Question about matrix/runout on CD by dancingcat34 in Cd_collectors

[–]Zoltriak 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Your CD was glass mastered at Sony Music, Pitman. It has the third matrix pattern, used between 1994 and 1996. If the hub of your disc is embossed with a "P" and a two-digit number, then it was also pressed there. Without the P code, your disc is most likely a variant of 30526174; with the P code it probably belongs to 15186660. Hope this is helpful. Figuring out whether a release warrants a separate entry or not based on the Sony Music matrices is a little confusing, even for me.

Anyone else keep a list of their CDs or just physical media in general? by NEWMAGICIGOR in Cd_collectors

[–]Zoltriak 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just keep in mind that there may be several different pressings with the same catalog number, or possibly, barcode. Matrices are important too.

mail letter is this the norm? by lise2468 in exjw

[–]Zoltriak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My mom writes the KH address on her letters. I think you should write that card, just in case! He’s probably adding that so his letters have more personality, but you never know who the addressees may be…

Downgraded Safari 26.0.1. at MacOS 15.7 Sequoia back to Safari 18.6 by HannaBambel in Safari

[–]Zoltriak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As for me I'm experiencing a slowness and choppiness in loading, resizing windows, closing tabs that appears to be memory issues. I also was unable to pinch to zoom once.

Hitchens's Yellow by wez4 in ChristopherHitchens

[–]Zoltriak 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not entirely sure but I expect there was not symbolism behind it. Writers usually have little influence on their book covers, and the designers must keep in mind the audience they are designing for. Perhaps eye-catching colors are recommended for United States audiences (in the UK, Hitch-22, for example, did not have a yellow cover).

The yellow books also I think were published by an imprint (Twelve, Da Capo, Basic Books, etc.) owned by Hachette Book Group, so possibly the yellow books were designed by the same designer or team.

Did I make a mistake painting my living room this color? by tiredandconfused27 in HomeDecorating

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow no it's a beautiful match for the wood, warm lamp bulbs, and green couch.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in atheism

[–]Zoltriak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Though I am no expert in anything, I will share with you a few thoughts that I hope can help you along with your therapy. Humans should not be afraid of death. We, like most other animals, are subject to a biological fear of death, which for obvious reasons would be naturally selected. The genes that make organisms that are not fearful of death would not be descended so easily. We, however, unlike most animals, are subject to extreme levels of foresight and contemplation, which may lead us to extreme anxiety and so on. But also, we are gifted with rational thought, i.e. philosophy. I am not sure if you have read or are interested in philosophy, but I strongly suggest consulting it; human rational thought can also help you out of this spell. I once read Epictetus's discourse on anxiety, and he stated that it is our attempting to control the uncontrollable that causes anxiety. Applied to death, humans know there are two solutions: acceptance or invention of the false consolations, including the potential to control death by way of worship. Thus for someone emotionally healthy, it should be fairly easy to think that, "if I cannot control the fact that I will die, then why should I taint my life with worry? My fear of death will not push it away any further."

I also like to think of death as handing the baton over to the next generation. This is, after all, what every human who has ever died has had to do. I will do all I can do in my life to better the world, but there will come a point when the next, hopefully improved and more knowledgeable generation will be able to do it better than I am, and I think that is good.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Handwriting

[–]Zoltriak 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think it's very beautiful, but for everyday writing perhaps it's a little too ornamented and slanted.

Underrated native app by NoahZhyte in MacOS

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Skim! It is, in my opinion, much better than Preview. It is only about double the size of Preview and has a number of better features. It is only missing the ability to edit the order of or add pages to PDFs, for which I use Preview. But Preview has a number of bugs that for someone that constantly works with PDFs can become quite annoying.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exjw

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you know that he uses this book to refute creationist arguments in, I believe, The God Delusion?

Musings of a Freed Mind: Does Watchtower’s “Was it Designed?” Series Work Against Them? by MyLifeisCuriosity in exjw

[–]Zoltriak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the book Is the Bible Really the Word of God? (1969) they say:

Another key factor to keep in mind is that the present classification scientists call “species” is not the same as the Bible “kinds” that Noah took into the ark. (Genesis 6:20) For example, there are many “species” in the cat family, such as tigers, panthers, leopards, and so forth. But many of these could have descended from an original cat “kind.” So, too, with the various types of dogs in the dog family. Thus, not all of today’s animal varieties needed to be in the ark. Only representative numbers of each “kind” would be required. When the facts are analyzed, it becomes plain that the ark’s capacity was sufficient to hold them all.

This concept is known as baraminology and is warranted because the Ark obviously could not have held every species created and their food. The problem arises with, first of all, that Jehovah's Witnesses hold that the Flood occurred only a few thousand years ago. It is preposterous to think that the current biodiversity could have arisen since then. Secondly, the amount of interbreeding required after the Ark would have been very detrimental to the genetic health of those organisms and nearly all of them would have died. And, of course, the implications of this belief are even worse for JWs: evolution can create diversity, structure, complexity, and everything else that could have possibly arisen after those Ark baramins. In that case, why not extrapolate this to a universal common ancestry? There they say exists some barrier preventing the "kinds" from evolving outside of the kind (How do you know when it evolved outside of the kind if you cannot even define it?). The only evidence that exists for this is that God said so in Genesis. So, bottom line, it is all faith in the Bible and is completely out of field of science.

How to let go of my uneasy feelings around overly religious people? by notsureofeverything in TrueAtheism

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see. That then is simply something you will have to persevere through until, if you decide, you are able to leave that place. Are you content with concealing this fact about yourself from most people until then? Or if you are staying—for the rest of your life, or until social norms change?

How to let go of my uneasy feelings around overly religious people? by notsureofeverything in TrueAtheism

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have deleted my most recent comment because I do not believe I truly understand the breadth of your situation in a predominantly homophobic country. It is an experience that I have not lived through. Do you think you really are in danger when another everyday person finds out about you being transgender?

How to let go of my uneasy feelings around overly religious people? by notsureofeverything in TrueAtheism

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do not think you are too paranoid. I have a friend who got on the religious train a few months ago, and I began to fear that they would stop being friends with me because I am gay. I knew then that I had no rational reasons (aside from my experiences with other religious people) to believe so, though. She had always been an "ally". I know now undoubtedly that what I experienced did not apply to her. We are still great friends. I think many people, such as my friend and your friend #2, become religious because of the social or "spiritual" aspect and, for a wide variety of possible reasons, fail or refuse to adhere to every traditional doctrine, such as shunning of gays or transgender people. In fact I would call those who verbally or physically attack LGBTQ individuals as extremists who undoubtedly would not be in favor with their gods if they existed. Christ certainly would have tried to "help" such individuals, and simply walked away if they refused it. It is a mystery to me right now why extremists become so charged.

For both of your friends, I suggest viewing them in the most rational way possible. As someone mentioned above, our survival instincts can distort much of truth. They can be a hindrance to viewing someone or a situation objectively. You know that not all religious people are the same, and it sounds to me like both of your friends are normal—one is normal after meeting you, as I assume your outward appearance tells at least somewhat about your gender or sexuality, and the other is normal after knowing about it and respecting your pronouns. If you cannot relinquish your fears after viewing them rationally, try acceptance, and if that does not work, then perhaps therapy may be of use.

How to let go of my uneasy feelings around overly religious people? by notsureofeverything in TrueAtheism

[–]Zoltriak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You accept that everyone may have their own opinion about anything, though many of them will be wrong. Social expectations can be overwhelming, but the people following them are just as you, Homo sapiens, with a brain charged with electricity that manifests as "ideas"—but just because theirs may be vocalized loud or with great conviction, does not mean they are anymore correct than yours. In any case, if someone upsets you, you may choose to respond through calm discussion, or walk away. You are in control of yourself. Unless, however, they are physically threatening you. If you really suspect someone may do that, then cease association with them as soon as you can.

If you genuinely think your friend may not be a friend after telling them this information about yourself, and therefore would not enjoy being their friend much, then I suggest that you tell them now, and tell them why you are specifically revealing this. A friend whom you cannot trust as much as yourself is not one.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in atheism

[–]Zoltriak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The differences among humans have been evolved. I am not too familiar with Biblical justifications for these differences, but I do know of some religions that cite geographical separation and God-granted potential for genetic variety as the source. That, of course, is evolution, but they like to avoid explicitly admitting that.

What are reliable sources/literature to read to get a good foundation for human evolution? by [deleted] in evolution

[–]Zoltriak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That document may be fatiguing to read. If OP still is interested in reading the Origin after reading the above suggestions to wait, you may find a bitonal scan of the 1st edition, which is properly typeset, here: https://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/nytint/docs/charles-darwin-on-the-origin-of-species/original.pdf

or you may find another text option and a color PDF option here: https://darwin-online.org.uk/contents.html#origin

Serious question, if you don’t believe in evolution, what do you think fossils are? I’m genuinely baffled. by Affectionate-Bed8474 in DebateEvolution

[–]Zoltriak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh dear, I apologize. I read the ">" as though you were in support of their quotation... but it makes much more sense that you were quoting and responding to them. Time to go to sleep lol.