> people would rather be monosyllabic zombies than learn pronunciation and vocabulary. Why did it need to be "blog?" Was "web log" too hard to say?
What's wrong with efficiency?
In the time it takes to utter "pentasyllabic eruditism" I can utter 8 or 9 one-syllable words. The nine words, if well-chosen, can communicate vastly more information than the two, because the relationship between words can be just as informative as the words themselves. Think about the difference between English and German, for example.
The question of the superiority (or otherwise) of complicated vocabularies recalls to me two authors who in separate works used the assertion that Chinese lacked the complicated pluralisms of English to argue diametrically opposite points. Both authors said that Chinese used the equivalent of "two man" instead of "two men". The English author said that this showed Chinese was a wussy and degenerate tongue. The Chinese author (Jackie Chan, in his hilarious autobiographyI Am Jackie Chan: My Life In Action) said that Chinese was very efficient and sophisticated because the phrase "two man" sufficiently communicated the same idea as "two men" and did not require the unnecessary learning of an additional word.
I'm with Jackie on this. Linguistic efficiency = good.
This case is setting up an interesting collision between Belgium's domestic legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), comparable to (...although differing in detail...) the collision between state and federal law in the USA.
This is a good thing. Ideally, of course, anti-racists or anti-anti-Islamicists would simply find a way to outtalk or otherwise pursuade racists, using reason, logic et cetera. But in the real world, it's normal and human to take shortcuts, especially where local fears are inflamed by famous crimes committed by Islamic immigrants.
The ECHR has been helpful in comparable matters. For example, in previous cases involving torture in the U.K., the local nation's actions which were engendered by local fears were overruled by the calmer, broader view of the larger E.U.. That's one of the benefits of a multilevel polity; locals get inflamed by local fears, while larger groups are not so emotionally involved.
The most obviously relevant ECHR law in this Flemish matter:
ARTICLE 10:
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. this right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or the rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
This language gives plenty of room to argue, e.g. whether podcasting is broadcasting, and whether banning anti-Islamic speech is "necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security".
I don't know the answer that the Council of Europe will fnally provide, but the ECHR is probably the most important legal battleground.
But seriously... you may be right about the role of the economic competition between movies and games. Schwartzeneggar's wealth is built on violent art, so his criticism of other people's violent art is hollow at best.
It puzzles me that Ahrnold hasn't come out with his own lines of violent videogames. An MMPORG based on Terminator would probably be highly profitable.... or maybe even an All-Arnold-All-The-Time MMPORG would be better. Now-a-days movies are just the hook for a complete line of products, so why is Arnold so behind the curve?
Personally, I think he's just playing to his political base, but it's hard to discount the money angle you mention.
... otherwise, this law would have burst into hellish flames of contradiction when signed by the lead in Conan, Commando, Eraser, Predator, Red Heat, Running Man, Terminator 1/2/3, Total Recall, True Lies and (Not) The Last Action Hero.
Re:Pac-man: The trilogy: The book...
on
The Art of LucasArts
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I assume you're joking... cuz one could just as well have a book on chess that goes "Move a piece when it's your turn until you've got the other guy's king checkmated."
Pac-Man was so wildly successful in part because it nicely combined strategy & tactics, with pure reflexes. Books could describe highly specific strategies, such as the least-time path through a maze, and more general information, such as the differing behavior of the ghosts, e.g. which ones were more likely to chase you, which ones were more likely to head you off.
Discover. The main part of the site worked o.k., e.g. making payments. But when I tried signing up for "Bill-Pay" it kept bombing. Their tech support's first question: what browser are you using? Their only fix: IE, alas!
> because sites need to start supporting web browsers in general if they want to keep their mac users instead of assuming that mac users will want to install IE.
Yep, and we're not talking insignificant sites. My credit card company (one of the Big Three) site has important functionality that doesn't work except under IE (...according to their tech support and my attempt to use Safari.)
One assumes MS considered the cost of keeping IE/Mac barely alive was worth more than the risk of forcing such sites to broaden their browserability, which in turn suggests something about MS's acknowledgement of the market role of non-IE browsers.
... the better SF reference is not to "Fantastic Voyage", for that movie used mAcrotech made tiny, without any changes allowing for different effects of nano-scale. The atomic-powered minisub was a normal atomic-powered minisub, the two-handed surgical laser was a normal two-handed surgical laser, and the madatory busty female was a normal mandatory busty female. They were simply rendered smaller, that's all.
In contrast, Borg nano-technology takes full advantage of the unique properties of objects in small scale, just as does the self-assembling peptide nanofibers referenced in the announcement.
We wouldn't want our SF references to be unrealistic, would we?
A funny thing happens when you PHBs the very same question about the economics of X:
If X = "oil" or some other physical commodity: There will never be a shortage of oil because the price will simply rise to meet demand; the market balances itself.
If X = "programmers" or some other laborer: There is a huge shortage of programmers because we don't want the price of programmers to rise until the market balances itself.
You're "right on the money." When you have to put in basic infrastructure, either because it was destroyed or because it never existed, why limit yourself to the old ways of doing things?
We can compare rebuilding New Orleans to building infrastructure in the "developing world"; e.g. free wireless is an incredible force multiplier. How much would a small business give not to have to worry about web connectivity? My guess is: a lot!
Although... before long, there will be more English-speaking people in China than in Britain and more English-speaking people in India than in the USA, so should we rename "English" to "West Indian" or to "Alt-Chinese"?
Clinton's bill would have the result, probably unintended, of interfering with the rights of Jews, Christians, Muslims and Mormons accurately to depict their Holy Books.
That's not an attack on anyone, just an observation.
I didn't point out some of the more shocking material in the Holy Books, but you can find them without much trouble. If someone compiled them into a video game, it would have to be rated M or R... and might make them rich. But I'm not actually suggesting anyone do that...
If we apply this standard to the Holy Book, we're going to have to put warning labels on any game based on, e.g.
"a blessing on anyone who seizes your babies and shatters them against a rock!" (Psalms 137:9)
or
"And that slave, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten." (Luke 12:47)
When it comes to the play experience, much of the fun of assembling a robot is similar to the fun of building a city or an empire in SimCity or Age of Empires. Instead of gears and pulleys, you manipulate serfs or workers or whatever... but otherwise it's all figuring out what thingies do what and how to combine them to do what-ever.
Lego has the great advantage of being physical and tactile, but OTOH computer games do much better with graphics and sound. I feel the same sense of pride in a well-built empire as I do in a well-build Lego thingy... and the computer game has the added element of competition (... and, ahem, cheat codes....)
As to the impact on our educational system... it may be unfortunate that the engineering skills Lego can teach are something America may be falling behind on, based on the number of engineers in our schools. However, the skills of organizing a complex organization (a.k.a. empire) may be just as valuable. Is it better to be a top-notch engineer, or to be the employer of a dozen top-notch engineers?
> some cow-worker decides that you wronged them and wants to get back at you, so kludges up some false photos and email trails and makes sure your spouse/SO is made aware of it, damaging your home life. Shouldn't you be able to identify them and make them answer for it?
A more likely scenario: an angry ex-spouse decides you defamed him in your divorce papers and in your blog. So they sue you for libel and use that suit to demand your private information,ostensibly to prove their suit but actually just to harass you for their personal pleasure in giving you agony... or worse.
How is Lycos or who-ever supposed to distinguish that sort of thing from the example you give? What does Lycos do when it hands over the personal information to someone who then uses it to make Lycos' customer dead?
Trust me on this... Lycos and anyone else with a brain do NOT want to be in the business of deciding which civil lawsuits have merit and which are harassment. That's what courts are for.
It's interesting that Lycos seems not to have argued that they never would release data; only that the standard they wished to uphold was that the underlying dispute must be a criminal action, not a "mere" civil suit.
[Quoting from article]: "...a sweeping rejection of Lycos' argument that personal client details should only be released if they are suspected of a crime and the information is wanted by the police..."
This may be good or it may be bad. Naturally The State will always insist on its right to get data in a criminal suit, and it's scarcely worth the bother of arguing over that right.
The Big Question is the right of private parties to get 3P information in a lawsuit such as is described in the article. Is a libel suit enough, or is a better remedy for publishing false information simply more information? Is publishing on a website enough of a libel to break privacy protections? What if the "libel" is published on a password-protected site... but the password is shared freely? What if the "libel" claim is protected by our American 1st Amendment but not by whatever law they have in the Netherlands... or in China?
I don't have The Big Answer but if privacy is to mean anything, I suggest the bar against private suits should be a tough one.
The article gushes enthusiastic "Companies can then invent additional Web site addresses in front of their top-level domain (TLD) name, such as flights.schiphol or parking.schiphol but, frankly, companies can already provide webaddresses such as flights.schiphol.com and parking.schiphol.com.
The only benefit is saving the website's customers the effort of typing in ".com" but what is this worth? A great many customers get to a particular site via search engine, link, or favorite anyway... so there's no savings there.
Furthermore, the ".com" typology distinguishes a company's web presence from its other emanations, such as product or physical existence. For example, we understand without having to think about it the difference between Seattle Mariners and seattlemariners.com (or R.E.Winn and rewinn.com. That's not an insignificant benefit.
But I'm willing to be educated. What is the problem that the proposal would solve?
>All I'm saying is there is no proven link that mankind is causing global warming
What would constitute "proof" to you?
Every reputable climatologist holds the view opposite to you.
While the phenomenon is without a doubt complex, the general mechanism is well-understood and the long-term trend is clear. All that is lacking is a sworn affadavit from Mother Nature that that's what's going on.
Is that the "proof" you are looking for? Something in writing from the Gods of Weather?
Because the "scientists" are in accord on this. There are a few whores funded by, e.g. the Coal industry, who deny the human influence on global climate change, but they are using the same specious reasoning as the science whores who denied tobacco causes cancer. In fact... the mechanism by which cigarette smoking causes cancer could STILL be denied using the same logic as is used by climate-change deniers.
So let us be upfront about it - tell us WHAT SORT OF PROOF you would accept.
... but the aliens are smart enough not to land their troops until they've fully assessed Earth's Mightiest Defenders: Gamers. Hence, their funding of games such as "Half-Life" and "Doom" to identify who they have to hit in the first wave.
If you're consistently racking up a big score online: Watch Your Back!
Slashdot Mirror
> people would rather be monosyllabic zombies than learn pronunciation and vocabulary. Why did it need to be "blog?" Was "web log" too hard to say?
What's wrong with efficiency?
In the time it takes to utter "pentasyllabic eruditism" I can utter 8 or 9 one-syllable words. The nine words, if well-chosen, can communicate vastly more information than the two, because the relationship between words can be just as informative as the words themselves. Think about the difference between English and German, for example.
The question of the superiority (or otherwise) of complicated vocabularies recalls to me two authors who in separate works used the assertion that Chinese lacked the complicated pluralisms of English to argue diametrically opposite points. Both authors said that Chinese used the equivalent of "two man" instead of "two men". The English author said that this showed Chinese was a wussy and degenerate tongue. The Chinese author (Jackie Chan, in his hilarious autobiographyI Am Jackie Chan: My Life In Action) said that Chinese was very efficient and sophisticated because the phrase "two man" sufficiently communicated the same idea as "two men" and did not require the unnecessary learning of an additional word.
I'm with Jackie on this. Linguistic efficiency = good.
This case is setting up an interesting collision between Belgium's domestic legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), comparable to (...although differing in detail ...) the collision between state and federal law in the USA.
This is a good thing. Ideally, of course, anti-racists or anti-anti-Islamicists would simply find a way to outtalk or otherwise pursuade racists, using reason, logic et cetera. But in the real world, it's normal and human to take shortcuts, especially where local fears are inflamed by famous crimes committed by Islamic immigrants.
The ECHR has been helpful in comparable matters. For example, in previous cases involving torture in the U.K., the local nation's actions which were engendered by local fears were overruled by the calmer, broader view of the larger E.U.. That's one of the benefits of a multilevel polity; locals get inflamed by local fears, while larger groups are not so emotionally involved.
The most obviously relevant ECHR law in this Flemish matter:
ARTICLE 10:
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. this right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or the rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
This language gives plenty of room to argue, e.g. whether podcasting is broadcasting, and whether banning anti-Islamic speech is "necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security".
I don't know the answer that the Council of Europe will fnally provide, but the ECHR is probably the most important legal battleground.
> it's trying to muscle out his competitors
[ Insert Ahrnold/muscle joke here ]
But seriously ... you may be right about the role of the economic competition between movies and games. Schwartzeneggar's wealth is built on violent art, so his criticism of other people's violent art is hollow at best.
It puzzles me that Ahrnold hasn't come out with his own lines of violent videogames. An MMPORG based on Terminator would probably be highly profitable .... or maybe even an All-Arnold-All-The-Time MMPORG would be better. Now-a-days movies are just the hook for a complete line of products, so why is Arnold so behind the curve?
Personally, I think he's just playing to his political base, but it's hard to discount the money angle you mention.
... otherwise, this law would have burst into hellish flames of contradiction when signed by the lead in Conan, Commando, Eraser, Predator, Red Heat, Running Man, Terminator 1/2/3, Total Recall, True Lies and (Not) The Last Action Hero.
I assume you're joking ... cuz one could just as well have a book on chess that goes "Move a piece when it's your turn until you've got the other guy's king checkmated."
Pac-Man was so wildly successful in part because it nicely combined strategy & tactics, with pure reflexes. Books could describe highly specific strategies, such as the least-time path through a maze, and more general information, such as the differing behavior of the ghosts, e.g. which ones were more likely to chase you, which ones were more likely to head you off.
The right book could save you a lot of quarters!
Discover. The main part of the site worked o.k., e.g. making payments. But when I tried signing up for "Bill-Pay" it kept bombing. Their tech support's first question: what browser are you using? Their only fix: IE, alas!
> because sites need to start supporting web browsers in general if they want to keep their mac users instead of assuming that mac users will want to install IE.
Yep, and we're not talking insignificant sites. My credit card company (one of the Big Three) site has important functionality that doesn't work except under IE (...according to their tech support and my attempt to use Safari.)
One assumes MS considered the cost of keeping IE/Mac barely alive was worth more than the risk of forcing such sites to broaden their browserability, which in turn suggests something about MS's acknowledgement of the market role of non-IE browsers.
... the better SF reference is not to "Fantastic Voyage", for that movie used mAcrotech made tiny, without any changes allowing for different effects of nano-scale. The atomic-powered minisub was a normal atomic-powered minisub, the two-handed surgical laser was a normal two-handed surgical laser, and the madatory busty female was a normal mandatory busty female. They were simply rendered smaller, that's all.
In contrast, Borg nano-technology takes full advantage of the unique properties of objects in small scale, just as does the self-assembling peptide nanofibers referenced in the announcement.
We wouldn't want our SF references to be unrealistic, would we?
Anyone who has died while obsessively posting on ./ please reply ...
If X = "oil" or some other physical commodity: There will never be a shortage of oil because the price will simply rise to meet demand; the market balances itself.
If X = "programmers" or some other laborer: There is a huge shortage of programmers because we don't want the price of programmers to rise until the market balances itself.
Because http://searchenginewatch.com/ can get /.d
Otherwise, SEW is (a) free and (b) makes its daily bread by continually providing up-to-date relevant information. That's great motivation!
Once teachers start deconstructing the underlying motifs to first-person shooters, will kids flee the stultifying horror of academic respectibility?
"Okay, students, who can tell me the five elements of situational puzzle resolution?
"Anyone?"
"Anyone?"
"Buehler?"
You're "right on the money." When you have to put in basic infrastructure, either because it was destroyed or because it never existed, why limit yourself to the old ways of doing things?
We can compare rebuilding New Orleans to building infrastructure in the "developing world"; e.g. free wireless is an incredible force multiplier. How much would a small business give not to have to worry about web connectivity? My guess is: a lot!
All Geeks Hail the Riders of Redmond!
>Thank goodness everyone speaks English!
... 'cept fer those of us who speak American.
Although ... before long, there will be more English-speaking people in China than in Britain and more English-speaking people in India than in the USA, so should we rename "English" to "West Indian" or to "Alt-Chinese"?
> this point has what to do with the article?
Clinton's bill would have the result, probably unintended, of interfering with the rights of Jews, Christians, Muslims and Mormons accurately to depict their Holy Books.
That's not an attack on anyone, just an observation.
I didn't point out some of the more shocking material in the Holy Books, but you can find them without much trouble. If someone compiled them into a video game, it would have to be rated M or R ... and might make them rich. But I'm not actually suggesting anyone do that ...
If we apply this standard to the Holy Book, we're going to have to put warning labels on any game based on, e.g. "a blessing on anyone who seizes your babies and shatters them against a rock!" (Psalms 137:9) or "And that slave, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten." (Luke 12:47)
Teens can easily defeat the "Mosquito" by just crankin' up their iPod ...
Slogan for an MMORG combining hi-technology & magic ... I'll call it "SlashDog".
When it comes to the play experience, much of the fun of assembling a robot is similar to the fun of building a city or an empire in SimCity or Age of Empires. Instead of gears and pulleys, you manipulate serfs or workers or whatever ... but otherwise it's all figuring out what thingies do what and how to combine them to do what-ever.
Lego has the great advantage of being physical and tactile, but OTOH computer games do much better with graphics and sound. I feel the same sense of pride in a well-built empire as I do in a well-build Lego thingy ... and the computer game has the added element of competition (... and, ahem, cheat codes ... .)
As to the impact on our educational system ... it may be unfortunate that the engineering skills Lego can teach are something America may be falling behind on, based on the number of engineers in our schools. However, the skills of organizing a complex organization (a.k.a. empire) may be just as valuable. Is it better to be a top-notch engineer, or to be the employer of a dozen top-notch engineers?
> some cow-worker decides that you wronged them and wants to get back at you, so kludges up some false photos and email trails and makes sure your spouse/SO is made aware of it, damaging your home life. Shouldn't you be able to identify them and make them answer for it?
A more likely scenario: an angry ex-spouse decides you defamed him in your divorce papers and in your blog. So they sue you for libel and use that suit to demand your private information,ostensibly to prove their suit but actually just to harass you for their personal pleasure in giving you agony ... or worse.
How is Lycos or who-ever supposed to distinguish that sort of thing from the example you give? What does Lycos do when it hands over the personal information to someone who then uses it to make Lycos' customer dead?
Trust me on this ... Lycos and anyone else with a brain do NOT want to be in the business of deciding which civil lawsuits have merit and which are harassment. That's what courts are for.
It's interesting that Lycos seems not to have argued that they never would release data; only that the standard they wished to uphold was that the underlying dispute must be a criminal action, not a "mere" civil suit.
[Quoting from article]: "...a sweeping rejection of Lycos' argument that personal client details should only be released if they are suspected of a crime and the information is wanted by the police..."
This may be good or it may be bad. Naturally The State will always insist on its right to get data in a criminal suit, and it's scarcely worth the bother of arguing over that right.
The Big Question is the right of private parties to get 3P information in a lawsuit such as is described in the article. Is a libel suit enough, or is a better remedy for publishing false information simply more information? Is publishing on a website enough of a libel to break privacy protections? What if the "libel" is published on a password-protected site ... but the password is shared freely? What if the "libel" claim is protected by our American 1st Amendment but not by whatever law they have in the Netherlands ... or in China?
I don't have The Big Answer but if privacy is to mean anything, I suggest the bar against private suits should be a tough one.
Really. What Problem Does This Solve?
The article gushes enthusiastic "Companies can then invent additional Web site addresses in front of their top-level domain (TLD) name, such as flights.schiphol or parking.schiphol but, frankly, companies can already provide webaddresses such as flights.schiphol.com and parking.schiphol.com.
The only benefit is saving the website's customers the effort of typing in ".com" but what is this worth? A great many customers get to a particular site via search engine, link, or favorite anyway ... so there's no savings there.
Furthermore, the ".com" typology distinguishes a company's web presence from its other emanations, such as product or physical existence. For example, we understand without having to think about it the difference between Seattle Mariners and seattlemariners.com (or R.E.Winn and rewinn.com. That's not an insignificant benefit.
But I'm willing to be educated. What is the problem that the proposal would solve?
>All I'm saying is there is no proven link that mankind is causing global warming
What would constitute "proof" to you?
Every reputable climatologist holds the view opposite to you.
While the phenomenon is without a doubt complex, the general mechanism is well-understood and the long-term trend is clear. All that is lacking is a sworn affadavit from Mother Nature that that's what's going on.
Is that the "proof" you are looking for? Something in writing from the Gods of Weather?
Because the "scientists" are in accord on this. There are a few whores funded by, e.g. the Coal industry, who deny the human influence on global climate change, but they are using the same specious reasoning as the science whores who denied tobacco causes cancer. In fact ... the mechanism by which cigarette smoking causes cancer could STILL be denied using the same logic as is used by climate-change deniers.
So let us be upfront about it - tell us WHAT SORT OF PROOF you would accept.
... but the aliens are smart enough not to land their troops until they've fully assessed Earth's Mightiest Defenders: Gamers. Hence, their funding of games such as "Half-Life" and "Doom" to identify who they have to hit in the first wave.
If you're consistently racking up a big score online: Watch Your Back!