A Piece of the Rock

...do they get in a heated theological debate that God doesn't exist, vis-a-vis that God may or may not exist?

I'm entering Linuxland fresh from Microsoftland, and have an opportunity to make a full cutover on a new, clean computer. I want to use that as my main desktop computer for OpenOffice, web surfing, emailing, graphic design and editing, and programming.

If I set the new box up as an Ubuntu Server, will I be able to run all these desktop apps (assuming they'd install on Ubuntu desktop), or is the Server a heavy task in the background only sort of product?

I'm a newer-than-noob Linux user switching in from Microsoftland. Back there, I needed IIS on a Windows Server in order to run multiple dev and beta web sites simultaneously, and used SQL Server for the databases.

I'm looking at switching what I do to Ubuntu now, and see they offer a desktop and server version. Would I need the server to run web services on multiple dev site projects, or can those be hosted (locally) on the desktop version?

Also, what's the standard database app for Linux/Unix hosted web sites? Again, would that be runnable on desktop, or does it need the server?

I'm looking for free applications, or as cheap as possible. Thanks, and looking forward to being here.

Who here thinks that's an effective conversation starter for a religious outreach dialogue? A member of a certain church apparently thought so with me nearly 20 years ago -- the pastor, no less! I'll leave the denomination unnamed.

By the way, anyone know how the Boston Movement is doing these days?

I admit I've been out of the music "scene" for at least 20 years now, and I don't know the name of this gawdawful "song", if that's what you'd call it. It had a rhythmic beat, kind of like disco, but there wasn't much by way of a melody. The whole of the instrumentation was a very heavy bass beat, and the way these mean looking guys had it playing in their car in the store parking lot, it sounded like an earthquake.

There were words, but the guy wasn't singing at all. It's that one with that African American man who's shouting instead of singing, and you can't make out most of the words except the last one in each line, which is almost always a four-letter cuss word. (Unbelievable!) As I said, hardly anything he says is understandable, but I did make out this really disgusting phrase that he wants to shoot a lot of Negroes**

**Except that he used that awful, racist epithet beginning with N- I was raised NEVER to say.

Anyone know the name of that song?

McDonald's hamburgers taste uncomfortably spicy to a typical American visitor?

I've heard this and want to verify it by someone who's in the know.

I've been wanting to add homemade pizza to the meal plan since delivery is too big a hit on the budget. Recipe research yielded the info that you can create the dough either kneading it by hand at relatively great time and effort, or putting it in a bread machine and collecting the kneaded dough when the machine has run its course.

My family situation dictates that I go the bread machine route. The kids are just too HORRIBLE

[Note to re-edit: Substitute polite word for HORRIBLE]

to knead the dough longhand, and I'm not a big enough Three Stooges fan to involve them in the process.

So the meat of the question is this:

Can you recommend a specific bread machine make and model well suited to making pizza dough? I've cruised store aisles crammed with blenders and food processors without knowing what to shop for.

A question search shows this hasn't been asked in a while. So what do you think happens to the oul or consciousness after we buy the farm?

It's not really an off the wall question. I've heard a variety from atheists.

* POOF! You're as gone as yesterday?

* We're reincarnated?

* You're a roaming spirit, a ghost?

* There's some sort of self operating heaven and/or hell without a God keeping gate?

Pile on.

To all Jews and Christians of any stripe. No sect or individual who accepts some translation of the Bible is outcast on this one.

:^)

Please consider this the working definition of the Prosperity Doctrine (scripture is cited):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_Doctrine

Now consider this example*:

Donate a monetary contribution to my ministry. God will reward you materially; i.e., you will get a new job, a raise, an increase in business, sell your home, etc.

Scripturally sound? Valid doctrine?

Or self-serving to my ministry?

Thanks! Pile on.

* Just an example. I don't have a ministry!

Christians can be accused of acting ethical motivated by fear more than selfless love, and in my case I'll freely admit that many is the moment that my decisions are out of abject fear of my bacon slow cooking in hell for all eternity.

But atheists don't believe in an afterlife, or at least in a final judgment, am I right? So let's say no one but you notices that you exited a store with an item they didn't charge you for. It's an outlet of an evil mega corporate giant who posted astronomical profits this quarter.

The scenario is set up in a way that any "harm" done to anyone else is negligible, and that the only compelling reason for you to go back and pay for this is out of your personal code of ethics, whatever motivates them. As a Catholic, I fear roasting for my sins, but what guides my atheist comrades here?

While I can't stop you from putting down gag answers, I'm thinking of blogging only the most philosophical answers off site no matter where you stand. Pile on!

From the context of the film, I gather it's a reserve force the Americans held back during the NVA assault on their firebase, but I'd like a little further insight into what the term really refers to, and whether it's commonly used outside this movie. Thanks!

If, like me, you observe meat abstention during Ash Wednesday and all Lenten Fridays, all are agreed that meat courses like steaks, burgers, chicken, and sausage pizza are out. But what say you on the following?

1. You're offered a slice of sausage pizza. Is it OK to pluck out the sausages and eat the resultant cratered cheese pizza? It will, of course, have remnant meat substance and flavoring.

2. You have pasta or chili with meat sauce. Is it OK to eat after you rake out the visible meat bits, realizing that there will almost inevitably be some hidden particles left in the food?

3. Last scenario: You have a can of beef or chicken soup with vegetables, rice, and what have you. Is it permissible to eat the soup and flavored broth if you spoon out the meat chunks?

Though, understandably, these situations may appear to some to be posed as absurd hair splitting or facetiousness, let me assure you that I'm asking in all seriousness.

The class was divided into 5 teams, each representing a fictitious country. Each country was given a secret envelope with its own objectives to pursue. All but one country had a set of troop counters, identical cartoons of unlikely looking soldiers with helmets, gasmasks, and marching with crossed, rigid legs.

The country without troops had the objective of getting all sides to meet and resolve differences peacefully, and its emblem was a sheaf of wheat. That team faced no military threat in the game. There were two smaller countries in the middle of the map where the fighting occurs; they were North and South Korea in all but name. A large China-like country was a natural ally of the North and shared its northern border, and another powerful country was its adversary, was friend to the South, and lay overseas. On the map It resembled Australia inverted. If the sides went to war, the teacher had a combat calculator and would reveal the results in class the following day.