Of course this raises the moral question of "what's off limits for a game" - but also - "what's a game?".

Does something have to be "fun" to be a game? Is this the definition of a game (as opposed to say a "simulation"). Or is a game a "simulated environment where there is a win condition"?

Interested to hear slashdotters thoughts.

If you pay taxes for 20 years then need a hand paying for bills for a few months, getting 50 / week back out of those 20 years taxes does not equal "free money".

Studying part time for certified courses costs money as well. Studying using free resources either requires access to the internet (costs money for net connection) or libraries (government seems to be closing them down, our local one isn't open on Saturdays any more, means no parent and child reading sessions if the parent is in work....).

Will be compulsory to use for jobseekers from next year (as in, 2 weeks from now).

Have a friend who uses it. They checked the terms and conditions of signing up to use it (remember this is mandatory for those people who wish to sign on for benefits, e.g. somebody who has paid taxes for 20 years and would now like a little back from the taxes to help them get by on important bills for the next few months til they find their next job). If you register on the system, the terms and conditions currently note that your personal data can be passed on to third parties outside the EU.

I don't remember us signing up to that agreement when we agreed to the contract where we pay taxes into society, and when we need some help we can get a little back.

I'll ask my friend to send over the details of the text and I'll post it.

Did you not read the parent post about the "Cobra Effect"? $10 for a snake would not only make an industry out of killing them, it would create an industry of people who would start to breed snakes for profit.. and who would then let them go in to the wild if they were closed down.

Stable technology (and the desk! :-) ) - Using the hand tools my dad gave me, some of them were his grandfather's (e.g. the chisels), to build the desk I work on with my laptop. Can't see me passing down any of my electronic equipment to grandkids for them to use day-to-day. Nice to be using tools that have worked for generations.

Indeed, mod parent up. Not all computers have to be networked, plenty of situations where that's a security risk, costs more for the unit.

Maybe they got pragmatic and decided the best way to bring in local jobs (Raspberry Pi = British,so jobs in the UK) was to find an existing plant that could take on the work. Maybe setting up their own factory from scratch was unrealistic for the Raspberry Pi organisation (these guys aren't an existing multinational megacorp, just a start-up, effectively) but they could at least try to get them manufactured in the UK and create some British/Welsh jobs. Perhaps they also felt this would allow them better quality control (an easy drive across the country for a few hours rather than a flight to Shanghai to check on facilities) and also be more ethical in terms of production line worker conditions. Puts them ahead of Apple, at least...

Enough said. Always been a fan of the bonkers commentary that Brian Sewell comes out with myself.

I am sure national governments will be really happy about storing their private/ secret data in another country's territory "because it's encrypted so it will be safe".

Would the US government network be happy about a Chinese commercial provider supplying their network provision on Chinese territory? without auditing the network? From the article: "Amazon had concerns over the stipulation that the UK government could audit US data centres" - Amazon were asking the UK government to store their data on another country's territory, and not even be given permission to check how the centres were secured? Not surprised the UK government weren't too keen on this deal.

I guess this is a case of the biggest guys slugging out for who has rights. Ouch, could be some collateral damage to bystanders! THERE IS ONLY ONE ARMY AND IT IS OUR ARMY!!!! COME AND HAVE A GO IF YOU DON'T AGREE! ooh could be nasty....

(actually to be fair probably the US are just arguing .army shouldn't be there as it's just too much trouble sorting out everybody wanting their army to have it...)

Feel a bit sorry for the folks in South America mind, 20 years time and maybe the amazon shipping company will be history while hopefully the river and its ecosystem will still be around for a while to come...

I would have thought that as big as US corporates can get, national governments can still throw more resources (people, money) at such a goal - so isn't it a different game? (commercial as opposed to govt. funded). And we know that governments have previously landed on the moon and will continue to do so (I'd expect India to also have further ambitions, perhaps Brazil, etc). So why reduce the money?

Got to get people to tune in to your channel, sell the newspapers. I was reading a BBC article where they noted "Filipino relatives were watching from home as they were concerned about the well being of their relatives and they understood the seriousness as the Philippines experience 20 typhoons a year". It's just exciting in the US as Cat1 storms hitting cities have novelty value. I guess some places in the world that probably only makes the local newspapers.

Probably more people die in traffic accidents each week in NYC than due to this storm, but I guess those don't make international news.

Agreed - three year olds aren't adults. To compare the two groups is foolish. Biologically, their brains are very different (I Am Not A Developmental Psychologist... but I work with some ;-) ) . To compare the two is comparing different biological structures.

Three year olds aren't "small adults with less life experience" - they are less developed and hence act and react to stimuli in different ways. This is why the vast majority of countries do not treat children the same as adults in terms of rights, responsibilities, and legal situations.

They may have the ability to appear to absorb more new knowledge - but they don't have the ability - at a biological level - to assess and act upon their new learning in the same way as adults.

Why this obsession with Columbus? he wasn't the first European in recent historical times to sail to America...

Well it wouldn't matter if you weren't texting while doing 70 on the highway! :-)

ok, I am sure the article is about the fonts on the dashboard or something like that but really, the number of drivers I see texting while they are rolling a ton of metal along at high speeds is ridiculous.