often, the reason for a decision is just as (if not more than) important than the decision itself. I'm skeptical of whether or not this is a good thing in this case. While the judge does mention the first amendment, this little gem is in TFA:
"Mr. Walczak has said it was clear the three girls were victims; they did not take or distribute the photos in question."
Which means that this decision decided to ignore the issue of rather or not one can commit sex crimes against one's self. Which is kind of unfortunate.
Every software developer planning on cooperating with developers in the Western world? Sure. Ultimately, however, as the south starts becoming more computer literate, a choice will be faced -- especially by developers who have experienced first hand the long-lasting effects of colonization. If developers wish to remain autonomous actors outside of the first world, I don't see how that causes some sort of problem.
Agreeing with the statement that every developer should know English is making an enormous amount of assumptions regarding the goals and aspirations of developers, and the markets that they serve.
Also, I can't help but point out that software companies globalizing development is often synonymous with the exploitation of developers who aren't in the west (in the form of small wages, etc.) and tends to contribute to the problem of brain drain -- "even if I am educated here, I still can't make money. So I will get educated here and leave." If anything, having non-english speaking developers hurts the process of predatory globalization... which some would say is a good thing.
Yes, it will improve your vision. Because you introduced rape into an innocent game, you will be spending your nights running from Jack Thompson, thus drastically increasing the amount of times you need to differentiate between dark contrasts, thus increasing your fine contrast sensitivity.
Based upon this definition and explanation of contrast sensitivity, it may be the horrible lighting that many FPS maps have (I'm looking at you, OAs) that make games particularly valuable for increasing contrast sensitivity. However, it seems that if that were true, the explanation given in the summary for why the Sims isn't as valuable as Call of Duty could be incomplete.
I would love to see a comparison of different maps within the same game -- one with excellent lighting and no dark corners, and the other with shoddy lighting. I'm willing to bet that there will be a measurable difference.
I have a serious problem with eye strain, even when using nice monitors. I'm not alone. Because of this, I have a hard time believing that there is a net benefit in terms of overall eye health. Doing visual-based puzzles or learning how to paint are probably far healthier ways to increase perception of fine contrast differences.
Also, does anyone have any idea why contrast sensitivity would be a particularly important thing to improve?
Now that TPB is selling a service, it is probably prudent to evaluate their actions from a profit-motive perspective.
Cheap unlogged VPNs have been around for ages. TPB's service needs something to set itself apart -- like a brand name and viral advertising. Hence facebook links.
Perhaps. But could **AA ask for a better "lead?" Take a look at some of the (blatantly illegal) things that the **AA and its cronies have done. They probably wouldn't shy away from using Facebook as a method to choose who to target with any new blatantly illegal schemes they come up with and think they can get away with.
Regardless, making it public knowledge that you pirate/support piracy is probably a stupid idea if you ever plan on having a job.
TFA:
"When lawyers for the parents asked for a copy of the photos that would be used to charge their children, Skumanick reportedly refused on grounds that he would be committing a crime by sharing child porn."
Let's assume that this can be generalized -- the kid's lawyers in a child porn case can't have the pictures because that would still be distribution by the DA. Also, let's assume that we're going to be showing them to the jury, so that they can determine if the picture in question is actually child porn.
The 6th amendment, abridged for brevity's sake:
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to...be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation"
In a case like this, the pictures are at the heart of both the nature and the cause of the accusation -- and actually seeing the pictures is necessary to determine if it is pornography.
Seems to me child porn laws are illegal, given at least one of the statements in the two posits above is true.
"Their culprit would turn out to be a pimple-faced highschool kid dialing in with his VIC-Modem and Commodore 64, and then he'd maybe even get a drudging job offer. Nowadays the job offer part comes first."
In all likelihood, the culprit is a former pimple-faced highschool kid who used to dial into machines with his Commodore 64.
The crackers grew up. Some of them moved on, some of them didn't.
".. that I can't get windows apps to do what i want without crashing, but it runs teh evil viruses perfectly?"
Because there is a 100% correlation between a virus crashing and a virus writer's lost profit. With most legitimate software, a crash leaves only one practical option: keep using the crapware and hope it doesn't crash again.
Instead of assuming that you are in a real-world, just environment, I'm going to answer this question in the context of a public high school -- and suggest a few courses of action that are more appropriate to a high school.
Some things to take into consideration:
First, in a high school, the standard for allowing a search is much, much lower than it is in the real world (and this is probably why police have such an easy time getting people to consent to searches.)
Second, schools have the right to seize property, even if it is not being used for unlawful activity (for example, most schools reserve the right to confiscate cell phones.) However, AFAIK, schools don't have the right to destroy this property on a whim.
Are these the teacher's notes, or yours (ie, did you copy them verbatim from a powerpoint the teacher made)? This probably makes a huge difference.
What to Do: Regardless of rather the teacher's actions were legal, there are some approaches that almost always work:
1. Get a (cheap) lawyer and have them send a letter on your behalf from their offices to the school's principal threatening legal action against the school and the teacher if the property is not returned in-tact. CC the teacher. This might not work, but it will mean that the teacher is unlikely to destroy your property, which buys you some time for the option options to work.
2. Have your parents send a letter to the principal explaining the situation and why you think it is unfair and detrimental to your success as a student (for example, "these notes would have been invaluable in a college econ class.") Principals usually love this crap. But make sure it's from your parents -- schools tend to ignore students.
3. If and when both those option fail, Have your parents send a letter to all of the school board members expressing your discontent with the situation, and explain that it hinders your ability to succeed in both high school and college. Tell them you want someone who is willing to stand up to rogue teachers representing you.
4. If and when that fails, have your parents contact the local police department. Report a theft.
"Imagine how this conflict would go if the Palestinian's weren't so cowardly and instead used non-violent protests. You know, like Gandhi."
"The logic of homo sacer is clearly...inscribed into the very notion of a 'war on terror'.... Two types of conflict remain: struggles between groups of homo sacer â" 'ethnic-religious conflicts' which violate the rules of universal human rights, do not count as wars proper...and direct attacks on the US or other representatives of the new global order, in which case, again, we do not have wars proper, but merely 'unlawful combatants' resisting the forces of universal order....the US-dominated global force...does not perceive itself as one of the warring sides, but as a mediating agent of peace and global order, crushing rebellion and, simultaneously, providing humanitarian aid to the 'local population'. -Slavoj Žižek
Instead of waiting for demand to outstrip supply, the IANA should artificially increase demand by bloating the prices for blocks. This will cause everyone to focus more on IP conservation. Because let's be truthful: IPv6 isn't going to be widely adopted in 5 years unless something changes (and it's best for everyone if that "something" isn't a complete lack of IP Addresses)
Slashdot Mirror
often, the reason for a decision is just as (if not more than) important than the decision itself. I'm skeptical of whether or not this is a good thing in this case. While the judge does mention the first amendment, this little gem is in TFA:
"Mr. Walczak has said it was clear the three girls were victims; they did not take or distribute the photos in question."
Which means that this decision decided to ignore the issue of rather or not one can commit sex crimes against one's self. Which is kind of unfortunate.
Every software developer planning on cooperating with developers in the Western world? Sure. Ultimately, however, as the south starts becoming more computer literate, a choice will be faced -- especially by developers who have experienced first hand the long-lasting effects of colonization. If developers wish to remain autonomous actors outside of the first world, I don't see how that causes some sort of problem.
Agreeing with the statement that every developer should know English is making an enormous amount of assumptions regarding the goals and aspirations of developers, and the markets that they serve.
Also, I can't help but point out that software companies globalizing development is often synonymous with the exploitation of developers who aren't in the west (in the form of small wages, etc.) and tends to contribute to the problem of brain drain -- "even if I am educated here, I still can't make money. So I will get educated here and leave." If anything, having non-english speaking developers hurts the process of predatory globalization... which some would say is a good thing.
Yes, it will improve your vision. Because you introduced rape into an innocent game, you will be spending your nights running from Jack Thompson, thus drastically increasing the amount of times you need to differentiate between dark contrasts, thus increasing your fine contrast sensitivity.
Based upon this definition and explanation of contrast sensitivity, it may be the horrible lighting that many FPS maps have (I'm looking at you, OAs) that make games particularly valuable for increasing contrast sensitivity. However, it seems that if that were true, the explanation given in the summary for why the Sims isn't as valuable as Call of Duty could be incomplete.
I would love to see a comparison of different maps within the same game -- one with excellent lighting and no dark corners, and the other with shoddy lighting. I'm willing to bet that there will be a measurable difference.
I have a serious problem with eye strain, even when using nice monitors. I'm not alone. Because of this, I have a hard time believing that there is a net benefit in terms of overall eye health. Doing visual-based puzzles or learning how to paint are probably far healthier ways to increase perception of fine contrast differences.
Also, does anyone have any idea why contrast sensitivity would be a particularly important thing to improve?
Now that TPB is selling a service, it is probably prudent to evaluate their actions from a profit-motive perspective.
Cheap unlogged VPNs have been around for ages. TPB's service needs something to set itself apart -- like a brand name and viral advertising. Hence facebook links.
Or maybe it's just an early April Fools joke.
Perhaps. But could **AA ask for a better "lead?" Take a look at some of the (blatantly illegal) things that the **AA and its cronies have done. They probably wouldn't shy away from using Facebook as a method to choose who to target with any new blatantly illegal schemes they come up with and think they can get away with.
Regardless, making it public knowledge that you pirate/support piracy is probably a stupid idea if you ever plan on having a job.
It isn't always as simple as protectionists often try to make it.
TFA: "When lawyers for the parents asked for a copy of the photos that would be used to charge their children, Skumanick reportedly refused on grounds that he would be committing a crime by sharing child porn."
Let's assume that this can be generalized -- the kid's lawyers in a child porn case can't have the pictures because that would still be distribution by the DA. Also, let's assume that we're going to be showing them to the jury, so that they can determine if the picture in question is actually child porn.
The 6th amendment, abridged for brevity's sake: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to...be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation"
In a case like this, the pictures are at the heart of both the nature and the cause of the accusation -- and actually seeing the pictures is necessary to determine if it is pornography.
Seems to me child porn laws are illegal, given at least one of the statements in the two posits above is true.
but IANAL.
Yes, from the ground up... because BSD was, you know, nothing...
how about a license to WRITE about the Internet... and a death penalty attached to any abuse.
"Their culprit would turn out to be a pimple-faced highschool kid dialing in with his VIC-Modem and Commodore 64, and then he'd maybe even get a drudging job offer. Nowadays the job offer part comes first."
In all likelihood, the culprit is a former pimple-faced highschool kid who used to dial into machines with his Commodore 64.
The crackers grew up. Some of them moved on, some of them didn't.
I knew it! Those linux folks are all virus writers! They even infect the copyright system with their dirty viruses!
only if the virus writer is doing it wrong. There are about a million ways to prevent this, including encrypting the code.
".. that I can't get windows apps to do what i want without crashing, but it runs teh evil viruses perfectly?"
Because there is a 100% correlation between a virus crashing and a virus writer's lost profit. With most legitimate software, a crash leaves only one practical option: keep using the crapware and hope it doesn't crash again.
Instead of assuming that you are in a real-world, just environment, I'm going to answer this question in the context of a public high school -- and suggest a few courses of action that are more appropriate to a high school.
Some things to take into consideration:
First, in a high school, the standard for allowing a search is much, much lower than it is in the real world (and this is probably why police have such an easy time getting people to consent to searches.)
Second, schools have the right to seize property, even if it is not being used for unlawful activity (for example, most schools reserve the right to confiscate cell phones.) However, AFAIK, schools don't have the right to destroy this property on a whim.
Are these the teacher's notes, or yours (ie, did you copy them verbatim from a powerpoint the teacher made)? This probably makes a huge difference.
What to Do: Regardless of rather the teacher's actions were legal, there are some approaches that almost always work:
1. Get a (cheap) lawyer and have them send a letter on your behalf from their offices to the school's principal threatening legal action against the school and the teacher if the property is not returned in-tact. CC the teacher. This might not work, but it will mean that the teacher is unlikely to destroy your property, which buys you some time for the option options to work.
2. Have your parents send a letter to the principal explaining the situation and why you think it is unfair and detrimental to your success as a student (for example, "these notes would have been invaluable in a college econ class.") Principals usually love this crap. But make sure it's from your parents -- schools tend to ignore students.
3. If and when both those option fail, Have your parents send a letter to all of the school board members expressing your discontent with the situation, and explain that it hinders your ability to succeed in both high school and college. Tell them you want someone who is willing to stand up to rogue teachers representing you.
4. If and when that fails, have your parents contact the local police department. Report a theft.
why not harness the power of the gyroscope?!?!
/end sarcasm
you should look into the San Francisco Community Colocation project.
According to the blog, the Proof of Concept would work on "most" x86 architectures.
To someone who knows more about the down-and-dirties: will this approach work on non-X86 systems?
"Imagine how this conflict would go if the Palestinian's weren't so cowardly and instead used non-violent protests. You know, like Gandhi."
"The logic of homo sacer is clearly...inscribed into the very notion of a 'war on terror'.... Two types of conflict remain: struggles between groups of homo sacer â" 'ethnic-religious conflicts' which violate the rules of universal human rights, do not count as wars proper...and direct attacks on the US or other representatives of the new global order, in which case, again, we do not have wars proper, but merely 'unlawful combatants' resisting the forces of universal order....the US-dominated global force...does not perceive itself as one of the warring sides, but as a mediating agent of peace and global order, crushing rebellion and, simultaneously, providing humanitarian aid to the 'local population'. -Slavoj Žižek
I use the dewey decimal system.
"it's a...brainless way to communicate.... Organizations find it's useful as a good way to update people" Surprises, surprises.
...And all the while the RIAA will be the innocent victim of firms like evil MediaSentry.
...And all the while the RIAA will continue to fight the good fight against down-right theft.
...And all the while the people will continue to believe every last word of it.
Make that the fifth. You forgot about the StarGate program.
Instead of waiting for demand to outstrip supply, the IANA should artificially increase demand by bloating the prices for blocks. This will cause everyone to focus more on IP conservation. Because let's be truthful: IPv6 isn't going to be widely adopted in 5 years unless something changes (and it's best for everyone if that "something" isn't a complete lack of IP Addresses)