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Comment research (Score 1) 27

America spends ten times as much on the military as education. If we just take a third of the Pentagon's budget and use it on better schools and pilot programs the whole world will thrive in 30 years when those children grow up into happier, smarter better prepared and more stable adults. Redirect even a portion to STEM initiatives, teacher development, and accessible learning, and we could spark breakthroughs in computing, energy, and biology, vaulting humanity into the stars.It would be better if the parents were involved, so we should throw a few billion there as well.

China's rise won't be stopped by military spending anyway. Better to accept Pax Sinica now when we can negotiate better terms and NOT blow the world into bloody dust for ten years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for capitulation, just giving up some pride and a war that will ultimately be ruinous for all involved. Half the military spending would be more than enough to keep existing commitments to allies and to keep America's shores free of Chinese transports.

Comment greed (Score 2) 68

These bitcoins will show the information for the last person who handled this bitcoin before it fell into the hands of the scammers. The only decent thing to do is look that up and return it. Some of it won't be possible but many honest men and women bought this bitcoin from exchanges where they gave their identities in the process.

Comment copyright should be about a single work (Score 5, Insightful) 56

Under a principled reading of copyright, a character's style or appearance should not be protected at all. The Constitution authorizes exclusivity only as a means "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts," not to fence off cultural building blocks. Characters are ideas clothed in minimal expression, and ideas are supposed to remain free. Extending it to style or appearance criminalizes inspiration and imitation, both vital to the creative progress.

There is also no need for copyright to protect style when trademark law already handles the commercial side. Trademark law exists to prevent consumer confusion about the source of goods or entertainment, not to police creativity. Copyright, by contrast, exists to encourage the creation of new works. Mixing the two systems produces the worst outcome: censorship of reinterpretation with no public benefit. By allowing registration of character depictions, Congress and the Copyright Office has quietly transformed the protection of expression into the protection of concept, eroding the barrier between idea and form that once defined the system's fairness. Forbidding others to write new versions of Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes stifles cultural dialogue. This kind of control limits creativity and weakens the public domain. Copyright law was meant to protect expression, not to freeze imagination. Limiting the reuse of character archetypes harms artistic development and public participation in culture.

If someone wishes to write about a wizard boy, a detective, or a talking mouse, they should be free to do so provided they do not mislead consumers through trademark misuse or copy the exact material. That balance preserves both artistic freedom and commercial clarity. Characters are part of the shared language of culture, and language must remain free for all.

Comment Re:What the hell? (Score 1) 23

A Hollywood producer buying an Israeli cyber-arms firm from a Luxembourg shell to sell zero-click exploits once blacklisted by Washington.You can almost hear the hum of obsolete servers in some rain-slick basement and the glow of a corporate logo reflected off a wet street. All we're missing is a burned-out hacker mumbling about "market forces" while patching code for a warlord's private AI and a former Ukrainian drone soldier hired out for his expertise. The strangest part is how banal it all feels. The cyberpunk future didn't crash through the window in chrome and fire, it took a call from Beverly Hills, filed with DECA, and quietly signed the paperwork.

Comment No measurable benefit? (Score 1) 38

The studies Iâ(TM)ve seen report little to no change in company profits after adopting the app. That is not the same as saying the technology adds nothing to the bottom line. In many cases, firms have reduced staff as expected with automation, while maintaining profit and production levels. Mathematically, that means output per remaining employee has increased, even if total profits havenâ(TM)t. The AI is improving efficiency, just not enough (yet) to create visible growth at the company level.

If the tech continues to advance, early adopters will already be positioned to benefit. And if it stagnates, trying it out still wonâ(TM)t cost much. Only if the ecosystem collapses and AI use cost grows enormously will this be a problem. Risk>Reward.

Comment Re:Irreversibly? (Score 4, Interesting) 77

It looks like the thing to do is use the farm as long as it's profitable, then leave them in place and build a new farm next to it. Nature builds on nature. A big patch of scrub can attract insects and tie down moisture and sand, which can make it stable enough for something bigger to grow, and so on. You're not going to get a jungle without more rain but you can shrink deserts and build habitats and diversity.

Comment Re:It’s the colors man. (Score 1) 84

Having your weapon a highly visible color has several advantages. In court it's proven if someone saw the gun: just ask "what color was it?" It's easier to find in the dark. It's easier for an adversary to see that you're armed. It has a slight tendency to combat a certain kind of person's irrational general fear of guns, in the courtroom and if you, God forbid, have to pull it out. You have a gun that's less escalatory and harder to lie about. In combat (and yes, guns are for stopping tyranny) it's a problem, but it's not all that hard to blacken a pink gun.

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