First, this law would simply be unconstitutional here in the US. Second, I keep hearing arguments that people who end up being violent criminals were into pornography/violent video games/heavy metal/etc. first -- and all such arguments are logically flawed. Could it simply be that people who enjoy real murder also enjoy simulated murder? Let's see a cause-and-effect relationship proved before we even consider knocking holes in civil rights.
This system could be useful in other situations, if everyone involved has full access to the data. The question is whether it'll be used that way, or just as a one-way mirror.
I agree overall. But unfortunately, in the case of the Arabs, we're seeing that there is substantial support for what we consider extremist positions there. Or at least, there's enough to generate video footage of Arabic mobs firebombing embassies over a cartoon. Is the problem that Arabic media are still dominated by the likes of Al-Jazeera and Al-Manar, and that a media system (even) as free as the Western one would show the Arab world as more reasonable?
Although Linux now offers all sorts of GUIs and some drivers, it's still suffering from a legacy problem similar to Windows': it's based on the design of UNIX, from the 1960s! Is there any reason why a modern OS should routinely use strings like "apt-get sudo" or "#/usr/bin" other than that several generations of hackers have gotten used to those abbreviations, and the code is now too embedded to replace?
A modular, free, open-source OS is a great idea. But wouldn't it be feasible at this point to abandon the UNIX/GNU legacy and start a new OS based on modern design principles -- and that doesn't look like a clone of Windows? Yes, it would start off as a toy since it'd have no drivers etc., but if we could implement a few basic applications in it it would start to become worthwhile.
As I understand it, making software highly modular -- so that every function has known, consistent I/O and can easily be replaced -- is a very good idea, but can be a bit inefficient. But with the power of computers these days, slight inefficiency just isn't important anymore!
Does anyone know enough about Windows' code to say whether it's really modular or one gigantic DoStuff() function?
I agree; people should be developing games with new gameplay concepts, and forgetting about improving the graphics any further for a while. As for doing a realistic spaceflight sim, see Orbiter. I've looked into Sierra's "Outpost" games, which were meant to be fairly realistic space-exploitation sims but got panned as horribly flawed. How about an RPG based on Kim Robinson's Red Mars, or an action/adventure version of David Brin's Startide Rising using the engine from the Dreamcast game Ecco the Dolphin? A computer RPG based on World Tree? A version of The Ur-Quan Masters with more detailed planet exploration and diplomacy?
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past had a near-ideal control system: one button for Talk, Grab, Throw, Swim, Read etc., all context-sensitive. The other extreme is the otherwise-interesting realistic survival game Unreal World, where there are different commands for "Fell Down a Tree," "Chop Log Into Blocks," "Chop Block Into Firewood," etc.!
I'm all in favor of indy development. The mainstream game industry has developed Hollywood envy and is trying to make games as interactive and innovative as movies, while spending Hollywood-sized budgets.
But one of the main reasons for outlawing drugs is that they're so dangerous. If they were legal, and more likely to be pure, they wouldn't be as dangerous, which means that the current laws are actually more likely to kill the average drug user than legalization would be. So even looking at this issue purely from a public-safety viewpoint and ignoring individual rights, there's a reason for legalization.
Could someone please point out statistics on how much money the US spends on the "War on Drugs," versus the "profit" gained by specific agencies in waging it?
As I understand it, Cyc is basically a database of information about the world, but it doesn't have any sort of initiative. When you turn it on it doesn't try to take over the world or even say hello; it just sits there waiting to be asked a question, right? Cyc might be part of a future AI but doesn't qualify as a "general purpose" AI by itself, because it lacks the ability to act on its own.
It strikes me that today's nuclear waste will probably be tomorrow's valuable resource. As I understand it, coal tar was an annoying type of industrial waste in the 19th century, and the fact that there was so much of this stuff, so unwanted, encouraged chemists to play with it and discover that they could extract dyes and other useful stuff from it.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is installing "EZ Pass Only" exits, thereby restricting the travel of anyone who won't submit to having a transponder on their car. The next phase will presumably to harass the holdouts by reducing the number of lanes that take cash, citing the high cost of manning them. (Never mind that they'll then charge for the privilege of EZ Pass, saying it's so expensive they need fees to maintain it.) The third step, then, is to eliminate cash, thereby forbidding people to use the freeway unless they agree to be tracked.
As I understand it, you'll probably be told that similar technologies like the "broadcast flag" are mandatory. In other words, that it'll be illegal to build hardware that is not slaved to whatever government/industry commands are in place. Even with Linux and FOSS applications, will you be permitted to own a computer that you can trust not to be somehow subverted?
The FCC's rule is in 47 CFR 73.9002(b) and the following sections, stating in part: "No party shall sell or distribute in interstate commerce a Covered Demodulator Product that does not comply... - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_flag
And remember that everything is interstate commerce.
"The military answers would be overkill... Not because we're that much smarter than a billion teenagers, but because we have the Secure Hardware Environment. Down at the bottom we control all the hardware."
-Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End
Do I understand that code correctly -- the writer looked up the MAC address of his networking card, put it into a "trusted" domain, then set up a second domain that only accepts connections from a certain IP range but doesn't care what identity those clients have?
Apaloosa hired sci-fi writer David Brin ("Startide Rising," "Earth") to do the story for "Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future." One of the game's designers said Brin didn't give them much to go on, though, providing only outlines of levels. On the other hand, the game's mechanics (small number of characters, little dialogue, little tool use beyond squeaking at stuff) limited the kind of story he could tell. It's interesting to consider whether "Ecco"'s game engine could have been used to tell a story with anything like the complexity of "Startide Rising," especially since that book was told from many characters' POV.
Slashdot Mirror
First, this law would simply be unconstitutional here in the US. Second, I keep hearing arguments that people who end up being violent criminals were into pornography/violent video games/heavy metal/etc. first -- and all such arguments are logically flawed. Could it simply be that people who enjoy real murder also enjoy simulated murder? Let's see a cause-and-effect relationship proved before we even consider knocking holes in civil rights.
This system could be useful in other situations, if everyone involved has full access to the data. The question is whether it'll be used that way, or just as a one-way mirror.
I agree overall. But unfortunately, in the case of the Arabs, we're seeing that there is substantial support for what we consider extremist positions there. Or at least, there's enough to generate video footage of Arabic mobs firebombing embassies over a cartoon. Is the problem that Arabic media are still dominated by the likes of Al-Jazeera and Al-Manar, and that a media system (even) as free as the Western one would show the Arab world as more reasonable?
Although Linux now offers all sorts of GUIs and some drivers, it's still suffering from a legacy problem similar to Windows': it's based on the design of UNIX, from the 1960s! Is there any reason why a modern OS should routinely use strings like "apt-get sudo" or "#/usr/bin" other than that several generations of hackers have gotten used to those abbreviations, and the code is now too embedded to replace?
A modular, free, open-source OS is a great idea. But wouldn't it be feasible at this point to abandon the UNIX/GNU legacy and start a new OS based on modern design principles -- and that doesn't look like a clone of Windows? Yes, it would start off as a toy since it'd have no drivers etc., but if we could implement a few basic applications in it it would start to become worthwhile.
As I understand it, making software highly modular -- so that every function has known, consistent I/O and can easily be replaced -- is a very good idea, but can be a bit inefficient. But with the power of computers these days, slight inefficiency just isn't important anymore!
Does anyone know enough about Windows' code to say whether it's really modular or one gigantic DoStuff() function?
What if we'd done that to Edison?
I agree; people should be developing games with new gameplay concepts, and forgetting about improving the graphics any further for a while. As for doing a realistic spaceflight sim, see Orbiter. I've looked into Sierra's "Outpost" games, which were meant to be fairly realistic space-exploitation sims but got panned as horribly flawed. How about an RPG based on Kim Robinson's Red Mars, or an action/adventure version of David Brin's Startide Rising using the engine from the Dreamcast game Ecco the Dolphin? A computer RPG based on World Tree? A version of The Ur-Quan Masters with more detailed planet exploration and diplomacy?
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past had a near-ideal control system: one button for Talk, Grab, Throw, Swim, Read etc., all context-sensitive. The other extreme is the otherwise-interesting realistic survival game Unreal World, where there are different commands for "Fell Down a Tree," "Chop Log Into Blocks," "Chop Block Into Firewood," etc.!
I'm all in favor of indy development. The mainstream game industry has developed Hollywood envy and is trying to make games as interactive and innovative as movies, while spending Hollywood-sized budgets.
Inspecting documents? The descriptions I've read of WGA don't include this; do you have evidence for this assertion?
But one of the main reasons for outlawing drugs is that they're so dangerous. If they were legal, and more likely to be pure, they wouldn't be as dangerous, which means that the current laws are actually more likely to kill the average drug user than legalization would be. So even looking at this issue purely from a public-safety viewpoint and ignoring individual rights, there's a reason for legalization.
Could someone please point out statistics on how much money the US spends on the "War on Drugs," versus the "profit" gained by specific agencies in waging it?
As I understand it, Cyc is basically a database of information about the world, but it doesn't have any sort of initiative. When you turn it on it doesn't try to take over the world or even say hello; it just sits there waiting to be asked a question, right? Cyc might be part of a future AI but doesn't qualify as a "general purpose" AI by itself, because it lacks the ability to act on its own.
It strikes me that today's nuclear waste will probably be tomorrow's valuable resource. As I understand it, coal tar was an annoying type of industrial waste in the 19th century, and the fact that there was so much of this stuff, so unwanted, encouraged chemists to play with it and discover that they could extract dyes and other useful stuff from it.
You just have to make sure the number of Linus Torvalds write-in votes isn't high enough to be suspicious.
I'd sell my soul for a transponder...
I think your offer has been accepted.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is installing "EZ Pass Only" exits, thereby restricting the travel of anyone who won't submit to having a transponder on their car. The next phase will presumably to harass the holdouts by reducing the number of lanes that take cash, citing the high cost of manning them. (Never mind that they'll then charge for the privilege of EZ Pass, saying it's so expensive they need fees to maintain it.) The third step, then, is to eliminate cash, thereby forbidding people to use the freeway unless they agree to be tracked.
How large does your Katamari have to be to roll it up?
As I understand it, you'll probably be told that similar technologies like the "broadcast flag" are mandatory. In other words, that it'll be illegal to build hardware that is not slaved to whatever government/industry commands are in place. Even with Linux and FOSS applications, will you be permitted to own a computer that you can trust not to be somehow subverted?
The FCC's rule is in 47 CFR 73.9002(b) and the following sections, stating in part: "No party shall sell or distribute in interstate commerce a Covered Demodulator Product that does not comply... - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_flag
And remember that everything is interstate commerce.
"The military answers would be overkill... Not because we're that much smarter than a billion teenagers, but because we have the Secure Hardware Environment. Down at the bottom we control all the hardware."
-Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End
MECOs. No event horizon, instead the matter pulled in is spun for a while then ejected at near lightspeed.
"That was fun -- let's do it again!" -Future kid on a starship.
Do I understand that code correctly -- the writer looked up the MAC address of his networking card, put it into a "trusted" domain, then set up a second domain that only accepts connections from a certain IP range but doesn't care what identity those clients have?
Sounds worth doing.
Apaloosa hired sci-fi writer David Brin ("Startide Rising," "Earth") to do the story for "Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future." One of the game's designers said Brin didn't give them much to go on, though, providing only outlines of levels. On the other hand, the game's mechanics (small number of characters, little dialogue, little tool use beyond squeaking at stuff) limited the kind of story he could tell. It's interesting to consider whether "Ecco"'s game engine could have been used to tell a story with anything like the complexity of "Startide Rising," especially since that book was told from many characters' POV.
Such as...?
I follow politics and have been leaning Libertarian (and away from Republican), and this is the first I've heard of this!