Sip

As stated before, that's more of a side product of religion. Religion by its nature demands intolerance for opposing views. That's why when we have some ultra religious new members show up, they almost immediately start butting heads with the likes of me (and other members) who will NOT tolerate insults and intolerance. If someone shows up saying they know better, people like me will demand to know why they think that is the case. And answers like "oh because I just know", or "because of my faith", or "because Jesus said so" will then, undoubtedly be met with redicule and dismissal (at least by me anyway).

I also don't see why you are defending Christianity. I wouldn't exactly lable you as one of those either. So I guess that makes us even Actually, many of the things you have been saying should be just as insulting to many Christians as what people like me say: Notions of reincarnation, multiple Gods, spirituality, multiple levels of existence, and the like ... But regardless of how you choose to label me, the fact remains that I maintain my limits while sSebB for example, just seems to "Know". The fact that I point out the facts about me doesn't make me any less humble. It just makes me a realist. Which is what I have ALWAYS been!

Not to rain on the God parade but Allah is the same way. Actually, Islam is a LOT more strict on the subject than Christianity.

It is also an integral part of humanity. To ignore it, supress it, or try to combat nature (yes NATURE, not God), is to go against what it really is to be human. Without sex we are reduced to nothing but animals who only copulate for procreation.

Sasun, there is a BIG difference between me and "believers". I have ALWAYS maintained that I might be wrong. I have ALWAYS acknowledged there may well be a God. That makes me a truelly humble human being. What I denounce, and redicule, is the absurd notions of the "Christian God" which OBVIOUSLY (to anyone who has a slight bit of intellect) cannot possibly exist as some claim. Can there be a God? SURE. Is there a Christian God who is vengeful, sadistic, limited, and judgemental ... I HIGHLY doubt it. So do you see how I may redicule yet be humble and admit that I might be wrong? At the same time, do you see how those who adamantly just Know, are far more arrogant than I?

Here are a few more! I'm really loving this ... I think I'll start taking a lot more panoramas from now on. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_alaska_portage_lo.jpg The Portage Glacier, Alaska, April 2001. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_alaska_2_lo.jpg The back area of the Portage Glacier, Alaska. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_col_lo.jpg The Coliseum, Rome, Italy, July 2001. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_devils_lake_lo.jpg Devil's Lake, Wisconsin, November 2003. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_mendota_lo.jpg A view of Lake Mendota (south shore) in Madison. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_union_lo.jpg The Student Union patio area at UW Madison. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_vatican_lo.jpg A view of the Vatican from July 2001.

I completely agree. Heck even the process of "talking" must be beneath God. Talking and conversing, and even THOUGHT are human qualities. They are not Godly by any means.

Sasun, I think you know I have no reason to believe in God. So it is not arrogant of me to say if there were a God, that was as powerful as you God believers claim, that maybe he would have had a better way to tell of His wishes. The part about the lecture was obviously sarcasm. But my observation about prayer and conversing with God is a valid one. It is EXTREMELY arrogant to first of all claim one knows it all, that there is a super powerful God that created everything, and then make conversations and sometimes demands of that God. Hope this is clear.

Perhaps!!! perrrrrrrrhaps

Why do people feel so compelled to converse with God? Isn't that the height of arrogance to bring God down to our levels and start conversing? Whether it's prayer or the usual wheeling and dealing of "Oh God if you do this I promise to do this and that". That's another thing that has often disturbed me about the Church ... the fact that the Guys in the funny dresses holding the Big crosses tend to start talking to God sometimes and addressing Him directly.

I was experimenting with putting together some panoramic pictures of some of the ones I've taken recently. Here are some of the good ones for your enjoyment. Click each picture to see a bigger version: http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_maui_lo.jpg I took these along the north west shore of Maui. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_moab1_lo.jpg Where else but my favorite place! Moab, Utah. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_moab2_lo.jpg Another one of the Moab area. This is the canyon you see in the pic above. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_moab3_lo.jpg Yet another one of Moab ... I have many more. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_sfv_lo.jpg A view of the San Fernando Valley in LA, from the top of Topanga. http://www.seapahn.us/panoramic/pano_utah_lo.jpg Just a random picture along the way in Utah. The rains were to come!

While we're on the subject, I have gotten really good at making "fesenjan". For those of you who are barska-hye challenged, it is made either with duck or chicken (I use chicken) and pomegranate molases and lots of walnuts (powdered).

Azat, you definitely need one of these. Heck the oven will even refrigirate your food for you!!!!

A great little program (free) to do auto-stitching for panoramas: http://www.autostitch.net Those who might be familiar with this problem might know that it's not exactly that easy to do! This program works great from what I have seen and it doesn't need any user input! It figures it out all on it's own. For the more computery-types out there, his paper is also really cool.

I think it'll be funny to see you wear one Vava! Maybe in a more "muslim" part of town or somewhere there is some sort of islamic gathering Make sure there is someone around to tape it!

Yervant, don't be so closed minded

Queb... the devices produced on the ISM band have very strong power limitations on them. Their output is VERY low in power (something like 100mW to 200mW?) ... that's why you can barely get about 100 foot indoor range with most of these devices. Your concern is that there are "many of them" ... but again that is not a valid concern because they are not all transmitting at the same time. The 802.11 MAC layer will take care of that. In the base-stration mode (structured) that is how things are done in computer labs, the base station tells who goes next. There are up to 11 channels defined in the 802.11 spec for the US (I think Japan gets 14) but even then, you will rarely see more than just a few channels in use at the same time ... a guess on my part. If all those stations were transmitting at the same time, nobody would be able to talk to each other! Furthermore, these technologies utilize spread spectrum which basically spreads the power on a broader band than traditional narrow band transmissions. This makes the effect of the signal power even less of an issue I think.

No it's a good thing! I just had to make a small link on my server to go around the problem ... now you'll say give me $50 to keep it And no it wasn't Azat next to me ... one of my UCLA professors took that picture

Mosjan jan .. it should work now .. problem is hyeforum replaces my name with sip in links too

I'll let the before and after pics do the talking

Hahahahahahahah ... maaaaaaaan I can't believe you have that!!!

http://s93725736.onlinehome.us/Sip/misc/moab04/moab_roll1.jpg I think right around here I might have felt a little tingle once But it soon went away and I remembered to tell myself not to try to hold the jeep with my hand from the side. That probably saved my whole arm from becoming a sticker on the huge rock next to me. http://s93725736.onlinehome.us/Sip/misc/moab04/moab_roll4.jpg http://s93725736.onlinehome.us/Sip/misc/moab04/moab_roll3.jpg These are the before and afters ... I think you can see me laughing in there sitting sideways ... or here. But in seriousness, I definitely know the feeling. B-)

Well, in that case it's a bit complicated because many DVDs now have copy protection. I have heard "dvd decrypter" and "dvd shrink" work well for many cases but I've never tried them myself. Edit: By the way, both those are free but you'll still need a basic dvd recording utility to write the actual DVD. I personally bought Nero and I think it is the best. But it won't be hard to find it otherwise

What kind of "DVD burning" are we talking about? Do you just want to burn regular data on a DVD-R (+/-) or are you trying to "backup" a DVD movie?

One of my replies got lost: I said I am not trying to say that electromagnetic waves are not dangerous. I do think we should definitely do studies on the long term effects of cel phone use or wireless headphones and looking to LCDs and monitors and using bluetooth ear plugs etc ... But what I find funny is the panic mode in this case ... where is the evidence on which this decision is based on? (maybe I don't know).