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China

Chinese Government Moves To Crack Down On Puns 156

Posted by timothy from the where's-the-pun-in-that? dept.
FreedomFirstThenPeac (1235064) writes "A story in The Guardian tells us that in an Orwellian move to legislate language, the Chinese government is attempting to stop the use of puns because they are disruptive and may lead to chaos (not the mathematical kind) and as such are unsuitable for use. However, Chinese is rife with puns, with this example quoted in the story: "When couples marry, people will give them dates and peanuts – a reference to the wish Zaosheng guizi or 'May you soon give birth to a son.' The word for dates is also zao and peanuts are huasheng." The powerful date and peanut lobbies are up in arms, claiming that such a ban will cost them more than peanuts. Their claim? "If you outlaw puns. Only criminals will have puns."
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Come Try Out Slashdot's New Design (In Beta) 1191

Posted by timothy from the we-show-you-tell dept.
Slashdot's biggest redesign effort ever is now in beta and you're invited to help guide it. This redesign has been shaped by feedback from community members over the past few months (a big thanks to those of you who participated in our alpha testing phase!), and we'd like your thoughts on it, too. This new design is meant to be richer but also simpler to use, while maintaining the spirit of what Slashdot is all about: News for Nerds. Stuff that matters. Read on for the details of what's included, or read this blog post. Update: 10/02 19:16 GMT by T : Since this post went live, we've been reading through the comments below as well as your (hundreds!) of emails. These are all valuable, as we continue to implement our current features into the Beta. Keep 'em coming; we love the feedback. Please keep in mind that this is called Beta for a reason; we've still folding in lots of improvements. One important thing to bear in mind is that the images are optional: check out the Classic mode by clicking on the view selection widget (just above the stories) on the Beta page.

Comment Re:Idiotic (Score 1) 333

I don't think the poster was referring to the idea of Hyperloop or FSR as idiotic. He's responding to TFA's proposed X-Prize style challenge. The idea of private entities competing for a prize by each building such a system is a bit much, given the political and private property issues involved. Random X-Prize team cannot invoke eminent domain to compete for a prize.

Comment Re:Meh.... (Score 1) 242

by Denogh (#44471701) Attached to: Peter Capaldi Unveiled As the New Star of <em>Doctor Who</em>

I don't love it, but I'll reserve judgment until I see it. I think I mostly don't like the fact that he's already appeared in the series as another character. Sure, Karen Gillan also appeared in a previous episode before becoming Amy Pond, but she was so heavily made up you wouldn't recognize her. They had Eve Myles play different characters, but at least they had a fun little nod to that fact. So maybe it's fine.

I guess I do like the fact that they're going with someone who will probably be darker and less goofy than Smith.

And let's not forget Freema Agyeman playing Martha's cousin a couple of episodes before coming on as Martha Jones.

Comment Re:Personal Responsibility? (Score 1) 578

by Denogh (#43761915) Attached to: Of 1000 Americans Polled, Most Would Ban Home Printing of Guns

The problem with printed firearms is that they're plastic. We have no means to detect them. They instantly obsolete our security infrastructure. You can walk onto an airplane with one. You could walk into a courtroom with one. You could walk into the White House, Congress, or the Supreme Court with one. That is a major problem..

People keep saying this. The Liberator uses a metal firing pin. Sure, you would walk into a courtroom with one. It wouldn't be a functional gun, but it would look like one.

Comment Re:Download Linux (Score 3, Informative) 224

by Denogh (#42986061) Attached to: Copyright Alert System To Launch Monday

Why would they bust you for downloading Linux?

I got a nasty letter from my ISP telling me "No peer-to-peer". I called them, and said "WTF guys? I download Linux distros and OpenOffice ISOs via torrent, all kinds of 100% legal and legitimate content." "We don't care. No peer-to-peer."

So I signed up for a VPN, of course.

I wonder if they also go after all the folks that are just trying to download the latest WoW patch. Seems like most MMORPGs these days use P2P updaters.

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