When I was in middle school and high school, they did the same thing with Macintosh software. Apple taught this trick to Microsoft. What good has it done Apple? Just enough to keep them in business, I'd wager, as I've never actually worked with Macintosh outside of a scholastic environment.
The computing world is changing at a steady clip. Kids won't use the same stuff in ten years as they use now.
Anybody who thinks we haven't changed the planet is probably a rampaging idiot. Screwed it up? I don't know. It depends on your priorities. "The sky is falling!" exclamations of a few make me very skeptical about the real impact of global warming. Why? Because we are exiting a miniature ice age, and people who panic and run around screaming rarely isolate problems correctly or produce intelligent solutions to them. The planet shows strong geological evidence of periods both significantly hotter and colder than the current norm. The planet was not "screwed up", it was simply more ideal for different lifeforms.
Climate shifts are happening. Climate shifts have been happening for millenia. The question is whether this one is something we have formed a disproportionate percentage of and whether it is a bad thing for us. Obviously, it is not a terrible thing for the planet, though it might push some species into extinction. We've already done a pretty good job of rendering species extinct. Habitat loss is killing them at a much, much faster rate than climate shifts.
Re:What happened to Robert Jordan?
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A Game of Thrones
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Robert Jordan's editor is his wife. Explain anything?
Martin is apparently legitimately edited by people without complicated emotional investments in his work.
Martin originally intended an event halfway through the third book to be in the first book when he thought he would write a trilogy. This means that he obviously knew it would be more than three books when he published the first book.
Early on, he said six books: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Dance of Dragons, The Winds of Winter, and A Time for Wolves. (Though he was never happy with the sixth title.)
He has now scratched the five year gap that was supposed to come between A Storm of Swords and A Dance of Dragons, because he realized he couldn't effectively tell about certain events in flashbacks. Thus, the next book is A Feast for Crows, and covers the five year gap. He has said he intends to write little from the point of views of the children in the story because the five year gap was partly because writing so many children's perspectives on a war was driving him nuts. He has admitted, grudgingly, that scrapping the gap may force him to take seven books instead of six.
Again, for details, visit westeros.org. The Citadel contains most of anything you might want to know. (Though also many spoilers for the story.
Yes, It's George R. R. Martin. He signs everything George R. R. Martin, so I'm not sure why the reviewer left his first name out, but whatever.
IIRC, GRRM showed some interest in working on Wild Cards again in some recent interview, but didn't seem to think it likely he'd get to it soon.
To do a quick search, I'd recommend visiting www.westeros.org. Their Citadel section includes a vast amount of information including myriad communications with Martin, via interviews, signings, etc.
Hmm... Mules have been around for three thousand or so years. People were breeding jacks with mares well before the rise of the Roman Republic. The reason is that a horse will literally work itself to death if you keep encouraging it. A donkey frequently won't do any work at all if it can get away with it. A mule will work until it reaches its limits and then stops. If it will harm the mule to keep working, it typically won't go one step farther. Mules also have most of the strength of horses and much of the sure-footedness of donkeys.
The term mule is used by biologists to indicate any typically sterile cross-species offspring. This is because scientists named this sort of breeding after the classic horse / donkey pair. IIRC, donkeys or ponys can also have mule offspring with zebras.
A rare few mules were able to breed with donkeys, horses or other mules, but it is in the less than 1% category, IIRC.
If lions and tigers were discovered today, they would possibly be considered one species, as Ligers and Tigons are fully interbreedable with either parent species.
For another animal "species" people seem vaguely aware of, oxen are castrated bulls. The difference is that an ox is castrated at a certain point in cattle puberty that casuses it to become immensely muscular due to an excess of testosterone and similar hormones.
I decided to look up the actual survey because I found myself rethinking holding too firm of an opinion with out the actual questions. So, here is the page that links to the actual questionaire. They have it in PDF and word formats. Here are some of the questions referenced:
Question: H16 Some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported are really space vehicles from other civilizations. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree? 1>strongly agree 2>agree 3>disagree 4>strongly disagree
Question: H17 Some people possess psychic powers or ESP. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree? 1>strongly agree 2>agree 3>disagree 4>strongly disagree
Question: H18 There are some good ways of treating sickness that medical science does not recognize. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree? 1>strongly agree 2>agree 3>disagree 4>strongly disagree
There is no "don't know" or "no opinion" option for any of these questions, so some people err on the side of probably by agreeing with something that they might not particularly agree with.
Further down:
Now, a new subject. Do you ever read a horoscope or your personal astrology report? 1> yes 2> no
Question: P2 Ask if P1 = 1 Do you read an astrology report every day, quite often, just occasionally, or almost never? 1> every day 2> quite often 3> just occasionally 4> almost never
Question: P3 Would you say that astrology is very scientific, sort of scientific, or not at all scientific? 1> very scientific 2> sort of scientific 3> not at all scientific
Question: P4 Have you heard of magnetic therapy, or the use of magnets to cure pain and illness? 1>yes 2>no
Question: P5 Ask if P4 = 1 Based on what you?ve read or heard, would you say that magnetic therapy is very scientific, sort of scientific, or not at all scientific? 1>very scientific 2>sort of scientific 3>not at all scientific
Willowbark tea is an alternative medicine. If you take the active ingredient out, you have salicylic acid. If you alter that into acetyl salicylic acid and put it in a pill, and people call it asprin. The alteration helps people who have bad reactions to asprin....
Curiously, it has been found that aboriginal tribes of the Amazon and New Guinea who don't believe in Western medicine derive far lower benefits from all of our pills than the statistical average. The best explanation seems to be that since they didn't believe it would work, it tended to do so less frequently. This sort of information is why more people might believe in one alternative medicine or another as they become better educated.
Now, I am of the opinion that only a complete idiot would derive too much from that National Science Foundation survey anyway, because I find the wording they appear to have used on their questions quite prone to mean different things to different people. (I have not seen an original copy, though, only a thorough paraphrase.)
Some people interpret believe to mean "I am certain of this", while others interpret it as "This seems likely", and still others as "This is possible". Anyone following the scientific method who interprets belief as something being possible would almost have to say that they believe in the whole list, as there is not proof to the contrary. I "believe" in things that seem likely, so I certainly believe in a subset of alternative medicines.
Re:I wish we studied using open-source methods
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Open-Source Biology
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· Score: 2
Most medical schools do use cadavers for studies of human anatomy. An open cadaver would allow the proto-doctors to study placement and composition of human tissues and organs in as close to a real, live patient as one can get without endangering a life.
If you meant that you wanted your high school introductory biology class to cut open live women so the you could look at a fallopian tube, you are all kinds of sick.
If you wanted to stare in non-comprehension at a naked female in class, you would have been better off with a figure studies class. Those are art classes, FYI.
I was rather hoping that George R. R. Martin's _A Storm of Swords_ would win. However, I haven't read _A Quantum Rose_, so I can't compare it yet.
Anybody here read both of these books? If so, could you tell me what aspects of _A Quantum Rose_ really distinguished themselves and how it would compare to Martin's character-driven "realism"?
Yeah. I just love how all of these people seem to think that clones will have no minds of their own and will be property. It's like saying, "He's my twin! I can lock him in the basement and beat him daily with chains if I want to! What business is it of yours anyway? People are allowed to destroy their own property." You can substitute "twin" with clone, wife, or pet and there will be people who have said/will say it.
I believe that a bunch of barely post-Renaissance Europeans had the same ideas about people with different colored skin. That turned out well, didn't it?
Sparky,
Just because you cannot comprehend something does not necessarily make it stupid. Generally, halfway decent moderators, like I usually think myself to be, mod things up when they are useful, but don't punish the people when that particular thing ceases to be useful. I was going to say, "Stick around and you'll learn," but given how low your user # is, I'm guessing that the actual scenario just did not occur to you.
Insert hyperbole version of murder spree from looking at gory pictures here.
When did anybody ever claim that our legal reaction to child pornography was not a special case? Murder is also not what most people would consider a crime that you can repeatedly commit without some outside party noticing. There are cases, but relatively few compared to child molestation. I also consider your necrophilia/sociopathic tendencies after commiting murder pretty secondary to the murder itself.
The main fear of child abuse/molestation, including child porn, is the psychological damage to the child that may not be reparable. Our society views any crime perpetrated towards children worse than a similar crime perpetrated towards an adult. I didn't invent the norms, but I don't disagree with them here.
The reason we (America) discourage child porn images in general seems to be to keep sex with children out of what we consider in any way normal behavior. Much like sex with your parents or siblings, our cultural value set disagrees with it strongly. All three of these cases have good scientific backing as to why they are not healthy in terms of reproduction. You aren't complaining about those laws are you? The laws about child porn discourage more vigourously, because people are much more disturbed by it.
You could easily prove you _did_ use real people. I don't think you could ever prove you didn't.
As the other respondant reminded me, the key factor in this is the words "beyond a reasonable doubt". If you claim that you invented these disturbingly accurate pictures from your own mind and can show the process you went through to get the result, you would be acquitted. Especially if you can recreate a similarly disturbing image from scratch.
Of course, this simply means that Kiddie pornographers will just have to study CG an buy a few programs to deflect legal retribution.
The other idea I had is that I'm sure part of the appeal of these pictures is that they _are_ real. So I don't think the real thing will ever die out. Of course, IANAP, so I can't say for sure.
You might well be right. IANAP either, but the one roommate in college I had who was into disturbing porn didn't seem to mind the source that I noticed. He was at least polite enough to minimize his screen when I walked by and I never exactly tracked what he was doing, so I may not have noticed that much.
Voila! Despite the fact being unable to unequivocably prove a negative is next to impossible, you have now successfully translated the burden of the prosecution to prove children were involved to the defense to prove children weren't.
In other words: assumed guilty until you can prove you're innocent.
If it were actually that easy, OJ would be in jail. Prosecution must convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt. If you cast sufficient doubt on whether or not you are a psychopathic pedophile, you will be aquitted.
It's a scary idea, because the obvious extrapolation on this idea is virtual reality, but from a legal point of view, no children are being harmed in its production, so I don't see how it could be illegal.
While I completely disagree with the act of doing so, I have to grudgingly agree that a person does have the right to create CG child-porn, as much as they would have the right to paint it. I also agree with you on the extrapolation to VR.
The next question becomes: Where is the onus of proof? If a piece of porn is obviously computer generated, it is one thing. However, if it is virtually indistiguishable from the real thing, does law enforcement have to prove whether or not real children were involved, or does the person owning the porn. Our current system would say law enforcement, which translates to no way that they can crack down on child pornographers without catching them "in the act".
Perhaps, Congress should pass a new law that requires any producers of virtual child pornography preserve proof that the image/movie/VR in question was created without models. If they have CG wireframes, etc. They might be able to show the origins. This is a heavy onus on producers of this crap, that still allows law enforcement to nail real pornographers without ending free speech. Unfortunately, this solution might be considered undue limiting of free speech itself and the Kiddie porn guys might just find a way around it.
All around, this is a pretty sick group that we are talking about, and there is no easy answer for someone who values free speech and loathes things like child porn.
Actually, unless michael updated the link later, the additional link wasn't necessary.
This link: first decision which michael linked on the word "available" contains almost the exact same text. It clearly states that any researcher with a valid reason to circumvent this law simply has to request permission. It is at the end of section I of the Memorandum Opinion:
"Although the Act restricts the ability of state employees to research, speak on, or receive information concerning sexually explicit topics via state computers, it does not completely prohibit such activities. Instead, the Act permits an employee to access sexually explicit material only after receiving written approval from the appropriate agency head who may grant such approval only if the proposed use is "required" in connection with a "bona fide" research project or undertaking. See Va. Code 2.1-805."
It amazes me how many dollars a company will spend on advertising, and how LITTLE damn money they spend on production, if sony had spent the billion or so dollars it spend on pushing the PS2 on actually making the damn thing
Well. I looked into this and thought I would share the results for those who have not:
Sony had everything set more or less for their U.S. launch but decided that they would outsource production of the main graphics CPU to a fab plant that could do 18 micron chips instead of their plant which did 21 micron chips. The other company was also supposed to make chips at three to four times the rate of Sony's plant. About a month or two before launch, Sony found out that the chips the other company was making weren't working and that they had to produce over a million chips out of their arse. Sony cranked it's 21 micron plant into overtime, and tried to salvage as many 18 micron chips as possible (not bloody many).
End result: Sony's graphics chip plant has been in hyper overtime ever since, and Sony is air-shipping hundreds of thousands of units they had planned to ship via ocean as they can finish the units. I'm given to understand that they are rather upset with the company they had originally outsourced these chips to and are still trying to bring them online, simply because it would increse the rate at which they can sell completed PS2s that are missing the critical main graphics chip.
Think what you will of Sony (I like many of their products but not their overall mindset), but I seriously doubt that they destroyed their profit margins like this on purpose.
Wouldn't Instant Runoff Voting work better? I think so.
If you read the article, you should know that it is pretty much included as one of the two alternate systems of voting discussed. Instant runoff voting is basicly the same as the Borda count, except that the Borda count would notice that people who don't vote for candidate X consistantly put him/her dead last.
John McCain lost due to some dirty tricks specifically funded by "soft money". Some right-wing christian looneys (Falwell and freinds) got together in a key state (Michigan), and spammed phone calls out to the electorate saying that John McCain cut funding for breast cancer research - which was true, but it was simply that he voted against a bill that had a ton of unacceptable riders, He's not "pro breast cancer", as the phone calls said.
First sentence: Can be deemed correct, partially. It certainly wasn't everything though.
Second sentence: "Some "; insert "Bush Campaign people "; delete "right-wing christian looneys (Fallwell and friends)"; continue with "got together in a key state "; replace "(Michigan)" with "(New York)"; replace "and spammed phone calls out" with "and sent advertisements throughout the media"; continue with "to the electorate saying that John McCain"; insert "planned to "; continue with "cut funding for breast cancer research"; insert "as Garden-variety Pork Barrel spending"; continue with " - which was true,but it was simply that he voted against a bill that had a ton of unacceptable riders, He's not "pro breast cancer", as the phone calls said."
Grammar aside, this is now correct: "Some Bush Campaign people got together in a key state (New York) and sent advertisements throughout the media to the electorate saying that John McCain planned to cut funding for breast cancer research as Garden-variety Pork Barrel spending - which was true, but it was simply that he voted against a bill that had a ton of unacceptable riders, He's not "pro breast cancer", as the phone calls said."
Now as for the soft money. That was a pair of brother oil tycoons from Texas (the Wily brothers) who sent out an ad that claimed that McCain was anti-environment in an ad sponsered by "Republicans for Clean Air", a group they had made specifically for the ad.
I agree with you on Campaign Finance Reform, but it makes a better statement for the cause if you get the details right.
Bush: "I *sniff* never did cocaine (since sometime in the seventies). Why do y'all keep bringing it up? I won't... I tell ya... Discuss it. Next questrin."
Gore: "Are you for or against drugs? I mean I smoked a little, but nothing major. In fact, my dog had better drugs."
2) Minority Religions...
Your answer:
Chorus: "I'd ask myself: WWJD? What would Jesus do?"
Bush: "Obviously. He'd put 'em ta death."
Gore: "Obviously. He'd marginalize them and treat them as evil if they didn't have enough votes to matter."
3) Why give a tax cut?
Your answer:
Bush: "It's not the Gubmint's money, it's your money. Besides, people give you more money if you run something into the ground. I learned that from running my own business."
Gore: "I can do both!!! As a matter of fact, I invented money AND surpluses."
4) electoral reform
Your answer:
Bush: "I'm a Reformer with Results. Just look at Texas. What was the question?"
Gore: "I don't support third parties. Especially green ones with no experience."
5)How Do You Feel About Intellectual Property?
Your answer:
Bush: "If someone steals from you it's wrong. I may not have invented the internet, but I know that it is what is pushing our economy forward. Not the Gubmint. This is why we should implement filters in schools and support American businesses."
Gore: "I didn't really invent the internet, but if it weren't for me, it wouldn't be like it is today. I know that it is what is pushing our economy forward. The Government must control it. This is why we should support American businesses."
6) Encryption....
Your answer:
Bush: "What? Of course people should have privacy. I may not have invented the internet, but I know that it is what is pushing our economy forward. Not the Gubmint. This is why we should implement filters in schools and support American businesses. To protect privacy."
Gore: "I took a resonsible leadership role in bringing encryption to the people of the United States. I think we should let the FBI decide the extent of it. I think we all know that they know best."
7) Rising Political Protests
Your answer:
Bush: "No."
Gore: "I believe that their concerns are exaggerated or even misplaced. While I will fight for you against the brutality and tyranny of big business, I think that it is best to let the market decide internationally."
8) Asteroid Defenses
Your answer:
Bush: "My missle shield should cover that."
Gore: "I don't know. It sounds like a risky scheme."
9) The Future of the Country, and of Humanity
Your answer:
Chorus: "Obviously. Our mission is to follow in my father's footsteps and do exactly what Daddy would do."
but then again do you REALLY want to try to use a terminal window with nothing more than a game controller to enter text with? imagine a onscreen keyboard and having to pick each character out one at a time.... yuck. Command line does seem to indicate a keyboard needed.
Just FYI: There is a keyboard that is among the accessories due out later this year/early next. It also has USB ports.
Slashdot Mirror
When I was in middle school and high school, they did the same thing with Macintosh software. Apple taught this trick to Microsoft. What good has it done Apple? Just enough to keep them in business, I'd wager, as I've never actually worked with Macintosh outside of a scholastic environment.
The computing world is changing at a steady clip. Kids won't use the same stuff in ten years as they use now.
"then we've screwed up the planet"
Changed is not equal to screwed up.
Anybody who thinks we haven't changed the planet is probably a rampaging idiot. Screwed it up? I don't know. It depends on your priorities. "The sky is falling!" exclamations of a few make me very skeptical about the real impact of global warming. Why? Because we are exiting a miniature ice age, and people who panic and run around screaming rarely isolate problems correctly or produce intelligent solutions to them. The planet shows strong geological evidence of periods both significantly hotter and colder than the current norm. The planet was not "screwed up", it was simply more ideal for different lifeforms.
Climate shifts are happening. Climate shifts have been happening for millenia. The question is whether this one is something we have formed a disproportionate percentage of and whether it is a bad thing for us. Obviously, it is not a terrible thing for the planet, though it might push some species into extinction. We've already done a pretty good job of rendering species extinct. Habitat loss is killing them at a much, much faster rate than climate shifts.
Robert Jordan's editor is his wife. Explain anything?
Martin is apparently legitimately edited by people without complicated emotional investments in his work.
I'd advise checking that date again.
It will not be released in August. George hasn't turned in a manuscript for final editing yet. He'll update his website when the manuscript is done.
Just to clarify...
Martin originally intended an event halfway through the third book to be in the first book when he thought he would write a trilogy. This means that he obviously knew it would be more than three books when he published the first book.
Early on, he said six books:
A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Dance of Dragons, The Winds of Winter, and A Time for Wolves. (Though he was never happy with the sixth title.)
He has now scratched the five year gap that was supposed to come between A Storm of Swords and A Dance of Dragons, because he realized he couldn't effectively tell about certain events in flashbacks. Thus, the next book is A Feast for Crows, and covers the five year gap. He has said he intends to write little from the point of views of the children in the story because the five year gap was partly because writing so many children's perspectives on a war was driving him nuts. He has admitted, grudgingly, that scrapping the gap may force him to take seven books instead of six.
Again, for details, visit westeros.org. The Citadel contains most of anything you might want to know. (Though also many spoilers for the story.
It's George R. R. Martin. He signs everything George R. R. Martin, so I'm not sure why the reviewer left his first name out, but whatever.
IIRC, GRRM showed some interest in working on Wild Cards again in some recent interview, but didn't seem to think it likely he'd get to it soon.
To do a quick search, I'd recommend visiting www.westeros.org. Their Citadel section includes a vast amount of information including myriad communications with Martin, via interviews, signings, etc.
Interesting... I didn't realize that the second generation of offspring came out mules...
That does screw up my view of how cross-species reproduction works. It really makes me wonder why that first generation is so consistantly fertile.
Hmm... Mules have been around for three thousand or so years. People were breeding jacks with mares well before the rise of the Roman Republic. The reason is that a horse will literally work itself to death if you keep encouraging it. A donkey frequently won't do any work at all if it can get away with it. A mule will work until it reaches its limits and then stops. If it will harm the mule to keep working, it typically won't go one step farther. Mules also have most of the strength of horses and much of the sure-footedness of donkeys.
The term mule is used by biologists to indicate any typically sterile cross-species offspring. This is because scientists named this sort of breeding after the classic horse / donkey pair. IIRC, donkeys or ponys can also have mule offspring with zebras.
A rare few mules were able to breed with donkeys, horses or other mules, but it is in the less than 1% category, IIRC.
If lions and tigers were discovered today, they would possibly be considered one species, as Ligers and Tigons are fully interbreedable with either parent species.
For another animal "species" people seem vaguely aware of, oxen are castrated bulls. The difference is that an ox is castrated at a certain point in cattle puberty that casuses it to become immensely muscular due to an excess of testosterone and similar hormones.
I decided to look up the actual survey because I found myself rethinking holding too firm of an opinion with out the actual questions. So, here is the page that links to the actual questionaire. They have it in PDF and word formats. Here are some of the questions referenced:
Question: H16
Some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported are really space vehicles from other civilizations.
Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree?
1>strongly agree
2>agree
3>disagree
4>strongly disagree
Question: H17
Some people possess psychic powers or ESP.
Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree?
1>strongly agree
2>agree
3>disagree
4>strongly disagree
Question: H18
There are some good ways of treating sickness that medical science does not recognize.
Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree?
1>strongly agree
2>agree
3>disagree
4>strongly disagree
There is no "don't know" or "no opinion" option for any of these questions, so some people err on the side of probably by agreeing with something that they might not particularly agree with.
Further down:
Now, a new subject. Do you ever read a horoscope or your personal astrology report?
1> yes
2> no
Question: P2 Ask if P1 = 1
Do you read an astrology report every day, quite often, just occasionally, or almost never?
1> every day
2> quite often
3> just occasionally
4> almost never
Question: P3
Would you say that astrology is very scientific, sort of scientific, or not at all scientific?
1> very scientific
2> sort of scientific
3> not at all scientific
Question: P4
Have you heard of magnetic therapy, or the use of magnets to cure pain and illness?
1>yes
2>no
Question: P5 Ask if P4 = 1
Based on what you?ve read or heard, would you say that magnetic therapy is very scientific, sort of scientific, or not at all scientific?
1>very scientific
2>sort of scientific
3>not at all scientific
Willowbark tea is an alternative medicine. If you take the active ingredient out, you have salicylic acid. If you alter that into acetyl salicylic acid and put it in a pill, and people call it asprin. The alteration helps people who have bad reactions to asprin. ...
Curiously, it has been found that aboriginal tribes of the Amazon and New Guinea who don't believe in Western medicine derive far lower benefits from all of our pills than the statistical average. The best explanation seems to be that since they didn't believe it would work, it tended to do so less frequently. This sort of information is why more people might believe in one alternative medicine or another as they become better educated.
Now, I am of the opinion that only a complete idiot would derive too much from that National Science Foundation survey anyway, because I find the wording they appear to have used on their questions quite prone to mean different things to different people. (I have not seen an original copy, though, only a thorough paraphrase.)
Some people interpret believe to mean "I am certain of this", while others interpret it as "This seems likely", and still others as "This is possible". Anyone following the scientific method who interprets belief as something being possible would almost have to say that they believe in the whole list, as there is not proof to the contrary. I "believe" in things that seem likely, so I certainly believe in a subset of alternative medicines.
Most medical schools do use cadavers for studies of human anatomy. An open cadaver would allow the proto-doctors to study placement and composition of human tissues and organs in as close to a real, live patient as one can get without endangering a life.
If you meant that you wanted your high school introductory biology class to cut open live women so the you could look at a fallopian tube, you are all kinds of sick.
If you wanted to stare in non-comprehension at a naked female in class, you would have been better off with a figure studies class. Those are art classes, FYI.
I was rather hoping that George R. R. Martin's _A Storm of Swords_ would win. However, I haven't read _A Quantum Rose_, so I can't compare it yet.
Anybody here read both of these books? If so, could you tell me what aspects of _A Quantum Rose_ really distinguished themselves and how it would compare to Martin's character-driven "realism"?
Thanks.
I believe that a bunch of barely post-Renaissance Europeans had the same ideas about people with different colored skin. That turned out well, didn't it?
B. Elgin
Sparky,
Just because you cannot comprehend something does not necessarily make it stupid. Generally, halfway decent moderators, like I usually think myself to be, mod things up when they are useful, but don't punish the people when that particular thing ceases to be useful. I was going to say, "Stick around and you'll learn," but given how low your user # is, I'm guessing that the actual scenario just did not occur to you.
B. Elgin
Here.
B. Elgin
When did anybody ever claim that our legal reaction to child pornography was not a special case? Murder is also not what most people would consider a crime that you can repeatedly commit without some outside party noticing. There are cases, but relatively few compared to child molestation. I also consider your necrophilia/sociopathic tendencies after commiting murder pretty secondary to the murder itself.
The main fear of child abuse/molestation, including child porn, is the psychological damage to the child that may not be reparable. Our society views any crime perpetrated towards children worse than a similar crime perpetrated towards an adult. I didn't invent the norms, but I don't disagree with them here.
The reason we (America) discourage child porn images in general seems to be to keep sex with children out of what we consider in any way normal behavior. Much like sex with your parents or siblings, our cultural value set disagrees with it strongly. All three of these cases have good scientific backing as to why they are not healthy in terms of reproduction. You aren't complaining about those laws are you? The laws about child porn discourage more vigourously, because people are much more disturbed by it.
B. Elgin
As the other respondant reminded me, the key factor in this is the words "beyond a reasonable doubt". If you claim that you invented these disturbingly accurate pictures from your own mind and can show the process you went through to get the result, you would be acquitted. Especially if you can recreate a similarly disturbing image from scratch.
Of course, this simply means that Kiddie pornographers will just have to study CG an buy a few programs to deflect legal retribution.
The other idea I had is that I'm sure part of the appeal of these pictures is that they _are_ real. So I don't think the real thing will ever die out. Of course, IANAP, so I can't say for sure.
You might well be right. IANAP either, but the one roommate in college I had who was into disturbing porn didn't seem to mind the source that I noticed. He was at least polite enough to minimize his screen when I walked by and I never exactly tracked what he was doing, so I may not have noticed that much.
B. Elgin
In other words: assumed guilty until you can prove you're innocent.
If it were actually that easy, OJ would be in jail. Prosecution must convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt. If you cast sufficient doubt on whether or not you are a psychopathic pedophile, you will be aquitted.
B. Elgin
While I completely disagree with the act of doing so, I have to grudgingly agree that a person does have the right to create CG child-porn, as much as they would have the right to paint it. I also agree with you on the extrapolation to VR.
The next question becomes: Where is the onus of proof? If a piece of porn is obviously computer generated, it is one thing. However, if it is virtually indistiguishable from the real thing, does law enforcement have to prove whether or not real children were involved, or does the person owning the porn. Our current system would say law enforcement, which translates to no way that they can crack down on child pornographers without catching them "in the act".
Perhaps, Congress should pass a new law that requires any producers of virtual child pornography preserve proof that the image/movie/VR in question was created without models. If they have CG wireframes, etc. They might be able to show the origins. This is a heavy onus on producers of this crap, that still allows law enforcement to nail real pornographers without ending free speech. Unfortunately, this solution might be considered undue limiting of free speech itself and the Kiddie porn guys might just find a way around it.
All around, this is a pretty sick group that we are talking about, and there is no easy answer for someone who values free speech and loathes things like child porn.
B. Elgin
This link: first decision which michael linked on the word "available" contains almost the exact same text. It clearly states that any researcher with a valid reason to circumvent this law simply has to request permission. It is at the end of section I of the Memorandum Opinion:
"Although the Act restricts the ability of state employees to research, speak on, or receive information concerning sexually explicit topics via state computers, it does not completely prohibit such activities. Instead, the Act permits an employee to access sexually explicit material only after receiving written approval from the appropriate agency head who may grant such approval only if the proposed use is "required" in connection with a "bona fide" research project or undertaking. See Va. Code 2.1-805."
B. Elgin
Well. I looked into this and thought I would share the results for those who have not:
Sony had everything set more or less for their U.S. launch but decided that they would outsource production of the main graphics CPU to a fab plant that could do 18 micron chips instead of their plant which did 21 micron chips. The other company was also supposed to make chips at three to four times the rate of Sony's plant. About a month or two before launch, Sony found out that the chips the other company was making weren't working and that they had to produce over a million chips out of their arse. Sony cranked it's 21 micron plant into overtime, and tried to salvage as many 18 micron chips as possible (not bloody many).
End result: Sony's graphics chip plant has been in hyper overtime ever since, and Sony is air-shipping hundreds of thousands of units they had planned to ship via ocean as they can finish the units. I'm given to understand that they are rather upset with the company they had originally outsourced these chips to and are still trying to bring them online, simply because it would increse the rate at which they can sell completed PS2s that are missing the critical main graphics chip.
Think what you will of Sony (I like many of their products but not their overall mindset), but I seriously doubt that they destroyed their profit margins like this on purpose.
B. Elgin
If you read the article, you should know that it is pretty much included as one of the two alternate systems of voting discussed. Instant runoff voting is basicly the same as the Borda count, except that the Borda count would notice that people who don't vote for candidate X consistantly put him/her dead last.
B. Elgin
First sentence: Can be deemed correct, partially. It certainly wasn't everything though.
Second sentence: "Some "; insert "Bush Campaign people "; delete "right-wing christian looneys (Fallwell and friends)"; continue with "got together in a key state "; replace "(Michigan)" with "(New York)"; replace "and spammed phone calls out" with "and sent advertisements throughout the media"; continue with "to the electorate saying that John McCain"; insert "planned to "; continue with "cut funding for breast cancer research"; insert "as Garden-variety Pork Barrel spending"; continue with " - which was true,but it was simply that he voted against a bill that had a ton of unacceptable riders, He's not "pro breast cancer", as the phone calls said."
Grammar aside, this is now correct: "Some Bush Campaign people got together in a key state (New York) and sent advertisements throughout the media to the electorate saying that John McCain planned to cut funding for breast cancer research as Garden-variety Pork Barrel spending - which was true, but it was simply that he voted against a bill that had a ton of unacceptable riders, He's not "pro breast cancer", as the phone calls said."
Now as for the soft money. That was a pair of brother oil tycoons from Texas (the Wily brothers) who sent out an ad that claimed that McCain was anti-environment in an ad sponsered by "Republicans for Clean Air", a group they had made specifically for the ad.
I agree with you on Campaign Finance Reform, but it makes a better statement for the cause if you get the details right.
B. Elgin
Your answer:
Bush: "I *sniff* never did cocaine (since sometime in the seventies). Why do y'all keep bringing it up? I won't... I tell ya... Discuss it. Next questrin."
Gore: "Are you for or against drugs? I mean I smoked a little, but nothing major. In fact, my dog had better drugs."
2) Minority Religions...
Your answer:
Chorus: "I'd ask myself: WWJD? What would Jesus do?"
Bush: "Obviously. He'd put 'em ta death."
Gore: "Obviously. He'd marginalize them and treat them as evil if they didn't have enough votes to matter."
3) Why give a tax cut?
Your answer:
Bush: "It's not the Gubmint's money, it's your money. Besides, people give you more money if you run something into the ground. I learned that from running my own business."
Gore: "I can do both!!! As a matter of fact, I invented money AND surpluses."
4) electoral reform
Your answer:
Bush: "I'm a Reformer with Results. Just look at Texas. What was the question?"
Gore: "I don't support third parties. Especially green ones with no experience."
5)How Do You Feel About Intellectual Property?
Your answer:
Bush: "If someone steals from you it's wrong. I may not have invented the internet, but I know that it is what is pushing our economy forward. Not the Gubmint. This is why we should implement filters in schools and support American businesses."
Gore: "I didn't really invent the internet, but if it weren't for me, it wouldn't be like it is today. I know that it is what is pushing our economy forward. The Government must control it. This is why we should support American businesses."
6) Encryption....
Your answer:
Bush: "What? Of course people should have privacy. I may not have invented the internet, but I know that it is what is pushing our economy forward. Not the Gubmint. This is why we should implement filters in schools and support American businesses. To protect privacy."
Gore: "I took a resonsible leadership role in bringing encryption to the people of the United States. I think we should let the FBI decide the extent of it. I think we all know that they know best."
7) Rising Political Protests
Your answer:
Bush: "No."
Gore: "I believe that their concerns are exaggerated or even misplaced. While I will fight for you against the brutality and tyranny of big business, I think that it is best to let the market decide internationally."
8) Asteroid Defenses
Your answer:
Bush: "My missle shield should cover that."
Gore: "I don't know. It sounds like a risky scheme."
9) The Future of the Country, and of Humanity
Your answer:
Chorus: "Obviously. Our mission is to follow in my father's footsteps and do exactly what Daddy would do."
B. Elgin
Just FYI: There is a keyboard that is among the accessories due out later this year/early next. It also has USB ports.
B. Elgin