If you haven't seen it elsewhere:
I don't agree, fully, with Randi; but I think the problems are with the DCMA, and YouTube's policies because of it.
UPDATE:
This, from /., seems to illustrate my point very well. It also suggests, to me, that everyone who wrote to YouTube saying they demanded an explanation and an apology was right to do so- it keeps them on their toes and, hopefully, squeamish about the policy so that they might change it if the legal situation ever changes.
Read More...
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Great News!
From Bad Astronomy:
"Wow, I get wrapped up in my own personal world for a coupla days, and find out I almost missed this: the Iowa Supreme Court said that banning gay people from getting married is unconstitutional."
-or-
Displayed to EVERYONE...
Hidden, except for interested readers.
Read More...
"Wow, I get wrapped up in my own personal world for a coupla days, and find out I almost missed this: the Iowa Supreme Court said that banning gay people from getting married is unconstitutional."
-or-
Displayed to EVERYONE...
Hidden, except for interested readers.
Read More...
Dollhouse
If you had the ability to erase a persona, then with the clean slate, add whatever persona you could design- and you'd shown you could design almost anything- who would you not design?
Topher? Designed. The Watchers? Designed.
If it was me, everyone working at the dollhouse would be designed. Everyone would be wiped, at some point. There'd be wheels within wheels within wheels, as Frank Herbert might say.
Read More...
Topher? Designed. The Watchers? Designed.
If it was me, everyone working at the dollhouse would be designed. Everyone would be wiped, at some point. There'd be wheels within wheels within wheels, as Frank Herbert might say.
Read More...
Friday, April 03, 2009
SOUTHLAND
There's a new show coming out, in a week, on NBC. It's nothing new: cop drama, following various police officers operating various cases. Quick to start, then develops, camera quality goes back and forth between faux COPS and production grade. Sound effects are crap- witness the first shooting, where the guns all sound like something less than caps.
Anyway, the pilot is up on Hulu, a week before it airs on TV. Because an obvious ploy for no reason is as good as a ploy with a reason, I guess. (I suppose it's to get word of mouth spurred.)
Nothing unique about it. Multiple arcs, from episodic to multi-show: something to get new viewers and keep the old ones. A mix of personal and professional, with emphasis (understand it's only the first show) on the professional. A great ensemble cast, and a heavy smell of money, so expect to be hearing raves about it soon.
Seriously, nothing unique about it. A mix of things from a hundred cop drama TV Shows and Movies, already out there- the rich-boy rookie with the hardass vet partner (overcompensating for being gay), the empathetic black female detective (taking care of her elderly sick mother) with the not quite as good younger white male partner, the "Gang life is stupid, pointless, and harmful" angle (complete with "community testimony" and "community fear"), the misogynist with a female partner, the cop on his first marriage that's about to die surrounded by hardened divorcees...
Absolutely nothing to set it apart. It reinforces the idea that stereotypes and cliches are okay, so long as they're not negative. It's crap, throwaway, dressed-up reruns with better production values. If you've been hankering for a fix since NYPD Blue dropped off, you'll probably like this. If you're a fan of the cop drama genre, you'll probably like this. If you like anything that's good and interesting, and have a memory like a goldfish (so you don't place all the old tired bullshit), you'll probably like this. Otherwise, leave it to the fans, the idiots, and the young. (caveat: For now)
Read More...
Anyway, the pilot is up on Hulu, a week before it airs on TV. Because an obvious ploy for no reason is as good as a ploy with a reason, I guess. (I suppose it's to get word of mouth spurred.)
Nothing unique about it. Multiple arcs, from episodic to multi-show: something to get new viewers and keep the old ones. A mix of personal and professional, with emphasis (understand it's only the first show) on the professional. A great ensemble cast, and a heavy smell of money, so expect to be hearing raves about it soon.
Seriously, nothing unique about it. A mix of things from a hundred cop drama TV Shows and Movies, already out there- the rich-boy rookie with the hardass vet partner (overcompensating for being gay), the empathetic black female detective (taking care of her elderly sick mother) with the not quite as good younger white male partner, the "Gang life is stupid, pointless, and harmful" angle (complete with "community testimony" and "community fear"), the misogynist with a female partner, the cop on his first marriage that's about to die surrounded by hardened divorcees...
Absolutely nothing to set it apart. It reinforces the idea that stereotypes and cliches are okay, so long as they're not negative. It's crap, throwaway, dressed-up reruns with better production values. If you've been hankering for a fix since NYPD Blue dropped off, you'll probably like this. If you're a fan of the cop drama genre, you'll probably like this. If you like anything that's good and interesting, and have a memory like a goldfish (so you don't place all the old tired bullshit), you'll probably like this. Otherwise, leave it to the fans, the idiots, and the young. (caveat: For now)
Read More...
Thursday, April 02, 2009
A Load of Honor
Honor is such crap.
Honor doesn't work unless everyone follows the same "code".
Examples:
Person A believes it's not honorable to kill.
Person B believes it is honorable to kill those who don't think it's honorable to kill.
Person B kills Person A. From a game perspective, who "won" there, for all sets of "won" that include "continued to live"?
More real-life example:
Person A believes it is not honorable to steal.
Person B doesn't consider stealing to effect honor in any way.
Person B steals Person A's Thing.
Who "won"? Hint: It's not Person A.
For all sets of providing reasons to support an argument where one person suggests "honor" as a reason, that person is a fool. A self-righteous fool, at that.
Read More...
Honor doesn't work unless everyone follows the same "code".
Examples:
Person A believes it's not honorable to kill.
Person B believes it is honorable to kill those who don't think it's honorable to kill.
Person B kills Person A. From a game perspective, who "won" there, for all sets of "won" that include "continued to live"?
More real-life example:
Person A believes it is not honorable to steal.
Person B doesn't consider stealing to effect honor in any way.
Person B steals Person A's Thing.
Who "won"? Hint: It's not Person A.
For all sets of providing reasons to support an argument where one person suggests "honor" as a reason, that person is a fool. A self-righteous fool, at that.
Read More...
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Hate and the Art of Oppression
I learned hate. When I was a child, my mother always commented on how sweet I was; nothing unique about it, most mothers think their children are sweet- most children are, in my experience. In school, I was poor, geeky, gangly, unpopular, quiet, smart, and generally an outsider. The other children saw to it that I became intimately aware of my differences, my flaws, and my shortcomings. I was given to the wolves, and the wolves taught me rage, injustice, pain, and disgust.
This is not a unique story. Lord of the Flies, and countless other stories, songs, movies, books, and lessons, have taught us all that these are not instructions unknown to previous generations. If nothing else, we share with all other humans our indoctrination in violence and hate at the hands of one another.
Something about us seeks to defeat the different, conquer the unknown, whether it be by naming it, or killing it. There are lectures by Prof. Robert Sapolsky on the neurobiology of primate sexuality, where he talks about Composite faces. It turns out that the more individuals used to make a composite face, the more attractive the face is rated during testing. Sapolsky says we seek out others that are not so similar to us that they might be family, but not so different that they are of a different species. Our most basic instincts- to mate- are wired for "normal", "average", "sameness", why should anyone be surprised most aspects of our culture mimic that compulsive yearning?
Atheists scare people. They are seen as immoral, untrustworthy, degenerate, different, and unknowable. The majority of people in the world profess some religion- even some people that call themselves "Atheists" still speak of spirituality. The scared, mistrustful, masses react with aggression to those they see as fundamentally opposed to their "way of life".
Atheists make up as much as 12, or even 15, percent of the population (depending on how you define it and which surveys {like this or this} you look at). We are a part of this country, and we are not to be feared. Anyone who knows 10 people knows someone who would describe themselves as non-religious- whether they use a term like "Atheist", "Agnostic", "Secular", or something else.
Hate is a dangerous thing. It can be useful, spurring someone to do more than they might otherwise. Unfortunately, that can mean the difference between failure and accomplishment, or arguing and killing. Fear, biology, and tradition tell us to fear the invaders from over the hill- after all, they are who will come in the night to steal our mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, mules, and food. This fear, often without any conscious effort, easily turns into hate; hate we pass on to our children, who pass it on to their peers.
In 1984, the year Dan White was released from prison, there was a documentary about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold an elected position in the United States. That Documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk is current up at HULU. It is a staggering example of what can happen when people come together, despite their differences, and the tragedy one hateful person can inflict upon a community. It is a lesson, and a warning.
For Atheists out there, pay close attention to the speech Harvey Milk is giving after Proposition 6 is voted down (at roughly 47 minutes in).
[For those who couldn't hear it, what Jerry Brown says to President Carter is "Reagan already endorsed it, so I think it's safe."]
"A lot of people joined us and rejected Proposition 6, and now we owe them something. We owe them to continue the education campaign that took place. We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out. And, most importantly, most importantly, every gay person MUST come out!
"As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends- if indeed they are your friends. You must tell your neighbors. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in.
"And, once they realize that we are- indeed- their children, that we are- indeed- everywhere; Every Myth, Every Lie, Every Innuendo, will be destroyed once and for all. And once, once, you do, you will feel so much better!"
For Atheists and the non-religious, replace "gay"- in that speech- with the word you use to describe yourself.
Don't let the cycle continue, don't allow the fear and the hate to thrive- like they so readily do, in the darkness of secrecy: stand up and be counted. Singly we are but one or two, here or there; Together we are everyone, United we are everywhere.
I am a brother, an uncle, a son, an aspiring writer, and a person. My Name is Thomas Delaney Hand, I am an Atheist and a Skeptic.
Read More...
This is not a unique story. Lord of the Flies, and countless other stories, songs, movies, books, and lessons, have taught us all that these are not instructions unknown to previous generations. If nothing else, we share with all other humans our indoctrination in violence and hate at the hands of one another.
Something about us seeks to defeat the different, conquer the unknown, whether it be by naming it, or killing it. There are lectures by Prof. Robert Sapolsky on the neurobiology of primate sexuality, where he talks about Composite faces. It turns out that the more individuals used to make a composite face, the more attractive the face is rated during testing. Sapolsky says we seek out others that are not so similar to us that they might be family, but not so different that they are of a different species. Our most basic instincts- to mate- are wired for "normal", "average", "sameness", why should anyone be surprised most aspects of our culture mimic that compulsive yearning?
Atheists scare people. They are seen as immoral, untrustworthy, degenerate, different, and unknowable. The majority of people in the world profess some religion- even some people that call themselves "Atheists" still speak of spirituality. The scared, mistrustful, masses react with aggression to those they see as fundamentally opposed to their "way of life".
Atheists make up as much as 12, or even 15, percent of the population (depending on how you define it and which surveys {like this or this} you look at). We are a part of this country, and we are not to be feared. Anyone who knows 10 people knows someone who would describe themselves as non-religious- whether they use a term like "Atheist", "Agnostic", "Secular", or something else.
Hate is a dangerous thing. It can be useful, spurring someone to do more than they might otherwise. Unfortunately, that can mean the difference between failure and accomplishment, or arguing and killing. Fear, biology, and tradition tell us to fear the invaders from over the hill- after all, they are who will come in the night to steal our mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, mules, and food. This fear, often without any conscious effort, easily turns into hate; hate we pass on to our children, who pass it on to their peers.
In 1984, the year Dan White was released from prison, there was a documentary about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold an elected position in the United States. That Documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk is current up at HULU. It is a staggering example of what can happen when people come together, despite their differences, and the tragedy one hateful person can inflict upon a community. It is a lesson, and a warning.
For Atheists out there, pay close attention to the speech Harvey Milk is giving after Proposition 6 is voted down (at roughly 47 minutes in).
[For those who couldn't hear it, what Jerry Brown says to President Carter is "Reagan already endorsed it, so I think it's safe."]
"A lot of people joined us and rejected Proposition 6, and now we owe them something. We owe them to continue the education campaign that took place. We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out. And, most importantly, most importantly, every gay person MUST come out!
"As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends- if indeed they are your friends. You must tell your neighbors. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in.
"And, once they realize that we are- indeed- their children, that we are- indeed- everywhere; Every Myth, Every Lie, Every Innuendo, will be destroyed once and for all. And once, once, you do, you will feel so much better!"
For Atheists and the non-religious, replace "gay"- in that speech- with the word you use to describe yourself.
Don't let the cycle continue, don't allow the fear and the hate to thrive- like they so readily do, in the darkness of secrecy: stand up and be counted. Singly we are but one or two, here or there; Together we are everyone, United we are everywhere.
I am a brother, an uncle, a son, an aspiring writer, and a person. My Name is Thomas Delaney Hand, I am an Atheist and a Skeptic.
Read More...
Do Me A Favor
If you're tired of my rabid pro-Antitheist views (especially if you or someone you know is a creationist) take a look at this:
It's by a christian for christians.
Then go read the article where I first saw it: Bad Astronomy Blog
Read More...
It's by a christian for christians.
Then go read the article where I first saw it: Bad Astronomy Blog
Read More...
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