Can we have something besides a wizard, warrior and ranger dwarf, human, elf fighting orcs, dragons, demons to safe the princess, land, people from some evil magic?
Planescape. I know, I know, it's how many years old now... but it still deserves playing now and again.
For example, the US Coast Guard will fire you if you get yourself a DUI as a civilian, and if you are active duty you COULD get two DUI's (pending a board review) before being fired, but that's it.
Unless there's other factors (or you're found as 'alcohol dependent' in your first 6 months of active service'), nobody gets discharged for one alcohol incident. Discharge is only automatic after two 'alcohol incidents'* for officers. Enlisted personnel can go as high as three if they're otherwise clean.
On the flip side, you could be a lazy bum and be a low productivity worker for decades, and probably make it to retirement while being paid moderately well.
Well, that's true in any branch of the military. As long as you (generally) follow orders as they are given, getting involuntarily discharged takes some serious work. (Although some branches have a 'up or out' up to a certain rank - if you don't make a particular rank by your fourth or eighth year, you won't be given the option of renewing your enlistment or commission.
*Although it's not just a DWI that counts as an alcohol incident. Any arrest involving alcohol, from a public drunkeness to a misdemeanor assault while intoxicated is an alcohol incident. As is showing up for duty drunk, drinking on duty... basically any misconduct where 'alcohol was consumed and was a significant causative factor in the misconduct.'
It's definetely a 'spirit vs. letter' type of arguement. By the time you write a legaly iron-clad definition of "easy to understand", you've successfully made it... well, not easy to understand.
Well, since we're talking about airplanes, knowledge of one-way streets, or streets in general, are superfluous. All is has to do is have the list of hijacked-plane friendly landing strips, and a broadcast loop of "This plane has been hijacked, and is on autopilot. Keep at least (appropriate distance) away." It picks the nearest one, and lands. As far as tampering with the autopilot, I would suspect it would be either firmware or hardwired into one of the PCB's... and any hypothetical terrorist with enough knowledge to gain access to the control circuit on the autopilot could just disable it on the plane, in any event.
And, to be honest, after 9/11... if a hijacked plane was downed, either by its own autopilot malfunctioning, choice of the pilot, or being shot down by a military jet, I don't think many people would be bitching at Boeing.
And we made up science, culture, and the arts, as well.
Does that make them less important?
More importantly... what does this have to do with whether or not ethics should be applied to non-human intelligence? If the reason that a human, a dog, a tree, and a rock have different 'levels' of rights is their different levels intelligence, than why would some (non-human) with roughly equal (or even higher) level of intelligence have a different set of rights?
I think it is a particular instance of CYA. While sweeping statements have a harder time holding up in (specifically American) courts, while the more specific the statement, the harder it is to find a loophole.
The correct language in GPL v3 would be something like, "This agreement is void in its entirety if the covered software is found to implement a current, valid patent whose owner has not offered the patent for use for free in any manner comperable to how it is used in the covered software."
If their goal was to avoid accidentally using a software patent, that would be correct.
But if their goal is to instead set up a state of (some degree of) mutually assured lawsuits, then what they are doing is the correct choice. If Microsoft (or any other software vendor, for that matter) takes a single piece of GPL v3 code that wasn't previously released as GPL v2 code, any software patent lawsuit will trigger a response of copyright infrigement lawsuits.
If there is a requirement (or at least a custom) that laws be written in an easy-to-understand fashion, at least we'll know what we're doing is either legal or not.
And I'd be very careful how to word the charta. We have seen that the "three laws" ain't safe.
And that was one of the many themes that Mr. Asimov covered in the Robot/Empire/Foundation extended series. Eventually, the truly self-aware androids realized that, in a long enough timeline, the application of the three laws, taken to their conclusion, would cause the extinction of the human race. If robots were required to do whatever they could to reduce risk to human life, humans would be unable to learn, grow, or do much of anything. Eventually the solution was the creation of the Zeroth Law. Supposing, for a moment, that we ever manage to create a true strong AI, I think it would be prudent to go with the expanded, rather than original, list.
and even if it had emotion, the only reason to "treat it right" is so they don't start the robot uprising against humanity.
So, if somebody had no power over you, and would never have any power over you, it's perfectly okay to abuse them? Man, I hope I either misunderstood your comment, or you never ever have pets or children.
But other than that, yeah. If it's a tool, then it's a tool. As long as it is still on the "stimulus-response" level of intelligence, there isn't really any ethics to consider.
This isn't exactly about criticizing the (current) government of Turkey. Mustafa Ataturk is to the modern state of Turkey as George Washington is to the US - it would be more like if there was laws (with harsh punishments) forbidding talk badly of him. (Although Turkey isn't very receptive to criticism of its current government, either.)
And when someone attempts to violate those rights, one should expect that society will afford them the ability to defend themselves against that violation. But that doesn't mean that one should expect a gun to be the arbiter of that defense.
While there's plenty of non-lethal alternatives, most of them fall short of firearms in one way or another. Not everyone has the time or physical ability to become an expert in martial arts. Even if they did, if the aggressor has a gun, you're toast. (The example of Alex Gong comes to mind.) Most non-lethal weapons (pepper spray & tasers spring to mind quickly) have much shorter effective range than firearms.
While it would be nice if there was an non-lethal,man-portable weapon with an effective range of 5 feet to a hundred, there really isn't.
Ok... So I'm pretty sure, based on his response & link, that he knew you were being sarcastic about the post. His point was that, yes, there were law-abiding Iraqis who aren't trying to kill US & UK troops that own their own weapons, mostly to protect themselves from other Iraqis who are part of the insurgency. (Since, obviously, if they're not trying to kill the foreigners, they must be killed as well.)
No, it would probably be a better comparison if the pens just didn't warn you if you were writing something slanderous.
Oh, wait, most pens don't do that?
In all seriousness, anybody who thought that smoking was good for you was lying to themselves just as much as the tobacco companies lied to them. It's on fire. You're breathing smoke. Pretty much anybody should realize that smoke isn't, really, meant for breathing. Sure, it calms you down a bit, and it feels kinda nice, but it's still smoke.
Well, they're optional in the sense that you don't ever have to connect the 360 to XboxLive if you don't want... however, most of the games I've gotten for my 360 have brought up a "this game requires an update to your 360's software to play" message the first time you put it in. So unless you're intending to stop using any of the console's games (or at least any newer than the patch for the hack you're using), you're going to get stuck.
You know, what's funny is... if they (all branches of both major parties) could just sit down & have a little chat, they might actually go along with this. But because each is afraid of the other winnning should they split, I doubt they will...
Ummmm, maybe I'm missing what you mean, but crossing the date line from West to East jumps you forward 25 hours.
Yeah, that was my bad, I've only crossed the date line going the other way.
The reason the international dateline is spurious, in this case, is because I highly doubt there was an onboard time adjust. It was more likely an error in the navigation computer which didn't include an exception for going from 179 59'59.99" W to 180, and then to 179 59'59.99" E.
Wait, why am I responding to somebody who brought a "Vista = the suxxorz" line to an arguement about a piece of military hardware?
They probably already do... When I was spending time in uniform, all our (non-workstation) computers did all their work in GMT, anyway. And considering it was the navigation systems that crashed, I think the "international date line" thing is spurious - the problem was more likely going from W to E, not today to yesterday.
You're not paying taxes as a business, you're paying taxes for extra income as an individual. The reason that they don't want to let you claim more is then any hobby would be considered a tax deduction...
Spent seven hundred dollars on DVD's last year, and sold one? Oh, okay, so you can deduct 690 from your taxes.
Spent two thousand dollars on food, and sold five bucks worth? Oh, okay, another 1995 dollars deducted.
And so on... basically, only certain personal expenses are considered tax deductions for individuals. For a business, any expense is a tax deduction. And with certain kinds of business, tax deductions can be rolled over into personal taxes.
To be fair I believe she's been among the current administration's earliest and harshest conservative critics.
It's heading towards where the paleo-conservatives and neo-conservatives will spend more time bashing each other than the various liberal groups out there. Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on where you sit on the issue...
Slashdot Mirror
Planescape. I know, I know, it's how many years old now... but it still deserves playing now and again.
Obviously, we need more Modrons.
Unless there's other factors (or you're found as 'alcohol dependent' in your first 6 months of active service'), nobody gets discharged for one alcohol incident. Discharge is only automatic after two 'alcohol incidents'* for officers. Enlisted personnel can go as high as three if they're otherwise clean.
Well, that's true in any branch of the military. As long as you (generally) follow orders as they are given, getting involuntarily discharged takes some serious work. (Although some branches have a 'up or out' up to a certain rank - if you don't make a particular rank by your fourth or eighth year, you won't be given the option of renewing your enlistment or commission.
*Although it's not just a DWI that counts as an alcohol incident. Any arrest involving alcohol, from a public drunkeness to a misdemeanor assault while intoxicated is an alcohol incident. As is showing up for duty drunk, drinking on duty... basically any misconduct where 'alcohol was consumed and was a significant causative factor in the misconduct.'
It's definetely a 'spirit vs. letter' type of arguement. By the time you write a legaly iron-clad definition of "easy to understand", you've successfully made it... well, not easy to understand.
And, to be honest, after 9/11... if a hijacked plane was downed, either by its own autopilot malfunctioning, choice of the pilot, or being shot down by a military jet, I don't think many people would be bitching at Boeing.
Any adventurer that drops his compass, regardless of what they're fighting, deserves to be lost in the forest.
Does that make them less important?
More importantly... what does this have to do with whether or not ethics should be applied to non-human intelligence? If the reason that a human, a dog, a tree, and a rock have different 'levels' of rights is their different levels intelligence, than why would some (non-human) with roughly equal (or even higher) level of intelligence have a different set of rights?
I think it is a particular instance of CYA. While sweeping statements have a harder time holding up in (specifically American) courts, while the more specific the statement, the harder it is to find a loophole.
If their goal was to avoid accidentally using a software patent, that would be correct.
But if their goal is to instead set up a state of (some degree of) mutually assured lawsuits, then what they are doing is the correct choice. If Microsoft (or any other software vendor, for that matter) takes a single piece of GPL v3 code that wasn't previously released as GPL v2 code, any software patent lawsuit will trigger a response of copyright infrigement lawsuits.
If there is a requirement (or at least a custom) that laws be written in an easy-to-understand fashion, at least we'll know what we're doing is either legal or not.
And that was one of the many themes that Mr. Asimov covered in the Robot/Empire/Foundation extended series. Eventually, the truly self-aware androids realized that, in a long enough timeline, the application of the three laws, taken to their conclusion, would cause the extinction of the human race. If robots were required to do whatever they could to reduce risk to human life, humans would be unable to learn, grow, or do much of anything. Eventually the solution was the creation of the Zeroth Law. Supposing, for a moment, that we ever manage to create a true strong AI, I think it would be prudent to go with the expanded, rather than original, list.
Which is why, eventually, the self-aware robots made a fourth (or zeroth) law.
But other than that, yeah. If it's a tool, then it's a tool. As long as it is still on the "stimulus-response" level of intelligence, there isn't really any ethics to consider.
This isn't exactly about criticizing the (current) government of Turkey. Mustafa Ataturk is to the modern state of Turkey as George Washington is to the US - it would be more like if there was laws (with harsh punishments) forbidding talk badly of him. (Although Turkey isn't very receptive to criticism of its current government, either.)
While there's plenty of non-lethal alternatives, most of them fall short of firearms in one way or another. Not everyone has the time or physical ability to become an expert in martial arts. Even if they did, if the aggressor has a gun, you're toast. (The example of Alex Gong comes to mind.) Most non-lethal weapons (pepper spray & tasers spring to mind quickly) have much shorter effective range than firearms.
While it would be nice if there was an non-lethal,man-portable weapon with an effective range of 5 feet to a hundred, there really isn't.
Ok... So I'm pretty sure, based on his response & link, that he knew you were being sarcastic about the post. His point was that, yes, there were law-abiding Iraqis who aren't trying to kill US & UK troops that own their own weapons, mostly to protect themselves from other Iraqis who are part of the insurgency. (Since, obviously, if they're not trying to kill the foreigners, they must be killed as well.)
Oh, wait, most pens don't do that?
In all seriousness, anybody who thought that smoking was good for you was lying to themselves just as much as the tobacco companies lied to them. It's on fire. You're breathing smoke. Pretty much anybody should realize that smoke isn't, really, meant for breathing. Sure, it calms you down a bit, and it feels kinda nice, but it's still smoke.
Well, they're optional in the sense that you don't ever have to connect the 360 to XboxLive if you don't want... however, most of the games I've gotten for my 360 have brought up a "this game requires an update to your 360's software to play" message the first time you put it in. So unless you're intending to stop using any of the console's games (or at least any newer than the patch for the hack you're using), you're going to get stuck.
Umm... tobacco? (Specifically the second-hand smoke thing)
You know, what's funny is... if they (all branches of both major parties) could just sit down & have a little chat, they might actually go along with this. But because each is afraid of the other winnning should they split, I doubt they will...
Yeah, that was my bad, I've only crossed the date line going the other way.
The reason the international dateline is spurious, in this case, is because I highly doubt there was an onboard time adjust. It was more likely an error in the navigation computer which didn't include an exception for going from 179 59'59.99" W to 180, and then to 179 59'59.99" E.
Wait, why am I responding to somebody who brought a "Vista = the suxxorz" line to an arguement about a piece of military hardware?
They probably already do... When I was spending time in uniform, all our (non-workstation) computers did all their work in GMT, anyway. And considering it was the navigation systems that crashed, I think the "international date line" thing is spurious - the problem was more likely going from W to E, not today to yesterday.
Spent seven hundred dollars on DVD's last year, and sold one? Oh, okay, so you can deduct 690 from your taxes.
Spent two thousand dollars on food, and sold five bucks worth? Oh, okay, another 1995 dollars deducted.
And so on... basically, only certain personal expenses are considered tax deductions for individuals. For a business, any expense is a tax deduction. And with certain kinds of business, tax deductions can be rolled over into personal taxes.
It's heading towards where the paleo-conservatives and neo-conservatives will spend more time bashing each other than the various liberal groups out there. Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on where you sit on the issue...