> I don't see how that proves there is no free will though. I believe that's the same study, though the write up I read had a different tone and seemed to claim we had no free will - but that was my point that it doesn't come close to proof against (or for, for that matter) free will. > Maybe if they asked people to randomly try to change their minds halfway, it would appear > differently on the scanners. But that would negate the value of the study, methinks, though trying to figure out the algorithm/description for that problem is confusing my head.

Here you go.

I really don't see why ZFS deserves a front page article every time it assimilates another piece of old news. I guess it's a lesson to any software project looking for publicity - build everything into a monolithic ball of mud and win free slashvertisements.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

I assume your comment was sarcasm. Do you know how much it costs to move to a city that has a commercial video game development scene?

By default you have the right to do whatever you want. So the onus is on you to point to a source that says that copyright law prevents you from using software. I claim that only EULAs restrict you in that way.

You maybe, but I just get plauged by a page of ads trying to get me to buy a TV, phone, and Internet bundle. :D

Softmodding has noninfringing use, you can use cromwell BIOS to boot Linux without having to run any hacked Microsoft code (i.e. the BIOS.) I've never understood why none of the hacked BIOS is distributed as a patch, which would be legal to distribute. Perhaps because Microsoft has never really gone after BIOS producers, understanding well the ill will that this would have generated within the community, making the Xbox 360 a non-starter. The 360 has much more secure hardware, and Xbox 360 hacking is much less prevalent.

Millions of Tonnes of Salt water .... would do very little

The region in question is in places very low in population simply because it is a volcanic arid wasteland .... other parts however are lush and full of life which would be wiped out by this new ocean ...

Rapid change on this scale is always bad news in the short term ... (short term measured in 1000's of years)

yeah that unparalleled growth from the end of the depression to the mid 70s was a real downer.

also, when Friedman's economics aren't classically liberal enough for you, you know you're off the deep end.

So then you wouldn't mind donating a couple hundred dollars my way?

Most tickets are a tax. Plain and simple. Even the tickets that aren't a tax (like legitimate fines for building code violations, parking in front of a hydrant, etc) are unwelcome charges. I hate wasting money as much as the next person. Paying a ticket is a waste of money (you are giving an entity money, without getting any benefit), no matter what the context, even if you deserved it.

> (from wikipedia) English-language editions of Scrabble contain 100 letter
> tiles

I meant using scrabble tiles in principle. So obviously 26 a-z
characters/tiles, not 100 with uneven and therefore non-random distribution. :-)

This reminds me of a story I read a while ago about decision making - they tossed some folks in an MRI and presented them with a series of choices. According to the study, people made the decision up to 8 seconds before they actually made their decision. The argument in the article was that this is proof that there's no free will. My first thought when I read that was 'how does that make any sense?' The only thing conclusive is that people are terrible at knowing when they've made a decision. I think people don't really understand most things, including stuff we think we understand. On the other hand, I also tend to wonder if there really is life inside the computer, and each time I push a key or something I'm killing a little electron.

"Oh Pepsi! Yes, yes, YESS!!!!" I've always wondered why commercials are crappy - is it because they're lazy? I mean even the big name (McD's, Wally World) adverts are BORING. And if they're not boring, they're stupid. Or overdone. Is anyone else completely sick of the Gecko?

That would still be better than what we have now. "Why?" you ask? Simple. At least we wouldn't be paying for their incredible salary and benefits. Sure, we'd still be getting shafted when it comes to representation, but we'd be getting a slightly better deal...