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Slashback: Smallness, Blackouts, South Australia
"Luxury!" DagBot writes: "TW2002 is still alive and can also be played as TCPIP telnet No BBS need to log into. Its called TWGS (Trade Wars Game Server). There is Still TW2002 communities going strong and I run a TWGS server now and have about 40 regular players playing. There is no large time-wasting BBS to log into, but its quick and easy to get into a game and get back to the good old days where you had to know how to read and have quick fingers to play.
There are also 2 TW2002 helpers that will run right out of the box with full telnet and ANSI support along with user-edited and scripts. Both are great programs Attac uses REXX scripts and Swath uses a Java based script for user defined scripts. Both will get you up and playing in a few minutes thinking about the good old days. My TW2002 stand alone server can be found [here] login, play, get a feel for the good old days."
Until everyone has one, it will keep being submitted, and maybe even then. azephrahel writes: "I am sure almost all of Slashdot's readers have drooled over the possibilities that many of the pc-on-a-stick products now offer. You can buy the uCsimm for $300, the matchbox PC for only $1,495, from emj you can get a 386 on a stick for $130 but you have to fit all your os & code & drivers into .9 Megs. Still that is probably the most reasonable, and made by Jumptech. They make fun toys, but there hard to buy peicemeal at a decent price.
Anyway after all that rambling, I just found this companies site, there called i-Button. They sell java computers called TINI, in a 72 pin simm format, and little button shaped devices called i-buttons (yes the thing in the java ring featured on slashdot in March) The important part, they sell peicemeal, reasonably. I just blew $120 bucks on their site and ended up with a java computer on a stick (TINI, complete with an ethernet controller onboard), a javabutton, a tempterature probe, and a project board to hook up and play with these toys on.
I figured that a few others here would like to hear they can get these toys without selling a spleen."
All these things have been mentioned on Slashdot before, but it looks like the era of ubiquitous little tiny parts has arrived, and at a price level sustainable by occasional weekend medical experiments, too.
Fraidja can't see that w'out p'mission, bub. For those of you unhappy with the apparent moves toward censorship in South Australia, Danny Yee writes: "Electronic Frontiers Australia has put online analysis of the South Australian legislation and suggestions for action."
Hah! Spell it how you will. The line between hobby and obsessive fetish is sometimes thin. (And often depends whether you share the hobby in question.) :)
No. Our cultural imperialism has more to do with commercial interests. If Baywatch is popular in the states, someone will try to see if it's popular anywhere else. Same with jeans, McDonalds, etc. That the US has been really successful for some time helps too. We couldn't be cultural imperialists if the foreigners we sold things to didn't want the stuff.
;)
Remember "Life of Brian"? The rebellious Jews are griping about all the terrible things that the Romans are doing, while trying hard to ignore some of the more useful things. (e.g. aquaducts, good roads) We don't really take over countries like that anymore (and I personally get pissed off whenever we prop up or overthrow a government - we shouldn't be doing that) but we do sell things to them. Popular things, as it happens.
Now, our political imperialism (not in the sense of taking over other countries but in spreading our ideas about governance) is what comes from the concept of natural rights.
And it seems to be a pretty good meme from where I'm sitting. Can you tell me why, absent any government Australians innately have less of a right to free speech than Americans do? Well they don't. Set an Australian down in the middle of nowhere, and he can say what he wants. His mouth doesn't stick shut because there's no government to tell him he can speak. (sadly, it still doesn't mean that anyone will be able to understand what the hell he's talking about
That right is infringed upon as a matter of course in most places. While always under assault in the US even, we prohibit our government from infringing on it here. We really explicitly prohibit that. As much as a really prohibited thing.
If Australians refused to put up with that kind of crap, and installed a government that wasn't permitted to censor them it would still not be the creation of a right of free speech, but a limitation on government from screwing with an independently existing right of free speech. They're entitled to do so, certainly. And while we in the states shouldn't force them to, I can't say that we should all pleased that they don't either.
(one of the traditional problems American foreign relations have faced is our desire to spread our memes and encourage people to establish democratic governments, while still adhering to our high opinion of soverignty)
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
The link to Electronic Frontiers
Australia is misspelled.
I find it hard to believe that you can jump from "universal human rights" to the People's Republic of China in the same breath, are you feeling OK after that contortion? Of course human rights don't come into being at will; they must be wrested from the powerful and the wealthy with great struggle, bought often in blood. Like all those students that were killed in that socially advanced nation of China, remember?
The answer to speech which is disrespectful of your culture or religion is not censorship, but simply more speech from your group. I have a right to not respect your group, and you have a right to not respect mine. We both get to tell as many interested passersby about it as we can, and the population decides who's nuts.
As soon as government starts telling people which religions we can't poke fun at, there might as well be a state-sponsored religion. And what happens when your government changes from being pro-your group to being anti-your group? Are you quite prepared to muzzle your religious speech at that point? Remember, it's in the interests of social order...
If you don't like the amount of speech in the U.S., you're quite welcome to move to China, Iran, or wherever. It's possible that they may be more "socially advanced", in that the poor and the old are better cared for; but that's really an issue orthogonal to the freedom of speech. I'm not about to give up my rights to laugh at other people's wacky gods, especially if I'm of the opinion that those gods don't exist.
Woops, was that disrespectful? Get used to it, buddy.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
The Bill of Rights says otherwise, but it is a completely seperate document that was written a decade later
The Bill of Rights was written 2 years after the Constitution, and ratified with about the same difference. It is, 100%, a part of the Constitution (as are the other 17 amendments).
For instance, the War Powers Act of 1917 allows the government to throw you in jail indefinitely without a trial
The War Powers Act has also been amended and changed in the years since it first appeared. Most of the "President can throw you in Jail for anything because Lincoln never ended the war!" types of things simply aren't true -- in the 60s and 70s there was a big stink in Congress about all the laws and Executive orders that had built up over the years without ever having ended officially.
Any crazy law you hear about having to do with Emergency Orders, Lincoln, WW2, or the War Powers Act is most assuredly NOT still in effect. They are all officially expired as of about 25 years ago, the news just hasn't caught up to the conspiracy guys yet...
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Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
See, for example, U.S. v. Thomas
The defendents never claimed they were exercising any Constitutionally protected right, they claimed that they were prosecuted under the wrong laws and that Congress had not intended to cover computer boards, etc. They made your run-of-the-mill statuatory arguments.
And no, obscenity is not considered speech, but that does not make the right of free speech contigent on offense. It makes it contingent on speech taking place (or, on speech not directly jeapordizing someone's life, as in the case of screaming "fire" in the crowded theater).
But in your less direct point -- our rights are contingent on our ability and willingness to respect, defend, and uphold them. If the Supreme Court says Playboy is obscene, then all of a sudden it's not protected speech. Or if we as a society (or just the executive branch) just decide to stop listening to the judicial, and just start hanging people for saying things, then you have government abridging the freedom of speech.
The Constitution is just a piece of paper to remind us of what believe we deserve, it doesn't have the ability to uphold itself -- so no, it isn't ABSOLUTE in that sense. Yes, it requires us to make it work on a daily basis. Short of God himself handing out magic rings and government-proof vests, I don't know what could be considered ABSOLUTE.
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Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
As for things like the 1917 War Powers Act, it's clear that they arn't really enforcable. I was merely pointing out that the laws exist, and are technically in effect.
That's what i was trying to say -- they AREN'T in effect any more. The Conspiracy nuts who claim we're still in a state of war from the time of Lincoln are quick to point to the War Powers Act of 1917 as proof -- but fail to point out the War Powers Act of 1976 (which completely replaces it -- after the turmoil of the Vietnam War, having Presidents blatantly lie to Congress, the legislature quickly curbed the President's ability to act unilaterally).
50 USC 1601 officially and legally ended all states of emergency as of two years after the passage of the law (in 1976, again). So really, there is honestly and truly no suspension of Habeas Corpus, no state of war, etc. The Constitution, as of today, is 100% legally in effect and the President has nothing to say about it.
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Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
bash: export TERM=xterm-color (or xterm-debian if you're on a debian box)
*csh: setenv TERM xterm-color (ditto)
"If ignorance is bliss, may I never be happy.
-- Veni, vidi, dormivi
What a fascinating place... this Canuck had the pleasure of travelling throughout the east coast of Australia last summer and was surprised at how technologically progressive their culture seemed, at least in comparison to Canada. Brisbane, Sydney, and Cairns were brimming with Internet cafes, and even convenience stores had Internet kiosks. (Drifting off-topic: the convenience store kiosks were expensive ($1AUS/5 min.) Win95-based compared to the UN*X-based kiosks ($1AUS/15 min) found in the foyers of public libraries--which allowed even non-residents an hour of free access to their public computers.)
So it seems like everyone gets it, until this piece of legislation comes up. Let's not tar everyone with the same brush, mind; while Southern Australia cracks down on Net obscenity, Queensland allows prosititution (didn't sample any of that--I was with my girlfriend...) and the entire east coast rakes in the bucks on pokies (electronic gambling machines, often found in the back room of a pub).
Many of us would like to know if it's still possible to play LORD (Legend of the Red Dragon). Wow, the memories from playing that game. It was the first time I ever player killed someone. You used to be able to break into the hotel at night, and beat up on the lower level characters. You could also sleep with, and eventually marry, the bartenders daughter. She never stayed your wife for long though.
LORD isn't dead. If you look hard enough, it's still possible to find free telnet-in bbs' running games. One of my old worldgroup favourites just started back up and now I can get my fill of killing and working up to the next item in King Arthur's Weapons, or even flirting with the lovely Violet...
I'm not sure the sysop would appreciate a slashdotting of new accounts, so I'll refrain from posting the URL. But from the number of MUD users on there, I'd imagine it wouldn't be too tough to find something free and cool, especially now that all the old sysops are getting cable modems.
-ck
"I want an embedded system. Literally.
Embedded into my HEAD!"
Hmmmm. Nothing a small hammer wouldn't fix.
MrCreosote Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump! "You're right! There isn't enough room to swing a cat in here!"
I got one of those. The only problem is that upgrades are such a headache!
[rimshot]
--
Friends don't let friends misuse the subjunctive.
I tried to connect to the tradewars server and was presented with what I think was ANSI graphics. But this time, just like the last, I got only vt100 graphics. Does anyone out there know how to get ANSI graphics working under an xterm/telnet? Is linux limited to 7 bit ASCII?
We've got a filter on sites "unsuitable for University access" and it is lame. For example any URL with the word "sluth" gets blocked because it contains "slut". The BESS software has been shown to be just as bad.
Sure, it sounds nice, and i'd sure like to have a smaller box, but can you pop a 15" monitor or a zipdrive on one of those babies? I know, they're just portable things but even a laptop can do that =) I think i'll keep my pocket filled with useful things (like a wallet and car keys) until I either see the light of teeny tiny pc's with no disk space or I get hit in the head with one hard enough that I loose all common sense and buy one.
I am !amused.
Back in '98, another state (New South Wales) also passed laws to protect it citizens from dirty pictures. They even went so far as to ban dirty pictures travelling through their state. For example, if I were to email a dirty picture from my home in Queensland to my grandmother in Victoria, and that email travelled via NSW (which lies between Qld and Vic), then I would be breaking the law.
The point is, these are nonsense laws, designed to show the voters that the pollies are doing something. The police officers that are charged to enforce these laws haven't a clue what the Internet is about. While being questioned by a cop once, I was asked if my computer had 'one of those Internets' in it'.
Except of course, when by sheer chance they stumble across a case that they can prosecute, then they will make a big show of it. And pity the poor bastard who this happens to.
This is what happens in a country where not one single politician even knows who to use email.
I wish I could think of a witty Sig. Sigh!
All religions will teach you that you MUST respect the views of others.
My religion sure as hell doesn't -- in fact, my religion allows me to say that your views are the deranged rantings of a stupid fathead.
You apparently want to live in a country where "socially aware" groups have more freedom "focussed" on them, while groups like the NRA would get "less" freedom. Fuck you. I don't want you to decide who gets your shitty brand of "freedom" and who doesn't.
You're not free if you have to ask permission. Duh.
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
The Bill of Rights says otherwise, but it is a completely seperate document that was written a decade later.
Besides, there are plenty of laws on the books right here in the good old US of A that curtail your supposed free speech. For instance, the War Powers Act of 1917 allows the government to throw you in jail indefinitely without a trial (which, by the way, is OK by the constitution, but not the Bill o' Rights) for doing things like critisizing the government, the country's allies, et cetera.
The fact is, there isn't a place in the world that has legal freedom of speech, with the possible exception of Antarctica, which I don't know very much about. There are even laws specifically limiting free speech in international waters and airspace.
Just a small point I thought I'd bring up.
--
In spite of the suggestions and all the tests that I have made, I have not cavato a spider from the hole.
We do? WA's Censorship Act 1996 seems to disagree with you... please correct me if I'm wrong.
From the Censorship Act 1996 :
Yes, that does mean that a single member of Parliament can arbitrarily ban a publication. No process of appeal beyond that minister, no guaranteed right to speech.Ever heard of a Sierra game called Seventh Guest? That's illegal here. Heck, even Dreamweb's illegal here. They had to publish a modified (censored) version of Duke Nukem 3D here because the original was classed as 'obscene' and refused classification. I think the Nine Inch Nails Broken video is banned as well, but I confess I'm not sure.
Another little beauty is contained in the Police Act:
What this particular law means that if there's a group of more than two people and the authorities believe that they may "disturb the peace," they can order you to leave. In 1979, two union officials were arrested at a worker's rally for the simple crime of expressing a sentiment that pissed the government off.All sorts of wonderful little things along these lines are buried in West Australian law. For instance, far from having a guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure, police have the right to conduct a full stripsearch of any person on the street. All they have to do is 'suspect' that the person is carrying illicit items, such as drugs, weapons or aerosol cans (you can get done if someone suspects you're a graffiti monkey over here). The grounds for this 'suspicion' need not ever be stated or justified.
And just to think, the national album Australia's children are trained to sing praises us as "young and free." Personally, I think it's disgusting.
The IRA are allowed to talk on TV now and since about 1993. Although I am a republican living in Ireland and do support the political attempts for a united Ireland I and many others find the labeling of the IRA as freedom fighters highly offensive. Calling them freedom fighters just gives legitimacy to on organisation who despite wrong doings against their people have on many occasions blown up town centres on Saturday afternoons. Don't try to tell me that's a military target!! You speak as if the US doesn't censor things. When your government decide that it is in the best interests of the country. For example during the Gulf War pictures of the US airforce blowing up retreating Iraqis was censored until after the war.
Irish Rugby Now!
The article is right about people wanting to get there hands some of these 'embedded' devices. I have been drooling over the items listed here on LinuxDevices
One of the most interesting ive seen is ZFLinux's MachZ System On a Chip - have a look at the a build of their reference implementation shown at at Linux World (half way down on the right - the thing has a tiny LCD - very cool)
For extra bonus karma-whorific-ness: Look at this: World's Smallest Web Server - Its just plain cool
One thing I found is you are allowed to say swear words on TV. On the evening news they were doing a story about poorly build navy subs. They broadcast the captian of a Sub saying "None of this shit works"
They had Sex in the City on Primetime on a non-cable channel. They say the word fuck several times. It was never bleeped
They also showed Good Will Hunting during primetime. That movie had fuck like every 5th word.
Can't get that in the States basically have to get a Premium channel or pay-per-view or rent it, to watch a movie like Good Will Hunting on TV.
I thing I found odd they get our late night shows, like David Letterman and Jay Leno. Twords were still bleeped out. Think they get those shows with those words bleeped out.
Am I allowed to say these words on Slashdot? Guess I am about to find out....
Isn't the whole point of Baywatch to corrupt the youth?
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Give me liberty or give me something of equal or lesser value from your glossy 32-page catalog.
I just wanted to say that the server has Not been /. All is running fine.
For all the people that would like to play but dont know how go to http://playground.homeip.net/library/twinstr/ TW2002 Help page all info a Newbie or Pro would need.
TWhelper Rpograms http://www.swath.net Swath and http://www.tw-attac.com ATTAC both are great programs and will help any new person out alot.
For TW2002 News check out http://playground.homeip.net/ The Playground
To Play TW2002 for Free telnet://olgn.homeip.net
DagBot Online Gaming News http://www.olgn.net
I should think that this quite directly demonstrates a complete failure to grasp the technical issues involved. Otherwise what is the point of the legislation? It doesn't protect South Australians from porn, it protects the rest of the world from South Australian porn. While I have seen enough naked South Australians that I would not take up arms to fight such a law, I fail to see how this is a legitimate objective for such controversial legislation.
As far as I can tell, the SA legislature's picture of the internet is something like this: There are 15 or 20 companies (Yahoo, MSN, etc.) that produce almost all of the content, and then a few little skanky operators, like the places that make porn videos. I think they've completely overlooked the two-way nature of the internet. Perhaps someone needs to show them just how many Geocities and Angelfire pages there are out there, pages about kittens and puppies and movies and healthcare and - whoops! We've crossed the invisible line into topics that may be objectionable to someone somewhere.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
Having lived and worked in most of the places you list, I'm not sure I can agree.
First of all, only Singapore even tries to do what you describe in your thesis (specifically forbidding statements derogatory to any religion in order to preserve the peace).
Religion-baiting is a national sport in the Netherlands and the UK, though it's practiced on an equal-opportunity basis. In Iran, Saudi Arabia, and PRC, whether your anti-religious statements earn you a plum job or a trip to the hoosegow depends entirely on which religion it is you're slinging mud at.
My rationality strains to sympathize with the Singaporean approach: On one level, I think it idiotic, since 100% of the power of anti-religious statements is created by the receiver. It only bothers you if your faith is so shallow, and your religion so uncompelling to you, that you allow it to. On the other hand, it has been very effective in keeping down the sort of clashes that occur with depressing regularity across the straits in Malaysia.
So whose system really has more respect, the US' or Singapore's? The Singapore system implies that religious people are weak and manipulable; the US system asserts that they are smart enough to take words as words and get on with their lives.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
Are you talking about the United States? The government quite specifically does not practice prior restraint. You can show/play/say anything you want. If it was illegal based on the law (common and legislative) in place at the time, then you get in trouble for it later.
In Australia, for instance, the government looks at materials before they are published or performed, and makes a determination as to whether publication or performance will be permitted. This is censorship, and is the exact opposite of how it works in America.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
In any case, it's not necessarily a technical issue. Looking at the legislation, I find it's actually not all that technically illiterate. It specifically targets content providers, and exempts ISPs (just as well, otherwise it would be illegal to be an ISP in SA - sucks to be them!). So what it's basically saying is, it's illegal to set up a porn site in South Australia. Like it's illegal to set up a brothel.
Probably useless, yes, considering how many are still going to be available from the next state, not to mention across the water, but not that much more illogical than, say, the UK banning dope smoking, when it's easy to hop across the Channel to Amsterdam.
In any case, the legislation certainly sucks in various non-computer-related ways - like requiring content providers to guess whether they "would be" rated R by an independent panel, but that's politicians for you.
(and whatcha mean "Baywatch doesn't corrupt youth". Check that crappy dialogue...)
Unless electronics and programming make you happy, or you work for someone making webcams, sensors that attach to ethernet, etc., you won't care much.
The Declaration of Independence says:
Notice that it doesn't say "all Americans" - our heritage considers these rights universal. Australians, or Arabs, or Chinese, are just as entitled to the rights we enjoy as Americans are.By saying that censorship may be one part of responsible government, you're saying that those people being "responsibly governed" are somehow less worthy than Americans. Or you believe that censorship in America may also be a part of "responsible government" here. Because you're in the U.S., you're free to believe either, or both, of those positions, but I'm free to say you're wrong.
Riiiiight. I guess we shouldn't condem slavery, religious intolerance, or ethnic cleansing in other nations either. After all, their ways are different from our own.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Dallas has been making the buttons and the TINI for a few ywars now; I remember reading about the TINI in some trash Java mag in Sep 1999, and I know the i-Button has been in production since early 1996 cuz I've had one on my key ring since then..
.sig: Now legally binding!
I believe Batwatch would corrupt almost anyone.
But nevermind. Some Saudi censorship fun:
So count your lucky stars, Adelaideans: It could be a lot worse.
As for the Baywatch story, I suspect that's apocryphal or at best misleading. Nothing even close to Baywatch makes it on TV. They wouldn't even show My Three Sons (the early ones, before Mrs. Pfeiffer got all trampy). It's highly unlikely that anyone would have wasted time trying to get that particular show on.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
On a more personal note, I'm of South Korean descent, and I occasionally hear cultural explanations for South Korea's poor practices of democracy. (Corruption, repression of the press, etc., etc.) I often find those excuses condescending -- you think just because I was born in a different country that I can't understand the Bill of Rights? I'd rather you hate the oppressive leadership in South Korea along with me.
Do domain names matter?