Living in the future, but not in a good way, part 2

[nancylebov]

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/03/epilepsy

Internet griefers descended on an epilepsy support message board last weekend and used JavaScript code and flashing computer animation to trigger migraine headaches and seizures in some users.

I have a variant theory of the Fermi Paradox. It's not just that it's hard, expensive, and possibly pointless to travel to other stars, it's that once a civilization gets to the point where it would be possible to do space travel, there's excessive friction from sociopaths.

Link thanks to patrissimo.

Comments

[dmlaenker.livejournal.com]

And now people are randomly attempting to justify it while claiming they're not.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Dear gods, I read part of that exchange and I almost jumped into it because the obvious idiot scum was so impressively vile.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

well, really, Jason Fortuny (rfjason) is a known ass whose own mother walked away from him when she saw the extent to which he was attempting to hurt people (he's the dick who posted to craigslist as a submissive female, then posted all the responses and pictures he received to his website (http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=74787)).

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

You mean Fortuny does all this under his own name? So that anything bad that happens to him as a result is his fault for being so stupid?

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Mm, sounds like assault.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

At minimum, a successful lawsuit against the people who did this would help keep others from doing the same sort of thing.

[madfilkentist]

Stanley Schmidt has a related explanation of the Fermi Paradox: That civilizations eventually reach a level of technology where a small number of lunatics can destroy them.