Interesting Links for 12-06-2014

[andrewducker]

• It's Really Hard to Be a Good Guy With a Gun
  (tags: guns usa )
• Using "hero rats" to save lives by finding mines. (And the rats don't get hurt!)
  (tags: rats minesweeper )
• An Open Letter To J.K. Rowling
  (tags: jkrowling Scotland independence )
• No more IPv4 addresses in Latin America and the Caribbean
  (tags: internet ipv6 ipv4 )
• Response by Ray

Comments

[supergee]

I love the Hero Rats. Our pet rats are proud of them.

[andrewducker]

I was a bit worried at the start that the rats would be dying, was rather nice to discover that they survive the process!

[cartesiandaemon]

Yeah. It's equally good either way, but a lot cuter when the rats survive, I guess :)

Learning to Fight

[danieldwilliam]

The proposition that people should learn some form of martial art in order to either a) make it less likely that they themselves are the victim of a successful assault or b) make it less likely that people attempt to carry out assaults sounds a little like the NRA motto “An armed society is a polite society.”

On the other hand - I wonder if anyone has done any studies on the correlation between numbers of female martial artists and levels of sexual assault.

Re: Learning to Fight

[meaningrequired]

From bits of comments I've read over on Jezebel, it can take years to become proficient in martial arts. A lot of self-defense courses are very short term and unless someone attacked you specifically similarly to training, it's unlikely that you'll be able to defend yourself. It's more important to know how to get away and not to stay and fight. Also, if someone attacks you with a knife, if you stay and fight, you're going to get cut. Finally, there was an interesting short discussion of giving women permission to cause other people pain/damage. I'm not saying this is a problem all women have, but certainly up to a few years ago I would have found it difficult to mentally accept the idea that I might have to harm someone to save myself.

I think doing martial arts increases confidence, and I think there is a connection between looking confident (nice average walking momentum) and not being picked for robberies or something, I can't remember the citation.

First they came for our prawns

[danieldwilliam]

It's wrong of me I know, but my first thought when reading about the links between slavery and prawns was that I really like prawns and I missed South African grapes.

But really, it's not good that slavery (even de facto) is still happening.

Re: First they came for our prawns

[danieldwilliam]

Also, I'm not sure how slave prepared prawns fit with British Values.

Re: First they came for our prawns

[andrewducker]

I'm fairly sure we prefer our slaves to be picking cockles...

Re: First they came for our prawns

[danieldwilliam]

Well yes.

Frankly, prawns are a guilty habit I picked up in the colonies. They taste delicious but they are foreign.

Cockles are more British. They taste suitably British, like being slapped in the mouth with the communcal sponge of the Rugby School lower fourth.

Uber

[danieldwilliam]

Tempted to put the rise in London Uber users down to free advertising on the BBC rather than a ringing endorsement of Uber's stand against protectionism which seemed to be the spin the CEO was putting on it.

A bit like UKIP but in a mini-cab rather than a second hand Jag.

Re: Uber

[andrewducker]

It's very hard to tell what's actually going on!

On the one hand, I know that London Taxi-drivers are stringently tested and regulated, and I think that that can be a good thing. On the other hand, how necessary is it?

I like the idea of drawing a distinction between "A taxi driver that can pick up people wandering randonly around town" and "A taxi driver you book for a ride" - the idea that tourists who have turned up randomly in town will get excellent service, but locals can choose to make other arrangements if they so wish.

I suspect this is an argument that will play out for years to come, if not decades.

Re: Uber

[danieldwilliam]

Yeah - they do look like two different markets. One, the random pick up on the street likely to be more vulnerable e.g. tourists or a bit drunk. The other likely to be a more informed consumer.

And it makes sense that we err on the side of caution when creating markets for those with access to less information.

I'd go for decades of wrangling against a backdrop of steady price competition.

[a_pawson]

London cabbies have to pass "the knowledge", but since the advent of the Satnav, does it really have any advantage? In the age of advanced Satnav's that use live traffic data to work out the quickest route from A to B, I suspect not

Scottish Political Singularity

[danieldwilliam]

Like Charlie I’d prefer Devo Max or Devo Lots but it’s not on the ballot and I don’t really trust the unionist parties who will be in government in Westminster to provide it. So, I’m voting Yes. For, I think, very similar reasons. I come close to weeping when I think of my son growing up in a UK outside of the EU which is signficantly influenced by UKIP

[a_pawson]

I thought the poll published in today's Daily Record spoke volumes. Essentially 39% Yes, 44% No, but when asked how would you vote if you thought Cameron would be PM after the next general election the results came back as 44% Yes and 38% No.

[danieldwilliam]

Yeah - that.

I do wonder if the anti-Tory sentiment will actually translate in to Yes votes.

[a_pawson]

I suspect so. I now live in England, but were I still living north of the border, it would be a significant part of my decision. I don't like the direction the UK government is taking the country ink. Given that this is when in coalition, I can only conclude if the Tories were elected on their own, or worse in coalition with UKIP then things would move even further towards the right.