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Leonard Nimoy Dies At 83 411

Esther Schindler writes: According to the NY Times, Leonard Nimoy died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He was 83 years old. He was, and always shall be, our friend. From the article: His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Mr. Nimoy announced last year that he had the disease, which he attributed to years of smoking, a habit he had given up three decades earlier. He had been hospitalized earlier in the week. His artistic pursuits — poetry, photography and music in addition to acting — ranged far beyond the United Federation of Planets, but it was as Mr. Spock that Mr. Nimoy became a folk hero, bringing to life one of the most indelible characters of the last half century: a cerebral, unflappable, pointy-eared Vulcan with a signature salute and blessing: “Live long and prosper” (from the Vulcan “Dif-tor heh smusma”).
Censorship

Google Knocks Explicit Adult Content On Blogger From Public View 285

Ellie K writes As of 23 March 2015, Google will remove blogs on its Blogger platform that don't conform to its new anti-adult policies. This is an abrupt reversal of policy. Until today, Google allowed "images or videos that contain nudity or sexual activity," and stated that "Censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression." The linked article quotes the message which has been sent to Blogger users thus: (...) In the coming weeks, we'll no longer allow blogs that contain sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video. We'll still allow nudity presented in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts, or presented where there are other substantial benefits to the public from not taking action on the content. The new policy will go into effect on the 23rd of March 2015. After this policy goes into effect, Google will restrict access to any blog identified as being in violation of our revised policy. No content will be deleted, but only blog authors and those with whom they have expressly shared the blog will be able to see the content we've made private.
Robotics

Only Twice Have Nations Banned a Weapon Before It Was Used; They May Do It Again 318

Lasrick writes: Seth Baum reports on international efforts to ban 'killer robots' before they are used. China, Israel, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are apparently developing precursor technology. "Fully autonomous weapons are not unambiguously bad. They can reduce burdens on soldiers. Already, military robots are saving many service members' lives, for example by neutralizing improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan and Iraq. The more capabilities military robots have, the more they can keep soldiers from harm. They may also be able to complete missions that soldiers and non-autonomous weapons cannot." But Baum, who founded the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute, goes on to outline the potential downsides, and there are quite a few.

Comment credibility? (Score 0) 267

The irony is that the kind of people who post comments on articles on web sites tend to be the least qualified to do so. By commenting on a news article, you are acknowledging that you have nothing more constructive to do with your time, and that you aren't satisfied with the attention that you get from the people around you. The level of hateful and ignorant bile in most news sites' comment sections is so great that anyone who would stoop to adding to them must be kinda sad and desperate.

And yes, I am completely aware that my comments here contain a full day's supply of irony.

https://twitter.com/avoidcomme...

Comment I have two kids on the spectrum. It depends. (Score 1) 289

I have two children with it, and they're at different points in the spectrum. One is closer to "normal." He doesn't grasp social constructs, but if they are explained, he'll happily follow them. So if you fall down a flight of stairs, he will watch, then say "I'm so sorry, can I go get help?" because we've taught him "That person could be hurt. You should check on them and offer help." The other is further out there. She neither grasps constructs nor cares about them. She would laugh about you falling down the stairs because it looked funny to her. If asked if she thinks it hurts, she would probably say "I don't know, and you should ask her." For the first one, these therapies are HUGELY helpful. If taught carefully the rules of society, he'll follow them to the letter, and be happy doing it. For the second one, these therapies are very moderately helpful in curbing the worst behaviors. So, it depends.

Comment Re:Not just Linux (Score 2) 716

Is there really any one person – even Theo de Raadt – who is personally familiar with the entirety of OpenBSD? And even if there are such people, isn't that more a reflection of the fact that it's fundamentally still Ye Olde BSD (which was tightly focused and built-to-purpose), and not a modern general-purpose OS?

Comment Re:Do they have any authority to do that? (Score 3, Interesting) 168

It's a "solution" that only a libertarian would think is workable. Instead of enforceable government regulation, it's a voluntary opt-in system run by a private entity, which will work because all people are "rational actors" who will see that their self-interest is served by it. Or something.

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