It seems to me that this is another example of backwards policy. Maryland has a law stating that sports betting is illegal. OK, so just arrest the people in Maryland who were betting on sports.
But no. Instead, they shut down the site that enabled those people to break the law. Same as ban IP tools that allow people to break the law. While they're at it, they should seriously consider banning cars and any blunt or sharp object, as these can all be used to commit crimes.
How long will it be before civilians are no longer allowed to purchase/own storage media, I wonder. I mean, all it's ever used for is piracy, right? According to the RIAA/MPAA?
Then again, there's probably more money to be made in litigation than in actually making/selling music/movies.
Many years ago, I helped a girl I knew with her math homework. I remember one particular word problem involving a car traveling at X km/h and slamming on its brakes. Given a rate of deceleration in m/s and an initial speed of the car in km/h, what would be the length of its skid mark? The numbers given seemed a bit odd, particularly the rate of deceleration.
I solved the word problem easily but when I looked at the answer, I thought, "a 200-metre-long skid mark? What?". The skid mark was hilariously too long given the car's speed. 200 *feet*, maybe.... um... oh my god, you're kidding...
The text book in question was originally a U.S. text book and they "converted" it to metric (I'm in Canada) by just replacing the names of the units rather than actually converting the numbers. Worse still, they equated "feet" to "metres". Almost every single word problem I could find was skewed as a result, to a greater or lesser degree.
As well, who the hell wants to buy "digitally remastered" re-releases of older albums on CD when "digitally remastered" always seems to include clipping the living shit out of the source material..
That's the principle of the law. Whether watching porn is a speech act is another question, but if it is, it is absolutely protected.
Well, let's compare...
case a) Someone in a library is watching a video of Shakespeare and those nearby can see/hear it, versus someone physically present in a library reading Shakespeare loud enough for others nearby to hear.
case b) Someone in a library is watching a video of people having sex and those nearby can see/hear it, versus someone physically present in a library having sex right there on the floor, and people nearby can see/hear it.
In this light, one might think that one's right to watch pornography in public, free speech considerations aside, might perhaps be affected by... other laws.:)
In the future, I suppose sex between cyborgs will suffer new challenges, and the term "locking bumpers" will acquire a new meaning. Either that or we'll need a new USB standard,
4. Create a document that establishes rules for preventing the abuse of power by the government.
a) this fails because, as it turns out, the powerful think the Constitution makes pretty darn fine arse-wipe.
This doesn't surprise me one bit. People have been buying expensive equipment at Home Depot, such as compressors or generators, using it for a day for the one task they needed it for, and then returning it for a full refund. Or buying something at Home Depot, taking it home or just out to their car, removing the replacement parts they needed, and returning what's left for a full refund, hoping the staff don't conduct a part inventory of the box contents (which they seem to almost never do).
I've seen a brand new compressor out of the box at Home Depot with *mud* caked on the wheels, and I've lost count of the number of times I've bought something there only to get it home and realise that parts are missing from the box.
Frankly, I'm surprised this thing with the iPads didn't start happening a long time ago. People are ugly.
Damn it. I've misquoted Monty Python. I feel so much shame right now, I'm going to put a bucket over my head and I'm not coming out until somebody stands in a fish tank and sings,
Their own propaganda tells them constantly that they are unique, superior to the others, and surrounded by vile enemies that miss no chance to do harm to russia.
Perhaps it's because I'm Canadian, but in reading the posts on this thread, I've come across several statements about Russia like the one above that seems equally true if "Russia" is replaced with "the US". In fact, the US, in this case goes one step better, with some politicians (or, at the very least, certain "news" media) placing some of the blame on their own citizens (the "lazy poor") for the current state of the economy.
I don't mean to steer things off topic, but I'm finding this to be a fascinating pattern as I read on through these posts. Again, probably because I'm Canajun.:)
And not just the "ink" nonsense, but also the bit about the thermistor causing the device to self-destruct. The point of the thermistor is to *prevent* the thing from self-destructing and starting a fire. Clothes dryers also have thermistors in them to prevent the dryer (in the case of clogged dryer venting) from overheating and potentially igniting any lint that builds up inside.
Groupon itself suffers no risk thanks to its business model. The clients, on the other hand, end up providing their services at 75% off (50% off from the client, plus Groupon takes half of the remaining 50%). In addition, the client gains no real benefit; the majority of any new customers they may get are stingy coupon-clippers who generally refuse to pay normal price for anything. In some service-based businesses, this may even include people who simply refuse to pay for the service done.
I think politicians should first consider "Hmm... would I apply this law to 'people' like Ford? Or Universal? Or Bank of America?" If the answer is no, then the law is, in all likelihood, unjust. Granted, they'll probably enact it anyway, knowing it's unjust but, you know... baby steps.:)
Then, it's not really monkeys. It's more of monkeys with an oracle. That oracle thing made a whole world of difference.
I remember reading a blurb in a book some time ago about some university actually trying this out with a room full of monkeys. After three days, all they had typed was several pages filled with the letter "s". I suspect that, when using real monkeys, even an oracle would throw up her hands.:)
As soon as I read the summary, I immediately pictured guys in rooms with their arms outstretched, running around in circles going,"NEEEEEEEERRRRR" and making other plane flying/shooting/bombing sounds.:)
This conduct on the part of the science community is pretty non-scientific, IMHO. If you have doubts, attempt to reproduce the original results. In doing so, you will either reproduce them and if not, you may stumble upon scientific proof of precisely why the original experiment is flawed. If the original research stands to overturn a century of accepted theory, then you had *better* bloody well attempt to verify or contradict the original research using the *scientific method* instead of using 100 years of possibly flawed theory as a shield against new knowledge and insight. Personal attacks? Are you kidding me? Are these people children?
I remember going to the video arcade long ago and seeing Virtua Fighter for the first time. My thoughts then were:
- "The control response is terrible and the characters look *awful*! This looks *terrible* compared to 2D games!" (Samurai Showdown was right next to it). - "What a cheesy gimmick."
After a while, the hardware got better and the issues became how to deal with the camera (they tried their best with Mario 64). Now it seems 2D has been relegated mostly to casual and web-based games (and even those are starting to go 3D).
I find myself thinking the same things about stereoscopic movies and TV now. I have no idea at this point if history will repeat itself or if stereoscopic will continue to be treated like a gimmick. Some video game mechanics work much better in 3D; I can't think of any aspect of movies that is improved by making them stereoscopic.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe you should be talking to Bally. Oh, wait, you already are.
It seems to me that this is another example of backwards policy. Maryland has a law stating that sports betting is illegal. OK, so just arrest the people in Maryland who were betting on sports.
But no. Instead, they shut down the site that enabled those people to break the law. Same as ban IP tools that allow people to break the law. While they're at it, they should seriously consider banning cars and any blunt or sharp object, as these can all be used to commit crimes.
How long will it be before civilians are no longer allowed to purchase/own storage media, I wonder. I mean, all it's ever used for is piracy, right? According to the RIAA/MPAA?
Then again, there's probably more money to be made in litigation than in actually making/selling music/movies.
Many years ago, I helped a girl I knew with her math homework. I remember one particular word problem involving a car traveling at X km/h and slamming on its brakes. Given a rate of deceleration in m/s and an initial speed of the car in km/h, what would be the length of its skid mark? The numbers given seemed a bit odd, particularly the rate of deceleration.
I solved the word problem easily but when I looked at the answer, I thought, "a 200-metre-long skid mark? What?". The skid mark was hilariously too long given the car's speed. 200 *feet*, maybe.... um... oh my god, you're kidding...
The text book in question was originally a U.S. text book and they "converted" it to metric (I'm in Canada) by just replacing the names of the units rather than actually converting the numbers. Worse still, they equated "feet" to "metres". Almost every single word problem I could find was skewed as a result, to a greater or lesser degree.
I am *so* not looking forward to retirement.
As well, who the hell wants to buy "digitally remastered" re-releases of older albums on CD when "digitally remastered" always seems to include clipping the living shit out of the source material..
That's the principle of the law. Whether watching porn is a speech act is another question, but if it is, it is absolutely protected.
Well, let's compare...
case a) Someone in a library is watching a video of Shakespeare and those nearby can see/hear it, versus someone physically present in a library reading Shakespeare loud enough for others nearby to hear.
case b) Someone in a library is watching a video of people having sex and those nearby can see/hear it, versus someone physically present in a library having sex right there on the floor, and people nearby can see/hear it.
In this light, one might think that one's right to watch pornography in public, free speech considerations aside, might perhaps be affected by... other laws. :)
In the future, I suppose sex between cyborgs will suffer new challenges, and the term "locking bumpers" will acquire a new meaning. Either that or we'll need a new USB standard,
4. Create a document that establishes rules for preventing the abuse of power by the government.
a) this fails because, as it turns out, the powerful think the Constitution makes pretty darn fine arse-wipe.
This doesn't surprise me one bit. People have been buying expensive equipment at Home Depot, such as compressors or generators, using it for a day for the one task they needed it for, and then returning it for a full refund. Or buying something at Home Depot, taking it home or just out to their car, removing the replacement parts they needed, and returning what's left for a full refund, hoping the staff don't conduct a part inventory of the box contents (which they seem to almost never do).
I've seen a brand new compressor out of the box at Home Depot with *mud* caked on the wheels, and I've lost count of the number of times I've bought something there only to get it home and realise that parts are missing from the box.
Frankly, I'm surprised this thing with the iPads didn't start happening a long time ago. People are ugly.
Damn it. I've misquoted Monty Python. I feel so much shame right now, I'm going to put a bucket over my head and I'm not coming out until somebody stands in a fish tank and sings,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-L6TFJL1vA
"And now the sound of a tsetse fly blowing its nose, maginified SIXTY MILLION TIMES!"
*a-choo*
Their own propaganda tells them constantly that they are unique, superior to the others, and surrounded by vile enemies that miss no chance to do harm to russia.
Perhaps it's because I'm Canadian, but in reading the posts on this thread, I've come across several statements about Russia like the one above that seems equally true if "Russia" is replaced with "the US". In fact, the US, in this case goes one step better, with some politicians (or, at the very least, certain "news" media) placing some of the blame on their own citizens (the "lazy poor") for the current state of the economy.
I don't mean to steer things off topic, but I'm finding this to be a fascinating pattern as I read on through these posts. Again, probably because I'm Canajun. :)
Elect Canada for President.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrhA0sEkuaM
And not just the "ink" nonsense, but also the bit about the thermistor causing the device to self-destruct. The point of the thermistor is to *prevent* the thing from self-destructing and starting a fire. Clothes dryers also have thermistors in them to prevent the dryer (in the case of clogged dryer venting) from overheating and potentially igniting any lint that builds up inside.
Groupon itself suffers no risk thanks to its business model. The clients, on the other hand, end up providing their services at 75% off (50% off from the client, plus Groupon takes half of the remaining 50%). In addition, the client gains no real benefit; the majority of any new customers they may get are stingy coupon-clippers who generally refuse to pay normal price for anything. In some service-based businesses, this may even include people who simply refuse to pay for the service done.
I think politicians should first consider "Hmm... would I apply this law to 'people' like Ford? Or Universal? Or Bank of America?" If the answer is no, then the law is, in all likelihood, unjust. Granted, they'll probably enact it anyway, knowing it's unjust but, you know... baby steps. :)
I thought the whole country was supposed to be a free speech zone.
Then, it's not really monkeys. It's more of monkeys with an oracle. That oracle thing made a whole world of difference.
I remember reading a blurb in a book some time ago about some university actually trying this out with a room full of monkeys. After three days, all they had typed was several pages filled with the letter "s". I suspect that, when using real monkeys, even an oracle would throw up her hands. :)
I thought everybody had Asperger's these days.
As soon as I read the summary, I immediately pictured guys in rooms with their arms outstretched, running around in circles going,"NEEEEEEEERRRRR" and making other plane flying/shooting/bombing sounds. :)
This conduct on the part of the science community is pretty non-scientific, IMHO. If you have doubts, attempt to reproduce the original results. In doing so, you will either reproduce them and if not, you may stumble upon scientific proof of precisely why the original experiment is flawed. If the original research stands to overturn a century of accepted theory, then you had *better* bloody well attempt to verify or contradict the original research using the *scientific method* instead of using 100 years of possibly flawed theory as a shield against new knowledge and insight. Personal attacks? Are you kidding me? Are these people children?
Carl Sagan is turning in his grave.
Well, Steven Harper's working very, very hard on it but it's not finished yet. We're going to be called Canada 2: The US-ening. :)
Sorry, off-topic. I know. Berate me as necessary.
I remember going to the video arcade long ago and seeing Virtua Fighter for the first time. My thoughts then were:
- "The control response is terrible and the characters look *awful*! This looks *terrible* compared to 2D games!" (Samurai Showdown was right next to it).
- "What a cheesy gimmick."
After a while, the hardware got better and the issues became how to deal with the camera (they tried their best with Mario 64). Now it seems 2D has been relegated mostly to casual and web-based games (and even those are starting to go 3D).
I find myself thinking the same things about stereoscopic movies and TV now. I have no idea at this point if history will repeat itself or if stereoscopic will continue to be treated like a gimmick. Some video game mechanics work much better in 3D; I can't think of any aspect of movies that is improved by making them stereoscopic.
...or were they... set loose?