http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130518/17573523139/funniestmost-insightful-comments-week-techdirt.shtml#c8 Sun, 19 May 2013 14:40:15 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130518/17573523139/funniestmost-insightful-comments-week-techdirt.shtml#c8 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130224/22430522090/non-profit-responds-to-threatened-lawsuit-ferrari-remaking-video-to-hide-ferrari.shtml#c545 Sun, 19 May 2013 14:21:29 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130224/22430522090/non-profit-responds-to-threatened-lawsuit-ferrari-remaking-video-to-hide-ferrari.shtml#c545 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/10535223120/indian-publishing-firm-cant-take-little-criticism-threatens-blogger-with-1-billion-lawsuit-criminal-charges.shtml#c220 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:53:23 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/10535223120/indian-publishing-firm-cant-take-little-criticism-threatens-blogger-with-1-billion-lawsuit-criminal-charges.shtml#c220 In India, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act makes it illegal to use a computer to publish "any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character" or to publish false information.

"Execute Order 66."]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c815 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:50:57 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c815
What this amounts to is that robots will take over the world by coming round and doing our housework for us.

This is only a threat because we haven't figured out how to hand out the pocket money fairly when we aren't doing the chores.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c792 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:48:20 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c792
The machine we created solves the optimisation problem - but we still decide what the problem is.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c776 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:45:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c776
The point is that we don't really know what intelligence is. We set up a problem - only to discover that the problem is susceptible to a brute force approach.

Actually Chess is solvable in principle simply with the rules of the game, a simple tree search algorithm and a sufficiently powerful computer. In the end that was the approach that prevailed. Attempts to play chess the way humans play the game proved to be futile.

Unfortunately good chess playing programs are poor opponents from the entertainment point of view - but the internet solved that problem by making human opponents more available!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/16203623112/nintendo-exchanges-goodwill-control-issues-mass-monetization-claims-lets-play-videos.shtml#c334 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:33:27 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/16203623112/nintendo-exchanges-goodwill-control-issues-mass-monetization-claims-lets-play-videos.shtml#c334 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c718 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:13:44 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c718
There's a difference between bravery and not understanding the threats you face]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c764 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:13:34 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c764 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130518/17573523139/funniestmost-insightful-comments-week-techdirt.shtml#c6 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:12:36 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130518/17573523139/funniestmost-insightful-comments-week-techdirt.shtml#c6
I finally made it on the list! XD]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c741 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:11:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c741 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c705 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:08:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c705 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c691 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:06:54 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c691 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3739 Sun, 19 May 2013 12:46:43 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3739 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3723 Sun, 19 May 2013 12:45:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3723 "...glorifies acts tha everyone on the planet rejects". Everyone on the planet? Really? What did you do, take a poll? If so, you never asked me.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c718 Sun, 19 May 2013 12:30:35 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c718
I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlord job takers (mainly because I'm one them's that are programming and selling them to a job near you).]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c689 Sun, 19 May 2013 12:00:54 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c689 Can I have your mirrors, since you're clearly not using them?

There is a difference between using them and being useful. Vampires just can't see themselves in the mirrors, but can detect victims via seeing reflections and their ability to fog them.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3722 Sun, 19 May 2013 11:56:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3722 As for the parade, I didn't say that that particular one was the one where they were sodomizing in public.

I've yet to see a gay or altsex public event in which there was open sexual contact (more than PDAs typical of amorous het couples in springtime), not during the pride parade, not during the (now extinct) Castro Halloween spectacular, and not even at the Folsom Street Fair where one would hope for such wonton displays.

Do tell of these wild parties where sex in the streets is tolerated and accepted. Please be specific; inquiring minds want to know!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3712 Sun, 19 May 2013 11:44:03 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3712 If there really were no such thing then how could anyone ever draw the line and decide that something is offensive? You're not making any sense.

The problem with moral absolutism is there is no single verifiable source for morality. Sure, Christians claim the bible, but then there are 40,000 (or more!) interpretations of what within the bible is considered a moral decree and what is an allegory, or what is outdated (the less popular dicta within the bible includes proscriptions as trivial as mixed-thread fabrics, and demands as heinous as racial genocide).

Then there's the matter that there are numerous other sources of authority (e.g. the Koran, the Book of Mormon) that command an equal level of authority and yet conflict with the bible. Which do we trust, and why? No, better that we consider all actions critically whether or not engaging in them violates the rights of anyone else.

(And no, there isn't a right to be not offended. We can look to the segregation era when people were offended by the presence of non-whites, or the 20th century when Jews hidden in the midst of the populace was cause to take offense. The cost of living in a pluralistic society is having to tolerate all the weird people. And I suspect you are weirder to me than I am to you.)

There are universal mores within human civilization due to those that are instinctive to us (e.g. reciprocity, loyalty to friends, et. al.) but even some of those are non-conducive to nations large enough for technological advancement (unquestioning obedience to authority, standards of conformity, small group elitism).

Generally, when something is offensive, it's personally offensive. There may even be specifics that are popular, but that doesn't mean such an act or such a person should be criminalized. There needs to be a practical reason before a particular behavior is deemed wrong.

Consider, for example, that anal sex is not the most extreme of sexual acts (nor is it confined to gay relationships). I may find (say) play piercings or scat play objectionable, but even if I convince a million others that it's not right, that doesn't mean I should deny those people who engage in such practices their right to participate.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c709 Sun, 19 May 2013 11:42:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c709 Here.]]>