Would it not make more sense to wash one's hands *after* checking out the shit?

The vast majority of books are uninspired pulp. Same for music, movies, and other forms of expression, including Slashdot posts.

Sure they can. They just keep on choosing not to.

As far as Impy is concerned...staying out of the kitchen?

Now sudo go and make him a sandwich...

There are some similarities with religious debates, that's true. Unfortunately that similarity is mostly that one side is dominated by reasonably rational minds while the other is mostly stark raving mad.

Politics my friend, it is all down to politics, successful companies sooner or later create these little islands of power inside their organizations, when that happens nothings else ever happens.

Everybody kills off anything that has the perception of breaking the status quo.

The moral is to make your success vast while keeping your organization as small as you possible can.

Hmm... I don't know. It's a value proposition for me. I've been cable free for over ten years. If there's some show I want to watch badly enough, there's the internet, for everything else, OTA HDTV works great. I couldn't stomach paying $40+ (and up to $90 if you actually wanted a choice of channels), that's $480 to $1080 a year, for the privilege of perhaps seeing something entertaining (but we don't guarantee that).

You are walking through the desert as you see a turtle lying on its back. You do not help the turtle. Why won't you help the turtle?

Most atheists are brainwashed into thinking that if they ask about the beginning of the Universe, they are ignorant. Worse, they are taught that anyone asking the question is ignorant. It's a complete appeal to emotion argument to prevent people from asking the questions, which could be the most important you could ever ask (assuming you came to the conclusion that maybe there is such a thing as a creator).

That has to be one of the largest balls of shite i've seen on slashdot in a while.

Some atheists (who by definition are not a homogenous group as you like to paint them) ask those kinds of questions all the time. The difference is that we're willing to accept "we don't know (yet)" as an answer instead of having to dive into fantasy land to make up something to make us feel better.

Hey, maybe there is some vastly more powerful being out there who created the universe. And maybe, just maybe, said being takes more of an interest in us than we do in, say, the lives of the bacteria in our guts. That's still no compelling reason to dive down into heaven and hell fantasies. If said being really wants something from us, it could pop down to Times Square some time and make its wishes clear. But don't expect me to believe some guy who just wants a cushy job inside with no heavy lifting that if I don't do as he says I'll burn in some fantasy oven forever and ever.

I might have to sit next to someone that doesn't think or look like me!

Looking or thinking is fine, it's not smelling and acting like me that is bothersome ;-)

Not really, since in all 3 of these "theories" we pretty much agree that the phenomenon is real, we just haven't quite figured out how it works exactly.

Besides, folks that argue against evolution tend to not overly involve themselves with actual arguments anyway...

There's several elements to it.

1. Sharing discomfort with others creates a bond. See Boot Camp etc.
2. Especially for the male of our species, engaging in physical competition is pretty much built in.
3. In order to truly appreciate comfort, experiencing discomfort actually adds to the experience. A warm bed is pleasant. A warm bed when you have sore muscles from working (out) all the more so. A hot meal tastes like manna from heaven after a cold, wet day without food.

As for paintball, like with many other pursuits, half the enjoyment is in mastering the skills required, with each painful hit a reminder there's still room for improvement. In order for victory to be worthwhile, losing needs to involve some measure of pain, be it physical, mental or emotional.

I'm 10 times more relaxed on the highway than I am in a 25mph zone. The speeds may be higher, but all the vehicles go in the same direction, there's no kids or wildlife involved, nor are there any squishy cyclists or pedestrians.

The mundane tasks, sure - but how do you handle things like a tire blowout in a curved section of road with sand on it?

Considering the amount of data the AI would have at its disposal with regards to grip, traction, speed etc. , the speed at which it could process that data and the precision it could use to manipulate the brakes, throttle and clutch, heck, even the suspensions and stuff like that...it would probably do a far better job than I ever would.

Performance cars already take a lot of the work off the hands of the driver, which is why it's so much fun to see one driven without all the electronic aids. (preferably on a track). Higher-end Mercs and Beamers don't wait for the driver to brake when he's about to run into the rear of a traffic jam, they do so themselves. Same things for swerving out of lane etc.

I also tend to give bonus points to companies based on how they interact with the community with regards to fan-projects, use of IP etc. Some companies will go into an instant legal cramp the moment some kid uses one of their assets outside of the game. Other companies will tell him it's cool or even offer to help to make it better or easier.

CCP (Eve Online) ranks very highly in my book, as does CD Projekt (The Witcher). These guys know there's no advertising like having your fans praise you (guess that's what I'm doing right now).