Comment Re:Introduced me to Slashdot (Score 1) 94
What matters is that the opinion be formed through rigorous reasoning, based on provable facts
What was that again? I suppose that you also expect people to read the articles before responding.
Comment What has been gained? (Score 4, Interesting) 347
Why are people so happy? The linked article merely states that the prosecution didn't demonstrate that they had the evidence that they said that they have. I thought that slashdot wanted a verdict of "They are doing everything that is claimed and that is okay because it is legal". Why would slashdot be interested in the competency of the prosecution?
Comment Re:Do not steal (Score 1) 164
I point out to you that the oldest traditional interpretations by a legal system of one of the ten commandments is that you shouldn't steal people. You respond by repeating your own logical arguments that unowned people can't be stolen. You can argue all you want that it shouldn't be classified as theft but to argue that it is impossible to be classified as theft is flying in the face of historical precedence.
Comment Re:Do not steal (Score 1) 164
That is actually somewhat debatable. While most societies considered the enslavement of foreigners, especially conquered people, to be normal, they considered the enslavement of their own to be a form of theft. One of the definitions of "Thou shall not steal" given in wikipedia is you shouldn't steal people.
Further, I would argue that kidnapping is the theft of people whether or not they are used as slave labor.
Comment Re:SME Server 8 (Score 1) 409
(I'm not going to link to any particular installations, because, well, slashdot has the capacity to swamp our entire nation's bandwidth.)
This post was worth reading just for this comment.
Submission + - Help building computer for visually-impaired kid?
a_red_man writes: My nephew is three years old, and was born with visual-impairments. He has already had several eye surgeries since he was born. Recently his parents learned that there is a possibility that his condition may be degenerative over time, which is a scary thing to hear. I'm hoping and praying that he does not lose all of his sight, and that this is NOT degenerative.
Cognitive testing places him mentally well above his age. I think he's aware that he doesn't see the world exactly the same as everyone else does, but he can see enough of it to know what's happening around him. He's always seen the world that way — so it's all he knows. He's smart, funny, inquisitive about the world, and a joy to be around!
Like many things in life, I have remained blissfully uninformed about dealing with visual impairment in children until it touched my own family. And, like many readers of Slashdot, I believe that technology can be a significant enabler.
I'm seeking advice on putting a computer together for him for educational purposes (reading/math/etc) and I don't know where to start. I'm working off of the assumption that his vision will not worsen, so I'm assuming he'll be able to see but at a level that counts as legally-blind. He can read letters and words in children's books, but has trouble reading words on a computer monitor unless they're very large. I know there are features and programs out there for people with visual-impairment, but I'm curious to see if anyone out there has had personal experience and can point me in the right direction (operating system, programs, existing vendors, etc?).
Cognitive testing places him mentally well above his age. I think he's aware that he doesn't see the world exactly the same as everyone else does, but he can see enough of it to know what's happening around him. He's always seen the world that way — so it's all he knows. He's smart, funny, inquisitive about the world, and a joy to be around!
Like many things in life, I have remained blissfully uninformed about dealing with visual impairment in children until it touched my own family. And, like many readers of Slashdot, I believe that technology can be a significant enabler.
I'm seeking advice on putting a computer together for him for educational purposes (reading/math/etc) and I don't know where to start. I'm working off of the assumption that his vision will not worsen, so I'm assuming he'll be able to see but at a level that counts as legally-blind. He can read letters and words in children's books, but has trouble reading words on a computer monitor unless they're very large. I know there are features and programs out there for people with visual-impairment, but I'm curious to see if anyone out there has had personal experience and can point me in the right direction (operating system, programs, existing vendors, etc?).
Submission + - Skype is down (skype.com)
WhyMeWorry writes: Skype has been intermittent all day. Naturally I thought that it was my problem, but I noticed that I have the problem at home and work. Finally, I found this link where skype admits that it is their problem. http://heartbeat.skype.com/2007/08/problems_with_s kype_login.html
