9882242
submission
GigsVT writes:
The Second Life viewer has been available under the GPL for 3 years. Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life, recently released a "third party viewer" policy that all but erases the freedoms granted under the GPL. It includes such draconian measures as "You agree to update or delete at our request any data that you have received from Second Life or our servers and systems using a Third-Party Viewer", "You must not mask IP or MAC addresses" (reported to the server), "you must have a published privacy policy explaining your practices regarding user data", and "You acknowledge and agree that we may require you to stop using or distributing a Third-Party Viewer for accessing Second Life if we determine that there is a violation."
7077418
submission
GigsVT writes:
A US Air Force officer has told the BBC that his country should create an offensive botnet to target any forces that launch a cyber-attack against it. "I recommend that we make our botnet — the botnet I propose — public. The whole world knows about it. That we exercise it on ranges that other countries can see electronically, that they know what we're doing and then they are going to be more likely to back off before doing an attack because they have to take this into account," ...he argues that if a computer owner has failed to use anti-virus software and install the latest security patches, that machine may be a legitimate military target.
5199487
submission
GigsVT writes:
Editors on Wikipedia are engaged in an epic battle, over a few piece of paper smeared with ink. The 10 inkblot images that form the classic Rorschach test have fallen into the public domain, so including them on Wikipedia would seem to be a simple choice. However, some editors have cited the APA's statement that exposure of the images to the public is an unethical act, since prior exposure to the images could render them ineffective as a psychological test. Is the censorship of material appropriate, when the public exposure to that material may render that material useless?
43160
submission
GigsVT writes:
NPR is running a story about how many countries in Europe are "moving to the right".
Surely it is to the "right" but more specifically, it's moving toward fascism. NPR, with their neo-liberal leanings, wants to frame this stuff as "right wing" when it's clearly the beginnings of fascism.
The uniting force in this movement is a hate for Islam, a fear of Muslims that are immigrating to these countries.
What is interesting is that it is the most socialist countries that are moving this way. This reaffirms the theory that neo-liberalism inevitably leads to socialism, and socialism inevitably leads to fascism.
The logic of the voters confirms what many Libertarian (or classical liberals) have said all along. They interviewed one former socialist voter from France. She said (paraphrased) "The government needs to do something about these immigrants, I don't like this guy but I'm going to vote for him anyway because he'll clean up the country".
The slide of socialism to fascism is a logical one. If the government is providing lots of services to the residents of the country, then every immigrant becomes an issue of national concern. Every immigrant is a potential leech on the fruits of "my" labor. No one can be free because everyone has to be accountable to everyone else. When things go bad, this transfer of wealth breeds hate, hate against any identifiable group that has immigrated and can become the scape goat.
The only solution is to let people control the fruits of their own labor. Socialists want to make everyone interdependent, "as long as those dirty Muslims aren't getting any of my money". Freedom can never coexist with a system of coerced wealth transfer.
30883
submission
GigsVT writes:
Over the weekend, Linden Lab announced price increases effective Wednesday for simulators (1 CPU that runs one simulator). The old price was $1250 + $195/month, the new price is $1650 + $295 a month. This steep increase with little warning has shocked many residents that were planning on buying simulators.
On top of all this, Linden Lab announced 150 simulators available at the old price would be put up for sale on Wednesday at 1PM, PST. When 1PM rolled around, there was the expected huge rush of orders, then Linden Lab announced that there was an unlimited supply at this price, available until the 15th. Many who bought islands based on the information that the availability was limited are very upset. It was also announced that the islands would be charged the new price on transfer, after the rush was over. Previously, users were assured the monthly payment would be locked in at the old price.
27298
submission
GigsVT writes:
Survey
Guess who the biggest segment in support of the ban are? 18-29 year old females.
The solution?
