Interesting Links for 28-07-2016

[andrewducker]

Remember the ice bucket challenge? It just funded an ALS breakthrough (tags: charity research genes meme ) Vitamin D levels predict risk of brain decline in Chinese elderly (tags: vitaminD china brain age ) Bill Clinton wore a fetching navy pantsuit to honor Hillary Clinton's nomination for US president (tags: fashion politics usa funny viaElfy

Comments

[momentsmusicaux]

Interesting article about the Named Persons scheme!

But what is the CI's big beef with this anyway? Why do they feel it affects them? (Their website just says something along the lines of 'this is awful!'.

Also, is it unreasonable of me to feel rather unimpressed with the Scottish gvmt not managing to set out legislation with a bit more thought put into it? I mean, they've basically been told to go away and redraft it. Shouldn't they have done that as part of their own processes?

[skington]

They feel that it's the State interfering with families, AIUI, and telling people how to live their lives / bring up their children. Which of course it is, because some people are terrible parents.

[momentsmusicaux]

> Which of course it is, because some people are terrible parents.

I'm in complete agreement there!

Is there some particular angle they have as christians?

[skington]

This popped up in my twitter feed because I follow Ruth Davidson: Named person scheme ruled unlawful.

The significant quotes are "Simply put, the SNP does not know better than parents when it comes to raising their children" and "Scottish parents who rightly want to be able to raise their children without state interference". There's some stuff about privacy rights and so forth, but given that she also mentions that Labour and the LibDems voted for it (so therefore the privacy rights issue is merely an adjunct, otherwise the LibDems wouldn't have voted for it), clearly what the Tories care about is being able to bring up your kids without state interference.

[skyfye]

Good collection; Thanks!

[andrewducker]

My pleasure!

[soon_lee]

The Tolkien haiku? It's genius.

[murasaki_1966]

Oh, aye.

[seraphicwing]

Totally kind of glad the ice bucket challenge did something other than make a lot of people cold (and video taped while doing so, and being cold).

[andrewducker]

Yeah, me too!

[octopoid_horror]

Counterpoint to the Jason Bourne article: Nearly everyone I know (myself included) thought that Blackhat, which tried to be more realistic, was really boring.

[andrewducker]

Which is why I frankly think that they just shouldn't make them about computers. If you can't make it interesting and vaguely accurate then do something else!

(Obviously depending on the conventions of the movie. In Bond cars are magic, guns are magic, and I expect the computers to be magic too)

[octopoid_horror]

Do a large part of audiences care about hacking, or indeed computer use in general in films, being vaguely accurate though?

I would argue that it's a cinematic convention, even in otherwise realistic films, that computer use isn't, simply because otherwise it's nothing to look at. Even in purportedly "realistic" films, guns are often portrayed pretty inaccurately, and things like nightclubs, sex and violence likewise. There are some pretty hefty plot holes for dramatic reasons in the first three Bourne films.

If films weren't about things that couldn't be shown realistically (or wouldn't be as exciting if they were shown realistically), films would probably be quite short.

I mean, I get that this particular thing would annoy you and a large slew of the kind of people you know particularly, because it's something you'd notice.