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Chris.S

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Everything posted by Chris.S

  1. I can definitely see myself using the MS Courier on a construction jobsite, linked with a Blackberry or other smartphone. Not so much the iPad. But I have a couple years to wait still to even think about buying one, so by that time the tech will be along pretty well for both.
  2. You've never eaten a submarine sandwich? Standard sizes (at least here) are 6" and 12". Would a 12" sandwich be more or less like a penis than the one in the add? I love gobbling down 12 inchers - it really fills you up. There are so many foods with "semblances to penises" that I'd think you're starving yourself. The ad isn't bad at all, and can still be taken as just a woman eating a sandwich. Maybe the catch phrase could be more subtle, but I would say they're very far from crossing any line. They aren't saying, "THIS SANDWICH LOOKS LIKE A BIG DONG, EAT IT"; they're saying, "Our sandwich is big. So big, that if it was in your pants, girls would be very impressed. Eat our surprisingly large sandwich".
  3. The 2 candidates he's against sound exactly like the Conservative Party up here in Canada.
  4. Instead of slapping an old, ignorant woman, you might try telling her why that article is wrong and giving your side of the case.
  5. Or we could turn Upper Crapistan into the new Galt's Gulch!
  6. Yeah, I was already signed up for the beta draw, that's why I wondered how you got a key. From what you're saying, it seems like they added the WC3 style gameplay to SC2, minus heroes. I can't wait to play, but that might be put on hold until I replace my geriatric 6 year old PC. Thankfully it runs WoW, but probably won't deal well with SC2 or Cataclysm.
  7. Did Blizzard randomly choose you for testing or did you download it? I can't seem to find a beta download on the site.
  8. I rented Surrogates last night. Just wanted to give a bare-bones review because I thought it could have gone into some real depth exploring the technological benefits of machines to man and the immoral nature of faking reality. But these two themes were very superficial. Basically, the movie kind of refuses to make a point and stays neutral. I'm a fan of Bruce Willkis, but this was very disappointing. The writers and everyone else could have done a much better job. Maybe I'll have to read the comics.
  9. I don't think it happens only in Pashtun culture. While I was in Maldives last summer, my wife told me that many of the immigrant Bangladeshi workers have homosexual relationships simply because they are starved of female companionship (you can walk along the streets in Male' at night and see them holding hands and cuddling along piers and retaining walls). And with the increased segregation of women from men in the country (due to increasingly strict Islamification), I wouldn't be surprised if it is already a trend in the population of Maldivian men (and women). This is just from my own observations and info from my wife (who is Maldivian), and I don't have a study to cite, so take this with a grain of salt. But is it possible that in the absence of the opposite gender, and if two people share many values, that it could turn into a sexual relationship? I'm not talking about having sex with your best friend. More like years spent with men in sparse quarters with no female contact (or the opposite). Being that sex is good and love is an expression of intense sharing of values, is homosexuality in this context immoral (if one isn't particularly attracted to men)? I tried not to setup a "lifeboat" question (I don't know the correct term), but that is the reality and context many people live with.
  10. Private companies capitalizing on this enviro trend is fine. Except that the enviro trend is based on unearned guilt about destroying nature, harmful CO2 emissions, climate change, etc. The whole idea is that "Man is bad for nature. Man (specifically, Western Man) consumes and destroys nature and in doing so, destroys himself....so we'll just get government to step in a force men to do this, this, this, this, etc". All of "this" being reducing energy usage, reducing carbon output (including breathing), and increasing the cost of living by using alternative energies and "green" solutions. All of this stuff is never framed by the idea that the new technology makes one's life easier. It's framed with the idea that "it's better for the environment...and oh by the way, that means it's better for you too. And if you don't believe this idea, here's some guilt". Nature first, man second. My construction program got this shit thrown at us by the bushel last semester, first in a sustainable development class explaining how construction rapes the earth, second in a building science class research project in which we had to propose a "green" renovation for an 1890's brickworks building currently owned by Evergreen. They had no budget, and we were told to go as green and environmentally conscious as possible, even though the bulk of these renovations are to be paid for with taxpayer money because they are having a hard time getting private investors. Sure it was nice to exercise some creativity and get some experience with it, but the whole thing really ticked me off. I'll add that with the ClimateGate controversy, the entire base science of sustainable development should questioned very critically (if it hasn't already been debunked by someone).
  11. I haven't counted, but I've probably saved a few thousand dollars over the last few years by playing WoW. It was only when I got a girlfriend/wife that I started hemorrhaging money....does that mean girlfriends are immoral?
  12. Video games and laziness, anti-social-(-ness? -ability?) etc don't come in a package. Not that you're attacking anyone, but I've had to defend myself from friends very often over this little point due to my WoW playing. It's a hobby, and like anything, should be taken in moderation (a point which Blizzard emphasizes in the loading screen once in awhile ).
  13. I can say I don't have enough information about the general culture of Oism, the relationship between Ayn Rand and Brandon or specifically Branden's character. I can read everything people have said, but I think the most qualified judgments of any I have read or heard are Hsieh's and Peikoff's. If I were to trust anyone's judgment it would be theirs, but I still haven't read anything by Branden himself and so I can't make a proper evaluation of him. Same with David Kelly. I have started reading Reisman's stuff but haven't gotten far enough. But I think the better question to ask is why do so many people care about this? Does it negatively affect these peoples' lives in any direct way, rather than just being distasteful or offensive?
  14. I'm unsure of "The Jungle"'s truthiness, but from reading about it on wikipedia, it kind of seems like it was used as platform to spread anti-capitalist ideas and later for his political runs. And it was supposed to be fictional, so in both those ways I'm not surprised that some of it might not be telling the truth. Is your friend trying to say that workers at meat packing plants should be given high wages and have their health taken care of by the business owner with no responsibility on the individual's part? Have you pointed out to him that these workers wouldn't have any wage if it weren't for the business owner?
  15. First of all, I would say comparing your actions with your own private property with the actions of the Nazi book burning parties is a bit out there. Second, it's not your reponsibility to further any sort of discussion with competing arguments. Third, who would you be making the world a worse place for? If yourself, then burn em, or throw em in a tree shredder or use the pages for toilet paper. But, if anything, I would say you could at least try and recoup some of the costs back by selling them to a person who wants to hear competing arguments, that way it's a fair trade. After that, do what you want. They're yours to do with as you please.
  16. It's the "societal norms" that will sink your argument. For the part of the world these attacks are generally happening, it is a "societal norm" to treat women like shit. It's not even just Islam - Cambodia, Thailand and Burma have low populations of Muslims (according to wikipedia), and yet the article says that these attacks happen in all those countries. I'm betting the countries with the least number of attacks with acid are India and Bangladesh, because these two countries are pretty much leading the surrounding countries in capitalistic endeavours (however state-operated those actually are). What really needs to be condemned is the lack of justice in upholding the individual rights of these women and even men who are persecuted in these countries. But Pakistan is far from able to control it's own territory properly, and Burma is currently still under a military-dictatorship. I'm unsure of Thailand and Cambodia. I also think you and RussK aren't giving those women the credit they deserve. They aren't morons. At least one of the women in those pictures was educated enough to work at a university (and there's at least more than 7000(?) others). They know it's wrong to have been attacked like that, but they have no recourse as long as their rights aren't upheld by the force of law in those countries (because they're women or because they're poor or whatever reason, it doesn't matter). If they thought it was ok, they probably wouldn't have reported it to any sort of authority or news reporter, or gone through surgical reconstruction as some of them have. I will admit though, that there may be a few who have been completely brainwashed, but I'd guess that number is a huge minority. Just like there are victims of physical abuse in the US or Canada that think it's ok to be beaten by their spouse. If it's not reported, it's more likely that the victim is scared for their life or their family.
  17. That is an awesome picture steck. Really. I suppose I'll speak up about the 'ol T-dot. Walking downtown is fantastic. I rarely get the chance to walk there in the morning anymore due to where I'm living in relation to school, but once a week, I get to walk westward along King St and see all the buildings in that corridor lit by the 11 am sun. Other good views are from pretty much any main street running North-South depending on how far you are from downtown. Others are looking East-West on Queen St, Front St, Dundas, College...after College it's not as good. Even better, and actually kind of thrilling, is driving along the Gardiner Expressway in low traffic. The DVP is good too, but I prefer the Gardiner. I'll have to take pictures if I ever get a camera.
  18. I really doubt that the women are convinced they deserve any sort of punishment for refusal of marriage, let alone punishment by acid. They might be told such from the bastards who did the attack and others who are as corrupt, but I doubt the women believe it. Also, I don't think the argument can be made that these men attack women specifically because they are Islamic fundamentalists. The article doesn't give much evidence, except a correlation between the Taliban in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. But attacks like these (and probably similar attacks with different weapons) have been happening since before the Taliban took over in Afghanistan. So you could attribute it to Islam, but I think it's more related to how women are viewed as less than human in that part of the world (even before religion comes into play) and that the law doesn't punish those who violate rights, whether it be a man or woman.
  19. While it is a recognition of his "spiritual" authority, I don't think it's necessarily a recognition of any authority over you. Rather, it can also be an acknowledgment of the profession he occupies, as well as some sort of social custom. Do you have to? I don't think so. Especially in a doctor-patient interaction, where the patient is usually referred to by first name or Mr./Mrs. X ("Sir" or "Ma'm" would be fine too). I suppose you could call him "priest" as a recognition of his profession without the authority that "Father" connotes, but that sort of language seems strange outside of DnD or WoW. In a similar vein (ie about titles), it bugs me when students refer to teachers or professors by first name. I think it's a lack of respect for the effort the professor has taken to be in that position and too familiar, even if the student is a similar age. For a Master's or PhD student I think it would be acceptable, maybe even a 4th year undergrad, because by that time, the student has probably worked with the professor a lot. I'm not saying the student has to idolize or break his back to the authority of the prof, but a first-third year undergrad using a professors first name just seems distasteful, like they're raising themselves to the professor's level of knowledge (or lowering the professor to theirs).
  20. Has anyone confirmed whether or not the servers were hacked or if it was an anonymous insider who leaked the info?
  21. If the world has come to the need of an Ark, I'd party. Jake's answer is best (substituting me for Jake obviously). He can come in my boat though, for a million dollar fee. Or one of his bags of doritos, which will become the currency of choice on my boat.
  22. - name above your address info, all centered as a header, address info a bit smaller font - skills and abilities above education, soft skills don't necessarily have to be labelled as soft-skills because they're obvious and are mostly used as resume filler for people without much to write. but you can try and frame them nicely between statement of purpose and employment history/relevant experience, as a taste of things to come - state your purpose as a job seeker, relate it to the position being applied for (not necessary, but uses some space, keep it at most 2 sentences, preferably 1 line, 1 sentence) - education: list or bullet your school and major, time spent only - previous employment: rename employment history, under soft-skills, above education, bullet form, delete reason for leaving - explanation for employment gaps: delete - references: available upon request. - name - address - purpose statement - soft skills - employment history - education - references Another thing I think you should do is write out a master skills sheet, in which you write down every little job detail you can remember you did in your jobs (not just what was in the job description but what you actually did beyond that), then consolidate them under similar fields. Labour, Customer Service, Auto-mechanic etc. This way, you can divide your work experience and only use your relevant experience on a resume for what position you apply for, and you can more easily match yourself to job ads you see. You would still keep your employment history, but only as a bulleted list or table form near the bottom. What you're highlighting there is your relevant work experience, not where you've worked. What you're trying to do with a resume is highlight your benefits to that company. You're selling yourself. Do you ever hear Apple advertisements saying "the iPod is great, you can play thousands of music files! But you can only use Apple software and our warranty runs out in a year and then your iPod will break and you'll have to buy a new one"? So, on a resume, don't say "here's why I'm only ok for your company, and this is why I left the other places I worked for. Oh yeah, and I quit school". But before they even get to reading about you, they have to want to read the paper. Your resume might be the 200th they've seen that day. PIMP. THAT. MOFO. OUT. Not too flashy with crazy fonts, but very appealing. Sensual. Like Rico Suave.
  23. This is basically what I thought before reading Mrs. Hsieh's post, but where she says confuses me. From what she wrote, it sounds like she's equivocating government action vs people with extremely dangerous communicable diseases with government action vs drunk drivers, but without the context of public roads. Maybe that's assumed and is already taking into account your short-circuit. I'll have to remember that about public ownership and those laws.
  24. I agree with the vaccination arguments. But tonight I had a conversation with a friend about drunk driving. I said the state had no business making laws against drunk driving because the car and booze is private property, and if a drunk driver is to harm or kill someone, then that's when the law should step in. But I guess the error I made is that a drunk driver is forcing a dangerous situation on someone. Doesn't that only hold on public roads though?
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