Computer Inertia ---------------- AMD Director Mike Johnson, on the x86 platform: "The only reason we're dealing with this ridiculous architecture is software inertia" If you like watching trees grow, continents drift and paint dry, then you'll like Microsoft Windows Darwin Theory ------------- "I think we should move Darwin Theory from being descriptive to prescriptive" - Dave Ljung See Sex_Free_Will.html A University College London professor told a Royal Society Edinburgh debate in February that human evolution is basically over, in that modern medicine and lifestyles assure that virtually all genes, and not just the "fittest" ones, are making it through to the next generation. Despite modern improvements, said Professor Steve Jones, brain size and musculature are stagnating, and because of increased human mobility, Earthlings will eventually mostly consist of brown-skinned people without sharp variations in traits. [The Observer (London), 2-3-02] Affirmative action ------------------ U of Mich Applicants, 1996-1997 Examples: Student Record Whites Minorities -------------- ------ ---------- GPA 4.0+ ACT 0-17 Usually Usually SAT 400-840 Rejected Rejected GPA 3.6-3.7 ACT 27-28 Deferred Accepted SAT 1200-1270 GPA 3.4-3.5 ACT 31-33 Accepted Accepted SAT 1360-1490 GPA 3.0-3.1 ACT 18-19 Usually SAT 850-920 Rejected Accepted The Joke That Is Civil Law -------------------------- Civil law protects the criminals.. Refer to 'Justice Double Standard' Minimalism ---------- Hacking vs Cracking ------------------- Responsibility -------------- "There's a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as vicitms of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It's not men who limit women, it's not straights who limit gays, it's not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don't have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it." _Still Life With Woodpecker, pg 117_ Tom Robbins "When I die and my life flashes before my eyes like a movie, I'm gonna pay close attention to the credits so I can find out who played the part, "Jerk who stole Derek's car." - Derek Littlefield See Self_Abuse_Rant written by someone else. Animals ------- Offense ------- - we need to start holding just as much responsible those who take offense "You make yourself and others suffer just as much when you take offense as when you give offense." Ken Keyes, Jr. Handbook to Higher Consciousness Technology is Evil ------------------ From: http://news.excite.com/news/r/010531/11/odd-gadgets-dc [article on research commissioned by amazon.co.uk] Six out of the 10 women tested said their love lives suffered if they did not have their mobile phone or palmtop computer with them. More than four in ten men said they would be lost without their gadgets and almost all said the items played a big role in the way they conducted their relationships. Code Of Honesty --------------- I don't feel compelled to tell the truth if: 1) I don't respect the person 2) I don't respect the question (i.e., someone asks a question they don't even have a right to *ask*) (although I'm beginning to realize this is equivalent to #1) 3) I'm joking (and it needs to be clear as such) In *all* other cases I will tell the truth or refuse to answer the question. Always. Right To Reproduce ------------------ * Corinth, Vt., farmer Chris Weathersbee's house was raided by state police in February and the 44 most-sickly of his goats were seized, leaving him 70 still residing in the house, which is outfitted for them with hay covering the floors to a height of about two feet (and, of course, including manure). Weathersbee, 63, told the Valley News (Lebanon, N.H.) that he personally only started sleeping in the house in January (because of the weather); before that, he had slept in the barn with the goats that couldn't fit in the house. An educated man with a nimble mind, he denied that he is a hoarder and asked authorities for more time to find a home for his goats, since he believes that any confiscated by the state would surely be killed (or neutered, which he said violates animals' "right" to procreate).