A few times a week, I realize that everything is everything, any further claims are likely to be false. What we consider objects or individuals is just an aspect of everything, indivisible from the rest. It's just that this would leave me with nothing to do, so I shake it off quickly ^^

Time is such a universal concept... in that it only applies inside the universe, as far as we know. Furthermore, since undoubtedly something exists, we either have to assume it's possible for something to come out of nothing, or for something to have existed since forever, "just because". So then why not grant this to a theoretical god, too? It's not really logic when you apply it that selectively.

I think even the weirdest god you could dream up would not make reality any weirder, it'd be like a drop in the ocean. Considering that, it's hilarious with how much seriousness we debate what is real or true and who is right when it comes to the final things, and if there is no higher being to see this and have a good chuckle at it, it would have need to be invented.

You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid... You refuse to do it because you want to live longer... You're afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you're afraid someone will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand.

Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.

-- Martin Luther King, Jr. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?... )

Not sure if continuing to not buy something you wouldn't buy anyway qualifies as boycott, but it's the thought that counts :)

Well, because when one is making up arbitrary things, they might as well be remotely interesting, and based on my whims.

Seriously though, that it is teeming with life is the *one* thing that sets Earth apart from the other planets we know so far. That's kind of the whole big deal about it. If this criterion doesn't matter, then why care about "Earth-like" at all? What about the Jupiter-like and Neptune-like and Venus-like planets being discovered all the time?

Oh wait, that would be silly, because we already know the universe is incredibly big, and just about anything we just define by size, orbit and mass is going to exist in abundance, including round things roughly the size of Earth.

It's not just about read/write speed, the main strength of SSD is random access times. Even putting a billion harddrives together gains you nothing there.

What are governments "competing" about? If anything, many are competing against the people they are supposed to represent.

The nature of the state, and the nature of the secrets, does matter. State secrets are not automatically holy. Fuck what any law ever written, past, present and future says on that matter. Laws are born out of a desire for justice - they do not define justice, they have to answer to it.

You know what makes a planet Earth-like? Having life on it. Not theoretically maybe being able to support life, but actually doing so.

Archives of the document were on Guardian public servers when the password was mysteriously "leaked."

And you blame Snowden for this?

Also, what's the file name? I assume it's available on random torrent sites?

When people speak like this, debate is dead and we're into monkeys flinging poo at each other.

Not making shit up is debating on the level of poo flinging monkeys? Heh.

Nobody is stopping you from describing your perfect universe in fiction, right? You want omnipotence, buy pen and paper :P

And actually, depending on how one reads the book of genesis, mortality and decay were a conscious design choice, and this is the shareware version of the universe, if you will, temporary testing grounds. Fiction or not, within the fiction, it kind of makes sense.

Well, spend the time away from the desk for thinking about the problem? I find I need that for coding sometimes, where going for a walk and arranging the various pieces in my head is actually more productive than staring at the code for another 30 minutes. You gotta give inspiration a chance to occur! I don't mean distraction, doing something else that you have to concentrate on - but stepping back and taking in the bigger picture. And fresh air and some movement really does help the brain get going, too.

Of course, liking what you do, and taking pride in doing it well, is kind of a must. But where that is the case, I think a "long leash" actually improves productivity. And where it is not the case, even fixing people to their desks with super glue will not make them work harder... remember the "boss key"? :D

That must be manly-speak for "I need a hug".

I know, all the alpha-females are already taken by people who need to talk shit about homeless and Chinese people to feel better about themselves. They like their sex angry and bitter, with an aftertaste of frustration and pettyness, and I for one cannot blame them.

"Fuckin' A!"

That is a mighty fine consolation price for being unable to think, I am impressed. Since that is what you're stuck with, you should probably make the best of it, and beat people up whenever you get the chance.

Regards from China!