Every ethical theorist I know of tries to present a consistent theory. It doesn't matter what the ruling class WANTS ethics to be -- that would be saying they can't be unethical, which isn't true.
Anybody else get a good chuckle out of Transformers: The Headmasters?
"In a hopeless ploy to follow its nostalgic audience into post-adolescence, the Transformers design team had said it would investigate new devices the shiny robots can transform into.
Designer Joe Chan commented on the change: 'Well, young boys grow up being interested in planes, cars, trucks, and guns but obviously their interests change when they enter their teen years. The move from AutoBots to AutoSexuality is a natural one if we want to hold onto marketshare.'
Many critics, however, now say it is time for the franchise to give up given its later ventures into the smaller niche market of the pleasure industry with Transformers: Beast Wars and Beast Machines."
My goodness, why isn't this just postmarked "Redmond, WA"? How about this: if a person uses a legally purchased gun to committ a crime does that person have rightful access to the gun when they get out of the slammer? Before they are even punished?
Seems like a great analogous idea here: give the criminals' guns to the police officers so they're used to fight crimes rather than cause them. If you use your intellectual property harmfully, it gets taken away (from you, anyway). Everything seems to be a lot more "red" once you've committed a violation of public trust... as so it should be.
Missing innovation in iMac/Profile
on
iMac LCD Impostors
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I keep asking myself why they have these one-unit computers, but still use keyboards and mouses with cords... These packages seem like exactly what wireless keyboards and mouses would be ideal for
Lots of reasons people stash their computers somewhere inaccessible is because of their lack of aesthetic value. But now that Apple has something with aesthetic value, it seems they ruin it by putting cords everywhere. It wouldn't drive up the price too much to put a wireless receiver in the box, would it?
Exactly.... and my claim is that TPM was way below even those two movies' standards. There are at least parts in those two movies where only the adults laughed. TPM scatters those kinds of moments and makes them scarcely important so there is more time for Pod Races and Ship chases.
Please, George, at least give us something that's a kid's movie's equivalent of Shrek, rather than the dreck that was TPM. If that's possible, why not get us the equivalent of LOTR? Kids love that, even though it's obviously marketed towards adults.
Unfortunately, the target demographic has not changed, as you say. But kids have grown less and less adult-like -- they've gotten dumbed down and will grow up immune to any aesthetic quality. Not that this is any problem to the studios... costs less to pay a writer who isn't as good.
It's either that, or the target demographic has narrowed. Star Wars was clearly marketed towards children AND adults, the former of whom will be entertained by ANYTHING with fur or robotic parts. Case in point is the Muppet Movie, which had furry muppets that kids could enjoy, while adults had fun with the witty dialogue. Newer movies leave the adults out of the equation, reasoning that the kids won't "get" the movie. But they're not there for the storyline -- they just want to see fur and robots (and if at all possible, furry robots!)
So for God's sake, market all you want towards the children, but at least give the adults a darn script that's worth listening to. Kids grow to understand it as they get older. That's how you MAKE a classic for christsake.
Virii cannot be terrorism because terrorism is the use of terror to win over certain political or religious objectives. Kids who write viruses do it for kicks, not to keep people from using their computers. If they did that, how could they keep having their fun? This is ridiculous.
On the other hand, Microsoft has been pretty upfront about their FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt for newbs) tactics for quite some time. How does FUD differ from terrorism? It's scaring people into getting what you want, right? I hope someone reprimands Microsoft for their conduct here, trying to take advantage of a buzzword to save them work...
As a philosopher, I feel like I should be offended by this, but the philosopher's stone was historically the substance that allowed transmutation of metals, notably lead into gold.
But that doesn't seem very philosophical -- how is wisdom served by increasing the amount of gold around?
So not only am I not offended, but it seems this might actually be a better title -- far more the stone of sorcerors than philosophers!
If Microsoft didn't fund this report, I'll eat my shorts. I mean come on:
1. It's hot on the heels of the whole 'AOL on the desktop' debate and the surveyer SAYS that people will be more likely to try out Microsoft products in XP.
2. It gives no methodology for its results, nor does it disclose who is behind Gartner's survey.
3. The story is way to negative towards AOL and positive towards Microsoft -- are we supposed to believe these were the only two companies asked about?
4. What's with the rider about IMing at the end? Does this have any relevance to the story if Microsoft is not in the back of one's mind as having troubles with the government?
I dislike AOL and see them as only useful inasmuch as they're bullying Microsoft -- but come on... how much more blatant does FUD need to be?
I agree with everyone who thinks the plot is a little ridiculous. The philosophical history goes back at least to Augustine and came into the western world via Descartes. Not that the Wachowski bros. are that smart of a pair...
That said, I'd be willing to bet cash money that really this "real world" in the original Matrix is just another Matrix. I imagine this will come out in the third movie, but maybe earlier. Anyone else had this thought?
If you think/this/ is sensationalism, take a look at this wire article posted on salon:
http://www.salon.com/people/wire/2001/01/13/cloone y_hair/index.html
If this is news, I'd rather go back to olds.
Pyro
While it looks like a sweet deal, I received roughly 25 duplicate spammed e-mail messages from an address at gamedvdplayer.com advertising this machine. At the time, I didn't go to the site because I was PO'd. It was enough to go beyond annoying to deeply disturbing. The toll-free number in the e-mail is exactly the same: 800-613-1611.
Since this is my first time posting on Slashdot, I don't know if I'd step on any toes by posting the text of the e-mail, but I could upon demand. Sounds like a raw deal to me, but I wouldn't buy from a spam marketer out of more than just principle.
If it looks too good to be true...
Slashdot Mirror
Every ethical theorist I know of tries to present a consistent theory. It doesn't matter what the ruling class WANTS ethics to be -- that would be saying they can't be unethical, which isn't true.
Warning: Toilet humor
Anybody else get a good chuckle out of Transformers: The Headmasters?
"In a hopeless ploy to follow its nostalgic audience into post-adolescence, the Transformers design team had said it would investigate new devices the shiny robots can transform into.
Designer Joe Chan commented on the change: 'Well, young boys grow up being interested in planes, cars, trucks, and guns but obviously their interests change when they enter their teen years. The move from AutoBots to AutoSexuality is a natural one if we want to hold onto marketshare.'
Many critics, however, now say it is time for the franchise to give up given its later ventures into the smaller niche market of the pleasure industry with Transformers: Beast Wars and Beast Machines."
My goodness, why isn't this just postmarked "Redmond, WA"? How about this: if a person uses a legally purchased gun to committ a crime does that person have rightful access to the gun when they get out of the slammer? Before they are even punished?
Seems like a great analogous idea here: give the criminals' guns to the police officers so they're used to fight crimes rather than cause them. If you use your intellectual property harmfully, it gets taken away (from you, anyway). Everything seems to be a lot more "red" once you've committed a violation of public trust... as so it should be.
I keep asking myself why they have these one-unit computers, but still use keyboards and mouses with cords... These packages seem like exactly what wireless keyboards and mouses would be ideal for
Lots of reasons people stash their computers somewhere inaccessible is because of their lack of aesthetic value. But now that Apple has something with aesthetic value, it seems they ruin it by putting cords everywhere. It wouldn't drive up the price too much to put a wireless receiver in the box, would it?
Don't forget:
American Booty
Exactly.... and my claim is that TPM was way below even those two movies' standards. There are at least parts in those two movies where only the adults laughed. TPM scatters those kinds of moments and makes them scarcely important so there is more time for Pod Races and Ship chases.
Please, George, at least give us something that's a kid's movie's equivalent of Shrek, rather than the dreck that was TPM. If that's possible, why not get us the equivalent of LOTR? Kids love that, even though it's obviously marketed towards adults.
Unfortunately, the target demographic has not changed, as you say. But kids have grown less and less adult-like -- they've gotten dumbed down and will grow up immune to any aesthetic quality. Not that this is any problem to the studios... costs less to pay a writer who isn't as good.
It's either that, or the target demographic has narrowed. Star Wars was clearly marketed towards children AND adults, the former of whom will be entertained by ANYTHING with fur or robotic parts. Case in point is the Muppet Movie, which had furry muppets that kids could enjoy, while adults had fun with the witty dialogue. Newer movies leave the adults out of the equation, reasoning that the kids won't "get" the movie. But they're not there for the storyline -- they just want to see fur and robots (and if at all possible, furry robots!)
So for God's sake, market all you want towards the children, but at least give the adults a darn script that's worth listening to. Kids grow to understand it as they get older. That's how you MAKE a classic for christsake.
Virii cannot be terrorism because terrorism is the use of terror to win over certain political or religious objectives. Kids who write viruses do it for kicks, not to keep people from using their computers. If they did that, how could they keep having their fun? This is ridiculous.
On the other hand, Microsoft has been pretty upfront about their FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt for newbs) tactics for quite some time. How does FUD differ from terrorism? It's scaring people into getting what you want, right? I hope someone reprimands Microsoft for their conduct here, trying to take advantage of a buzzword to save them work...
As a philosopher, I feel like I should be offended by this, but the philosopher's stone was historically the substance that allowed transmutation of metals, notably lead into gold.
But that doesn't seem very philosophical -- how is wisdom served by increasing the amount of gold around?
So not only am I not offended, but it seems this might actually be a better title -- far more the stone of sorcerors than philosophers!
Pyro
If Microsoft didn't fund this report, I'll eat my shorts. I mean come on:
1. It's hot on the heels of the whole 'AOL on the desktop' debate and the surveyer SAYS that people will be more likely to try out Microsoft products in XP.
2. It gives no methodology for its results, nor does it disclose who is behind Gartner's survey.
3. The story is way to negative towards AOL and positive towards Microsoft -- are we supposed to believe these were the only two companies asked about?
4. What's with the rider about IMing at the end? Does this have any relevance to the story if Microsoft is not in the back of one's mind as having troubles with the government?
I dislike AOL and see them as only useful inasmuch as they're bullying Microsoft -- but come on... how much more blatant does FUD need to be?
They used to say this about flight, you know.
Not necessarily true... Philosophy departments are working on this throughout the country (including the one I'm currently stationed in). Pyro
I agree with everyone who thinks the plot is a little ridiculous. The philosophical history goes back at least to Augustine and came into the western world via Descartes. Not that the Wachowski bros. are that smart of a pair... That said, I'd be willing to bet cash money that really this "real world" in the original Matrix is just another Matrix. I imagine this will come out in the third movie, but maybe earlier. Anyone else had this thought?
If you think /this/ is sensationalism, take a look at this wire article posted on salon:
http://www.salon.com/people/wire/2001/01/13/cloone y_hair/index.html
If this is news, I'd rather go back to olds.
Pyro
While it looks like a sweet deal, I received roughly 25 duplicate spammed e-mail messages from an address at gamedvdplayer.com advertising this machine. At the time, I didn't go to the site because I was PO'd. It was enough to go beyond annoying to deeply disturbing. The toll-free number in the e-mail is exactly the same: 800-613-1611. Since this is my first time posting on Slashdot, I don't know if I'd step on any toes by posting the text of the e-mail, but I could upon demand. Sounds like a raw deal to me, but I wouldn't buy from a spam marketer out of more than just principle. If it looks too good to be true...