That might be different for other people, of course.
Sure it might be easy to get the games onto the Revolution platform, but due to the lower specs they obviously won't be as good, so why bother? Go with the PS3 or 360 and get the same game in all its graphical glory.
Doesn't this bring new meaning to the term "old news?" I mean seriously, reporting an event a few days afterwards is one this, but 53 years is a bit much.
Sure thing. Essentially, Miller and Urey used the wrong model of the early Earth's atmosphere in their experiments. And if abiogenesis research has come a long way why do textbooks still cite the now-useless Miller-Urey experiment as evidence for spontaneous generation of life?
I agree. I'm a Christian, and a Creationist (day-age is what I lean towards), but I have no problem with an exhibit on Darwin, and I wouldn't boycott a company that sponsored it. Darwin did have some good ideas - I think he may have extrapolated too far, but that doesn't change the fact that microevolution is a well proven and useful scientific theory that has contributed a good bit to our current knowledge of life. I'd have to see the actual content of the exhibit to judge it, but most of the misinformation out there isn't about Darwin, it's about what came after him (Miller-Urey experiment, for example, which is still in bio textbooks after being proven useless).
Of course, the end user really doesn't care about this at all. They just want their wireless card to work. And when it works on Windows and not Linux, the obvious conclusion is less than flattering to the open source community.
A company recommended that other companies stop using a program. Big whoop, M$ has been recommending that about Linux for years. Sure it may SLOW Skype's progress, but I don't think it'll demolish it by any means. If it really does boost productivity in the corporate world, corporations are unlikely to ban it.
You definitely have a good point there. Everyone around here bashes Microsoft obviously, and for good reason. Their business practices can get a bit on the shady side sometimes, though they problably aren't deserving of quite the amount of hate they get around these parts. But their programming and research, particularly research, isn't that shabby, and certainly isn't "evil." Remember, M$ doesn't just sell operating systems, it makes them too, and to do that you have to have brains. I think some people around here need to give at least the engineers and researchers in Microsoft a little more respect.
I dual boot XP and Ubuntu, so obviously I do "know better," but I still use Windows primarily. It's more stable, has more programs available, and it's easier for me to set it up how I like it. At this point I COULD switch to linux as my primary OS, but I really have no inclination to since it's a noticably less mature product. I support the open source movement all the way, and use quite a bit of open source software even in Windows, but I'm not about to call everyone who uses commercial software a moron or a crackhead.
Challenger explosion, anyone? Long story short, the engineers saw the problem, told NASA not to launch, and all the business guys thought it'd be bad for PR to delay the lauch. Little did they know....
Read the full story from an engineer's perspective here.
Just a small comment, you can expand the functionality of GDS quite easily with plugins. You mentioned GAIM, and I'm using a plugin that logs GAIM chats directly to GDS. I wouldn't call it an indispensible tool, but it's certainly nice to have around. I would really like them to improve the email plugin that's included with it to access gmail accounts - it works, but it's clunky and doesn't have the simple and useful feel that I've come to expect from Google, especially as it relates to Gmail.
As for Linux, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Google eventually released versions of all their software for Linux, but for now I think they're simply focusing on building their Windows base. In fact, I think they might have something particularly cool and google-ish up their sleeve, maybe a Google GUI as one person said, or even a Google distribution or something like WINE for Google apps. I'm just speculating here, but it's definitely cool to think of the possibilities.
Full disclosure: I am a Christian and currently lean towards progressive creationism, but I do not by any means rule out evolution on religious grounds.
I agree here, macroevolution is not very scientific in my mind. On the other hand, Intelligent Design is certainly no better in that sense. I think the best way to go about it would be to teach neither theory extensively in a science class, and give all theories, from intelligent design to evolution to aquatic apes and aliens, thorough treatment in a separate "origins of life" class, which would be more philosophy than science, though the two obviously have significant overlap. This would also promote full discosure of the hole in evolution, something which my high school biology textbook neglected. It actually referred to the Miller-Urey Experiment, which was shown to be based on an inaccurate model of the earth's early atmosphere long before the textbook was published. I think students at least deserve to be told the truth about the evidence for and against evolution, whether or not any intelligent design is taught, and I think having a separate class on origins would encourage this by allowing more time for complete coverage of this subject.
But if you have an upgrade version of XP, then you must have a full version of an earlier Windows lying around. Sure it's a bit more of a pain, but you can just install 98, then install the XP upgrade, and you're good to go. As for your second point, I've used the same Windows license on two machines (it was a Dell OEM disk), and it wasn't a problem at all. In fact, the first two times I installed it on the second machine I was even able to use online activation, then for some reason after I reformatted a few months ago I had to call them up. I actually didn't even lie, I told exactly what I was doing, and they were like "okay, here's the activation code for ya." So it really isn't hard at all to install XP from the same disk on two machines.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep in mind that "true" capitalism as you described it is not reached through Gov't interference with the market, but rather through market forces bringing things to equilibrium. It relies on people knowing what is best for themselves and thus not participating in any transactions that do not create wealth for them. Another point - "wealth" here is a relative term. What is wealth for me could be junk to you. Lets assume for the sake of example that you're a classical music fan, and I'm a hard rocker. If we both buy a Blindside CD, then chances are I created wealth for myself AND for the RIAA's lawyers while you only created wealth for the corporation and not for yourself, since the CD isn't really worth much to you. So really, some people could have bought a DRM'd CD and created wealth for themselves, lets say if they don't bother listening to music on their computer. For me, however, a DRM'd CD is worth less because there's a greater potential that I can't do what I want with it (listen on my computer, put it on my iPod, etc.)
heh. Way to pick on a misspelling to avoid developing a coherent and useful response. I stand in awe of your prowess in the realms of logic and reasoning. P.S. It's spelt "fucktoid."
True, they wouldn't be all that useful with a desktop computer, but with a laptop they could have some merit and even moreso with something portable like my Palm T|X. I would assume that it would work with any device that has Bluetooth and plays music, right? Speaking of which, I'm still longing for the day when Apple releases a BT-capable ipod. Anyone think it'll happen?
Very true, but somewhat off topic. The problem with the Catholic Church (in medieval times, at least) is that they didn't give a crap and a half about what God thought, just what could get them more power. It wasn't academic at all during certain parts of its history (including the inquisition), just political. Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica," Augustine's "Confessions," and other ancient catholic works can still have plenty of relevance though, because those, like nearly all respectable theological works, weren't written during times of corruption. Keep in mind that I never said we should abandon independant thought, not by any means. I'm saying we should temper it with the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the Church. By the way, would you lose all faith in science if I told that for thousands of years the leading European scientists believed in spontaneous generation (i.e. maggots spontaneously generating from rotten meat)?
Of course, it can't be disproven either. I find it hilarious when people point this out, because science, by definition, is experimental study of the natural world. When you leave the realm of the natural world, it isn't science anymore. That doesn't mean there isn't anything outside of the natural world, it just means that we can't come to any conclusions about it scientifically.
You've opened up one of the biggest cans of worms in Theology, but C.S. Lewis covered it quite succinctly in pointing out that no, the church is not God, but the church is probably a whole lot more qualified to interpret God's will, since two milleniums of millions of minds is probably better than a year or two of one mind. Don't get me wrong, independant thinking is great, but you shouldn't just "screw the middleman" and toss out all that accumulated wisdom. That would be like saying "screw the middleman" with science and not reading any textbooks or listining to any teachers, and instead just trying to prove the whole thing from Newton to Einstein from scratch. Sure you can try, but chances are you'll get something pretty far off from reality. Take everyone else's knowledge, learn about it, add your own thoughts, and decide for yourself. Don't just jump straight ahead to deciding.
I know I'm going to get modded down for this, but I'm saying it anyways because it must be said. Embryonic stem cell research has not produced any treatments yet, while adult and umbilical cord stem cells have produced or are close to producing hundreds of cures already. There is nothing that embryonic stem cells can do that umbilical cord stem cells can't, aside from pissing off pro-lifers.
Another thing that is MAJORLY wrong is that for some as yet unknown reason pharmaceutical companies can only patent research based on embryonic research and not on adult stem cells. That needs to change immediately, and I have a feeling that once it does change the push for embryonic research will subside a good deal since there isn't as much money to be made in it.
heh, no, he was definitely diagnosed correctly. He actually had his larynx removed before they started him on the experimental treatment (placebo) so he can only talk in whispers now. Somehow I doubt that they'd do that on a misdiagnosis. Interesting note - he hadn't smoked a cigarette in something like six year, possibly more, at the time he was diagnosed. He got the cancer even though he had quit.
A good friend of my family had throat cancer from smoking for twenty-odd years, and he is now in permanant remission after being placed on the placebo of an experimental drug program. Chalk it up to prayer, or chalk it up to the placebo effect, your choice.
and thanks for all the fish.
Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
I think so Brain, but I really don't enjoy diet soda very much.
No Pinky! Tonight, we're going to steal the humans' brain cells - AND TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!
It's really easy. A friend of mine has a pez dispenser USB drive, he just yanked the case off the drive and epoxied it onto a Woodstock pez dispenser. I might do something like that sometime soon, it gives it a nice personal touch.
This is true, but the fact that it's easy to port games to the Revolution doesn't mean it'll have better games like the PS2 did, it just ensures that it'll have the same games, or at least most of the same games. Unless developers FOCUS their game-making on the Revolution, it'll be stuck with ports of games made primarily for the other platforms, which will make it equal to the others at the very most. Not better. You do have a point about the pricing, but my personal viewpoint is that unless I'm getting somethin a LOT better, I'm going to stick with my PC and PS2. I'd rather spend $400 on a huge improvement than $200 on a marginal one. That might be different for other people, of course.
Sure it might be easy to get the games onto the Revolution platform, but due to the lower specs they obviously won't be as good, so why bother? Go with the PS3 or 360 and get the same game in all its graphical glory.
Doesn't this bring new meaning to the term "old news?" I mean seriously, reporting an event a few days afterwards is one this, but 53 years is a bit much.
Sure thing. Essentially, Miller and Urey used the wrong model of the early Earth's atmosphere in their experiments. And if abiogenesis research has come a long way why do textbooks still cite the now-useless Miller-Urey experiment as evidence for spontaneous generation of life?
I agree. I'm a Christian, and a Creationist (day-age is what I lean towards), but I have no problem with an exhibit on Darwin, and I wouldn't boycott a company that sponsored it. Darwin did have some good ideas - I think he may have extrapolated too far, but that doesn't change the fact that microevolution is a well proven and useful scientific theory that has contributed a good bit to our current knowledge of life. I'd have to see the actual content of the exhibit to judge it, but most of the misinformation out there isn't about Darwin, it's about what came after him (Miller-Urey experiment, for example, which is still in bio textbooks after being proven useless).
Of course, the end user really doesn't care about this at all. They just want their wireless card to work. And when it works on Windows and not Linux, the obvious conclusion is less than flattering to the open source community.
A company recommended that other companies stop using a program. Big whoop, M$ has been recommending that about Linux for years. Sure it may SLOW Skype's progress, but I don't think it'll demolish it by any means. If it really does boost productivity in the corporate world, corporations are unlikely to ban it.
You definitely have a good point there. Everyone around here bashes Microsoft obviously, and for good reason. Their business practices can get a bit on the shady side sometimes, though they problably aren't deserving of quite the amount of hate they get around these parts. But their programming and research, particularly research, isn't that shabby, and certainly isn't "evil." Remember, M$ doesn't just sell operating systems, it makes them too, and to do that you have to have brains. I think some people around here need to give at least the engineers and researchers in Microsoft a little more respect.
I dual boot XP and Ubuntu, so obviously I do "know better," but I still use Windows primarily. It's more stable, has more programs available, and it's easier for me to set it up how I like it. At this point I COULD switch to linux as my primary OS, but I really have no inclination to since it's a noticably less mature product. I support the open source movement all the way, and use quite a bit of open source software even in Windows, but I'm not about to call everyone who uses commercial software a moron or a crackhead.
Challenger explosion, anyone? Long story short, the engineers saw the problem, told NASA not to launch, and all the business guys thought it'd be bad for PR to delay the lauch. Little did they know....
Read the full story from an engineer's perspective here.
Just a small comment, you can expand the functionality of GDS quite easily with plugins. You mentioned GAIM, and I'm using a plugin that logs GAIM chats directly to GDS. I wouldn't call it an indispensible tool, but it's certainly nice to have around. I would really like them to improve the email plugin that's included with it to access gmail accounts - it works, but it's clunky and doesn't have the simple and useful feel that I've come to expect from Google, especially as it relates to Gmail.
As for Linux, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Google eventually released versions of all their software for Linux, but for now I think they're simply focusing on building their Windows base. In fact, I think they might have something particularly cool and google-ish up their sleeve, maybe a Google GUI as one person said, or even a Google distribution or something like WINE for Google apps. I'm just speculating here, but it's definitely cool to think of the possibilities.
Full disclosure: I am a Christian and currently lean towards progressive creationism, but I do not by any means rule out evolution on religious grounds.
I agree here, macroevolution is not very scientific in my mind. On the other hand, Intelligent Design is certainly no better in that sense. I think the best way to go about it would be to teach neither theory extensively in a science class, and give all theories, from intelligent design to evolution to aquatic apes and aliens, thorough treatment in a separate "origins of life" class, which would be more philosophy than science, though the two obviously have significant overlap. This would also promote full discosure of the hole in evolution, something which my high school biology textbook neglected. It actually referred to the Miller-Urey Experiment, which was shown to be based on an inaccurate model of the earth's early atmosphere long before the textbook was published. I think students at least deserve to be told the truth about the evidence for and against evolution, whether or not any intelligent design is taught, and I think having a separate class on origins would encourage this by allowing more time for complete coverage of this subject.
But if you have an upgrade version of XP, then you must have a full version of an earlier Windows lying around. Sure it's a bit more of a pain, but you can just install 98, then install the XP upgrade, and you're good to go. As for your second point, I've used the same Windows license on two machines (it was a Dell OEM disk), and it wasn't a problem at all. In fact, the first two times I installed it on the second machine I was even able to use online activation, then for some reason after I reformatted a few months ago I had to call them up. I actually didn't even lie, I told exactly what I was doing, and they were like "okay, here's the activation code for ya." So it really isn't hard at all to install XP from the same disk on two machines.