Title: Video games, copyright and quantum computers

Author: Alan Lenton

Date: 09 March 2008 18:37:30 +00:00 or Sun, 09 March 2008 18:37:30 +00:00

Summary: [9-3-2008] Alan digs up some interesting material on a few disputed and hyped up subjects...

Body: The whole 'video games cause violence' discussion is marked by myths and hysteria which, until recently, have made it difficult to figure out who is right, and who is wrong. Now, however, an interesting book called 'Grand Theft Childhood' ,which attempts to take a cool look at the evidence, has been published.

One of the authors, Dr Cheryl K Olson, was interviewed by the GameCouch website, and the interview is fascinating. I'd really recommend it for an explanation of the problems with existing studies of the subject. I intend get hold of the book in the near future and I will post a review. In the meantime, parents (and others) would find it well worth taking the time to read through the interview which has plenty of practical no nonsense advice.

http://www.gamecouch.com/2008/02/interview-dr-cheryl-olson-co-author-of-grand-theft-childhood/

If you are interested in the copyright debate, then a look at an article about the subject on ars technica will repay study. It's a comparison of the present rumpus with the battles over property rights between squatters and the authorities from the early days of the USA right through to the end of the 19th century.

To give an indication of the size of the problem it is only necessary to record that between 1785 and 1890 Congress passed more than 500 different laws to reform the property system! Eventually, the mess was resolved not by ever harsher anti-squatter laws, but by bringing the laws of the USA into line with existing social practice. I had no idea that regular property had gone through such a phase - I intend to find out more about it in the future.

Highly recommended.

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/copyright-crusade.ars/1

On a somewhat more technical level, I'd like to draw your attention to the draft of an interesting paper from Scott Aaronson on the limits of quantum computers. The URL is for the draft, which is much better than the final version published in the March 2008 Scientific American, and is very accessible to those without a mathematical background.

An excellent antidote to the current hype surrounding quantum computers.

http://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/limitsqc-draft.pdf

Finally, a note for the more academically inclined. the UN has done something really worth while. It has brought together its massive statistical databases and made them (relatively) easy to access via the Internet. This is sixty years worth of data provided to it by its members, much of it unique and available previously only through arcane procedures invoking aging and proprietary databases. The new system should make research a lot easier. Well done!

http://www.un.org/esa/desa/desaNews/v12n03/pubs.html#UNdata

Alan produces a (nearly) weekly tech news newsletter. Find the details at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html

Notes: 

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