bridnour - Slashdot User

Comment Re:There Is Only ONE Case For Curbing Speech (Score 1) 194

by bridnour on Saturday November 23, 2019 @10:35AM (#59445804) Attached to: Sacha Baron Cohen Gave the Greatest Speech on Why Social Networks Need To Be Put On Check

Maybe I was the one in the bubble?

Perhaps we are all in bubbles. Perhaps of our own creation.

The support for the current American president hovers around 50%. If I recall correctly, this was about the same for the previous president.

This translates to:

In theory, this means that we should be intermingling with people with different viewpoints on the president.

In theory, this same statement on different viewpoints would apply to any given issue -- not just current presidential politics.

However, in reality, "the two sides" seem to rarely intermingle [peacefully]. They tend to congregate with like minded individuals. This will inevitably form bubbles in society.

I put "the two sides" in quotes, because for there are more than two positions for most issues -- even ones where it would seem that there would only be two positions.

OFF TOPIC: I like the forced preview that Slashdot has on comments. It makes proofreading easier.

Comment Re:There Is Only ONE Case For Curbing Speech (Score 1) 194

by bridnour on Friday November 22, 2019 @08:09PM (#59444634) Attached to: Sacha Baron Cohen Gave the Greatest Speech on Why Social Networks Need To Be Put On Check

Isn't that how the world of "Fahrenheit 451" arose? Different groups from across the political spectrum demanding censorship of "this or that" until "this or that" became "this and that" and the government ended up banning (and burning) everything.

ESA Releases Lutetia Flyby Images 48

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday July 11, 2010 @10:02AM from the pretty-pictures dept.

The European Space Agency has released images from yesterday's close approach of asteroid 21 Lutetia by the Rosetta probe. At its closest, the probe was a mere 3,162 km from the asteroid, passing at 15 km/s and snapping photos sharp enough to make out features as small as 60 meters. "Rosetta operated a full suite of sensors at the encounter, including remote sensing and in-situ measurements. Some of the payload of its Philae lander were also switched on. Together they looked for evidence of a highly tenuous atmosphere, magnetic effects, and studied the surface composition as well as the asteroid’s density. ... The flyby marks the attainment of one of Rosetta's main scientific objectives. The spacecraft will now continue to a 2014 rendezvous with its primary target, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will then accompany the comet for months, from near the orbit of Jupiter down to its closest approach to the Sun. In November 2014, Rosetta will release Philae to land on the comet nucleus." There is also a replay of the media event webcast on the ESA's website.

The Fruit Fly Drosophila Gets a New Name 136

Posted by timothy on Saturday April 10, 2010 @06:50AM from the hope-you-used-pencil dept.

G3ckoG33k writes "The name of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster will change to Sophophora melangaster. The reason is that scientists have by now discovered some 2,000 species of the genus and it is becoming unmanageably large. Unfortunately, the 'type species' (the reference point of the genus), Drosophila funebris, is rather unrelated to the D. melanogaster, and ends up in a distant part of the relationship tree. However, geneticists have, according to Google Scholar, more than 300,000 scientific articles describing innumerable aspects of the species, and will have to learn the new name as well as remember the old. As expected, the name change has created an emotional (and practical) stir all over media. While name changes are frequent in science, as they describe new knowledge about relationships between species, these changes rarely hit economically relevant species, and when they do, people get upset."

Canadian Blood Services Promotes Pseudoscience 219

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday December 01, 2009 @07:49PM from the type-A-negative-personality dept.

trianglecat writes "The not-for-profit agency Canadian Blood Services has a section of their website based on the Japanese cultural belief of ketsueki-gata, which claims that a person's blood group determines or predicts their personality type. Disappointing for a self-proclaimed 'science-based' organization. The Ottawa Skeptics, based in the nation's capital, appear to be taking some action."

Games Workshop Goes After Fan Site 174

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 01, 2009 @05:03AM from the don't-anger-your-base dept.

mark.leaman writes "BoingBoing has a recent post regarding Games Workshop's aggressive posturing against fan sites featuring derivative work of their game products. 'Game publisher and miniature manufacturer Games Workshop just sent a cease and desist letter to boardgamegeek.com, telling them to remove all fan-made players' aids. This includes scenarios, rules summaries, inventory manifests, scans to help replace worn pieces — many of these created for long out of print, well-loved games...' As a lifelong hobby gamer of table, board, card and miniature games, I view this as pure heresy. It made me reject the idea of buying any Games Workshop (read Warhammer) products for my son this Christmas. Their fate was sealed, in terms of my wallet, after I Googled their shenanigans. In 2007 they forbid Warhammer fan films, this year they shut down Vassal Modules, and a while back they went after retailers as well. What ever happened to fair use?"

Slashdot Top Deals