There is a difference between selective breeding and tinkering with God's blueprint for life. By directly taking a hand to DNA scientists are pretending that they have the Lord's wisdom, something which is clearly false.
Yes there is... the random element! But that's about it. Let me remind you that all this genetics stuff was started by a priest.
Bzzt! Wrong, scientists are part of the cult of atheism which has attempted to have decent Christian teachings banned in our schools to be replaced with their cold mechanistic view of a "clockwork universe" in which the love of God has no place.
Why are most of the scientist I've met devout christians then? It's hard to spend that much time looking at the marvels of the universe without coming away with a sense of some higher power at work, bit it god, allah, bramman, or the first law of thermodynamics. As for your "descent christian teachings", they aren't banned from school because of some mythical conspiracy of athiests, but by some very intelligent people (aka the Founding Fathers) who realized that it's wrong to force your dogma on someone else.
Ultimately their aim is to have us all in our place, our lives ordered by the "scientific" elite according to their deterministic principles.
Hmmm... doesn't sound much like any scientists I know. Actually, it sound more like corporate elite than scientific elite. Really, I think it's pretty much impossible to have a scientific elite with any real power in a culture that worships actors and basketball players...
really, what can a bunch of state legislators do with a state law that blatantly violates the first amendment? that's right, criticism is protected under the first amendment, in fact it's one of the main reasons the first amendment exists. for this reason, the worst parts of UCITA will never stand up in court.
perhaps a few people could point out this fact, and perhaps these people who have already made up their minds will listen...
Businesses get regulated because they prove that they need to be, often by blatantly disregaurding the health and safety of their employees, customers, and/or neighbors (meaning the people who live near plants, unknowingly buy the houses that were built on top of their toxic waste dumps, etc.). As for your other comment, please consider these 3 "young unwed mother" (aka "Wellfare Whore") scenarios:
1) She works 2 jobs, say at McDonalds and Taco Bell, in order to put food on the table. (If you think that's unrealistic, try supporting yourself and a child on minimum wage sometime. I still don't know how my mom did it, and I don't think she could have if my Dad hadn't paid child support.)
2) She stays home, takes care of her kid(s), teaches them right from wrong, provides discipline and a structured environment, and collects wellfare.
3) She does neither of these, lives with her kids in a station wagon, cardboard box, etc., and maybe her kids are put into the foster care system. (I went out with a couple of girls who were/had been in foster homes. Believe me, it's not a system that works)
So, my question to you is, which of these scenarios caries the greatest benefit for the rest of society? I think any rational adult who knows anything about child developement can see that it's #2. There is a reason wellfare exists, and one of the most compelling is that it keeps a lot of kids from breaking into your house and stealing your stuff.
A few more things to think about: for various reasons, single parents (generally mothers) have always been an issue that society has had to deal with. The costs of providing a support structure for these unfortunate people is far lower than the cost of not providing it. Also, having broken into a few houses, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no such thing as security, so don't tell me these problems don't effect you.
That said, I think you really need to pull your head out of your ass.
as i understand it rockets work by essentially throwing mass out the back. the amount of thrust provided is determined by the momentum of the ejected mass.
of course, maybe i just answered my own question... the higher the velocity of the ejected mass, the more thrust it would provide...
seriously, though, will these engines really require that much less fuel mass? and these superconducting magnetic rings, won't they be heated up by proximity to the plasma and therefore lose their superconducting qualities? i get the impression that they don't have a functional unit yet, which means it could be a long time before the bugs are worked out. this is pretty cool, though not as cool as being a doctor of applied plasma physics...
is that you can generate your own power and sell it back to the grid. all you need is some solar panels and a phase matching inverter. obviously wind or hydro or any combination could be used. solar is probably the easiest, most reliable option. after all, any building has lots of roof space that really isn't being used for anything. in fact, while i was in san jose this weekend i noticed a great deal of sun and wind that was not being taken advantage of.
so, here's how it works: you put some solar panels on your roof, a phase matching inverter (or several, depending on how many watts you need to handle) in your basement, and hardwire the whole thing into your builings power system. you could also spring for a bank of batteries, and essentially have a big-ass UPS. most modern inverters will monitor your batteries and automatically start up your back-up generator if needed. the really cool part is that your local utility company will buy any excess power you generate, usually for 1/3 to 1/2 what you pay per kW. most such systems will pay for themselves in a few years, particularly when combined with energy saving policies (like having people power down their work stations when they go home, for example).
enough companies (or even individuals) doing this would remove the need for building new power plants (you know, the NIMBY ones a previous poster mentioned). building nuclear power plants is something that should especially be avoided, as nuclear power is not clean. i would insert a link to the NIRS home page here, but it was vandalized last week and is currently closed for repairs.
these are real, workable solutions. check the home power link in the article for more detailed info, actual costs, and probably people who will set it up for you. i spent the first 20 years of my life off-grid, and while complete disconnect isn't for everyone, it does make you think about how much power is simply wasted. and as the guy from oracle stated, complete grid reliance is not really an option either.
Re:Counterpoint: Computers as Work
on
Universal Access
·
· Score: 1
you really don't get it, do you? it doesn't matter whether Joe Autoworker has any idea what to do with that shiny new pc, what matters is what Joe Jr. does with it. i doubt ford cares that much about Joe, but they know they'll need his kid to have some knowledge of computers as their factories become more and more automated. automated systems are not autonomous. they require supervision and maintainance to continue to function. my guess is that's ford's real motivation (and frankly, i applaud them for their foresight), not all this paranoid big-brother crap that keeps getting spewed all over/. what makes you think you're so important that anybody gives a rats ass what you say in your emails?
something tells me that if you lived in a third world country and ford came in and provided you with roads, fresh water, electricity, etc... you would think they the Pimp Shit. it's easy to say you don't want a corporation to come along and make your life better when all of these things have already been provided for you (and most likely by corporations btw, like the one my great-great...grandfather owned that built the first concrete highway in california). and chances are ford has already been instrumental in providing these other necessities to the very third world employees that they are giving computers to. after all, it's hard to run a factory without power, or if your employees can't get to work because the "road" washes out every 3 months, or they are constantly sick from drinking unclean water.
so what if my telecom bill gets taxed so that schools and public libraries get computers and internet access? or maybe i should say good! i'm glad! i can afford another 5% tacked on to my phone bill because i have a good job that i wouldn't have if i hadn't been exposed to computers in high school. i grew up poor enough that the only access i had to computers was at school, and if they hadn't had any, i'd probably be pounding nails to support my family like my dad did, or slaving for years at a minimum wage job like my mom.
everyone gets so caught up in the fact that america is supposed to be the "land of the free", but that isn't the reason most people emigrate here. america is more importantly the "land of opportunity", and it's unfortunate that you are so small-minded and petty that you can't help someone get an opportunaty they wouldn't otherwise have. the gulf between the have's and the have-not's keeps getting wider because of people like you. don't give me this crap about "Joe middle class supporting those who are too lazy to work for what they want." my parents busted their asses every day, and sometimes it still wasn't enough. sure there are problems with welfare and it does get abused, but it exists for a reason and sometimes it even works. some peoples lives are a lot harder than yours will ever be, so don't pretend that you understand the situation enough to say what social reform programs are needed or not.
that said, i don't support the idea of universal government funded access to the internet in everyone's home. it is much more effectively done in libraries and schools, where there is a support staff available to answer user questions. but then, that isn't what this article is about, is it? it's about corporations giving or assisting the acquisition of computers for their employees. regardless of what the corporations real motivations are, the employees will benefit from these programs, and their kids will benefit even more.
oh, and i'm sorry you don't ever see your kids and they don't send you fathers day cards, but you have no one to blame but yourself. maybe if you put forth the effort to be a real father to them a)you would see them more and, b)they might give a rats ass about you. don't take your bitterness about them out on kids who don't have all the opportunities you had.
You're missing the point that 3com doesn't want to make new networking hardware. They are getting out of the networking business so they can focus on the higher profile, more profitable PDA market.
gravitational mass can be strongly reduced... Thus the body can acquire large accelerations with small forces
Admitedly, my understanding of physics is a little weak, but i seem to recall that mass is independent of gravity, and that in order to accelerate something you still have to condend with it's mass, regardless of any gravitational forces acting on it (or not acting on it, as the case may be).
it must be possible to build a gravitational shielding around the source, at distance rs where the radiation density is such that there is a photon in opposition to each incident graviton.
OK, lets try a little practical experiment. I'll take this 9mm pistol, and you take this shotgun loaded with buckshot. The idea here is that i shoot at you with the 9mm and you deflect my bullet with a blast from your shotgun. Ready? 1... 2...
But wait, you say. Will it work? Well sure, theoretically there should be no problem... but I wouldn't bet my life on it...
Tell you what, just to make it interesting I'll give you a whole group of guys with shotguns. Of course, your team will have to be blindfolded so you can't tell where i'm shooting from, and maybe i should have a team too, all armed with machine guns.
I think this illustrates my main problem with this theory.
But wait, you say, what if i had a whole lot of guys with a whole buttload (that's a technical term meaning "more than a lot") of buckshot? My question to you is, where do you plan on getting all that buckshot?
Then there's all the issues brought up by other posters (some really excellent info here) like different quantum states, the fact that nobody has even found a graviton, yadda, yadda, yadda...
Even though there's no way this thing could work, I think it's great that the article was posted. It made me think about stuff that i haven't thought about for a few years and I learned a lot more from posters who are more informed than I am on the relevant subjects. So all of you who are complaining about this article being posted can blow it out your apathetic arses. Oh, and I'm sorry to have used the generic male pronouns above, but i assumed that women would not be stupid enough to participate in such a pointless waste of human life.
I'm sure the RIAA would love to have things as you describe, but it can't happen. Why? Because mp3 is already part of the HDTV standard which all TV broadcasters in the US are required to adopt by 2006 and have already spent billions on (I work for a company that makes digital video equipment, including mpeg encoders/decoders. We did $5.5 million in sales last week).
The problem with piracy is that it hurts the artist, too. As a musician I'm totally in favor of of anything that hurts the RIAA, but it would be nice if there were some other avenue to compensate the artists we like for the time and effort they put into providing us with their music. For example, I have about 30 (I'm at work so i can't check the actual number) Orbital songs in my mp3 collection. I would gladly buy their CD's (if i could find them in my local music store) even knowing that Orbital would only recieve 2 or 3 dollars out of the 17 or 18 i would probably pay. I would much more happily send them 10 or 12 dollars directly, but i know of no way to do that.
I agree that most of the popular music out there is crap, but there are some very talented artists out there laboring under the same yoke. An i deal solution would bypass the corporate controlled radio/mtv outlets and let the consumer decide what is good and let them pay the artists directly. The RIAA is a benefit only to itself, and a barrier between musician and their fans.
A reversal in the Earth's field would have no effect at all, it can just barely be detected macroscopically.
isn't the polarity of the earths magntic field dependent on the direction of spin? that's my understanding of it, anyway. in that case, a reversal of the polarity of the earth would require a reversal of the spin, and i'm sure we would all notice if the earth suddenly came to a stop and started spinning in the opposite direction. it would probably make the chip stop working, if only as a side effect of mass destruction.
aside from that, what about the magnetic field produced by such a chip? would having so many constantly changing magnetic fields so close to each other produce any interesting effects?
DVD Is specifically hobbled. They have taken away any ability to USE the product without purchase of another product which can enable playback. IE, the product is disabled/hobbled without a player.
The same could be said about VHS. just try and watch a video tape without a VCR. i don't agree with him, but i am able to see his point of view. as for the statement being crap, it isn't. in fact, it isn't anything. the man said nothing except lie about his involvement in the arrest of JJ.
the fact is DeCSS in it's origional incarnation is not a copyright violation at all. it was created as a vehicle for legally purchjased dvd's to be viewed by a market which the MPAA has made a conscious choice to ignore, namely linux users. why is that so hard for people to see (i know there's plenty of people on slashdot who do see that, but i'm ranting)?
I just don't think that Slashdot is the place to be putting these articles.
Censorship isn't a topic relative to the ideas upon which slashdot was created?
They're boring
Then why are you reading it? No one is forcing you too...
most everyone on Slashdot already knows the flaws with filtering software.
The word "most" is key in this statement. Sure, Jamie is preaching to the choir, but what of one or two members haven't read that section of the bible yet? Maybe one of those people feels strongly about the issue once it's brought up to the, strongly enough to do something? Doesn't that make it worthwhile? If you would like an example of one of these people, you need look no further than myself.
I like much of what the FRC is about, but I disagree with their attempt to filter the internet.
I'm curious what it is about an organization dedicated to forcing their ideologies on others. If I shared their views i would go to their churches and bible study groups. You may notice that I have never been seen at any of these places. Not because i'm atheist (I most definately believe in God), but because I'm not content to sit back and let someone else ram their ideas down my throat, and this is exactly what the FRC is attempting. They want to prevent me from having access to any ideas but their own. How can you support that?
I'm not saying I want my kid (due in May) to be browsing for porn at age 10, but neither do i want the southern baptist interpretation of the bible to be the only access they have to religion. I believe that religion can be a crucial element in the upbringing of a good human, but other religions have messages just as valuable, and in many cases more valuable, than christianity. I say this because Hindu texts, in particular, are bursting at the seams with sex. It is considered a sacred act, one which brings us closer to God (by whichever name they choose to call It). Many ancient texts carved in temple walls are interspersed at regular intervals with depictions of very graphic sex. Why? Because they knew what would keep people interested.
I would also like my child to be exposed to the arts, and by that i mean whatever music speaks or literature speaks to them, and certainly every reclining nude ever painted in the history of art.
I don't think the fight should be carried out on, or through, Slashdot.
Where should it be? Ideally, this article should be posted on a site that supports organizations such as the FRC, but i think there is sufficient evidence to say that it would never be allowed, or worse, would be "edited" (feel free to replace with "twisted") to support their ends. This has already been done. Opposing viewpoints need to be posted (unabridged) somewhere, or the opinions of the true majority (no matter what the "Moral Majority" would have you think) will never be expressed.
Protecting children from knowledge of sex is not only impossible, it is dangerous. Humans are generally most fascinated by what is denied them, and this is doubly true with children. The fact is they will be exposed to it, probably before they even know what pubic hair is. Who do you want your children to learn about sex from? You, the parent, or some older kid who likes to gross smaller kids out by showing them the porno mag they stole out of their dad's sock drawer? (I personally encountered 3 of these before I was 10).
My parents were open and honest about everything, including sex. I was shown graphic pornography (not by my parents) before I turned 6. It didn't turn me into a sex crazed animal, quite the opposite. I didn't lose my virginity until I was 19, and not for lack of opportunity. I knew what it was all about. I was fully aware of the attractions and the consequences, and so i waited until it was right. Now I'm 25, happily married, with a child on the way (that was concieved by choice). Behold the monster that was created by free access to information about sex!
Groups like the FRC don't solve anything. In fact, they create the very things they are attempting to destroy. Curiosity is an odd beast. The more it is blocked, the stronger it becomes.
I haven't read the article, but so far it doesn't sound like they've really changed their product. My only experince with aol was working in a computer lab at school. Whenever someone tried to install any aol product (usually instant messenger) it would crash the machine and we'd have to image blast the drive.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes there is... the random element! But that's about it. Let me remind you that all this genetics stuff was started by a priest.
Bzzt! Wrong, scientists are part of the cult of atheism which has attempted to have decent Christian teachings banned in our schools to be replaced with their cold mechanistic view of a "clockwork universe" in which the love of God has no place.
Why are most of the scientist I've met devout christians then? It's hard to spend that much time looking at the marvels of the universe without coming away with a sense of some higher power at work, bit it god, allah, bramman, or the first law of thermodynamics. As for your "descent christian teachings", they aren't banned from school because of some mythical conspiracy of athiests, but by some very intelligent people (aka the Founding Fathers) who realized that it's wrong to force your dogma on someone else.
Ultimately their aim is to have us all in our place, our lives ordered by the "scientific" elite according to their deterministic principles.
Hmmm... doesn't sound much like any scientists I know. Actually, it sound more like corporate elite than scientific elite. Really, I think it's pretty much impossible to have a scientific elite with any real power in a culture that worships actors and basketball players...
perhaps a few people could point out this fact, and perhaps these people who have already made up their minds will listen...
1) She works 2 jobs, say at McDonalds and Taco Bell, in order to put food on the table. (If you think that's unrealistic, try supporting yourself and a child on minimum wage sometime. I still don't know how my mom did it, and I don't think she could have if my Dad hadn't paid child support.)
2) She stays home, takes care of her kid(s), teaches them right from wrong, provides discipline and a structured environment, and collects wellfare.
3) She does neither of these, lives with her kids in a station wagon, cardboard box, etc., and maybe her kids are put into the foster care system. (I went out with a couple of girls who were/had been in foster homes. Believe me, it's not a system that works)
So, my question to you is, which of these scenarios caries the greatest benefit for the rest of society? I think any rational adult who knows anything about child developement can see that it's #2. There is a reason wellfare exists, and one of the most compelling is that it keeps a lot of kids from breaking into your house and stealing your stuff.
A few more things to think about: for various reasons, single parents (generally mothers) have always been an issue that society has had to deal with. The costs of providing a support structure for these unfortunate people is far lower than the cost of not providing it. Also, having broken into a few houses, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no such thing as security, so don't tell me these problems don't effect you.
That said, I think you really need to pull your head out of your ass.
of course, maybe i just answered my own question... the higher the velocity of the ejected mass, the more thrust it would provide...
so, here's how it works: you put some solar panels on your roof, a phase matching inverter (or several, depending on how many watts you need to handle) in your basement, and hardwire the whole thing into your builings power system. you could also spring for a bank of batteries, and essentially have a big-ass UPS. most modern inverters will monitor your batteries and automatically start up your back-up generator if needed. the really cool part is that your local utility company will buy any excess power you generate, usually for 1/3 to 1/2 what you pay per kW. most such systems will pay for themselves in a few years, particularly when combined with energy saving policies (like having people power down their work stations when they go home, for example).
enough companies (or even individuals) doing this would remove the need for building new power plants (you know, the NIMBY ones a previous poster mentioned). building nuclear power plants is something that should especially be avoided, as nuclear power is not clean. i would insert a link to the NIRS home page here, but it was vandalized last week and is currently closed for repairs.
these are real, workable solutions. check the home power link in the article for more detailed info, actual costs, and probably people who will set it up for you. i spent the first 20 years of my life off-grid, and while complete disconnect isn't for everyone, it does make you think about how much power is simply wasted. and as the guy from oracle stated, complete grid reliance is not really an option either.
something tells me that if you lived in a third world country and ford came in and provided you with roads, fresh water, electricity, etc... you would think they the Pimp Shit. it's easy to say you don't want a corporation to come along and make your life better when all of these things have already been provided for you (and most likely by corporations btw, like the one my great-great...grandfather owned that built the first concrete highway in california). and chances are ford has already been instrumental in providing these other necessities to the very third world employees that they are giving computers to. after all, it's hard to run a factory without power, or if your employees can't get to work because the "road" washes out every 3 months, or they are constantly sick from drinking unclean water.
everyone gets so caught up in the fact that america is supposed to be the "land of the free", but that isn't the reason most people emigrate here. america is more importantly the "land of opportunity", and it's unfortunate that you are so small-minded and petty that you can't help someone get an opportunaty they wouldn't otherwise have. the gulf between the have's and the have-not's keeps getting wider because of people like you. don't give me this crap about "Joe middle class supporting those who are too lazy to work for what they want." my parents busted their asses every day, and sometimes it still wasn't enough. sure there are problems with welfare and it does get abused, but it exists for a reason and sometimes it even works. some peoples lives are a lot harder than yours will ever be, so don't pretend that you understand the situation enough to say what social reform programs are needed or not.
that said, i don't support the idea of universal government funded access to the internet in everyone's home. it is much more effectively done in libraries and schools, where there is a support staff available to answer user questions. but then, that isn't what this article is about, is it? it's about corporations giving or assisting the acquisition of computers for their employees. regardless of what the corporations real motivations are, the employees will benefit from these programs, and their kids will benefit even more.
oh, and i'm sorry you don't ever see your kids and they don't send you fathers day cards, but you have no one to blame but yourself. maybe if you put forth the effort to be a real father to them a)you would see them more and, b)they might give a rats ass about you. don't take your bitterness about them out on kids who don't have all the opportunities you had.
loss of temper on a daily basis
significant vandalism or property damage
increase in use of drugs or alchohol
all these were certainly halmarks of the football program at my high school...
it seems we've gone from geek profiling to jock profiling. even though i think any kind of profiling is wrong, i have to say it's about time!
Admitedly, my understanding of physics is a little weak, but i seem to recall that mass is independent of gravity, and that in order to accelerate something you still have to condend with it's mass, regardless of any gravitational forces acting on it (or not acting on it, as the case may be).
it must be possible to build a gravitational shielding around the source, at distance rs where the radiation density is such that there is a photon in opposition to each incident graviton.
OK, lets try a little practical experiment. I'll take this 9mm pistol, and you take this shotgun loaded with buckshot. The idea here is that i shoot at you with the 9mm and you deflect my bullet with a blast from your shotgun. Ready? 1... 2...
But wait, you say. Will it work? Well sure, theoretically there should be no problem... but I wouldn't bet my life on it...
Tell you what, just to make it interesting I'll give you a whole group of guys with shotguns. Of course, your team will have to be blindfolded so you can't tell where i'm shooting from, and maybe i should have a team too, all armed with machine guns.
I think this illustrates my main problem with this theory.
But wait, you say, what if i had a whole lot of guys with a whole buttload (that's a technical term meaning "more than a lot") of buckshot? My question to you is, where do you plan on getting all that buckshot?
Then there's all the issues brought up by other posters (some really excellent info here) like different quantum states, the fact that nobody has even found a graviton, yadda, yadda, yadda...
Even though there's no way this thing could work, I think it's great that the article was posted. It made me think about stuff that i haven't thought about for a few years and I learned a lot more from posters who are more informed than I am on the relevant subjects. So all of you who are complaining about this article being posted can blow it out your apathetic arses. Oh, and I'm sorry to have used the generic male pronouns above, but i assumed that women would not be stupid enough to participate in such a pointless waste of human life.
So I say unto you, Rejoice!
HDTV == MPEG -1, -2, & -3
mp3 cannot be killed.
I agree that most of the popular music out there is crap, but there are some very talented artists out there laboring under the same yoke. An i deal solution would bypass the corporate controlled radio/mtv outlets and let the consumer decide what is good and let them pay the artists directly. The RIAA is a benefit only to itself, and a barrier between musician and their fans.
isn't the polarity of the earths magntic field dependent on the direction of spin? that's my understanding of it, anyway. in that case, a reversal of the polarity of the earth would require a reversal of the spin, and i'm sure we would all notice if the earth suddenly came to a stop and started spinning in the opposite direction. it would probably make the chip stop working, if only as a side effect of mass destruction.
aside from that, what about the magnetic field produced by such a chip? would having so many constantly changing magnetic fields so close to each other produce any interesting effects?
The same could be said about VHS. just try and watch a video tape without a VCR. i don't agree with him, but i am able to see his point of view. as for the statement being crap, it isn't. in fact, it isn't anything. the man said nothing except lie about his involvement in the arrest of JJ.
the fact is DeCSS in it's origional incarnation is not a copyright violation at all. it was created as a vehicle for legally purchjased dvd's to be viewed by a market which the MPAA has made a conscious choice to ignore, namely linux users. why is that so hard for people to see (i know there's plenty of people on slashdot who do see that, but i'm ranting)?
Censorship isn't a topic relative to the ideas upon which slashdot was created?
They're boring
Then why are you reading it? No one is forcing you too...
most everyone on Slashdot already knows the flaws with filtering software.
The word "most" is key in this statement. Sure, Jamie is preaching to the choir, but what of one or two members haven't read that section of the bible yet? Maybe one of those people feels strongly about the issue once it's brought up to the, strongly enough to do something? Doesn't that make it worthwhile? If you would like an example of one of these people, you need look no further than myself.
I like much of what the FRC is about, but I disagree with their attempt to filter the internet.
I'm curious what it is about an organization dedicated to forcing their ideologies on others. If I shared their views i would go to their churches and bible study groups. You may notice that I have never been seen at any of these places. Not because i'm atheist (I most definately believe in God), but because I'm not content to sit back and let someone else ram their ideas down my throat, and this is exactly what the FRC is attempting. They want to prevent me from having access to any ideas but their own. How can you support that?
I'm not saying I want my kid (due in May) to be browsing for porn at age 10, but neither do i want the southern baptist interpretation of the bible to be the only access they have to religion. I believe that religion can be a crucial element in the upbringing of a good human, but other religions have messages just as valuable, and in many cases more valuable, than christianity. I say this because Hindu texts, in particular, are bursting at the seams with sex. It is considered a sacred act, one which brings us closer to God (by whichever name they choose to call It). Many ancient texts carved in temple walls are interspersed at regular intervals with depictions of very graphic sex. Why? Because they knew what would keep people interested.
I would also like my child to be exposed to the arts, and by that i mean whatever music speaks or literature speaks to them, and certainly every reclining nude ever painted in the history of art.
I don't think the fight should be carried out on, or through, Slashdot.
Where should it be? Ideally, this article should be posted on a site that supports organizations such as the FRC, but i think there is sufficient evidence to say that it would never be allowed, or worse, would be "edited" (feel free to replace with "twisted") to support their ends. This has already been done. Opposing viewpoints need to be posted (unabridged) somewhere, or the opinions of the true majority (no matter what the "Moral Majority" would have you think) will never be expressed.
Protecting children from knowledge of sex is not only impossible, it is dangerous. Humans are generally most fascinated by what is denied them, and this is doubly true with children. The fact is they will be exposed to it, probably before they even know what pubic hair is. Who do you want your children to learn about sex from? You, the parent, or some older kid who likes to gross smaller kids out by showing them the porno mag they stole out of their dad's sock drawer? (I personally encountered 3 of these before I was 10).
My parents were open and honest about everything, including sex. I was shown graphic pornography (not by my parents) before I turned 6. It didn't turn me into a sex crazed animal, quite the opposite. I didn't lose my virginity until I was 19, and not for lack of opportunity. I knew what it was all about. I was fully aware of the attractions and the consequences, and so i waited until it was right. Now I'm 25, happily married, with a child on the way (that was concieved by choice). Behold the monster that was created by free access to information about sex!
Groups like the FRC don't solve anything. In fact, they create the very things they are attempting to destroy. Curiosity is an odd beast. The more it is blocked, the stronger it becomes.
I haven't read the article, but so far it doesn't sound like they've really changed their product. My only experince with aol was working in a computer lab at school. Whenever someone tried to install any aol product (usually instant messenger) it would crash the machine and we'd have to image blast the drive.