I can't say I agree. I think those waving the terrorism banner right now are your average, run of the mill, nationalistic,self important, jack booted thugs with which mankind has been infested since that damned big black thingy showed up.
Maybe. Please be so kind as to go back and read my post again.
Slowly.
You may find that the first sentence is merely extreme irony, and the second descends to meta-irony.
The last two words are actually a punchline.
There is also a level of meta-meta-irony, since my very words are actually used to justify the measures being taken, without any indication that the people speaking them in earnest have any clue as to the irony.
I hate explaining jokes, but feel your post warrants a bit of it in this case.
I'd be far more worried about Ashcroft with that data than Schroder.
The problem is not always who gets the data now, but who gets it next.
There is also a flip side to this data that most people don't think about. If one's identity is one's data, one can be officially eliminated by erasing the data.
First they round you up using the data, then they erase the data, then they can do anything they want. You don't exist.
It's an endless battle. If countries carries on trying to defend themselves like they do now (mostly in the US, but also in other countries), they'll all turn into huge menacing police states.
But dude, we have to do it to protect our freedom and our way of life.
You're not against freedom and our way of life. . . are you?
Yep, the drive home from Best Buy was included in my time estimate. However, I was considering the issue a full install on the HD.
KFG
Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony
on
Singularity Sky
·
· Score: 1
On the other hand, I must say that Anthony is one of my favorite authors in the genre when he writes with his own voice. Harlen Ellison is another of these.
Sometimes you you get your money's worth just from the introductory materials.
The question is, why do you choose to take the reviewer's expression of his own tastes and opinions as a personal insult?
And for that matter, if you find such to be wrong, why do you respond by insulting his taste?
KFG
Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony
on
Singularity Sky
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
On a Pale Horse is a wonder. If this is the sort of thing that Mr. Anthony is capable of I certainly wish he'd produce more of it.
With each further volume however he "progressed" more and more toward his standard goofey fantasy style, which is fine for a book or two of light reading, but that's about it. It gets old, in a hurry.
So, while in essence I agree with you, I nonetheless found the series as a whole dissapointing.
No. SDI was conceived as a missle defense system. A "shield" in space that could shoot down enemy incoming ballistics. To the extent that it also included offensive weapons they were intended to protect the system itself or disable an enemy's similar system.
This new system, aimed at directly attacking ground targets from space is offensive. Interpreet that as you will.
I don't know. Maybe the same people who are lobbying the Racer developer to add a horn to the sim?
Dude, go to the bike shop. Buy a real horn. Put it on your desk. Toot it all you want.
Me, I'm holding out for the most realistic fuzzy dice physics yet seen.
Sometimes the best way to simulate reality is with, well, reality. Go figure. If I want my sweety to be able to smell me while she reads my email I'll give her about $.0005 worth of Old Spice in a little vial and include [smell me now] tags.
Frankly I think it's a great idea. Imagine, if you will hoards of gamers storming the stores and buying these things two and three at a time. All the high end model too. $500+$120=$620 apiece for a box of nice parts, all sold by Infinium at a loss.
And since it's really just a standard PC done up in a doofey box getting Linux to run on it will be a piece of cake. I predict about 1 hour from first sale to first running system.
Try imagining a beowolf cluster of these things. No, really imagine a beowolf cluster of these things.
How about a home LAN of nVidia 3D accelerated 3ghz P4s at $420 apiece?
Yep, I think every gamer should support HardOCP in this matter by purchasing as many Phantom's as they can lay their hands on.
Which brings us right back to the joke embedded in the products name.
That said, I'm slightly troubled myself by what appears to be moral relativist rationalization for criminal behavior in your post. the concept of good guy is a highly relative one. is a curious statement.
It might be a curious statement if it in any way resembled your charecterization of it. I neither expressed nor implied any criminal behaviour on the part of either police officers or private citizens, therefore it also cannot be a rationalization for criminal behaviour.
Frankly I have no idea where you dredged that up from. It tends to support Mr. Dowd's claim that police officers, over time, learn to view everything through a veil of criminality.
I might also point out that the law itself is morally relativistic. If I am a drill sargent and I go to a strip club and pinch a stripper's ass without her permission I have commited no legal offense. If I then go to a diner and pinch a waitresses ass without her permission I am guilty of a civil sexual harrassment. If I then return to base and a trainee asks me to pinch her ass and I comply I have commited a criminal sexual harrassment.
The only difference between these three cases is the moral relativism of the situation.
There is a similar moral relativism between the actions of a police officer and the actions of a private citizen. Police officers may do certain things forbiden to private citizens, and vice versa.
One may also perform and be convicted of criminal acts and yet be guilty of no crime. The case in question here can serve as example. If Mr. H prevails in his appeal to the Supreme Court his conviction will be nullified because the law itself was improper. In fact things may suddenly turn around, as his civil rights will have been illegally violated.
This is also a form of moral relativism.
All crimes of intent are moral relativism as well.
Police officers have certain scope in their behaviour. They are not robots. In the case in question the law allowed the officer to demand ID, it did not require it. Upon refusal the law allowed the officer to make arrest, it did not require it. The DA had wide disgression whether or not to prosecute, for what particular charge and to plea bargain that charge.
It is actually a principle of law that not every crime need be prosecuted and that laws may be ignored wholesale by both the police and the courts. This is why there are so many archaic laws still formally on the books.
This is also moral relativism that allows society as a whole, including police officers, to be "scofflaws."
Juries routinely practice moral relativism in their verdicts. One of my lawyer friends even talks of the unofficial verdict of "guilty, but forgiven."
This practice is codified in law.
Trials themselves are often not about black letter law and finding of facts, but entirely revolve around issues of moral relativism, as per above examples and many others.
There are even laws which one cannot know a priori one is breaking because a trial is the only test of legality.
And if you arrest someone on such a charge do not be surprised if issues of moral relativism tend to make some members of the public not entirely sure if you're a good guy or not.
Them Mac users will jump on anything Apple sugar coats and make it viable:-)
"Unix? Don't make me laugh. That's for geeks and dorks. It's clunky, arcane, command line driven, everything a Mac isn't. You'd never get me to switch fromm. . . Oooooooooooo, shiney!"
Slashdot Mirror
. . . what positions are the helpdesk classes getting?
Frier trainee or Wal-Mart "Associate." The sad part is this the first post today where I'm not being snide.
Well, Ok, I did put associate in quotes.
KFG
I used to own an Alfa Romeo too.
KFG
The BSCS and Phd. CS guys that I've worked with always seemed like they were trained for research instead of getting the product shipped.
As it should be. The mistake was hiring scientists when engineers were wanted.
A doctorate is a research degree. By definition.
You don't hire an architect to hammer nails, and if he applies you have to realize he's going to need training as a carpenter.
KFG
Might I interest you in a new fad diet I've invented by investing heavy research into fad diets of 40 years ago?
No?
Well, how about this brand spanking new religious philosophy channeled to me by a wise, old Atlantean that I found in the library?
Hmmmmmmmm, tough customer.
One word. Plastics.
I think Santayana had something to say about this. Wish I could remember what it was.
KFG
I can't say I agree. I think those waving the terrorism banner right now are your average, run of the mill, nationalistic,self important, jack booted thugs with which mankind has been infested since that damned big black thingy showed up.
But that's just me.
KFG
Yup, and a circle is a circle because by definition a circle is a circle ;-)
Nonesense. It's a degenerate ellipse.
But don't tell Ashcroft. We've got enough troubles already.
KFG
there are a lot of foreign people who can't be there. . .
Yeah. Don't you just hate it when the Belgians act like they're the whole world, just because of their size and insularity?
KFG
Maybe its extreme irony on your part. . .
Maybe. Please be so kind as to go back and read my post again.
Slowly.
You may find that the first sentence is merely extreme irony, and the second descends to meta-irony.
The last two words are actually a punchline.
There is also a level of meta-meta-irony, since my very words are actually used to justify the measures being taken, without any indication that the people speaking them in earnest have any clue as to the irony.
I hate explaining jokes, but feel your post warrants a bit of it in this case.
KFG
(family history for 300 years).
I'd be far more worried about Ashcroft with that data than Schroder.
The problem is not always who gets the data now, but who gets it next.
There is also a flip side to this data that most people don't think about. If one's identity is one's data, one can be officially eliminated by erasing the data.
First they round you up using the data, then they erase the data, then they can do anything they want. You don't exist.
KFG
. . .an iris scan can actually identify a user based off of their iris pattern.
. . . privacy was not much of a concern.
You are using a different definition of privacy than one many people are concerned about.
KFG
It's an endless battle. If countries carries on trying to defend themselves like they do now (mostly in the US, but also in other countries), they'll all turn into huge menacing police states.
But dude, we have to do it to protect our freedom and our way of life.
You're not against freedom and our way of life. . . are you?
KFG
So, I'll need to upgrade my tinfoil hat to a full tinfoil helmet?
And don't forget your cup.
KFG
"No word yet for Cell Phone users' brains..."
I'm sure someone will prove its existence, eventually.
If my anecdotal experiences gathered at the mall are any indication, good luck.
KFG
Are you by any chance thinking of the supposed commencment address by Kurt Vonnegut?
If so that was actually written by Mary
Schmich of the Chicago Tribune.
KFG
Yep, the drive home from Best Buy was included in my time estimate. However, I was considering the issue a full install on the HD.
KFG
On the other hand, I must say that Anthony is one of my favorite authors in the genre when he writes with his own voice. Harlen Ellison is another of these.
Sometimes you you get your money's worth just from the introductory materials.
KFG
The question is, why do you choose to take the reviewer's expression of his own tastes and opinions as a personal insult?
And for that matter, if you find such to be wrong, why do you respond by insulting his taste?
KFG
On a Pale Horse is a wonder. If this is the sort of thing that Mr. Anthony is capable of I certainly wish he'd produce more of it.
With each further volume however he "progressed" more and more toward his standard goofey fantasy style, which is fine for a book or two of light reading, but that's about it. It gets old, in a hurry.
So, while in essence I agree with you, I nonetheless found the series as a whole dissapointing.
KFG
No. SDI was conceived as a missle defense system. A "shield" in space that could shoot down enemy incoming ballistics. To the extent that it also included offensive weapons they were intended to protect the system itself or disable an enemy's similar system.
This new system, aimed at directly attacking ground targets from space is offensive. Interpreet that as you will.
KFG
Ok, I tried that. It really works.
In fact, it obfuscated my Python code so badly even the interpreter couldn't figure out what the hell it meant.
Maybe I need to improve my Hungarian.
KFG
Ironically I'm both a Mac user and a Linux advocate, but my Mac runs System 7 just fine and I'm happy with it.
Go figure.
KFG
I don't know. Maybe the same people who are lobbying the Racer developer to add a horn to the sim?
Dude, go to the bike shop. Buy a real horn. Put it on your desk. Toot it all you want.
Me, I'm holding out for the most realistic fuzzy dice physics yet seen.
Sometimes the best way to simulate reality is with, well, reality. Go figure. If I want my sweety to be able to smell me while she reads my email I'll give her about $.0005 worth of Old Spice in a little vial and include [smell me now] tags.
KFG
Frankly I think it's a great idea. Imagine, if you will hoards of gamers storming the stores and buying these things two and three at a time. All the high end model too. $500+$120=$620 apiece for a box of nice parts, all sold by Infinium at a loss.
And since it's really just a standard PC done up in a doofey box getting Linux to run on it will be a piece of cake. I predict about 1 hour from first sale to first running system.
Try imagining a beowolf cluster of these things. No, really imagine a beowolf cluster of these things.
How about a home LAN of nVidia 3D accelerated 3ghz P4s at $420 apiece?
Yep, I think every gamer should support HardOCP in this matter by purchasing as many Phantom's as they can lay their hands on.
Which brings us right back to the joke embedded in the products name.
KFG
That said, I'm slightly troubled myself by what appears to be moral relativist rationalization for criminal behavior in your post. the concept of good guy is a highly relative one. is a curious statement.
It might be a curious statement if it in any way resembled your charecterization of it. I neither expressed nor implied any criminal behaviour on the part of either police officers or private citizens, therefore it also cannot be a rationalization for criminal behaviour.
Frankly I have no idea where you dredged that up from. It tends to support Mr. Dowd's claim that police officers, over time, learn to view everything through a veil of criminality.
I might also point out that the law itself is morally relativistic. If I am a drill sargent and I go to a strip club and pinch a stripper's ass without her permission I have commited no legal offense. If I then go to a diner and pinch a waitresses ass without her permission I am guilty of a civil sexual harrassment. If I then return to base and a trainee asks me to pinch her ass and I comply I have commited a criminal sexual harrassment.
The only difference between these three cases is the moral relativism of the situation.
There is a similar moral relativism between the actions of a police officer and the actions of a private citizen. Police officers may do certain things forbiden to private citizens, and vice versa.
One may also perform and be convicted of criminal acts and yet be guilty of no crime. The case in question here can serve as example. If Mr. H prevails in his appeal to the Supreme Court his conviction will be nullified because the law itself was improper. In fact things may suddenly turn around, as his civil rights will have been illegally violated.
This is also a form of moral relativism.
All crimes of intent are moral relativism as well.
Police officers have certain scope in their behaviour. They are not robots. In the case in question the law allowed the officer to demand ID, it did not require it. Upon refusal the law allowed the officer to make arrest, it did not require it. The DA had wide disgression whether or not to prosecute, for what particular charge and to plea bargain that charge.
It is actually a principle of law that not every crime need be prosecuted and that laws may be ignored wholesale by both the police and the courts. This is why there are so many archaic laws still formally on the books.
This is also moral relativism that allows society as a whole, including police officers, to be "scofflaws."
Juries routinely practice moral relativism in their verdicts. One of my lawyer friends even talks of the unofficial verdict of "guilty, but forgiven."
This practice is codified in law.
Trials themselves are often not about black letter law and finding of facts, but entirely revolve around issues of moral relativism, as per above examples and many others.
There are even laws which one cannot know a priori one is breaking because a trial is the only test of legality.
And if you arrest someone on such a charge do not be surprised if issues of moral relativism tend to make some members of the public not entirely sure if you're a good guy or not.
KFG
Them Mac users will jump on anything Apple sugar coats and make it viable :-)
"Unix? Don't make me laugh. That's for geeks and dorks. It's clunky, arcane, command line driven, everything a Mac isn't. You'd never get me to switch fromm. . . Oooooooooooo, shiney!"
KFG