Mdhatter@22- I think you misunderstood haineux@17, whose claims of safety and effectiveness apply to waterboarding as a form of torture. Haineux doesn't seem to condone the practice, nor claim that it is an effective means of interrogation. (Or maybe you were just making a JOKE that I didn't GET.)

Garyb50@31- Note that Hitchins said (emphasis added)

"I myself do not trust anybody who does not clearly understand this viewpoint."

and not

"I myself do not trust anybody who does not clearly support this viewpoint."

In fact, he goes on in the article to present an opposing view. But although I understand the pro-waterboarding viewpoint he presents, I neither agree with it nor believe that it is truly the reason that waterboarding is used. But it is an easy argument to understand, and to not understand it seems as willfully ignorant as those who deny that waterboarding is torture.

That said, I'm offended by his rhetoric in that passage: "honorable" "heroes" "defend civilization" while the "spoiled" and "ungrateful" "scratch some domestic political itch"; and his conclusion comes across as somewhat ambivalent: I wish we hadn't gotten to the point where we torture people, but here we are. (BTW, a "highly honorable group" in the "woods of North Carolina" who are "on the ramparts" -- did Blackwater waterboard Hitchins? If you wanted to get professionally waterboarded, who would you call?)

Opsin@35- I think Coldspell@9 is using irony to epxress what Virgil@36 said would be the reaction in the pro-torture camp. (Right on, Virgil!)

Cory- you made my day; those rants were so inspired and on-target that I might need to read your books now. (Where can I find them?)

Have you written one yet about a dystopian eco-paradise where the skies are clear and the food is great, but where play is shameful and the omnipresent carbon-counting nebbishes scrutinize everyone's personal choices for their gaiac synergy? If not, you're off to a great start. Keep going!

Check out Treehugger's comments if you really want to see some rampant armchair eco-accounting. Sometimes it's obvious when posters have no children. At least not ones that get to have fun.

I tried using NetBSD on the MobilePro, and it had a fatal flaw (which may no longer be the case; check the NetBSD hpcmips forum):

Power management (suspend and instant on) only worked under Windows CE, and not in NetBSD.

I do believe NetBSD on the Z50 has support for power management, making it a better choice for anyone that wants to try the HPC/NetBSD experience.

@47: It sounds like he's talking about Canadians.

@26: Just because none of the comments are moderate doesn't mean we're not out there; having moderate views makes it less compelling to shout them out.

Mine arrived a few weeks ago, and it is pretty amazing what it can do. The interface is a little slow and clunky, but I expect it will improve.

What interested me in addition to the laundry list of capabilities is the fact that the manufacturer, Popcorn Hour / Syabas, is using Linux and has demonstrated willingness to embrace homebrew development.

As it stands, it's a cool and capable appliance, but, as you say, perhaps not an AppleTV killer -- yet. But give it a few months to take off, and I think it will be.

@#5

Yes, but it's being shot down during the eclipse.

autotrace

"Unlocked" is ambiguous in its affect, since a lock can be a good thing or a bad thing. Chains, on the other hand, are much more suggestive of servitude and bondage, so I would suggest "unchained".

Kyle, you object to "projecting our social order on the natural world as though it were relevant", and I would argue that you are doing the reverse: projecting the natural world (or your understanding of it) onto the social order. I think this is the line of reasoning that others are objecting to, and likening to obviously antiquated notions of racial superiority.

If the racial argument is too distant, look at the arguments raging in our society over gay marriage. Your "fuck test" for personhood is also one of the arguments trotted out by homophobes in opposition to gay marriage.

No one is claiming that chimps be scientifically reclassified as Homo sapiens; the question is a moral and legal one, and those questions are hard. Invoking science or the natural order to deny rights is what smacks of eugenics and other abhorrent trends of the past.