RevBogovac

The ISO 9126 norm helps to "prioritise" you "non-functionals" (as basically all functions are more-or-less the same). If we take a look at the "high-level" list of "non-functionals" we can decide what is "better for us" (as opposed to "better in general). I will add my own personal preference as an example: Functionality - as an Apple-fan since 1984 (pun not intended) I find Apple products to be easier to operate; Reliability - off-course all "high-end" phones are more or less of the same reliable quality so a "non-issue" (as long as you compare the same price-ranges); Usability - as said with functionality, I - personally- find Apple phones easier to operate, but they are also more usable for me as the synch automatically with my iMac, iPad, Apple TV, airport extreme, icloud et cetera. I know Android/Windows/Linux does this too, but it takes a lot more setting up to do where Apple "just" takes care of it, right out of the box... Efficiency - The previous point makes Apple a lot more efficient for me too; it just works (straight out of the box) and it keeps working; if I get an important request while "on the road" I don't have to take out my laptop but "just" go through my iPhone and have all the same documents available at my fingertips; Maintainability - Apple takes care of this for me too (and I don't mind paying for it) so I only have to take care of the periodical updates and "all is fine". Apple does this a lot longer than Android too (which you can see in the HUGE amaount of Android phones with outdates software which makes them unusable and unsafe); Portability - Which obviously is managed by apple too. I can work at my home computer on something and present it at a clients office from my iPad. And also the one time my macbook and ipad got stolen from my rental car while on a business trip all I had to do was buy a new device locally and turn it on connecting it to the interwebs and everything got restored (again, I know this can be set up on other OS's too, but that takes a lot more time... this "just works" by entering your AppleID. Remember, these are my own preferences for these non-functionals. People can have totally different preferences and (time) priorities....

If we use our brain, we are...

Yes, I like "fact-based-decision-making" a lot too...

If only Justice were simple. And noboy here said it is. But - and I repeat - "there is still no reason for those repercussions to be unnecessarily cruel".

I tend to agree.. but there is still no reason for those repercussions to be unnecessarily cruel.

Then there is something wrong with the conditions in the first place. Doesn't condone cruelty in any shape, way or form...

Which is why anybody who "just" drinks an drives here (in the Netherlands) and gets caught - besides the obvious fine - has to (mandatory) go to a "Alcohol and Traffic" course which he pays for out of his own pocket (about $1,000,- yes, a thousand bucks) and takes a couple of days. If he chooses not to participate in the course he automatically looses his driving license (and stil has to pay the fine, off course)...

Why would anybody want any of those two options. Those are just cruel.

Goethe, whenever I feel a bit pessimistic his work just reminds me we were screwed up long before any of this...

But I jus't can't become an atheist, I don't believe in denial...

You obviously haven't spent time in prison... Dutch and Danish prisons are - more or less - like that (I'd suggest you watch Moore's 'Where to Invade Next' to see him interview a murderer wielding a 10"+ kitchen knife while cooking dinner in his "prison home") and "our" crime rates seem to show exactly the opposite of what you're saying... just saying.

Yup Von, that's basically my stance on it too; everybody starts with me respecting them, but they can sure (as #€££) lose it...

'Reputation: It arrives on foot but departs on horseback'

As a big fan of Aristotle I'm inclined to say the truth is somewhere in the middle; of course there are "exceptions to the rule", but I remember the time I needed some blood drawn and the nurse sat next to me to do it while the doctor stood there watching. He saw my quizzing face looking up at him and just said: "trust me, you want her to do it..."

“There is a cult of ignorance in [he said "the US" back then, but I would argue: "modern society"], and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” ― Isaac Asimov

In short, cuchulain; you're right: logic is totally dependent on context. The very word (in ancient Greece) meant ""the word that is spoken". And the wide array of different "logic" types clearly demonstrates that dependancy on context. But, at the same time - as a big fan of Aristotle (and having majored my Bachelor's degree in Political Philosophy... ) - I would say that although temporal modal logic, inductive logic and syllogistic logic (and later on symbolic logic, mathematical logic and Boolean logic) do imply that due to their foundations in mathematics and attempts to derive mathematical truths from axioms and inference rules there is also something like - for instance - the saying of Chinese logical philosopher Gongsun Long who proposed the paradox "One and one cannot become two, since neither becomes two." And although I spent years of study to get that formal degree... you could have read this all on Wikipedia too...

So sorry for your loss. I wish all the best and strength to you and all your loved ones in these difficult times. You are all in our (families) prayers. PS sorry for my bad English, but I hope my best intentions are conveyed...

Don't forget about university libraries. I don't know about the US, but here in the EU they are obliged to provide public access too...

Boy, have we wandered "off-topic"... But can we please, PLEASE, open up a new one discussing just "what's wrong with that?"

True, true... I must admit I'm a bit "impatient" (coming from "impulsive", so there's [still even more room for] improvement... )

OK, I am happy that you belong to the 17% who actually read the TOS (someone should). I believe more in "good intent" of men and "universal law" (as courts do too...). If there's someting in there that really shouldn't be, it will be corrected. But thankfully TOS (or any kind of "written agreement") aren't "set in stone" so it would actually be silly not to discuss how one sees their interactions with one another... it's just a silly discussion, true... I personally, don't see it as that "important". I wish the "authorities" (on this forum) would see this topic (and do with it what they want). It's more of a "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"(Evelyn Beatrice Hall) kind of issue for me... I deal with it like Jonathan does: And: is certainly true... but... I personally don't see the harm in letting people express themselves the way they choose to. It actually provides us (the "listeners") with a lot of "free" information about the one "sending" the information....

Now that we have - more or less - established what it is they "own", they certainly have that "right". As people also have the "right" to express their feelings about those choices. And the "owners" are then also responsible for the consequences of their choices...

You seem to have missed the study in question discussed here... I only argued that it seemed silly censoring profanity in this forum.

Yes it can, and I am more than open to discussions about the methodology, premises, assumptions, conclusions and so on... But it is stil an empirical study published in a (recent, peer reviewed, highly regarded) scientific journal.

Thank you for asking. Five things I am grateful for today: 1. my daughters, my wife and I are all still breathing; 2. our house has still been a safe home; 3. we had (relatively) clean air, water and food to consume; 4. I met wonderful people today, some helped me, others I helped; 5. I just finished packing for our trip to our summer home in Spain.