I believe there are already sufficient laws against actions that endanger children, as would be the case in your example. The line is very clear in that regard, and needs no further clarification for computer media, in my opinion.
Your statement that people are easily influenced by video games is not a conclusive statement. In fact, research that I know of has found no correlation between actions in video games and real life tendencies. Saying, "we should all know that by now" is just hand-waving.
"Lines drawn", as you say, have been established long before computers and video games. Laws have already been created for print and film media that define what is 1st Amendment acceptable and what is illegal. For the most part, U.S. laws lean toward accepting media as free speech.
I didn't mean as far as a label on the box advertising "Now with no AO!" I meant more that there was an understanding based on previous systems. For example, you probably realize your local cable television station has a "no AO" policy, whereas you would be surprised to see adult entertainment running. Like all data infrastructure, is it true censorship if the policies of the "system" prohibit certain kinds of content? At many points, infrastructure has guardians who decide what will and what will not pass, perhaps only based on their selfish need to control what they own. Is it censorship is someone is simply protecting their investment? We know it is censorship when public infrastructure prohibits access, but where does the line get drawn when corporations own all of the infrastructure?
You don't understand the "freedom of speech issue" about this game, because it falls on the dark side of YOUR morality line. What if someone saw your Quake or your Doom game in the same way that you presently see Manhunt 2? Would you still be so unconcerned with a decision to ban the Quake? Of course you would be outraged, and yet there would be someone else saying the ban is justified because Quake is a murder simulator.
Freedom of speech doesn't become an "issue" only when something you like is banned, it becomes an issue when the things you don't like are banned and precedence is made. When someone else is making the decision on what is appropriate and not appropriate for your viewing, you are living in a non-free society.
I'm not defending the game. It sounds gross to me, too, and I wouldn't even consider purchasing it. However, I defend people's RIGHT to purchase it. Whether this is a true censorship issue is questionable, because people purchasing PS or Wii know these systems will not play Adult Only content. It's just one more example why it's better to purchase only open standards.
Well, consider the possibility of a MMORPG where only mature players log on and no one uses "omg, u cast heal 2 late" leet-speek. Hard to imagine with the games today, but think of it as a lazy-man's Live-RPG event. Now, instead of pre-generated content very loosely based on what can barely pass as a "story", the developers actually "develop" story content that drive the game forward - in addition to just pushing pixels. Maybe this will be expensive, but maybe there is a market for people willing to pay big bucks and feel like a real swashbuckling hero with real character development. This type of gameplay isn't here in MMORPGs - far from it, but look at what works well in text-based MUDs. It is just a matter of time before some big publisher copies the ideas and pairs them with 3D graphics.
(By the way, I hate that 'no-brainer' phrase. As if people don't have enough encouragement not to think, the phrase emphasizes that conclusions can be met with no thoughts. I doubt there are any questions that cannot have multiple answers and also require no thought to obtain.)
No -- I visit other companies. I just call it like I see it.
When pressed, these sites have some flimsy justification where they roll their eyes and say, "We'll license that on the next audit." or "That's a software that we are evaluating our purchase." While I haven't seen any groups flying the skull and crossbones flag in their data-center, there certainly was not the strict Puritan attitudes we see here in these comments.
And just to clarify, I am talking about situations where the software was not overlooked or tucked in the corner. I'm talking about base-loads or systems with users logging in and out regularly. If everyone of their IT staff members fled the scene signing resignation letters, then I think there'd be many empty cubicles. I wonder where all these high-horse folks work who leave these comments.
These guys commenting need to get real. I have seen a lot of company IT departments, and so very few are completely pirate free. If your workplace does not have an unlicensed copy of WinZip or an evaluation copy of software that has run way past the evaluation, then you must have a very special organization.
Ugh - your concern over my figure is a case of not using preview. I used the less-than and greater-than symbol around the word "something" three times in the post, and each time the word disappeared as invalid HTML code. Not the first time I have done that either...
Nuclear power, properly done, is one of the cheapest per kw/h, easily beating solar.
How does anyone come up with a dollar figure for nuclear, when the majority of the cost is infinite storage of radioactive waste?
Solar is $1 per joules of energy.
Nuclear is $0.75 per joules of energy, plus the cost of storing the waste which is per year.
Over the long term, no matter what is determined to be, the cost will always be more than anything else because storage is per year, forever. In 10000 years, we will not even be using a comparable monetary currency anyway, so any attempt at calculation is ridiculous.
I am referring to all these comments saying that nuclear power is completely safe. It is actually not. There accidents, there is waste, and both these things will be problems for longer than all of our known history. I once read a guide from some DOE project: how to warn people of the dangers of Yucca Mountain 20,000 years in the future. Since no known language or culture has been known to last longer than five or six thousand years, the paper was talking about creating Planet of the Ape type structures that would scare futuristic humans away from the area. How anyone can rationalize this kind of sacrifice is beyond me.
Do you know how many tons of uranium and thorium (each with significantly longer half-lives for all but trace thorium isotopes) are pumped into the atmosphere yearly through the production of coal power?
Nope - no idea. But I can tell you it isn't enriched isotopes, specifically designed to emit large amounts of radiation, like nuclear waste.
According to what I googled after reading your comment, the U.S. DOE and the USGS says there is only trace amounts of these elements in burnt coal, much like other rock of the same type.
How do you know how many deaths will be involved with radioactive waste with a 10,000 year half-life? Should the last 65 years* be considered statically significant on the performance for the next 100,000 ?
With a net worth equal to three and a half years of NASA's budget, it's a wonder why he doesn't build his own space program to the ISS, instead of simply paying the Russians for a seat. He could probably even build a space armada. Plus, to be a contender in the world-wide alpha-geek competition these days, you've got to go above and beyond what's already been done.
Didn't the penguin on the printer box indicate the manufacturer supported the product in Linux environments? I wonder why you turned to your "friend who is an old Linux hand" instead of calling the toll-free number in the printer manual. The whole reason you buy a hardware device is because it is supported in your computing environment.
Linux users who do not purchase supported hardware solutions are strange, but your purchasing hardware support and not using that service is even stranger.
... an open-source operating system that is ready to install. Note: Dell does not support non-Dell installed operating systems.
So, you'll buy a $650 - $750 device that is unsupported by the retailer. Brilliant!!!
It is surprising this sales practice is legal, but even more surprising there are people that buy into it. I am sure someone at Dell is laughing all the way to the bank.
Look, Dell has a bootable hardware diagnostics CD-ROM, but you're better buying hardware from an OEM who will support the way you use the device. You should support OEMs who support the Linux OS. (Yes, these OEMs do exist. I can provide links if you can't find it through Google.)
Didn't we suppress all the voices of the computer intelligentsia by electronic entertainment? Did you wake up out of your Warcraft/XBox/Playstation trance already? Go back to sleep... Oh! I mean to say... Haven't you heard the Burning Crusade expansion pack is out? Join the 1.2 million minds who purchased the game on the first day and are already sleepily leveling to 70.
Slashdot Mirror
I believe there are already sufficient laws against actions that endanger children, as would be the case in your example. The line is very clear in that regard, and needs no further clarification for computer media, in my opinion.
Your statement that people are easily influenced by video games is not a conclusive statement. In fact, research that I know of has found no correlation between actions in video games and real life tendencies. Saying, "we should all know that by now" is just hand-waving.
"Lines drawn", as you say, have been established long before computers and video games. Laws have already been created for print and film media that define what is 1st Amendment acceptable and what is illegal. For the most part, U.S. laws lean toward accepting media as free speech.
I didn't mean as far as a label on the box advertising "Now with no AO!" I meant more that there was an understanding based on previous systems. For example, you probably realize your local cable television station has a "no AO" policy, whereas you would be surprised to see adult entertainment running. Like all data infrastructure, is it true censorship if the policies of the "system" prohibit certain kinds of content? At many points, infrastructure has guardians who decide what will and what will not pass, perhaps only based on their selfish need to control what they own. Is it censorship is someone is simply protecting their investment? We know it is censorship when public infrastructure prohibits access, but where does the line get drawn when corporations own all of the infrastructure?
You don't understand the "freedom of speech issue" about this game, because it falls on the dark side of YOUR morality line. What if someone saw your Quake or your Doom game in the same way that you presently see Manhunt 2? Would you still be so unconcerned with a decision to ban the Quake? Of course you would be outraged, and yet there would be someone else saying the ban is justified because Quake is a murder simulator.
Freedom of speech doesn't become an "issue" only when something you like is banned, it becomes an issue when the things you don't like are banned and precedence is made. When someone else is making the decision on what is appropriate and not appropriate for your viewing, you are living in a non-free society.
I'm not defending the game. It sounds gross to me, too, and I wouldn't even consider purchasing it. However, I defend people's RIGHT to purchase it. Whether this is a true censorship issue is questionable, because people purchasing PS or Wii know these systems will not play Adult Only content. It's just one more example why it's better to purchase only open standards.
Are you kidding? I'm throwing down like it was 1986.
Well, consider the possibility of a MMORPG where only mature players log on and no one uses "omg, u cast heal 2 late" leet-speek. Hard to imagine with the games today, but think of it as a lazy-man's Live-RPG event. Now, instead of pre-generated content very loosely based on what can barely pass as a "story", the developers actually "develop" story content that drive the game forward - in addition to just pushing pixels. Maybe this will be expensive, but maybe there is a market for people willing to pay big bucks and feel like a real swashbuckling hero with real character development. This type of gameplay isn't here in MMORPGs - far from it, but look at what works well in text-based MUDs. It is just a matter of time before some big publisher copies the ideas and pairs them with 3D graphics.
(By the way, I hate that 'no-brainer' phrase. As if people don't have enough encouragement not to think, the phrase emphasizes that conclusions can be met with no thoughts. I doubt there are any questions that cannot have multiple answers and also require no thought to obtain.)
Just to clarify, it has happened to U.S. factory workers. Just not recently. Here's an example:m migrants.html
http://acadweb.snhu.edu/pt3_at_snhu/Amoskeagmil/I
No -- I visit other companies. I just call it like I see it.
When pressed, these sites have some flimsy justification where they roll their eyes and say, "We'll license that on the next audit." or "That's a software that we are evaluating our purchase." While I haven't seen any groups flying the skull and crossbones flag in their data-center, there certainly was not the strict Puritan attitudes we see here in these comments.
And just to clarify, I am talking about situations where the software was not overlooked or tucked in the corner. I'm talking about base-loads or systems with users logging in and out regularly. If everyone of their IT staff members fled the scene signing resignation letters, then I think there'd be many empty cubicles. I wonder where all these high-horse folks work who leave these comments.
These guys commenting need to get real. I have seen a lot of company IT departments, and so very few are completely pirate free. If your workplace does not have an unlicensed copy of WinZip or an evaluation copy of software that has run way past the evaluation, then you must have a very special organization.
Ugh - your concern over my figure is a case of not using preview. I used the less-than and greater-than symbol around the word "something" three times in the post, and each time the word disappeared as invalid HTML code. Not the first time I have done that either...
Nuclear power, properly done, is one of the cheapest per kw/h, easily beating solar.
How does anyone come up with a dollar figure for nuclear, when the majority of the cost is infinite storage of radioactive waste?
Solar is $1 per joules of energy.
Nuclear is $0.75 per joules of energy, plus the cost of storing the waste which is per year.
Over the long term, no matter what is determined to be, the cost will always be more than anything else because storage is per year, forever. In 10000 years, we will not even be using a comparable monetary currency anyway, so any attempt at calculation is ridiculous.
Not good? Compared to what?
I am referring to all these comments saying that nuclear power is completely safe. It is actually not. There accidents, there is waste, and both these things will be problems for longer than all of our known history. I once read a guide from some DOE project: how to warn people of the dangers of Yucca Mountain 20,000 years in the future. Since no known language or culture has been known to last longer than five or six thousand years, the paper was talking about creating Planet of the Ape type structures that would scare futuristic humans away from the area. How anyone can rationalize this kind of sacrifice is beyond me.
Do you know how many tons of uranium and thorium (each with significantly longer half-lives for all but trace thorium isotopes) are pumped into the atmosphere yearly through the production of coal power?
Nope - no idea. But I can tell you it isn't enriched isotopes, specifically designed to emit large amounts of radiation, like nuclear waste.
According to what I googled after reading your comment, the U.S. DOE and the USGS says there is only trace amounts of these elements in burnt coal, much like other rock of the same type.
In other news, scientists finally prove women smarter than men. Film at eleven.
How do you know how many deaths will be involved with radioactive waste with a 10,000 year half-life? Should the last 65 years* be considered statically significant on the performance for the next 100,000 ?
l ear_accidentsl ear_accidents
* By the way, it's not good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_nuc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuc
With a net worth equal to three and a half years of NASA's budget, it's a wonder why he doesn't build his own space program to the ISS, instead of simply paying the Russians for a seat. He could probably even build a space armada. Plus, to be a contender in the world-wide alpha-geek competition these days, you've got to go above and beyond what's already been done.
The real question is whether they will be prosecuted as adults. Only then would the trifecta of contradiction be complete.
Didn't the penguin on the printer box indicate the manufacturer supported the product in Linux environments? I wonder why you turned to your "friend who is an old Linux hand" instead of calling the toll-free number in the printer manual. The whole reason you buy a hardware device is because it is supported in your computing environment.
Linux users who do not purchase supported hardware solutions are strange, but your purchasing hardware support and not using that service is even stranger.
Oddly enough Children of Men was directed by a Mexican.
Hmm.. also, consider adding the distribution you want to your Google search string:
Ubuntu Preinstalled Supported
(Ha! Sorry for all the replies, but you caught me good and caffeinated!)
Slashdot covered one back in June:/ 22/1554243
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07
Search for the string:
Linux Preinstalled Supported
So, you'll buy a $650 - $750 device that is unsupported by the retailer. Brilliant!!!
It is surprising this sales practice is legal, but even more surprising there are people that buy into it. I am sure someone at Dell is laughing all the way to the bank.
Look, Dell has a bootable hardware diagnostics CD-ROM, but you're better buying hardware from an OEM who will support the way you use the device. You should support OEMs who support the Linux OS. (Yes, these OEMs do exist. I can provide links if you can't find it through Google.)
Didn't we suppress all the voices of the computer intelligentsia by electronic entertainment? Did you wake up out of your Warcraft/XBox/Playstation trance already? Go back to sleep... Oh! I mean to say... Haven't you heard the Burning Crusade expansion pack is out? Join the 1.2 million minds who purchased the game on the first day and are already sleepily leveling to 70.
Link please? Context? Your only citation is a "letter to the Canadian PM".