Interesting Links for 15-09-2012

• Laser injection less painful than needles. Everything's better with lasers!
  That really ought to be the title of a song.
  (tags: lasers injections technology medicine )
• RIPE NCC Begins to Allocate IPv4 Address Space From the Last /8
  Gosh, I hope my ISP has plenty of addresses left. More likely, I'm behind a huge NAT.
  (tags: ipv6 ipv4 internet technology )
• Disorder of neuronal circuits in autism is reversible, new study suggests
  (tags: autism brains )
• A Narnian fic about Susan that captures something that I'd never thought of.
  (tags: relationships fanfic narnia )
• Romney defines “middle income” as $200,000-$250,000 - This deserves to be a meme.
  (tags: wtf money republicans usa politics )
• The best thing James Doohan ever did.
  (tags: viaJennieRigg suicide startrek )
• Comparing Map Projections and how much distortion they produce
  (tags: viaFanf distortion maps )
• Brain Implant Improves Thinking in Monkeys
  (tags: thefuture cybernetics intelligence monkeys )
• New rape prevention campaign launched to raise awareness of changes in rape law in Scotland.
  (tags: law scotland rape )
• No One Murdered Because Of This Image
  (tags: religion islam TheOnion )

Standing up for free speech

I just read this article and I am irate. A young man is being threatened with jail for ranting on Facebook:


The idea that we're locking people up for ranting on Facebook is abhorrent to me. People have a right to their opinions. If he was actively calling for people to start shooting soldiers that would be different, but this is clearly not a direct call to arms, it's an emotional rant.

The idea that a person can be locked up for "offensive" speech is frankly offensive to _me_. The answer to offensive speech is _more_ speech, not preventing people from expressing themselves in the first place.

GAH!

And then two come along at once...

After months with no new games I want to play with Julie, we are currently preloading Torchlight 2 and Borderlands 2, both due out next weekend!

We'll definitely be going for Borderlands 2 first, as the first one was the most fun I've had in a game in a long time. Good to have Torchlight 2 as backup though.

In other gaming news, Black Mesa: Source was just released. A recreation of the first 3/4 of Half-Life, but with massively upgraded graphics, it's free, and from my experience of the first ten minutes, superbly well done. If you've never played Half-Life (or haven't played it in a while) then make your way here and download it (I grabbed it as a torrent and had it very quickly). It's free, so now you have no excuse! (You can go here to watch the trailer, say "ooooh" at how awesome it looks first, if you like.)