Comment ALF (Score 1) 112
I for one would like to see an animal rights group to bring down some of its wisdom down on that lab.
Comment Better later than never (Score 1) 773
There is a circle of fat around the Beltway that is incredibly thick
/blockquote? In everyday language, we call it "white people".
Valve's Newell Thinks PS3 Needs To Be "Open Like a Mac" 348
Eraesr writes "Apparently Valve boss Gabe Newell thinks the PS3 needs to be more of an open platform, drawing a comparison to Apple's Mac platform. In an interview with 5BY5.TV, he said he would like to see the PS3 be 'open like a Mac' instead of being 'more closed like a Gamecube.' 'Platform investments, like the Mac, are difficult because you have to be aware of what direction that platform is moving,' Newell said, referring to the firm's recent move onto Macs with its titles and distribution service Steam. 'We need to target platforms that do a better job of looking like where we want to be in a few years.'"
FSF Response To Steve Jobs's Letter 572
boilednut writes "Steve Jobs's recent missive on the deficiencies of Adobe's Flash is still reverberating around the Internet. In this editorial, John Sullivan of the Free Software Foundation responds, arguing that Apple is presenting users with a false choice between Adobe's proprietary software and Apple's walled garden."
Comment Re:What about the presumption of innocence? (Score 1) 1590
Go read the 14th Amendment. Count the times it says 'citizens'. Then SLAP YOURSELF IN THE GODDAMN FACE THAT NUMBER OF TIMES. Illegal aliens are NOT citizens. The 14th Amendment EXPLICITLY does not apply to them. That is the LAW.
It's always nice that you don't have to do your own googling. But you could at least go back to the said ammendment and read how it separates "citizens" from "persons" and gives its subjects rights differentially, according to whether they are "person" or "citizen".
But of course, you are too busy slapping people around to do your own reading, so here it goes
14.1 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The US Code cannot validate the Constitution but fill in the gaps that it leaves open. Title 8 is supposed to do just that. The way it fills that gap is open to (and should be) questioned.
After all, no law is set in stone and no law is "perfect." Laws need to be continuously questioned to tease out the ways in which they institutionalize ideologies of domination.
It seems quite clear to me that Title 8, in its entirety, from how it names us as "alien" (non-human), to how it deploys enforcement agencies onto "aliens" simply because they are "aliens" (eg Title 8, 1304) not only institutionalizes racism but also transposes many of the basic tenets of racist thought onto immigrants.
iPad Launches, FCC Teardown Leaked 617
Apple's much-awaited iPad officially launched today, and iFixit has gotten their hands on photos from the FCC teardown. They've done an analysis of the internals and provided directions on doing it yourself, if you're so inclined. Predictably, it's a hot topic in the media. Cory Doctorow wrote about why he won't be getting an iPad, complaining about the closed, hacker-unfriendly design and what he calls the "Wal-martization of the software channel." Daring Fireball's John Gruber disagrees, pointing out that enthusiasts — even kids exercising their curiosity — are still quite capable of playing around with the iPad through app creation, and with much more of a chance to compete with big companies than in the Apple ][ days. Similarly, others are referring to it as the "bedtime computer" — technology that has a reasonable shot at expanding into completely new areas of use, like bedtime reading for kids. Such a device was predicted in 1972 by Alan Kay, the PARC scientist credited with the epigram "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." His hypothetical DynaBook bears striking similarity to what Apple finally came up with. So, those of you who have picked up or received an iPad already: how do you like it?
Comment Re:Old News (Score 3, Funny) 210
Humans will always be the weak link in society.
Comment giggly (Score 1) 416
biologically implausible and scientifically unsupported
When someone says something like this, I don't know whether to giggle or be scared.
Comment Re:False analogy. (Score 1) 664
do you get marks just for attending lectures in the US or something?
profs assign grades to in-class participation. but quite a lot of students do not understand that unless you come to class, you can't participate. so profs end up having to do attendance so that a majority of class won't fail...
Comment Re:As will become more and more apparent... (Score 1) 156
When you have a country that willingly harbors criminals - just because they are attacking someone else - the problem ceases to be one of law enforcement or diplomacy. Sure, you can try to send some cops over there and see what can be accomplished. For the most part, not much.
The key is that if Russia, Bulgaria, Romania or whereever wants to have "Internet freedom" for their citizens where they can do whatever they heck they want without any consequences, the only possible response is for everyone else on the planet to just agree to pull the plug.
That sounds quite familiar but I cannot... Oh, wait!
California To Create Public Animal Abuser Registry 404
An anonymous reader writes "California legislators are moving forward with plans to create a public, online, animal abuser registry identical in function to the public sex offender registry. Is this the slippery slope to further government mandated lists and registries?"
Comment Re:oh for the love of ____! (Score 2, Insightful) 268
Okay, I know an ex-pat who has moved to China and married. I have a much better understanding
Hey, nice to hear. I have this Black friend so I know Blacks.
Leak Shows US Lead Opponent of ACTA Transparency 164
An anonymous reader writes "Throughout the debate over ACTA transparency, the secret copyright
treaty, many countries have taken public positions that they support
release of the actual text, but that other countries do not.
Since full transparency requires consensus of all the ACTA partners,
the text simply can't be released until everyone is in agreement.
A new leak
from the Netherlands fingers who the chief opponents of transparency
are: the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and Denmark lead the
way, with Belgium, Germany, and Portugal not far behind as problem
countries."
Nintendo On the Hunt For More Scalps 232
rjch writes "After its recent win against mod chip piracy in the Australian Federal courts, Nintendo is now on the prowl for other companies to sue. 'Nintendo will pursue those who attempt to jeopardise the gaming industry by using all means available to it under the law. In particular, Nintendo is currently contemplating bringing further actions against other sellers of game copying devices in Australia.' The game company said since 2008 it had pursued over 800 actions in 16 countries to stop game piracy, confiscating 'well over' half a million game copiers for the Nintendo DS. The company said piracy affected sales, the price of video games, and employment in the video game industry."
Reader daria42 sends in a related piece asking whether Nintendo is being too harsh over this and the recent $1.5 million settlement with a man who leaked New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Comment Re:Remember folks, it's a NETbook. (Score 3, Funny) 298
on your already small disk to do other things.
Hi there 2007,
The netbooks in the future (2010, welcome) have 160GB+ space... Oh, also
This is a net-oriented device, afterall.
No, it's not.
When are you going back home, by the way?
Sincerely.
