One time I got a call from a guy trying to sell a travel service. I try to be polite, since my wife did telemarketing to get through school.

"How often do you travel?"

"I can not leave the country at this time."

"Uh, okay, what about your family, kids?"

"They are quite young, so they wouldn't travel without a parent."

"Okay, what about your wife?"

"I have been advised by my lawyer not to answer any questions about the whereabouts of my wife."

"..."

"..."

"You, uh, you have a good night sir."

One time the woman wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Listen, do you get paid by the hour or by the call?"

"By the call."

"So I've told you I'm not interested, why waste your time? Hang up and move on."

"Well, I..." *lightbulb on sound* "Good night, sir."

Really?

You didn't go with "bunch of yahoos"?

Your humanity is greater than just he lump of meat that we're residing in. If I was able to make an AI that reacted the same way as I would, wouldn't that have the same humanity as me? I would say yes, and that's got no meaty bits. Let's say my heart fails and I get a stainless steel / titanium impeller implanted. Would that make me a heartless robot? Look for the "your excuse is invalid" kid -- he's got metal legs and a smile that would melt stone.

Now, I'm already part titanium so this may be the metal bits talking, but what your body does and is capable of does not reflect on what your mind and persona are and are capable of.

"Humans: Self-forged, picking up where the Gods left off."

a Metal Oxide / Silicone Field Effect Transistor? 0_o

Only if you get a Beowulf cluster of them.

Well played, well played.

I remember that, they put it onboard and reduced the PCI slots because they assumed you wouldn't buy a soundcard.

if( fashion joke )
{
    whoosh( Beardo );
}
else
{
    nanometers = 10^-9;
    micrometer = 10^-6;
    micron = micrometer;
}

That plan sounds pretty rad, actually.