Posts by Psyx

Obama calls for study into games ‘n’ guns link

Re: Plan B? Plan C?

"This will always be possible, in any nation that sells fuel oil & fertilizer "over the counter"."

- Unless you live in a nation that has suffered under terrorism for long enough that it ensures fertilisers contain stabilisers to prevent them being turned into high explosive and where shop owners record and report any large sales of items which are key to bomb making. Works for us, mostly.

"People who massacre quantities of people with rifles and/or handguns and then suicide are criminally insane, by definition and are probably incapable of realizing that they could get the job done much faster by other means."

Except they are not. What you are stating isn't true. They typically have suffered from a psychological breakdown and are responding in an abnormal fashion. Before the break they might have been suffering depression, but they were normal functional human beings prior to the break. Typically, psychopaths don't go on sprees which will end up in them being dead or arrested, because they are too selfish and analytical.

If you look into the people who commit these crimes, they have typically either snapped and are making do with the tools at hand (which unfortunately are often high-capacity semi-automatics in the States) or they DID plan their act carefully over the course of a week or so, where they assembled to tools for playing out their fantasy and constructed it in detail before enacting it. They don't tend to use bombs because bombs are difficult (relatively) to obtain the materials for and to construct. Where firearms are trivially easy to obtain, they will be a weapon of choice. From a psychological point of view, bombs also lack that personal touch of being able to look perceived persecutors in the eye before delivering 'justice'.

"Surely it's a better idea to remove them from the streets before they snap?"

How? Incarcerate every teenager who has become insular because he is being bullied by others? Do the same to everyone who just got divorce papers filed, lost custody of their kids and then got fired?

The people who commit these acts might typically be suffering from very low level mental illness before they crack, but so is 10% of the population. It's not the 'criminally insane' sociopaths and psychopaths who are already on the radar. Given that the pool of potential 'snapees', it is not possible to remove these people from the streets.

Unless you want to bolster the largest incarcerated population in the world with every teenager who has ever put on a black T-shirt?

Re: Plan B? Plan C?

"Guns don't kill people, bullets do."

That doesn't work. Controlling and limiting the ammunition someone can buy will help, but the situation cannot be solely controlled like that because we cannot make a purchaser accountable for every round. If firearms are unrestricted but bullets are in an effort to reduce crime, what is preventing people buying ammo and then just selling it on at a profit to criminal elements?

Re: And television sitcoms cause ...

"The REAL cause of gun violence is bad parenting. End of discussion."

Bullshit.

It's a combination of things. Abusive parents do tend to result in children who are potential problems, but tritely pointing the finger there and saying 'job done' is the epitome in stupidity.

Other factors include but are not limited to:

A healthcare system that means those most in need of mental care can't afford it.

Massive poverty and inequality.

Ease of obtaining firearms, both for criminals and for those who really shouldn't be owning them.

An overly harsh system of incarceration that removes any motivation for criminals NOT to carry a firearm.

A society which is inherently violent and which glamorises and constantly reinforces that violence is a solution to problems.

A score of other social issues, not least of which is condemning anyone who picks up a firearm in desperation as the problem, instead of a desire to prevent the issues which caused them to do so.

NRA: Video games kill people, not guns. And here's our video game

Re: Alpha Tony

"Possibly, but then..."

You miss the point of the post, which was to point out the absurd stupidity of the NRA's hypocritical and laughable position regarding video games as opposed to their own hobby.

"which could be thought of as games." - Which doesn't make it 'good', by-the-by. Pretty much by definition, being part of a society where it is required that some of us have to realistically train to deliberately take the life of others is not 'good' when considered objectively. Necessary: Yes. But it's never a 'good' thing. Police snipers who put bullets into brain stems do not have a 'good' job.

"So, no, for self-defence training you should learn with a target meant for the job." - That's not really self-defence training. Don't mince words. Self-defence training is how to avoid the situation in the first place and/or to GTFO of it. Drawing a weapon with the intention of precisely placing shots to kill someone as fast as possible means that the 'self defence' part has kinda failed, and that you're into the realms of 'killing the other guy training'.

Again: There are situations where that's the last-ditch resort, but that's what it should be. Putting firearms in the hands of people suddenly seems to turn it into the first option all too easily. So let's not mess around and try to call it 'self defence' in order to try to make it morally all just peachy in our minds.

Re: "Guns don’t kill people"

Upvoted for 'Jovian brow'.

Re: An NRA spokespersons said...

"You need to screen the kids, simple as that."

EVERY child is volatile. Every. Single. One.

So... ban every parent having firearms in the house?

Re: An NRA spokespersons said...

"Whilst your heart is in the right place, your brain seems not to be."

Yes it is. It's fine.

I just happen to recognise that my right to have fun shooting a weapon is less important than people's rights not to be the victim of gun crime. My right to protect myself with lethal force is less important than my right to not have a firearm pointed at me.

"Many people had pointed out his problems before the incident."

So what? He was antsy? Wow: He was a one in a million teenager!

So... we round up every teen who is pointed out as being sullen and an outcast? Because we had what... a couple of crazy-ass shootings last year, compared to how many teenagers being problematic? Do we want to actually incarcerate or put on medication a hundred thousand teens on that basis?

If you'd rather incarcerate and forcibly medicate 20% of each generation rather than have some sensible laws about firearm ownership and storage then I don't think it's my brain that's the one in the wrong place, mate.

"adding a few cheap psychiatric tests to identify the potentially problematic would not seem beyond the realm of capabilities or the stretch of the government's purse."

Firstly, anyone involved in psychometric testing will tell you that it's not cheap. Or accurate in the case of teenagers who are already very volatile and awash with hormones. Your point is provably untrue. Nice idea, but doesn't work.

"and it would not infringe on the rights of anyone."

How is forcing every teen in the country to take psychiatric tests and insisting on treating those that 'fail' with mandatory evaluation, meds, or incarcerating not trampling anyone's rights?

"What we need is pre-event action, such as proper identification of those in need of help."

Like locking people up before they commit a crime, on the basis that they might do because the class jocks have been beating the sh!t out of them for years? Seriously?

In most cases it's a direct result of their environment. Let's isolate the guy who is isolated some more, shall we? That'll help!

The problem isn't the poor idiot who breaks down and pulls the trigger. It's that he's shoved to that point in the first place by society and that he can easily get hold of a device that makes it trivially easy to enact lethal revenge upon that society. Take away the firearm and he'll sulk in his room and imagine how great it would be to 'show them' perhaps. Give him a firearm and he can enact that.

"Surely wanting to protect people (especially schoolkids) from psychopaths, and identifying those with potential mental illnesses before they lead to disasterous events is giving a sh*t?"

Firstly psychopaths don't tend to go in for spree killings of this kind. Psychopath are more resilient and aren't easily reduced to the emotional state that lends itself to running amok. And lots of psychopaths exist just fine without killing people. Psychopathy does not mean that the person will kill. You are basically saying that a mental condition that a percentage point of the population have to some degree should see someone 'treated' before they do anything wrong.

You seem to want to protect everyone by screening for potential teenage troublemakers and 'treating them' because that's less morally abhorrent to you than gun control. That signifies to me that you think that the right to casually own a lethal weapon is more important as a right than a teenager's right to freedom. I call that ass-about-face preaching about rights.

"Letting your overwhelming desire for the "good in everyone to shine through" is, however, a touchingly naive weakness"

Shove it. Sincerely.

Don't try to lecture me about my brain and then be so dumb as to assume that anyone favouring gun control or opposing your view is a naive and weak hippy of some kind. Your lack of empathy you display in your attitude is not a strength: It's weak, and a trivially easy path to walk. That's nothing to be proud of.

"You are locked in a room with ten people"

Why do *I* have the kit? Why isn't the kit there on the table for anyone to use if they want to know for themselves? And your example shows that you have a backwards viewpoint as regards mental health issues. A teenager who is close to a breakdown is not automatically going to become a killer. A teenager with a mental health issue such as psychopathy, depression or whatever is not destined to commit crime.

"I am advocating identifying the diseased and keeping them away from the cutlery "

So.. a form of gun control. You want to identify people you don't think should have guns and stop them having them based on them on questionable criteria.

That's interesting. So moody teens don't get to go near guns, but paranoid survivalists who stockpile firearms because Obama is going to invite the Commies over can keep them? And those guys who have a room full of firearms and gleefully plan how to legitimately commit murder in retaliation for a mere attempted burglary are totally ok to own firearms, too?

And yeah: Throwing the cutlery away will help, because then if things go wrong, people think of other solutions. Because that's the problem with having a big stick/gun/army: Give someone one and it suddenly becomes the first thing they think of using. It's the old give someone a hammer and everything becomes a nail syndrome.

House broken into: Murder the perp.

Bullied at school: Kill classmates.

Mugged people sometimes fight back: Carry a pistol

Might get mugged: Carry a pistol

Firearms don't enable defence; they stop people thinking clearly and tend to immediately escalate situations into a lethal confrontation.

Re: The right to bear arms (does not define those arms for a reason!)

"There is a history behind the Second Amendment that you Brits seem to deny at every turn."

Balls. We're fully aware of it. It's just not a very good reason. It comes down to two salient points:

1) We can't change it because it's written on a bit of fairly old paper.

2) We have to have guns to protect ourselves if we think the government is being mean.

3) We have to have guns to protect our country if we get invaded.

Point 1 is just absolute tosh. Times change and the Constitution has been changed to reflect that at all. Hanging onto laws just because they exist is backwards. If we were doing that then we'd be literally believing and enacting every mandate of the Bible.

Point 2 is a joke. Try declaring the government unjust and tyranical and taking up arms against it and you'll be locked up for life and branded as a terrorist. The idea that the government of a country that spends more on defence than most of the world put together and has the world's most sophisticated highly budgeted internal security service will be overthrown by armed militias is patiently absurd.

Point 3 is moot. If the world's most sophisticated army doesn't prevent your continent being over-run, then private gun owners won't.

Any argument against gun control involving the Second Amendment is pretty irrational. It's a diversion from the main points and has no real relevance.

Gun Control is about just that. The Second Amendment doesn't say anything about that. Indeed: There are already plenty of laws about concealed carry, the type of firearms allowed, preventing felons having weapons, cool-down periods et al. Simply restrictions on storage, registration et al have ZERO bearing on Second Amendment Rights unless they heavily impact the right of legitimate users to own firearms.

"Far more people will die from automobile accidents, so I presume you'll be swallowing your own medicine and walking everywhere form now, right?"

What kind of straw man kind of argument is that?!

Re: What irks me about their argument

"anti-Semitic prejudice?"

Seriously? You're trying to drag that one in somehow?

There aren't enough Fail icons in the word to reply in a just manner.

Re: An NRA spokespersons said...

"Might not actually be true, but even if it hypothetically was - that's not the same as turning people into murderers. "

It *is* proven to be true, but indeed does not turn people into murderers. As I state elsewhere.

Cinema violence isn't what gets the censoring in the States in my experience: It's s3x... particularly anything homosexual. Name five Hollywood films where we've seen gay couples kissing. Actually, there's an even bigger hot potato that the US avoids, and that's abortion. Look at how many films and TV plot-lines are about people getting themselves or someone else pregnant despite it being massively impractical for them to be having a family and supporting a child. Now cast your mind back to see if you remember one of the parties even mentioning the fact that abortion is an option. It never gets a mention, and if it does, it paints the speaker as a 'bad person'.

I digress.

Violence is an accepted and embraced part of American culture. Firearms are the easy enabler. Pick up this piece of metal and you can show the world that you won't be trodden on any more. Easy access to firearms makes the fantasy trivially easy to enact.

Re: What irks me about their argument

"Israel. No mass shootings of children by raging teens for over 10 years!"

That's because raging teens have other targets for violence, along the lines of fully-grown men of <insert opposing faction here>

Plenty of teens in the area do get themselves involved in lethal violence. It's just that it has a bit more direction to it, because whereas a school shooting ostracises the shooter, having a go at opposing political targets enhances the perp's reputation.

Re: Fatal flaw in argument

"Please think more before tryping."

Re: Alpha Tony

"'....Then why do a lot of gun ranges have a picture of a man on the target?' Because if you are teaching people to shoot in self-defence"

Got it.

So computer games where you shoot people are bad because they teach you to kill.

But computer games where you shoot round targets are ok.

Teaching someone to shoot people-shaped targets is ok because you learn how to defend yourself by killing someone.

And teaching someone to shoot round targets isn't very good, because it fails to teach people how to kill people properly.

But teaching people to kill people with a pretend computer-gun is bad, still.

I totally get it now. Thanks for clearing that up.

Re: An NRA spokespersons said...

"he could simply have used another weapon"

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/12/22-kids-slashed-in-china-elementary-school-knife-attack/

Like that. The difference is that other weapons are less lethal than firearms. None of those children died.

"for example if he'd been under supervision in a secure psychiatric unit. But that type of reasoning - deal with the problem person before they become the person pointing a gun - does not go down well with the huggy-feelgood crowd."

He was a fecking teenager, for chissakes. You want to commit every sulky teenager in case they murder people? I hate to break this to you, but every teenager is a sulky moody bastard and prone to outbursts and mood swings.

Or is it just the introverted ones you want? Maybe the ones from broken homes? Maybe the ones that are bullied by other students. Yeah: It's totally their fault that they are bullied and resent their co-students, so let's commit all introverted bullied teenagers to psychiatric care. Ostracising them more in school society will help a shed-load.

And who pays for that? It often seems to be the case that those opposed to gun control are also opposed to free healthcare. So do these hordes of teenage introverts have to pay for their own psychiatrists, meds and institutionalisation?

Look at the US prison population. It's by far the highest in the world and has reached Stalinistic levels. Over 1% of your entire population is under judicial supervision. Now tell me that segregating anyone who might cause a problem in American society is working.

You say 'huggy feelgood' as though it's in any way a bad thing to be friendly and empathic. If you genuinely feel that, then you should take a good look at yourself. Giving a sh!t about your fellow humans is an admirable trait, not a weakness. It's people who want to solve crime by gunning down criminals and incarcerating anything that doesn't fit their pre-conception of 'normal' who are the the ones who should be mocked.

Re: An NRA spokespersons said...

"I'm pretty certain no-one in the NRA really believes games cause violence"

- Yeah, they do. Have a look at some pro-gun sites, and a large chunk of these people seriously believe that:

The point of gun control is purely to take guns off every legal owner while doing nothing about criminals

Anyone with Liberal political policies wants to come over to their house and take away their guns

God gave them the right to bear arms

Drugs are to blame

Video games are to blame

Obama is to blame

The government is trying to take away their guns so it can then take away their rights to vote et al

Internment camps have already been constructed and foreign nationals trained to guard them, and they will be used to imprison 'patriotic' Americans en masse.

I enjoy shooting, but it seems increasingly that it seems to politically associate me with far-right, xenophobic nut-cases. And any word in favour of any form of gun control seems to incite comments that the speakers is 'Liberal', 'Commie', 'Socialist' or 'on Drugs', as though enjoyment of hunting is somehow tied to far-right political outlook.

"I don't think so. If I look at the amount of kids that play video games and follow that sort of logic we should already be up to our eyeballs in massacres. I just can't make that link."

I believe that the link has been proven in numerous studies. Note that 'desensitising to violence' doesn't mean 'goes out and kills people'. It simply means that violent scenes or conflict cease to illicit the same level of emotional abhorrence as it causes in people not exposed to such things. People might not do things themselves, but they are less revolted by violence and hence probably more accepting of it as a solution in wider matters.

Re: An NRA spokespersons said...

"Guns don’t kill people. Video games ... kill people."

I hate it when the "The most dumb statement of the day" prize goes so early. There's no way that's going to get topped.

Ok: Video games do de-sensitive people a bit to graphic violence and breed the kind of muppet that thinks we should equip our Army with Desert Eagles so they can 'pop heads like melons' [qv], but the NRA's defence against "guns kill people" has always been "Nah-nah-nah-nahnah: Not hey don't because it's an inanimate object and needs a person to pull the trigger, ergo it's not the GUN that does it."

Yet now apparently, my copy of 'Kill Stuff With Guns II' can pop itself out of my DVD drive and nip out to massacre a few kindergarten classes.

Viruses infect vital control systems at TWO US power stations

Re: @Destroy All Monsters

"You have obviously never seen a Flash Drive fail...or get lost...have you."

You don't just rely on one tape back-up, so why assume anyone would rely on one USB.

As to the loss thing, there is literally no reason why the drives can't be chained to a brick!

I'd rather trust and use USB back-up than optical media or tape. It's not perfect, but with safeguards it's not an inherently stupid idea... and certainly not worth a 'Fail' icon...

NASA snaps pics of China's 'Airpocalypse' pollution disaster

"all the schools become little christian 'madrasa' style schools."

No need: Home-schooling is what's needed. It allows you to brainwash your child into becoming an ethical clone of yourself without any pesky standards for education or other viewpoints. AND you can beat the crap out of the child if they don't memorise the Bible quickly enough.

Re: Outsourcing is wonderful

"Someone should tell the do gooders the world is spherical and we all share the same atmosphere!"

That's over-simplifying. You try to solve the problems that you can solve, locally. If the neighbourhood is a mess, you start by mowing your own lawn, and hope the example (and some nagging) will influence others.

Rather than saying "well, if we can't make the rest of the world do what we want, so we're going to do FA!"

They're a bit behind the times if they think that's going to work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_aperture_radar

"Your troll-fu needs improvement."

To be fair, the US did really did quite a number in create a shit-ton of fall-out and radioactive by-products. There's quite a few square miles of this earth that you wouldn't want to wander around unprotected.

But it was/is more of a result from weapon development, testing and stock-piling than from power generation.

Google denies smacking Botswanan ass

Re: OMG!

The bits that aren't Bush are swamp and desert.

But it beats the crap out of it all being fields and urban sprawl.

Re: OMG!

"surely the money Google are wasting on driving around Africa should be spent on HIV, Aids, Malaria, starving children, and other far more deserving things!"

I think you'll find that Google are a business, and not in the habit of solving world hunger and disease.

#thatsnothowcapitalismworks

Re: Trying to be a bit clever...

Confirm.

It's a proper country.

I fondly remember when they installed the first set of traffic lights, and people used to take deck-chairs down down there to watch the accidents.

Re: Barbequeue time

"Cost of steak in Botswanan restaurants to soar?"

I seriously doubt it. Have a look at where your beef and corned beef comes from sometime.

Botswana = diamonds, cattle, tourism.

IBM brains ponder universe, say kids will go nuts for STEAMPUNK

Re: @Psyx

There are people who *haven't* heard of Abney Park?

Next you'll be telling me that the kids haven't heard of Wolfsheim and the Cruxshadows!

Re: pfft

"buy some steampunk items without going "Bugger off, I'm not paying £80 for THAT!""

Great: I can buy some mass-produced plastic shite as owned by four thousand other people, instead of grossly undervaluing the efforts of someone developing, designing and making something by hand!

Damn all those hobbyists: They should totally work for the same amount as someone in a sweatshop. /sarcasm.

Re: pfft

*slow clap*

Amazing prediction IBM.

Next they'll be telling us Abney Park are going to make some music about it all.

DoJ to Kim Dotcom: We never asked you to retain files

Re: Whom to believe

"It isn't that hard to fabricate an e-mail. "

And it's why the DoJ probably sent the requests in writing, through lawyers.

"So unless Kim has something concrete like a signed document from them, then he's going to struggle to prove this case whether it is true or not."

- Which... you'd keep in hard-copy, given that it was a legal request and would have come through lawyers.

I can't believe that people seriously took Kim shooting his mouth off without any evidence backing him up at face value, and would rather believe that the DoJ ran around and removed all documented and electronic evidence and court records that they did so, and told the Judge never to breathe a word of it.

It's basically a case of weighing the probabilities of a known criminal and loud-mouth making a fictitious statement to cloud the issue versus the likelihood of the DoJ risking their entire case being destroyed and a bunch of people facing jail by putting a massive conspiracy into action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor

Re: Whom to believe

"Neither. They're both utterly corrupt and bereft of any redeeming qualities."

Yes, but one of them isn't stupid enough to make an allegation that could be disproved with a single email or print-out.

Re: I wouldn't trust either of them

"But I'd go for drinks with KD..."

I'd seriously rather go for a beer and a chat with a highly educated lawyer than I would massage Kim's ego by socialising with him.

Plus, he'd eat all the peanuts.

Amazon-bashed HMV calls in administrators, seeks buyer

Re: Wonder how much tax HMV paid

"So... tell us how much extra tax you have voluntarily overpaid for the benefit of the rest of us then?"

Quite a lot, like all of us here have done.

If I had an accountant, I'm pretty sure he could figure out a dozen ways of reducing my tax bill. The difference is that firstly it's not worth the cost of the venture, as I'm an individual not a company.

And secondly because morally I don't agree with doing so. So please don't be keen to judge everyone by your own standards.

British armed forces get first new pistol since World War II

Re: Psyx

"Then again, it could be a boon to the economy as many women would insist on a holster to match each outfit, just like their handbags and shoes, and they'd have their "going away" pistol, which would have to be different from their "shopping" pistol, and their "winter" pistol would have to have a faux-fur warmer....."

I think that many gun owners pretty much do that in order to justify owning thirty different firearms anyway. I know that a lot of pistol shooters I knew seemed to need a firearm for every conceivable event or occasion.

"Now this is for home defence when it's raining outside but not much, and if I have guests over. But not if it's a Tuesday. I *had* to buy this one for Tuesdays..."

It was the male version of shoe-buying, I swear.

Re: Meh!

"A gun is pulled by horses and fired at the French."

Other similar versions:

"Guns fire shells, firearms fire bullets."

"Guns are things that go on ships."

Usually followed with "Now drop and do 20 for getting it wrong!"

Re: I was expecting....

"I've always wondered about that one..."

My car's speedo goes up to 150mph, too...

Re: Having owned 9s and 44s

"A single 9mm will put someone down."

Eventually. Something like a 60% first-round take-down according to studies, as I recall. .45 ACP is barely any improvement. The whole ".45 is awesome and drops people in one shot straight away" thing is a big pile of donkey poo.

The key is to shoot someone in the right place, or do it a few times!

Re: Stuff the L115A

"To be fair that's probably what he said, the ravages of time and alcohol simplifying the explanation to something my fragile little mind could retain!"

Nah: He probably said it. It's one of those enduring myths.

There are arguments either way with marksman weapons. Semis are faster-firing for follow-up, have less gubbins, and don't require the shooter to move between shots (throwing aim and attracting attention, potentially). Bolt actions don't throw brass around until you want them to.

"Not many people actually want to walk around with a holster strapped to their leg, most people want a weapon they can drop into a coat pocket"

Which is kinda strange to my mind.

Carrying an open firearm as a deterrent makes some kind of sense.

Carrying a concealed firearm so that you are still a target for crime but if you are then it is immediately escalated into a lethal confrontation makes very little sense.

Re: Don't Understand.

"I read somewhere that the pistol is only really there to help get you back to your rifle which you should never have dropped in the first place."

You should have never had it disconnected from you unless you were sleeping!

The sling system is one of the best things about it. It was designed so that there's pretty much no excuse for putting the rifle down.

Re: 9mm?

"Outnumbered and underequipped British troops with the "outdated" SLR won the Falklands War for a reason."

Erm... the other side had them, too!

And there was absolutely *nothing* wrong with the SLR!!

Re: @Desk Jockey... 9mm?

"I'm not sure how lethal the gun is when using the civilian rounds. Its a small higher speed projectile."

Pretty lethal, tragically. As used at... Fort Benning, was it?

"HK .45USP tactical."

...Is very expensive.

And fires a non NATO standard piece of 100 year old ammunition.

"1 hit = 1 stop dead"

Massive myth. The .45 isn't that powerful. It's an old piece of lead kept popular by its iconic image. And I think only about a 70% stop according to FBI statistics. 10mm is more effective.

"9mm will not stop a drugged up assailant unless in a vital spot."

Nothing will. People only die from central nervous system damage or blood loss. Nothing else. If someone isn't incapacitated by shock and pain due to drugs, then they will not suddenly fall over by a bit of lead hitting them that has only marginally more energy than a different piece of lead.

".45 SWC (semi wad cutter) chucks em backwards...."

Physics says "no"!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion#Newton.27s_third_law

Re: @Zmodem. going for a record?

"a eagle has a better range then a 12 yard shotgun"

No. It. Doesn't.

Clear indicator that you've learned about firearms from playing computer games. The only time you'd outrange a shotgun with a handgun is if you load it with birdshot. And who does that when you're shooting at people?

Hyperspeed travel looks wrong: Leicester students

Re: The weapons are pretty unbelievable too

"Film aliens will get a real shock if they ever take on humanity and face the arsenal of over-the-horizon self-guiding MACH2+ weapons we have."

I'm pretty sure they might have thought of it themselves at some point.

Re: Star Wars is Science FICTION for a reason...

"Star Wars is Science FICTION for a reason..."

No it is not!!!!!!

The whole point of Science Fiction is to feature... Science. And then to fiddle with it, break the rules or whatever, but at least be consistent with it and keep science and technology-driven plots, hooks and items as integral to the plot. Asimov is Science Fiction. Science Fiction writers start out by defining the 'rules' of their universe and go from there. None of the Star-Wars plot lines were driven by science or technology, they merely used it as a McGuffin every now and again.

Star Wars is Space Opera.

The science is hand-waved and not crucial to the plot. Science and technology is there simply to provide a dramatic back-drop to a fantastical story-line. Space Opera is character and story driven, 'unrealistic', and doesn't have to make any kind of scientific sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_opera

Satnav blunder sends Belgian granny 1,450km to Croatia

Re: Question:

"How did she manage to get through so many countries without being asked to present her passport? Surely she'd have been stopped at the border checkpoint?"

Because it's Europe?

Review: Google Nexus 4

Re: I was starting to think I might have been too quick to buy the S3..

"Indeed, 8GB storage? is it 2007 again?"

Crap expands to fill the space you give it.

How the hell are you guys moaning about 8GB? Is it the *effort* of having to delete films instead of letting them sit there for weeks?

Anger grows over the death of Aaron Swartz

Fine article, Reg.

Disney World slaps pay-by-bonk stalker cuffs on grown-ups

"I can see this having 1 advantage for the public, Lost children."

To be fair, I don't think that's true. The...crowd dynamics or whatever you want to call it that they can then analyse will obviously be used to make more money, but part of that will benefit the customers, by trying to use the information to better serve customers, decrease lines and schedule events so that less people are missing them by being in queues and there to... well... spend more money. Not every money-spinning business idea decreases customer enjoyment.