Right, well I don't especially agree with the article. However (and my opinion follows, though it's a while since I read either the bible or LOTR but I think it makes some sense)...
The crusades metaphor is simply that of a group of white men rescuing a 'hot' south eastern area (Mordor/Israel) from an evil overlord and his band of nasty followers.
The landscape of Mordor bears far more in common with the middle east than it does the baltics.
There are Christian religious metaphors running right the way through the books. The angels (Gandalf etc) fighting against a fallen angel (Sauron). Tolkien does depart slightly from this theme with another angel, Saruman falling (or could this be an antichrist reference), but we get straight back into The Revelation of St John's with the pure hearted lamb (Frodo) who ultimately defeats the beast.
Its very nature of being a good versus evil battle teaches children (and adults) to polarise the world in this way - much in the same way Bush has worryingly managed to portray the US v Iraq situation.
This - good v evil portrayal - may be acceptable to some Christians, but is not something I believe to be healthy.
There are many different brands of racism, not just open persecution. The goblins and orcs in LOTR are supposed to be purely evil creatures, with no hope of redemption. This is surely teaching kids that a) stereotyping is good and it works, b) there is such a thing as genetic determinism where all creatures of a race can have the same qualities. They see Palestinians and Al Quaieda followers on TV and see muslims as being different to themselves. Surely it's just a short mental hop - when helped on with the messages portrayed in LOTR (that it is reasonable to tar whole races with the same brush) - to seeing all muslims as bad war bringers.
And yes I do know that they're just orcs and goblins and not men and it's all fantasy etc... I were that it was that simple. I will go and see the movie and enjoy it, but I think there is a valid point about its rather dubious morality.
A frisbee is a circular object that flies through the air by spinning - it is also a kids toy. It is used in the game ultimate. What's the American term? The laser disks (as far as i can remember) are large and silver and circular, much like a frisbee. Now we have the data they are probably only useful as frisbees, rather dangerous frisbees. (OK maybe not, they would probably keep them for achival / posterity purposes). I admit it was a bit one of those "you had to be there" jokes. * sigh
On a more serious note - someone working on the project says this...
The main problem with converting the data to another format and making it publicly available was that all the information was copyright the people who sent it in in the first place - lots of school kids.
Students at Leeds University (where I am at the computer science department) now have 2 new frisbees. Highly dangerous, they are likely to take one's head off.
Meanwhile, the rest of us doing Informatics their will probably be press ganged into making some sense out of the data. Who can make any sense of how Britain was in the 80s? Not I my friends.
The BBC is a non profit organisation. Funded by the British people to produce unbiased news.
The New York example was probably the best example to date as to how losing several hubs can break lots of network.
I remember a power cut in central Melbourne took out several internet links for me.
There is a lot of research out there being done into this stuff, scale free networks, small world networks etc. Hopefully common sense will prevail - however the whole thing will probably end up being market driven as usual. And, like British Trains (unlike the TV coverage), will be absolutely crap in a few years.
One wonders why they chose to employ artists to program the agents rather than use some kind of learning or genetic algorithm to improve their behaviour - maybe this will start happening in the future when the agents start getting really complex. </geek mode> <sarcy humourous mode> One wonders when the time will come when you'll just be able to press a button and your movie will be generated for you. Surely it will be simpler to simulate hollywood producers first? </sarcy humourous mode>
But then I realised that I am a longtime Tolkien reader and I also never finished the Silmarillion. Neither did I get through much of the Old Testament (of which the Silmarillion seems to be a copy).
Hmmmm, one wonders if you could write a computer program to 'simulate' the simlarillion. Just enter 50 names and they could all beget, begat or begot each other - or whatever else it was they did in the Silmarillion.
If you read it, did it have an actual plot? Is there a basic plot summary anywhere?
Yeh, but don't most of the censoring countries work the other way around. They censor everything and only allow stuff through that is useful?
Doubtless there are countless other ways round it. Mostly it just sounds a useful way to stop my boss knowing i'm spending the whole day on gay.com;o).
I have done quite alot of work with relational databases and have implemented my own 'object' database. This is similar to a heirarchical database only that the relationships between objects are defined by other objects, this being a more flexible approach than a purely heirarchical DB. The object database used SQL Server to store the data underneath, however I am going to redevelop this with a different approach.
What are the benefits of using an 'object' based approach?
1. Flexibility of schema
It is possible to link objects to each other very easily in many possible ways. This allows data to be amalgamated from many different schemas.
2. Ease of use
Partly due to the flexibility of the schema, object based databases are fundamentally easier for the layman to comprehend. They tend to be a much clearer abstraction than the obfuscated table format used by relational databases.
3. Richness of data
The data (as long as it is intelligently entered) is stored with information that explains the meanings of the relationships between objects far better than column names and table names. In the past I've had to look at database definitions and struggled to actually understand exactly what the data is supposed to represent.
As I said earlier I am getting around to coding my own object based database, free software of course! The idea is to set up a group of 'info servers' around the world which hold public information. Sort of like the WWW but the information will be much richer and publically moderated. Anyone interested in more information or helping out (coding or otherwise) should email me at infoglue@yahoo.com.au without the spam protection tags!
Re:"Sorcerer's Stone" vs. "Philosopher's Stone"
on
Review: Harry Potter
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· Score: 1
Philosopher in the UK conjures up images of old men with beards from Greece talking about gods and stuff - instantly magical. I don't know what images it has in the US.
Europeans have this historical context that is just not there in the US.
Though history education is very euro centric (in europe), at least it goes much further than US history teaching.
(on a side note...) Why don't kids get taught world history these days? History is an academic subject which should broaden minds, not brainwash them.
Slashdot Mirror
Right, well I don't especially agree with the article. However (and my opinion follows, though it's a while since I read either the bible or LOTR but I think it makes some sense)...
The crusades metaphor is simply that of a group of white men rescuing a 'hot' south eastern area (Mordor/Israel) from an evil overlord and his band of nasty followers.
The landscape of Mordor bears far more in common with the middle east than it does the baltics.
There are Christian religious metaphors running right the way through the books. The angels (Gandalf etc) fighting against a fallen angel (Sauron). Tolkien does depart slightly from this theme with another angel, Saruman falling (or could this be an antichrist reference), but we get straight back into The Revelation of St John's with the pure hearted lamb (Frodo) who ultimately defeats the beast.
Its very nature of being a good versus evil battle teaches children (and adults) to polarise the world in this way - much in the same way Bush has worryingly managed to portray the US v Iraq situation.
This - good v evil portrayal - may be acceptable to some Christians, but is not something I believe to be healthy.
There are many different brands of racism, not just open persecution. The goblins and orcs in LOTR are supposed to be purely evil creatures, with no hope of redemption. This is surely teaching kids that a) stereotyping is good and it works, b) there is such a thing as genetic determinism where all creatures of a race can have the same qualities. They see Palestinians and Al Quaieda followers on TV and see muslims as being different to themselves. Surely it's just a short mental hop - when helped on with the messages portrayed in LOTR (that it is reasonable to tar whole races with the same brush) - to seeing all muslims as bad war bringers.
And yes I do know that they're just orcs and goblins and not men and it's all fantasy etc... I were that it was that simple. I will go and see the movie and enjoy it, but I think there is a valid point about its rather dubious morality.
This article has an interesting slant on it.
0 ,1 1016,852217,00.html
http://film.guardian.co.uk/lordoftherings/news/
I always thought it was a bit of a crusades metaphor.
However, anyone who's not a fan of star trek might get the gist (and anyone who wants to mention the black secretary.....you have been warned).
If you're really interested is a link to the web site...
http://www.si.umich.edu/CAMILEON/index.html
A frisbee is a circular object that flies through the air by spinning - it is also a kids toy. It is used in the game ultimate. What's the American term? The laser disks (as far as i can remember) are large and silver and circular, much like a frisbee. Now we have the data they are probably only useful as frisbees, rather dangerous frisbees. (OK maybe not, they would probably keep them for achival / posterity purposes). I admit it was a bit one of those "you had to be there" jokes. * sigh
On a more serious note - someone working on the project says this...
The main problem with converting the data to another format and making it publicly available was that all the information was copyright the people who sent it in in the first place - lots of school kids.
Students at Leeds University (where I am at the computer science department) now have 2 new frisbees. Highly dangerous, they are likely to take one's head off.
Meanwhile, the rest of us doing Informatics their will probably be press ganged into making some sense out of the data. Who can make any sense of how Britain was in the 80s? Not I my friends.
mentioned something about how amazing it was we can fool the brain.
Forgetting the fact that movies, tv, computer monitors etc have been doing this for 100+ years.
And conmen have been doing that since before prostitutes started working.
I know this is off topic, but i'll say it anyhow.
The BBC is a non profit organisation. Funded by the British people to produce unbiased news.
The New York example was probably the best example to date as to how losing several hubs can break lots of network.
I remember a power cut in central Melbourne took out several internet links for me.
There is a lot of research out there being done into this stuff, scale free networks, small world networks etc. Hopefully common sense will prevail - however the whole thing will probably end up being market driven as usual. And, like British Trains (unlike the TV coverage), will be absolutely crap in a few years.
One wonders why they chose to employ artists to program the agents rather than use some kind of learning or genetic algorithm to improve their behaviour - maybe this will start happening in the future when the agents start getting really complex.
</geek mode>
<sarcy humourous mode>
One wonders when the time will come when you'll just be able to press a button and your movie will be generated for you. Surely it will be simpler to simulate hollywood producers first?
</sarcy humourous mode>
I noticed that, and thought wuss.
But then I realised that I am a longtime Tolkien reader and I also never finished the Silmarillion. Neither did I get through much of the Old Testament (of which the Silmarillion seems to be a copy).
Hmmmm, one wonders if you could write a computer program to 'simulate' the simlarillion. Just enter 50 names and they could all beget, begat or begot each other - or whatever else it was they did in the Silmarillion.
If you read it, did it have an actual plot? Is there a basic plot summary anywhere?
My experience of India was that batteries are readily available and at much cheaper prices than in the West - though maybe only in tourist areas.
I wouldn't like to think of the environmental impact of 1 billion waste batteries however!
I'm not sure they've really thought about that too much.
Yeh, but don't most of the censoring countries work the other way around. They censor everything and only allow stuff through that is useful?
;o).
Doubtless there are countless other ways round it. Mostly it just sounds a useful way to stop my boss knowing i'm spending the whole day on gay.com
I have done quite alot of work with relational databases and have implemented my own 'object' database. This is similar to a heirarchical database only that the relationships between objects are defined by other objects, this being a more flexible approach than a purely heirarchical DB. The object database used SQL Server to store the data underneath, however I am going to redevelop this with a different approach.
What are the benefits of using an 'object' based approach?
1. Flexibility of schema
It is possible to link objects to each other very easily in many possible ways. This allows data to be amalgamated from many different schemas.
2. Ease of use
Partly due to the flexibility of the schema, object based databases are fundamentally easier for the layman to comprehend. They tend to be a much clearer abstraction than the obfuscated table format used by relational databases.
3. Richness of data
The data (as long as it is intelligently entered) is stored with information that explains the meanings of the relationships between objects far better than column names and table names. In the past I've had to look at database definitions and struggled to actually understand exactly what the data is supposed to represent.
As I said earlier I am getting around to coding my own object based database, free software of course! The idea is to set up a group of 'info servers' around the world which hold public information. Sort of like the WWW but the information will be much richer and publically moderated. Anyone interested in more information or helping out (coding or otherwise) should email me at infoglue@yahoo.com.au without the spam protection tags!
Philosopher in the UK conjures up images of old men with beards from Greece talking about gods and stuff - instantly magical. I don't know what images it has in the US.
Europeans have this historical context that is just not there in the US.
Though history education is very euro centric (in europe), at least it goes much further than US history teaching.
(on a side note...) Why don't kids get taught world history these days? History is an academic subject which should broaden minds, not brainwash them.
Combined with 3D eye goggles and headphones you wouldn't need paper at all. And, more importantly, you would never even need to get out of bed!
;-)
This is surely not vapourware, this is the future of sofware development platforms