Does the federal government not trust the states anymore?
You mean to do things like set a drinking age or speed limits? No. I'm sure there are other examples of where the federal government likes to tell the states things it doesn't have the authority to.
Re:Speech is the only thing that makes us human?
on
The Human Mutation
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· Score: 1
I actually thought of that while writing the comment, but ignored it because I didn't think I would classify their imitations as speech. After looking into the matter a bit, I now see that parrots are much closer to speech than I thought (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot#Sound_imitati on_and_speech). Does anyone know for sure whether parrots have a language and can talk to each other like humans can?
They did not actually find the gene which "makes us human," as that would actually be several million genes (1.2% of the human genome). They found a gene which causes apes to produce "neuropsin, a protein that plays a role in learning and memory."
Tell me if I'm wrong (sources if you can find them) but don't apes already have near the level of learning and memory we have? They have some level of socialization and tool use, which are two of the important ideas that set us apart from "animals". IMO, a better breakthrough would be to see if apes have some sort of moral code, or even finding the genes that give us a voicebox. Speech is the one thing we have that no other animal does. Speech leads to language, which is really the only way (I can think of, at least) to exchange abstract ideas (another gene to look for, abstract thought).
I guess they should say "might see if it went supernova soon."
We know information cannot travel faster than the speed of light (or if you prefer, cannot reach outside the light-cone of the event). So if an event "happens" 7500 light years away, did it really happen before the light reaches us? In some sense, an event has not happened until we are inside its light-cone.
Perhaps it "happens" when its light-cone intersects ours? The question with this interpretation is, where does our light-cone start?
Time is relative, and over distances of at least the order of a light second (186,000+ miles), it is difficult to think about correctly.
As far as I can tell from the articles, most of the observation was through means other than the optical spectrum pictures you're looking for (e.g. x-ray and IR pictures, spectroscopy, etc.). In fact, this supernova was so far away (240 million light years) that I'm not sure they could see it through optical telescopes. Most of a supernova's radiation (especially in something this violent) is emitted in the gamma ray range.
how much do you value your privacy? prepare for the mother of all click thru EULAs.
Your standard wired ISP makes you agree to a EULA (usually including things like not running servers). They just don't make you click through it, they put it in 3pt font on the back of some random sheet of paper. They can also monitor and record your internet activity just as easily as this proposed company.
was the game in the car with him? the three reasons I can think of are: (1) the kid just bought it; (2) He wanted to borrow it and just got it; or (3) The friend had borrowed it and was returning it. In two of those three he wouldn't have even played the game yet, and in the third he hadn't been playing it recently. Seems to me that the anti-video-game people are trying to shove guilt by association on us.
"Well, that's good 'cause computers don't make mistakes, right?"
Well, they're right, but for the wrong reason.
Computers don't make mistakes (besides a couple processor bugs hardly anyone runs into)
Programmers, on the other hand (and I'm including myself here) frequently make mistakes. That's the problem. Closed code means only 10-20 programmers see any given piece of the code. With open source code, there are 10-20 thousand people who see any stretch of code. This means bugs are more likely to be caught before mission-critical time. I don't think GPL-style open source is the right solution here, rather the company should open the code for viewing, but make their programmers the only ones who can alter it (with suggestions from the OSS community).
the law makes no stipulation that circumvention be only to prevent illegal copies.
IANAL, but in terms of copyright, congress only has the power "To promote the Progress of... useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors... the exclusive Right to their... Writings" (omissions are for science/patents). Isn't that part of the DMCA like outlawing cars because they can be used for speeding? Both would take away an often-used legitimate use of technology because it allows a potential for illegal use. It's even more rediculous than the statements all over about "Use of this product for anything other than it's intended purpose is illegal." I've seen that warning on milk crates...
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You mean to do things like set a drinking age or speed limits? No. I'm sure there are other examples of where the federal government likes to tell the states things it doesn't have the authority to.
I actually thought of that while writing the comment, but ignored it because I didn't think I would classify their imitations as speech. After looking into the matter a bit, I now see that parrots are much closer to speech than I thought (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot#Sound_imitati on_and_speech). Does anyone know for sure whether parrots have a language and can talk to each other like humans can?
... overstatement by the summary.
They did not actually find the gene which "makes us human," as that would actually be several million genes (1.2% of the human genome). They found a gene which causes apes to produce "neuropsin, a protein that plays a role in learning and memory."
Tell me if I'm wrong (sources if you can find them) but don't apes already have near the level of learning and memory we have? They have some level of socialization and tool use, which are two of the important ideas that set us apart from "animals". IMO, a better breakthrough would be to see if apes have some sort of moral code, or even finding the genes that give us a voicebox. Speech is the one thing we have that no other animal does. Speech leads to language, which is really the only way (I can think of, at least) to exchange abstract ideas (another gene to look for, abstract thought).
Perhaps it "happens" when its light-cone intersects ours? The question with this interpretation is, where does our light-cone start?
Time is relative, and over distances of at least the order of a light second (186,000+ miles), it is difficult to think about correctly.
As far as I can tell from the articles, most of the observation was through means other than the optical spectrum pictures you're looking for (e.g. x-ray and IR pictures, spectroscopy, etc.). In fact, this supernova was so far away (240 million light years) that I'm not sure they could see it through optical telescopes. Most of a supernova's radiation (especially in something this violent) is emitted in the gamma ray range.
This has nothing to do with the occupation of Iraq.
Yes and no.
This bill was the one which Bush used as his justification to invade Iraq, merely because he claimed Iraq had helped the terrorists.
Since we did destroy the country, it is arguably our responsibility to see that it is rebuilt, which is Bush's justification for staying.
Reinstall windows every few months.
how much do you value your privacy? prepare for the mother of all click thru EULAs.
Your standard wired ISP makes you agree to a EULA (usually including things like not running servers). They just don't make you click through it, they put it in 3pt font on the back of some random sheet of paper. They can also monitor and record your internet activity just as easily as this proposed company.
In my experience, one of the easiest ways to learn a language is to learn some syntax, and then play around on an IDE with good code completion.
I knew there was a reason to use AMD64
Someone at MS has to make sure Windows doesn't get labeled spyware.
World... Of... Warcraft
Citrin pointed out that his employment contract permitted him to "destroy" data in the laptop when he left the company.
His right to do this was in his contract. Can anyone tell me why a contract can no longer protect an individual from a company?
The tax collector goes by the name of Netflix and is quite flexible in terms of providing interesting content.
Not for long
redudant RAID
how ironic...
could you post a link to a python exe compiler?
They at least have some money to back it up
But since it's Canadian money, it won't go very far.
was the game in the car with him? the three reasons I can think of are: (1) the kid just bought it; (2) He wanted to borrow it and just got it; or (3) The friend had borrowed it and was returning it. In two of those three he wouldn't have even played the game yet, and in the third he hadn't been playing it recently. Seems to me that the anti-video-game people are trying to shove guilt by association on us.
and they're still faster... imagine that.
Must be from New England.
Snow doesn't have a regular structure. That's one of the differences between ice and snow.
I don't think it matters whether you store the votes on paper, in NVRAM, on a disk drive, or as stacks of pebbles in labeled buckets.
:-)
Why bring afghanistan into this?
would the court really uphold such a claim when it conflicts with matters of great public importance?
I think you are forgetting who owns whom in America.
"Well, that's good 'cause computers don't make mistakes, right?"
Well, they're right, but for the wrong reason.
Computers don't make mistakes (besides a couple processor bugs hardly anyone runs into)
Programmers, on the other hand (and I'm including myself here) frequently make mistakes. That's the problem. Closed code means only 10-20 programmers see any given piece of the code. With open source code, there are 10-20 thousand people who see any stretch of code. This means bugs are more likely to be caught before mission-critical time. I don't think GPL-style open source is the right solution here, rather the company should open the code for viewing, but make their programmers the only ones who can alter it (with suggestions from the OSS community).
the law makes no stipulation that circumvention be only to prevent illegal copies.
IANAL, but in terms of copyright, congress only has the power "To promote the Progress of... useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors... the exclusive Right to their... Writings" (omissions are for science/patents). Isn't that part of the DMCA like outlawing cars because they can be used for speeding? Both would take away an often-used legitimate use of technology because it allows a potential for illegal use. It's even more rediculous than the statements all over about "Use of this product for anything other than it's intended purpose is illegal." I've seen that warning on milk crates...