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Comment: Re:Pressure applied (Score 1) 877

by Aetuneo (#26287125) Attached to: Is the Yellowstone Supervolcano About To Blow?
Pumping waste chemical weapons into the subsurface under Rock Flats = Pumping stuff underground = Increases pressure.

Kindly read what you are insulting before insulting it, it leaves innocent bystanders like me with less of a headache. Or, if you still argue that it's not the same thing, use an argument which makes sense with the thing you're insulting, okay?

Comment: Re:Pointless... (Score 1) 630

by Aetuneo (#25841019) Attached to: Ray Kurzweil Wonders, Can Machines Ever Have Souls?

I guess it depends on how vague or specific you are on the word "appear". I know a lot of people would find a god appearing (becoming visible in a visual sense or coming before the public according to the dictionary) More than enough scientific proof to stop questioning the existence. I'm just saying this to show that, especially in the United States, the word atheism has evolved in a much darker definition.

More dependent on the definition of waiting; it's the difference from actively waiting (eg, "I really hope that a god appears soon so that I will know which religion to join") and inactively waiting (eg, "I suppose that, if a god appeared, I would have to join a religion"). I would argue that most atheists are inactively waiting (or just not waiting, as they don't want to subscribe to a belief system which involves worship).

So, atheism means that, even though you can go through the motions of theism, you don't really need to? (As asexuality means that, while you can go through the motions of sex if you need to, or are pressured into doing so, you have no mental need for it). That fits; if I had to choose between not practicing a religion and death (or at least social ostracism - although, considering the crusades and other religious wars, death works) I would probably be willing to go through the motions of belief.

Comment: Re:Pointless... (Score 1) 630

by Aetuneo (#25817631) Attached to: Ray Kurzweil Wonders, Can Machines Ever Have Souls?
As I understood that, it meant that assuming that all religious (or non-religious) people will argue the same thing is ignorant, not that being religious (or not) is ignorant (as you seem to have read it). Also, I think that you may have confusing Atheism with Agnosticism. Atheism is the belief that there are no gods (or an absence of belief in them), Agnosticism is the belief that metaphysical things (including gods) are either unknown to exist, or cannot be proven to exist - but they still might exist. I suppose that most atheists would probably be willing to become theists if they were presented proof of a god, but that's not the same thing as waiting for a god or gods to appear.
Slashback

Polls

Submitted by
tqft
tqft writes "Slashdot polls should be replaced after
1) 50,000 votes
2) 60,000 votes
3) 70,000 votes
4) after CowboyNeal votes"
Education

Potential employers consider university prestige?

Submitted by PocketProtector
PocketProtector writes "It's about that time of year when high school seniors around the country are starting to apply for their university of choice. I am just one of those people. Like most other people on Slashdot, I am a technology-minded individual and as a result wish to go into a technology-orientated profession. Of course, the days are long gone when jobs were available to anyone with a diploma, so the question then becomes: where is the best place to receive one's degree? I am in a position where I could get a full ride at any of the state universities or be accepted to most universities around the country. If I attend any out of state universities, however, I will not only be punished with out of state tuition increases but will also not receive as much scholarship money as a result of the highly competitive nature of these universities. Is a degree from a more prestigious university (e.g. UC Berkeley of BSD fame) worth the large amount of debt I will acquire? Do potential employers prefer some applicants over others because of the university they got their degree from?"
Privacy

UK Tax officials lose details of 25M Taxpayers

Submitted by Nefarious Wheel
Nefarious Wheel writes "Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has admitted to losing the details of 25 million individuals, with 7.25 million U.K. families potentially affected. "This is the biggest privacy disaster by our government," said Jonathan Bamford, assistant information commissioner.

In a speech to Parliament on Tuesday, the chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, told of the loss of two discs containing the details of everybody in the U.K. who claims and receives child benefits. Story at http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6219772.html?tag=nl.e550"
Security

An inconvenient hack: Al Gore's Web site hacked->

Submitted by Bergkamp10
Bergkamp10 writes "Hackers it would seem are not without a sense of irony. A blog to promote former US Vice President Al Gore's celebrated documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has been hacked to host links to web sites selling online pharmaceuticals. According to the story the links appear to have been created as part of a scheme to boost the Web traffic for sites that promote the drugs, security experts said. They contain titles such as "Xanax On Line," "Viagra," and "Buy Valium Online." The technique is common among cyber scammers who bombard the site with links to their products in the hope of increasing traffic and boosting their search engine rankings. The links point to Web pages on a site run by Westmont College, a small Christian college based in Santa Barbara, California. The Westmont College Web site also appears to have been hacked, a security expert said."
Link to Original Source
United States

Steve Fosset's wife asks court to declare him dead

Submitted by Lev13than
Lev13than writes "In the strongest signal yet that hope has faded for missing millionaire Steve Fossett, his wife has asked the court to declare the adventurer legally dead. "As painful as it is for Mrs. Fossett, other members of the family and his many friends, it is time to initiate this process," said attorney Michael A. LoVallo, who filed the petition in Cook County Circuit Court. Fossett's disappearance has been covered previously on Slashdot."

The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim. -- Edsger W. Dijkstra

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