Crap, my Athlon processor (Palomino @ 1.53GHz) alone uses up more than 50 watts at idle... I don't think this power source is very practical for modern x86 systems.
No, it's short for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP for short). The word "nazi" comes from a shortening of Nationalsozialist, and refers to a member of the NSDAP.
It's nice to see an educational institution set an example for their students. Though, in future, I think another kind of example is in order, perhaps one that is a tad less illegal.
FYI, there are violent crimes in Switzerland. Not that many, but they are there. In 2001, there were about 160 offenses involving the death of the victim (murder, manslaughter etc). Half of them were committed with firearms. Practically nobody uses a selective-fire assault rifle for a planned crime, since it is too large, heavy and cumbersome, not to mention LOUD and not exactly easy to hide.
As for prison sentences, well, I'd be very surprised if anyone got a longer prison sentence for a crime in Switzerland than in the US. Swiss law forsees much shorter prison terms across the whole spectrum of crimes than does American law (as do most European legal systems) and judges tend to give out laughably short sentences for all but the most serious crimes. The only crimes for which a life sentence is possible are murder, mass-kidnapping [terrorist style] and genocide.
The political left has long been pushing to abolish the tradition, though a parliamentary subcommittee recently voted down a proposal that would have kept the weapons at barracks.
Swiss gun law is a little bureaucratic (as is pretty much everything in Switzerland...) but liberal by European comparison. The requirements to get a WES, a one-time certificate that allows you to purchase up to three fire arms (that can be issued as many times as you like, as there are no limits as to how many firearms you are allowed to own, nor how much ammunition):
1. 18 years of age 2. Swiss citizen or resident with a class C residency permit (others need permission from their nation's embassy) 3. No serious criminal offences on record 4. No illnesses that make weapon misuse particularly likely, such as alcoholism, heroin addiction or paranoid schizophrenia
Provided you meet those requirements, the WES (Waffenerwerbschein) is practically guaranteed (if you don't get it despite meeting the criteria, you can challenge the decision in court). There is no license, the WES is only required for purchasing, not possessing a firearm. Firearms can be confiscated if misuse is considered likely, IE if you threaten somebody, or if you are, for example, diagnosed with a some kind of severe mental illness. Permanent confiscation requires that you are compensated, even if the confiscation is as a result of a prison sentence, unless the weapons themselves were used in the crime.
Carrying weapons is another thing entirely. You are allowed to carry a weapon in your home or business with further ado, and licensed hunters can carry a gun while hunting as well. But carrying a gun (concealed or not) for other purposes requires a permit which is *difficult* to get. Apart from the WES requirements, you also need to have reason to carry a weapon, which is defined in the weapons code as being to protect yourself, somebody else or an object and to pass a theoretical (gun and related laws) and practical (target shooting) test. The reason requirement, while it sounds fairly open, is in practice fufilled only by those who are at especially high risk. AFAIK, people should, if they can demonstrate that they are reasonably responsible and are capable of handling a firearm, be allowed to carry firearms in public. (which they were in many cantons, before this firearm law came into power). Apparently, concealed carry, though illegal without a license, is quite common amoung youth, for whatever reasons.
It's worth noting that practically every other country in Europe requires you to demonstrate a necessity in order to merely own a firearm.
Firstly, there are 240 subjects. Not exactly a very large survey. Secondly, the survey mentions subjects between 6 and 29. Has it ever occured to them that a.) a 6 year old might have different brain activity to a 29 year old b.) a 6 year old might react differently to exposure to video games as a 29 year old would c.) there is probably substantial random variation betwee individuals and between times of day.
Did this guy actually control external influences, ie diet, length of time the subjects sleep each day (which has a BIG effect on intellectual performance), external simulation (TV, books, internet, even conversation with other human beings?!) and/or tendency for natural variation between other people? Or is he just looking for a controversial title to spice up his thesis and/or trying to get (a) research grant(s)?
They weren't just talking about "social issues", they were talking about an actual decrease of electro-chemical activity in the brain, ie, suggesting that playing computer games causes permanent, irreversible brain damage.
I believe that it was Carl Sagan said that exceptional claims require exceptional proof; this is definitely an exceptional claim (gaming causes alteration in brain activity vs simply "social problems") without exceptional evidence (Brain damage through video games?! Ohhh, a survey! That's OK then).
Surveys can find just about anything you want, if done correctly. Why else do you think politicians like them so much? You know what they (or perhaps we?) always say, lies, damn lies and statistics.
Not just any lawsuit, but a class action lawsuit, with at least a ten figure sum of money awarded, followed by a parliamentary comitte to fight the danger video games are to our children, The Prevention Of Brain Damage To Children Act, a prohibition of child-endangering video games, and an additional police department dedicated to fighting the scourge of computer game trafficers. And then economic sanctions against rogue states that refuse to comply with the War On Video Games. And sometime in 2047, a group of neo-hippies will be protesting for the legalisation of soft video games, citing new studies by the Progressive Solidaritarian Institute of Human Science, Multicultural Tolerance and The Enforcement of Political Correctness that video games aren't really that dangerous after all, and can actually have a medicinal effect.
Yes, I can see it now... (BTW: Author is not American)
CARD? You had CARDS? Why, back in my day, the only data input we had were beads on sticks. Operating at about 2 Hz, there was never any need for those ridiculous "fans" (or whatever you call them) and those little substations you connect to your "personal" computers. No siree, we operated 'em by hand. No need for monitas either, we just held 'em against the sun, or the bonfire at night. And there weren't no ECC either, so if you made a mistake, ya did it all ov'a again. No WINDOWS or LINUX then, no, we used FingerOS. A multi-purpOSe if I ever sawed one. No virusii or bugs either, 'cept the ones that stung your fingers during those long nights at the paleolithic camp trying to work out the sum of two and three. Ah, the TurboABACUS (and it's big brother, the LithoABACUS), brings back fond memories, eh? Yep, them were the days...
The Swiss Franc is still issued in 1000 Fr (about $650 US) denomination. Though there aren't any 500 Fr notes; the next smallest denomiation is 200 Fr. The denominations are all the same width, but each is 11 millimetres longer than the next smallest denomination.
You can see what Swiss money looks like here. (Requires JavaScript, unfortunately)
Re:Tough time differentiating? Try Turkish Money!
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For heaven sakes, when your currency is that inflated, why not issue banknotes with the amount of money written in expotential form?
Like 5e+6 instead of 5,000,000.
Could be a problem in a country that doesn't exactly have the world's best education system, though.
Obwohl wir natürlich das Problem haben, dass die Amerikaner eine ganz andere Auffassung von Freiheit haben
This is what Stoiber, president of the German CSU and presidential hopeful in the next elections(Christian social union) said in an interview in which he called for a ban on "Killerspiele" (meaning "Killer video games") and "Gewaltvideos" (violent videos) and general, international internet regulation. There are enough German speakers here to translate this quote, so I won't bother. He seems to be a big fan of the BPjS (now called the BPjM) and favours expanding it's powers even further (They were already expanding after the German parliament tightened youth protection laws after Erfurt). Though one has to wonder what kind of a deluded fool you'd have to be to vote vote for someone like this...
OT: Bomb shelters are actually quite common in Switzerland. In fact, building and zoning regulations require that there are enough bomb shelters, either public or private, to house a large section of the population.
Largely a relic of the cold war, but could come in handy if there is ever some kind of major disaster, such as a damn burst (Grand Dixence, Switzerland's highest damn, is at 284 metres high the third tallest dam in the world and the tallest dam in Europe), nuclear meltdown/explosion (there are 6 operating nuclear reactors in Switzerland, 3 of them are PWRs, the other, newer ones are EWRs, there have never been any serious incidents, but it is good to be prepared... and the parliament just decided not to shut down the existing reactors, like Germany is planning to), avalanche or mudslide or a chemical plant explosion (chemicals, esp. pharmaceuticals are one of Switzerland's largest industries, even more so than banking).
The German Grundgesetz requires a legal basis for the restriction of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression. What law justifies prosecuting somebody merely for informing others how to do damage, while not actually inciting it?
Freedom of expression is a right according to the Grundgesetz, but it can be limited under certain circumstances. I suspect the Dutch constitution will have similiar provisions.
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Umm, excuse me? Sulphur Dioxide is a gas. At room temperature anyway.
Crap, my Athlon processor (Palomino @ 1.53GHz) alone uses up more than 50 watts at idle... I don't think this power source is very practical for modern x86 systems.
No, it's short for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP for short). The word "nazi" comes from a shortening of Nationalsozialist, and refers to a member of the NSDAP.
It's nice to see an educational institution set an example for their students. Though, in future, I think another kind of example is in order, perhaps one that is a tad less illegal.
NO... Since binary incompatibility only affects *C++ programs* and AFAIK all of Loki's games are compiled with something else (C?).
FYI, there are violent crimes in Switzerland. Not that many, but they are there. In 2001, there were about 160 offenses involving the death of the victim (murder, manslaughter etc). Half of them were committed with firearms. Practically nobody uses a selective-fire assault rifle for a planned crime, since it is too large, heavy and cumbersome, not to mention LOUD and not exactly easy to hide.
As for prison sentences, well, I'd be very surprised if anyone got a longer prison sentence for a crime in Switzerland than in the US. Swiss law forsees much shorter prison terms across the whole spectrum of crimes than does American law (as do most European legal systems) and judges tend to give out laughably short sentences for all but the most serious crimes. The only crimes for which a life sentence is possible are murder, mass-kidnapping [terrorist style] and genocide.
The political left has long been pushing to abolish the tradition, though a parliamentary subcommittee recently voted down a proposal that would have kept the weapons at barracks.
Swiss gun law is a little bureaucratic (as is pretty much everything in Switzerland...) but liberal by European comparison. The requirements to get a WES, a one-time certificate that allows you to purchase up to three fire arms (that can be issued as many times as you like, as there are no limits as to how many firearms you are allowed to own, nor how much ammunition):
1. 18 years of age
2. Swiss citizen or resident with a class C residency permit (others need permission from their nation's embassy)
3. No serious criminal offences on record
4. No illnesses that make weapon misuse particularly likely, such as alcoholism, heroin addiction or paranoid schizophrenia
Provided you meet those requirements, the WES (Waffenerwerbschein) is practically guaranteed (if you don't get it despite meeting the criteria, you can challenge the decision in court). There is no license, the WES is only required for purchasing, not possessing a firearm. Firearms can be confiscated if misuse is considered likely, IE if you threaten somebody, or if you are, for example, diagnosed with a some kind of severe mental illness. Permanent confiscation requires that you are compensated, even if the confiscation is as a result of a prison sentence, unless the weapons themselves were used in the crime.
Carrying weapons is another thing entirely. You are allowed to carry a weapon in your home or business with further ado, and licensed hunters can carry a gun while hunting as well. But carrying a gun (concealed or not) for other purposes requires a permit which is *difficult* to get. Apart from the WES requirements, you also need to have reason to carry a weapon, which is defined in the weapons code as being to protect yourself, somebody else or an object and to pass a theoretical (gun and related laws) and practical (target shooting) test. The reason requirement, while it sounds fairly open, is in practice fufilled only by those who are at especially high risk. AFAIK, people should, if they can demonstrate that they are reasonably responsible and are capable of handling a firearm, be allowed to carry firearms in public. (which they were in many cantons, before this firearm law came into power). Apparently, concealed carry, though illegal without a license, is quite common amoung youth, for whatever reasons.
It's worth noting that practically every other country in Europe requires you to demonstrate a necessity in order to merely own a firearm.
Sir, please step away from the keyboard. At least until you learn to spell.
I don't think that was quite what he meant...
Firstly, there are 240 subjects. Not exactly a very large survey. Secondly, the survey mentions subjects between 6 and 29. Has it ever occured to them that a.) a 6 year old might have different brain activity to a 29 year old b.) a 6 year old might react differently to exposure to video games as a 29 year old would c.) there is probably substantial random variation betwee individuals and between times of day.
Did this guy actually control external influences, ie diet, length of time the subjects sleep each day (which has a BIG effect on intellectual performance), external simulation (TV, books, internet, even conversation with other human beings?!) and/or tendency for natural variation between other people? Or is he just looking for a controversial title to spice up his thesis and/or trying to get (a) research grant(s)?
I believe that it was Carl Sagan said that exceptional claims require exceptional proof; this is definitely an exceptional claim (gaming causes alteration in brain activity vs simply "social problems") without exceptional evidence (Brain damage through video games?! Ohhh, a survey! That's OK then).
Surveys can find just about anything you want, if done correctly. Why else do you think politicians like them so much? You know what they (or perhaps we?) always say, lies, damn lies and statistics.
Yes, I can see it now... (BTW: Author is not American)
Fe is iron, the element, not steel, which is a compound out of iron and trace amounts of carbon.
Why not just use a webcam as a medium?
CARD? You had CARDS? Why, back in my day, the only data input we had were beads on sticks. Operating at about 2 Hz, there was never any need for those ridiculous "fans" (or whatever you call them) and those little substations you connect to your "personal" computers. No siree, we operated 'em by hand. No need for monitas either, we just held 'em against the sun, or the bonfire at night. And there weren't no ECC either, so if you made a mistake, ya did it all ov'a again. No WINDOWS or LINUX then, no, we used FingerOS. A multi-purpOSe if I ever sawed one. No virusii or bugs either, 'cept the ones that stung your fingers during those long nights at the paleolithic camp trying to work out the sum of two and three. Ah, the TurboABACUS (and it's big brother, the LithoABACUS), brings back fond memories, eh? Yep, them were the days...
Why not .tar.bz2? Bzip2 compresses denser, and is GPLed.
I wouldn't just PRESS the button, I'd yank it out of the wall and short-circuit the wires so the spammers keep on dying.
All of them?
The Swiss Franc is still issued in 1000 Fr (about $650 US) denomination. Though there aren't any 500 Fr notes; the next smallest denomiation is 200 Fr. The denominations are all the same width, but each is 11 millimetres longer than the next smallest denomination.
You can see what Swiss money looks like here. (Requires JavaScript, unfortunately)
For heaven sakes, when your currency is that inflated, why not issue banknotes with the amount of money written in expotential form?
Like 5e+6 instead of 5,000,000.
Could be a problem in a country that doesn't exactly have the world's best education system, though.
This is what Stoiber, president of the German CSU and presidential hopeful in the next elections(Christian social union) said in an interview in which he called for a ban on "Killerspiele" (meaning "Killer video games") and "Gewaltvideos" (violent videos) and general, international internet regulation. There are enough German speakers here to translate this quote, so I won't bother. He seems to be a big fan of the BPjS (now called the BPjM) and favours expanding it's powers even further (They were already expanding after the German parliament tightened youth protection laws after Erfurt). Though one has to wonder what kind of a deluded fool you'd have to be to vote vote for someone like this...
Read more about it on heise.de
OT: Bomb shelters are actually quite common in Switzerland. In fact, building and zoning regulations require that there are enough bomb shelters, either public or private, to house a large section of the population.
Largely a relic of the cold war, but could come in handy if there is ever some kind of major disaster, such as a damn burst (Grand Dixence, Switzerland's highest damn, is at 284 metres high the third tallest dam in the world and the tallest dam in Europe), nuclear meltdown/explosion (there are 6 operating nuclear reactors in Switzerland, 3 of them are PWRs, the other, newer ones are EWRs, there have never been any serious incidents, but it is good to be prepared... and the parliament just decided not to shut down the existing reactors, like Germany is planning to), avalanche or mudslide or a chemical plant explosion (chemicals, esp. pharmaceuticals are one of Switzerland's largest industries, even more so than banking).
The German Grundgesetz requires a legal basis for the restriction of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression. What law justifies prosecuting somebody merely for informing others how to do damage, while not actually inciting it?
Freedom of expression is a right according to the Grundgesetz, but it can be limited under certain circumstances. I suspect the Dutch constitution will have similiar provisions.
Boy, I'd like to blast some cell phones with high powered lasers. Preferably during use.
Of course it's not right. You need to blast off pieces of aircraft left, right and centre to maintain balance and stability.