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Someone thinks I look like an androgynous auntie with my current hair style.
On university application essays: "it's hard to get personal and philosophical if you're talking about linear algebra you know."
I saw 2 young pre-pubescent girls who each had threaded through a braid in their hair an ah beng-esque trail of flashing lights: coloured lights repeatedly ran up and down the braids. But then again, "Good taste is the worst vice ever invented." - Edith Sitwell
The 2 very best ingredients to go with Nasi Lemak are chicken wings and luncheon meat. Malays don't know what they're missing out on...
Someone got to my site from a Directory of Christian Sites using ChangingLinks.com. Hahahahahaha.
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A long time reader was commenting on the recent dearth of anecdotal posts (ala my tales from the Middle of Nowhere about buying pillows and the like), and the shift towards stuff more akin to what one would find in newspapers. Or in his words:
nowadays ur blog is like becoming a newsletter. less and less personal entries. last time got talk about what screwed up gal, this person that person all that.. nowadays its alwiz about issues people discuss in the parliament. haha
last time there were still army stories. haha about the cushion or pillows. haha
Ah well. School is starting soon, so the balance should shift (ever so imperceptibly) back. But then, University is a much less personally involving experience than JC, or even my 30 months of National Slavery; I must hasten to add that a personally involving experience is not necessarily a good one.
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A discussion with
Him: but nah, I dun think they'll do anything to home dlers... at least not for the moment
so better get them ASAP
Me: I thought they'd kill some chickens first
then close 2 eyes later
Him: yeah, but apparently not this time
they got some pretty gungho policemen over this
they swallowed the whole "stronger copyrights is good for your economy" story hook line and sinker
Me: in that case why will they catch home dls only later?
Him: cos they wanna get the business people first
then they go after the home dlers
Me: oh dear
then everyone will downgrade to 56K
Him: yeah lor
what's the point of broadband other than to download copyrighted works?
Me: how do you know they're going to catch home downloaders?
Him: the key phrase is "commercial scale" not "commercial usage"
how many copyrighted music files does a typical homedownloader have?
Me: they didn't define commercial scale
so is 1000 files in 1 year ok? 1 decade?
Him: I have 40gigs of mp3s, oggs, and aac
I don't even know how many songs that is
Me: the future is bleak
what do you think will happen?
Him: when you think about it, surely the lawyers for the copyright cartel can define anything as "commercial scale"
I think about 1-2 years down the road. I think they'll clean up the business sector first
remember, they're introducing DMCA too you know. anti-circumvention
Me: wait do they have to know you're downloading copyrighted stuff before they raid?
Him: I don't think so
since when is due process much respected in singapore? lol
I think "reasonable belief" is the threshold
Me: so what will happen in singapore? people will chafe and downgrade to 56K connections?
Him: I think even if you're dl alot, you could just say you're listening to online radio or watching movie
some cock excuse will do lol
Me: true
but they raid first, ask questions later
they can't catch everyone
so you'll think they'll adopt the same culture of fear as with political activism?
Him: I think it won't be THAT extreme lah
Me: I suspect it'll become like the unnatural sex law
Him: I think they'll only catch the most egregious of home dlers
Me: ridiculous. criminal offence to dl stuff
Him: because keep in mind, they can charge you with alot of things you know.... not necesarily dl stuff
Me: yeah they'll dig up all sorts of shit
Him: I suspect that most ppl who dl lots of stuff probably dl porn as well
so yeah, they'll probably want to get you on the pr0n first
Me: aiyah
in singapore everyone surfs porn
Him: lol, yah lah, thats why they dun have to resort to the copyright act mah
Me: so? the future looks bleak
I'm more inclined to think it's like the unnatural sex law, really
Him: you should read this book
http://www.code-is-law.org/
try to see if you can get your hands on it
Me: lawrence lessig is but one man
against corporate lobbies in america
Him: yeah, but something like the unnatural sex law, either you're caught red-handed, or your partner pao toh you right?
yeah, but one man can start an avalanche. he's no longer alone you know
even the corporate lobby is split. tech lobby vs the copyright cartel
Me: oh?
that's good news
but the effects will take many years to become apparent... sigh
oh the hardware vs content makers?
I thought they were colluding
DRM
so why do you think they'll bother catching downloaders?
Him: here's the funny thing... it used to be that sony made more money off walkmans than CDs
and even now, that's true, hardware people make more money than the content industries, and it will always be so
because I think fundamentally, content is a commodity. anyone and everyone is constantly creating content
while only some poeple can create hardware
Me: you think so? hmm
ipod and creative mp3 player sales in singapore are going to plunge, I think
the thing abt intellectual property is that everyone can have some w/o diminishing the amt others have. the content industries haven't internalised that yet
their business model is dead, but they just want to keep holding on to it
eventually they'll have to wake up their idea... but I fear it'll be too late
Him: the music execs wanna keep snorting their cocaine
Me: the legislation is not retrospective right
Him: no, its not. but then, I think the law has a provision for possession as well
so yeah, even if you didn't dl, if you possess, you also kena. sux right?
I think the closer analogy to this than unnatural sex is narcotics
soon the "war against piracy" will become like "war against drugs"
Me: oh dear
then we're well and truly screwed
since they crack down on drug users
Him: yeah, but still wait and see lah
it all hinges on the very first court case and how it defines "commercial scale"
Me: seriously. this can't go on
or people will downgrade to 56K
yeah the precedent... sigh
but in 1 year of course people are going to dl 1000 files
Him: I think it will take a brave judge to write an opinion that tries to make a definition
Me: this is ridiculous.
our laws are even more strict and draconian than US
I don't think brave judges exist here :'(
Him: I think most probably they will chicken out until it reaches the yong pung how
remember, we don't have any constitutional rights. this was told to me by a lawyer working here, and he happened to be in litigation, representing the record companies...lol
I argued that if DMCA happens to be struck down in the US, we'll look like fools and he says with a snort, "we don't have any constitional rights, so how can this law be struck down as unconstitutional?"
Someone else: where did u get ur souce of info abt packet sniffing from
any concrete evidence/credible source?
Me: not really
mostly speculation
everyone is frightened
Someone else: this reminds me of e salem witchcraft trials
have u read "The Crucible" b4?
the court is likened to our govt here
and e civilians r all suspects
tts generating e very same kind of mass paranoia here
seriously from e economist point of view this law is going to do more harm than good
decline in demand for HDD, DVD-RW drives(i was planning to buy one initially), mp3 players, ISP BB/cable services
Me: naturally
it only benefits content lobbies
Someone else: negligible increase in movie ratings/album sales
booming biz for ah bengs selling pirated software, games
there was this shop at ang mo kio
i went there yesterday it was unusally crowded
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Chick Tract parodies
"Ever see those tiny, pocket-sized Christian comic book tracts that are left on park benches, in public restrooms, under your windshield wiper-blade, or stuffed into books at the library? You know, those horribly-drawn comics with the paranoid messages in them, outlandish and unlikely stories, and fire-and-brimstone style? These are the world-famous religious tracts of Jack T. Chick, one of the most prolific, paranoid, ultra-conservative, and nastiest publishers of Christian literature since the Dark Ages! Many people have found these tracts to be a great source of humor, specifically for the bizarre and schizophrenic tales spun within them. Let's face it, Jack T. Chick's world view, which roughly boils down to the notion that there is a gigantic and complex world conspiracy of Catholics, Homosexuals, Satanists, Witches, and Atheists out to get anyone who is a "real Christian" (a real Christian as defined by Jack Chick), is so extreme and unbelievable that no sane individual would ever believe it."
A great description, if I ever saw one *g*
Incidentally, one of the Jack Chick tracts has an excellent rebuttal of theodicy (though he probably didn't get it):
"If your house was on fire... you and your wife and kids were sleeping... and I drove by and saw it burning and I didn't wake you up because I knew you'd be uptight... what would you think of me?"
[Addendum: Someone asked me to explain how this is a rebuttal of theodicies.
If you see someone in danger and you don't save him when you can, you're to blame if anything bad happens to him.
The Christian God sees people suffering all the time but doesn't lift a finger to help. Therefore he's to blame for the bad things that happen to them :)]
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The Euthyphro Dilemma
"One horn of the dilemma is that what is good is defined by the fact that it's god's will.
Without an independent standard of moral or immoral acts against which to measure god, god could never be identified by his moral standing. Thus, morally speaking, there would be no way to distinguish being a slave to an evil demon as opposed to being a slave to god. In both cases the one doing the commanding could command anything whatsoever and carrying out that command would be, by definition, a good act. No act would be considered immoral in and of itself, or good in and of itself, apart from the issue of whether it has been commanded or forbidden. Anything from rape to murder would be considered good if it were commanded by the being who serves as the standard.
No act could be taboo for the being giving commands because that being who defines goodness would not have any independent standard of morality by which it could be limited to a certain set of acts. The being could not be bound by any moral code.
The only immoral act, on this view, is disobedience. The follower would be committed to a system of blind obedience to a being who cannot be meaningfully called good. Clearly, this option is undesirable for the theist. (Ed: There is also the issue of omnipotence - If omnipotent beings cannot do bad things, then they are not omnipotent)
The other horn of dilemma is that god recognizes what is good and then wills what is good.
On the other hand, if the theist chooses the other horn of the dilemma, that god commands that which god recognizes as good, then the theist is admitting that there is a standard of goodness independent of god, and is, in fact, admitting that god is not the source of morality."
The depths of illogical argument which people get mired in in their attempts to justify morally and logically indefensible creeds is astounding.
For example, in my LJ comments thread, someone claimed that it was just to punish people for something they didn't do (and much else in the way of illogical thinking, besides).
My response: So if your father committed a crime, it would be just to punish you for it? Punishing people for something they did not do goes against all bounds of justice. If you still insist that this is just - well, then I'm afraid we can have nothing to talk about, since your world view is obviously very odd. All debate is meaningless, since we have different concepts of reality; if I bring up something obviously evil, you will claim that it is good. Ditto for infanticide.
This person also thinks that sin is sin, and magnitude does not matter. So since we are all sinners, we should get our money's worth. Eat, drink and make merry, for tomorrow we go to hell!
Hai... Even if their god came down to earth to tell them they were mistaken on some points of doctrine, they wouldn't believe him. Such is the beauty of post-hoc rationalisation to reconcile reality with deeply held, pre-conceived notions.
Meanwhile, Xiaxue's entry on religion (unsurprisingly, she is also irreligious and pissed off with the fundie Christians ala CHC increasingly active in Singapore today) has, at the time of posting, 102 comments.
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USA Undercuts the UN with Niggardly Aid for Tsunami Victims - "The tsunami is a cheap killer and it may also be more humane than war. Drowning is quick compared to dying of burn wounds. And the tidal wave tends to wipe out the children, old, and the weak. This sounds cruel, but it is nature’s way. Nature leaves more of the stronger alive, the breadwinners, who have the job of supporting those left in the families, and to rebuild. In contrast, our President’s bombs and bullets are aimed at the strongest Iraqis, the breadwinners, leaving more children with no one to feed them. Starvation will be less after a tsunami than after the bombing of Iraq. The proof of this is at least a half million children perished of starvation and disease after the first Bush war in 1991. A generation of fathers were killed in the war, so they were not there to feed the survivors! Nature is cruel, but loves and forgives the survivors; tidal waves do not hold grudges or play favorites. War does! Maybe we need a tsunami on the Potomac."
Melvin runs my blog through www.pornolize.com's script.
