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Comment Re: Wrong side of common sense (Score 1) 166

Well I don't know, I am not a lawyer. I know that there ARE laws that penalize malicious code, like the Computer Fraud and Abuse act, and that there is a legal concept of "protestware" that draws a distinction between a bug that causes data loss and intentional sabotage. And there are also license terms that disavow responsibility for any damages that may or may not hold up if intentional sabotage is established.

But all of this is outside of my domain. I was speaking generally, that there are laws against malicious software writing/distribution in general.

Based on what I read of this story, it sure sounds like intentional sabotage to me. An instruction to an AI that orders it to destroy data sounds like a "weaponized prompt" to me. It's one thing to say "this software might have bugs or not even work at all, and those bugs might cause harm, so that's your risk to take." It is quite another to deliberately code malicious prompts as a trap with the intent of harming those who fall into it. I don't think someone can do that and say "well my hands are clean because I said you use this software at your own risk." Even if the law is gray in this area because AI is new and emerging, the social principle here is pretty clear.

Comment Re:I'm just not interested in more Star Wars (Score 3, Interesting) 91

The original star wars movies had many elements that drew in audiences at the time, including a plot about a mystical force that was guiding a new hero on a path to save the galaxy from overwhelmingly oppressive tyranny. The events were significant and the family-tie shockers injected some drama and so they were good.

But "Star Wars: The Last Flop" lost the thread. Instead of a plot that was even more epic and had even more galactic significance, it just doubled-down on the family drama and kind of lumbered around, getting us nowhere new. There was plenty more to dislike in terms of how they ruined character arks and pushed a political agenda that did not sit well with much of the audience.

Ever since then, the franchise has been sliding downhill. I read summaries of the other movies and shows and they all sounded equivalently vapid. I think I am not alone in this opinion.

Comment Re: Wrong side of common sense (Score 1) 166

It is true that people should vet the code they use. But this truth does not give coders license to code malicious Trojans into their offerings.

How would you feel if your grocery store deliberately put poison into the food and then after you got sick said that it is your responsibility to test all the food you buy?

Comment Your logic is flawed. (Score 2, Interesting) 116

"Omnivore" doesn't mean "you MUST eat a little bit of everything." It means "you CAN eat a huge variety of things."

Some meats, like red meat, have been shown to cause colon cancer. We didn't evolve out of that.

Our evolutionary strategy has largely been "eat whatever we can get our hands on, and get as much nutrition out of it as we can." There was never some magical perfect diet that kept us perfectly healthy. There was always just a set of complex needs that our bodies have, and a set of plants/animals available, and we just did what we could. So, many forms of food are both healthy and unhealthy for us, at the same time, in different ways.

Contrary to propaganda from the meat and dairy industry, it is totally possible to thrive on a vegan diet. Some people will have an easier time of this than others, because details about metabolism vary widely based on a person's genetics. One nutrient in particular, B12, causes a lot of confusion. That's one that our body must receive directly, we cannot synthesize it ourselves. Our most readily-available food source of it is animals, but not because those animals synthesize it in their bodies...but rather....because they eat dirt-covered food right off the ground (or consume food along with the river/sea water that surrounds it). B12, you see, is exclusively made by a family of microorganisms, and everything that needs it ultimately gets it from that source (sometimes by means of intermediaries). Supplemental B12 is not some chemically synthesized frankenfood....it is just harvested straight from colonies of microorganisms that produce it. So, strict vegans are going to need to take a supplement for that (or....eat home-grown carrots straight from their yard without washing them first).

Beyond that, our bodies are really good at extracting the nutrients they need from plants. Plants also provide phytochemicals (which meats do not), so they are useful to us above-and-beyond whatever meat we might eat.

Comment Re:Maybe the world we made is a bit shit (Score 3, Insightful) 116

So wait, are you proposing that we should pass laws that make highly-desired food illegal because too much of it is bad for a person?

If that is truly what you mean, then you aren't actually criticizing "Capitalism" so much as "personal freedom."

Why shouldn't people be free to live an unhealthy lifestyle, and accept the consequences?

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