Category: Interesting Reads

Unenforceable “Child Internet Safety” bill proposed – likely to go nowhere

(via BoingBoing)

Here’s what happens when people who don’t understand the Internet write laws pertaining to the Internet.

Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Max Baucus, (D-MT) have proposed a bill that would require all commercial websites with material “harmful to minors” (in other words, sexually explicit content) to move to a .xxx domain within 6 months of this bill becoming law — or face civil penalties. Under the terms of the proposed law, the US Commerce Department secretary would be required to develop a domain name for adult sites (presumably .xxx) with ICANN.

For starters, the bill is very vague on what would fall under the “harmful to minors” category. The site from which I pulled this story, BoingBoing, gets censored by some Internet filtering software. Would the fact that BoingBoing has a link to Suicide Girls (a guaranteed not-safe-for-work site) cause BoingBoing to get moved to this adult sites domain? Who decides what is “harmful to minors” anyway?  BoingBoing is damn useful to me as a techie news site (among the other things posted there).  But sometimes, things intended for adults get posted there, as well.  So that means the site should be moved to a domain that I would almost assuredly be unavailable to me any place that has filtering?  Great.
And if that doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, then consider how many sites on the Internet are not in the US. This law would have no impact on those sites at all. How would whatever agency has to enforce this piece of garbage make http://www.ILikeSmallFurryRodents.com/ move to this new domain, when ILSFR.com is based in Lithuania?

Going beyond those problems, what about the whole idea of free speech in the US, anyway?  This bill isn’t targetting just things like kiddie-porn.  This bill would even hit legal stuff, that currently is protected as free speech.  You may not like it, but that doesn’t make it illegal.

As suggested by others who have read about this bill, why not make a domain that is specifically built for hosting child-friendly sites?  Even make an agency which is responsible for reviewing sites before granting approval.  Then, instead of forcing so many sites to move because someone, somewhere might feel something posted on those sites could potentially be harmful to minors, just give the option to kid-friendly sites to move to this new domain.  When parents want to let their kids on to the Internet, give them a specialized browser that can only access the kid-friendly domain.

Blocking adult content by segregating it to a specific domain is a certain setup for failure.  Every time someone posts a new site, they can put whatever they want.  To keep this bad law functioning, every day new sites would have to be monitored and squirreled off to the adults only domain.  And it still wouldn’t touch sites hosted outside the US.  By giving an option to host kid-friendly content on a different domain, it makes verifying appropriateness easier and makes building the whole kid-friendly ‘net better.  But law-makers don’t seem capable of much logical thought, so something smart like this is unlikely to happen.

Safe pr0n surfing

(via BoingBoing)

Something that will be of use for either of my regular readers, I’m sure.  No, it’s not a tutorial on surfing pr0n at work.  It is a guide on how to avoid some of the problems that can pop up when surfing adult sites.

I list the bad things that porn (and travel and pharmaceutical) sites do, things you can do to avoid them, how to clean up your computer when you’re done, and I offer basic tips on foiling stalkers and sites that cache your history. Not to mention basics, like not using your real name in fetish forums and marking your Amazon wishlist as private, should you decide to stash some sexy books for later that you don’t want *just anyone* to see.

[tags]Pr0n, porn, safe surfing[/tags]

42 Questions with Flagship Studios on Hellgate

(via Kotaku)

I’ve been watching Hellgate ever since reading about it last year. From some of the folks who did Diablo, it looks to be a really cool game. If you want to read an in-depth interview about the game, hit this 42 Question interview at Hellgate guru. Also, view the original thread from which this interview was put together.

4. Is there any sort of character evolution aside from the base concept of getting ph4t l3wt?

You thinking story-wise? If so, then not really. Players take on the role of character that partakes in a developing storyline, but aside from becoming an ultra powerful champion, that character will not really develop and have a mysterious back story of his or her own.

Ahhh, good. We get to stick to the action side here. I like that. Doesn’t sound like there will be too much story getting in the way. Sometimes, that’s what I want in a game, don’t you?

11. Will there be a hardcore mode?

Yes, there will be. That, at least, I can say.

This is a bleh feature to me, but I know a lot of gamers who like hardcore mode. Die, and that character is gone. I don’t have the time to get that good at the game, though.

Hit the interview and read all the questions – just like the answer to the ultimate question of the universe, there are 42.

[tags]Hellgate, Flagship Studios, gaming[/tags]

Bioware to build an MMO?

(via Joystiq)

Gamebanshee has an article up with some details on Bioware’s opening of a development office in Austin, Texas.  Word is the folks there will be working on a new massively multiplayer game (MMO).

BioWare Austin Has Already Begun Work On A Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) title; the new game will mark BioWare’s debut in the Massively Multiplayer Online space. BioWare has recruited some of the top talent in MMO and RPG development, both to manage the development efforts at BioWare Austin and to collaborate with the experienced team at BioWare Edmonton, to develop a game that combines the best of BioWare’s great past games with a compelling persistent online experience. Joining the Austin team as lead designer is James Ohlen, BioWare’s Creative Director, whose previous credits include lead or co -lead design roles on Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic(.TM), Neverwinter Nights(.TM), Baldur’s Gate(.TM) and Baldur’s Gate II(.TM). Also leading the BWA team are MMO veterans Richard Vogel and Gordon Walton. Richard Vogel Brings 15 years of experience to BioWare Austin, previously serving as VP of Product Development for Sony Online Entertainment’s Austin studio, as well as launching Ultima Online(.TM) as a senior producer at Origin. Gordon Walton Recently Served As VP, studio manager and executive producer at Sony Online Entertainment as well as VP and Executive Producer at Electronic Arts.

If you don’t recognize those names, just let me assure you that’s some big-name talent coming in to the office.  Guess I’ll have another MMO to get in to once I tire of City of Heroes.

[tags]MMO, Bioware, Austin[/tags]

Prepare yourself for Oblivion

(via Gamers with Jobs via Dubious Quality)

Read the entire collection of texts from Morrowind.  This is just the kind of thing you need to remind yourself everything about the history of The Elder Scrolls world.  If you’ve played the game, you probably remember how many books there are in the Morrowind world, and how much reading you can do outside of things directly related to advancing the story.  The designers at Bethesda seem to put a lot of effort into fleshing out their world.  Please don’t let it go to waste.  Head to gamesource and catch up on all the Morrowind reading you missed the first time.

[tags]Gaming, Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls, Oblivion[/tags]

House passes bill to annul states’ laws on food warnings

(via The Consumerist)

Well, it seems the federal government doesn’t want the states requiring companies to let you know what’s in the products you buy.

WASHINGTON – Legislation that could void hundreds of food-safety warnings in California and other states passed the House yesterday after heated debate.

The National Uniformity for Food Act, long sought by the food industry, would prohibit states from having food-contamination standards and warning labels that are stricter than federal requirements. Exemptions could be granted if the Food and Drug Administration determines they are needed and they “would not unduly burden interstate commerce.”

California, with its toughest-in-the-nation food-safety requirements, is a primary target of the legislation. Proposition 65, approved 20 years ago, requires warnings about chemicals that cause “cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.” California also has filed lawsuits seeking an array of warnings, including on the mercury content of canned tuna and the presence of lead in Mexican candy.

Read the full article for more details.  It is much longer than what I’ve highlighted.  Another snip that’s interesting:

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton, noted the bill’s supporters have personal ties to food-industry lobbyists.

“This is not about consumers. This is about special interests,” Eshoo said.

The food industry fought back with letters of its own and ads in publications widely read on Capitol Hill.

Joy Philippi, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said the legislation “will give consumers even more confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply.”

I don’t think Joy understands what inspires confidence.  The Jungle is a horrid book, but it does highlight the problems with the food industry when not regulated well.  And we’ve seen the federal government indicate a wish to relax food labelling requirements and inspection practices in recent history.  Let’s not allow food manufacturers to provide us less information on what we’re eating.

Notice that this allows the federal government to restrict states that want you, the consumer, to know what you are buying. I thought conservatives were supposed to shrink the government.

[tags]FDA, Food labeling[/tags]

Why Microsoft backs HD-DVD

(via Kotaku)

I know I often link to other stories and mention that the article is interesting or well written, or something like that.  The article mentioned below is interesting, well written, and certainly thought-provoking.  At least, it is to me.  I’m no fan of Microsoft, but folks at Microsoft do understand things better than people give them credit, quite often.  This article at Gamerscore blog has some information from an interview with Microsoft’s HD DVD drive developers.

From the Gamerscore blog article:

I found out a few interesting things on why we’re so confident of HD DVD:

Price. One company out there has a $1,800 Beta-ray player (no release date) – one that doesn’t even play CDs! For 1,800, you could get a $500 Toshiba player, and about 40 HD movies.

Industry support: Looks like the pendulum is swinging back in HD-DVD’s favor.  As an analyst quoted in the article says:  “It’s only a matter of time before people start backing out of the Blu-ray camp.”  If that’s the case, it might be because of. . .

Beta-ray’s own difficulties:  Microsoft had serious doubts around the technical feasibility and pricing of Beta-ray for some time and our fears now seem well founded. Sony is hinting PS3 will be delayed because of Beta-ray, and that’s with Sony driving the Beta-ray standards. If even Sony can’t get it to work right, it raises lots of questions.  A little reported fact (and one that the New York Times was confused about) is that the first Beta-ray discs will actually hold less: only 25GB compared to HD DVD’s 30GB.  That means less room for high definition extras and interactive features, which HD DVD says they fully intend to support.

So there you have it. A few more reasons why HD DVD is poised to win.

We’ll see what Sony has to say about this.  Actually, I expect Sony to say nothing.  But we’ll find out very soon if there is any truth to this, as Sony is just about out of time on meeting a spring launch.  We’ll have to hear some details soon if the PS3 really is going to launch in the spring.

[tags]HD DVD, PS3, Microsoft, Blu-Ray[/tags]

Wil Wheaton: Don’t watch cable news with a fever

This is a few days old, but I enjoyed this post by Wil Wheaton so much, I just had to link to it.  I’ll go ahead and quote the part that particularly made me pay attention to the post:

This means that I’ve done a ton of reading today, and I’ve subjected myself to a few hours of CNN. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. No wonder so many Americans are misinformed, if they are getting their information from cable news. These douchebags do everything they can to create controversy where there is none, and they don’t even try to hide it.

Example: Wolf Blitzer, on The Situation Room (which is only watchable because of Jack Cafferty), just teased a segment on Jon Stewart thusly: “He says it will be the most controversial Academy Awards, ever . . .”

Read on for the reality of what Jon Stewart actually said.

[tags]Wil Wheaton, CNN[/tags]

Bad design frustrates users

(via Tingilinde)

I’ve link to Joel on design before because he has good things to say about bad design. I’ve got some hands on experience with a TVisto playback device that seems to have a bad user interface that I’ll write about later (I want to work more with it before I declare definitively that the interface is bad). Yesterday, news.com ran an article about the problems many people have using modern gadgets with poor design problems.

Half of all malfunctioning products returned to stores by consumers are in full working order, but customers can’t figure out how to operate the devices, a researcher said on Monday.

. . .

The average consumer in the United States will struggle for 20 minutes to get a device working before giving up, the study found.

[tags]Product design, gadgets[/tags]

Experience with socialized medicine

One of the editors over at The Consumerist writes some about his experience with socialized medicine.  The article is in response to an article about California’s plan to institute socialized medicine.  In the end, he seems to prefer paying more for medicine in exchange for better care.  I have no experience with socialized medicine, but folks I know who have had socialized and privatized medicine have all preferred privatized.

I’m torn on this. Ireland has socialized medicine, and it sucks. When I first moved to Dublin, I took my Yamaha Superscooter out for a rush-hour drive and took a spill off it going around 55, breaking both my arms and one of my legs. Luckily, I was right around the corner from the hospital, so I got up from the mangled wreck of my bike, flagged down a taxi, and had him bring me here. When I got to the emergency ward, a scrolling sign chipperly announced that average waiting time was 8 hours. It was 9am on a Tuesday morning.

. . .

The bottom line is that money talks. Whether we’re talking about health care, cars or cellular phone coverage, you get better service the more money you pay. When no one’s paying any money, you as an individual become a statistic and receive the base minimum of care, competence and attention to maintain the aggregate. So making private health care out-and-out illegal seems like a disastrous move for the consumers of health care.

[tags]Socialized medicine[/tags]

Network discrimination simplified

Here’s a simplified write-up by Ed Felton on the topic of network discrimination.  I think this helps non-techies see why there would be a problem with the two-tiered internet so many big companies (baby bells, cable internet providers) want and why it would be bad for consumers.

Focus now on a single router. It has several incoming links on which packets arrive, and several outgoing links on which it can send packets. When a packet shows up on an incoming link, the router will figure out (by methods I won’t describe here) on which outgoing link the packet should be forwarded. If that outgoing link is free, the packet can be sent out on it immediately. But if the outgoing link is busy transmitting another packet, the newly arrived packet will have to wait — it will be “buffered” in the router’s memory, waiting its turn until the outgoing link is free.

Buffering lets the router deal with temporary surges in traffic. But if packets keep showing up faster than they can be sent out on some outgoing link, the number of buffered packets will grow and grow, and eventually the router will run out of buffer memory.

At that point, if one more packet shows up, the router has no choice but to discard a packet. It can discard the newly arriving packet, or it can make room for the new packet by discarding something else. But something has to be discarded.

Read the full article for a description of how this works out when considering high-priority versus low-priority traffic.

[tags]Network discrimination[/tags]

Bad buckyball! Baaaaad!

It turns out buckyballs might be toxic.  That’s might be toxic, in the same way that oxygen might be necessary to live.

Scientists already realized buckyballs could be toxic. Studies at Duke University in 2004 showed that when buckyballs were introduced to laboratory aquariums they damaged the brains of largemouth bass and may also have prevented certain water-borne bacteria from reproducing.

Until then scientists had theorized that the strong attraction that buckyballs have for each other would cause the molecules to clump together and safely sink to the bottom of any body of water, be it a test aquarium or a lake.

. . .

The buckyballs break apart vital hydrogen bonds within the DNA molecule’s double helix and they can stick to grooves on DNA’s surface, causing the molecule to bend. Not only do the buckyballs damage the DNA, Cummings says, they cripple its ability to heal.

“The buckyballs insert themselves in a way that prevents the DNA from self-repairing,” Cummings told LiveScience. The buckyball actually forces a piece of nucleotide from one of the DNA’s double helixes and takes its place, preventing the strands from reuniting.

Ouch.  That sounds bad.  And I’m sure someone will bring up Michael Crichton’s novel Prey, but this isn’t quite the same thing. That book was about nano-particle entities that were bad as a cooperating system, while this article is about a specific nano-particle that happens to be very bad all on it’s own.

[tags]Buckyballs, nano-particles[/tags]