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A Traffic Control System For Molecules

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  • OK.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by suv4x4 (956391)
    Ok, so traffic control system for molecules, damn it this means nothing to me... What do I post, what do I post.. Heh a joke always works when you got not clue! I'll ask what the equivalent of traffic cops or talk how "that's the place you don't want a traffic jam to happen". Nah cheesy as hell.

    No, wait... I'll voice a concern that's totally unfounded and blow it out of proportions. Nano technology omg, will take over people and turn 'em into zombies! No wait, I'll look more intelligent if it's a question:
    • by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 15, 2006 @03:42AM (#15333042)
      This has very little to do with the article, but the L.A. Times recently published an article regarding the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit [torontopolice.on.ca] that focused on their fight against child pornography ("Sifting Clues to an Unsmiling Girl" [pqarchiver.com]). They are the law enforcement organization that photoshopped the victims out of child porn photos in order to get the public's assistance in identifying the backgrounds (it worked). In any case, the article had this amazing claim:
      On one wall is a "Star Trek" poster with investigators' faces substituted for the Starship Enterprise crew. But even that alludes to a dark fact of their work: All but one of the offenders they have arrested in the last four years was a hard-core Trekkie.
      Wow. All but one in four years. Seemed rather unlikely to me.

      So, I called the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit and spoke to Det. Ian Lamond, who was familiar with the Times article. He claims they were misquoted, or if that figure was given it was done so jokingly. Of course, even if the figure was given jokingly, shouldn't the Times reporter have clarified something that seems rather odd? Shouldn't her editors have questioned her sources?

      Nevertheless, Det. Lamond does confirm that a majority of those arrested show "at least a passing interest in Star Trek, if not a strong interest." They've arrested well over one hundred people over the past four years and they can gauge this interest in Star Trek by the arrestees' "paraphenalia, books, videotapes and DVDs."
      Det. Constable Warren Bulmer slips on a Klingon sash and shield they confiscated in a recent raid. "It has something to do with a fantasy world where mutants and monsters have power and where the usual rules don't apply," Bulmer reflects. "But beyond that, I can't really explain it."
      I asked Det. Lamond if this wasn't simply a general interest in science fiction and fantasy, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter or similar. Paraphrasing his answer, he said, while there was sometimes other science fiction and fantasy paraphenalia, Star Trek was the most consistent and when he referred to a majority of the arrestees being Star Trek fans, it was Star Trek-specific.
      • Nevertheless, Det. Lamond does confirm that a majority of those arrested show "at least a passing interest in Star Trek, if not a strong interest."

        So what, should I expect the police to knock on my door since I may watch Star Trek?
        I bet also all of the arrested pedophiles breath air, but does that make everyone who breath air a pedophile?

        I suspect the relation has more to do that Star Trek is a huge franchise, spanning multiple seasons of multiple generations of the same theme and has a massive appeal and
        • by Anonymous Coward

          I bet also all of the arrested pedophiles breath air, but does that make everyone who breath air a pedophile?

          Yes, all pedophiles may breathe air, but then, so does everyone else. The vast majority of people are not "hardcore Trekkies," but the vast majority of pedophiles are--and that is significant.

          Supposing only 5% of the general population are hardcore Trekkies, then if Star Trek is truly uncorrelated with pedophilia--our null hypothesis--we should expect only 5% of pedophiles to be Trekkies, as well.

          • The vast majority of people are not "hardcore Trekkies," but the vast majority of pedophiles are--and that is significant.

            It's not significant. You fall for the same flaw as you just described to me. Pedophiles are people, but not all people are pedophiles. Pedophiles are mostly trekkies, but trekkies are a huge community, and not all of them are pedophiles.

            The fact that trekkies are a smaller community than all people doesn't mean you can freely switch the relationship and claim that trekkies are predispos
            • by Anonymous Coward
              You're putting words in my mouth. I never claimed "all Trekkies are pedophiles," only that there is a link between being a hardcore Trekkie and being a pedophile. And there is. Compared to a person randomly selected from the population as a whole, a randomly-selected Trekkie is much likelier also to be a pedophile.

              Draw a Venn diagram if you still don't understand.
      • by Anonymous Coward
        All but one of the offenders they have arrested in the last four years was a hard-core Trekkie.

        Shit, I'm a Pokemon series fan... I don't even wanna know what my dysfunction is, but I've this irresistable desire to stuff my gf in a little metal ball...

        Shit I need help...

The end of labor is to gain leisure.

 



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