This reminds me of an article i read somewhere and it talked about the next generation of MMORPG where people would go online to watch a movie (stream)
Actually, I've got a Second Life account and one of the first few times I tried it out I found a "virutal MST3k meeting." It was actually pretty entertaining. Everyone's avatars sat down and watched a stream of old teen hygeine and drug scare videos from archive.org on the "screen" inside the game and chatted snarky comments about the feature.
pretty cool stuff, actually. Second Life is cool mainly becuase of the creative ways users manipulate it.
I would be outraged, but I can't quite work up the right feeling until I see the case itself.
While I agree that this anti-file-sharing madness has gone too far, I find it hard to believe that even the RIAA folks would argue something that stupid.
Thank you for saying this. One of the biggest thing that bothers me about much of the current anti-academia rhetoric used in much of the neoconservative movement is that it often portrays students as mindless autobots who have no ability to think critically and develop their own perspective.
This talk of "brainwashing" is a concept that takes such a cynnical perspective on how the human being learns, thinks and adopts ideas and identities.
okay, I just have to respond to the comments on here in the vein of "well, male characters have unrealistic muscles just as female characters have unrealistic breasts, so really they're equally objectified and anyone that says otherwise is whining."
Consider this: large muscles are a symbol of strength and power, qualities that presumably are useful in most games. Ridiculously large breasts and wasp-waists serve no purpose but to appeal to the libinous fantasies of male players. I think this difference is relavant to the discussion.
And for those guys out there who are getting defensive about "being blamed for objectifying women," this author isn't and feminist theory has never been about blaming one man or even a group of men for anything. The cultural tendancy to give women less symbolic power in most things is part of a large system outside the immediate control of individuals.
I have to disagree. viewing porn -can- cause psychological damage. At a very young age, our sexual identities begin to form. Exposure to very hard-core, very adult images at a young age helps to foster (I know there are a lot of other factors) a distorted view about sex.
As for seeing "just some sexual organs," that is an absolute understatement. Even in the "preview" of most sites, the images are graphic, and often violent and demenaing to women.
If I were a parent, I would be very concerned about my daughter viewing "cum drenched sluts" or other popular material.
the fact is, there is no logical, financial reason for this individual to have targeted children. most kids (hopefully) don't have access to thier parents' credit cards and won't be sending him money.
I don't even want to begin to speculate on his actual motivation, becuase to even begin makes me ill.
I know this isn't exactly THE mainstream press, but the Sacremento Bee printed this article, which is fairly informative. It also makes someintersting comparisons to ATM machines to illustrate why these machines should be taken far more seriously.
I'm a student at Colorado State University, and one thing I have noticed is that so many of the Freshman level courses use Powerpoint for notes that once people get into upper-division classes they have no idea how to take notes for themselves.
Most of the time, people spend thier entire class period copying down everything on the screen, and don't pay any attention to what the instructor is saying. They have a bunch of disconnected facts to read later, but no context.
In classes where the instructor chooses not to use Powerpoints, fellow students are constantly complaining that they don't know what to write. Their ability to learn by listening is shot.
I must say I agree completely. I'm a bit of an audiophile with "eclectic" taste in music.
I managed to build up my (purchased) CD collection substantially with music I may have never discovered were it not for P2P. A search by genre or tracks I discover completely by accident are often a major source of titles for my wish-list. As someone who has pretty much completely abandoned radio, P2P is a great alternative.
Another one of my favorite uses for P2P collecting episodes of cancelled TV shows. A lot of great shows have not, and may not ever be released on DVD. Thanks to K-lite, I now have a full collection of Twin Peaks, Sifl and Olly, Invader Zim and others. (yes I know the first season of Twin Peaks is on DVD. unfortunately, years have passed with no plans to release any more.)
Here is a page describing a couple of the other more unusual uses for P2P, such as "napster bombs" and "napster nuggets.
Slashdot Mirror
This reminds me of an article i read somewhere and it talked about the next generation of MMORPG where people would go online to watch a movie (stream)
Actually, I've got a Second Life account and one of the first few times I tried it out I found a "virutal MST3k meeting." It was actually pretty entertaining. Everyone's avatars sat down and watched a stream of old teen hygeine and drug scare videos from archive.org on the "screen" inside the game and chatted snarky comments about the feature.
pretty cool stuff, actually. Second Life is cool mainly becuase of the creative ways users manipulate it.
To direct good women towards our form of goodness is a challenge far greater than all of science.
Good women prefer apes.
I read that in a thread about women in science, so I assumed at first you were making some kind of reference to Jane Goodall.
*shrug*
seriously.
I would be outraged, but I can't quite work up the right feeling until I see the case itself.
While I agree that this anti-file-sharing madness has gone too far, I find it hard to believe that even the RIAA folks would argue something that stupid.
Thank you for saying this. One of the biggest thing that bothers me about much of the current anti-academia rhetoric used in much of the neoconservative movement is that it often portrays students as mindless autobots who have no ability to think critically and develop their own perspective.
This talk of "brainwashing" is a concept that takes such a cynnical perspective on how the human being learns, thinks and adopts ideas and identities.
They should have stuck with Eddie Izzard. I also saw the pilot, and I kept putting Eddie in as the Doctor. He would have been brilliant.
okay, I just have to respond to the comments on here in the vein of "well, male characters have unrealistic muscles just as female characters have unrealistic breasts, so really they're equally objectified and anyone that says otherwise is whining."
Consider this: large muscles are a symbol of strength and power, qualities that presumably are useful in most games. Ridiculously large breasts and wasp-waists serve no purpose but to appeal to the libinous fantasies of male players. I think this difference is relavant to the discussion.
And for those guys out there who are getting defensive about "being blamed for objectifying women," this author isn't and feminist theory has never been about blaming one man or even a group of men for anything. The cultural tendancy to give women less symbolic power in most things is part of a large system outside the immediate control of individuals.
This thing is about marketing, period.
We have all grown up in a society where products are gender-coded from a very young age.
Just think about children's toys with a "boy" model and the "girl" model are exactly the same, except one is pink and the other is red or blue.
Or Gameboy vs Gamegirl.
Seems to me that this a is just a variation on that.
I have to disagree. viewing porn -can- cause psychological damage. At a very young age, our sexual identities begin to form. Exposure to very hard-core, very adult images at a young age helps to foster (I know there are a lot of other factors) a distorted view about sex.
As for seeing "just some sexual organs," that is an absolute understatement. Even in the "preview" of most sites, the images are graphic, and often violent and demenaing to women.
If I were a parent, I would be very concerned about my daughter viewing "cum drenched sluts" or other popular material.
the fact is, there is no logical, financial reason for this individual to have targeted children. most kids (hopefully) don't have access to thier parents' credit cards and won't be sending him money.
I don't even want to begin to speculate on his actual motivation, becuase to even begin makes me ill.
I spend all day thinking about hacking my TV, but I'm just too lazy to get off the couch and go buy a hatchet.
I know this isn't exactly THE mainstream press, but the Sacremento Bee printed this article, which is fairly informative. It also makes someintersting comparisons to ATM machines to illustrate why these machines should be taken far more seriously.
I was just thinking the other day about how nerds don't spend nearly enough time staring at a screen!
I'm a student at Colorado State University, and one thing I have noticed is that so many of the Freshman level courses use Powerpoint for notes that once people get into upper-division classes they have no idea how to take notes for themselves.
Most of the time, people spend thier entire class period copying down everything on the screen, and don't pay any attention to what the instructor is saying. They have a bunch of disconnected facts to read later, but no context.
In classes where the instructor chooses not to use Powerpoints, fellow students are constantly complaining that they don't know what to write. Their ability to learn by listening is shot.
I must say I agree completely. I'm a bit of an audiophile with "eclectic" taste in music.
I managed to build up my (purchased) CD collection substantially with music I may have never discovered were it not for P2P. A search by genre or tracks I discover completely by accident are often a major source of titles for my wish-list. As someone who has pretty much completely abandoned radio, P2P is a great alternative.
Another one of my favorite uses for P2P collecting episodes of cancelled TV shows. A lot of great shows have not, and may not ever be released on DVD. Thanks to K-lite, I now have a full collection of Twin Peaks, Sifl and Olly, Invader Zim and others. (yes I know the first season of Twin Peaks is on DVD. unfortunately, years have passed with no plans to release any more.)
Here is a page describing a couple of the other more unusual uses for P2P, such as "napster bombs" and "napster nuggets.