Please read up on the origin of IQ tests. To the extent they are calibrated to anything apart from other IQ tests, they are calibrated against academic performance. Because they were developed originally by British and French scientists, they are calibrated against specifically European standards of academic performance.
There is no objective, unambiguously defined, quantifiable quality of "intelligence" that IQ tests can be said to measure. It is an entirely subjective test with no real scientific basis. In fact the only thing that IQ tests absolutely and definitely measure is the ability to do IQ tests.
Because IQ tests are calibrated mostly against a cultural artifact (European academic culture) Cultural bias is as likely a reason for variations across different cultures (very closely correlated with different races for obvious reasons) as any other factor.
Until you can rule out cultural bias in any IQ test (and I really don't see how you can) all your theories about genetic differences are meaningless.
For extra bonus points, find me ANY objective, unambiguous and measurable definition of the term, "intelligence."
Someone's job is on the line.
I'm assuming the GP's argument is that the higher than previously expected possibility of life-bearing planets early in the life of the universe increases the possibility of panspermia, all other things being equal.
The probability of panspermia is product of (at least) two other possibilities:
1.) Life exists somewhere
2.) Life is carried though space from one planet to another by some means.
Regardless of the probability of the latter, (which may be infinitesimal in any case) increasing the probability of the former at any point in time increases the overall probability of panspermia.
... So long as there arent thousands of them per day, sure. In millions of vehicles used daily? Preposterous.
Right. Because nobody in their right mind would ride around in vehicles powered by a fuel known to burn violently from the smallest spark or even explode when mixed with air.
The US administration also believes the EIPC suit cannot move forward because it argues the [supreme] court lacks authority under the 2001 Patriot Act to weigh in on the legality of NSA activities.
So how does that work? I thought the Supreme court was the highest authority on the law in the US?
GP's argument:
The last thing we need is awesome tech only spies and generals possess...
Your argument:
No, having the lack of privacy go both ways isn't as good as having privacy.
Which is shooting down a different position to the one the GP took. No one is arguing that privacy for all isn't the best situation. But this technology now exists, so the genie is out of the the bottle and that option is almost certainly off the table.
We now get to choose between the option where a small powerful elite has this technology, and the option where everyone has it.
I, for one, prefer the latter.
The reason why I so strongly dislike Ubuntu can be summed up in one word: sudo
Sudo was written around 1980.
Ubuntu's first release was in 2004.
You can find sudo in every major linux distribution that I'm aware of - and in fact all of the Unices I've used in my 15 years as developer.
The reason why I so strongly dislike the Toyota Corolla can be summed up in three words: reciprocating petrol engine.
Somebody needs to buy it and run it. How much would it cost?
The targets of this idea are not people, but the automated systems that scan all content and communications for random keywords etc. The bots searching for starting points that can be investigated further by humans. The idea is that if too many false postitives are thrown up, the manual parts of the process get overloaded, reducing the value of the automated systems.
Once an individual has the attention of human spooks he's already past the point where this strategy is relevant. So your anecdote is valid, but slightly off-topic.
I totally agree on Retroshare... I saw it and immediately loved it. I've had a hard time convincing non-techy friends and family to start using it though.
I think it just needs to be pushed more, and maybe some of the buggy bits will get a bit more attention.
At https://www.adeccowaytowork.com/en/contact
For example:
You disgust me. I expect never to make use of your services, either looking for my next position, or when I am part of the hiring process where I work.
As an active web developer with a strong network built up over 15 years in the industry, I intend to make sure the details of your parasitic behaviour are shared as widely as possible. Everybody who works in the digital economy will see this as a crime that could have been perpetrated on themselves.
I will encourage everyone I can to see themselves as a potential victim of such cavalier behaviour and to boycott your services therefore. I know how many of my colleagues already despise the way big business flouts IP laws, whilst simultaneously using these same laws to crush players too small to afford protracted legal battles.
You are in a service industry and person you have just ripped off is the archetypal representative of your customer. I can only hope that the impact on your bottom line is what it deserves to be. I will do what I can to encourage everyone to make it so.
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/06/22/2316215/how-i-got-fired-from-the-job-i-invented
Yours sincerely,
[name redacted]
Incidently their twitter feed is interesting reading at the moment. As is their facebook page.
One of the chief duties of the mathematician in acting as an advisor... is to discourage... from expecting too much from mathematics. -- N. Wiener