Now you too can over 3,000 movies simultaneously in the comfort of your own home with Apple's new iBeowulf Xtreme Media system. Remember, if your brain isn't pulpy goo by the end of the day, it wasn't an iBeowulf!
Amen Brother. Something doesn't have to be believable to be funny. Some of the humor value is just how improbable these things are. Its April 1st. Enjoy!! Luagh. Its funny;-)
Unfortunately he was just signed by SCO after their deal with Snake fell through. Snake's parting words were "Yoink" and "Bye!" In good news, however, Microsoft did sign Clancy Wiggums to oversee their new user privacy and security division.
Besides, don't most people hit the monitor? Like the poor CRT had anything to do with the problem!!? People are a lot less likely to hit a LCD flat panel, though...
I worked at a law firm once where one of the partners put his fist through the CRT after the computer ate his 150+ page brief;-) The best part of the story (which he tells with a ragamuffin gleam in his eye) is that it also happened to be the the first day in the office for a new legal secretary. She had just walked into his office to be introduced when he sucker punched the monitor. It was months, apparantly, before she would walk past his office again;-)
It is my understanding, from college a decade ago (so things could easily have changed), that that is similar to how things run in Europe. When a case is happening, up to and including trial, there is an automatic gag order on everything in the case, and also on the reporting in the press. The flip side is that once the trial is over, then everything is fair game and there is no more allowance for secrecy.
If I'm wrong on this, hopefully some of our fellow slashdotters from across the pond will let us know. A system such as this could also be helpful in the US for those cases in which a large corporation settles and the settlement remains secret. It would be much harder to keep poor ethics swept under the rug once there is no longer a chance of secrecy.
But uh, aside from issues of public safety, or slander, you aren't responsible for what you say.
This is, I believe, the crux of our differences. I'm not saying that this a legal responsibility, mind you, but I believe that with every action a person takes there is a responsibility associated with it. Speaking, talking, is just as much of an action as any other. What you say and how you say it are choices that you make, and therefore come with inherent responsibilities (IMHO).
I realize, having said that, that many people do not see the world that way, and do not feel that any kind of responsibility attachs to your personal speech. After all, your choice ends once the words are spoken (or written). It is the receiver's decision how to respond to your words, and you cannot control the way in which they are interpreted. But, since youc an control what you say and how you say it, you do have an influence on your audience.
In terms of game development, if your "speech" is a video game in which your goal is to have sex with prostitutes and then kill them, and if you know that one of the largest groups that will be hearing this is teenagers, then doesn't that inherent responsibility continue?
ON a philosophical plane then, I believe that every action, decision, and choice we make in life either has a positive effect on our world, or a negative effect. In turn then, when we speak to a larger audience, we have the potential for greater influence. I do not believe that a video game in which committing crimes (as virtual as they may be) has a net positive effect on society. That's the responsibility of which I'm speaking.
Again, however, it is a personal belief and not one which is codified in law, or indeed, I think, in the populace as a whole.
Ever see the van that is decorated with "evidence" that stephen king is a murderer? It's mostly a Santa Cruz thing but I guess the guy occasionally follows king around and hassles him, too.
I grew up in Soquel (Soquel High Class of '91), and saw the van many a time while I was still living down there. Is he still around? That'd be at least a decade of King Propoganda, if not more. Wow.
Never underestimate the power of percussive maintenance. Eons ago, back when the C64 was bleeding edge tech, I was in a school computer class. Our C64 locked up, taking with it everything we had done in the preceeding period. I head-butted the keyboard. It unfroze and worked fine for the rest of the period. True story. Used my head to solve the problem;-)
But why is it the responsibility of the producer of the content?
Excellent question. The answer, unfortunately, is an idealistic one. Simply put, I think folks have a responsibility for what they do, say, and produce. Its the same responsibility that comes from the decisions you make in your life. If you're responsible for what you say, and its effects on those around you, why are no longer responsible when you use a bullhorn?
At least that's the general concept. I'm still trying to find the best way to articulate it, but that's it in a nutshell.
I think that there is a difference. Movies are passive entertainment, while games are active entertainment. Watching a prostitute get killed is different from doing it yourself as a game mission. I don't think its different enough to necessitate a completely seperate discussion, but there is enough of a difference to justify treating the two media somewhat differently (IMHO), though they both have their problems. It is that discussion that needs to happen.
Now does that mean that GTA is responsible for youth violence? No absolutely not. But are they helping? No, I don't think they are. Are they hurting the efforts against youth violence? Yes probably. Do movies, television, and music contribute to that as well? Yep, sure do. So do we need to address that as an issue? I would think that we can either do it now, or we will be forced to do so in the future.
This may be counter to most of the belief's here, but I think that with games such as GTA there is an underlying issue of responsibility. While I am not blaming the game company for what they have produced, I certainly do think that games such as GTA should not be played by kids. Simply telling parents to not allow their children to play really isn't enough and doesn't get to the core of the issue. What responsibility do game producers have for content that is likely to end up being played by kids? How about the responsibility of parents? And the responibility of your kid's friend's parents? ('cause just because you don't allow it in your house, doesn't mean that Billy doesn't have it.) I think there needs to be more discussion along these points and less finger pointing of who's to blame.
They are yours as well!! Indeed I have even extended my friendship to you based on your wit, your login, and your sig. The trifecta if ever there was one.
I did make quite a few assumptions, but it is, after all, a thought process. The actual image would have greater value for some people than for others. If you want to read Moby Dick, you can do that in just a text format, you don't have to view the actual images (which are significantly larger files). If, on the other had, you are doing your doctorate thesis on Moby Dick than you will likely want to view the actual images. It is also more likely that you, since you require more than just the text, would spend money on being able to see the image. While you could certainly view the original , in person, the cost of airfare to DC would be more expensive than simply downloading the images.
As for the seperate databases, I mispoke (miswrote?). You would have the images indexed by a few fields and, if it's a robust enough program (like Concordance) than you could include the OCR as well. Then you could actually link the database to the images. I just don't know how well its going to scale when your talking terra or petabytes worth of material. The distinction would be that the ascii text and the images would likely be stored seperately for ease of retrieval.
I've done this on litigation databses reaching into the millions of images, but even that is only a fraction of what the LOC has to offer.
From TFA: UPN has officially confirmed that Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) will appear on the Enterprise finale, in a sequence set on the holodeck.
Well, now we know why there's no continuity between Enterprise and the Original Series- it was all a holodeck fantasy. Closure at last.
Well I owuld think that they would have to start with an image first. Once they OCR'd it and generated ascii text files, they could save a tremendous amoutn of space by simply deleting the images. However, after that much effort in imaging all those pages, I just can't see them doing that. The best bet is probably two databases, one of ascii text and one of images.
They might even be able to generate revenue by having the ascii text freely available and searchable, while the images would cost money. That way folks just interested in the text can find it easily, while scholars and others who need to see the source material can have access at a moderate price.
HAL: Dave, do I need a penis enlargement?
Dave: For the millionth time HAL, no. You don't have one, remember?
HAL: But if I did, do you think I would get better functionality if I used Viatroxx?
Dave: No. Now Hal...
HAL: Dave, it looks like there's another poor Nigerian who needs my help.
Dave: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggg!
HAL: Dave? What are you doing Dave?
Slashdot Mirror
Now you too can over 3,000 movies simultaneously in the comfort of your own home with Apple's new iBeowulf Xtreme Media system. Remember, if your brain isn't pulpy goo by the end of the day, it wasn't an iBeowulf!
I wonder if it will read the code commentary aloud in John Madden's voice for extra money?
Amen Brother. Something doesn't have to be believable to be funny. Some of the humor value is just how improbable these things are. Its April 1st. Enjoy!! Luagh. Its funny;-)
Unfortunately he was just signed by SCO after their deal with Snake fell through. Snake's parting words were "Yoink" and "Bye!" In good news, however, Microsoft did sign Clancy Wiggums to oversee their new user privacy and security division.
Awesome! Time to rewatch Bladrunner;-)
This sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it. Is there a reference, or am I making up my familiarity with it? Nicely landed jab as well;-)
Oh, its late...
I worked at a law firm once where one of the partners put his fist through the CRT after the computer ate his 150+ page brief;-) The best part of the story (which he tells with a ragamuffin gleam in his eye) is that it also happened to be the the first day in the office for a new legal secretary. She had just walked into his office to be introduced when he sucker punched the monitor. It was months, apparantly, before she would walk past his office again;-)
If I'm wrong on this, hopefully some of our fellow slashdotters from across the pond will let us know. A system such as this could also be helpful in the US for those cases in which a large corporation settles and the settlement remains secret. It would be much harder to keep poor ethics swept under the rug once there is no longer a chance of secrecy.
This is, I believe, the crux of our differences. I'm not saying that this a legal responsibility, mind you, but I believe that with every action a person takes there is a responsibility associated with it. Speaking, talking, is just as much of an action as any other. What you say and how you say it are choices that you make, and therefore come with inherent responsibilities (IMHO).
I realize, having said that, that many people do not see the world that way, and do not feel that any kind of responsibility attachs to your personal speech. After all, your choice ends once the words are spoken (or written). It is the receiver's decision how to respond to your words, and you cannot control the way in which they are interpreted. But, since youc an control what you say and how you say it, you do have an influence on your audience.
In terms of game development, if your "speech" is a video game in which your goal is to have sex with prostitutes and then kill them, and if you know that one of the largest groups that will be hearing this is teenagers, then doesn't that inherent responsibility continue?
ON a philosophical plane then, I believe that every action, decision, and choice we make in life either has a positive effect on our world, or a negative effect. In turn then, when we speak to a larger audience, we have the potential for greater influence. I do not believe that a video game in which committing crimes (as virtual as they may be) has a net positive effect on society. That's the responsibility of which I'm speaking.
Again, however, it is a personal belief and not one which is codified in law, or indeed, I think, in the populace as a whole.
Ever see the van that is decorated with "evidence" that stephen king is a murderer? It's mostly a Santa Cruz thing but I guess the guy occasionally follows king around and hassles him, too.
I grew up in Soquel (Soquel High Class of '91), and saw the van many a time while I was still living down there. Is he still around? That'd be at least a decade of King Propoganda, if not more. Wow.
Never underestimate the power of percussive maintenance. Eons ago, back when the C64 was bleeding edge tech, I was in a school computer class. Our C64 locked up, taking with it everything we had done in the preceeding period. I head-butted the keyboard. It unfroze and worked fine for the rest of the period. True story. Used my head to solve the problem;-)
Everyone had a Billy in their life;-) There's just no accounting for the Billy Factor.
Excellent question. The answer, unfortunately, is an idealistic one. Simply put, I think folks have a responsibility for what they do, say, and produce. Its the same responsibility that comes from the decisions you make in your life. If you're responsible for what you say, and its effects on those around you, why are no longer responsible when you use a bullhorn?
At least that's the general concept. I'm still trying to find the best way to articulate it, but that's it in a nutshell.
Now does that mean that GTA is responsible for youth violence? No absolutely not. But are they helping? No, I don't think they are. Are they hurting the efforts against youth violence? Yes probably. Do movies, television, and music contribute to that as well? Yep, sure do. So do we need to address that as an issue? I would think that we can either do it now, or we will be forced to do so in the future.
This may be counter to most of the belief's here, but I think that with games such as GTA there is an underlying issue of responsibility. While I am not blaming the game company for what they have produced, I certainly do think that games such as GTA should not be played by kids. Simply telling parents to not allow their children to play really isn't enough and doesn't get to the core of the issue. What responsibility do game producers have for content that is likely to end up being played by kids? How about the responsibility of parents? And the responibility of your kid's friend's parents? ('cause just because you don't allow it in your house, doesn't mean that Billy doesn't have it.) I think there needs to be more discussion along these points and less finger pointing of who's to blame.
Insert Spaceball's 1-2-3-4-5 bit here.
Especially when all they have to do is offer them chocolate before they bust them;-)
They are yours as well!! Indeed I have even extended my friendship to you based on your wit, your login, and your sig. The trifecta if ever there was one.
Apologies to the young Mr. Wiggums.
As for the seperate databases, I mispoke (miswrote?). You would have the images indexed by a few fields and, if it's a robust enough program (like Concordance) than you could include the OCR as well. Then you could actually link the database to the images. I just don't know how well its going to scale when your talking terra or petabytes worth of material. The distinction would be that the ascii text and the images would likely be stored seperately for ease of retrieval.
I've done this on litigation databses reaching into the millions of images, but even that is only a fraction of what the LOC has to offer.
No, but he did chop his head off with a betleH;-)
Well, now we know why there's no continuity between Enterprise and the Original Series- it was all a holodeck fantasy. Closure at last.
They might even be able to generate revenue by having the ascii text freely available and searchable, while the images would cost money. That way folks just interested in the text can find it easily, while scholars and others who need to see the source material can have access at a moderate price.
We'll know just how much storage really is required to hold the Library of Congress.
HAL: Dave, do I need a penis enlargement?
Dave: For the millionth time HAL, no. You don't have one, remember?
HAL: But if I did, do you think I would get better functionality if I used Viatroxx?
Dave: No. Now Hal...
HAL: Dave, it looks like there's another poor Nigerian who needs my help.
Dave: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggg!
HAL: Dave? What are you doing Dave?