Aleatoric

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

The watch analogy is fundamentally flawed as a context for evolution. Unlike watch parts, atoms and molecules have an innate characteristic that helps them to form into more complex substances. Without boring everyone to death with the fundamentals of chemical interaction, atoms forming molecules is not a completely random event. For each type of atom, there are only so many ways that they can interact with another given atom. The same is true of molecules. As long as there is enough en

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Paxx, It does sort of come down to a circular argument, doesn't it? I certainly think some of it comes down to the fact that the writers of the bible already had some history to refer to, in terms of the way things are worded, both in terms of other codes, such as Hammurabi, and in terms of both oral and tribal tradition. As an interesting point, there is some anthropological evidence that (at the tribal level) murder was considered to be the killing of someone in your own trib

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

IPlural, I would argue that the rabbinical translation would be more accurate, as per the following: Indeed, "kill" in English is an all-encompassing verb that covers the taking of life in all forms and for all classes of victims. That kind of generalization is expressed in Hebrew through the verb "harag." However, the verb that appears in the Torah's pro

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Part of the problem is that everyone wants a God that reinforces their own view of the world, and the authors of the various parts of the Bible (not to mention the other texts) tended to project that desire in the text. Although a believer, I cannot accept (as a whole) any of the dogma of any of the existing religions, since, without fail, they all tend to portray a God that is (or can be) hateful, jealous, vindictive, exclusionary, and so forth. A god with those qualities is not really

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

IPlural, Actually, the translation from the hebrew can be interpreted as 'thou shalt not murder'. Various rabbinical translations state it thus. I also think murder is a better fit than kill, considering that the text also describes many instances where God commands that all inhabitants of an enemy city be killed. Not to mention several other injunctions where killing is required as punishment for a crime, etc. For God to make a commandment that states 'thou shalt not kill', wi

Reply to Why customize your PC? in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

This reminds me of an article I read on osopinions about a week ago. While the ostensible focus of the article was KDE, it applies to the question you pose. The gist of the article was that not only was it bad to theme your computer interface, it was bad for the system to even allow the possibility. The author was yet another of those 'human interface experts' with the concomitant 'one size should fit all' philosophy. I agree with the principle that the basal system s

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Thanks Paxx The Prophet is a favorite of mine, as well. I also agree that there is little point in beating this horse, there is little chance of changing minds. I still like to get my $0.02 in from time to time Hus, Abiogenesis is one of the really big questions, no doubt of it. We can hypothe

Reply to Creation vs. Evolution in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

This is a question that isn't ever going to be really answered, at least in terms of convincing all of the participants. I'll wedge myself firmly in the middle here, by stating that I'm a scientist (engineer) who also believes in God. I am also firmly behind evolution (and cosmology, etc.). First, to clear up one common misconception about what is regarded as the *theory* of evolution. The entire chain of evidence (common genetic heritage, the fossil record, etc.) fully support

Reply to Is Microsoft obsessed with Linux? in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

I think MS is obsessed with Linux for a couple of reasons. In one sense, it is probably the first real competition that they have faced, certainly since Win95. As you say, not so much on the desktop, but especially in server space and in the realm of embedded devices, where the much more favorable licensing terms and greater flexibility works very much in the favor of Linux. In another, I think that that as Linux becomes more mature and usable on the desktop, it highlights the

Reply to Does customization slow down your computer? Answer: Not really in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

The amount of memory used by any one process (or all of them together) doesn't really matter all that much, unless you're already running out of memory. As long as you aren't constantly swapping out, memory usage doesn't substantially affect overall performance. If you're swapping out, performance really suffers. CPU usage is really a better indicator of a performance hit.

Reply to Does customization slow down your computer? Answer: Not really in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

I think the point is that there is nothing inherent about customization apps that cause the system to perform poorly. I have little or no performance degradation on my systems from running these apps(WB, WFX, DX, Iconpackager and CursorXP, as well as a few other small utilities), although some of the more complex themes do show a bit more of a hit. Obviously, drivers and other applications will affect performance. I have also found that it is useful to completely reinstall any

Reply to This RIAA thing is getting scary... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-072903B

Reply to This RIAA thing is getting scary... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Meant to post some text with this link, some kind of weird browser problem posted instead of linefeeding the comment. Here's a commentary that clarifies a part of my position concerning the actions of the RIAA, et. al. http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-072903B -Buu, There's a pretty good amount of evidence that many of the consor

Reply to This RIAA thing is getting scary... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Messy Bru, Actually, it's copyright infringement. It isn't easily categorized as theft, either, as a 1985 decision by the supreme court in Dowling v United Stated determined. That doesn't mean it's right to do it, but overloading words that mean something else entirely only emotionalizes the issue, and does nothing to actually address the situation. Part of the problem IMHO, is the word 'copyright'. The implication being that all copying becomes infringement, which is not true.

Reply to Linux in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

TC, I actually agree that there's nothing wrong with discussing Linux here (apparently we're managing quite nicely in this thread ), but coming here with a positive opinion about Linux is much like going to Slashdot with a positive opinion about Windows. Which I think is kind of sad, because there are people on both sites (and many others), that are into computing because of what they can do with co

Reply to Linux in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

I think there's a lot of crap on both sides of the fence. Contrary to the belief of those on either side, neither Windows or Linux (or the BSDs or Mac, etc.) are the pinnacle of computing experience, nor are any of the above horrible operating systems that you wouldn't inflict on your sister. There are strengths and weaknesses on both platforms. From my own standpoint, I currently use XP and Mandrake 9.1. As I am a unix developer, the linux environment is a natural venue for me to conti

Reply to WindowBlinds 4 for Windows 2000 users.. in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Sweeeeeet!

Reply to The President Did it Again! in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

paxx - While it could be considered a good idea to attempt to address the issue of global warming, as presented by the proponents of kyoto, there is no evidence that the proposed cure is or would be effective and would not be more harmful than what you're trying to cure. To use your example of the cliff, it would be like suggesting that you shoot yourself in the head in order to keep yourself from going over the edge. Before we can effectively address the issue of possible glo

Reply to Carbonix Skin Pack Now Available! in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Very cool! All excellent skins (but with Treetog and MikeB, how could they be otherwise?) Great work!

Reply to WindowFX annoyance... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Unfortunately, that seems to be a side effect of the bitmap style shadows that WFX uses in the 2.0 series. It appears that the shadows are drawn patterned on a square window. There is a configuration setting in the shadows dialog (adjust for shaped windows), that helps a bit, but it doesn't work for the more complex windows, and you can see the shadow offset behind a translucent window or menu when it's enabled. I'd like to see WFX include (as an option) the ability to use the dynamical

Reply to Dial Up vs DSL vs CABLE vs T1 vs T3 in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

T1 - 1.544 Mbps (megabits per second) both directions T3 - 45 Mbps both directions My current cable connection - 3Mbps down / 256kbps up My previous DSL connection - 1.5Mbps down / 160kbps up Best for home user would be either cable or DSL, depending on area and provider. T1 = expensive and T3 = REALLY expensive. I've been very happy with the cable modem, myself. DSL was not only lower performance network, but also lower performance technical support and c

Reply to T-Man's Religous Debate for Doreen in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Do not say 'I follow the one true path of the Spirit', but rather, 'I have found the Spirit walking on my path, for the Spirit walks on all paths'. - Khalil Gibran - For me, the above quote encompasses the truth behind God. IMVHO (and my firm belief), God will judge you on your actions, and on how you treat others, and not on how well or thoroughly you followed some particular text or dogma. To hate and belittle others is a greater form of blasphemy against God than any rejection of dog

Reply to A test for you graphics experts.... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

9 of 10. Missed the bent nails

Reply to Abracadabra releasead! in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Completely awesome! Easily one of the best I've seen (but we always say that about your work :o))

Reply to The Monty Python thread in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër ? See the løveli lakes The wøndërful telephøne system And mäni interesting furry animals Including the majestik møøse A Møøse once bit my sister... No realli! She was Karving her initials øn the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law -an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: "The Høt Hands