Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Injunction, Waivers, Black Hole
Meanwhile, kids, make sure to join the Marines! An unnamed correspondent writes: "An update on a slashdot article from Oct 14: The video game industry has obtained a stay from the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. According to the article, "the city on Wednesday was ordered to hold off enforcement, temporarily at least, of its ordinance against children under 18 using violent or sexually explicit coin-operated video games." The CNN article can be found here."
Those whom the gods would destroy ... Sacrifice writes: "The Times tells the whimsical story of an inventor too overconfident in the difficulty of a puzzle he estimated would take a genius four years of work to complete; three possible solutions are being reviewed after only 16 months, and royalties aren't enough to cover the half million pounds he pledged, so has put his 67 room mansion up for sale to make good on his pledge (Lloyd's will pony up the other half)."
.. then only criminals will play emulated videogames. Ultra-protective reader FortKnox writes: "Although we've all heard about retro-gaming emulators and copyrights, this BBC article mentions a few of the copyright holder's that waived their copyrights to emulators. Its good to finally see some of these copyrights being waived to let us retro-gamers get our fix."
quintillions and jazillions (with inflation) general_re writes: "Carl Sagan's groundbreaking series "Cosmos" is finally available on VHS/DVD after many years. Although it isn't scheduled to ship until sometime next month, there's a reasonable discount for pre-orders. Many of you probably remember how awesome this series was (I first saw it when I was 9, and still remember it), and for those of you who haven't seen it, go see it. One caveat: after hunting around Project Voyager and carlsagan.com, nobody seems to be offering an official Carl Sagan commemorative bong. ;)"
Take that, evil wicked dirty spammer scumbags! And that! And that! rhea writes: "As an update to this article, Harris dropped the lawsuit they brought against MAPS for putting them on the RBL. Read the final word from MAPS. Paul Vixie: 1; Spammers: 0." The close of that "final word" is pretty biting:
In the final analysis, it would seem that the only thing which Harris has accomplished was getting one, possibly two ISPs (depending on AOL) out of more than a dozen ISP defendants to start accepting their email traffic, something which they could quite possibly have done without the expense and complication of filing a lawsuit.Not that there's any truly good answer to spam, but MAPS represents about the sanest approach I've ever seen -- it's voluntary, it's factual, and it makes no bones about either one of those. Congratulations, Paul. Keep up the good work.And, oh yes, they helped to prove MAPS' position that it is up to each individual subscriber to the RBL to decide for themselves whose email they will accept, and whose they will reject.
Harris remains on the RBL.
In another spammer story worthy of a slashback mention, the same lawyer who represented Earthlink against Sanford Wallace has "obtained the broadest permanent injunction ever issued" against a spammer, in a court case in Georgia. In this case, if the spammer spams again, he could face jail time. Awright!!!
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For those people who think MAPS & friends abuse their power this stinks.
I know for a fact that some of these groups do network scans (which they often claim they do not do); since they do most of the scans via private network accounts they don't get caught in log files. I also know that regardless of the results of network scans that they will list servers which they think MIGHT exist but which they cannot test. (If they cannot test it from random net account it should be inaccessable to anybody wanting to use it for a relay, right? Doesn't matter. They will ban it anyway.)
Organizations playing god don't deserve to be on the internet.
Here's an interesting quote from the website about the DVD edition:
Very cool. Also note that the soundtrack is avaiable on a 2 CD set as well. It has Vangelis's awesome score, along with all the bits of incidental music used throughout the series. Damn, I'm going to order me a copy right now!
Free Hans!
No, it is not. Though it might seem a workable (I won't say good) idea on the surface, it's scary to think of the governmental mechanisms that need be in place for such a policy to be implimented with adequate swiftness and thoroughness. Any government that could elimate aids victims swiftly enough to stop the spread of the disease could just as easily eliminate dissentors swiftly enough to stop the spread of free thought.
it's biologically impossible for a gay couple to produce children.
Wrong. Gay men can produce children just as well as any other men; all they need is a cooperative woman to be the mother. It's even easier for lesbians, who require only sperm, which is readily available. And on top of it all, homosexuals tend to make excellent parents.
(Ok - first, I really not looking for a flamewar here; I'm not trolling.)
"HIV/AIDS is a problem for everyone, not just homosexuals."
What's both interesting and saddening is that it seems like AIDS has been dealt with as if it's a political issue, not a disease that is a "problem for everyone."
Consider, if a form of smallpox returned, which had a relatively slow spread rate, but was still deadly. How would it be dealt with? Would doctors be required to not inform those in contact with the infected that they might be at risk. Would we allow them to donate blood, even though there was a checkbox indicating they were sick and the blood shouldn't be processed (mislabeling happens)? Would it be politicized rather than treated as a disease, with political correctness taking priority over public health?
I intend no insult or accusation to someone with such a disease. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone; I don't think anyone who has AIDS 'deserves' it as some have horribly said. Nor do I think quarantines are the answer, nor making them social outcasts. But I think AIDS should be handled as a disease and not as a political/minority-rights/voting issue.
As always, this is just my perception from events over the past decade, talking with doctors, and listening to the voices in my head.
-----
D. Fischer
ShoutingMan.com
the playing of "classic games" is a crime
That's not quite what they meant, of course, but the fact is that many companies would like to make it a crime to play these games (even if you actually legally own them. See all the complaining about emulators, even if you're using it for your own games.) It's this part that really annoys me about the attitude of the game companies ... they want you to buy their new (and generally not very good) games so badly that they want to remove the chance to play these older games. A video game is a work of art, and it seems like a shame that they would effectively destroy them because they're incapable of otherwise turning a profit.
I don't think that, legally, we'll be able to make any ground on this issue ... at least, until somebody manages to get copyright law reverted to a somewhat sane state ... but until then, I hope that the little 'rebellion' keeps going strong.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
But here it seems more like
Slashdot: 0; Spammers 9
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-- Anne Marie
Anyone who appreciates such gestures should voice their support. Send mail thanking Ian Bell, and check out his web site. Do the same for Jeff Minter by following the links above. And hunt down these guys' circa-1980-hot-shot-game-programmer peers, show some love and relive the old days of 8-bit.
If you're not wasted, the day is.
If you're not wasted, the day is.
The puzzle developed by Christopher Monckton is The Eternity Puzzle. (Also check out this unoffical page). Interestingly enough, there was a distributed computing project designed to solve the puzzle, but the effort was suspended after the threat of legal action. And the game in question was boycotted after Monckton urged that the entire population of the United States and Britain should be compulsorily tested for HIV, and that everyone with the virus should be forcibly quarantined for life.
I loved it. Sagan did such a good job of illuminating the wonders of science and our world. The whole series is organized wonderfully, and Sagan himself is so enthusiastic about the subject matter..
If you haven't seen it, snatch up a copy when it comes out. Geez I get goosebumps just thinking about it... SHows how geeky i am..