Okay. If you access refused classification material you are within your rights to do so. If you access illegal material (child porn, for instance) the FBI may show up at your door and arrest you because you have committed a crime. Blocking of either is censorship, but I have no problem with the later class of material being blocked. What is considered illegal and what is refused classification is a different debate entirely (if you want to argue that possession of child porn should be legal, go for it).
Laws are always careful balancing acts between the rights of the involved parties. If you want to believe that no information can be illegal I think that you could make a good case for your belief, but I don't find the "it's too difficult" argument very compelling. I agree that in many existing definitions of illegal material the correct balance has not been found, but I don't think that the best balance is to be completely permissive. In any case, that's a different debate entirely.
Like it or not, there are materials that are illegal and the government has a responsibility to uphold those laws. When the government tries to censor legal material, it should be promptly voted out for assuming powers that it doesn't legally have. The public needs to be clear about what is being censored to make an informed choice and Mr. Conroy is deliberately blurring the issue to push his agenda.
A comment posted below article linked to sums up the problem very succinctly:
"every one of the content types stated by Senator Conroy for implementing the proposed net filter are already illegal in Australia and already filtered by the ACMA blacklist. [...] What Conroy actually wants to block is stuff that isn't determined to be Illegal in Australia but fall under the much much broader category of Refused Classification."
I think that illegal material should be blocked (it usually is, by removing the associated IP addresses from DNS servers). On the other hand, blocking refused classification material is censorship. The government needs to clearly justify the proposed block for RC material rather than pointing to illegal material to attempt to justify it.
I very much agree. If you want to remake the game I can only assume that you enjoy playing it and have some respect for the game. Show the original authors that respect and contact them; the game represents a great deal of effort on their part and deserves a dialog. From your description of the situation in you journal entry, the author would probably enjoy hearing of your interest and you could ask them what the position of the copyright holder is on the subject and discuss options.
That's really neat application! The trouble is that incandescent and fluorescent lamps would both be unable to transmit at a high bandwidth because they have a slow response time to a change in the electrical current. LEDs, on the other hand, respond much faster and would be appropriate for high-bandwidth applications.
I learned in Fortran (I should qualify this by pointing out that I'm not a particularly good programmer) but it seems to me that writing logical code that uses GOTO statements would be a good introduction to computer logic. A complex program may become unreadable, but as a learning tool I could see that it might have merit. Good coding is about understanding logical procedure (and comments).
Polarization has a nasty habit of rotating when it travels through optical (telecom) fiber. To make matters worse, the degree of rotation depends on temperature and physical strain and can change quite rapidly. Of course, entangling three photons is much harder than entangling two.
No, rights outlined in the European Convention on Human Rights are protected by it; internet access isn't one of them. You'll also notice that it makes no statements regarding access to other utilities. As much as denial of internet may seem like torture to a Web 2.0 addict, it isn't.
I hope so. That would kill the credibility of this kind of DRM (I don't mean credibility in the eyes of/. readers, that was gone long ago, I mean in the eyes of legislators). It would also be grounds for a class action law suit unless that kind of termination is included on the EULA, which would further undermine the legality of the EULA.
I know, it's a pretty damn big stretch to be that optimistic. Still, I want to live in my EULA-free fantasy world so you can go rain on someone else's parade.
It still is but it's now also a business. The mathematical side is still being actively developed but the people who work on it aren't writing iPhone apps. Nothing has been lost, but the enterprise side of programming now dwarfs the academic side.
You'd have to replace the whole electronics with your own and drive the head and the motors with your own.
I'd say replacing the electronics would be sufficient to make use of the existing read/write head and motors. If he wants to write 1s and 0s in individual magnetic regions of the hard disk he's out to lunch, but using the existing head to write something to disk and read it again should be possible.
There's marvelous technology in hard disks that can be re-purposed for applications other than data storage, but for data storage, stick to the existing firmware.
There are tons of games that are absolutely gripping but have gameplay so slow it would put most FPS players to sleep. One of my favorites is the Silent Hunter series. On the higher realism settings it often requires a calculator to triangulate ship positions and velocities, taking up to an hour to set up a torpedo run on a convoy. Awful to watch, but extremely satisfying if your calculations work out.
If you're looking for fun but relaxed, there's really no shortage. Simulator games abound, as do puzzle games. There's a huge variety of real-time strategy games including tons that don't require inhuman micro-managing but do require thought and planning. Many games require a great deal of intellectual energy and are very rewarding. You say that the demand is there for mature games; it is, but so is the supply.
I now have a much better understanding of why I have to constantly adjust the angle of my (laptop) monitor every time I move my head. Some of the demos on that page are great for illustrating the effect of a poor quality display (or poor scaling algorithm) on picture quality. I'll keep that page in mind the next time I shop for a laptop.
Depends on the province; it's often free no matter what your situation is. Contrary to Republican scare ads, it's also of excellent quality provided that you don't go to the emergency room for a cold or a stubbed toe.
It could potentially be considered defamation or slander. In that case, the proper recourse if it occurred out of school would be to sue the 17-year-old student -- hardly an improvement but probably on more solid legal grounds. In this case, the Facebook page appears to present an opinion and doesn't pretend to be factual, thus slander wouldn't apply; however, my point is that the law can't be applied to minors in the same way that it's applied to adults.
High-school students who are under 18 certainly have the right to free-speech but it is also the responsibility of the parents and the school system to teach them correct behavior (that Facebook page, free speech or not, is inappropriate). Suspension was a poor choice, it should have been dealt with by bringing it to the attention of the parents, but free speech isn't a free pass for bad behavior. Some people will always behave poorly, but until they turn 18 they can be punished outside the legal system for minor misdeeds. It's better than punishing them within the legal system.
That's far from a certainty. When you download content illegally, your don't pay the blank media levy and the issue remains somewhat gray. I suspect, however, that the next time it comes to court the ruling will not support the downloader, although damages will be limited to $500 per infringement. What is certainly illegal, is uploading copyrighted content in Canada. That means that if you use a P2P network and an investigation gets a hold of some packets of copyrighted material from your IP, you can be sued for infringement.
Don't get your information about Canadian copyright law from the U.S. recording industry. Canadian copyright law isn't behind the U.S., it isn't archaic and it is enforced. It may not be the same law that Big Content wants, but it is there.
It's the responsibility of the Big Content management to protect their rights (and revenue) but it's the responsibility of the Canadian government to protect the rights of Canadian citizens. I hope that the government does it's job properly and carefully balances the rights of those concerned; in my opinion, that balance would not be found by bowing to pressures from the IIPA.
I'm happy to see Enlightenment getting some more exposure. I may have to dust it off and take the latest version out for a spin again. I've been using XFCE for a year now and it's high time for an arbitrary switch to a new DE.
Slashdot Mirror
Okay. If you access refused classification material you are within your rights to do so. If you access illegal material (child porn, for instance) the FBI may show up at your door and arrest you because you have committed a crime. Blocking of either is censorship, but I have no problem with the later class of material being blocked. What is considered illegal and what is refused classification is a different debate entirely (if you want to argue that possession of child porn should be legal, go for it).
Laws are always careful balancing acts between the rights of the involved parties. If you want to believe that no information can be illegal I think that you could make a good case for your belief, but I don't find the "it's too difficult" argument very compelling. I agree that in many existing definitions of illegal material the correct balance has not been found, but I don't think that the best balance is to be completely permissive. In any case, that's a different debate entirely.
Like it or not, there are materials that are illegal and the government has a responsibility to uphold those laws. When the government tries to censor legal material, it should be promptly voted out for assuming powers that it doesn't legally have. The public needs to be clear about what is being censored to make an informed choice and Mr. Conroy is deliberately blurring the issue to push his agenda.
A comment posted below article linked to sums up the problem very succinctly:
"every one of the content types stated by Senator Conroy for implementing the proposed net filter are already illegal in Australia and already filtered by the ACMA blacklist. [...] What Conroy actually wants to block is stuff that isn't determined to be Illegal in Australia but fall under the much much broader category of Refused Classification."
I think that illegal material should be blocked (it usually is, by removing the associated IP addresses from DNS servers). On the other hand, blocking refused classification material is censorship. The government needs to clearly justify the proposed block for RC material rather than pointing to illegal material to attempt to justify it.
I very much agree. If you want to remake the game I can only assume that you enjoy playing it and have some respect for the game. Show the original authors that respect and contact them; the game represents a great deal of effort on their part and deserves a dialog. From your description of the situation in you journal entry, the author would probably enjoy hearing of your interest and you could ask them what the position of the copyright holder is on the subject and discuss options.
That's a really neat application!
There. Fixed that for myself. Uhg.
That's really neat application! The trouble is that incandescent and fluorescent lamps would both be unable to transmit at a high bandwidth because they have a slow response time to a change in the electrical current. LEDs, on the other hand, respond much faster and would be appropriate for high-bandwidth applications.
I learned in Fortran (I should qualify this by pointing out that I'm not a particularly good programmer) but it seems to me that writing logical code that uses GOTO statements would be a good introduction to computer logic. A complex program may become unreadable, but as a learning tool I could see that it might have merit. Good coding is about understanding logical procedure (and comments).
It was good while it lasted.
Here's a link to the paper: arXiv:1003.1050v1. Have a read and make a more informed opinion about what field it belongs it.
Polarization has a nasty habit of rotating when it travels through optical (telecom) fiber. To make matters worse, the degree of rotation depends on temperature and physical strain and can change quite rapidly. Of course, entangling three photons is much harder than entangling two.
No, rights outlined in the European Convention on Human Rights are protected by it; internet access isn't one of them. You'll also notice that it makes no statements regarding access to other utilities. As much as denial of internet may seem like torture to a Web 2.0 addict, it isn't.
Boy would we be in trouble if we took the internet seriously. (I'm looking at you Anonymous Coward).
allows cracking of software that you legally own
Too bad the users only license software. Which is, I think, at the core of the problem.
(Note: I have no idea what the status of software licences is in Germany, I'm referring to the North American system, which may be different.)
I hope so. That would kill the credibility of this kind of DRM (I don't mean credibility in the eyes of /. readers, that was gone long ago, I mean in the eyes of legislators). It would also be grounds for a class action law suit unless that kind of termination is included on the EULA, which would further undermine the legality of the EULA.
I know, it's a pretty damn big stretch to be that optimistic. Still, I want to live in my EULA-free fantasy world so you can go rain on someone else's parade.
Programming used to be more of a math.
It still is but it's now also a business. The mathematical side is still being actively developed but the people who work on it aren't writing iPhone apps. Nothing has been lost, but the enterprise side of programming now dwarfs the academic side.
No, it won't bite. It will segfault.
You'd have to replace the whole electronics with your own and drive the head and the motors with your own.
I'd say replacing the electronics would be sufficient to make use of the existing read/write head and motors. If he wants to write 1s and 0s in individual magnetic regions of the hard disk he's out to lunch, but using the existing head to write something to disk and read it again should be possible.
There's marvelous technology in hard disks that can be re-purposed for applications other than data storage, but for data storage, stick to the existing firmware.
One one side you have people who ignore scientific evidence for financial gain.
On the other side you have... those who ignore scientific evidence for financial gain.
Yes, but one side also happens to be wrong.
There are tons of games that are absolutely gripping but have gameplay so slow it would put most FPS players to sleep. One of my favorites is the Silent Hunter series. On the higher realism settings it often requires a calculator to triangulate ship positions and velocities, taking up to an hour to set up a torpedo run on a convoy. Awful to watch, but extremely satisfying if your calculations work out.
If you're looking for fun but relaxed, there's really no shortage. Simulator games abound, as do puzzle games. There's a huge variety of real-time strategy games including tons that don't require inhuman micro-managing but do require thought and planning. Many games require a great deal of intellectual energy and are very rewarding. You say that the demand is there for mature games; it is, but so is the supply.
for people with poor quality displays!
I now have a much better understanding of why I have to constantly adjust the angle of my (laptop) monitor every time I move my head. Some of the demos on that page are great for illustrating the effect of a poor quality display (or poor scaling algorithm) on picture quality. I'll keep that page in mind the next time I shop for a laptop.
Depends on the province; it's often free no matter what your situation is. Contrary to Republican scare ads, it's also of excellent quality provided that you don't go to the emergency room for a cold or a stubbed toe.
It could potentially be considered defamation or slander. In that case, the proper recourse if it occurred out of school would be to sue the 17-year-old student -- hardly an improvement but probably on more solid legal grounds. In this case, the Facebook page appears to present an opinion and doesn't pretend to be factual, thus slander wouldn't apply; however, my point is that the law can't be applied to minors in the same way that it's applied to adults.
High-school students who are under 18 certainly have the right to free-speech but it is also the responsibility of the parents and the school system to teach them correct behavior (that Facebook page, free speech or not, is inappropriate). Suspension was a poor choice, it should have been dealt with by bringing it to the attention of the parents, but free speech isn't a free pass for bad behavior. Some people will always behave poorly, but until they turn 18 they can be punished outside the legal system for minor misdeeds. It's better than punishing them within the legal system.
That's far from a certainty. When you download content illegally, your don't pay the blank media levy and the issue remains somewhat gray. I suspect, however, that the next time it comes to court the ruling will not support the downloader, although damages will be limited to $500 per infringement. What is certainly illegal, is uploading copyrighted content in Canada. That means that if you use a P2P network and an investigation gets a hold of some packets of copyrighted material from your IP, you can be sued for infringement.
Don't get your information about Canadian copyright law from the U.S. recording industry. Canadian copyright law isn't behind the U.S., it isn't archaic and it is enforced. It may not be the same law that Big Content wants, but it is there.
It's the responsibility of the Big Content management to protect their rights (and revenue) but it's the responsibility of the Canadian government to protect the rights of Canadian citizens. I hope that the government does it's job properly and carefully balances the rights of those concerned; in my opinion, that balance would not be found by bowing to pressures from the IIPA.
./ needs a "Gentoo takes a long time to compile" tag for comments; I don't think "Funny" applies anymore.
I'm happy to see Enlightenment getting some more exposure. I may have to dust it off and take the latest version out for a spin again. I've been using XFCE for a year now and it's high time for an arbitrary switch to a new DE.