Vraiment Québécois
Posted by Ray @ 12:38 pmI know I’m a bit late with this news. But apparently the french-speaking province of Quebec is now a nation within Canada. Which reminds me of a story.
One of my friends visited Quebec, and when he first touched down the students he was staying with were nice enough to pick him up from the airport. As this was his first time on the Northern American continent, he commented: “I have set foot on Canada!”
The students looked at him with a mixture of horror, anger and offense. And they said “No, you are not in Canada. You are in Quebec.”
It remains to be seen whether history will be repeated, or if Canada and Quebec can finally get along.
Why are all the bad guys Australian?
Posted by Ray @ 10:52 pmIt’s a trend noticed since Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. The goblins are always Australian. Now I you’d probably tell me they’re New Zealand accents, but to my amateur ears the Australian accent and the New Zealand accent are indistinguishable, so I’m sorry.
The question struck me again as I was playing Final Fantasy XII. The bad-guy pilots minions all have Australian accents! Why? I know they used to be a British penal colony, but come on, that’s a really ridiculous reason to cast Australian voice actors as the baddies…
Heroes
Posted by Zeng @ 2:05 am
I (heart) Richard Dawkins
Posted by Ray @ 1:32 amIf only because his erudite wit tickles that part of my brain that longs for a time when being witty meant more than being a smartass.
Richard Dawkins is, of course, author of The God Delusion (a copy of which I will surely buy forthwith) and The Selfish Gene. The God Delusion lucidly challenges the very existence of God. If you can’t (or won’t) take the time to read it, at least take the time to watch these videos of him reading excerpts and answering questions about his hypotheses.
Part 1: Excerpts (37:20)
Part 2: Q&A (70:03)
The highlight is actually the Q&A, but you need to watch him reading his excerpts to understand why he gets so frustrated at some of the questions he gets. At that lecture was a large group of students from Liberty University (a Christian “university”, if you can call it that, actively teaching that dinosaur fossils are only ~5000 years old). When one student comes up to ask (paraphrasing):
“God is outside the universe, therefore he does not necessitate a beginning, unlike matter in the universe…”
Dawkins replies in utter disgust (again, paraphrasing):
“Well, that’s so easy, isn’t it? That defeats the whole purpose of attempting to have a rational discussion in the first place… if you’re convinced [that God exists] by that kind of thing, then you’re welcome.”
Way to go! Of course, theists will now happily proclaim that Dawkins lost to God. But that’s missing the point.
The point is not about who won or lost, the point is to have a rational discussion about God. Arguments like “God is not subject to reason” is not only insulting God and your religion, it is a cheap way to run away from rational discourse. Of course, God cannot be disproven with reason, a fact theists parade at every opportunity. And again, as Dawkins points out, theists miss the point: just because something cannot be disproven, does not make its existence likely.
I’d really love to see a debate between Richard Dawkins and Thio Li-Ann. From personal experience, I know Associate Professor Thio to be a very formidable intelligence. Make no mistake, that brain of hers will make mincemeat out of you. She also happens to be (and I know this only by reputation) a conservative Christian. That debate will be one to see.
And yes, I have watched that South Park episode. No comparisons, please.
Some closing thoughts.
(1) I’m not out to incite anti-religious sentiment. All I’m saying is we need rational discourse. Please don’t arrest me.
(2) I’m not out to sully anyone’s name in any manner. Please don’t sue me.
(3) I don’t agree with Dawkins’ methods. He’s as much a fundamentalist as fundamentalist religious folk are. He makes some excellent points, but I mislike proselytizing atheists just as much as I mislike proselytizing Christians. If a person is balanced and contributes to society and all, then why should we care whether that person is a Christian or Muslim or Hindu or anything else? Mr. Dawkins, you need some good lovin’.
Vatican might OK condoms for AIDS victims
Posted by Ray @ 10:54 pmIn an interesting turn of events, the Vatican might relax the rule against condoms when dealing with situations where AIDS is a big issue [link]. It seems the current Pope is more open minded than his predecessors, notwithstanding past… shall we say, mishaps (criticizing Islam, anyone?).
In an era where fundamentalism rears its ugly head all too often, it is nice to see a religion actively trying to deal with modern social and scientific issues. Kudos to catholicism for taking the time to entertain the possibility that what they are doing is not necessarily the best way of doing things.
Identity Crisis
Posted by Ray @ 2:27 am
Muhahahah. Die, PS3!
Posted by Ray @ 12:28 pmThese guys stand in line for a PS3, and then smash it to bits with a sledghammer.
In front of all the people in the line.
The look on their faces is priceless.
[NSFW language!]
Oh, Sony!
Posted by Ray @ 11:53 amIt seems every move you make, you betray my love for you…
First, you design the PS3 controller to look like a large vibrator…
Then you nuke it’s vibrating capabilities, in favour of copying Nintendo’s Wii-mote (incidentally bringing the old dual-shock design back)…
Then big companies desert your Blu-Ray standard…
Then you price your PS3 prohibitively high…
Then you have manufacturing shortages for the Blu-Ray laser diode…
And now, you tell me my PS1 and PS2 games may not play on the PS3!!
Sony, I don’t know how to say this, but I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I might break the PS2 out occasionally for some action, but only for old time’s sake. We’re strictly platonic friends now, Sony. It’s over.
Halo and Zelda sound nice…
Wireless leeching?
Posted by Ray @ 7:49 pmSo a 17-year-old gets caught for piggy-backing on somebody’s open wireless network. Predictably, the local blogosphere explodes, with opinions ranging from “omg the man is so stupid to leave his wireless open” to “that doesn’t make it right” to “let’s teach everyone to use WEP”.
Stop and breathe.
I want to say that we don’t have enough facts to decide the issue either way, and everything we say now is just speculation.
Would your opinion change if:
1) The teen used the wireless to download pornography?
2) The teen used the wireless to download extreme pornography with bittorrent 24/7?
3) The teen used the wireless to study?
4) The teen used the wireless to download copyright-protected songs and the man got charged with copyright infringement?
5) The man was a miserly ignoramus who did not want to pay a technician to set up his wireless network?
6) The man was an IT genius who still didn’t bother to secure his wireless?
7) The man was an IT genius who discovered that not all his computers would connect to his wireless network when WEP/WPA was enabled, because the router he shelled out hard money for had inexplicable incompatibilities with Windows / Linux / Apple / Unix?
8) The man fully intended for his wireless to be open for the convenience of his neighbours, but the teen abused it with heavy traffic use?
9) The teen’s computer connects automatically to any open network?
10) The man knows somebody is stealing his wireless, and only thinks it’s the teen?
There are obviously many many more questions to ask, and I haven’t even started on the technical issues. For instance, a MAC address is quite easy to spoof (Mac users, man ifconfig), and is quite an unreliable method of establishing identity. And anyone who administers their own home networks can attest to how difficult it is to get all your computers to behave. It is a huge pain to set up everything with security and firewalls, even for a professional, and sometimes it’s just not possible because of some silly hardware incompatibility the manufacturer neglected to mention.
Don’t use false analogies.
Many people have likened piggy-backing to theft. This results in arguments like “if you leave your iPod lying around you deserve to have it stolen”, and “if you leave your door open and I enter your house and leave, nothing was stolen, so boo to you”.
First off, if you were careless and your iPod was stolen, it is theft. If the thief was caught and brought to court, do you think he can use the defence of stupidity? “Your honour, the victim was a dumbass, please release me k thx” will not fly in a court of law.
Second, piggy-backing is not like theft, piggy-backing is like trespass. The very fact that somebody has encroached onto something that is yours without your permission is the wrong. It does not matter that no harm was done; you have a right to say “get the hell off my property”.
Look at the law.
As for me, my criticisms are directed towards the law on the matter. Following from the trespass argument, I’d tentatively venture to say that piggy-backing should not be a crime, but a tort. If Mr. Neighbour wants to sue you for trespassing on his wireless network, he is free to do so. As a defence, you should be able to say Mr. Neighbour was contributorily negligent in leaving his wireless open, especially in this day and age. [My tort is rusty; is there such a defence in trespass? Or does the defendant have to argue some sort of licence or estoppel defence? Input would be much appreciated - Ray.]
Sadly for us, that is not the case in Singapore.
S. 6(1)(a) of the Computer Misuse Act, the offence under which the teen has been charged, states:
“[A]ny person who knowingly… secures access without authority to any computer for the purpose of obtaining, directly or indirectly, any computer service… shall be guilty of an offence.”
Thus the teen’s only way out is to argue that, in leaving a wireless network open, Mr. Neighbour has implicitly “authorized” Garyl to use his network. The question then becomes: can authority be implied?
There are many judicial opinions that answer that question in the affirmative in the context of agency and copyright law. But in the end, again, it all depends on the facts. For example, if Mr. Neighbour knew piggy-backing was happening, but let it go on, there is probably implied authorization (and thus Garyl gets off). On the other hand, just leaving the wireless network “open” may not amount to authorization if Mr. Neighbour is IT-ignorant, only notices his internet is “slowing down” and calls his IT-savvy friend who tells him “Dude, you have a leecher”.
So to reiterate my opening points, we simply don’t have enough facts. So stop speculating, and let’s wait and see what happens.
(Citizens may want to look at S. 16 of the Computer Misuse Act. It says:
“Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person reasonably suspected of committing an offence under this Act.”
So basically, if mata thinks you’re stealing, you’re screwed.)
References:
Dark secrets
Balderdash
Iz Reloaded (makes a good point - educate people about security, damnit!)
Decay On Net
Tinker, Tailor
All Hail Skynet
Posted by Ray @ 3:03 amSamsung has made robotic machine-gun sentries!
It reads like something out of Splinter Cell or MGS. The thing is equipped with a day-time camera and an infrared camera for nocturnal pwnage. It even comes with a speaker so evil masterminds can play back diabolical laughter as the 5.5mm machine-gun cuts the good guys to bits.
The video is especially cool. Note the close grouping of the shots it fires, despite the target looking to be some 50+ metres away. Note the aura of coolness it exudes as it swivels on its sexy black base. Note the way it tracks targets.
Sexy.
State of Play IV - Singapore, Jan 7-9, 2007
Posted by Ray @ 4:55 pmThe website (via) is skimpy on details, but apparently it’s a conference to consider the future social, legal, political and educational implications of virtual worlds. But that’s not as important as the guest speaker list, which includes…
I don’t know how the IDA and NTU managed to get Mr Stephenson to show, but I suddenly want to attend. He is, of course, the author of the ridiculously, gloriously rich brain-food that is the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World). The Baroque Cycle is to other books what a Ramly Burger is to a puny McDonald’s cheeseburger.
It would be interesting to hear what he has to say.
Welcome to an Irony-Free Zone
Posted by Ray @ 2:34 am
Come on people, your cheese sticks are listed as “sides”, just as the fries and the onion rings are!
And yes, the young fellow at the counter really spaced out for a couple of seconds after I posed my question. Part of me admired him for trying to parse the sentence, even as another part of me watched in horrified fascination as the vacuous glaze descending over his eyes. You could almost hear the cogs creaking to a halt.
Alas! His valiant effort was for nought. In the end, he too, fell before the almighty “Cannot!”
