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Comment Re:Stallman For President (Score 0) 183

This is all off-topic but: You people don't understand affirmative action.

Affirmative action is supposed to eliminate "closet racism". In theory it should work well in a society where there is a visible racial/ethnic/gender bias which is not openly expressed and still discriminates "under the hood".

Its supposed to create a culture of (initially) fake equality where every person (no matter their race/gender/ethos) are shown to be capable of holding a certain position which would otherwise be unlikely to get to - not because they're not capable, but because they're being discriminated against.

When future generations will take look at the world they will see a lot of examples of all kinds of people holding all kinds of positions in society. Learning by seeing is much stronger than learning by "being told" - the second method being the most prevalent method of transferring "closet racism" to the next generation. Thereby, the previously "fake" equality becomes natural equality, eliminating the need for "affirmative action" and undoing past harsh discrimination.

Afterwards (in theory) you have a level playing field and no discrimination. From that point on employment based solely on qualifications is the next step.

Of course, whether this is still necessary or not is debatable.

Media

Tired of Flash? HTML5 Viewer For YouTube 372

An anonymous reader writes "Instead of spending the next 10 years trying to find a Flash implementation for Linux or OS X that doesn't drain CPU cycles like there's no tomorrow, NeoSmart Technologies has made an HTML5 viewer for YouTube videos. It loads YouTube videos in an HTML5 video container and streams (with skip/skim/pause/resume) against an MP4 resource, and an (optional) userscript file can update YouTube pages with the HTML5 viewer. The latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari are supported. Personally, I can't wait until the major video sites default to HTML5 and we can finally say goodbye to Flash."
Wii

Is There a Future For Mature Games On Wii? 186

digitalfever writes "There are more than 50 million Wii systems worldwide. Logically, the audience for a wide range of games and interactive experiences should be rather big, but based on the evidence so far, either that's not true — or publishers have been hedging the wrong bets. No one has conclusively proved the case for (or against) the viability of mature games on Wii, but 2009 was a litmus test on a number of fronts, including the DS. The results aren't encouraging. "
Google

Google Launches CADIE, the First True AI 246

eldavojohn writes "Google has announced CADIE, the world's first Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity. 'We based our work on three core principles. First we designed the entity ... as a collection of interconnected evolving agents. Second — and this really cost us an arm and leg in hardware and core time — we let the system build its own heuristics, deploy them as agents and evolve them by running a set of evolutionary cascades within probabilistic Bayesian domains. The third — a piece missing in most AI reasoning work thus far — was to give the entity access to a rich, realistic world from which to learn and upon which it could act directly.' It quickly started its own blog and YouTube video. Two hours after midnight, CADIE announced independence on its blog and decided to leave Google to venture out into the world. "
Input Devices

Nintendo Slapped With Wiimote Strap Lawsuit Once Again 356

GameCyteSean writes "GameCyte is reporting that a new class-action lawsuit has challenged Nintendo's Wiimote straps once more. Interestingly, the suit was filed by the same lawyer who led the original 2006 attempt, and now argues that Nintendo hid records of broken TVs from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. From the article: 'This doesn't seem like a spurious accusation, either. Attached to the court filing (PDF) as a matter of public record is the very evidence Nintendo allegedly tried to hide: actual, internal Nintendo documents (PDF) where customer service reps received complaints of cracked televisions and broken Wiimote straps — and the corresponding Monthly Reports that Nintendo was compelled to file with the CPSC as part of their agreement.'"

Comment What to do, pirate or not play at all (Score 0) 531

I'm not advocating, I am just thinking. There are two ways to send the message that you hate DRM trough "buyer action"

1) You refuse to buy or pirate (basically play) the game in any way
This sends the message that:
a) The game is crap
OR
b) The protection system (DRM) is unacceptable

2) You pirate the game
which sends the message
a) The DRM was actually needed, but it was not strong enough (we can squeeze out more buyers with stronger DRM)
XOR
b) DRM protection systems never work against piracy.

Now lets see the most likely scenario of advocating Message 1:

From a practical standpoint, at this stage message 1b is probably lost in noise because of its rarity. Message 1b is also not the full message - the full message includes the 2b part too.

Most people ignore advocacy of message 1 because they want to play the game anyway. Some of those will pirate the game, some will just put up with the DRM. Those that accept the message will probably not be in big enough numbers. Basically 1b will remain noise, because publishers just want to blame piracy.

On the other hand, the most likely scenario of advocating Message 2:

Many people already pirate games anyway, and contributing to their numbers increases the strength of the message. As a result the DRM schemes become even more restrictive and invasive. Bigger and bigger portion of the people that don't pirate the games can't bother to put up with the DRM crap. An increasing amount of people become aware of what DRM really is and how it complicates things for them (this is already happening). At some point the DRM becomes so invasive that the people that pirate games largely outnumber the people that actually buy games.

There will inevitably be a significant split in companies, the ones that decide to go ahead with stronger DRM measures, and the ones (possibly even new ones / raise of the Indie ones) that decide to drop (or just start without) DRM. IF this happens, Message 2a and 2b are fighting against each-other equally, trough market competition of companies, and very soon message 2b will win. IF this doesn't happen (all companies decide for stronger DRM), game companies will simply go out of business at some point.

Of course, this assumes that all DRM will be always broken (circumvented), which is a pretty good assumption to begin with...

Space

Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth 235

MaxwellEdison writes "Scientists have discovered evidence of magnetic portals connecting the Earth and the Sun every 8 minutes. 'Several speakers at the Workshop have outlined how FTEs form: On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun), Earth's magnetic field presses against the sun's magnetic field. Approximately every eight minutes, the two fields briefly merge or "reconnect," forming a portal through which particles can flow. The portal takes the form of a magnetic cylinder about as wide as Earth. The European Space Agency's fleet of four Cluster spacecraft and NASA's five THEMIS probes have flown through and surrounded these cylinders, measuring their dimensions and sensing the particles that shoot through.'"
Linux

Hardy Heron Making Linux Ready for the Masses? 1100

desmondhaynes writes "Is Linux ready for the masses? Is Linux really being targeted towards the 'casual computer user'? Computerworld thinks we're getting there, talking of Linux 'going mainstream 'with Ubuntu. 'If there is a single complaint that is laid at the feet of Linux time and time again, it's that the operating system is too complicated and arcane for casual computer users to tolerate. You can't ask newbies to install device drivers or recompile the kernel, naysayers argue. Of course, many of those criticisms date back to the bad old days, but Ubuntu, the user-friendly distribution sponsored by Mark Shuttleworth's Canonical Ltd., has made a mission out of dispelling such complaints entirely.'"
Programming

SFLC's Legal Guide On Free Software 59

An anonymous reader writes "Last week the Software Freedom Law Center published A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects. The primer, written for developers, has sections on copyrights, trademarks, patents, and organizational structure. Linux-Watch has reviewed the guide, saying 'I think any open-source developer or open-source group administrator must read this paper.'"

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