Interesting development in black hole theory
Stephen Hawking is upending the world of physics, again. http://www.nature.com/news/stephen-hawking-there-are-no-black-holes-1.14583 --[Lance] ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Evony (was Re: Starting Engineer's Salaries)
Rceeberger said the following on 10/22/2010 9:23 PM: I've been here...I read the conversations and more or less keep up. I just havent had much worth adding recently. Mostly I spend my online time playing Evony, where I am the host of Bavaria, a top 10 alliance on SS51. We use Skype in Bavaria so I can be found there pretty much every night under Xponent. Drop by and chat sometime if any of you get a spare few. Evony? Really? I didn't think anyone actually played that game... --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Clash of Titans
Alberto Monteiro said the following on 6/4/2010 7:36 AM: It's Evil, pure and simple Evil. Why they can't stick to History or Mythology, or even stay close to the books the movie is supposed to be based on, and just play with the visual? Those that did that became classicals: Ben Hur, Caligula and 300 will be forever remembered, while this Clash of Titans (like the previous) will be thrown in the trash. Man! I grew up on the original stop-motion-animated version of Clash of the Titans. It was a B grade move, but it was a GREAT B grade movie! --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: On Listmail
Nick Arnett wrote: On Sun, May 2, 2010 at 10:49 PM, Doug Pensinger brig...@zo.com mailto:brig...@zo.com wrote: If anything good is to come out of this disaster, its that we'll be taking a closer look at offshore drilling, and that nobody will even be suggesting that we rape the California coast for a few buckets of oil. I've seen people seriously speculating that anti-drilling people, perhaps directed by the White House, sabotaged the platform, to cause the spill, so that drilling would slow down or stop. There is no end to the conspiracy. In an era where the Big Lie, Teach the Controversy, and balanced reporting are routine factors in the media and public discourse and we have people like Limbaugh and Beck trumpeting conspiracy theories constantly, I am 100% not surprised to hear people seriously considering a White House conspiracy to blow up an oil rig. On a more rational note, DB commented that every well should have a deadman switch, so to speak - a device that shuts off the flow if it doesn't continuously receive a signal. Maybe I'm naive, but it seems to me that something like that would be in place if it were practical. Anybody know? Why not an automatic shut-off valve? Is it perhaps that some oil is under so much pressure that once it starts flowing, there's no stopping it as a practical matter? I thought such a device was installed and we are now learning that it was done poorly and/or improperly? Charges are currently flying over that very issue, no? --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: On Listmail
*boggle* Peak Wind? --[Lance] Matt Grimaldi said the following on 5/3/2010 3:30 PM: Funny thing, there's an anti-wind power movement as well, borrowing many of the same arguments that anti-oil protesters use. -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Univ of Calgary job opp
Hey, Check this out: http://workingvictoriajobs.canada.com/careers/jobsearch/detail?jobId=23245552 It's being hired at the Univ of Calgary. I wonder if Tannin or the Dean could put in a good word for me. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Univ of Calgary job opp
Well, color me embarrassed. :-( That's what I get for trusting the quick fill feature in my mailer. Apologies for the misaddressed message, everyone. --[Lance] P.S. if anyone needs a highly-experienced Linux administrator / web programmer in Calgary, Alberta, I'm in the market. -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: KJ6FOI
Cool! Congratulations! --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Electric trains and Clipperships!
Jon Louis Mann said the following on 2/19/2010 8:30 PM: Shucks, we're better of without aircraft, heavy trucks and diesel powered ships. It will force us to use alt fuels and old tech, like wind and steam power!~) We'll still need oil for lubrication, but maybe the whale population will return to what it was in the 17th century. Assuming you haven't just pushed your tongue all the way through your cheek. How do we feed/house/support anything like the current human population without trucks, rail, and powered ships? --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Laser bug zapper at TED 2010
Yet another of David Brin's ideas comes to life: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/death-star-laser-zaps-mosqitoes-dead/ It's not exactly the africanized bee lazer zapper from _EARTH_ but its very similar. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: IPad
Andrew Crystall said the following on 1/28/2010 6:05 PM: On 28 Jan 2010 at 11:28, Jon Louis Mann wrote: But how about the iPad???:-) Kindle app does run on the iPad so in just 60+ days. learner i have been hearing that apple is coming out with a netbook... It's not a netbook. It's a web appliance, basically an enlarged iPod Touch. Different type of device, and not I believe what you're looking for. A locked in appliance just like the iPhone/iTouch. Apple will be gatekeeping the app store at least as tightly as they do for the iPhone. I've got an iPhone already and a perfectly usable laptop. I've no desire for the iPad. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: The worst
Nick Arnett said the following on 1/4/2010 4:47 PM: My friends I hate to write this. Been putting it off for a while. My younger sister, Lesley, the youngest of the four of us, mother of my five-year-old niece, Sarah, could not fight off the sepsis that attacked her body. Lesley died this morning. I have never hurt so much. My deepest condolences, Nick. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Google Wave
Wayne Eddy said the following on 10/14/2009 6:07 PM: Hi all, I just got access to Google Wave, and I was wondering if there was anyone on the list who might be interested in helping my try it out by joining a discussion about the future? Regards, Wayne Eddy I'd love to get an invite and give it a try as well, Wayne. -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Google Wave
Wayne Eddy said the following on 10/14/2009 11:28 PM: Hi Lance, have you got a gmail address you want to use? I have sent Nick Dave invites, and I am happy to you one too, but I want to invite a few others from elsewhere so three invites for the Brin List will have to do for now. Looking forward to waving with you in the near future, Hi, You can use lance.a.br...@gmail.com for my invite. Thanks, --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: List administrators: list broken!
Bruce Bostwick said the following on 8/22/2009 1:37 AM: On Aug 21, 2009, at 11:53 AM, Lance A. Brown wrote: Heh. I thought the list had just taken a deep breath. Instead it appears something has gone awry. I, too, am not receiving everything that is listed in the archive. --[Lance] .. there's an archive? :\ Uh. Yeah. Follow the link at the bottom of each message: http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: List administrators: list broken!
Heh. I thought the list had just taken a deep breath. Instead it appears something has gone awry. I, too, am not receiving everything that is listed in the archive. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: A Real Free Market in Health Care
John Williams said the following on 8/16/2009 5:08 PM: On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 1:47 PM, David Hobbyhob...@newpaltz.edu wrote: It does strike me as a kludge, though. To continue your example of car insurance, I don't believe that anybody markets insurance against having your car insurance premiums rise dramatically. I do not think there is a as large a risk of such a dramatic rise in auto insurance premiums. Possibly auto insurance premiums could go up 5x after 2 DUI's, but short of that, I cannot think of anything that would result in such a thing. And that is relatively unlikely, compared to developing a chronic condition at some point in one's life. The analogy between auto and health insurance fails in one regard: Most of the time, a 5x increase in auto insurance premiums is a direct result of decisions by the covered person. Many of causes for increases in health insurance premiums are outside the control of the covered person. Should this play into the plans? I don't know. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: A Real Free Market in Health Care
Jo Anne said the following on 8/12/2009 9:04 PM: Also, when we had a H.S.A., it expired after a year. We had to use everything in the account within the year or it was gone. You have to look deep into your crystal ball to decide exactly how much heath savings you need each year. Jo Anne, did you have an HSA or a health care flexible spending account? Flexible spending accounts have a pre-selected amount of pre-tax dollars set aside that you can then spend on non-covered medical expenses. Those funds expires at the end of the calendar year. I thought all HSA accounts allowed you to accrue money over time. Flexible spending accounts do need a fair bit of crystal ball gazing. I lost about 500 bucks last year because I overestimated my needs. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: The Role of Government in a Libertarian Free Market
Bruce Bostwick wrote: I still think version control, requirements management, and user acceptance testing have very definite roles to play in the development of legislation, and I'd still like to see alpha and beta level testing with bug tracking, or a very close analogue, employed in the rollout of new legislation. But I'm kind of a voice in the wilderness on that one .. How the hell would you alpha test new legislation? It's not like you can set up a test lab for legislation. I'm genuinely curious. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: A Real Free Market in Health Care
John Williams wrote: There are billions of people around the world with worse healthcare than virtually everyone in the United States. If the goal is to redistribute wealth to improve healthcare because of the belief that everyone should have a chance to live and be healthy, then why not focus on redistributing wealth from people in the US to the people in the world who have far worse health care than those in the US? Straw man. -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Brin: On Incomprehensibility'
Ronn! Blankenship said the following on 8/2/2009 8:17 PM: And the mandated DTV changeover was just another excuse to get money out of people who were satisfied with things the way they were, even those who have little or naught to spare. Never mind the need for that freed up airspace for other uses... --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: WeChooseTheMoon
dsummersmi...@comcast.net wrote: An interesting aside on this. It took the Mercury program a bit over 9 months to go from the first sub-orbital flight to the first orbital flight. The big private enterprise sub-orbital flight happened almost 5 years ago (5 years this coming November IIRC). It cost 100 million to develop, and won a prize of 10 million. I can find nothing in development for private orbital flight. (By private I mean without government money, not government contractors). So SpaceX doesn't qualify for your definition of 'private'? http://www.spacex.com/updates.php --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: WeChooseTheMoon
And here is my reply: Very good. I should have dug deeper on their website before opening my mouth. :-) --[Lance] Dan M wrote: Somehow this just went to the author instead of the list. So, I'm reposting, even though I got a nice reply from Lance. -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Google Operating System
Alberto Monteiro wrote: Other than by breaking the M$ pay to play licensing paradigm and leveling the playing field for open source developers? Who says M$ won't have users pay to play M$-Linux? It's possible that the worse nightmare of the free-software sjihad/s community happens: M$ may embrace, extend and then extinguish Linux. I'm sure MS would love to do that, but the GPL licensing on Linux will make it very difficult to accomplish. To-date, no one who has been caught misappropriating Linux for a commercial product has successfully gotten past the GPL. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: My robot is more popular than I am
Looks like you've blown out your account, Nick. :-) -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: U.S. to collapse in next two years?
Dan M wrote: Look at http://www.allaboutbatteries.com/Battery-Energy.html And if you RTFA, you'll see a not implausible argument made by Sherry Boschertthat Cabasys is squelching the market for large-format NiMH batteries: In her book, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America[1], published in February 2007, Sherry Boschert argues that large-format NiMH batteries are commercially viable but that Cobasys refuses to sell or license them to small companies or individuals. Boschert argues that Cobasys accepts only very large orders for these batteries. When Boschert conducted her research, major auto makers showed little interest in large orders for large-format NiMH batteries. However, Toyota employees complained about the difficulty in getting smaller orders of large format NiMH batteries to service the existing 825 RAV-4EVs. Because no other companies were willing to make large orders, Cobasys was not manufacturing nor licensing any large format NiMH battery technology for automotive purposes. Boschert concludes that it's possible that Cobasys (Chevron) is squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. Or it's possible that Cobasys simply wants the market for itself and is waiting for a major automaker to start producing plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles. [1] http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3934 --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: peace offering on the brinlist
Ronn! Blankenship said the following on 11/13/2008 6:45 AM: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Idaho_students_chant_assassinate_Obama_on_1112.htmlhttp://rawstory.com/news/2008/Idaho_students_chant_assassinate_Obama_on_1112.html *Idaho students chant 'assassinate Obama' on school bus: Report * *David Edwards and Muriel Kane *Published: Wednesday November 12, 2008 Madison County, Idaho was once dubbed the reddest place in America by Salon, but that didn't make it any less shocking when elementary school children started chanting assassinate Obama on the school bus. Matthew Whoolery told KIKD News he found out about the chanting from his second and third graders, who had no idea what the word assassinate meant. They just hadn't heard anything like this before, Whoolery stated. I think the thing that struck us was just like, 'Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?' Whoolery, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Rexburg, is not an Obama supporter, but he was shocked that any public official would be threatened in that way. I don't think that the majority of people in Rexburg have extreme ideas like that, but we were just surprised that it would go that far, Whoolery told KIKD. The Madison County School District has sent out an email saying that students are to be told this sort of behavior is unacceptable. tongue in cheek Those kids are gonna be in for a surprise when the Secret Service shows up /tongue in cheek -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: polarization
Warren Ockrassa said the following on 11/12/2008 10:33 PM: To me it seems that there's no real reason, if you're so motivated, to continue attacking the GOP. It's in the middle of its own self- destruction. A better approach might be to talk to the moderates, the centrist Republicans, who are very much like centrist Dems such as Obama, and are quite as horrified by Palin as many others are, and start trying to heal some breaches rather than continuing to hammer at the idea of them (whoever they are) being wrong (whatever that means). I agree, Warren. The left should talk to the moderate Republicans and old-style (pro-business/small-government) Republicans and ignore everyone else until they are willing to sit down and have a real conversation. If we give an eye-for-an-eye against the neoconservatives and radical religious right we will only feed into their program of hate/fear. I'd much rather let them stew in their own juices and continue demonstrating to the rest of the U.S. just how out of touch they are. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Balancing the bad actors (was Re: Health Care (the same topic all week!~))
Ronn! Blankenship said the following on 11/1/2008 12:24 AM: At 11:05 AM Friday 10/31/2008, John Williams wrote: Lance A. Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] Instead, we are faced with actors who will collude with each other to manipulate markets, subvert systems, and for the short term gain without regard to long-term consequences. Definitely. Such actors exist in government, as well. In fact, they dominate government. Which is a big reason why some (including some who do not get health insurance through their employers and cannot afford to purchase it themselves) are so leery of putting the government in charge (either directly or indirectly by holding the purse strings) of anything as important as medical care. If not government, then what can be brought to bear to counteract the tendency of human beings to be bad actors? The health system we have today is broken in many ways. I don't see how removing more regulations from it will make it better. That only gives the existing bad actors more leeway to continue their activities. If not the government, who upholds the social contract? I believe everyone deserves healthcare, education, and other basic services needed to live a productive, healthy life. I don't believe free markets will choose to provide those services to all people willingly. If less government regulation is better, why do are national health systems prevalent in many parts of the world? --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Health Care (the same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
John Williams wrote: It is obvious that no system is perfect. No matter whether it is a centrally controlled system, or a completely decentralized system, there will be decisions made by people, and people do make mistakes. I'd rather have a fault-tolerant system that tends to evolve toward greater efficiency. With central control, the mistakes tend to be coordinated and are capable of destabilizing the entire system. With a diverse, decentralized system, there will be plenty of mistakes, but they will tend to be uncorrelated and while you may see some local failures, most of the system will continue unabated. And as a bonus, the decentralized system is effectively a massively parallel set of experiments that, through trial and error, can result in evolution towards a more efficient system. I've been following this discussion and something about this argument was nagging at me, but I wasn't sure what. Now I think I've figured it out: You are assuming everyone is a rational actor. You argue that diverse decentralized systems work better because mistakes are uncorrelated and failures are localized. In a perfect world, I think you may be correct, but we don't live in a perfect world. Instead, we are faced with actors who will collude with each other to manipulate markets, subvert systems, and for the short term gain without regard to long-term consequences. Some social contract is necessary to curb these activities and some level of government regulation can provide that contract. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Health Care (the same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
John Williams wrote: Lance A. Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] John Williams wrote: there will be decisions made by people, and people do make mistakes. You are assuming everyone is a rational actor. By no means is everyone a rational actor. People make mistakes, act emotionally instead of rationally, and generally tend to screw things up. Politicians especially. You argue that diverse decentralized systems work better because mistakes are uncorrelated and failures are localized. This is too strong, sorry if I overstated. Mistakes are less correlated and failures are more localized, relative to government control which tends to create strong, long-range correlations. I'm not sure I agree that mistakes are smaller (less correlated/more localized). What's different between the ability of government actors to make large mistakes vs. the ability of private actors to make large mistakes? Scale-wise, it seems to me that there are several sets of private actors that can generate errors as large or larger than the government can or has. Instead, we are faced with actors who will collude with each other to manipulate markets, subvert systems, and for the short term gain without regard to long-term consequences. Definitely. Such actors exist in government, as well. In fact, they dominate government. You're saying there are bad actors all around, then. So what is the answer? Can there be a balance point between two sets of bad actors (government vs. private)? John, you consistently argue for less government regulation, but I don't recall reading your ideas of what should replace government regulation. What are your positive arguments? --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Health Care (the same damn topic all f-ing week!~)
John Williams wrote: Lance A. Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] What's different between the ability of government actors to make large mistakes vs. the ability of private actors to make large mistakes? Government legally requires actors to behave in certain ways. Private actors must use more subtle means. Private actors, with the bounds of government regulation, often have access to potent coercive tactics nearly as strong, if not stronger, than the force of law. John, you consistently argue for less government regulation, but I don't recall reading your ideas of what should replace government regulation. Good recall! I'm done with this conversation since you ducked my question about what should replace government regulation. If you want to have a conversation about what can/should be used instead of government regulation, let's do it. Otherwise I'm done. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Redistribute the wealth
William T Goodall said the following on 10/27/2008 7:23 AM: Their could be highly efficient and competitive private militias instead of the inefficient government monopoly paid for by taking the money of people who don't want to pay for it. You mean like Blackwater? Greed and Corruption Maru -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Redistribute the wealth
Andrew Crystall said the following on 10/27/2008 8:40 PM: On 27 Oct 2008 at 18:52, Lance A. Brown wrote: William T Goodall said the following on 10/27/2008 7:23 AM: Their could be highly efficient and competitive private militias instead of the inefficient government monopoly paid for by taking the money of people who don't want to pay for it. You mean like Blackwater? Try the local Mafia. As if I'd like to turn over our national defense to either group. This conversation reminds me of the situation in Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Redistribute the wealth
Alberto Vieira Ferreira Monteiro said the following on 10/26/2008 8:44 PM: This is something I don't understand. If Obama is the anti-corporation candidate, how he gets 2-3x more money for the campaing than McPalin? About 90% of Obama's fund raising comes from individuals. After withdrawing from Federal campaign financing, he announced he would not accept any donations from political action committees and has not done so to date. Details available at http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cid=N9638 He isn't beholden to particular PACs or corporations because he's not taken their money. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Redistribute the wealth
William T Goodall said the following on 10/26/2008 10:38 PM: The internet candidate. McCain doesn't know how to use a computer. The Future Maru Pigs Flying Maru! We agree on something, William. :-) --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Secretary of Defense
Jon Louis Mann wrote: I would prefer Wesley Clark as Sec'y of Defense and give Colin Powell a chance to redeem himself as Sec'y of State. Clark would be a good choice for Sec. of Defense as well. I'm not sure I'd put Powell back in at State. Seems like asking a bit much of the world's nations to accept him in that role again after his last go-round at it. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Two Weeks To Go
And folks are voting by the drove already. My girlfriend and I voted early yesterday afternoon and they had had almost 2,500 people through the system for just that day. If enough people vote early, no October surprise will make a difference. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No more feeding the troll (was Re: Debunking B.S. from the so-called debunker )
William T Goodall said the following on 10/20/2008 6:59 AM: Do you think it is reasonable that someone should participate in a discussion they are also moderating? Absolutely. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: No more feeding the troll (was Re: Debunking B.S. from the so-called debunker )
William T Goodall said the following on 10/20/2008 9:03 AM: On 20 Oct 2008, at 13:56, Lance A. Brown wrote: William T Goodall said the following on 10/20/2008 6:59 AM: Do you think it is reasonable that someone should participate in a discussion they are also moderating? Absolutely. Why? As Mr. Bell said: This is a private list on a private server. It is as if we were all invited to a never-ending coffee at Dr. Brin's house. Dr. Brin drops in occasionally and his appointed host includes himself in the conversation while also maintaining the decorum of the occasion. I see nothing wrong with that. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Gen. Colin Powell, Pres. Obama's Secretary of Defense
I had this thought before lunch and thought I'd share it with the list. I googled it and found that I'm not the first to think of it so I can't claim it as my own. I'd been thinking about Powell's endorsement of Obama this weekend and how much impressed with him I've always been, even after his failure to live up to his own values by stumping the Iraq war to the U.N. for President G.W. Bush. His endorsement of Barack Obama this past weekend may be the most powerful 7 minutes of television I’ve watched in the past 10 years and his indictment of the current Republican party, the Bush administration, and Sen. John McCain’s campaign and Vice-Presidential choices is exactly on target. I think Barack Obama shoud make Colin Powell his Secretary of Defense. Who better to place over the abused and war-worn military of the United States. Who better to shepherd it back into the fine tradition of the American military and restore its honor and morale. Powell would defend his men and women against ill-use and champion their cause with President Obama and the Congress. And what a blow it would lay to the charges that Obama doesn’t know how to cross the aisle for bi-partisan action. Choosing Colin Powell for his Secretary of State would be a courageous, right, action by President Obama. -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Gen. Colin Powell, Pres. Obama's Secretary of Defense
Euan Ritchie said the following on 10/20/2008 3:38 PM: I think Barack Obama shoud make Colin Powell his Secretary of Defense. One elegant speech does not magically change a person or their responsibly for their past. Plus a long and distinguished career in the military, Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as the National Security Advisor. I even liked Powell as Secretary of State until he was either duped into supporting the Iraq war or choose to support it. That was a mistake. A huge massive mistake. I'd be willing to bet 5 bucks that he regrets it deeply. Can honor not be redeemed after a mistake, even one as large as his? Thoughtfully Yours, --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: monotonous posting
Olin Elliott said the following on 10/19/2008 5:59 PM: Or maybe it was because each one of his monotonous posts elicit dozens of responses from people telling him how monotonous and irritating he is. I find everyone's responses to William, and the energy that goes into villainizing him to be much more annoying than anything he's posted. Perhaps if people just ignored his posts and used that time to post something interesting of their own, their would be something worthwhile going on here. First rule of dealing with trolls: Don't Feed The Troll. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: monotonous posting
William T Goodall said the following on 10/19/2008 7:27 PM: First rule of dealing with trolls: Don't Feed The Troll. That's a very sound policy I've been following for years. Don't post in a thread you don't like, especially to complain that you don't like it. Did I say I didn't like this thread? Don't put words in my mouth. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: What's in the works?
John Garcia wrote: McCain doesn't know how to use a computer. So? What does that have to do with being President? My choice for President depends on which candidate I think will address all the issues facing the USA consistent with my values, not whether or not he has a cool Facebook page. Someone who doesn't know enough about computers to be able to open his own email (if he wants to) *cannot* have the proper understanding of technology in today's world to be competent as POTUS. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: What's in the works?
Chris Frandsen wrote: I totally agree with Olin's comments. I am not sure how Obama will support the scientific community other than getting out of the business of trying to make scientific reports match political agendas. I suspect his economic social and foreign policy initiatives to get us back on track will force science budgets to the back burner. *heh* I'll take science budgets getting backburnered if it means getting the politicians out of driving scientific reporting in government agencies. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Apology (was Re: Off-topic., monotonous posting (was Child-killing religion))
Pat Mathews wrote: I can't speak for other members of the list's silent majority. I, for one, see another news article on some cult or its members run amok,yawn, and hit Delete. Ditto. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Apology (was Re: Off-topic., monotonous posting (was Child-killing religion))
Ronn! Blankenship wrote: If they are indeed _silent_, what makes you think they agree with you? He's a mind reader. Doesn't believe in religion, but does believe in telepathy. :-) The Amazing William Maru --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Conspiracy theories
Jon Louis Mann wrote: And what are those two idiots doing, that the oil price fell down so much in the past weeks? They should strike Iran right now! Alberto Monteiro fortunately those two idiots have lost all credibility and could not pull off a strike against iran at this time (unless they get lucky and there is another major terrorist attack in the u.s. before november). personally, i don't think bush/cheney know what they are doing. if i did i would have to subscribe to one of the conspiracy theories: http://www.popmatters.com/features/021227-conspiracy.shtml I think they no exactly what they are doing: Trying to shovel as much money into their friend's pockets as possible, and/or trying to bring about the Dominionist's desire for an early Apocolypse. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chicken and Egg
Charlie Bell said the following on 7/17/2008 3:32 AM: Welcome to my world. IT Support at a law firm at the mo... *banging head on desk* I love my job, I love my workplace, but bloody hell it can be frustrating at times! I feel your pain, brother. :-) I'm the sole in-department sysadmin for the Dept. of Statistical Science at Duke University. I have a flat spot on my forehead just like yours. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Computer Security
Don't be get started on that SOB. He's giving all IT professionals a black eye with his antics. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chicken and Egg
Ronn! Blankenship said the following on 7/16/2008 7:13 PM: None of which means anything to the average non-technical person who is buying a computer for his/her kids to use for school or a grandmother finally buying a computer to view pictures of her grandchildren who live out of state, who is not going to have access to anywhere to read such information before they buy, much less the knowledge or ability to do anything about it. What do you have for them? Alright, are you just yanking my chain or what? You seem to be asking me to telepathically implant the information needed for un-knowledgeable computer users to safely attach their computers to the Internet. You need to lobby the vendors who sell computers, Apple, Dell, HP, etc. to configure the machines they sell so they have all the security features needed turned on at time of sale. If people can't/won't go out and educate themselves how to use computers in today's world, there isn't much I can do as a private citizen. It is an ugly reality that computers AREN'T as easy to use and safe as they should be. I can't snap my fingers and fix that myself overnight. I think I'm done responding on this thread. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chicken and Egg
Charlie Bell said the following on 7/15/2008 4:47 AM: ...and for the 95% of home PC users who buy a PC at PC World or Walmart or from Dell, and plug it straight in to their modem when they get it home? I don't have a good answer for them. Can't stop people from doing dangerous things. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chicken and Egg
Ronn! Blankenship said the following on 7/15/2008 7:24 PM: Now how about an actually helpful response for those who do not have access to another computer at home? Well, how about this: Before plugging your new computer into a network connection: 1. Go to Office Depot, Staples, etc. and buy a copy of your favorite Anti-Virus/anti-spam/anti-malware program and install it. Make sure it is running. 2. If your favorite package doesn't include a firewall, make sure the Windows Firewall is activated. 3. Plug in the network connection and wait for the computer to get an address 4 Open Internet Explorer and go to http://update.microsoft.com/ and run the software updates. That should give you a decent chance to get updated before your machine is compromised. Your best bet is still to go out and buy a router or access point so you can just flat out avoid a lot of the scans. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chicken and Egg
Nick Arnett said the following on 7/15/2008 9:47 PM: While we're on the subject, AVG's LinkScanner has created a lot of misery for me and other people who do web analytics. I've pretty well decided never to use their products again. *nod* Yeah. I uninstalled that damned component about 5 minutes after AVG upgraded itself on my computer. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Chicken and Egg
William T Goodall said the following on 7/14/2008 2:53 PM: So how do you download the patches if you can't put an unpatched Windows computer on the internet? You don't hook it directly to the Internet. If you are on a broadband connection, get a router or wireless access point with an integrated switch and connect your cable or dsl modem to the router or access point, then plug your new windows computer into that. This lets the router take all the scans and intrusion attempts and as long as you are careful where you browse to, you can download the security updates without compromising your machine. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Gates without Microsoft
Jon Louis Mann wrote: if i had the tens of billions that gates has to work with, i really believe i could do a lot more good. i suspect a lot of that money is being used inefficiently. jon Yep. Here at Duke they recently opened the French Science Building. I mean, a WHOLE building devoted to the science of French? I know the French are snooty about their language, but come on :-) --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Gates without Microsoft
Just for grins. Pictures of the founders of Microsoft, then and now: http://www.newsweek.com/id/142636 --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: USA presidential race(ism)
John Garcia wrote: technically, the first seven Presidents were born in what was at the time, colonies of the British Empire. the first President to be born after the US became an independent country was Martin Van Buren. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone to a serving US Navy officer and is considered a natural born citizen. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii after it became a state. until the Constitution is changed to permit naturalized citizens to become President, no one born in Austria will be elected President. What about offspring of someone in the U.S. Foreign Service in Austria working at the U.S. embassy, for example? --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: A videogame that will make William happy
Alberto Monteiro wrote: If that videogame ever gets published, the purpose of it is to slay Muhammad and Abraham before they establish Islam and Judaism. I don't think there's a Jesus-slaying mode: it seems pointless, because he would also resurect if, instead of being crucified, he was mowed with a chainsaw or torched with laser guns U... No Abraham, no Judaism, no Christianity. Right? Or am I missing something here --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
Dave Land said the following on 4/25/2008 2:15 AM: Well, as long as the answer to Nick's frustrations with Office 2007 is to suggest an entirely different office package (Open Office, which I was forced by Sun Microsystems to use, and found it to be a turd, but that was about 5 years ago), it is probably OK for me to say that the best/most cost-effective PDF output I've obtained comes free via the Preview button on every Mac OS X print dialog, and works in every application, not just Office. The current version of OpenOffice is almost infinitely better than 5 years ago. :-) --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
David Hobby said the following on 4/25/2008 7:12 AM: Yes. So hunting up the right fonts and installing them everywhere would have solved it. I don't really understand why a word processor would ever have different screen and display fonts, though. I mean I can see how it would happen, but that seems like pretty dumb design. More likely it was a difference in fonts available to the word processor and the printer. It's amazing how stupid such things can be. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
David Hobby wrote: Hi. I don't see that. I think the printer is capable of printing whatever pattern of dots it's told to, and these are supposed to be True Type fonts. You would be amazed. It depends entirely how the job is processed, especially if the printer is not attached directly to the computer you are using. Best chance for a good outcome is using a printer attached directly to your computer, with the proper driver for the printer installed. Then you will almost certainly get the result you are after. If you are accessing a network printer by printing directly to it, make sure you have the appropriate driver for the printer make/model installed. If you are accessing a printer using a print server or print service on another computer, then things can get squirrely. Your computer may have the font needed, but depending on the print driver on your computer, that print job may be re-processed on the print server, with the worst case being embedded fonts getting dropped, leading to wrong output on the printer, for example. (How's that for a nasty run-on sentence?) Crossing platforms, a Windows desktop sending print jobs to a UNIX print server, or a Mac sending a print job to a print attached to a Windows computer, can also lead to problems unless everything is handled correctly. As usual, heterogeneous environments lead to strange edge cases. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
Julia Thompson wrote: OK, so a good reason to keep every box in the house under the same OS, and specifically, this computer (which is acting as a print server) and the one in the guest room (which does not have a printer attached directly to it) It does tend to make things easier to work right. ;-) --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
David Hobby wrote: But that is the configuration. One computer, one printer, and an old-style cable between them. (It's unfortunate that it wouldn't work well over a network, but I've had problems too. Another story...) That sucks. I'd make sure you have the correct driver installed for the printer. It's about the only variable left in that setup. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
Curtis Burisch wrote: This kinda backfired, where I'm from. Sensor II razor was so popular they were forced to continue selling the blades ever after. I'm on a 15 year old razor, buying a blade every 2 months. The modern innovations do not impress. I give gilette like around a dollar a month, and I don't begrudge them that. It's a great razor, with great blades. Screw the 3 and 4 blade things, they don't do it for me. Or go like me. I've not put a razor to my face in something like 18 years or so. I forget. I did shave my head for a while after doing away with my thinned out pony tail, but gave that up for the stubbly look a trimmer leaves. Much easier to maintain and actually looks better on my dome. :-) --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What were they thinking? (MS Office 2007)
I've had my beard longer than I've had my professional career and a software applications developer and then sysadmin. My and my moderately fuzzy chin do just fine professionally. :-) -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: An interesting response
hkhenson said the following on 4/17/2008 5:16 PM: At 12:00 PM 4/17/2008, Dan M wrote: And what kind of a deal would the Russians give you if you wanted to launch 110 of these a day? Perhaps this is naive of me, but who is going to want to build the multiple launching facilities 110 launches/day will require? I would expect most of those pads would go idle once the project completed, no? Seems like a sunk cost to me. --[Lance] -- GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: 'Lost'
Jim Sharkey said the following on 3/21/2008 11:22 AM: Not sure I agree. I've seen so many LO episodes over the past 10+ years that the twist is almost always obvious and it kind of ruins the show for me. And the mini-sermon wrap up at the end of the show has gotten grating. Might be familiarity breeding contempt, but still... I'm liking the new episodes. Cutter has injected some new balls to the wall energy. -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: The Latest In Dolphin Technology
David Brin said the following on 3/16/2008 11:29 PM: this showed a scientology minister at a city council meeting. What dolphins? Was wondering if this was some new kind of rickrolling... --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Schneier vs. Brin
Julia Thompson said the following on 3/9/2008 10:53 AM: In Texas, if you're an adult, you cannot be outside your residence without an ID. Is that a state law or the way it is? --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Schneier vs. Brin
jon louis mann said the following on 3/8/2008 5:33 PM: I do feel that spying on the government will prevent some of these abuses, but there are times when matters of national security require secrecy. Nevertheless, I like the idea of being able to listen in on high government officials planning ways to subvert the constitution. Yeah. I found myself disturbed that I'm attracted to the idea of carrying an MP3 recording device at all times, just in case I get stopped by law enforcement and want my own recording of the event. I used to have a lot of trust in the Police. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Schneier vs. Brin
Bruce Schneier has a column up on WIRED talking about the myth of the 'Transparent Society'. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2008/03/securitymatters_0306 --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Let us all pause for 2d8 seconds
Martin Lewis wrote: On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 7:55 PM, Horn, John [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gary Gygax has died... Really? Realy. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/04/obit.gygax.ap/index.html It seems somehow peculiarly fitting CNN placed his article in the Technology section. Gary, Rest In Peace Maru --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Fwd: CNN Breaking News
Ronn! Blankenship said the following on 2/21/2008 12:31 AM: So . . . if they shot it /down/ before it crashed to Earth, where is it going to fall now? (Yes, I know . . . just seems they could have phrased that better . . . ) The point of shooting the satellite was to disrupt the fuel storage. If the satellite came down in one piece, there is a chance the hydrazine fuel on board would survive to reach the surface. If it impacts on land, you get nasty poisonous gas cloud. If the missile did it's job, the fuel storage was destroyed. The satellite (or remaining parts) will still come down, but now the hydrazine will burn up during reentry. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wal-Mart and more L4
Dan M said the following on 2/21/2008 12:44 AM: Nationwide, Wal-Mart pays just under average for retail workers. Here near Houston, it pays a bit better than average. So, exploiting the worker by paying far less than the next guy for a worker does not seem to be the MO. Indeed, as the reference I gave shows, Wal-Mart pays way under scale only in those areas where scale is set by union to be far higher than it is in the rest of the nation. Hi Dan, I'm going to inject one statement into this discussion and then get the hell out of the way as I don't really have time to engage this discussion. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but I can't let this pass. My point: I think it is disingenuous to talk about the pay scales without including the value of benefits such as health insurance, etc. and also take into consideration corporate policies concerning hiring of part-time vs. full-time workers.[1] Wal-Mart has been accused of cutting full-time employees in order to hire part-time workers without the same set of benefits. An article in January, 2007 states that only 47.4% of their workforce receives health insurance through the company and 10% have no coverage at all.[2] I'm disturbed that Wal-Mart appears to me to be driving its costs down on the backs of its workers. [1] http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/26/news/fortune500/walmart/ [2] NY Time article via TinyURL http://preview.tinyurl.com/2ebe7b --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
I do love me some xkcd
http://xkcd.com/386/ --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: A little too close to home...
Dave Land said the following on 2/20/2008 9:36 PM: Folks, Two videos, definitely NSFW (and maybe NSFH, if you have kiddies in the room or a partner with extremely delicate sensibilities) showing what happens when online community behaviors find their way into the corporate boardroom... http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1771556 http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1776175 That was strangely uncomfortable. Weirded Out Maru, --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Young Earth Math?
David Hobby wrote: An interesting find! That's the first I've heard of the Conservapedia. It's sometimes hard to tell, but my sense is that it's not actually meant as humor? Conservapedia is 100% serious in its intent. There have been occasional articles in various places about it. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Take that, Iowa!!
Robert Seeberger said the following on 1/10/2008 8:56 PM: The problem with corn is that it produces a lower energy ethanol. Sugarcane *is* much better in that regard. But why are you worried about sugarcane? We don't use it all that much in the US, even for making sugar. Last I heard, sugar beets was the big resource in that industry. (In the US that is.) I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, tha using any food crop for ethanol production would inflate the price of said food crop, leading to economic issues for the heavy users of that crop. I believe you are correct that most U.S. sugar comes from sugar beets these days. What do you get when you ferment beets? :-) As I understand the ethanol research, grass and cellulose are looking to become popular resources for ethanol with several useful byproducts as an added bonus. Yep. The lignin in the switchgrass can be burned to help power the ethanol production plant, for example. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Take that, Iowa!!
Alberto Monteiro wrote: Unused land suitable for corn or sugarcane? You didn't parse my e-mail address. Do it now. There's plenty of suitable land for sugarcane here... :-) Yer right. I didn't. Assumption has once again worked against me. :-) --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Take that, Iowa!!
Alberto Monteiro wrote: This is not necessarily true - if there's unused land and the new crop grows into that land, then this would have no positive impact in the food price. The reverse would even be more likely, since if it becomes not viable to turn the food crop into fuel, the new crop would compete with the previous crops, making food prices cheaper. Unused land suitable for corn or sugarcane? Surely you jest. Being able to grow switchgrass on marginal land not suitable for other, more traditional, crops is one of its benefits. We would not be stealing crop output usually used for foodstuffs to produce fuel. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Take that, Iowa!!
Trent Shipley wrote: How much private land is there that could be converted from lower yield to cellulose production? Could ex-farms on the Montana and Dakota prairies be put back into production as cellulose ranches? (In AZ we can grow agave on some private ranch land.) I dunno. We should note that high-yield switchgrass cultivation requires tending and fertilizing the grass. Natural growth will not yield enough product to be economical. The research I linked to previously *does* include the energy cost for the tending and fertlizing in the cost-benefit ratio, so it's still a good thing. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Take that, Iowa!!
Alberto Vieira Ferreira Monteiro wrote: Jim Sharkey wrote: I'm sure some of you knew this, what with your big brains and all, but I found it interesting: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=grass-makes-better-ethanol-than-corn _Scientific American_ is saying grass as a source of ethanol has the potential to be vastly more efficient than corn. Pretty cool stuff, I think. But still less efficient than sugarcane :-P Perhaps. The use of corn to produce ethanol is already driving the cost of corn higher, impacting food costs already[1]. I don't think we want to use corn _or_ sugarcane for producing ethanol in the long term. [1] http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18173/ --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Religion and greed
jon louis mann wrote: they do seem to go together. there are greedy liberals as well, although their religious beliefs are generally more progressive than evangelical. hopefully, there may be a way to medicate all varieties of social and behavior disorders, some day... Welcome to Brave New World... --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Where the web is heading?
Just reading that gave my eyeballs hives I *really* hate marketing speak. 20% to 200% uplifted customers... Damn, can't they get their clients right? Weak Joke Maru --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Tattoos - Scientifical
Now that's certainly a lady believer in Darwin! --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br*n: Uplift at Star Trek
Deborah Harrell wrote: Lance A. Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Deborah Harrell wrote: Andre Norton wrote a children's book called _Star Cat_ IIRC, about a race of telepathic interstellar-travelling cats...hmm, maybe we've mentioned that here previously. Oh my. I own a copy of that book. :-) And here's the listing in my catalog: http://www.librarything.com/work/13020/details/22630618 My own cat is a strictly indoor star kitty, although she'll chase comet tails all over the place. :-) -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Uplift at Yellowstone
[EMAIL PROTECTED] said the following on 11/10/2007 2:07 AM: In a message dated 11/9/2007 11:43:03 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Yellowstone is rising. The word uplift makes me think the tytlal have been pouring bicarbonate of soda down Old Faithful. *snrk* A maru once bit my sister. What is the fascination (mania? obsession?) with the word maru on this list? The only maru I'm familiar with is the Kobyashi Maru from Star Trek and I somehow don't think that is the correct reference. --[lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Uplift at Yellowstone
Always fun to arrive in the middle of a cultural movement and have to play catch-up. Thanks for the comments on maru-ism. Matt Grimaldi said the following on 11/10/2007 11:21 PM: This whole thing started because, for a time, there were a large number of brin-lers that also belonged to the list for fans of Ian Banks' Culture series. (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture) I've only read one of the Culture books (Use of Weapons) and didn't get all the way through it. I seriously don't see what fascinates people with those books. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br*n: Uplift at Star Trek
Mauro Diotallevi wrote: On Nov 7, 2007 2:03 PM, Lance A. Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Deborah Harrell wrote: Andre Norton wrote a children's book called _Star Cat_ IIRC, about a race of telepathic interstellar-travelling cats...hmm, maybe we've mentioned that here previously. Oh my. I own a copy of that book. :-) I've never read that one, but I just re-read _Cat-A-Lyst_ by Alan Dean Foster. It's not exactly worldview-changing stuff, but it's a fun read if you're in the mood for something light and silly. I picked up my copy of _Star Cat_ in, I think, 4th grade, as a Scholastic Book Club selection. :-) Definitely a light read these days. --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Br*n: Uplift at Star Trek
Deborah Harrell wrote: Andre Norton wrote a children's book called _Star Cat_ IIRC, about a race of telepathic interstellar-travelling cats...hmm, maybe we've mentioned that here previously. Oh my. I own a copy of that book. :-) --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Internet Privacy and Earth
Here's an interesting interview about privacy in the age of Facebook and other social networking sites. Immediately reminded me of the net and the anti-secrecy viewpoints in Earth. http://www.switched.com/2007/11/05/can-privacy-exist-on-the-internet/ --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Religiosity correlates with poverty
Doug said the following on 11/6/2007 12:49 AM: Ronn! wrote: So what would most folks think of someone who professed a belief in God and spent his evenings and weekends drinking and carousing? Wouldn't that depend on what particular brand of God this person believed in and which particular folks were making the observation? Sounds like a perfectly reasonable evening with Bachus if you ask me. :-) Someone got a beer? --[Lance] -- Celebrate The Circle http://www.celebratethecircle.org/ Carolina Spirit Quest http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/ My LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/labrown/ GPG Fingerprint: 409B A409 A38D 92BF 15D9 6EEE 9A82 F2AC 69AC 07B9 CACert.org Assurer ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
