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Comment Re:God's experiment in free will (Score 1) 1226

Lots of places, some around the same time and with no connection to the outside world. The point is that people can figure out right and wrong without religion. Maybe it was original to the biblical authors at their time and in their region, but it wasn't original to the world and the world didn't learn it from them alone.
http://chaplaincyinstitute.org/rev-nancy-schluntz/common-threads-world-religions-the-ethic-reciprocity

Comment Re:Because he needed the cash? (Score 2) 535

My doctor growing up was a kleptomaniac. He would take things out of the local grocery without paying for them all the time. No one ever stopped him because he'd always return the goods a couple of hour later. Of course, he wasn't conspiring to do it for profit, he just couldn't help his impulses any more than someone with OCD.

I suppose this could be something similar, but criminal charges are definitely in order for the nature and amount of the crime.

Comment Re:Common Sense (Score 2) 535

Somehow I doubt that the cashiers follow Lego pricing so closely. To someone with any amount of ignorance on the merchandise, $50 may seem like a reasonable price on a large box of plastic foot needles.

Also keep in mind the repetitive, mind-numbing task cashiers perform. After a while, I doubt they even notice what it was they rung up. Scan, bag, repeat x N. Total, swipe, next. Try that for five or six 8-hour days in a row, for hundreds of customers, then see how much you notice or care about the merchandise.

Comment Really, Apple? (Score 3, Insightful) 584

I'm a fan of Apple and their iOS devices (though I know many are not). But I disagree with this change. To make it an option is all well and good, I'm all for it, but to make it a requirement is a step in the wrong direction. I, for one, will continue to purchase my books from Amazon.com. eReader apps help sell Apple devices. IMO, Apple should treat them with more courtesy than this.
Australia

Stallman Crashes Talk, Fights 'War On Sharing' 309

schliz writes "Free software activist Richard Stallman has called for the end of the 'war on sharing' at the World Computer Congress in Brisbane, Australia. He criticized surveillance, censorship, restrictive data formats, and software-as-a-service in a keynote presentation, and asserted that digital society had to be 'free' in order to be a benefit, and not an attack. Earlier in the conference, Stallman had briefly interrupted a European Patent Office presentation with a placard that said: 'Don't get caught in software patent thickets.' He told journalists that the Patent Office was 'here to campaign in favor of software patents in Australia,' arguing that 'there's no problem that requires a solution with anything like software patents.'"

Comment Re:Solar Cooling! Man is at it again! (Score 0, Offtopic) 167

I sincerely hope moderators understand tongue in cheek humor.

Surely you jest. These are, after all, slashdot moderators you're talking about. I think you're just as likely to get scathing comments from people rampaging at the (overly literal) idea that we should fire nukes into the sun. "But you'll set the sun on fire! Think of the children!" et al.

Now that I've mentioned it as well, I expect similar results.

Comment I partially stand up (Score 4, Insightful) 567

There is no such thing as a rolling stop - you either stop or you don't. You either break the law, or you don't. Not harming someone or their property doesn't make it any more legal to disobey rules of the road.

This whole concept reminds me of the George Carlin bit about staying seated until the plane comes to a "complete stop." There is no such thing as a partial stop. If you roll through a light, get caught and fined, at least own up to it. Any driver who does this knows they are taking the risk, knows it's against the rules, and, while I'm not saying they deserve to get caught, should at least take personal responsibility if they do.

I roll through stops sometimes, though I do try to make a conscious effort to not do so. I also speed - and have no shame in doing it. If/when I get caught, I accept the consequences unless I have what I feel is a justifiable reason for what I did.
Medicine

Parasite Correlated With World Cup Success 366

mahiskali writes "A parasite commonly found in cats, Toxoplasma gondii, has an unnerving relation to World Cup victories by country. (This parasite was discussed here twice in 2006.) Toxo can be found in almost every type of mammal, from rats to humans. The overall goal of the parasite is to end up in a feline stomach, which is the only place it can reproduce. In other mammals, humans for example, the parasite heads for the brain. It is estimated that nearly 1/3 of the human population has a latent Toxo infection, with individual countries having infection rates varying from 6% (Korea) to 92% (Ghana). Countries with greater incidence of this parasitic infection in their populations tend to win more World Cups than those without. The article, written by a Stanford University neuroscientist, goes on to try out various rationales for such a correlation, ranging from increased testosterone to increased dissent of authority — all symptoms of a Toxo infection. Now we just need to find a parasite that causes an inability to referee properly, and we'll have this whole World Cup business all sorted out."

Comment Discarded RTs? (Score 1) 460

I find it odd that the Retweets (RTs) are/were discarded with the spam in these statistics. RTs help the information spread, which is useful indeed. How many of those 1,000 actively monitor or follow any official World Cup reporting stream? Certainly not all. A RT may not be an original post, but it still can have value in the dissemination of data.

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