Comments on: Gaming loopholes Comments on MetaFilter post Gaming loopholes Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:52:16 -0800 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:52:16 -0800 en-us 60 Gaming loopholes <a href="">In Praise of Loopholes,</a> simply put, is a great story and an example of fine writing you can only find online. <small>(From our own <a href="">shadowkeeper</a>)</small>.,2006:site.51171 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:34:45 -0800 mathowie writing essay culture tmn By: The Castle That was good.,2006:site.51171-1289593 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:52:16 -0800 The Castle By: IshmaelGraves Michael Larson is my hero. And the <a href="">Harrier jet guy</a> was robbed.,2006:site.51171-1289599 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:55:38 -0800 IshmaelGraves By: reklaw This <a href="">longer version</a> of the Press Your Luck story is well worth a read.,2006:site.51171-1289600 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:57:48 -0800 reklaw By: Faint of Butt That was a great essay.,2006:site.51171-1289602 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:58:04 -0800 Faint of Butt By: illovich That was quite good. I especially liked the last part on evolution, as it mirrors some arguments I've been getting into with my colleagues lately.,2006:site.51171-1289616 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:09:36 -0800 illovich By: empath Great essay, not sure what being online has to do with it. It reads like a fine example of magazine feature writing, to me.,2006:site.51171-1289629 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:22:56 -0800 empath By: nixerman The ending doesn't really make a lot of sense. Humans are the only species that <em>wants</em> birth control. The crows could easily hack this one out too, they just have no desire to do so. Once again human folly is misidentified as a distinction.,2006:site.51171-1289648 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:38:22 -0800 nixerman By: JeremyT How can you say with certainty that humans are the only species that would like birth control? Are you one of those pet psychics I've been hearing so much about on Animal Planet?,2006:site.51171-1289677 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:57:13 -0800 JeremyT By: ab3 what he means by the birth control argument is that humans are the only animal to have sex for purposes outside of reproduction. but he's wrong. <a href="">dolphins also have sex for pleasure</a>.,2006:site.51171-1289704 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:17:07 -0800 ab3 By: StarForce5 The Michael Larson story is very amusing.,2006:site.51171-1289713 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:25:02 -0800 StarForce5 By: Lord Chancellor I worry sometimes that we tend to reward clever people even if they are not good people. When someone gets away with murder on taxes, or law, or anything, we naturally celebrate them it seems. Worrisome, as they violate the spirit if not the letter. As for the birth control thing, even if dolphins have sex for pleasure, they don't systematically attempt to reduce the reproduction rate from sex. That I know of anyway. Something that differentiate us from the monkeys? Only we have control over the internets.,2006:site.51171-1289727 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:33:12 -0800 Lord Chancellor By: drew3d Is there an animal species that uses fiat money?,2006:site.51171-1289791 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:56:16 -0800 drew3d By: languagehat <em>"But the defense somehow got a copy of the Spanish language card that the officer read from, and noticed that the little squiggle was missing from above an 'n' in the sentence: '¿Tiene veinteuno años?' In English that literally translates to 'Do you have 21 years?'—in other words, this was just a routine question to make sure the guy was an adult. But without the tilde over the 'n', the word 'años' becomes 'anos'—Spanish for 'anus.' "They're claiming that the driver thought the officer asked 'Do you have 21 anuses', despite the fact that the officer reading the card spoke fluent Spanish and would have pronounced it 'años' anyway. And the defendant said 'si.' We're supposed to believe that the guy genuinely thought he was being asked if he had multiple anuses and answered with an enthusiastic 'yes!'</em> I love this story, but I have to make a slight correction: <em>anos</em> is Spanish for 'anuses,' not 'anus.' One anus is <em>un ano</em>. (No quiero estar expuesto a anos!),2006:site.51171-1289806 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:05:33 -0800 languagehat By: joe lisboa <i>Something that differentiate us from the monkeys? Only we have <a href="">control over the internets</a>.</i>,2006:site.51171-1289808 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:05:37 -0800 joe lisboa By: birdie birdington I've always loved eruvs. My (former) uncle was on a scandalous eruv committee in his community in Baltimore. I don't remember the specific details but I'm pretty sure it had to do with him/them keeping money that was meant to go toward the project. Anyway! Eruvs. So weird. But being non-religious while staying with ultra-orthodox friends in Lakewood, NJ you can be sure I was glad to have an excuse to carry the crap I was planning to carry with me anyway on shabbot.,2006:site.51171-1289865 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:36:28 -0800 birdie birdington By: rkent <i>Is there an animal species that uses fiat money? posted by drew3d at 3:56 PM EST on April 25</i> Why fiat money? Is there one that uses the gold standard?,2006:site.51171-1289948 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:54:58 -0800 rkent By: Mars Saxman I don't know about the gold standard, but I know of at least one <a href="">non-human species that uses mineral currency</a>.,2006:site.51171-1289977 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:14:07 -0800 Mars Saxman By: ryanrs ab3 <a href="">wrote</a>:<blockquote>what he means by the birth control argument is that humans are the only animal to have sex for purposes outside of reproduction. but he's wrong.</blockquote>No, that is not "what he means". Baldwin's own words explain the significance of birth control:<blockquote>Other species are slaves to their DNA, their genes calling the shots in their selfish attempts to get replicated and passed on; we, on the other hand, have the power to thwart our masters.</blockquote>The essence of the loophole lies in the thwarting. As stated in the essay, "Thank goodness for loopholes.",2006:site.51171-1290099 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 16:53:53 -0800 ryanrs By: Citizen Premier I don't think abstract thinking takes place in any animal's minds except our own. I would enjoy being proved wrong, though.,2006:site.51171-1290313 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:34:57 -0800 Citizen Premier By: Sangermaine <strong> nixerman, ab3</strong>, <strong>ryanrs</strong> and <strong>Citizen Premier</strong> have it right. Humans are the only ones aware that sex is connected to reproduction, and thus the only ones capable of finding a way around the intended purpose of sex to get the benefits. <strong>ab3</strong>, your Snopes article even says this. <strong>nixerman</strong>, no, the crows could not "hack it out", as they do not make this connection.,2006:site.51171-1290421 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 23:04:39 -0800 Sangermaine By: Jofus Wonderful,2006:site.51171-1290537 Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:56:30 -0800 Jofus