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Comment Re:Atheist (Score 1) 583

Let's say you pick the model with a god. Now you have one more claim in your model that you need to show is true for your model to be valid. Until that happens, the most reasonable thing to do is suspend judgement on the truth of your model.

Comment Re:As an atheist... (Score 3, Interesting) 583

They are not mutually exclusive.

(A)gnosticism refers to what you know, and (a)theism refers what you believe in terms of gods. They are two independent dimensions. Think cartesian plane with one axis for theism and the other for gnosticism. You can be an agnostic atheist, a gnostic theist or everything in between. Gnostic atheists are hard to come by, but many gnostic theists are pretty loud about it.

Comment Re:Grow up (Score 1) 371

As a matter of fact I believe in no god, so none of those rules apply to me. I can mock anything I wish (including you and me) as it is my right as a human being. I will exercise my right when I need to remind those who will have peace by running a sword through the dissidents.

they CAN detonate nuclear bombs, and they're more likely to do so the more you exercise your rights to provoke them.

Your masochism is noted. All those people need to put the finger on the Doomsday Switch (TM) is for you to write a work of fiction, and for them not to read it. Enjoy your defeat, but I ask you to not do so in my name.

Comment Re:Ah My (Score 1) 371

I am not disallowing them from using those processes. I simply assert their religious process is inferior because it is irrational, and brings them to the wrong conclusions.

I am also saying that if the two sides are to understand each other, they should use the better of the two processes. If the west is in the wrong, so be it, but the way to reach that conclusion if it is true is not through religious means.

Comment Re:Muhammad (Score 4, Insightful) 371

Except for one thing: religion is not someone's identity. It is a set of ideas you can be persuaded of or reject, as shown by the capability of conversion from one to another. Disagreeing or mocking such a set is not hate, because it is not directed at the humans, nor are those humans forbidden to practice their faith if they so choose.

Unfortunately it seems you have fallen for the argument that religion deserves extra respect from criticism or mockery. There is no reason why we should mock it any less than anything we already do.

Comment Re:Ah My (Score 1) 371

But by claiming that W fails to understand M, you imply that there exist a set of values that both will recognize. If that is true, then the best way to find out what those values are is through reasoned argument, not through the application of a recooked version of a medieval plagiarism of bronze-age myths. Religion should not be allowed to be a player in this game.

Comment To newspapers: (Score 1) 390

Well, boo-hoo. Nobody forced newspapers to put their content online. It sure is convenient for us readers, but if they were not prepared to deal with what is happening now, then they should just pull out and go to just print or subscription only. Let's see how well that will fare. Will they want people writing about their stories banned?

The Internet's whole point is copying and sharing information, and if you don't want to share your content or cannot afford to, then don't freaking put it there.

The Courts

RIAA Victim Jammie Thomas Gets a New Lawyer 241

newtley writes "Only days after Brian Toder, her previous legal representative, had decided discretion was the better part of valour, leaving her fend for herself against the RIAA, Jammie Thomas says another lawyer has come forward with an offer of pro bono help. He's K.A.D. Camara from Camara & Sibley in Houston, Texas, says Jammie. And, 'He's the youngest person in history to graduate from Harvard Law school with honors,' she points out. Nor will her retrial be delayed, as was expected. It'll now go forward in June 15, as slated. 'I'm so happy!' Jammie said."
Security

Intel Cache Poisoning Is Dangerously Easy On Linux 393

Julie188 writes "A researcher recently released proof-of-concept code for an exploit that allows a hacker to overrun an Intel CPU cache and plant a rootkit. A second, independent researcher has examined the exploit and noted that it is so simple and so stealthy that it is likely out in the wild now, unbeknownst to its victims. The attack works best on a Linux system with an Intel DQ35 motherboard with 2GB of memory. It turns out that Linux allows the root user to access MTR registers incredibly easily. With Windows this exploit can be used, but requires much more work and skill and so while the Linux exploit code is readily available now, no Windows exploit code has, so far, been released or seen. This attack is hardware specific, but unfortunately, it is specific to Intel's popular DQ35 motherboards."
Space

ESA Launches GOCE To Map Earth's Gravity 81

DSG2 sends in an ESA press release which reads in part: "This afternoon, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite developed by the European Space Agency was lofted into a near-Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit by a Rockot launcher lifting off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia. GOCE is the first of a new family of ESA satellites designed to study our planet and its environment in order to enhance our knowledge and understanding of Earth-system processes and their evolution, to enable us to address the challenges of global climate change. In particular, GOCE will measure the minute differences in the Earth's gravity field around the globe." One consequence of mapping the planet's geoid in finer detail is that ocean currents can be limned more accurately. This BBC article from 2007 goes into some detail about this application.

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