jim.cowling

Recent Actions

• Commented on That Violet Blue thing
  Well, BB'ers, I don't know this Violet Blue character from a hole in the ground, and I figure you might have a good reason for the big nuke, but here's the thing: you have every right to be secretive about...
• Commented on Canadian Industry Minister lies about his Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up
  "Not everyone has experience with parliamentary process" And those people shouldn't make assertions about it from a soapbox. Anyhow. By all accounts, this bill is opposed by the Liberals and the NDP. If'n we want this bill to fail, it's...
• Commented on Canadian Industry Minister lies about his Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up
  "I can't wait for Charlie Angus to play this back in Parliament during the next Question Period: Ministers who lie on national radio about their legislation don't fare well in Parliamentary democracies." Except that questioners cannot present multimedia materials during...
• Commented on Weezer video stars lots of YouTube celebs
  "BNL did this better." No, not even close. This was brilliant. An order of magnitude better than the BNL video....
• Commented on 1972 Computer Space video arcade game on eBay
  The cabinet came in several colours. At an antiques store near where I lived ten years ago they had one in glittery turquoise. No screen, but with all other original electronics, for $150. It didn't occur to me what it...
• Commented on Curator euthanizes living leather jacket made from <s>human</s> <em>mouse</em> stem-cells
  It's less cool when you read the story and learn that there's no human cells involved. They're mouse stem cells....
• Commented on Paying for the London Underground with a dissolved, naked Oyster card
  Wikipedia reveals the chip to be in the lower-right corner as viewed from the front: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oyster_card_partially_destroyed.jpg Of course, you don't need to know this to disable it by hammer. You only need to smash the card a bunch of times....
• Commented on Sleazy <em>proposed</em> new Dungeons and Dragons license seeks to poison open gaming systems
  Maybe, Cory, but it doesn't seek to poison "open gaming systems", plural. Both the title and the quote make it seem as if WotC's trying to prevent people from publishing work based on licenses that WotC doesn't own, which isn't...
• Commented on Sleazy <em>proposed</em> new Dungeons and Dragons license seeks to poison open gaming systems
  Pretty woefully misinformed. The OGL was written and published by WotC! This is like any licensor offering a license under the condition that you not produce works under the old version. Publish 4.0-compatible books, not 3.0-compatible books. And, of course,...
• Commented on Fifty greatest comedy sketches of all time
  If those were the funniest bits from The State, I'm glad that I never bothered to sit through more than half an episode....
• Commented on Charlie Manson uses Creative Commons licenses
  It'd be interesting if Manson was able to come here and give some feedback on this. However, he undoubtedly doesn't have any Net access. Which means, of course, that Charlie don't surf....
• Commented on Griefers deface epilepsy message-board with seizure-inducing animations
  I'm both apalled by the childishness and petty vandal mindset that would drive someone to do this, and impressed by what is a clever brainhack. Use your powers for good, kids. Trust me, there's a better chance of you getting...
• Commented on Lawsuit about risk of CERN and parallel universe
  I'd check the shower head for bees first....
• Commented on Lawsuit about risk of CERN and parallel universe
  "Physicists at the Brookhaven LHC before it was turned on calculated a maximum chance of 20 in a billion that it would destroy the Earth." The odds are better than 20 in a billion that if you step into the...
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  Why did she e-mail you? Just because she could, or did you piss her off somehow? I ask because people are getting freakier. I'd never exchanged a single word with her, ever, as far as I know. The e-mail wasn't...
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  "I'm tenacious, some will even say stubborn" The Supreme Court said that no appeals would be heard. There's a difference between tenacious and thicker than two short boards. Whatever you wrote (I didn't read it), you're wrong. So on another...
• Commented on Superman's creator's heirs awarded copyright in Action Comics #1
  This is an extraordinarily complicated case. DC still has half the copyright, there will still be appeals by DC/Warner, and any suit over licenses and payments could take aother decade....
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  Yeah, I screwed up the quotations in there. Paragraphs 2 and 4 are from #363's original. Oh, yeah, and on disemvowelling: it feeds the trolls. Feeding the trolls is unwise. Thus, using that method is unwise....
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  #363: When I write that it may not result in truly unbiased moderation, that implies that it may still result in truly unbiased moderation. I imply two likely outcomes: truly unbiased moderation or the illusion of unbiased moderation. Either is...
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  "Saying an illusion, instead of some real manifestation, of fairness is to be preffered is a strange tack to take." Objection. Assumption of facts not in evidence. At no point did I suggest or imply that the illusion was preferred....
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  "Jim Cowling (12): Did it ever occur to you, when you were defending the poor oppressed questions against their answer overlords, that the same person wrote both?" You've written it in the form of an FAQ; my tongue-in-cheek summary was...
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  "If you want to look at a large community that seems to foster somewhat intelligent respectful discussions, I'd suggest going over to Metafilter and taking a look at how they handle things." And then doing the opposite. Respectful? Please....
• Commented on Boing Boing's Moderation Policy (Archived)
  Summary: Q: Reasonable question? A Snide answer. Q: Other reasonable question? A: Unpleasant, jaded answer. Q: Kinda snotty question? A: Withering, unhelpful answer....
• Commented on Science fiction authors offer unusual Homeland Security Advice
  Is this an April Fool's joke? David Brin is described doing this: “It is impossible for you to succeed without us!” he shouted at the assembled officials, while banging his fist on the table and at one point jumping off...
• Commented on Transgender man is pregnant
  Enh. Pre-op, post-op, therapy or not, doesn't matter to me. If someone identifies as male, I call him "he". If someone identifies as female, I call her "she". I still find the 'pregnant man' thing kinda creepy....
• Commented on Stingray strike results in sunbather's death
  Ray sting peace....
• Commented on Discovery of the Mile High Comics collection
  #18: I worked full-time managing a comic shop for seven years while also working on my degree part-time, and never once lowballed someone. You don't need to be a prick to make a very respectable living in collectibles; I know...
• Commented on Discovery of the Mile High Comics collection
  Here's my take: If person A offers person B an item at Price X, and person B knows he's getting a deal, person B has no moral obligation to pay more. If, however, person B is making the offer, there's...
• Commented on Discovery of the Mile High Comics collection
  Ivymike, yup, it sure is. And it's not the only time that he's bought a lage and important collection for a fraction of a percent of its actual value. Rozanski is scum, plain and simple, the worst kind of opportunistic...
• Commented on Bjork pisses China off over Tibet independence
  Free Tibet...with any purchase over $20....