Why stop there? Can we also program the phone to release a small but unpleasant electric charge into junior if they get too close to the refrigerator? How about that for negative reinforcement!
Wouldn't it be cheaper for the parent to just ring the phone when the child is suppose to be arriving at school? Then you might even get the chance to, talk to your child!
Initially, Alcatel is looking to sell the system in Israel, where adults and children live in fear of suicide bombs and other terrorist attacks.
If suicide bombings are the problem, then I can't see how this technology can help cause it can only let you know after the fact.
Most people consider a debate won when the opposition is reduced to calling names
You're right, the AC should not be putting forward arguments in this way.
and can only make obviously false statements.
What is false or true can depend on one's point of view, right? Although you might disagree with everything the AC said, I don't. Therefore, the above condition does not hold.
There may be good in the world.
There is certainly evil.
Good and Evil is like two poles of a magnet, one can't exist with out the other. So, if you're not sure about the presence of good, then how can you be sure on the presence of evil?
Saddam is evil, the way Hitler was evil, Stalin was evil, Pol Pot was evil, Papa Doc Duvalier was evil, Anastazio Samoza was evil, the same way countless small men have been evil throughout history.
I must admit I don't have as good a knowledge as you of all of those listed. I also can't see any US leaders listed there. Does that mean that all US leaders have been "Good"?
The problem with the terms "Good" and "Evil" is their religious connotations: Good God and Evil Devil...you can even see the direct relationship between name and what they represent. If Saddam is 'Evil', then he must be sent by the Devil and only some one 'Good', sent by God can defeat him. Mere mortals can only hope to resist the devil's temptations. Can you see how using word like 'Evil' can be misunderstood? I seem to remember Bush using the word "crusade" to describe his mission. Is the US on a mission from God? Is Bush, God's knight on earth?
I can see how Saddam is 'Brutal' and 'Selfish', but those are human failing, not divine characteristics. I agree that world will be a better place when he's gone, but that has nothing to do with a Divine mission.
They are simply people with zero self-esteem, zero drive, and who are intrinsically lazy.
Statements like that don't improve anyone's self esteem but yours. Do you really believe that the best way to improve someone's self-esteem and motivation is to insult them?
I was once addicted to gaming and this habit had a huge affect on my results in both high school and university. I never considered my self to have any less self-esteem than any of the other geeks I was hanging out with as we all got addicted. In fact, it seemed even normal to spend so much time playing games. I never considered myself to have zero drive as I continuously tired to improve my gaming ability and my characters, after all, that was the whole point of the game. I never considered my self intrinsically lazy as I spent a huge amount of time in an active situation where I had to think and plan as opposed passive situations such as watching TV or reading a novel.
During this time, I was lucky enough to start dating a great girl. After many unsuccessfully attempts to spend more time with me, she gave me an ultimatum convinced me to uninstall and hand over my games to her. We dated for the next few years and I only got them back when we broke up. Although I missed gaming, I was too busy catching up with my lost time to really get into any more games during that time. Now I am not addicted any more. Because I know that I can get addicted, I am very careful now not to go near highly addictive games such as Everquest and not to invest too much time on any game.
For me, over coming addiction required both my own willpower and someone else's help. I don't think will power alone would've been enough, which is why it is an addiction and not a choice.
why would I pay $10 (or whatever) to play with the same kind of setup I have at home?
For the same reason that people still go to movie theatres despite being able to watch movie at home. I'd say that the reasons include
-Better Hardware: screen and sound system
-more people
-You will get to try the Newest Thing (TM) before deciding to buy it
-Be able to frag more people that you can see and tease (one of my problems with online gaming)
-Atmosphere (?)
According to the bible, our most recent common ancestors aren't Adam and Eve, but Noah and his family. If I remember correctly, Noah, his wife and their three sons with their wives survived the great flood. Altogether, that's eight people and five of them were not directly related.
The most interesting thing about this situation is that it's supposed to have happened only 4k-5k years ago. This means that all the differences we see between people, such as race, language and culture, came about in that time.
I know just too many non-tech people who have gotten addicted to downloading music illegally. It will be quite difficult to get them to change their habits. But at least it's a start. Perhaps if Kylie asks very nicely, things will change....no one can refuse Kylie!
I don't think that another conspiracy theory offers the best explanation. IMHO I think China just hasn't caught up with internet technology.
If more spam gets routed through China, then more and more of their network resouces will be consumed while more and more western sites block their traffic, so China will also eventually have to act to stop the problem.
That's a good point! The Information Tech bottlenecks tend to be at the network level for most people these days, so I don't think a faster computer will be that useful.
I have often wondered how to inform non-techie people (let's call them 'normals', for the sake of the discussion) about these problems. Considering KaZaA's reputation, I always advise my normal (and sometimes even techie) friends and family not to use it. But I always seem to find that they either don't know about KaZaA's problems or don't appreciate the security risks.
As we can't rely on KaZaA's makers to fix these problems or to warn users, what can we do? If you think about the security and virus problems with Microsoft Windows and Email programs, most normals (at least the ones that I know) seem to only get warnings about these issues from those annoying group forwards or virus warnings sent by someone's father/brother/uncle/friend who works for IBM/Norton/Symantic/FBI/CIA/Government Agency. For better or for worse, normals do seem to believe these warnings, so perhaps this is the only way to inform people about KaZaA.
What does everyone think? Is this method too evil to be used for good purposes?
Slashdot Mirror
Why stop there? Can we also program the phone to release a small but unpleasant electric charge into junior if they get too close to the refrigerator? How about that for negative reinforcement!
Wouldn't it be cheaper for the parent to just ring the phone when the child is suppose to be arriving at school? Then you might even get the chance to, talk to your child!
Initially, Alcatel is looking to sell the system in Israel, where adults and children live in fear of suicide bombs and other terrorist attacks.
If suicide bombings are the problem, then I can't see how this technology can help cause it can only let you know after the fact.
Most people consider a debate won when the opposition is reduced to calling names
You're right, the AC should not be putting forward arguments in this way.
and can only make obviously false statements.
What is false or true can depend on one's point of view, right? Although you might disagree with everything the AC said, I don't. Therefore, the above condition does not hold.
There may be good in the world.
There is certainly evil.
Good and Evil is like two poles of a magnet, one can't exist with out the other. So, if you're not sure about the presence of good, then how can you be sure on the presence of evil?
Saddam is evil, the way Hitler was evil, Stalin was evil, Pol Pot was evil, Papa Doc Duvalier was evil, Anastazio Samoza was evil, the same way countless small men have been evil throughout history.
I must admit I don't have as good a knowledge as you of all of those listed. I also can't see any US leaders listed there. Does that mean that all US leaders have been "Good"?
The problem with the terms "Good" and "Evil" is their religious connotations: Good God and Evil Devil...you can even see the direct relationship between name and what they represent. If Saddam is 'Evil', then he must be sent by the Devil and only some one 'Good', sent by God can defeat him. Mere mortals can only hope to resist the devil's temptations. Can you see how using word like 'Evil' can be misunderstood? I seem to remember Bush using the word "crusade" to describe his mission. Is the US on a mission from God? Is Bush, God's knight on earth?
I can see how Saddam is 'Brutal' and 'Selfish', but those are human failing, not divine characteristics. I agree that world will be a better place when he's gone, but that has nothing to do with a Divine mission.
They are simply people with zero self-esteem, zero drive, and who are intrinsically lazy.
Statements like that don't improve anyone's self esteem but yours. Do you really believe that the best way to improve someone's self-esteem and motivation is to insult them?
I was once addicted to gaming and this habit had a huge affect on my results in both high school and university. I never considered my self to have any less self-esteem than any of the other geeks I was hanging out with as we all got addicted. In fact, it seemed even normal to spend so much time playing games. I never considered myself to have zero drive as I continuously tired to improve my gaming ability and my characters, after all, that was the whole point of the game. I never considered my self intrinsically lazy as I spent a huge amount of time in an active situation where I had to think and plan as opposed passive situations such as watching TV or reading a novel.
During this time, I was lucky enough to start dating a great girl. After many unsuccessfully attempts to spend more time with me, she gave me an ultimatum convinced me to uninstall and hand over my games to her. We dated for the next few years and I only got them back when we broke up. Although I missed gaming, I was too busy catching up with my lost time to really get into any more games during that time. Now I am not addicted any more. Because I know that I can get addicted, I am very careful now not to go near highly addictive games such as Everquest and not to invest too much time on any game.
For me, over coming addiction required both my own willpower and someone else's help. I don't think will power alone would've been enough, which is why it is an addiction and not a choice.
The site's slashdotted already!
why would I pay $10 (or whatever) to play with the same kind of setup I have at home?
For the same reason that people still go to movie theatres despite being able to watch movie at home. I'd say that the reasons include
-Better Hardware: screen and sound system
-more people
-You will get to try the Newest Thing (TM) before deciding to buy it
-Be able to frag more people that you can see and tease (one of my problems with online gaming)
-Atmosphere (?)
According to the bible, our most recent common ancestors aren't Adam and Eve, but Noah and his family. If I remember correctly, Noah, his wife and their three sons with their wives survived the great flood. Altogether, that's eight people and five of them were not directly related.
The most interesting thing about this situation is that it's supposed to have happened only 4k-5k years ago. This means that all the differences we see between people, such as race, language and culture, came about in that time.
I know just too many non-tech people who have gotten addicted to downloading music illegally. It will be quite difficult to get them to change their habits. But at least it's a start. Perhaps if Kylie asks very nicely, things will change....no one can refuse Kylie!
> Am I the only one that saw "fluid contamination > test" and though of urine?
I was actually thinking of bourbon, Coke or water (in that order), but I guess it depends on your personal habits.
The drop test, the fluid contamination tests? This thing looks way too fragile.
I don't think that another conspiracy theory offers the best explanation. IMHO I think China just hasn't caught up with internet technology.
If more spam gets routed through China, then more and more of their network resouces will be consumed while more and more western sites block their traffic, so China will also eventually have to act to stop the problem.
That's a good point! The Information Tech bottlenecks tend to be at the network level for most people these days, so I don't think a faster computer will be that useful.
I have often wondered how to inform non-techie people (let's call them 'normals', for the sake of the discussion) about these problems. Considering KaZaA's reputation, I always advise my normal (and sometimes even techie) friends and family not to use it. But I always seem to find that they either don't know about KaZaA's problems or don't appreciate the security risks.
As we can't rely on KaZaA's makers to fix these problems or to warn users, what can we do?
If you think about the security and virus problems with Microsoft Windows and Email programs, most normals (at least the ones that I know) seem to only get warnings about these issues from those annoying group forwards or virus warnings sent by someone's father/brother/uncle/friend who works for IBM/Norton/Symantic/FBI/CIA/Government Agency. For better or for worse, normals do seem to believe these warnings, so perhaps this is the only way to inform people about KaZaA.
What does everyone think? Is this method too evil to be used for good purposes?