Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - Pirate Party Australia is recruiting Committee mem (pirateparty.org.au)

Bob Gelumph writes: Pirate Party Australia completed its election late last week and has a new National Council. The party is following up on this by recruiting for committee positions so that it can contest the next election, due within the year. Committees range from the traditional Campaigns and Fundraising to the Monkey Island themed Snappy Comebacks. Disclosure: I am a member. Full Disclosure: I am the President

Comment Simpsons trading cards (Score 2, Interesting) 180

I used to have some Simpsons trading cards that were like that. There was what looked like static on a TV screen, which, when another plastic panel was put in front of it, would show a de-scrambled image. I can't see how it is secure though, because the plastic descramblers are all the same. Someone could still take a photo and use a similar plastic window elsewhere.

Comment Re:whats the crime in hate crime? (Score 1) 778

Or the white person feels proud because they are taking part in voting for someone who, other than being a reasonable candidate, is a symbol of their society getting over a horrible past.
I can understand a white person feeling pride that their country is passed the worst of their racist heritage.
Is a black person racist for feeling the same way about voting for Obama? I don't think so.
Also, those same white people who felt proud to vote for Obama, would probably laugh at the thought of voting for lots of other black people. This would be because they are evaluating the person, rather than the race.

Comment Re:whats the crime in hate crime? (Score 4, Insightful) 778

You say that the idea of "hate speech" laws are a tool to take away our freedoms. What do you think of laws that use the word "terrorism" to do the same?

I'd say that both sets of laws are generally bad. I would think that a law against directly and effectively inciting violence would be better. If a person is just ranting, rather than actually trying to organise people to go hurt others, then as despicable as their speech may be, I'd prefer them to be able to say it.
My thoughts on the matter boil down to this: People have the right to be jerks, but we should be creating a world where people don't want to be jerks.
These neo-Nazis are exercising their rights, and society has failed because they have chosen to exercise them in this way.
These guys don't seem to have actually hurt anybody, so I'd prefer to see them get counselling to deal with the root cause of why they feel the way they do. A reformed neo-Nazi would be a better instrument against Nazism that someone who never thought about it one way or the other.
For you U.S. citizens out there, you should be opposed to these guys being jailed, because if they were jailed for the same act in the U.S., it would be unconstitutional, and by applauding it, you would be effectively saying that you are opposed to the first amendment. And if you believe that the constitution is so good for you, then you should be striving for others to have the freedoms that you have.

Transportation

New Video of Tesla's Mass-Market Electric Car 462

Slatterz writes "The Tesla Roadster has almost mythical status among electric car enthusiasts. It's fast, with high torque over a wide RPM range, and can beat a Ferrari in terms of acceleration. Now Tesla has released new video of its upcoming new electric car, called the Model S, which Tesla Motors claims is the world's first mass produced fully-electric vehicle. Unlike the Lotus-Elise based Roadster, the Model S is a traditional sedan of the type millions of commuters might actually drive. Tesla claims it will fit seven people (if two of them are 'children under 10'), and has mounted a rather large 17in LCD in the dash. Key to Telsa's future will be the evolution of lithium-ion battery technology. Tesla Motors claiming the new Model S can travel up to 300 miles on a single charge, but the battery will still take 45 minutes to quick-recharge." (And for those in countries where it matters, this article mentions that it should also be available in right-hand drive.)

Comment Re:What languages? (Score 1) 1359

If you're Australian, getting a working holiday visa isn't too hard. You have to apply from Australia and it will take a month or two, and you have to be under 35 or so. It allows you to go to the U.K. for 2 years, and depending on the constant changes to policies, you can either work for the whole time, or only for 1 year of the time.
A working holiday visa doesn't contribute to the time requirements for getting a U.K. passport. Getting a visa to work for longer, that can lead to citizenship (eventually), can and does take 4 months or more. There is a crap load of paperwork, you have to earn at least GBP23k per year (or local equivalent (and earning a lot more helps heaps)), have a university degree and other requirements in order to meet their minimum points to get the visa.
Emigrating from Australia to the U.K. is, in short, a bitch.

Comment Re:Don't Sell (Score 3, Insightful) 412

You may be ambassador to England or France. You may like to gamble, you might like to dance. You might be the heavy weight champion of the world. You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls, but you're gonna have to serve somebody. Yes indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody. Well it may be the devil, or it may be the lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody.
-- Bob Dylan

Slashdot Top Deals

And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions. -- David Jones

Working...