Nathan Best

My ISP (Elauwit) says that my service includes an 18 Mbps speed (both down and up), yet I usually don't get anywhere near that. One day I called tech support about it and they told me that the network was in such high usage that they couldn't deliver the 18 Mbps speed. It sounds to me like they are promising a service that their infrastructure simply cannot practically provide on a regular basis. If it was on a very seldom basis, I would be disappointed but I wouldn't make a big fuss about it, but my download speed slows to below 4 Mbps very regularly, which is to say, every day in the late afternoon.

Is it even legal for a company to do this? To claim to provide a service and not deliver on it? What am I paying for?

My ISP (Elauwit) says that my service includes an 18 Mbps speed (both down and up), yet I usually don't get anywhere near that. One day I called tech support about it and they told me that the network was in such high usage that they couldn't deliver the 18 Mbps speed. It sounds to me like they are promising a service that their infrastructure simply cannot practically provide on a regular basis. If it was on a very seldom basis, I would be disappointed but I wouldn't make a big fuss about it, but my download speed slows to below 4 Mbps very regularly, which is to say, every day in the late afternoon.

Is it even legal for a company to do this? To claim to provide a service and not deliver on it? What am I paying for?

I'm trying to make a simple website. Just an informative guide, that's all. I'm going to be putting the HTML and CSS skills I recently learned in one of my classes to use it putting it together. However, one thing that I didn't learn was how to modify the same part of an entire website. I know with CSS it only takes one file to define the style of all the HTML files that link to it. I want to do something similar with, say, the navigation, header, and footer areas of my website. Is there a way to, say, have all the navigation links as part of one file then display that file in multiple HTML files. That way, if I wanted to modify the navigation area of the website, I would only need to edit one file rather than all of the files of the website to display the same navigation area.

I hope this made sense.

I already know you can join the Companions, but what about the rival faction the Battle-borns? Can you choose to join them instead?

Keep in mind all the pantheons and organized religions of the past: Nordic gods, Roman gods, Eastern religions, organized religions such as Catholicism and Mormonism, etcetera. There is one thing that all of these always had in common. That is, their substitution of curiosity about the natural world and of the desire for knowledge for mysticism and superstition. Lightning was thrown down by Zeus, mental illnesses were caused by demons, droughts were punishments from god, the list goes on and on. Basically, every natural phenomenon that wasn't understood was given an explanation without any pause for questioning or careful observation and experimentation. This is how religion has always worked and if you deviated from that you were either shunned, incarcerated, or put to death.

Nowadays, religion has become weaker in its efforts to suppress the advancement of knowledge (in the West anyways), but the same thing still goes on. Many religious people, especially those of Christianity and Islam, still believe this lie that the theory of evolution is still full of scientific controversy open for debate. They either don't understand what evolution is or they don't understand the process of science and what a theory is. They seem to think in terms of how religion always has in the past. That is, they have no interest in learning because they already have their explanation: God did it, and that settles it for them.

I wonder what the world would be like now if religion never had a firm grip on the world. I wonder what the world would be like now if people were sought knowledge, and made investigations before they came up with explanations. Who knows. We might be sailing the stars by now if it weren't for all the fairy tails that corrupted our understanding and distracted us from progress.

Hello, I have a solid state drive but have yet to reinstall Windows on it. I have a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (OEM), but before I attempt to reinstall Windows I want to know if an installation DVD has a limited number of uses before I won't be able to install it anymore. Knowing Microsoft, it wouldn't surprise me. Anyone know?

Hello, recently I've taken an interest in computer programming, but I have been unable to find any starting points on where to learn. From what I hear, Eclipse is what one might use to work on whatever projects programmers have, so I downloaded the one for C++. I chose C++ because, just from what I've been able to tell, it seems like a good all around choice to start out learning the skill. I don't know where to go from here now, as I can't seem to find any decent beginning teaching material on the web. I'm not looking to create some advanced piece of software quickly. I just want to start learning it gradually one step at a time and explore the possibilities as I go along. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a question for the libertarians out there. It is the libertarian position that government should be restricted to ensuring an orderly place to conduct business and nothing more. That is, defense of its citizens only letting the free market handle everything else, whatever that's supposed to mean. As I understand it, this means the government has control over things such as public safety, military, and nothing more. Libertarians often say that healthcare, for one example, is off limits and that it should be left to charity and the private sector.

So if the government's duty is merely defense of its citizens, why wouldn't this include defense from disease as well? What is the difference between defense from militants and criminals and defense from disease? Both are a threat to the order within the marketplace, the former can be considered disease in a metaphorcial sense, and disease actually kills a heck of lot more than any war. Heart disease is a bigger threat to the USA than terrorists ever were.

You might say "It's not mine or anyone else's obligation to pay to ensure your health. You pay for that yourself, everyone for themselves, free enterprise, etcetera."

Why don't you say "It's not mine or anyone else's obligation to pay to ensure your defense from killers and military threats. You pay for your own mercenaries to defend yourself, everyone for themselves, free enterprise, etcetera."

As I see it now, I am not impressed with the libertarian ideology and this is one of several problems I have spotted in it. Libertarianism seems to cherry pick without any specific reasoning the roles that government should have.

Perhaps I am missing something. If any libertarian out there has something to add, by all means.

I can't seem to find any decent information on this, but I was wondering what Delta Airlines's policy on refunds due to bad weather. I'll be flying out from Seattle to Chicago and back this Christmas and if the weather gets too inhospitable for flights and they are cancelled or they are delayed and won't be able to make them, I don't want to have thrown $700 down the drain. Will they refund my money?

Recently I put an ad on Craigslist advertising computer services. I'm a college student looking to get some extra income and am good with computers so I thought I'd try making a little extra money that way. As is the nature of Craigslist, I received email after email of spam and scams of every conceivable type. I did, however, receive one email that seemed legitimate, but I'm not so sure. Here is our correspondence through email:

~HIM~

Hello, I have ten Toshiba laptops which i would want you to convert

from Vista to Windows 7 ultimate. The current program on them is Vista

and i would want them converted to Windows 7 ultimate.

I would want this job done under one week and would pay $50 per unit,

this comes to a total of $500 for all. Shipping expenses would be

covered by me. Get back to me and let me know if you would be able to

handle the job and i will make out a check to you on Monday.

~ME~

Hello, yes I can do that job just fine assuming you have copies of the upgrade software. I can't do it without the upgrade discs. Let me know if you will be providing me those. If so, then I'll go ahead and give you my address to ship my payment, the laptops, and the upgrade discs to.

~HIM~

Good Morning and thanks for the reply. I already have the upgrade disc for the job and would have them sent together with the units.

I lost my grandma yesterday and due to this i would be gone to my hometown for one week and few days and i would want your work to commence ASAP so as to make sure the job gets done before i return.

Do get it clear that payment would be sent to you by weekend because the ten laptops would be shipped to you directly from the store instead of shipping it to my place and then back again to your place, It would save me more if it comes directly to your place from the store and also considering that there is no one at my place right now to receive it.

There would be an overpayment on the check because i would have to pay for shipping it down to your address and back to my place after you have finished upgrading them to Windows 7 Ultimate. This means that i am combining your work fee and shipping together.

Once the check gets to you, get it deposited and get the cash, deduct your work fee of $500 and send the rest to the courier's info which i would provide you with so as to have shipment receipt prepared immediately and have the units shipped to you under 2 days.

Get back to me with the following information so as to mail out the check to you asap by Tuesday.

Full Names, Address and phone number.

Await your reply.

~ME~

[I sent him my address and phone number]

~HIM~

Good Morning Nathan, Grandma would finally rest around 6pm today, but in-between i was able to send the check yesterday and it will deliver to you today. It was sent through USPS and the tracking number is EO922150341US

You are to get the check deposited at your bank, get cash, deduct your work fee of $500 and send the remaining $1450 to the courier's information below through western union instant cash.

Western union will charge you a token for sending fee, You are to deduct the sending fee from the $1450 and get back to me with the western union payment information such as (1) Amount charged for sending (2) original amount sent (3) MTCN.

Money should be sent to the courier's information below and be sure to avoid any mistakes.

As soon as they receive the cash they will move the laptops and installation disc down to you so you can start working immediately.

~~~

So that's been it so far. My red flag went up when he mentioned Western Union and that I have to send $1450 to some guy in Georgia (he neglected to provide the street address). $1450 seems quite a lot to ship 10 laptops. So, did I get involved in some sort of scam?

Why do the religious (yes, this includes you Christians too, as Christianity is still a religion whether you say it is or not) get mad when us rational people post here? It's not uncommon when someone posts something like "Hey this is the Religion & Spirituality section. Atheists leave now!" Are they afraid to be confronted by rationalism? Is it because they dislike hearing the many sensible ways in which their beliefs are nothing more than a collection of archaic stories which have no relevance other than to placate the people and make them feel that they're the center of the world because they're just a bunch of needy children who need coddling? Is this why religious people also make up new "evidence" for their beliefs as they go along, ultimately ending in something that resembles "gawd works in mysterious ways," because they can't just have faith on their own? You would think that if they genuinely had faith, our arguments would not bother them so much.

None, the darkness will incentivize the light bulb to change itself. Derp.

I've always dismissed the notion that cell phone radiation is powerful enough to cause any adverse effects on one's physiology, thinking that it's all just sensationalist hype. However, a recent experience has made me a little concerned.

I have an iPhone 4. I always carry it in my left front pocket facing down, so the antenna is always pressing against a very specific spot on my thigh. Recently, I've noticed that I've been getting frequent muscle spasms on that exact same spot. After I noticed that, I started paying attention to see if I was getting muscle spasms anywhere else, just to make sure that it wasn't just a coincidence.

It's been a week now and I haven't noticed any muscle spasms occurring anywhere else. It is only on my thigh where my cell phone antenna presses on. This has raised my concerns a bit. I just wanted to know if anyone else has had a similar experience or has noticed a similar connection.

We are approaching a time when our technology will have advanced to the point to where pretty much everything a human being could ever use can be manufactured very cheaply in their own home. This technology is often called the personal fabricator. Star Trek fans will know it as the replicator. The personal fabricator is essentially a device which puts together items at the molecular level using advancements in nanotechnology and 3D printing. All that is needed is the most basic elements of the items you want to fabricate and the information to fabricate. Dr. Michio Kaku elaborates on this in the show, Quantum Revolution. Here is the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtKKQDZUHpE

Near the end of that clip, they talk about how with this advancement in technology, economics of the future will drastically change. When this becomes a reality probably within the next 50 to 100 years (and that is a overestimate), what then becomes of private business? What becomes of the food industry when no one needs to go to the grocery store to get food anymore? What becomes of the clothing industry when clothes can be manufactured in the home? What becomes of the electronics industry when electronics can be assembled in the home? And, another question to consider is what becomes of the job market?

Just to give you an idea of how close this is to becoming a reality, recently an aircraft was constructed using 3D printing technology ( http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/11072... ), the first of its kind. So, even large things like vehicles and entire buildings are not out of the realm of possibility with this technology. It's only going to get more advanced too.

This is but one of many technological advancements that are coming which is rendering the things that capitalism needs to sustain itself obsolete. One of the interviewees in the show states that information will still have capital value, but that's not the case. As a matter of fact, just with the mention of the internet, surely you can see that that couldn't be further from the truth.

We're already seeing labor markets dwindle as they are replaced by modern mechanization, which is crippling the movement of money. We also see how capitalism has negative effects on the quality of products, seeing as how things are required to break down to encourage cyclical consumption.

Taking in these facts, I really don't see how capitalism has a place in the future. A more sustainable system based on resources being put to use for the good of humankind rather than profit seems like the only logical solution. What does you think?

Oh and please, if all you can do is say "boooo a socialist get out," then please go to the next question because you have missed me entirely. Really, what good are you if you can't get passed your own tainted mental filters and make an intelligent response?

Christians, many of you have been so arrogant as to say that God has blessed so much of your life because of your faith and prayers toward Him. Yet, in other parts of the world such as Africa, where many people also have faith and pray to the same God, they're starving to death. Why is this? Why would God bless so many insignificant aspects of your life yet leave other people without food when they ask for it?

To further understand my point, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IKkfBKLApY.

And sorry, but "God works in mysterious ways" is not an acceptable answer. If that's the case, then how can you know he is interacting with your life at all?

"Well, the Bible does say that to God, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day." This has become a popular mantra among moderate Christians. They basically interpret Genesis symbolically and say that time for God is not quite the same as time is for us, so then biblical accounts jive more with scientific accounts, and therefore the Bible in its entirety looks a whole lot better.

It seems to me that moderate Christians, by putting these different spins on the Bible, are circling around the fact that the scientific world view has outmoded the religious world view. Think about it. If you genuinely believed that your religion is the light of truth, you would not put new spins on it to conform to something else.

So my question is to the moderate Christians. Why do you, as the old saying goes, beat around the bush? Just go ahead and come to it already. The religious world view is outmoded, and the scientific method is the best hope we have for discovering the truth of reality. Don't worry, there is no eternal torment after you die if you come to this conclusion, for the same reason there is no bogeyman under your bed who will eat your brains out in your sleep if you don't leave the lights on to keep it from coming out. :)

. . .then at the next moment say that their beliefs are backed by science? Sounds like they're full of crap to me.

This just occurred to me. The Old Testament God says to not take his name in vain and many Christians emphasize this. In Harry Potter, the Dark Lord Voldemort and his followers also emphasize to not use the name "Voldemort" either.

Come to think of it, the Old Testament God and Voldemort have a similar track record when it comes to murdering people. They also threaten anyone who resists them, and when they do spare people of misery they say they are merciful and just. The resemblance between the two is uncanny.

Beautiful, just beautiful. So Christians, how does it feel to know that you worship an evil, megalomaniacal tyrant?

I notice that this seems to be a trend nowadays. Some Christians want to think that their beliefs do not contradict science, because deep down they know that science has a better track record when it comes to the truth. So, they re-interpret the Bible so they can say "Hey everyone look! The Bible actually agrees with science! It's the truth after all!"

Yeah, okay, except for one thing. I could take a portion of any writing, put my own spin on it, and make it seem like it agrees with science or something else. The degree to which this can be done is indefinite. This is one main reason as to why our judicial system can be so corrupt because there are so many lawyers exploiting loopholes and interpreting the laws in a way that favors them. I could interpret the God of the Old Testament as being a malevolent extraterrestrial endeavoring to enslave humanity. If you ask me, that makes the most sense, but do you see my point? With something as rife with such bizarre and disturbing tales, why would you even bother to interpret it to mesh with something more agreeable? It just doesn't make any sense. You might as well just chuck it. Heck, just the fact that you are trying to interpret it scientifically shows that you really want to.

All the time you hear arguments from the religious saying that they are morally superior than the non-religious. They say that because they believe they have to answer to the authority of God for their actions, that they are more aware of what is right and wrong.

This argument suggests something very dark about the religious. It begs the question, why would you need to believe in a God authority to scrutinize your actions and prevent yourself from committing any wrong-doing? Isn't the awareness of how your actions affect other people good enough to make you want to be more considerate of your fellow man? Does your conscious not weigh on you enough to make you want to be more righteous?

If you say that believing in the authority of a judging cosmic entity keeps people from doing anything degenerate, then you are implying that you do not have a conscious to begin with and that you are not aware of your actions. This is not what I'm saying. It seems to me that the religious say this when they say their beliefs make them morally superior. Authority, laws, reward, and punishment do not make better people. You have to change their hearts.