"I never lamented about the vicissitudes of time or complained of the turns of fortune except on the occasion when I was barefooted and unable to procure slippers. But when I entered the great mosque of Kufah with a sore heart and beheld a man without feet I offered thanks to the bounty of God..." -poetry from the Gulistan (or "Rose Garden") of Sa'di

Or, in more modern parlance:
"For every door that closes, another opens."
  - which doesn't quite fit, but that's life

yadda yadda. Yes, these tiresome sayings are great to apply to other peoples' misfortunes, but mine are more complicated. Isn't that what we all think?

Perhaps it is an opportunity. Perhaps God, or the Invisible Pink Unicorn, is suggesting that you occupy yourself in some other way. You could take part in the world of the living, for instance. Donate time, money or talents to some worthy cause. Take a class on Japanese brush stroke. Go for a swim. Rally votes for your favorite local candidate. Meditate on your navel. Post an outrageous comment on /.

Best wishes. Let us know if you find enlightenment as a result of your inconvenience.

"less impossible" ? Does that sound a bit like 'slightly pregnant'? Possibility is a binary state- on, or off; no shades of grey allowed.

As often happens, the /. blurb is a poor reflection of TFA, which says that warp speed "may not be as unrealistic as once thought".

TFA seems a bit optimistic in posing a possible method for faster than light speed. The slashdot response tends to be antagonistic. The heartwarming thing is that all are excited about the idea. Deep inside we want to defy the rules, like Capt. James T. Kirk, and find a way. Who knows- that silly inner child in us may find a solution some day. Then what?

I've been doing business with Bob for over 20 years.

He used to sell Mac software dirt cheap. Simple but functional programs that accomplished some goal effortlessly. I think he lived in Iowa at the time, had a family, was a slightly religious nut.

Don't know what's happened in recent years but he seems to be the Hugh Hefner of the hosting world now. I hope he recovers, not as a Jesus freak but as a sensible person who can make the internet a better place.

"That the contemporary "Zombie" as portrayed in movies, at the receiving end of a chainsaw or shotgun, looks and acts very much like a hungry person would?"

Slashdotters have probably never seen a starving person. They are similar to zombies in their slow, poorly directed movement, their vacant stare, their hollow cheeks and sallow skin.

They are not violent. Not angry. Not protesting. They are the most passive humans it is possible to conceive of. They have no strength to lift their hands to swat the flies that swarm around their faces.

But their hungry friends, family and neighbors who have a bit more strength may participate in a riot. It's generally unlikely and easily put down, but conceivable.

Hungry people are an easy target. Shoot them down like zombies, run over them with your Lexus and legislate against them with the Tea Party.

The name of that journal jumped out at me for some reason. I had to follow up to learn why it unsettled me so.

Not having been provided a link to the journal, I sought it online. It seems that it is one of many published by the 'Association for Psychological Science'. Each of these journals has a dramatic cover depicting a side view of a male head either receding or projecting in six increments.

I was unable to find this article but pleasantly surprised that I could access some other articles in full text. The subject and content of the articles is about what one might expect- a serious statistical analysis of some perceived phenomenon followed by a conclusion.

I have my own ideas of what science should be. Someone comes up with a theory and then proceeds with all his might to try to disprove that theory. Then all his friends and enemies try to disprove the theory. If they should all fail, then there is hope that something has been learned. Many areas of 'science' seem to fail this test.

I love the concept of psychology and the occasional insights that come of the discipline. I've studied it off and on for over 50 years, through a number of fashionable deviations. I'm sure there is hope for some good result due to the millions of people who dedicate themselves to this interest.

It's just that I really struggle with the concept of science being so closely associated with the exploration of psychology. Can we really use the word science, the same word that we use for physics and chemistry, in relation to psychology?

For a hundred years or so americans have been amused, amazed and embarrassed by the bizarre beliefs of the mormons. Unfortunately we are currently distracted by the strange behavior of scientologists and a particular movie star adherent who is seeking a new scientologist girlfriend.

In our neverending search for novelty have we forgotten the weirdness of mormonism? Have we forgotten the thirst for power that drives the mormon church? Are we going to let that organization sit quietly in the background while we consider their pawn to lead this country?

The statements you have seen from Obama and Rmoney are from advisers. The candidates have likely never seen them. Look instead to the forces behind the candidates if you want to know where their loyalties lie.

It's a state of mind.

As part of the Bay Area, it includes the universities Stanford and Berkeley- polar opposites yet both a hotbed of creative entrepreneurial talent. It includes San Francisco, another hotbed of creative (artistic) talent. Even the general population is innovative, eccentric and usually fun to be around. All this has been building up to a crescendo since the days of Mark Twain.

Boston is competitive, again because of the talent drawn to its fine universities and money poured in by alumni. Seattle has Microsoft, Costco, Boeing, Starbucks and a few other businesses and a good university which makes it reasonably competitive.

I'm not familiar with East London- how does it compare in talent & resources?

"make it more economical to conduct mining operations on the the moon"

OK, but I'm having difficulty imagining massive mining machines working their way along the tether. And how to begin the process from an orbiting craft. And then, once landed, how will these machines get the energy necessary for mining operations?

I'm obviously missing some essential information about why this might be practical.

don't you think?

"Not to mention that it is possible to wear fake fingertips that give you somebody else's fingerprints ..."

This is why I also carry a vial of my ex's DNA when I'm doing crimes.

Sometimes we need a reminder that all computer users are not programmers. Many are in business, some are in education, many are home users while others (me) do graphic arts... These people frequently need color and often they need quality color. A simple black only laser printer is not an answer. A color laser prints ugly pages that stick and peel and fade and reflect light unevenly.

If printers were designed with only programmers in mind, there would be a large outcry from the real world. It's nice to know what meets your personal needs, or doesn't; but that is of little interest to Lexmark or other manufacturers who cater to a larger audience.

thanks drkstr1

After all these years, I should have explored my account page more carefully. Haven't figured out the reason for the difference between 'history' and 'comments' list yet, but given a few more years it may yet come to me.

"The intelligence level here on Slashdot, like everywhere else in American society, has fallen greatly in the last 10 years or so."

quite right

The obvious solution is to get rid of those newbies who lower the average IQ. We should just dump any member whose number is higher than, oh, say 195815...

"Comment: Re:Disable it! (Score 1)
by b4dc0d3r on 12-08-25 21:14 (#41127109) Attached to: Microsoft Denies Windows 8 App Spying Via SmartScreen

Mine is pretty accurate..."

Actually, it's not... Your History (excerpt above) says that comment is a Score 1, while the comment in the context of TFA says you earned a Score 2.

Likewise, my comment in History: "Re:Recourse (Score 4, Interesting)" actually earned a Score 5. As I mentioned, almost all my History is wrong, in a negative way.

I've checked my history several times this year and found that typical. I'll look more often to compare others' history, but I think the error is endemic to the system.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, b4dc0d3r.

"Look in his history: His Karma is negative. The comment hasn't even been modded."

Don't believe the history of zenlessyank, or anyone else. At least in my case, every comment score is wrong, on the low side. How's yours? The history function should be fixed or removed- it's been broken far too long.

OTOH, zenlessyank is remarkably fond of exclamations--used in most titles. Those exclamations tend to be rants, many with a religious undercurrent. Zenlessyank is not given to subtlety which may have something to do with his low ranking by a thinking population.