Could someone explain to me what the justification behind unifying all of the fundamental forces is? I'm sure that it would be nice from a physical standpoint to have all of the forces be different facets of one fundamental force, but what if they aren't? Is there any groundbreaking research going on that assumes differently?
It's not "unifying all of the fundamental forces". It's finding a theory that would explain all the forces, as well as provide correct predictions.
For example, General relativity works on the macroscopic scale but fails at the sub-atomic scale. Quantum mechanics is the opposite.
The only reason that we issue copyrights and patents is to encourage producers to create and invent new works. Copyright isn't a right at all, it's a privilege which we the people grant to copyright holders, for limited times, for the benefit of the public.
Used to be. Not anymore.
Nowadays, they are artificial means to ensure continuing profits of non-viable business methods, granted by corrupt governments to corporations rich enough to purchase legislation.
I am not a US citizen or resident but I just donated $50 to Michael's fund. Call me gullible, call me an idiot, whatever... but I believe such issues transcend borders. Yes, the US looks bad from a personal rights viewpoints but I suspect this climate will shortly be exported to Canada.
> The people who export oil don't want to be paid in worthless currency.
They may not have much choice due to signed agreements (backed by US military might).
> U.S. exports are about a trillion dollars a year, > The U.S. is the single largest exporter, with even more exports than China!
Correction, the US is in second place, just behind Germany, but it is very close.
> the global market for oil is at about 300 billion dollars a year.
I wonder where you got this information from.
According to available sources, global oil import/export is a tad above 63 million barrels per day multiply it by the price per barrel (about $73.5/barrel at the time of the posting of this message) and by 365 days/year and you will get around $1.7 trillion.
The vast majority of accidents are not caused by speed. You can look that up. If you don't believe me, the province I live in (which has similar maximum 100 km/h laws) has it on record. The vast majority of collisions are caused by events outside the drivers control ("driving properly). Next up is following too close, third fail to yield, fourth unknown, fifth losing control, sixth other, seventh speed to fast for conditions (not speeding, but going under the limit in bad weather), eighth improper turn, ninth disobeying traffic controls, tenth improper lane changes, eleventh improper passing, twelfth speed too fast.
> If you're buying a used phone, get a new battery right away. > Phone batteries fade off rapidly after a couple of years, in how long they'll hold a charge.
Lithium-ion batteries "fade away" even when left unused, although keeping them at about 40% charge in a low temperature (fridge or even a household freezer) will slow the process.
> If you aren't doing illegal activities over the phone / airwaves / Internet then why worry ? > - They could probably get more useful stuff out of your garbage can. As far as I am concerned > the NSA/CIA/FBI/??? can wiretap and monitor me to their hearts content I promise it will not > only be useless but incredibly boring.
Then, one day in a not-so-distance future, some people decide that loading small remote-controlled airplanes with explosives and flying them into loaded bus stations is safer and more fun than suicide bombing.
Suddenly, your interest in modifying and operating Focke Wulfe 190 replicas gets the interest of the three letter agencies. Oh, and that message in your voice mail was made by a person with a middle-eastern accent that called himself Khalil. Could have been a wrong number but why take any chances? Better put you on the no-fly list just in case...
> I have a lot of porno. I have no interest in images or videos of females under the age of 18. > Not because I think that a female who is 3 hours away from her 18th birthday is less mentally > capable of giving consent than one who is 1 hour after it, but because it's not worth the legal headache.
The point that some of the previous pointers tried to make is that there shouldn't be any legal headache in this case.
> We're not imprisoning people because they possess evidence of a crime, we are imprisoning > them because they are a consumer of the fruits of that crime, something which can only come > *from* a crime. This is the same exact reason that snuff films are illegal. (emphasis mine).
Not really. Drawings of naked people that "appear to be" underage (that includes the popular Japanese fetish of schoolgirl uniforms) are also illegal to possess.
> Or are you trying to say that it's an evolutionary imperative that males molest children, > because if that's the case, then apparently I'm evolutionally devolved as this does not > appeal to me in the slightest.
He's saying that mating with a 15yo is biologically and evolutionarily advantageous to mating with a 20yo.
Incidentally, in Canada it is legal to have sex with a 14yo but illegal to possess any document of the fact.
> Actually, no. In 1994, SCOTUS found that using a melody from another song is legal fair use, > if the new version is genuinely a new song, even if the entire song is noticeably similar to the original.
And I thought that you could copyright as little as four notes.
If just to freeze a wart (takes 5 min tops, I have a dermatologist in the family) one has to wait 3 months, it means that there are not enough specialists to meet the demand.
People are suffering, and sometimes dying, while waiting (sometimes years) for treatment of serious problems. I hear about it from friends, read about it in the papers. I'm just lucky that the only first-hand experiences with the Canadian healthcare I could provide are trivial in comparison.
I may be spoiled but before I came to Canada, I got used to another public healthcare system where I would not have to wait 3-5 hours in the ER to see a doctor and waiting for specialist appointments was much shorter.
Oh, just for reference, warts can be painful and, more importantly, are infectious. When one of your children gets them, it is very inconvenient.
In Canada, we have never managed to spend less than 3 hours in the ER (usually closer to 5) waiting to be seen by a doctor. Got a referral to a dermatologist to treat a wart. Called their office, got an appointment scheduled in 3 months.
Yes, socialized medicine is great, but only if done right.
> People here are top-tier, driven, bright, and creative.
And either misguided or misinformed.
As many others said, my opinion is that the DHS is just another power grab intended to limit personal freedom under the guise of "security" while at the same time perpetuating the lack of security to keep justifying their existence.
> I decided the morning of 9/11 that I would not seek a job at a Biotech or Pharma > company in the Bay Area upon graduation, but would rather try to get involved and > help the nation with whatever talent and education I have been given.
Nothing against you or the other people that work there but I believe that your passion and idealism are being cynically used and abused.
> Oh, and for the record, DHS employees are not required to be members of the Republican party.
The differences between the two major parties nowadays are mostly artificial and are intended to give the people the illusion of choice (thus keeping the voters from considering other candidates).
> Ironically, the Green party (which should by definition be a dedicated single-issue party) > actually has a very comprehensive and well thought-out platform, > but they haven't got a single seat in their history. (emphasis mine)
Slashdot Mirror
It's not "unifying all of the fundamental forces". It's finding a theory that would explain all the forces, as well as provide correct predictions.
For example, General relativity works on the macroscopic scale but fails at the sub-atomic scale. Quantum mechanics is the opposite.
Used to be. Not anymore.
Nowadays, they are artificial means to ensure continuing profits of non-viable business methods, granted by corrupt governments to corporations rich enough to purchase legislation.
> No, I really loathe gmail as well. (And I work for Google.)
Then you may be in a position to push for IMAP support in Gmail.
Do you?
> Seriously. Aren't we big enough, as a species, to realize that [...]
Jay: Why the big secret? People are smart, they can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.
I'm trying to get involved in Canadian cases that I know about.
It is not an "either / or" proposition.
It's all a question of expectations.
I do not compare the US to 3rd world totalitarian regimes.
I am not a US citizen or resident but I just donated $50 to Michael's fund.
Call me gullible, call me an idiot, whatever... but I believe such issues transcend borders.
Yes, the US looks bad from a personal rights viewpoints but I suspect this climate will shortly be exported to Canada.
> The people who export oil don't want to be paid in worthless currency.
They may not have much choice due to signed agreements (backed by US military might).
> U.S. exports are about a trillion dollars a year,
> The U.S. is the single largest exporter, with even more exports than China!
Correction, the US is in second place, just behind Germany, but it is very close.
> the global market for oil is at about 300 billion dollars a year.
I wonder where you got this information from.
According to available sources, global oil import/export is a tad above 63 million barrels per day multiply it by the price per barrel (about $73.5/barrel at the time of the posting of this message) and by 365 days/year and you will get around $1.7 trillion.
But how would you fund an AllOfMP3 account now that using Visa etc. does not work?
and oil.
Mod AC parent up.
According to the Apparent Driver Action by Class of Collision table, speeding was the reason for a whopping 0.74% of the collisions in Ontario for the year 2004.
.
> "Piracy" means violating either copyrights or trademarks.
Congratulations, you've been brainwashed.
.
Evil color...
Brown note...
Why don't they invent a Tasp already and be done with it?
> If you're buying a used phone, get a new battery right away.
> Phone batteries fade off rapidly after a couple of years, in how long they'll hold a charge.
Lithium-ion batteries "fade away" even when left unused, although keeping them at about 40% charge in a low temperature (fridge or even a household freezer) will slow the process.
> You're not just dense, you're a fucking idiot
Not according to the court's definition of "fucking".
> If you aren't doing illegal activities over the phone / airwaves / Internet then why worry ?
> - They could probably get more useful stuff out of your garbage can. As far as I am concerned
> the NSA/CIA/FBI/??? can wiretap and monitor me to their hearts content I promise it will not
> only be useless but incredibly boring.
Then, one day in a not-so-distance future, some people decide that loading small remote-controlled airplanes with explosives and flying them into loaded bus stations is safer and more fun than suicide bombing.
Suddenly, your interest in modifying and operating Focke Wulfe 190 replicas gets the interest of the three letter agencies. Oh, and that message in your voice mail was made by a person with a middle-eastern accent that called himself Khalil. Could have been a wrong number but why take any chances? Better put you on the no-fly list just in case...
> I have a lot of porno. I have no interest in images or videos of females under the age of 18.
> Not because I think that a female who is 3 hours away from her 18th birthday is less mentally
> capable of giving consent than one who is 1 hour after it, but because it's not worth the legal headache.
The point that some of the previous pointers tried to make is that there shouldn't be any legal headache in this case.
> We're not imprisoning people because they possess evidence of a crime, we are imprisoning
> them because they are a consumer of the fruits of that crime, something which can only come
> *from* a crime. This is the same exact reason that snuff films are illegal. (emphasis mine).
Not really. Drawings of naked people that "appear to be" underage (that includes the popular Japanese fetish of schoolgirl uniforms) are also illegal to possess.
> Or are you trying to say that it's an evolutionary imperative that males molest children,
> because if that's the case, then apparently I'm evolutionally devolved as this does not
> appeal to me in the slightest.
He's saying that mating with a 15yo is biologically and evolutionarily advantageous to mating with a 20yo.
Incidentally, in Canada it is legal to have sex with a 14yo but illegal to possess any document of the fact.
> Actually, no. In 1994, SCOTUS found that using a melody from another song is legal fair use,
> if the new version is genuinely a new song, even if the entire song is noticeably similar to the original.
And I thought that you could copyright as little as four notes.
You are missing the point.
If just to freeze a wart (takes 5 min tops, I have a dermatologist in the family) one has to wait 3 months, it means that there are not enough specialists to meet the demand.
People are suffering, and sometimes dying, while waiting (sometimes years) for treatment of serious problems. I hear about it from friends, read about it in the papers. I'm just lucky that the only first-hand experiences with the Canadian healthcare I could provide are trivial in comparison.
I may be spoiled but before I came to Canada, I got used to another public healthcare system where I would not have to wait 3-5 hours in the ER to see a doctor and waiting for specialist appointments was much shorter.
Oh, just for reference, warts can be painful and, more importantly, are infectious. When one of your children gets them, it is very inconvenient.
> The problem is the American voter continuously re-elect the fools who do these things.
Did you mean the Republicrats or the Demolicans?
.
I'm envious.
In Canada, we have never managed to spend less than 3 hours in the ER (usually closer to 5) waiting to be seen by a doctor.
Got a referral to a dermatologist to treat a wart. Called their office, got an appointment scheduled in 3 months.
Yes, socialized medicine is great, but only if done right.
> I think you're misunderstanding "Ausweispflicht".
Gesundheit!
> People here are top-tier, driven, bright, and creative.
And either misguided or misinformed.
As many others said, my opinion is that the DHS is just another power grab intended to limit personal freedom under the guise of "security" while at the same time perpetuating the lack of security to keep justifying their existence.
> I decided the morning of 9/11 that I would not seek a job at a Biotech or Pharma
> company in the Bay Area upon graduation, but would rather try to get involved and
> help the nation with whatever talent and education I have been given.
Nothing against you or the other people that work there but I believe that your passion and idealism are being cynically used and abused.
> Oh, and for the record, DHS employees are not required to be members of the Republican party.
The differences between the two major parties nowadays are mostly artificial and are intended to give the people the illusion of choice (thus keeping the voters from considering other candidates).
> Ironically, the Green party (which should by definition be a dedicated single-issue party)
> actually has a very comprehensive and well thought-out platform,
> but they haven't got a single seat in their history.
(emphasis mine)
And what are you doing about it?