Pangloss

I don't know why it wouldn't. If your computer's CMOS settings support the feature it should work. As far as I know, Windows itself doesn't know (or care) where it boots from. But I've been wrong before.

Actually no, current hard drive configurations are considerably faster than USB 2.0. USB 2.0 specs at 480 megabits per second. SATA purchased today is either 1.5 or 3.0 gigabits per second. PATA topped out around 1.0 mbps, iirc. What is faster is the seek time of a Flash drive. It takes a "while" (whole entire milliseconds!) for the moving parts of a hard drive to find the requested data. A solid-state thumb drive has essentially no seek time to speak of. This is at the core of why Vista's Memory Boost feature works, when the difference in drive/interface throughput times would suggest that it shouldn't.

Well the thing is, one likes to believe in the freedom of music. But glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity. (yeah) (Hey is it just me or does YT look a bit like Geddy Lee?!)

Isn't that more a perception and historical issue than a reality, though? How is Microsoft (presumably you mean "unfairly") "taking advantage of its power to constantly hold a monopoly" today? Specifically? Note that I've given university lectures on the subject of Microsoft's blunders both legal and otherwise, so when I say specific I do mean specific. Moreover, the field I mainly teach in, web development, has benefitted tremendously not only by Microsoft's presence, but more recently by Microsoft's embracing of "open source". To give an example of the proprietary side of innovative contributions, Visual Studio is still considered far and away the best IDE, and it's been quite obvious the way Borland and NetBeans have followed its developments over the years, adding VS ideas to their own editors (and vice-versa, of course). To give an example of the "open source" side, we have Microsoft to thank for the core component that allows AJAX to function. MS has also embraced "open source" within the ASP community, using it to encourage AJAX embracement amongst ASP developers, as a most recent example. While we still dwell in a predominently Perl-scripted, Linux-hosted Web (and probably benefit from that fact), I believe that this competition drives the industry forward far faster than it would be moving otherwise. Also I do agree with your point about no company being perfect, but calling Google "the good guys" is a bit dangerous, don't you think? Perhaps you meant that specifically for this subject, but I think it's a very bad idea to assign hat colors to companies. Maybe this is what got us into trouble with Microsoft in the first place -- too many people seeing them as being "the good guys" and unable to do wrong.

Oh dear, I'm such an idiot. Thanks ecoli.

Two apparently conflicting stories: Google Wants More Vista Changes (re: Microsoft desktop search) Google Extends iPhone Partnership With Apple We haven't had a good debate about the politics of computer science recently. I think Google is very rapidly losing its "cool kid" appeal and becoming quite the evil empire. What do you all think?

Isn't this great? The queen makes Rushdie a knight and the next thing you know the radical pinheads stop fighting us and start beating each OTHER up! Well heck, I say add Mohommed to the BBC corner bug and maybe the whole problem goes away! Ah, well, darnit, I guess some "innocent" civilians would probably be caught in the middle. (sigh) Oh well. I love this headline from US News: "US Ignores Rushdie Protests by Muslims" Um, duh? What were they supposed to do? Oh right, issue a press release. Because, you know, press releases solve everything. I'm curious how the far left will make the west wrong on this one. Over in this thread one member's painting us as evil because we mess around with other country's internal affairs. But Britain can hardly be accused of that here! Still, I'm sure it's all our fault SOMEhow. That's the great thing about ideology -- it doesn't have to make sense.

Hmm, I wonder if we need a Homework Help subforum for Politics! I don't know why you didn't just plug these terms into the Wikipedia and read the results there. Without looking them up myself, the answers look general correct. 5 looks like "C" to me. 6 looks like "D". But you should get other input.

THAT assessment I agree with completely. There's a big difference between selfishness and self-interest. But as you say, many people who take to Rand just use it to justify selfishness. Altrusim can be a virtue. It's just a dangerous one when not taken with the blue pill of what-you-have-to-do-to-avoid-having-to-take-a-handout-again. I think it's interesting that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are associated with the current movie effort. I've always assumed they were far left types, what with all their trips to Africa. But maybe they plan to put a more interesting, reality-oriented spin on Rand. (Boy would she be piffed....) (grin)

Speaking as someone fully versed in the classics (I've read everything from Homer to Joyce and am currently reading a new translation of The Iliad) as well as highly regarded modern fiction (Eco, Rushdie, Atwood, and Ishiguo are all on my "recent" list), it seems a bit shallow and unfair to state flatly that Ayn Rand can ONLY be taken as juvenile fiction. Where I might agree with you would be if you said that she has to be read in context and with the understanding that she's not a Joyce or a Keats. I do understand where that expectation comes from -- great works of philosophy are often also great works of literature. But I don't understand why that HAS to be the case. Surely it's possible to espouse the mysteries of the universe in a cheesy limerick on the back of a napkin. I remember that you dislike television and I suspect you're one of those people who can't separate their feelings about the real world from their capacity to be entertained. Nothing wrong with that, it's a free planet, but I know a lot of folks like that and I've always felt that it doesn't serve them in the long run. But hey, maybe I'm wrong.

Except that it doesn't. How can you possibly not know this? (That's a subtle hint that on this forum you either provide sources or you agree to disagree.) No, I expect you to research it, and that expectation will be met, or you won't post. This is not MichaelMoore.com or MoveOn.org or DemocraticUnderground.com. On ScienceForums.net, ideology does not constitute fact. You're welcome to post an opinion, but if you want people to accept those opinions as facts then you will back it up or you'll be feeding the trash can. They certainly are, but that's not what we're discussing here, and changing the subject isn't going to save you. You're right, it's probably best that you do bow out of the discussion at this point. First good choice you've made in this thread.

I still think the order to withdraw will come by the end of this year.

Damn you Sayonara!!! (shakes fist vehemently) I'd say you have all the gall, but it appears I do instead! (hehe)

Amusing to see the ABB (anybody but bush) philosophy still alive and kicking. You'd think the left would have grown up by now. But I guess the right never got over Clinton, so it was probably too much to expect.

The more I think about it, the less electable Obama seems to me. He still lacks appeal amongst moderate voters. But that may be more a reflection on current campaign focus than reality. Clinton spent some time on moderacy when it looked like she was running away with it. Obama's never had that leisure. So we may not see his moderate side until after the nomination (if he wins).

It appears to still be quite legal. See separate thread here: http://www.scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=27163 As for DDT, I stand by what I said earlier. Studies from scientific results are mixed at best. That's a cause celeb, not a definitive scientific conclusion. "Silent Spring" is great stuff for motivating the environmentalists. But for finding the truth of the matter, not so much.

Thanks.

I don't care what anyone says, Atlas Shrugged a great work, and saying that doesn't make you an idealist or a capitalist (I know outright socialists who aren't ashamed to admit they loved it). Some of my favorite books were written by extremists; doesn't mean I agree with their philosophy. Of course, there are also valid complaints about Rand's prose, but no book is perfect, and it's not a standard-definition novel anyway. It's whole purpose was to espouse that philosophy, so one should expect the characters to "wax philosophical" from time to time. And at least two of those lengthy diatribes are outright classics. (The 50-page Galt speech at the end is a bit much, IMO, but Francisco's mid-book speech about "money and the root of all evil" is pure genius.) But then I actually enjoy freaky extremist literature so what do I know. I live for angry rants, powerful posts and slam poetry. What can I say.

Is Malathion still used in the US? Just checking. The political implications are being discussed in this thread.

Well I could make bones about the international support that did exist for Vietnam, but even if we bypass that point, that would be a grand total of... two. You're right. That's plurality. I stand disgracefully corrected. What a vast history of evil villainy we have. Exactly. Like I said, the position you're espousing is that what's best for people in other countries is more important than what's best for the United States and its citizens. In all things, and at all times. Well first of all there's never BEEN a time when "we" weren't there yet. You do realize that Africa wasn't discovered by Christopher Columbus 1492, right? And, um, you do realize that Africa is the point of origin for the human race? And, um, you do realize that the northern coast was consistently co-habited by "Western" cultures (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, etc) in ancient times? But even if you focus on the last 3k years and sub-Saharan Africa, they had domestic slavery, autocratic regimes, class inequality, brutal repression, religious zealotry and short life spans, all in plenty of abundance, long before Europeans (or even Romans or Egyptians) showed up. BTW, do you know much about the history of Africa, bombus?

Well I don't know that they didn't investigate, or that they were actually "disinterested", or, for that matter, that your relatives were molested. I don't think that this story can be relevent to a serious discussion on this issue based on the partial information presented thus far. Essentially this is no different from the media telling me about how "Jane Doe, a working mom with three kids", feels about it. I sympathize, but when I read something like that I'm not sure if you want to really debate pedophilia with me, or if I should just get a rope.

It seems unlikely to me that police would fail to be interested in an incident of child abuse involving half a dozen children over multiple generations. Why wouldn't they be? How do you think those people get ahead in their careers, guy? Surely what's more likely is that there was nothing for them to pursue. Doesn't mean there wasn't anything to your story, it just means there wasn't enough evidence. Would you really be happier if human beings could be easily and consistently put behind bars with no more evidence than emotional testimony? Janet Reno certainly thought so. It got her a job working for the president, too. And hey, so what if it turned out that it was all a pack of lies and dozens of innocent parents will be paying for her power grab for the rest of their lives. At least she stood up for the children! Because by god that's the most important thing....

Immediately register the domain "encyclopediagallacticaportal.com".

The headphones clue pretty much eliminates interference. It sounds like a failing part on the sound portion of the motherboard. You can shut it down in the CMOS settings, but there's no way to replace it short of replacing the whole motherboard.

Of course, for some the drop is larger than for others.