Rorschach's unyielding, twisted sense of justice, which leads to his death. Is Rorschach's misanthropic voice the ultimate soul of the book?
The more I think about it, the more the Watchmen seems bound to its time. It was kind of thrilling to see a comic book deal with social issues. But because that was such a novel thing for a comic book to do, it could just sort of gesture at them. (As, for example, with the whole urban crime / police strike backstory.) It was enough for the book to say "we're aware of these things, and so should you be, because they shed light on today's events." The events in question, however, were those of the late 1970s and early 1980s in the U.S. and Britain. In sum, although I revere the Watchmen, I wonder how good its geopolitical or geosocial perception will look in a world that has changed so much since then.
In a sense, V for Vendetta got lucky in being made into a movie at the time it did, in that its portrait of a repressive society founded on propaganda designed to arouse fear of terrorist attack was just too deliciously close to present events for a scriptwriter to ignore. Here, too, it's enough just to make the Voice of London broadcast look like something on Fox News or CNN to stir up the audience. And of course the word "terrorist." In the end, I guess the low-hanging fruit of connection to today's events made for an enjoyable movie.
Watchmen will have none of these advantages and will have to sell itself on completely different grounds, on something closer to its own terms. I hope the producers will find a way.
The/. article title implies that Sugar is leaving OLPC behind, but the BBC article says only that Sugar will be available elsewhere than on an OLPC laptop. Am I missing something?
In light of the dangers you identify, thank goodness there's a straight-talking maverick like John McCain around. He's the only thing standing between us and a thuggish, militant Democratic youth movement replacing America's culture with its own authoritarian vision.
Given that intelligence makes one a useful slave to others more powerful, it is arguably a good idea to hide one's species' intelligence from the attention of unknown aliens with unknown quantities of firepower.
This is Nick Bostrom, the fellow who last tickled our fancy (ahem) with the notion that it is far more likely that we are currently living in a computer simulation of the present than actually living in the time being simulated.
He seems here to be pulling the same kind of statistical trick as he did in the simulation argument: estimating the probability of what is in our experience a necessarily singular event by considering many thousands or millions of like events. This is anti-scientific in the highest degree.
My hope is that this is another in a series of large-scale pranks intended to demonstrate how even quite educated people fail to understand basic statistical concepts.
It's not remarkable that such a thing is still being discussed. It is not a question that mathematics, however advanced, can resolve, since it is not a mathematical question. It's a question about mathematics itself.
Also, the answer should be "discovered," but some things that people do look more like invention. I think they're fooling themselves, but try telling them that.
The fact that you realize this just as arcades are about to become a thing of the past is what Hegel had in mind when he said that the owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.
Slashdot Mirror
The knot-tops / lesbian romance subplot.
The paranoid right-wing rag subplot.
The role of the Comedian in present events.
Rorschach's unyielding, twisted sense of justice, which leads to his death. Is Rorschach's misanthropic voice the ultimate soul of the book?
The more I think about it, the more the Watchmen seems bound to its time. It was kind of thrilling to see a comic book deal with social issues. But because that was such a novel thing for a comic book to do, it could just sort of gesture at them. (As, for example, with the whole urban crime / police strike backstory.) It was enough for the book to say "we're aware of these things, and so should you be, because they shed light on today's events." The events in question, however, were those of the late 1970s and early 1980s in the U.S. and Britain. In sum, although I revere the Watchmen, I wonder how good its geopolitical or geosocial perception will look in a world that has changed so much since then.
In a sense, V for Vendetta got lucky in being made into a movie at the time it did, in that its portrait of a repressive society founded on propaganda designed to arouse fear of terrorist attack was just too deliciously close to present events for a scriptwriter to ignore. Here, too, it's enough just to make the Voice of London broadcast look like something on Fox News or CNN to stir up the audience. And of course the word "terrorist." In the end, I guess the low-hanging fruit of connection to today's events made for an enjoyable movie.
Watchmen will have none of these advantages and will have to sell itself on completely different grounds, on something closer to its own terms. I hope the producers will find a way.
Equatorial robots would be entirely unsuitable.
Nah. A Fremen.
But then you were like, "I'm sure Hansel's heard of styling gel," like you DIDN'T know!
If I understand correctly, the kinetics could reveal a weak spot in the "life"-cycle of the virus, which could suggest new treatment options.
Hey, that reminds me: what do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? Homeless!
Mod parent up. Information about the sender is exactly what the IMEI number is.
The /. article title implies that Sugar is leaving OLPC behind, but the BBC article says only that Sugar will be available elsewhere than on an OLPC laptop. Am I missing something?
80 Gbps tanks aren't going to be sitting in everyone's closet
Not until Wrath of the Lich King comes out ... wait, what were we talking about?
and it took about 190,000 years after that change before agriculture became a force and culture exploded
And we never would have got that unless aliens posing as gods had downloaded the needed cultural changes into our noggins, with whips!
I'm holding out for FoldingFolding@Home Revolution.
In light of the dangers you identify, thank goodness there's a straight-talking maverick like John McCain around. He's the only thing standing between us and a thuggish, militant Democratic youth movement replacing America's culture with its own authoritarian vision.
Yes, unless you want non-Spanish-reading English-speakers to get it.
"tacked on ad libum."
This phrase bears to Latin the same relation that "el trucko" bears to Spanish.
M.A.D.D. Spokeswoman: "Drunk driving is not a game. But GTA IV is. (Pause.) Wait, what was I saying?"
Glad to hear the science is plausible. Otherwise, I might have had to suspend my disbelief in order to enjoy the movie at all!
This means your Downey-Ball number is 1. Congratulations.
Given that intelligence makes one a useful slave to others more powerful, it is arguably a good idea to hide one's species' intelligence from the attention of unknown aliens with unknown quantities of firepower.
This is Nick Bostrom, the fellow who last tickled our fancy (ahem) with the notion that it is far more likely that we are currently living in a computer simulation of the present than actually living in the time being simulated.
He seems here to be pulling the same kind of statistical trick as he did in the simulation argument: estimating the probability of what is in our experience a necessarily singular event by considering many thousands or millions of like events. This is anti-scientific in the highest degree.
My hope is that this is another in a series of large-scale pranks intended to demonstrate how even quite educated people fail to understand basic statistical concepts.
So, what is that in man-hours? Sorry, I mean web-monkey-hours.
Mining? Surplus? Resources? To hell with that.
My mind is not for rent / to any god or government.
I am not a number. I am a free man.
It's not remarkable that such a thing is still being discussed. It is not a question that mathematics, however advanced, can resolve, since it is not a mathematical question. It's a question about mathematics itself.
Also, the answer should be "discovered," but some things that people do look more like invention. I think they're fooling themselves, but try telling them that.
The fact that you realize this just as arcades are about to become a thing of the past is what Hegel had in mind when he said that the owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.
You must concentrate!
Better (less literal) English = "I get it."