For athletics, the point isn't so much that the race is for men or women, but that people with certain hormones (eg testosterone) have a greater power output than those without. Therefore having the two compete against each other is unfair. Competitions are therefore split into those with those hormones ("male events") and those without ("female events")
As such, whether you are XXY or some other unusual genetic combination, the question is are you racing against other people with the same basic advantages as yourself. The male/female split is just an easy way to determine it for 99% of the population.
"Ok, I'll poor ink on your suit as you head into work, rig the office chair in your cubicle to fall the moment you sit on it, and do it day after day after day like a common troll to see how long it takes for me to get fired or for you to send in a report."
As you suspect, the answer is not very long. However that's not the point. In that example you would, presumably, classify what you were doing as pranking or practical joking. I would call it harassment or trolling.
My point is those on the receiving end of the nastier trolls have a different opinion of what's going on that the perpetrators. One action, two names. Both cause hassle for someone else for your own amusement.
And with each there are levels - if you switched my mouse around occasionally or used dry humour like your father it is on a very different level to causing physical damage or similar with practical jokes.
Well artists get to decide that what they do is art, and in most modern cases I personally disagree.
Trolls can probably decide whether what they do is practical jokes. In this case I probably agree that it is. After all, with most physical practical jokes, the recipient doesn't tend to see the funny side. Tripping people up, pulling their chairs out, covering them with ink ... all practical jokes to the joker, all as welcome to the recipient as trolling.
I've considered different ways of measuring the time as a way of removing false starts.
Currently if you start too early then you are disqualified. Twitch too early and you're out. Harsh, and it's not really what people want to see - they want to see a race with all contestants.
I would propose retaining the starting gun so that all contestants run at the same time (as oppposed to time trials like on cycling where everyone starts one after the other). Your base time is measured as time from the gun to the time you cross the line. However, if you go before the gun instead of being disqualified, you are penalised by adding twice the time you went early to your total time (has to be at least once times the time early, to offset the advantage you got from starting early, and I added a penalty of an additional one times).
Since all contestants are starting at about the same time, the adjustments made should be small - small enough that they won't interfere with the public watching to see who wins, in that if it's decided by the adjustment then it's probably close enough that normal viewers can't tell who won without replays etc.
Should mean that there's no disqualifications from false starts, all races will be run with all entrants, and the skill of going as soon as possible after the gun is retained.
The 2012TicketAlert wasn't the only company that was using an automated system checking for new tickets. Touts were also running a similar systems so that they can snap up tickets as they become available and then sell them on the black market. 2012TicketAlert seems to be a piece of collateral damage in the olympic's fight against touts rather than a direct victim. See comments from LOCOG at the bottom of http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19112520
Could LOCOG do better at selling tickets? Absolutely. Are they victimising 2012TicketAlert? Don't believe so.
He's not that unique - there are four at the 2012 olympics, three from the Dutch Antilles which has been dissolved and thus has no Olympic Committee, and one (Guor) from South Sudan who has yet to form an Olympic Committee. This has happened in the past with East Timor in 2000 and Yugoslavia in 1992 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Olympic_Athletes_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics)
Except if by buying a ticket you agree to their rules they can throw you out for not following them. Doesn't matter if the device or your actions are illegal or not.
I've always been a committed Euro-Sceptic and have vehemently argued against any transition of powers from the UK to Europe.
However, seeing the shameful way my government signed off on ACTA (and numerous other recent opressive acts) and the way the EU parliament has listened to the people I'm less sure.
Theruling may have been on Oracle software, but how about other digital products that people buy. MP3s in particular. They're not DRMed, unlike some digital products, so it would be easy to pass someone your MP3 files for them to use.
Does this now mean that "used MP3" sites are now legal?
Re: Re: EU the new democracy and land of the free?
Quite. After all, just ask Ireland and Denmark - if the people vote the wrong way then they're told to keep voting until they get the right answer. Go democracy!
"German publishers have realised that Google would probably rather close down its Google News site in Germany than pay for each snippet"
Or rather they know that the snippets aren't worth anything, and Google isn't making enough from their German Google News site to support any fees. So instead they'll bully people who don't know better.
After all, if they believed there was money in German Google News, and that their snippets were a core part of that then they'd be targetting Google.
Mike - Along similar lines to your recent post stating you will no longer link to whoever it was who demanded you negotiate a fee for "fair use", how about stopping linking to content which will only stream in certain countries?
I think the main problem with people not understanding the price for quoting and building on someone else's work, is that people keep typoing the legal definition.
Even techdirt can't spell "Fare Dealing" properly!
Oh dear, I'm guessing the defence lawyer will be moving for a mistrial if things go against him. Giving Breivik yet another chance to spout forth and waste public money.
Seriously, that judge needs to be disciplined - sounds like a clear case of contempt of court.
On the post: DailyDirt: More Olympic Trivia
Re:
As such, whether you are XXY or some other unusual genetic combination, the question is are you racing against other people with the same basic advantages as yourself. The male/female split is just an easy way to determine it for 99% of the population.
On the post: Is Trolling Just A Form Of Practical Jokes?
Re: Re: Re:
As you suspect, the answer is not very long. However that's not the point. In that example you would, presumably, classify what you were doing as pranking or practical joking. I would call it harassment or trolling.
My point is those on the receiving end of the nastier trolls have a different opinion of what's going on that the perpetrators. One action, two names. Both cause hassle for someone else for your own amusement.
And with each there are levels - if you switched my mouse around occasionally or used dry humour like your father it is on a very different level to causing physical damage or similar with practical jokes.
On the post: Is Trolling Just A Form Of Practical Jokes?
Re:
Trolls can probably decide whether what they do is practical jokes. In this case I probably agree that it is. After all, with most physical practical jokes, the recipient doesn't tend to see the funny side. Tripping people up, pulling their chairs out, covering them with ink ... all practical jokes to the joker, all as welcome to the recipient as trolling.
On the post: DailyDirt: More Olympic Trivia
measuring the start of a race
Currently if you start too early then you are disqualified. Twitch too early and you're out. Harsh, and it's not really what people want to see - they want to see a race with all contestants.
I would propose retaining the starting gun so that all contestants run at the same time (as oppposed to time trials like on cycling where everyone starts one after the other). Your base time is measured as time from the gun to the time you cross the line. However, if you go before the gun instead of being disqualified, you are penalised by adding twice the time you went early to your total time (has to be at least once times the time early, to offset the advantage you got from starting early, and I added a penalty of an additional one times).
Since all contestants are starting at about the same time, the adjustments made should be small - small enough that they won't interfere with the public watching to see who wins, in that if it's decided by the adjustment then it's probably close enough that normal viewers can't tell who won without replays etc.
Should mean that there's no disqualifications from false starts, all races will be run with all entrants, and the skill of going as soon as possible after the gun is retained.
On the post: Olympics Shuts Down Non-Commercial Online Service That Helped People Get Tickets
Not quite the full story
Could LOCOG do better at selling tickets? Absolutely. Are they victimising 2012TicketAlert? Don't believe so.
On the post: DailyDirt: Olympic Trivia
Clarifications:
Granted they can, but not if you play for China, South Korea or Indonesia who play a much more leisurely game ... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics#Women.27s_doubles_disqualificati ons)
Guor Marial's unique position as an independent
He's not that unique - there are four at the 2012 olympics, three from the Dutch Antilles which has been dissolved and thus has no Olympic Committee, and one (Guor) from South Sudan who has yet to form an Olympic Committee. This has happened in the past with East Timor in 2000 and Yugoslavia in 1992 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Olympic_Athletes_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics)
On the post: If You Go To The Olympics, You Can Bring Your iPhone Or Android Phone... But You Better Not Tether
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Are Books Printed With Disappearing Ink Really The Best Way To Make People Read Them?
Re: disappearing ink
On the post: European Parliament Declares Its Independence From The European Commission With A Massive Rejection Of ACTA. Now What?
Re: Re: Re:
Welcome to the "we were once powerful" club! :)
On the post: European Parliament Declares Its Independence From The European Commission With A Massive Rejection Of ACTA. Now What?
Re: YAY!
I've always been a committed Euro-Sceptic and have vehemently argued against any transition of powers from the UK to Europe.
However, seeing the shameful way my government signed off on ACTA (and numerous other recent opressive acts) and the way the EU parliament has listened to the people I'm less sure.
Today, I'm proud to be European.
On the post: The USPTO: Where Up Is Down, Expensive Medicine Saves Lives, And Cheap Alternatives Violate International Law
Con-gress?
Q: What's the opposite of Progress?
A: Congress
On the post: EU Court Says, Yes, You Can Resell Your Software, Even If The Software Company Says You Can't
Bigger impact than you might think
Does this now mean that "used MP3" sites are now legal?
On the post: Fifth EU Committee Recommends Rejection Of ACTA By European Parliament
Re: Re: EU the new democracy and land of the free?
On the post: Proposed Licensing For Newspaper Snippets Could Threaten Users Of Blogs, Facebook And Twitter In Germany
What they really mean
Or rather they know that the snippets aren't worth anything, and Google isn't making enough from their German Google News site to support any fees. So instead they'll bully people who don't know better.
After all, if they believed there was money in German Google News, and that their snippets were a core part of that then they'd be targetting Google.
On the post: How Sweden Handed Its Official Twitter Account Over To A Troll
Re:
Mike - Along similar lines to your recent post stating you will no longer link to whoever it was who demanded you negotiate a fee for "fair use", how about stopping linking to content which will only stream in certain countries?
On the post: Fair Use/Fair Dealing Doesn't Require Payment Or Permission
Typo
Even techdirt can't spell "Fare Dealing" properly!
On the post: Press Tries To Pin High Profile Killings On The Web & World Of Warcraft
mistrial?
Seriously, that judge needs to be disciplined - sounds like a clear case of contempt of court.
On the post: China Increases The Fines For Copyright Infringement
who is foreign?
On the post: Insanity: Apple Rejects Podcatching App Because It Has Flattr Integration
Re:
On the post: Insanity: Apple Rejects Podcatching App Because It Has Flattr Integration
Re:
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