It's funny that I put forth a neutral point and even had a point of agreement, no angry replies and somehow managed to get rated troll. Amazing where slashdot has gone - here's to nostalgia and my final log-out. Cheers to anybody still around who actually contributes.

I'm personally not buying the whole "Global Warming" bit, and I felt Al Gore's film was based primarily on FUD and Guilt (there were parts such as the little "story" about his child... irrelevant) and known-massaged numbers. Before somebody jumps up and down and screams "denier" or some other goofy label - let's be clear that I think there is some "Global Climate Change" going on, which we may or may not contributing to. The evidence has been shown both ways, and honestly I'm having a REALLY hard time believing either side considering all the bogus political grandstanding they've both had. It's time to remove the vested interests and get some real science done to figure out if we're gonna cook, cool, or just have to do this thing we've been doing for a few thousand years called Adapt. That's my two hopefully unbiased cents.

Microsoft pulled this publicity stunt already with Singularity.

Guess where it went?

That's what I thought; moving on!

How about we use the same measures for executing animals for food as we do people for crime? Generally, the consensus is they should die (not here, we use prisons, so lets think to a few countries that support "humane execution"), but it is widely held they should not suffer.

If we use the same techniques on animals...? I'm no vegan or anything, I like my meats and fish, etc. As a grower of chickens, I also don't get that "product of animal" thing either that PETA freaks so much about. I *DO* agree, some eh... slaughter houses out there (literally) are cruel and without a care to how much the animal suffers, which I agree is wrong.

Back to worms though, really I don't see some harm in irradiating a few crawlers now and then for science. We've done some messed up things to chimps and people too (look up space flight and rocket chair respectively). In the end, the general consensus is and shall remain: it's good for science and our understanding of our world/universe.

Just a minor flaw with your reasoning: Not all anarchists are violent. That does NOT float a boat. There are plenty of people who just like to start trouble sadly.

"As a Canadian..."

Ya, I'll ditch the crap; that's fucking hilarious. Thank you for putting it into perspective. As a Canadian... I'm ashamed. This is just outright stupid.

Just to possibly point out a rather severe flaw, the mainline client doesn't have any kind of real "protection". No password, no "thumbdrive == key" setup, nothing. It's quite feasible.

If this is the "original vision", I think it should be clear why it never got completed. Gearbox took a design the CREATORS didn't like and used it.

The funniest part is definitely all of us imaging it could have been anything else. Sorry. The only way to do Duke is to hire REAL comedians at this point, and get Ken Silverman back into the team! (no, I don't give a DAMN if it's a raycaster engine, as long as it's True Duke Style).

The demo made me want to vomit. It literally lagged. This was their "final product"?! Fail. Look in the mirror when you jump, that says it all.

1 - software is taught AS mathematics. it can also be expressed AS mathematics (see Functional Programming). There is plenty of math that has nothing to do with nature. Do you know a mathematician? One of their favourite pastimes is making stuff up that "is neat". It doesn't have much to do with anything, other than to float the creator's boat. You still can't patent it.

2 - software is an artistic expression.

3 - software isn't a process, it's a series of expressions ACCELERATED by a computer. We just call it software cause it's a specialized case of math. you mistake biochem for quantum mechanics.

4 - physical is gears, ropes or chemicals. Electrons do not qualify as any of these things.

5 - They don't have time to "use its [sic] own judgment". Have you seen the latest report on the backlog?

6 - "they affect things that are part of the lives of the average Joe on the street" - anybody who writes any code. "But those Joes generally have no idea of the true issues at play" - neither do you. "less than ten in the last 20 years to my count" - learn to count. "copyrights & trademarks" - protect your stuff and leave the rest of us alone. we're hobbiests and open-source developers/users.

"FWIW, my 2c." - and that's going to be $20,000? Buy a programming textbook and get a real job in the field your profession loves to oppress in the name of big business.

That's my Toonie, eh?

Get real. What the hell does Republican/Democrat have to do with this? This isn't "call down your favourite party to hate", it's a discussion on PATENTS. Grow the fuck up.

copponex, grow the hell up. You sound like a gawdamn child.

Theaetetus, you're correct.

I'm not american, so don't even try that bull with me.

Instead of looking at this with that same crappy "algorithms and software are math" (apologies, but it hasn't worked before, and it certainly won't now (unless we maaaaybe reduce EVERYTHING to 100% pure mathematics)) view, let's start looking for new ways of explaining it to the masses - they don't get it. The fault is not entirely their own cause of their ignorance, we haven't properly educated them. What do you do when people don't get the idea in political situations?

Protest.
Civil Disobedience.
Lobbying.

I'm pretty sure if 1000+ hackers showed up on the doorstep of the whitehouse equipped with laptops running as much patent-violating software as they could possibly muster - that'd be a pretty good start. The only question is who has the gull to show up? Who has the balls to write that code? So far, the one thing the hacker community (and other code-centred groups yes) seems to lack is some kind of motivating factor. Perhaps, and this is just a thought, the right to code what we please?

I'm almost tempted to organize something of these lines myself, problem is I can already smell the -1 rating this is going to earn for "stating the obvious" or "trolling". Can't say I didn't try.

Keep an eye out later for empty clothing. If you're reading this, you weren't chosen. Sorry.

... who's calling the shots for the DHS. Being unsurprised, perhaps somebody can tell us all why this is a BadThing(TM) ?