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Survey Says To UK — Repeal Laws of Thermodynamics
mostxlnt writes "As we noted, the new Tory UK government has launched a website asking its subjects which laws they'd most like repealed. There are proposals up for repeal of the Laws of Thermodynamics: Second, Third, and all (discussion thread on this one closed by a moderator). One comment on the Third [now apparently deleted] elucidated: 'Without the Third Law of Thermodynamics, it would be possible to build machines that would last forever and provide an endless source of cheap energy. thus solving both potential crises in energy supply as well as solving the greenhouse gas problem in one step... simples... eh?'"
idiots pour through.
Did I miss the memo? Is it April 1st again?
What about the first law?
No other way.
Government actually uses the internet for something potentially beneficial, and people troll it. I'm surprised there isn't anything related to lazers, mudkips, or Pedobear on there.
I can't think of anything better for the "subjects" of the UK to aim their efforts toward. The world needs a new court jester.
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
I think it's happening because of this article on a British clone of The Onion, called NewsBiscuit... http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2010/07/05/nick-clegg-to-repeal-second-law-of-thermodynamics/
After the years of authoritarianism, I'm sure this helpful stunt will do really well to encourage future attempts at openness in the UK government.
If the citizens have a chance to repeal their laws and this is what they come up with, they must be perfect... right?
If they ever gave me a chance to do that in the US I sure wouldn't waste it on crap like that. But since it's idiot day apparently, Law of Gravity gets my vote.
I remember a news article that circulated around the communications company where I worked, on some April 1st, saying that Shannon's Law had been repealed, and the company was ready to release a new product offering high speed Internet access over HF on a 2.8 kHz channel. So, I'd vote for Shannon's Law to be repealed.
....by repealing Murphy's Law.
Here was I thinking we had a coalition of Tory and Libs.
We need simple easy to remember mathmatical and physical constants. Alabama failed to pass this modification to the universe. Washington could do much better.
When I was young, I had to rub sticks together to compute.
I actually thought about this once, not that I have any illusions about being able to do it; it was just a Gedankenexperiment. My conclusion was that if the Second Law was eliminated, the odds are good that somewhere in the universe some process would enter a feedback loop, producing ever more energy at an ever accelerating rate, and the first we'd know about it would be when the shock wave washed over us at a substantial fraction of the speed of light.
The universe as it stands may be a raw deal, but most imaginable tweaks to the laws of physics make it even worse.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
Well what the hell did you expect? The site is little more than theater
It is because people like you are making it one.
What if it's real? Why try to kill something that might actually help before it has a chance to show if it's theater or not?
Why is it so hard to believe that a group being voted in on a wave of people finding the government unreasonable, might in fact want to git rid of some of the more egregious laws that have sprung up? It seems pretty obvious if you get rid of very unpopular laws you (and your group) are going to win more elections. So the thought that it's theater did not occur to me, if for no other reason than politician self-interest - and do you really want to bet against THAT?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
And thus, clearly demonstrating, the general mindset and intellectual fortitude of those who wildly brandish the new Green technologies.
It doesn't matter if carbon offset credits are a Ponzi scheme, that alternative fuels and their vehicles are more ecologically destructive than similarly purposed traditional ICE vehicles, that there are no large-scale deployment ready technologies to augment the power grid. As long as we're passing laws which have a Green statement or impose some draconian restrictions on the status quo, we're going in the right direction!
Or, in this case, passing laws repealing the laws of physics. Awesome, just awesome.
At this rate, I have little hope for the West surviving another generation. Either we'll move towards a totalitarian regime with the scientists and politicians dictating to the rest of us, or we'll just completely devolve into civil war (shortly before the anarchy, but possibly not before being overrun from the outside).
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
This belongs in the idle section, and the first respectable one I've seen at that, unlike most of the crap samzenpus dredges up.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
When you are caught break a regular law (speeding, larceny, etc.), you can expect to be punished with a fine or worse.
If you manage to break any of the Laws of Thermodynamics, you can expect to be lauded, copied, co-author a stream of high-impact papers, get offered some cushy sinecures, and eventually receive a Nobel prize.
The far likelier outcome, of course, is to be given an Ignobel prize, for a fruitless and ill-conceived waste of effort. I suspect the UK government can look forward to at least an honorable mention at the next Ig award ceremonies.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
It's not a Tory government, it's a coalition government.
First you make a sensationalist "No taking pictures of oil booms" and now this? We (generally) go to /. because we hate the rest of the news world. Please go start a blog or something where nobody has to read your crap.
http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/restoring-civil-liberties/repeal-the-british-north-america-act-1867
It's a joke, amazed that you guys think these submissions are from idiots that believe this is possible. It's a British site, we enjoy taking the piss out of government crap.
Then chaos will result.
Gotcha. It's actually an obligatory Simpsons.
I'm sure I violated something there.
...rule 34?
is it a law?
Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
ACTA preemptively
Encryption Disclosure (RIPA part 3, yes the law that will jail you for literally just forgetting a key for a test truecrypt install with no data)
Instead of dicking about.
I mean really, it's not even tagged "Funny". Probably because people trolling what appears to be a legitimate attempt by an oppressive government to actually be, you know, less oppressive, really isn't funny to begin with.
Same goes for the previous "story", whose title is not just grossly misleading, but plain wrong. Curiously, these two stories have the same editor. And yes, I'm willing to risk my karma to point this out.
This post expresses my opinion, not that of my employer. And yes, IAAL.
Regardless of whether the laws of thermodynamics are repealed in the UK, here in Glasgow they will always be respected. See below for an example of how schools in Glasgow teach the subject.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaeLh-h94P0
... politicians had it wrong, reduce law to increase order.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
The LDs supported Labour in the Scottish parliament and abandonded most of their principles to do so.
THey didn't support the SNP because the SNP want a referendum on Independence, despite havign this principle of referenda and indeed havign a history of Home Rule
IT is what they do
Afraid you'll have to talk to the Pope for that since it isn't the UK Government who passed the laws of thermodynamics. God did. So I suggest you talk to the Pope and ask him.
Just in case that isn't God's representative, you should ask the same of all the heads of all known religions.
Mod parent up! Spot on. We – humanity, Earth, the Solar System, the Milky Way – are a wave of energy from the Big Bang. The laws of thermodynamics were created at that same moment, as was time itself, and seem to have been working quite well since.
According to the laws of thermodynamics what is the force that lifts the skateboard into ollie turn? Standing on top of a skateboard and magically it gets lifted from the ground? You been living in a dream world Neo...
We discussed chemtrails before here. Looks like somebody was ANNOYED: http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/restoring-civil-liberties/remove-the-chem-trails-over-our-skies
People sure are idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (is what he/she would say)
Have you heard about SoylentNews?
Ah, yes, but in Soviet Russia, humans rise against the ROBOTS!
The most worrying thing is that I wouldn't put it past the government to pass a law repealing the third law of thermodynamics!
I was quite impressed with the Monster Raving Loony party's campaign this year. Introduction of a 99p coin to save on change was genius, but this definitely tops it.
Is it that hard yanks to get your head around the idea of a coalition government? For two parties to work together?
The new UK government is a coalition between the Tories and Liberals. And they should rule the country for the next 5 months... This has been extended from the original estimate of 5 weeks.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
In southern states of the USA, they are goiung to repeal the laws of geology, biology, and physics and make the universe only 6014 years old.
Though this page should be put in the Entertainment section, there is nothing wrong with it. Please quit trolling. It is a funny report and nothing more. Slashdot is by nature a break site, and some people don't want to read news all the time while taking their breaks. Chill back and lighten up.
In this universe, my dear people, we obey the laws of Thermodynamics
The second law of Thermodynamics is that YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT THERMODYNAMICS!
That is the political reality.
The alternatives for the Lib Dems:
- Sharing power with Labour and a rag tag of small parties (Green, Nationalists) in an unestable coalition with the most descredited big party, ensuring that many of the policies that are bankrupting the country would have remained in place.
- Do nothing ensuring status quo and absolutely no chance to get voting system changed, guaranteeing a government that could get nothing done during one of the worst economic crisis in living memory.
- Enter in a stable coalition with the major party and push through as much as possible of your own agenda, keeping in mind that *you are the junior partner* in the coalition. Highest possibility to provide some stability to the country.
What would have you done genius?
I'm an American, and even I can see that this is British humor, not serious requests. Your average idiot (as described in many of the responses) has never HEARD of the laws of Thermodynamics, and would never even think to ask for their repeal.
Laws of Thermodynamics:
1. You can't win. ;-)
2. You can't break even.
3. You can't get out of the game.
This is why we can't have nice things.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Looking at the OP, I wonder do the UK folk consider themselves "subjects" or "citizens"? I never really paid attention until I read http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/07/03/1935215/Spectral-Imaging-Reveals-Jefferson-Nixed-Subjects-for-Citizens