Google Books is notoriously inaccurate, especially with dates. I don't know if it's enough to throw their data off, but I wonder if the researchers realize this.
Wow, I wish I could get car insurance for US$220 p/a. I pay about US$1300 per year. Younger drivers, especially if they carry a note on their car or lease it, would pay twice that amount, or even more. If a person has poor credit the cost can skyrocket. The result is that a lot of people drive without insurance, even though it is illegal. Cigarettes are cheaper in the US, (about US$4 a pack here; I don't smoke, so I don't know for sure), and there is a growing black market for them. If the same people who are not insured were denied fuel, I am confident that a black market would be created.
NB: US and Australian dollars are about par right now.
My objection has nothing to do with the police enforcing the law. I despise people who drive without insurance. But the effect of this law will be to create a black market for fuel. This creates its own new set of problems.
I have the same experience, except substitute "etymology" for "model helicopters" and "wordorigins.org" for "helifreaks.com". If the audience is small enough, and at least semi-professional, it works, regardless of the subject.
They can still be useful if your audience is small enough and professional. However, if you just open it up to the general public then yes, you will get mostly shrill vitriol or nonsensical crackpot comments of the "millennium hand and shrimp" variety.
We may be less likely to do violence as individuals, but we're more than happy to embrace violence if someone else is doing the torture and killing. Lots of people are completely at ease with the fact that a million babies are killed in abortions every year, while many others believe that waterboarding prisoners is perfectly acceptable.
I remember the Michaelangelo virus well. It was the first virus to really hit the national news, and lots of users were worried about it. I was working for a consulting firm in Savannah, GA at the time. I like to tell this story about one of our customers who had heard about the virus on the news.
It was during the Michelangelo hysteria that I received a call from Miss M-, an employee of one of our clients located in the rural town of G-, Georgia.
"Tell me something", she began in her South-Georgia dialect. "How can you get that vahrus they been talkin' about?"
Their computer was an IBM AS400, which was totally immune from Michelangelo. I explained this to her.
"Well, how can you catch that vahrus? How does it move around?"
"Well, um, through the telephone," I answered.
Every day, this woman used her AS400 to call a credit card clearing house computer, and I thought that she could put two and two together.
"The Phone?" she exclaimed. "Well, I mean, how can you get a vahrus over the phone? How can I keep from getting the vahrus? Should I wear gloves or something!"
It finally occurred to me that she wasn't just worried that her computer could get the virus, but that SHE could get the virus from her computer (and I had just told her she could get it over the phone!).
I went through a careful explanation as to how it wasn't a real virus like people get, but was just a little computer program. It was called a virus because it copied itself from computer to computer, sort of like the real thing.
"Oh, my! Well, I'm SO glad I called you. I was SO worried and I didn't know what to do about the vahrus."
I was in such a state of shock all I could do was say, "You're welcome," and hang up.
Ooooh. Scientists figured it out, eh? They suddenly discovered that people of below-average intelligence are allowed to vote and drive cars. I am sooo thankful that we have such geniuses to work these things out for us. Otherwise we would never know.
I have to agree with this. The last LG phone I owned was back in 2003. It was a horrible piece of crap. I was so happy to get a new phone, I took the old LG out in the back yard and smashed it to bits ala Office Space. It is the last LG product I will ever own.
What I find heartening is that this is the 11th Circuit Court (Alabama, Georgia, Florida) -- i.e., not a court known for "wacky" decisions. If it were the 9th Circuit I would be more worried that this fight isn't over.
I particularly liked how the court used the government's own analogy of a combination to a safe to make their ruling. The ruling explained that the Truecrypt software shows random characters even if nothing exists on the hard drive, so if the hard drive is like a safe -- as the government contends -- then it can be full of incriminating evidence, or completely empty. There is no way for the government to know without opening the safe. Therefore the government cannot use the argument that the evidence was a foregone conclusion. Additionally, the court (thankfully) acknowledged that just because the defendant owns a safe, is not an indication that any criminal activity is going on. The ruling both turned the government's analogy on its head, and revealed that the court has a fairly good understanding of the technology.
But seriously, I think what's happening is that people are just putting up more with crappy cars. When repairs cost a significant portion of a car's worth, and the vehicle will still "get ya there", there is no point in getting it fixed. If problems go unreported it can give the illusion that the product is of better quality.
"We came up with a plan to increase competitiveness and innovation," an administration spokesman said, "but we discovered that the process had already been patented, so we had to cancel the project."
Finally, some common sense on this. Not only is there the question of water, but also whether a planet has a magnetic field which protects atmospheric loss to it's sun's solar wind. Yes, the term "Earth like" is overused.
Slashdot Mirror
Now, if we could just attach frickin' lasers to them ...
It's true. The NSA only has authority to monitor American citizens with brown skin.
Google Books is notoriously inaccurate, especially with dates. I don't know if it's enough to throw their data off, but I wonder if the researchers realize this.
It is not circular reasoning. A law that effectively increases overall criminal activity sounds like a poor solution to a problem.
Wow, I wish I could get car insurance for US$220 p/a. I pay about US$1300 per year. Younger drivers, especially if they carry a note on their car or lease it, would pay twice that amount, or even more. If a person has poor credit the cost can skyrocket. The result is that a lot of people drive without insurance, even though it is illegal. Cigarettes are cheaper in the US, (about US$4 a pack here; I don't smoke, so I don't know for sure), and there is a growing black market for them. If the same people who are not insured were denied fuel, I am confident that a black market would be created.
NB: US and Australian dollars are about par right now.
My objection has nothing to do with the police enforcing the law. I despise people who drive without insurance. But the effect of this law will be to create a black market for fuel. This creates its own new set of problems.
This will do nothing more than create a black market for fuel.
I have the same experience, except substitute "etymology" for "model helicopters" and "wordorigins.org" for "helifreaks.com". If the audience is small enough, and at least semi-professional, it works, regardless of the subject.
They can still be useful if your audience is small enough and professional. However, if you just open it up to the general public then yes, you will get mostly shrill vitriol or nonsensical crackpot comments of the "millennium hand and shrimp" variety.
We may be less likely to do violence as individuals, but we're more than happy to embrace violence if someone else is doing the torture and killing. Lots of people are completely at ease with the fact that a million babies are killed in abortions every year, while many others believe that waterboarding prisoners is perfectly acceptable.
...for not calling it the "God particle".
I remember the Michaelangelo virus well. It was the first virus to really hit the national news, and lots of users were worried about it. I was working for a consulting firm in Savannah, GA at the time. I like to tell this story about one of our customers who had heard about the virus on the news.
It was during the Michelangelo hysteria that I received a call from Miss M-, an employee of one of our clients located in the rural town of G-, Georgia.
"Tell me something", she began in her South-Georgia dialect. "How can you get that vahrus they been talkin' about?"
Their computer was an IBM AS400, which was totally immune from Michelangelo. I explained this to her.
"Well, how can you catch that vahrus? How does it move around?"
"Well, um, through the telephone," I answered.
Every day, this woman used her AS400 to call a credit card clearing house computer, and I thought that she could put two and two together.
"The Phone?" she exclaimed. "Well, I mean, how can you get a vahrus over the phone? How can I keep from getting the vahrus? Should I wear gloves or something!"
It finally occurred to me that she wasn't just worried that her computer could get the virus, but that SHE could get the virus from her computer (and I had just told her she could get it over the phone!).
I went through a careful explanation as to how it wasn't a real virus like people get, but was just a little computer program. It was called a virus because it copied itself from computer to computer, sort of like the real thing.
"Oh, my! Well, I'm SO glad I called you. I was SO worried and I didn't know what to do about the vahrus."
I was in such a state of shock all I could do was say, "You're welcome," and hang up.
Ooooh. Scientists figured it out, eh? They suddenly discovered that people of below-average intelligence are allowed to vote and drive cars. I am sooo thankful that we have such geniuses to work these things out for us. Otherwise we would never know.
Dear United Nations,
The internet is not broken. Please do not fix it.
Thank you.
How soon before we can turn this into some sort of weapon?
I have to agree with this. The last LG phone I owned was back in 2003. It was a horrible piece of crap. I was so happy to get a new phone, I took the old LG out in the back yard and smashed it to bits ala Office Space. It is the last LG product I will ever own.
What I find heartening is that this is the 11th Circuit Court (Alabama, Georgia, Florida) -- i.e., not a court known for "wacky" decisions. If it were the 9th Circuit I would be more worried that this fight isn't over.
I particularly liked how the court used the government's own analogy of a combination to a safe to make their ruling. The ruling explained that the Truecrypt software shows random characters even if nothing exists on the hard drive, so if the hard drive is like a safe -- as the government contends -- then it can be full of incriminating evidence, or completely empty. There is no way for the government to know without opening the safe. Therefore the government cannot use the argument that the evidence was a foregone conclusion. Additionally, the court (thankfully) acknowledged that just because the defendant owns a safe, is not an indication that any criminal activity is going on. The ruling both turned the government's analogy on its head, and revealed that the court has a fairly good understanding of the technology.
"We don't have total clunkers like we used to."
He obviously hasn't owned a Chrysler product.
But seriously, I think what's happening is that people are just putting up more with crappy cars. When repairs cost a significant portion of a car's worth, and the vehicle will still "get ya there", there is no point in getting it fixed. If problems go unreported it can give the illusion that the product is of better quality.
That was a very interesting read. Wish I had mod points today.
"We came up with a plan to increase competitiveness and innovation," an administration spokesman said, "but we discovered that the process had already been patented, so we had to cancel the project."
...Tivo will receive the minimum sum of $215 million over six years...
Tivo still thinks they'll be around in six years?
So the physicists who hate the term "God particle" are crazy religious nut jobs having crises of faith? I didn't know so many pysicists were "religious nut jobs".
Finally, some common sense on this. Not only is there the question of water, but also whether a planet has a magnetic field which protects atmospheric loss to it's sun's solar wind. Yes, the term "Earth like" is overused.
Another overused term is "God particle".
Wish I could mod this up. This is, no doubt, the reasoning behind the move.
I made a calendar almost exactly like this in the fifth grade.
I think this one has about as much chance of getting adopted as mine did.