But then why would a "Randroid" ever feel the need to justify itself by making a coherent moral framework of immorality? Why not just pretend to be moral and then rob everyone blind, only making alliances of convenience when it suits you?
Morality, and all subjective human concepts of "good" and "evil" are just evolved instincts, much like the behaviour of these robots. That doesn't make them any less real, of course, and overanalyzing is likely to lead into dead ends and meaningless moral relativism which isn't really satisfying to the moral instinct which is the only true yardstick of good and evil. But it's sometimes essential to keep in mind the subjectivity of empathy and "fair play".
No, it just means that Randians have some other, stronger incentive not to behave altruistically. Or rather, to have the freedom to choose when to behave altruistically. It doesn't even have to be "misanthropy", it could just be not being able to relate to most people and/or having fundamental differences in values and behaviour? If you cannot relate to the behaviours of others on an empathic level when they "get in your way" for whatever reason, it's easy to treat them like roadblocks instead of people. Nevermind participating in a society based on systemic forced altruism and morality.
While I do get stuff mailed to me if I miss a payment, most things here in Sweden (and I believe most other parts of Europe) allows for e-mail based bills and/or just setting up a periodic wiring of money to an account through the bank's web page. My bank logins are handled using a wireless smartcard reader w/ a PIN keypad. Thus, the only things I need to file are contracts, receipts and other such signed documents; this reduces the paper load to one plastic binder, small enough that you can just flip through it to find the document you want On the other hand, I don't own or purchase many things where it would make sense to keep receipts or warranty agreements, for example.
Occasionally I've needed to submit copies of documents to the government to prove medical expenses or such since privacy laws means that the different state departements cannot easily share such things, but it's rare (however some stuff should probably be kept down in the vault of the local bank, but that's an extra expense.)
As for disposal, I just tear them to shreds and throw them in the trash. If I had to dispose of something really sensitive, I guess I'd just slowly burn it under the kitchen vent.
From what i read in the previous slashdot discussion (and from what they write on their webpage) they only want the "base station log", so they wouldn't be able to correlate the data to anyone in particular (unless you are somehow verifiably the only user of a cell tower at a certain point in time.)
When I look for conversion according to "purchasing power parity" for Sweden I wind up with my connection costing 34$ USD, but that can't be right. I'm not well-versed in economics; do you have a source for the "adjusted conversion rate"?
I sit here, 90 miles above the polar circle in the northernmost city in Sweden, and I pay ~52 USD a month for an unlimited 100/10 (guaranteed minimum 60) connection from an RJ-45 jack in my apartment wall. It's an ordinary apartment, nothing special about it, this is something that is generally available. Bask in my smugness, etc.
The Swedish media has invited some discussion over this, mainly in relation to the Muslim Brotherhood's involvement. General consensus seems to be that the rebels are mostly unified and "tolerably secular", even if they are naturally a horde of all sorts of people. There was, for example, reports of anti-gay slogans being shouted over rebel radio.
While I have understood that the Israeli Sayeret forces and/or Mossad are indeed very skilled, this list of targeted killings is not without civilian victims, and the methods used (hellfire missiles, the same as predator drones, and bombs) makes me think there would be more. It could be that this is merely "edge cases" under extreme circumstances, but civilian casualties are still civilian casualties.
The problem is that this isn't "king vs. king", it's king(s) vs. oppressive warlord(s). Take the current situation in Libya, for example. It's not a matter of "disagreement", it's a matter of civilians being killed, tortured and raped to oppress revolts. It's not a matter of misunderstanding or unwillingness to get along, but power, only power.
Introducing misguided notions of civility (except for stuff like "we won't pour white phosporus over the enemy, shoot off his leg so he'll be a burden for his men and lower morale as he writhes in agony, or use gasses that causes the enemy to slowly drown in his own lung-slime") would probably be a huge mistake.
Look, you've tested it. It works. You might want to save some of those bots/tor endpoint nodes from permaban for the actual spam attack. Or is this all you've got?
That would imply guidance wings, which makes me think of a gyrojet-style weapon. But with enough miniaturization, maybe you could make a bullet that assymetrically shed parts of an outer layer by command from a directional antenna on the barrel or something?
You have to keep up appearances, and send the right message to your customers. Breaking away the layer of glitz and convenience to reveal the actual "gritty" technology that underlies everything is obscene. Stuff should be beautiful and Just Work (TM), or it's thrown into the trash for wasting your time. Because you Deserve It! (TM).
I feel exactly the same. It's a lot easier to be motivated in a group though (not neccessarily from chatting and wasting time, but in a motivation and feedback kind of way) and if these places could spawn actual collaboration that'd be nice. But frankly, I'd be (happily) surprised if that actually occured.
People having very narrow/relatively unusual areas of interest (like security, in my case) might also be a factor, as would sheer difference in level of competence and the addition of people without a "technical mindset" (why are all these drunk hipsters here, and would they be very upset if we threw them out so we could discuss in peace?)
I have seen something similar (not a "hackerspace" but a "computer club" at university, where everyone just sat down and mutely stared at screens, like an internet cafe. Really weird atmosphere.)
If you are exposed to something that triggers a traumatic reaction, I suppose you could either lash out at it/avoid it, or accept it as a new part of your worldview. Or both, at the same time.
I haven't met many finns either, even tough I live up west of Tornedalen, but those that I've met seem to have something nice about the way they act against others, a refreshing spontaneousness and honesty that you don't find in the general population in sweden. I think you might be right about the monarchy thing, at least in the sense that interacting with someone in sweden (unless they are drunk or close friends) is more of an exercize in "courtliness" than anything else. And because it's so pervasive people don't think about it, and get fazed when they meet someone without these automatic cultural cues. And they aren't codified either, so you couldn't learn from a book.
And no, it isn't asperger lack of body language skills I'm talking about, infact most people with the condition that otherwise function seem to fit much better into this mold, as do I; I have nothing to complain about whatsoever. Nor is it racism, I've personally seen it happen to germans.
Speaking as a Swede, people in this region is just as immature, inconsiderate and stupid as any american. It's basically a matter of having a culture where acting "sensibly", cooperating with authority (yet counting corruption and incompetence as major sins, you work for the system you are a cog in the machine, do your duty) and "keeping your mouth shut and working hard" has created a state that is efficient and a population that mostly has consensus on what "the greater good" in the phrase "for the greater good" means. Especially since religion doesn't enter into the picture.
The way I read it, the'yre talking about adding extra nerves into a muscle group and then read the signals from that muscle group. I'm talking about running a "line" into the "trunk nerve", so you wouldn't need to give up a patch of muscle to control the implant. That'd be a big thing if you want to add stuff to people that aren't injured or is having stuff cut off and replaced.
Slashdot Mirror
But then why would a "Randroid" ever feel the need to justify itself by making a coherent moral framework of immorality? Why not just pretend to be moral and then rob everyone blind, only making alliances of convenience when it suits you?
Morality, and all subjective human concepts of "good" and "evil" are just evolved instincts, much like the behaviour of these robots. That doesn't make them any less real, of course, and overanalyzing is likely to lead into dead ends and meaningless moral relativism which isn't really satisfying to the moral instinct which is the only true yardstick of good and evil. But it's sometimes essential to keep in mind the subjectivity of empathy and "fair play".
No, it just means that Randians have some other, stronger incentive not to behave altruistically. Or rather, to have the freedom to choose when to behave altruistically. It doesn't even have to be "misanthropy", it could just be not being able to relate to most people and/or having fundamental differences in values and behaviour? If you cannot relate to the behaviours of others on an empathic level when they "get in your way" for whatever reason, it's easy to treat them like roadblocks instead of people. Nevermind participating in a society based on systemic forced altruism and morality.
While I do get stuff mailed to me if I miss a payment, most things here in Sweden (and I believe most other parts of Europe) allows for e-mail based bills and/or just setting up a periodic wiring of money to an account through the bank's web page. My bank logins are handled using a wireless smartcard reader w/ a PIN keypad. Thus, the only things I need to file are contracts, receipts and other such signed documents; this reduces the paper load to one plastic binder, small enough that you can just flip through it to find the document you want On the other hand, I don't own or purchase many things where it would make sense to keep receipts or warranty agreements, for example.
Occasionally I've needed to submit copies of documents to the government to prove medical expenses or such since privacy laws means that the different state departements cannot easily share such things, but it's rare (however some stuff should probably be kept down in the vault of the local bank, but that's an extra expense.) As for disposal, I just tear them to shreds and throw them in the trash. If I had to dispose of something really sensitive, I guess I'd just slowly burn it under the kitchen vent.
In Sweden, at least, the operators seem to freely publish the locations of their towers. And why do you like that?
From what i read in the previous slashdot discussion (and from what they write on their webpage) they only want the "base station log", so they wouldn't be able to correlate the data to anyone in particular (unless you are somehow verifiably the only user of a cell tower at a certain point in time.)
When I look for conversion according to "purchasing power parity" for Sweden I wind up with my connection costing 34$ USD, but that can't be right. I'm not well-versed in economics; do you have a source for the "adjusted conversion rate"?
No, not to the best of my knowledge.
Nope, you don't get cut off. There are no hidden caps, at least not that I've ever heard of (and such information would spread fast.)
I sit here, 90 miles above the polar circle in the northernmost city in Sweden, and I pay ~52 USD a month for an unlimited 100/10 (guaranteed minimum 60) connection from an RJ-45 jack in my apartment wall. It's an ordinary apartment, nothing special about it, this is something that is generally available. Bask in my smugness, etc.
The Swedish media has invited some discussion over this, mainly in relation to the Muslim Brotherhood's involvement. General consensus seems to be that the rebels are mostly unified and "tolerably secular", even if they are naturally a horde of all sorts of people. There was, for example, reports of anti-gay slogans being shouted over rebel radio.
While I have understood that the Israeli Sayeret forces and/or Mossad are indeed very skilled, this list of targeted killings is not without civilian victims, and the methods used (hellfire missiles, the same as predator drones, and bombs) makes me think there would be more. It could be that this is merely "edge cases" under extreme circumstances, but civilian casualties are still civilian casualties.
Yet, common morality tells you that you must let the child grow up in peace still.
PEBTH (Problem Exists Between Trigger and Hair)?
The problem is that this isn't "king vs. king", it's king(s) vs. oppressive warlord(s). Take the current situation in Libya, for example. It's not a matter of "disagreement", it's a matter of civilians being killed, tortured and raped to oppress revolts. It's not a matter of misunderstanding or unwillingness to get along, but power, only power.
Introducing misguided notions of civility (except for stuff like "we won't pour white phosporus over the enemy, shoot off his leg so he'll be a burden for his men and lower morale as he writhes in agony, or use gasses that causes the enemy to slowly drown in his own lung-slime") would probably be a huge mistake.
Look, you've tested it. It works. You might want to save some of those bots/tor endpoint nodes from permaban for the actual spam attack. Or is this all you've got?
Or just mount hellfire missiles on a long-range UAV, for added range and field of vision. Wait...
That would imply guidance wings, which makes me think of a gyrojet-style weapon. But with enough miniaturization, maybe you could make a bullet that assymetrically shed parts of an outer layer by command from a directional antenna on the barrel or something?
You have to keep up appearances, and send the right message to your customers. Breaking away the layer of glitz and convenience to reveal the actual "gritty" technology that underlies everything is obscene. Stuff should be beautiful and Just Work (TM), or it's thrown into the trash for wasting your time. Because you Deserve It! (TM).
I feel exactly the same. It's a lot easier to be motivated in a group though (not neccessarily from chatting and wasting time, but in a motivation and feedback kind of way) and if these places could spawn actual collaboration that'd be nice. But frankly, I'd be (happily) surprised if that actually occured.
People having very narrow/relatively unusual areas of interest (like security, in my case) might also be a factor, as would sheer difference in level of competence and the addition of people without a "technical mindset" (why are all these drunk hipsters here, and would they be very upset if we threw them out so we could discuss in peace?)
I have seen something similar (not a "hackerspace" but a "computer club" at university, where everyone just sat down and mutely stared at screens, like an internet cafe. Really weird atmosphere.)
If you are exposed to something that triggers a traumatic reaction, I suppose you could either lash out at it/avoid it, or accept it as a new part of your worldview. Or both, at the same time.
Cue instant feeling of terror having a truck driving towards you and you suddenly notice the driver's seat is empty.
I haven't met many finns either, even tough I live up west of Tornedalen, but those that I've met seem to have something nice about the way they act against others, a refreshing spontaneousness and honesty that you don't find in the general population in sweden. I think you might be right about the monarchy thing, at least in the sense that interacting with someone in sweden (unless they are drunk or close friends) is more of an exercize in "courtliness" than anything else. And because it's so pervasive people don't think about it, and get fazed when they meet someone without these automatic cultural cues. And they aren't codified either, so you couldn't learn from a book.
And no, it isn't asperger lack of body language skills I'm talking about, infact most people with the condition that otherwise function seem to fit much better into this mold, as do I; I have nothing to complain about whatsoever. Nor is it racism, I've personally seen it happen to germans.
Speaking as a Swede, people in this region is just as immature, inconsiderate and stupid as any american. It's basically a matter of having a culture where acting "sensibly", cooperating with authority (yet counting corruption and incompetence as major sins, you work for the system you are a cog in the machine, do your duty) and "keeping your mouth shut and working hard" has created a state that is efficient and a population that mostly has consensus on what "the greater good" in the phrase "for the greater good" means. Especially since religion doesn't enter into the picture.
Finland is pretty awesome too, the cultural differences aren't that big. Sweden is basically more two-faced and effeminately homosexual (in a good and loving way). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brgMFmFwTZI&feature=related
The way I read it, the'yre talking about adding extra nerves into a muscle group and then read the signals from that muscle group. I'm talking about running a "line" into the "trunk nerve", so you wouldn't need to give up a patch of muscle to control the implant. That'd be a big thing if you want to add stuff to people that aren't injured or is having stuff cut off and replaced.