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Comment Re:But Unfortunately... (Score 2, Informative) 314

the borg are a badly thought out sci-fi plot device, nothing more.

If a group of people got together and made it possible to experience everything everyone in the group heard/thought/felt, they would be a democracy where the majority always rules. your views and values would not change, they would be shared throughout the group. If a group of humans formed a borg collective they would maintain their humanity, and probably even hold each other to a higher standard through peer pressure.

Star trek Borg are not a collective, they are a subservient dictatorship.

Censorship

Submission + - SPAM: Five technologies Iran is using to censor the Web

alphadogg writes: One month after a disputed presidential election sparked widespread unrest in Iran, the country's government has initiated a cyber-crackdown that is challenging hackers across the globe to find new ways to help keep Iranian dissidents connected to the Web. While the government's initial efforts to censor the Internet were blunt and often ineffective, it has started employing more sophisticated tools to thwart dissidents' attempts to communicate with each other and the outside world. Iranian dissidents are not alone in their struggle, however, as several sympathetic hacker groups have been working to keep them online. One such group is NedaNet, whose mission is to "help the Iranian people by setting up networks of proxy severs, anonymizers, and any other appropriate technologies that can enable them to communicate and organize." NedaNet project coordinator Morgan Sennhauser, who has just written a paper [spam URL stripped] detailing the Iranian government's latest efforts to thwart hackers, says that the government's actions have been surprisingly robust and have challenged hackers in ways that the Chinese government's efforts at censorship have not.
Link to Original Source
Space

Submission + - Entire moon added to Google Earth (cnet.co.uk)

CNETNate writes: "Complete with Street View-like panoramas, 3D models of spacecraft now left abandoned on the moon's surface, and guided tours from the voices of Apollo astronauts, Google's update to Google Earth today marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with an enormous update. It's a collaboration with NASA and other agencies, and follows the launch of Google Earth 5.0 which, amongst other things, added the ability to explore our planet's oceans. There are a number of original creations — such as the 3D mock-up of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and its astronauts — and you can download the new version from Google now."

Comment Re:What the hell is wrong with you? (Score 1) 922

Violating someones right to choose and taking away their freedom is without any doubt valid cause for retaliation. To re-assert that freedom lethal force may be necessary. All throughout history force has been used to earn back freedom.

When an attacker uses force against another human, that victim has every right to use force to defend themselves.

Comment Genetic Algorithm (Score 1) 133

Create a billboard that wants to be looked at.. Start the billboard out with totally random graphics, and then, do the genetic algorithm thing and produce 10 or 20 variants, and see which one gets the most looks, then take it mutate it and repeat.

eventually you will create what could be considered the best possible public work of art which is enjoyed by the most number of people.

I would very much like to see what it produces.
Politics

Who Do Warcraft Players Want As President? 82

I'm not sure how many electoral votes Azeroth has, but it could be a key battleground state.
Handhelds

Submission + - Q3 Innovations UV HAWK Personal Ultraviolet Sunlig (tweaknews.net)

Nathan writes: "Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/uv_hawk_sunlight_ meter/
Article PIC: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/uv_hawk_sunlight_ meter/img/email.jpg

Article Snippet:

"Although I have never used a product like this before, it definitely is a tool I will use in my life from now on. This product takes the guess work out of protecting yourself from getting a burn and damaging your skin. With this tool in hand, precise measurements can be obtained to use in your daily recreational planning and what you need to do to protect yourself, or your family from the sun.""

It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Power your computer with bike

xsuchy writes: Lots of people today spend large amount of time in front a computer without moving. That's bad for their bodies. But now, with Twibright Exciter, Internet surfing can have similar effect on your fat level and aerobic fitness as wave surfing. Exciter is an exercise bike designed to be ridden when using a computer. It can be connected to power a laptop, LCD monitor or a desk lamp and this way the user has a great motivation to continue the exercise.
Announcements

Submission + - Ontario Referendum on Proportional Representation (gov.on.ca)

Mike Lawrie writes: "On October 10th, alongside the 2007 Ontario general election, Ontarians will be voting on electoral reform. Namely, whether or not to institute a Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMP). While not without criticism, proponents claim the proposed system is more fair. It's a hybrid system which attempts to ensure proportionality to the popular vote while maintaining regional representation. Minor parties would stand to gain enormously — While the New Democratic Party had 14.7% of the popular vote in 2003, they managed only 7 of 103 seats. Under MMP they would have received much closer to 14.7% of the proposed 129 seats."
PC Games (Games)

The Imagined Future of PC Games 134

PC Gamer has up a five-part series prognosticating the future of PC gaming. (part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5) Graham Smith, Kieron Gillen, and a few other PC games folks make some big-picture predictions about where console gaming's aging sibling is headed. Some of their predictions are fairly safe ("6. The mouse won't die, and graphics cards will get more powerful."), but others may be a bit contentious: "4. Steam and similar services will crush PC piracy. There's been a lot of talk from developers - old rivals id and Epic chief among them - about piracy making it harder for them to justify developing PC-only games. There's so little profit in it, apparently, that the poor fellows are left with no choice but to stray from their beloved home-platform and develop for consoles too. And yet the only games out there with a zero percent piracy ratio are all PC-only: MMOGs. They have a headstart in the anti-piracy crusade: connecting to a central server is an integral part of the game, so verifying that the user's CD key is unique can be done without much fuss. And no one's going to complain that a MMOG requires an internet connection; that's pretty obvious from the concept itself."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Douglas Adams: Exclusive Interview

An anonymous reader writes: Darker Matter has published an exclusive interview from 1979 with Douglas Adams. Except for brief excerpts in Penthouse, most of the interview hadn't been published. The first two parts of the interview are now online, with the last part following next month. http://www.darkermatter.com/issue1/douglas_adams.p hp

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