Software Needs Philosophers

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  • P.L.Hayes

    #136
    Re: John Bokma harassment

    "Mike Schilling" <mscottschillin g@hotmail.com> writes:
    [color=blue]
    > "P.L.Hayes" <paul@wolfbone. ath.cx> wrote in message
    > news:87slmwbhx5 .fsf@wolfbone.a th.cx...[color=green]
    >>
    >> I agree. I have already written to Dreamhost and I hope more people
    >> will do so. I have found some of what has been posted here quite
    >> astonishing and the actions of certain people to be reprehensible: by
    >> far the most serious violation of netiquette I see here is this
    >> thoroughly wrong-headed campaign to try to censor Xah by appealing to
    >> his service provider.[/color]
    >
    > No one that I know of is trying to censor Xah. It's the form his postings
    > take that cause problems, not the content.
    >[/color]

    Having read through the threads in question, I cannot agree on either
    point. If form alone had been the problem, Xah's sporadic
    cross-posting to a handful of related newsgroups would presumably be
    the sole cause for complaint and yet that hardly seems to me to
    justify complaining to his ISP or to Google, let alone to his
    _web_hosting company. But that is not what has happened anyway:
    complainers have referred to Xah's posts as being off-topic - in some
    cases, "drivel" and "rants" - an opinion not shared by many more
    than half those who have posted to the threads. Fair enough - one is
    entitled to one's opinion - but it would be a mischaracterisa tion of
    what the complainers have actually written in their posts and have
    claimed to have written in their complaints to Dreamhost to say that
    form alone has been the issue.

    If you believe that what Xah has done was such a serious breach of
    netiquette and caused such serious problems that the appropriate
    course of action was to demand that his ISP and even his website host
    deny him access to the Internet, then having done so would not,
    strictly speaking, have been an attempt to censor Xah. But to maintain
    such a premise is, as others have opined, rather eccentric and
    overblown and if those who have written complaints about Xah to his
    ISP or to his website host have not deliberately meant to censor him,
    that is beside the point and no good reason to support their actions.
    I find it rather difficult anyway to believe that there is no
    deliberate attempt at censorship in the light of threads such as this
    one:



    "I rather account kill by ISP :-D."
    [color=blue][color=green]
    >> In my opinion it is that, not anything Xah has
    >> done, which comes any where near deserving any sort of termination of
    >> access to the Internet.[/color]
    >
    > Bringing facts to their attention? If Dreamhost has given him notice of
    > termination, it's for violating their policies, not because people have told
    > them "I don't like him".[/color]

    Exactly. Such underhand and manipulative behaviour is what makes this
    whole business so distasteful and why I find the actions of those who
    have tried to remedy perceived 'problems' in this way quite despicable.
    [color=blue][color=green]
    >> Since Xah's website is hosted by Dreamhost,
    >> the unwarranted censorship will be compounded by an act of gratuitous
    >> vandalism, potentially depriving people of useful resources:[/color]
    >
    > He's free to find another ISP and *not* violate their rules.[/color]

    Oh! Well that's okay then.

    Paul.

    Comment

    • Dra¾en Gemiæ

      #137
      Re: John Bokma harassment

      I can't see the way how Xah Lee could be on topic in
      comp.lang.java. programmer. He is not a programmer,
      and does not write about neither programming nor
      Java.

      He should stick to philosophy and advocacy groups.

      DG

      Comment

      • Bruno Desthuilliers

        #138
        Re: Software Needs Philosophers

        John D Salt a écrit :[color=blue]
        > <corff@zedat. fu-berlin.de> wrote in news:4dbartF19c b9rU1@uni-berlin.de:
        >
        > [Snips]
        >[color=green]
        >>Wrong. We live in a paradise of ideas and possibilities well beyond the
        >>wildest dreams of only 20 years ago.[/color]
        >
        >
        > What exciting new ideas exist in software that are both important and
        > cannot be traced back to 1986 or earlier?
        >[/color]
        Make it 1958 FWIW. Yes, the year Lisp was born...

        Comment

        • Bruno Desthuilliers

          #139
          Re: Software Needs Philosophers

          John A. Bailo a écrit :[color=blue]
          > John D Salt wrote:
          >[color=green]
          >> <corff@zedat. fu-berlin.de> wrote in news:4dbartF19c b9rU1@uni-berlin.de:
          >>
          >> [Snips]
          >>[color=darkred]
          >>> Wrong. We live in a paradise of ideas and possibilities well beyond the
          >>> wildest dreams of only 20 years ago.[/color]
          >>
          >>
          >>
          >> What exciting new ideas exist in software that are both important and
          >> cannot be traced back to 1986 or earlier?[/color]
          >
          >
          > What exciting new ideas exist in software that are both important and
          > cannot be traced back to Doug Engbart's 1968 presentation at Xerox Parc?
          >[/color]
          Those that can be traced back to 1958 when someone invented Lisp ?-)

          Comment

          • Bruno Desthuilliers

            #140
            Re: Software Needs Philosophers

            Paul Rubin a écrit :[color=blue]
            > John D Salt <jdsalt_AT_gota dsl.co.uk> writes:
            >[color=green]
            >>What exciting new ideas exist in software that are both important and
            >>cannot be traced back to 1986 or earlier?[/color]
            >
            >
            > Automated spamming tools? ;-)[/color]
            keyboard !

            Comment

            • Boris Borcic

              #141
              Re: John Bokma harassment

              ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:[color=blue]
              > We seem to have strayed a long way from Voltaire's
              > "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your
              > right to say it.",
              > but that was of course the age of enlightenment.[/color]

              Obviously this wisdom is getting stale and should be updated to something
              like "There is so much noise we can't hear each other, but I will defend
              to the death a chance to get heard for whatever you might have to say that's
              intelligent (while not necessarily from your own mouth)".

              Besides, it is not clear that Voltaire really said that.

              Cheers, BB
              --
              python >>> filter(lambda W : W not in 'ILLITERATE','B ULLSHIT')

              Comment

              • ilitzroth@gmail.com

                #142
                Re: John Bokma harassment

                >"There is so much noise we can't hear each other, but I will defend[color=blue]
                >to the death a chance to get heard for whatever you might have to say that's
                >intelligent (while not necessarily from your own mouth)".[/color]

                You write a much cooler quote!
                [color=blue]
                >Besides, it is not clear that Voltaire really said that.[/color]

                No? well I guess it's alright to harrass Xah then.
                Immanuel Litzroth

                Comment

                • Pisin Bootvong

                  #143
                  Re: John Bokma harassment


                  Boris Borcic wrote:[color=blue]
                  > ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:[color=green]
                  > > We seem to have strayed a long way from Voltaire's
                  > > "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your
                  > > right to say it.",
                  > > but that was of course the age of enlightenment.[/color]
                  >
                  > Obviously this wisdom is getting stale and should be updated to something
                  > like "There is so much noise we can't hear each other, but I will defend
                  > to the death a chance to get heard for whatever you might have to say that's
                  > intelligent (while not necessarily from your own mouth)".
                  >[/color]

                  But we might not have enough intelligence to decide what is intelligent
                  and what is not. :-)
                  [color=blue]
                  > Besides, it is not clear that Voltaire really said that.
                  >
                  > Cheers, BB
                  > --
                  > python >>> filter(lambda W : W not in 'ILLITERATE','B ULLSHIT')[/color]

                  Comment

                  • John Bokma

                    #144
                    Re: John Bokma harassment

                    ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:
                    [color=blue][color=green]
                    >>"There is so much noise we can't hear each other, but I will defend
                    >>to the death a chance to get heard for whatever you might have to say
                    >>that's intelligent (while not necessarily from your own mouth)".[/color]
                    >
                    > You write a much cooler quote!
                    >[color=green]
                    >>Besides, it is not clear that Voltaire really said that.[/color]
                    >
                    > No? well I guess it's alright to harrass Xah then.[/color]

                    Your first question should be: Is it alright that Xah harasses 5
                    newsgroups? Or maybe work on your spelling, harass is with one r, but
                    maybe you didn't read the subject, which wouldn't amaze me, since you
                    sound like you should be spending time on MySpace OMG!.

                    --
                    John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
                    personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
                    Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
                    Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html

                    Comment

                    • Max M

                      #145
                      Re: John Bokma harassment

                      John Bokma wrote:[color=blue]
                      > ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:[/color]
                      [color=blue]
                      > Your first question should be: Is it alright that Xah harasses 5
                      > newsgroups? Or maybe work on your spelling, harass is with one r, but
                      > maybe you didn't read the subject, which wouldn't amaze me, since you
                      > sound like you should be spending time on MySpace OMG!.[/color]


                      I assume that the single l in alright is the courteous misspelling that
                      should allways be in a posting, when correcting other peoples speling?


                      --

                      hilsen/regards Max M, Denmark

                      A small collection of CLAP synths and effects inspired by classic hardware.

                      IT's Mad Science

                      Phone: +45 66 11 84 94
                      Mobile: +45 29 93 42 96

                      Comment

                      • David Squire

                        #146
                        Re: John Bokma harassment

                        Max M wrote:[color=blue]
                        > John Bokma wrote:[color=green]
                        >> ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:[/color]
                        >[color=green]
                        >> Your first question should be: Is it alright that Xah harasses 5
                        >> newsgroups? Or maybe work on your spelling, harass is with one r, but
                        >> maybe you didn't read the subject, which wouldn't amaze me, since you
                        >> sound like you should be spending time on MySpace OMG!.[/color]
                        >
                        >
                        > I assume that the single l in alright is the courteous misspelling that
                        > should allways be in a posting, when correcting other peoples speling?[/color]

                        Nope. Oxford English Dictionary has:

                        alright

                        a frequent spelling of all right.

                        And Merriam-Webster has:

                        alright
                        Pronunciation: (")ol-'rIt, 'ol-"
                        Function: adverb or adjective
                        : ALL RIGHT
                        usage The one-word spelling alright appeared some 75 years after all
                        right itself had reappeared from a 400-year-long absence. Since the
                        early 20th century some critics have insisted alright is wrong, but it
                        has its defenders and its users. It is less frequent than all right but
                        remains in common use especially in journalistic and business
                        publications. It is quite common in fictional dialogue, and is used
                        occasionally in other writing <the first two years of medical school
                        were alright -- Gertrude Stein>.

                        DS

                        Comment

                        • ilitzroth@gmail.com

                          #147
                          Re: John Bokma harassment

                          >Your first question should be: Is it alright that Xah harasses 5[color=blue]
                          >newsgroups? Or maybe work on your spelling, harass is with one r, but
                          >maybe you didn't read the subject, which wouldn't amaze me, since you
                          >sound like you should be spending time on MySpace OMG!.[/color]

                          Dear John,
                          Should I ask myself the question about Xah first, or work on my
                          spelling?
                          I knew har*ass it had 1 or more r's in it but I couldn't figure out the
                          exact number.
                          That makes me suspect my spelling is good enough and I should dive
                          right into the
                          Xah issue. What do you think John?
                          I don't get the MySpace OMG reference, but rest assured John, you are
                          still my favorite
                          newsnet nazi. I know you have been feeling pretty insecure about this
                          Xah fellow, but
                          you know that is just silly, don't you?
                          Yours truly
                          Immanuel

                          P.S Do not hesitate to comment on form, spelling or style of this
                          message. I am always
                          eager to learn.

                          Comment

                          • Mumia W.

                            #148
                            Re: John Bokma harassment

                            Max M wrote:[color=blue]
                            > John Bokma wrote:[color=green]
                            >> ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:[/color]
                            >[color=green]
                            >> Your first question should be: Is it alright that Xah harasses 5
                            >> newsgroups? Or maybe work on your spelling, harass is with one r, but
                            >> maybe you didn't read the subject, which wouldn't amaze me, since you
                            >> sound like you should be spending time on MySpace OMG!.[/color]
                            >
                            >
                            > I assume that the single l in alright is the courteous misspelling that
                            > should allways be in a posting, when correcting other peoples speling?
                            >
                            >[/color]

                            I'm glad you caught the usage error and another fine example of Bokma
                            hypocrisy.

                            People need to point it out because Bokma's hypocrisy is invisible to
                            him. :)

                            Xah's posting on-topic messages to 5 newsgroups about two times per week
                            isn't harassment, but Bokma's attempts to cut off Xah *are*.



                            Comment

                            • Mumia W.

                              #149
                              Re: John Bokma harassment

                              David Squire wrote:[color=blue]
                              > Max M wrote:[color=green]
                              >> John Bokma wrote:[color=darkred]
                              >>> ilitzroth@gmail .com wrote:[/color]
                              >>[color=darkred]
                              >>> Your first question should be: Is it alright that Xah harasses 5
                              >>> newsgroups? Or maybe work on your spelling, harass is with one r, but
                              >>> maybe you didn't read the subject, which wouldn't amaze me, since you
                              >>> sound like you should be spending time on MySpace OMG!.[/color]
                              >>
                              >>
                              >> I assume that the single l in alright is the courteous misspelling
                              >> that should allways be in a posting, when correcting other peoples
                              >> speling?[/color]
                              >
                              > Nope. Oxford English Dictionary has:
                              >
                              > alright
                              >
                              > a frequent spelling of all right.
                              >
                              > And Merriam-Webster has:
                              >
                              > alright
                              > Pronunciation: (")ol-'rIt, 'ol-"
                              > Function: adverb or adjective
                              > : ALL RIGHT
                              > usage The one-word spelling alright appeared some 75 years after all
                              > right itself had reappeared from a 400-year-long absence. Since the
                              > early 20th century some critics have insisted alright is wrong, but it
                              > has its defenders and its users. It is less frequent than all right but
                              > remains in common use especially in journalistic and business
                              > publications. It is quite common in fictional dialogue, and is used
                              > occasionally in other writing <the first two years of medical school
                              > were alright -- Gertrude Stein>.
                              >
                              > DS[/color]

                              American Heritage Dictionary:
                              Usage Note: [...] one who uses alright, especially in formal writing,
                              runs the risk that readers may view it as an error or as the willing
                              breaking of convention.

                              That's sounds kinda like what Xah does, and that's why I flag it as
                              hypocrisy.

                              Comment

                              • Fuzzyman

                                #150
                                Re: Python Version Testing Tool?


                                Michael Yanowitz wrote:[color=blue]
                                > Hello:
                                >
                                > Is there a version testing tool available for Python
                                > such that I can check to see if my code will still run in
                                > versions 2.2, 2.3, 2.4.3, and 1.1 (for example) (or whatever)
                                > without having to install all these different versions on my
                                > computer?
                                >[/color]

                                This is one of the things Movable Python is good at. (For Windows only
                                currently).

                                http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/movpy/

                                You can test your code with multiple versions of Python (currently 2.2,
                                2.3 & 2.4) without having to install them. The next update will allow
                                you to switch which version you run your code with just by selecting
                                hte interpreter from the menu.

                                All the best,

                                Fuzzyman
                                http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/index.shtml
                                [color=blue]
                                > Thanks in advance:
                                > Michael Yanowitz[/color]

                                Comment

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