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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Many, many years ago I used to have two Wyse50 terminals, running split screens each with two parts. I did a lot of support on remote systems (via modem!) and I would have a session on a customer system, source code and running on our test system and internal stuff. I didn’t have space for a third terminal.

    At another job I had an office with a “U” shaped desk. I would spread printouts across half the “U” and swivel around between the computer and the printouts.




  • I’m not sure what you’re getting at.

    All I’m saying is that, for Christians, the text of the Bible has been mostly locked down since the Vulgate Bible at around 400 AD. The content is what it is, and is the basis of the faith.

    At this point it doesn’t matter if someone mistranslated the Hebrew, misquoted Jesus, made Jesus up entirely, or forged an epistle. It’s been in there for 1600 years and it’s authenticity or accuracy is moot.

    Arguing about the origin of 1 Timothy is like arguing about the colour of the wings on the fairies that live at the bottom of the garden. It’s all made up rubbish anyways.



  • Death Valley appears to be a very contained thing. When I was there, the temperature in Las Vegas was 108. When we started down into the valley the temperature started to rise dramatically. Half way down, it hit 117 and I had to stop to get out to see what it felt like.

    But then the temperature kept going up as we went down into the valley. We hit 126 for a while approaching Badwater, and it was 124 when we got out at Badwater.

    And this was in May, around 15 years ago.

    The point is that when you go there, you see that Death Valley is a meteorological phenomenon created by, and contained by the geography of Death Valley.

    Yes, 108 is hot, but there was an almost 10 degree increase as soon as you crossed the ridge into the valley and started down. The idea that Death Valley climate will somehow spread to the surrounding area just doesn’t make sense.




  • It doesn’t. All I’m saying is that your assertion that free will requires that evil is a choice assumes the existence of evil in the first place. If God never created evil, then it’s simply not something you could ever choose, just like an infinity of other non-things that you cannot choose. But that doesn’t inhibit your free will.






  • There’s two kinds of issues: instance and pattern. The first time or two, it’s instance. You deal with those with specificity. Something like, “I would prefer not to talk about this subject with you, please stop”.

    If it persists, then it’s a pattern problem. You deal with the pattern, not the instance. “I’ve asked you not to talk about subjects like this in the pant, but you haven’t stopped. This makes me feel like you don’t respect my boundaries and it’s making it difficult for me to work with you. Why are you doing this to me?”.

    You can escalate from there, and this might involve management involvement but at least you’ll have the clarity of having made the situation clear before it gets there.

    Honestly though, unless the coworker is actually deranged, they’ll be mortified when they find out they are making you uncomfortable and they’ll stop right away.



  • I’m not buying that. Slavery has been a staple of civilizations all through history. There’s no universal law of nature that any being has any right to life, freedom or self-determination.

    The “moral fabric” isn’t some universal constant either. It too is a function of society. In the U.S., for instance, in 1776 there was no moral problem with slavery. Time went by and morality in the country evolved such that slavery, for many, was no longer acceptable. But it wasn’t that the moral fabric of U.S. society was violated in 1776, it was just different in 1776.

    Who knows, in another 100 years people might consider something that is normal today to be some huge violation of something that should be a human right.




  • That used to be really true when I was a kid in the 79’s, but not so much today. Back then, a quality guitar cost way more than the cheap stuff and the cheap stuff was rubbish.

    Nowadays, with CNC machines everywhere, there are lots of modestly priced guitars that are very playable. The junk that we used to have to settle with back in the day only exists in the realm of “toy” instruments that almost aren’t intended to be played.

    Seriously, $300 can get you a very playable instrument, especially in electric guitars.