taks

random fact of joy #2: my custom motherboard running a semi-custom version of linux refuses to recognize the kernel and root file system (NFS mounted, unfortunately) properly and fails to execute init during bootup. any time the message reads "kernel panic", things are not well. i'm about to drop-kick the whole kit and kaboodle. taks

not as much as you would think. engineers such as myself spend a lot of time researching new theory ala scientific method. however, credentials and background are meaningless as "proof" someone is correct. so true. mathematics is really the only "science" where proof exists. and, even still, proof only exists within the assumptions of the system you are using to prove something anyway. that's sort of what i was getting at earlier, i.e. the dimensions that we can perceive are only "proved" in the same sense as higher dimensions are "proved", through the math that is used to describe them. taks

sorry, your understanding of the subject matter is incorrect. there is no "proof" of 3D space. only observation and perception. it isn't only about string theory. or maybe you just don't have the proper background to understand. taks

actually, we "move" through all the dimensions in one way or another. what makes it interesting is that we can only sense the first 4. taks

btw, i'm not commenting on whether or not this guy's theory of "what the dimensions represent" is correct or not. he's not a physicist, and has stated so elsewhere on his website, however, he seems to be employing a philosophical version of what they represent. i find it plausible, however, but i cannot confirm a true connection to the "string theory" version of 10/11 dimensions that's out there. taks

actually, he discusses this in his forum. based on some logical thought, he actually connects the 10th and 11th dimensions. true, but these dimensions are not a result of "it was required, so we invented them", they are a direct result of logical extension of what a dimension is. no. parallel universes cannot. it doesn't exist to you. that was also part of the explanation. he was pretty clear on what can and cannot be perceived by humans. we are limited to the 4 dimensions (three purely spatial, one time). gravity is just a theory too. but it certainly exists. theory is actually something that started out as hypothesis then, through mathematical and scientific rigor, is shown to be true though without proof (proof in the scientific world is next to impossible). relativity, too, is only theory but it is one of the most tested and more than likely, true theories around. taks

this is pretty interesting, btw. taks

time isn't a pseudo dimension. it is real, just not spatial. grasping the idea of 10 dimensions requires shedding the idea that dimensions are only spatial. there is no requirement for this, but it is the way most people perceive the concept of a dimension due to the way we are taught. heck, i deal with many more than 10 dimensions in the work that i do. though they are a different kind of dimension. taks

camping as often as possible. we still have to hit breckenridge, steamboat lake and rocky mountain national park. i currently get every other friday off so at least a few trips will be thursday-sunday. other than that, work, study (dissertation) and drink. not necessarily in that order. taks

well i did the weekend in style, though the 4th itself was rather tame for me. friday morning we drove down to palisade campground, just NW of south fork and situated right on the rio grande. we did some rafting and the family i was with spent a bit of time fishing (no luck). it started raining saturday and never really stopped since (down there and in the springs), btw. saturday more of their family showed up and we moved on 30-mile campground sunday morning with even more of the family (my wife and son are in NY for her 20th hs reunion). 30-mile is named that because it is 30 miles past creede, right at the tip of the rio grande resevoir. the place was amazing. the best, however, was taking the jeep (i have a 2000 cherokee) across the trail to silverton. mostly moderate 4-wheeling, but there is one section that required a bit of nerve, particularly for a 4-wheel newbie such as myself: timber hill. timber hill is normally difficult, but, as i mentioned it was raining. sharp, jagged rocks line the route up the top of the hill so you have to attempt it at a crawl. plus, if anyone is coming down, uphill travellers have to get over, which means backing down to a spot to pull over. ouch. the only really scary part was at the top of the hill near pole creek. there was a crown on the road and it had been travelled heavily in the rain. a ranger was stuck when we pulled up. just past this area, the road sloped downward at about a 30% grade and it was slick as snot. after waiting on clearing the log-jam created by the stuck ranger, we hopped back on the road and slid down. fortunately, it wasn't very far to the river crossing below (mentioned in the trip-report above) which cleaned my tires a bit. water was probably coming in the doors, btw, but i wasn't paying attention. by that point i was just happy we didn't roll (there were 4 of us in the jeep). we made the trip to silverton in 3 hours (average is listed as 3 to 3 1/2) and the return in 2 hours. i had confidence from a couple beers at the silverton brewery for the return trip. well, it had stopped raining by then, too. the beer, btw, was outstanding and i brought home a growler (half gallon) of their porter. i shall work on that this weekend. taks

you mean, it is no different than ANY large country in the world, right? taks

about half and half, and it was actually just from that evening, not a whole day (got it installed then checked later that night). originally, this was on the time warner network in florida. i have not checked recently with adelphia. granted, ISPs such as adelphia and time warner may have also upgraded their systems since then to aid in the trojan rejection. taks

true. it's not like the middle eastern countries ever really got along with themselves anyway. taks

militarily, israel has nothing to worry about unless ALL of the arab countries gang up on them. iran could not even begin to pose a real threat, yet. furthermore, iran is in no position to be militarily hostile with anyone right now. they're spending all their clout on the nuclear issue as it is. taks

they have everything. they just happen to be better known for their anti-virus software. i do not believe zonealarm is limited duration, though you have to put up with ads, as i recall. alanschu - you are playing with fire not running a firewall. you probably get 100 or more back-door attempts to access your system if you are on any type of always-on connection, i.e. cable modem, DSL, etc. when i first got mine, i watched the logs that night. unbelievable. of course, if you're on a dialup, it's not that big of a deal. adaware and spybot are good for trackers and webbugs and clean up associated cookies, but they don't stop the attack. neither can prevent a hacker from giving you a trojan nor find a true virus. edit: yes, i realize you were speaking about spyware in particular, just noting the obvious. personally, i run adaware rather often. taks

norton is, in general, a resource hog. it probably works better than any, but the cost in aggravation is too high for my tastes. mark

zonealarm has enough of a reputation that this would not be bad. in general, however, i agree. i think the non-free version of ZA, btw, is just more powerful with added features. i used to use it, but i got a router, too, and a software firewall is no longer a requirement. if you want cheap, go with mcafee. i had good results with it. mark

no, i just think i was the only one that said it. what i think of YOUR great detective work, however... what sort of tv program, right? you honestly think that ridiculous things like this don't come from anywhere else? you poor, sad, sad creature living in a cave so long. it's as if you think there's some grand "US conspiracy" to put bad tv on the air. taks

sensationalism sells. the stupider, or crazier the better. no way that guy didn't know. he's like, redneck caucasian. she's like redneck caucasian. the crowd started laughing as soon as they showed the picture. total setup. taks

uh, so, is the guy that didn't think there was a problem with an obviously negro baby dumb, or those that think it was real? taks

That's my point. So why are you so afraid? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i'm not afraid of anything. but you seem to think the rest of the world is so virtuous yet you openly ignore the fact that it has an equal history of invading other countries. why invade "in the rest of the world" when you can walk next door. look up the definition of disingenuous. taks

well, given that the US and NA in general are rather isolated from "the rest of the world" by those massive oceans respectively named "Atlantic" and "Pacific", this statement is relatively disingenuous. NK, china, russian and just about every other one of those countries you feel safe about have equal histories of invading other countries. they don't travel across the world to get to them because all they have to do is walk next door to accomplish the same thing. the US isn't invading canada or mexico or even SA, either, btw. taks

nope, count me in that same club. i do not spend a lot of time criticizing al jazeera, either (though i have in the past). however, the things that they do manage to put out for the rest of the world to watch are, shall we say, extreme by most standards. extreme enough that even the so-called "biased media" of the left OR right would not be willing to publish. as noted by kaftan, however, "bias" is measured from individual perspective. those typically complaining about fox bias are probably looking on from the left and vice-versa for those complaining about other networks. taks

then i withdraw my remark. given the overabundance of criticism and related hypocrisy, i took your original comment as sarcastic, rather than as one of "we don't get other opinions". apologies. taks

hehe, more criticism from someone who never actually reads or watches fox. yeah, the blogworld is even more reliable. taks