> 500 Million dollars (Australian) which converts to aproximently 259,550,000 American dollars
Please pay no importance to the terrible exchange rate. Australia's economy is up to crap right now, and you Yanks are making the problem worse (the presidental election will decide the value of the Australian dollar!)
Once upon a time, I could x1.5 when buying from America, and x2 when buying from the UK. Now I have to double for America and triple for UK! This is absolutely absurd!
(vicious circle: if people stop trading, then the dollar isn't going to get better...) -----------
I dont know about the "Biff" part, but if that is true, it sounds all-too-familiar to the "hidden" information in the protocol in "Serial Experiments Lain". After all, using a protocol implies consensuality.
I swear that anime rings too close to real life...
(.sig created before Lain existed, BTW) -----------
Actually, no. The corporate media have their heads so far up their ass that they'd rather lose money than admit they were wrong. The only time they will admit they are wrong is if they stand to lose popularity. -----------
NB: I am 17 year old Australian. Treat my opinons accordingly
Here is what I see is the major problem with any type of "for the children" arguement:
There is no way to determine, on a macro scale, a child's maturity.
Usually, the magical age of 18 is deemed acceptable maturity by a majority of people. And I agree with that. However, after careful consideration on the issue, there is one way to ensure that the child still has rights and that immature children are protected, and that is to let the parents decide what rights the child has.
Of course, there needs to be restrictions on this. Basic rights such as love, food, shelter, etc. cannot be denied to a child of any age. However, this system would operate in this way: 1. The child, when born, has only basic rights. 2. Parents supplement the child with rights as they deem fit. 3. Noone can deny the child a right that the parent has given a child. 4. At the magical age of 18, children become unbounded from their parents and have full rights.
Example: My parents, being of European background, decide at the age of 16, I am able to view all the porn I want. If I walk into an adult shop, with my parents, I would be able to buy whatever I wanted (After the nessacary identifications, of course)
However, this has only one problem, and unfortunately, society does not seem to like it, but that means parents actually start to have to take responsibility for their children. No more finding a scapegoat for the reason your children turned out to be a jail inmate. If you're not fit to be a parent, the answer is simple, don't have children.
However, parents have increasingly turned to the government for "assistance" in looking after their children, and sometimes I'm willing to believe that the (American) government is honestly trying to do that, but just has a lack of knowledge.
However, the Australian government has done the complete opposite of this. Ignorance can not explain what they are doing by any stretch of the imagination. It is now illegal, in Australia, to view any (softcore/mild hardcore-porn) site without a certificate, even if you are an adult. It is also now illegal, in Australia, to view any refused-classified site, even if you are an adult. Obtaining the same material offline is legal, however. Essentially all sites that deal with [h|cr]acking, BDSM-discussions, or other topics which the government prefer you not to talk about, are banned online, even if you are an adult!
Again, adults should have full rights to see or hear whatever they want. Children should have rights assigned to them by adults (this allows the child to be brought up in the same culture as the adults, not the same culture as the country). This means more parental responsibility, and is well-needed right now. There is only one thing that should be "protecting the children": Parents. -----------
Australian laws clarified
on
Dumb Laws
·
· Score: 1
Some Australian laws clarified: (IANAL)
>> A life sentance is 25 years After 25 years in goal (thats how Australians spell 'jail') you are eligible for parole. There's no such thing as a ruling for 'life without parole'. IMHO this is better than the American system.
>> It is illegal to read someones tarrot, or give them a pyschic reading as these are forms of witchcraft. Open up an Australian tabloid and turn to the last few pages: "Call 1902XXXXXX to recieve your psychic reading. Trust us, we're right. Only $5/minute"
>> The legal age for straight sex is 16, unless the person is is in the care/custody of the older person, in which case it is 18 The legal age for straight sex is 16, I don't know about homosexual sex, though. There are laws against incest in Australia
>> Under Australian Communications Authority (ACA) regulations, your modem can't pick up on the first ring. If it does the ACA permit for your modem is invalid and there's a $12000 fine. This is true.
And my favorite law in all of this is the Japanese law: >> There is no age of consent. So where's the problem?:-)
Standard Disclaimer: I dont work for anything mentioned below, take my opinons with a grain of salt.
For those who don't know the Australian system of democracy at the moment, there are two major parties, Labor and Liberal. Labor is left-wing, and Liberal is right-wing. Although, not in exactly the same sense as American politics. The recent screw-ups of the Australian Government (GST, censorship, this....) has been under the Liberal government.
Although the Australian government sometimes does the most stupidest things from a technical standpoint, it has other things to worry about. The people of Australia have other things to worry about, so noone is doing anything.
The hot topic for the Government is the Republic. Australia voted NO for it, and the government is trying to think up a republic so that the people will like it, and the politicans can't get screwed.
Another recent issue is the leaking of information that the government wanted HECS to be scrapped. For non-Australians, this means that we have to pay student loans at the standard interest rate, rather than the current system, with no interest. (OT: American rant: Universities are four times cheaper here, for the same quality of education)
Both of these issues are what Australia is fired up about. The censorship bill, which will take effect in Jan 1, 2000, has noone worried. Sure, computer advocacy groups are fired up about it, but the general public doesn't know about it yet. (Prediction: Y2K in Australia will see a massive influx of tech support calls asking why they cant visit some porn site...)
And now this, the ability of Australian spies to crack into other people's computers. Big deal. Australian spies are a piece of crap, and I suspect they buy their information from other countries. Technically, it is stupid, and an outrage, but this will have no practical benefits. About the only thing Australian spies have done recently that's any good is admit to a having access to scanning equipment.
Another issue: 'It's business as usual' for the Australian government? It's true that the Australian goverment is giving education and computing fields a big shove up the ass, but the American government seem to be doing the same thing. (We dont have the 'Digital Millenium Copyright Act' yet...)
I dont even know where to begin summarising this.. so I'll just reinstate my main points: 1) Australian government has more important things 2) Education and IT sectors hate our government 3) This spy thing is worrying, but I doubt much will happen because of this 4) Our government is just as screwy as the American one
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> 500 Million dollars (Australian) which converts to aproximently 259,550,000 American dollars
Please pay no importance to the terrible exchange rate. Australia's economy is up to crap right now, and you Yanks are making the problem worse (the presidental election will decide the value of the Australian dollar!)
Once upon a time, I could x1.5 when buying from America, and x2 when buying from the UK. Now I have to double for America and triple for UK! This is absolutely absurd!
(vicious circle: if people stop trading, then the dollar isn't going to get better...)
-----------
I dont know about the "Biff" part, but if that is true, it sounds all-too-familiar to the "hidden" information in the protocol in "Serial Experiments Lain". After all, using a protocol implies consensuality.
I swear that anime rings too close to real life...
(.sig created before Lain existed, BTW)
-----------
> Ever see a retraction in a newspaper?
Actually, no. The corporate media have their heads so far up their ass that they'd rather lose money than admit they were wrong. The only time they will admit they are wrong is if they stand to lose popularity.
-----------
>Yeah, which Java? Java the language? Java the security model? Java the Virtual Machine? Help me out here.
Merchandising! Merchandising!
Java the T-shirt! Java the Coloring Book! Java the Lunch Box! Java the Breakfast Cereal! Java the Flamethrower!
(sorry, I know this post will probably never be seen so late, but I couldn't help myself)
-----------
Mum? Sorry, that is a word I don't understand.
You see, in Australia, the word 'mum' is what you Americans would call 'mom'. The word 'mom' doesnt exist in Australia.
-----------
>There are virtually no exhibitors of the disease who do not practice its manifestation... this is something I've become sickeningly aware of.
So what if someone likes to look at kiddie porn, but they have never commited that crime? Does this mean they will commit it in the future?
Just because you like to look at something, does not mean you will do it.
-----------
NB: I am 17 year old Australian. Treat my opinons accordingly
Here is what I see is the major problem with any type of "for the children" arguement:
There is no way to determine, on a macro scale, a child's maturity.
Usually, the magical age of 18 is deemed acceptable maturity by a majority of people. And I agree with that. However, after careful consideration on the issue, there is one way to ensure that the child still has rights and that immature children are protected, and that is to let the parents decide what rights the child has.
Of course, there needs to be restrictions on this. Basic rights such as love, food, shelter, etc. cannot be denied to a child of any age. However, this system would operate in this way:
1. The child, when born, has only basic rights.
2. Parents supplement the child with rights as they deem fit.
3. Noone can deny the child a right that the parent has given a child.
4. At the magical age of 18, children become unbounded from their parents and have full rights.
Example: My parents, being of European background, decide at the age of 16, I am able to view all the porn I want. If I walk into an adult shop, with my parents, I would be able to buy whatever I wanted (After the nessacary identifications, of course)
However, this has only one problem, and unfortunately, society does not seem to like it, but that means parents actually start to have to take responsibility for their children. No more finding a scapegoat for the reason your children turned out to be a jail inmate. If you're not fit to be a parent, the answer is simple, don't have children.
However, parents have increasingly turned to the government for "assistance" in looking after their children, and sometimes I'm willing to believe that the (American) government is honestly trying to do that, but just has a lack of knowledge.
However, the Australian government has done the complete opposite of this. Ignorance can not explain what they are doing by any stretch of the imagination. It is now illegal, in Australia, to view any (softcore/mild hardcore-porn) site without a certificate, even if you are an adult. It is also now illegal, in Australia, to view any refused-classified site, even if you are an adult. Obtaining the same material offline is legal, however. Essentially all sites that deal with [h|cr]acking, BDSM-discussions, or other topics which the government prefer you not to talk about, are banned online, even if you are an adult!
Again, adults should have full rights to see or hear whatever they want. Children should have rights assigned to them by adults (this allows the child to be brought up in the same culture as the adults, not the same culture as the country). This means more parental responsibility, and is well-needed right now. There is only one thing that should be "protecting the children": Parents.
-----------
Some Australian laws clarified: (IANAL)
:-)
>> A life sentance is 25 years
After 25 years in goal (thats how Australians spell 'jail') you are eligible for parole. There's no such thing as a ruling for 'life without parole'. IMHO this is better than the American system.
>> It is illegal to read someones tarrot, or give them a pyschic reading as these are forms of witchcraft.
Open up an Australian tabloid and turn to the last few pages: "Call 1902XXXXXX to recieve your psychic reading. Trust us, we're right. Only $5/minute"
>> The legal age for straight sex is 16, unless the person is is in the care/custody of the older person, in which case it is 18
The legal age for straight sex is 16, I don't know about homosexual sex, though. There are laws against incest in Australia
>> Under Australian Communications Authority (ACA) regulations, your modem can't pick up on the first ring. If it does the ACA permit for your modem is invalid and there's a $12000 fine.
This is true.
And my favorite law in all of this is the Japanese law:
>> There is no age of consent.
So where's the problem?
-----------
>>I count 7
:-)
>>00x
>>0x0
>>x00
>>xx0
>>0xx
>>x0x
>>xxx
>>
>>Where x is when a key is pressed and 0 is when a
>>key remains unpressed.
Right. Silly me forgot the x0x permutation. Okay then, it's just enough to run a 3-button mouse.
Either that, or a 2-button mouse, with the xxx permutation as the all-essential power switch
-----------
I'm worried about this. Three buttons, in all permutations can only create 6 actions, which is just enough for a 2-buttoned mouse.
I wonder if it can handle the Twiddler. Then you wouldn't need a keyboard that they plan to develop for it in the future.
-----------
Standard Disclaimer: I dont work for anything mentioned below, take my opinons with a grain of salt.
For those who don't know the Australian system of democracy at the moment, there are two major parties, Labor and Liberal. Labor is left-wing, and Liberal is right-wing. Although, not in exactly the same sense as American politics. The recent screw-ups of the Australian Government (GST, censorship, this....) has been under the Liberal government.
Although the Australian government sometimes does the most stupidest things from a technical standpoint, it has other things to worry about. The people of Australia have other things to worry about, so noone is doing anything.
The hot topic for the Government is the Republic. Australia voted NO for it, and the government is trying to think up a republic so that the people will like it, and the politicans can't get screwed.
Another recent issue is the leaking of information that the government wanted HECS to be scrapped. For non-Australians, this means that we have to pay student loans at the standard interest rate, rather than the current system, with no interest. (OT: American rant: Universities are four times cheaper here, for the same quality of education)
Both of these issues are what Australia is fired up about. The censorship bill, which will take effect in Jan 1, 2000, has noone worried. Sure, computer advocacy groups are fired up about it, but the general public doesn't know about it yet. (Prediction: Y2K in Australia will see a massive influx of tech support calls asking why they cant visit some porn site...)
And now this, the ability of Australian spies to crack into other people's computers. Big deal. Australian spies are a piece of crap, and I suspect they buy their information from other countries. Technically, it is stupid, and an outrage, but this will have no practical benefits. About the only thing Australian spies have done recently that's any good is admit to a having access to scanning equipment.
Another issue: 'It's business as usual' for the Australian government? It's true that the Australian goverment is giving education and computing fields a big shove up the ass, but the American government seem to be doing the same thing. (We dont have the 'Digital Millenium Copyright Act' yet...)
I dont even know where to begin summarising this.. so I'll just reinstate my main points:
1) Australian government has more important things
2) Education and IT sectors hate our government
3) This spy thing is worrying, but I doubt much will happen because of this
4) Our government is just as screwy as the American one
-----------