Well, that's too bad, because I for one am not in the possession of fourth amendment protections. So as much as I think this is a wise and important verdict - irrespective of all the poisonous trees and parallel constructions - the US to me represents a clear and present danger to my privacy and my liberty.
There will not be a minimum sentence. Just a minumum for the maximum sentence. Difficult concept, but the idea is that each member state will have a maximum prison sentence of at least 2 years. Judges will be free to sentence someone to a month, if they so choose. Member States can also choose to have a maximum prison sentence of more than 2 years, but not less than 2 years.
This is a misinterpretation of the new rule. European law typically defines minimum values for maximum sentences. So: all member states will adopt a law that sets a maximum sentence of at least x years. There will not be a minimum sentence, since that is unconstitutional in a lot of countries.
Which is true of people anywhere. In Holland, where I happen to live, people from the southern Limburg province are much more like the people on the other side of the border with Belgium than they resemble people from the north of the country, or even the center. Dialects are quite similar too over the border, whereas people from the North have trouble understanding Limburgers. And Holland is only 300 km long!
Planting trees can be quite bloody, it turns out. Then later it turns out things are not quite what they seem.
Seriously though: get reading! This is good stuff. Just bear in mind that it was written by an active Mormon. The translation into Dutch is by a Jesuit monk, BTW. How funny is that?
Sound a bit like that almost, but not quite, entirely irrelevant discussion about whether 1 MB equals 1000 kB or 1024 kB. Anyway, what's with this obsession with the decimal system all of a sudden? Come on/.ers! Did nobody notice when wikipedia crossed the much more interesting threshold of 10^20 articles? And please let's postpone celebrations until we reach 10^21 articles...
Bean was quite a mystical character in the original book, I thought. It was obvious he was very important to the author, but it was strange to have him there, he distracted somehow from Ender's role, without really explaining why he was the way he was. I mean, even in Ender's Game it's obvious he is at least close to Ender's own capacities, isn't it? Yet how this could be, where he came from and why he was so small remained a mystery.
On the other hand you have this wonderful setting of the battle school and the children trying to deal with it, that I really loved reading about first time round, that was completely put in a different lighting when you read the same events through Bean's eyes. I thought it was a marvellous accomplishment by Card and a great read. Of course, Ender's Shadow gets bonus points for being partly situated in Rotterdam, not 100km from where I am right now (Amsterdam), and a thoroughly messed up Rotterdam at that! That part was especially wonderful for completely chauvinistic reasons...
Shadow of the Hegemon was OK, really. Just did not create the same buzz as Ender's Shadow or Ender's game on account of being so serious while on the other hand not creating the spectacular new world and new philosophies that make Speaker for the Dead such a wonderful book. It's exciting, but not refreshing, if you get my idea.
"the" Ender's Game sequels? You make no distinction between, say, Ender's Shadow (good) and Shadow of the Hegemon (tedious) or between Speaker for the dead (the best of the series) and Xenocide (quite awful and very predictable)?
As for your question, I think Card started out as a playwright before switching to novels. I'm not sure, but I seem to have picked up this piece of trivia from one of his introductions.
Seriously. Can you name one place in the entire world where the freedom of the people is significantly improving?
How about Marocco, where the freedom off the press as well as opposition groups is increasing daily since the old king died? Also, the position of women there has much improved (and leaves a lot to be desired). And how about the Ukraine? The consequences of the Orange Revolution is going to be felt in the region for years. Let's also mention Georgia, Serbia, Turkey. I have no idea whether or not the world is heading anywhere. It might well be the shitter, but there are certainly places where things are improving. Even without Uncle Sam meddling.
Trains (~75mph) simply aren't anywhere near as fast as airplanes (>500mph).
You're right that they are not equally fast and they might never be. But last time I sat on the French TGV it certainly went faster than 75mph. The thing goes over 300kph, which would be about 200mph i guess. At those speeds it would still take you longer to get there, but at least the times would be comparable.
And then you have the new developments in maglev (magnetic levitation) trains, where speeds can be higher - near 500kph, say 320mph - and more importantly acceleration is a lot better too. Those things offer the option of moving you over great distances in good time and still stop at every significant town in between, which enhances your chances of getting near your final destination, lowering driving times to/from the airport or railway station.
On the downside: planes not only move faster, they can also move in a direct line, something train will never be able to do...
Hey come on man! Of course on screen sex has a more direct influence on human behavior than on screen violence. I mean, a lot of people see violent movies, and only a few people become violent, whereas a lot of people see sexy stuff - in a lot of forms - and a lot of people have sex. You might even conclude that: See sex = want sex.
The evidence is there. Question remains which effect is desirable and which isn't. Can one have too much violence? Well, duh! Can one have too much sex? Well... I can see how that might be possible, but personally I could have a hell of a lot more before getting bored.
Well in a way I guess he was, but it was the automatic drink dispenser that grabbed all system resources in an - almost, but not entirely completely failed - attempt to humor Arthur and make him a cup of tea. But I think it was in the H2G2 itself, and not in the sequel. But I could be mistaken...
Actually, I hear that drowning is supposed to be a really nice way of going anyway. It seems a lot of people get great halucinations before they actually die. They fight too, if you try to get them out.
But living in Amsterdam, I don't need to drown to get high, so I'd prefer to keep my feet dry, if I can...
Even if the Gulf stream stays intact, Europe will still be screwed. I mean, here I am, living in Amsterdam, with my head just above the water level if I stand on my toes. A dike is a much too thin line between a productive life and extinction if you ask me.
My computer is on the second floor though, so I guess I'll still be allright if I have to start using boats to get anywhere...
I think one of the best known examples of literature (SF) influencing the direction of technology is the waterbed. It was described in a story by Robert A. Heinlein and then actually created by someone completely different, who read the story and then gave the first waterbed to Heinlein and became rich.
Heinlein, of course, was already rich.
I read a lot of Heinlein, and I'm not rich at all. Go figure.
How to slash(dot) a dead fly
on
Server In A Fly
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Imagine this: you are flying around, minding your own business, maybe having a nice sip of that fresh little rotting piece of meat on the counter, when suddenly you die. You are barely dead, when someone sticks a webserver up your ass, which kinda hurts, and then installs some LEDs on your back, drilling right through your well maintained exoskeleton.
Then, when you have been online for just a few days, some hord comes down to slashdot your fine new webserver, and the lights go out.
If I were that fly, I'd be pissed.
Which reminds me of superfly. Know him? Check him out somewhere on www.shockwave.com.
Implantable may be, but will you survive?
on
Going Cyberpunk
·
· Score: 1
This new chip might well be implantable in the brain. But see this comment from the chip's inventor's press release: "The cell tissue is not damaged in this process and can be kept alive over a period of several weeks."
I agree with both your points, and I agree that the BSA is a bunch of not very nice people. But you've managed to confuse me as well. Major bonus points for that!
You claim that priracy doesn't cost anyone, nobody loses *and* you claim that piracy kills the competition. So if there would be no piracy, probably WordPerfect would still be going strong (never mind that they actually got where they once were because of some major copying going on)? So in what way was WordPerfect not damaged by piracy of Word? Remember that BSA represents both Corel *and* M$.
And this thought just unsettles me. Imagine how I feel now about all the good I apparently did BILL by stealing his software all the time... Brrr...
Last comment for any BSA spies on here: that last comment was a joke! I would never... I always stop for any red lights. I always help those nice old ladies cross the road. I'm a good boy...
Slashdot Mirror
Well, that's too bad, because I for one am not in the possession of fourth amendment protections. So as much as I think this is a wise and important verdict - irrespective of all the poisonous trees and parallel constructions - the US to me represents a clear and present danger to my privacy and my liberty.
There will not be a mandatory minimum. Just a maximum of at least to years.
There will not be a minimum sentence. Just a minumum for the maximum sentence. Difficult concept, but the idea is that each member state will have a maximum prison sentence of at least 2 years. Judges will be free to sentence someone to a month, if they so choose. Member States can also choose to have a maximum prison sentence of more than 2 years, but not less than 2 years.
This is a misinterpretation of the new rule. European law typically defines minimum values for maximum sentences. So: all member states will adopt a law that sets a maximum sentence of at least x years. There will not be a minimum sentence, since that is unconstitutional in a lot of countries.
But there are a *lot* of sites. A lot of municipalities use certificates issues by Diginotar as well.
Seriously? You are waiting for facial recognition in your eyeball? And you wonder why you have trouble hanging on to you girlfriends?
Which is true of people anywhere. In Holland, where I happen to live, people from the southern Limburg province are much more like the people on the other side of the border with Belgium than they resemble people from the north of the country, or even the center. Dialects are quite similar too over the border, whereas people from the North have trouble understanding Limburgers. And Holland is only 300 km long!
Planting trees can be quite bloody, it turns out. Then later it turns out things are not quite what they seem.
Seriously though: get reading! This is good stuff. Just bear in mind that it was written by an active Mormon. The translation into Dutch is by a Jesuit monk, BTW. How funny is that?
Ai. That must be my decimal obsession trying to block out my binary subroutines...
Sound a bit like that almost, but not quite, entirely irrelevant discussion about whether 1 MB equals 1000 kB or 1024 kB. Anyway, what's with this obsession with the decimal system all of a sudden? Come on /.ers! Did nobody notice when wikipedia crossed the much more interesting threshold of 10^20 articles? And please let's postpone celebrations until we reach 10^21 articles...
Bean was quite a mystical character in the original book, I thought. It was obvious he was very important to the author, but it was strange to have him there, he distracted somehow from Ender's role, without really explaining why he was the way he was. I mean, even in Ender's Game it's obvious he is at least close to Ender's own capacities, isn't it? Yet how this could be, where he came from and why he was so small remained a mystery.
On the other hand you have this wonderful setting of the battle school and the children trying to deal with it, that I really loved reading about first time round, that was completely put in a different lighting when you read the same events through Bean's eyes. I thought it was a marvellous accomplishment by Card and a great read. Of course, Ender's Shadow gets bonus points for being partly situated in Rotterdam, not 100km from where I am right now (Amsterdam), and a thoroughly messed up Rotterdam at that! That part was especially wonderful for completely chauvinistic reasons...
Shadow of the Hegemon was OK, really. Just did not create the same buzz as Ender's Shadow or Ender's game on account of being so serious while on the other hand not creating the spectacular new world and new philosophies that make Speaker for the Dead such a wonderful book. It's exciting, but not refreshing, if you get my idea.
"the" Ender's Game sequels? You make no distinction between, say, Ender's Shadow (good) and Shadow of the Hegemon (tedious) or between Speaker for the dead (the best of the series) and Xenocide (quite awful and very predictable)?
As for your question, I think Card started out as a playwright before switching to novels. I'm not sure, but I seem to have picked up this piece of trivia from one of his introductions.
Trains (~75mph) simply aren't anywhere near as fast as airplanes (>500mph).
You're right that they are not equally fast and they might never be. But last time I sat on the French TGV it certainly went faster than 75mph. The thing goes over 300kph, which would be about 200mph i guess. At those speeds it would still take you longer to get there, but at least the times would be comparable.
And then you have the new developments in maglev (magnetic levitation) trains, where speeds can be higher - near 500kph, say 320mph - and more importantly acceleration is a lot better too. Those things offer the option of moving you over great distances in good time and still stop at every significant town in between, which enhances your chances of getting near your final destination, lowering driving times to/from the airport or railway station.
On the downside: planes not only move faster, they can also move in a direct line, something train will never be able to do...
Hey come on man! Of course on screen sex has a more direct influence on human behavior than on screen violence. I mean, a lot of people see violent movies, and only a few people become violent, whereas a lot of people see sexy stuff - in a lot of forms - and a lot of people have sex. You might even conclude that: See sex = want sex.
The evidence is there. Question remains which effect is desirable and which isn't. Can one have too much violence? Well, duh! Can one have too much sex? Well... I can see how that might be possible, but personally I could have a hell of a lot more before getting bored.
It was Arthur Dent who was responsible for this
Well in a way I guess he was, but it was the automatic drink dispenser that grabbed all system resources in an - almost, but not entirely completely failed - attempt to humor Arthur and make him a cup of tea. But I think it was in the H2G2 itself, and not in the sequel. But I could be mistaken...
Actually, I hear that drowning is supposed to be a really nice way of going anyway. It seems a lot of people get great halucinations before they actually die. They fight too, if you try to get them out.
But living in Amsterdam, I don't need to drown to get high, so I'd prefer to keep my feet dry, if I can...
Even if the Gulf stream stays intact, Europe will still be screwed. I mean, here I am, living in Amsterdam, with my head just above the water level if I stand on my toes. A dike is a much too thin line between a productive life and extinction if you ask me. My computer is on the second floor though, so I guess I'll still be allright if I have to start using boats to get anywhere...
I think one of the best known examples of literature (SF) influencing the direction of technology is the waterbed. It was described in a story by Robert A. Heinlein and then actually created by someone completely different, who read the story and then gave the first waterbed to Heinlein and became rich.
Heinlein, of course, was already rich.
I read a lot of Heinlein, and I'm not rich at all. Go figure.
Imagine this: you are flying around, minding your own business, maybe having a nice sip of that fresh little rotting piece of meat on the counter, when suddenly you die. You are barely dead, when someone sticks a webserver up your ass, which kinda hurts, and then installs some LEDs on your back, drilling right through your well maintained exoskeleton.
Then, when you have been online for just a few days, some hord comes down to slashdot your fine new webserver, and the lights go out.
If I were that fly, I'd be pissed.
Which reminds me of superfly. Know him? Check him out somewhere on www.shockwave.com.
This new chip might well be implantable in the brain. But see this comment from the chip's inventor's press release: "The cell tissue is not damaged in this process and can be kept alive over a period of several weeks."
I agree with both your points, and I agree that the BSA is a bunch of not very nice people. But you've managed to confuse me as well. Major bonus points for that! You claim that priracy doesn't cost anyone, nobody loses *and* you claim that piracy kills the competition. So if there would be no piracy, probably WordPerfect would still be going strong (never mind that they actually got where they once were because of some major copying going on)? So in what way was WordPerfect not damaged by piracy of Word? Remember that BSA represents both Corel *and* M$. And this thought just unsettles me. Imagine how I feel now about all the good I apparently did BILL by stealing his software all the time... Brrr... Last comment for any BSA spies on here: that last comment was a joke! I would never... I always stop for any red lights. I always help those nice old ladies cross the road. I'm a good boy...