Slashback: Google, Prince, Bayesian

Updates from the field on Google access in the People's Republic of China, Lance Bass's space-shot (shot down), the gaming ban in Greece, recording artists and Internet music downloads, and more. Read on for the details.

Please confirm, over. After reports that the People's Republic of China was blocking access to Google, an anonymous reader writes: "I'm working in China, and for the last 3 days Google and some other sites were not accessible. But since even sending SMS to europe didn't work I don't think it was censoring, more like routing problems of some sort. Anyway, Google is back and reports of slashdot blocking are also overrated :)"

Cradle of Democracy, or Regular Cradle? Many readers have written to point out that, just like they promised to in March, the government of Greece has gone ahead and banned electronic games. xlurker, for instance, writes "In an unbelievable move the Greek government has banned all public play of computer games with enactment of law 3037/2002. An english translation of it can be read here. This has been reported in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini and recently confirmed in detail at the German Heise site (Google translation). The law encompasses all appliances that play games, as ludicrous this sounds, it spans from cells ph ones and computers to gameboys and consoles. Greek internet cafes are protesting and international gaming events are being cancelled and relocate d. The bill was passed as a last ditch effort by the government to combat gambling. Thousands of Greek citizens have protested the blanket anti-gaming law. Online petitions can be found here and at the Greek Net Cafe site."

Welcome to your new email account. In addition to the Bayesian spam filter for Qmail mentioned in a previous Slashback, an anonymous reader writes "An article here talked about using statistical methods to classify spam (and perhaps other mail) automatically. A real implementation of this has been released (currently beta) here that acts as a POP3 proxy and works with any mail client. It inserts an X-Text-Classification: header in each mail message containing a classification of the mail into any of a number of classes that the user defines. The code is mostly Perl and an LGPL library so although the current version is for Windows it will work on other platforms and the author is asking for suggestions and testers."

Yes, I'd like to be paid in unlucky-pop-star weights, please. 21mhz writes "Reuters reports: Russia's space agency has scrapped 'N Sync singer Lance Bass's plans to join an October space mission after the U.S. pop star failed to meet payment deadlines. More details from AP. The guys that do real stuff at ISS will get an extra cargo package the weight of the unlucky pop singer."

And Lo, eleven shall have been selected, and it is so. AmateurHuman writes "After two delays, Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Dungeons & Dragons, have announced that the first stage of the New Fantasy Setting Search is completed. Eleven out of 11,000 entries were selected. Good job to those lucky eleven!"

Slashdot is not responsible for the content of external links. ttyp writes "We've all seen Janis Ian's opinions about P2P and the RIAA but, man, does Prince take it to a new level! Check out the artist's commentary A Nation of Thieves wherein Prince wonders, 'How long, however, b4 a critical mass of established artists realize that it is in their best interests, both artistically and commercially, 2 leave the system 4 good? How long b4 a critical mass of young aspiring artists become aware of the enslaving aspects of the system and r careful not 2 get involved in it without a maximum of precautions? And how long b4 a critical mass of art lovers get 2gether 2 provide these artists with a real, valuable, legitimate, truthfully enthusiastic alternative audience that completes the process of rendering the xisting system artistically irrelevant?' Also check out the links to other commentaries on this page."

Comments

Or don't check it out, because it's nonsense...

[Wee]

Check out the artist's commentary A Nation of Thieves wherein Prince wonders, "How long, however, b4 a critical ... 2 leave the system 4 good ... 2gether 2 ... "

How could we possibly "check that out"? How can anyone read and comprehend that sort of crap? I guess people no longer need IM to prove they are idiots; now they can write whole manifestoes and remove all doubt. Or maybe Prince is trying to be artsy, I dunno. He just comes off as unintelligible, which flies in the face of communication's goals just a bit if he's trying to accomplish something with his writing.

"The technology and entertainment industries r simply 2 big 4 us 2 xpect any overnight changes." And they probably took at least one English class, too, so you probably aren't going to convince anyone to do anything that you want them to do if you attempt to use the written word, Prince...

-B

Re:Prince...

[DennisZeMenace]

Errrrr, why don't you ask Janis Ian how many millions of dollars she has in the bank ? Or how many albums she has in the top 20 ?

DZM

Re:How long?

[achurch]

I mean seriously, if you're going to measure somebody's intelligence based on their shorthand (note: these aren't even typos we're talking abouthere) then wtf's the point? We're talking about the same group of people who uses email, instant messaging, IRC, and so on. Yet you're supposed to spell check everything you say?

Well, yes. Have you ever heard of "manners"? Sure, it's fine to abbreviate and such if you're talking to people you know, but otherwise it's only polite to use proper grammar and spelling. Call it "an attempt at a social class" or whatever you like, but how you write does make an impression on people, and you know what they say about first impressions. If I didn't already know about Prince, I would have been very disinclined to read his entire commentary.

If you don't take exception to such writing styles, well, good for you--but be aware that many, many people do, and no amount of telling them "don't judge a book by its cover" will change that.

Prince Commentary Has Some Good Points

[Sturm]

I'm sure that most of the idiots posting here about Prince's lack of grammatical skills didn't read his entire commentary because there is actually a really good point he makes:

"If people do not feel enough guilt 2 prevent them from making digital copies of the latest episode of a popular TV show or hit pop song, it is precisely because the industry giants have succeeded in making these works purely commercial products, with little or no consideration 4 their actual artistic value. It is precisely because these companies have been consistently promoting commercial products at the xpense of artistic works. "

I think (while not elegant in form) this may be one of the most insightful remarks I've heard in a long time about the dangers of artistic commercialization. Teenagers aren't being tought the intrensic value of creativity. They are only being taught that the music they want to listen to and the movies they want to watch cost much more than they are willing or able to pay. Why wouldn't they copy them off P2P networks? Large media companies have turned music and movies into high profit commodities. People no longer feel that they are supporting the artists or actors... They are just filling the pockets of overpaid CEOs who are just going to turn around, steal their retirement and then lay them off!
For those truly interested in this travesty, please read the entire article with an open mind. Prince may not be an elegant writer, but his comments appear to be similar to many Slashdot readers ideas on this subject.

Re:Prince Commentary Has Some Good Points

[SandSpider]

A few points:

1. Grammar matters. It doesn't matter how clearly you are thinking, if you don't even try to put effort into pretending like you aren't a pre-teen kid on an SMS pager, then people aren't going to read what you have to say. Oh, sure, some will, just because they think it's counter-cutural and cool. After all, it's Prince!
2. Which leads me to my next point: if all we had to do was tell future generations the proper way to think, parenting (and ruling, for that matter) would be a breeze. The problem is, people, especially young people, rebel. They don't want to follow the views of the previous generation. Sometimes it's because the previous generation was messed up, but mostly it's because they want to make their own way in the world. Oh, not everyone, but enough to make a difference.
3. You don't have to teach people the intrinsic value of creativity. I'm not saying you shouldn't, but creativity isn't going to go away just because they weren't taught. Creating something is hard. The easiest way to find that out is not for people to tell you, because what do they know? People are stupid. Of course they can't create. No, you learn because you try to make something, and what you make, in a word, sucks. So you try again. And again. And you keep it up until you get it right or you get sick of trying. Either way, you learn what it takes to make something.
4. People have self-interest. They're going to realize that the laws and traditions that were there in the first place were their to protect creations like the ones that they make, or that they can't make. So, many times, they will be in support of those laws and traditions.

Of course, things go in waves. There'll be a weakening of some social conventions, and later they'll come back, because the forces that created them in the first place still exist. I'm sure for a while we'll be pirating songs and pillaging corporations and raping artists, but, for a while, it'll settle down again. Unless there's some serious social upheaval, of course, but then you just have to adjust your frame of reference from years and decades to centuries or so.

=Brian