I bet $20 they are gonna remove the pistol requirement from this.
MIT Pirate Certificate
61–70 of 123 posts
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes [1]. They also provide tuition scholarships for children of staff and graduate students [2] who could not otherwise afford childcare in the Boston area (which runs on average $20K/yr against a post-tax stipend as low as $31K/yr, ie, completely impossible to afford unless you have a trust fund or a scholarship). Not sure what that has to do with a bit of workplace levity at an otherwise famously intense undergradu…
Unless you're, y'know, Aaron Swartz.
MIT didn't want to press charges but the actual copyright owners (the publishing firms did) so it went ahead.
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#63This was an informal thing for a long time, but I didn't know that there's now an actual certificate. I may have to go back and request mine retroactively.
Any pirate worthy of the title would just forge their own.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mit+pirate+certificate&tbm=i...
Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free.
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As we all know, the US defense apparatus, particularly its clandestine branch, has never done anything illegal. A letter of marque is a specific legal instrument. If the US (or Russian) government is recruiting and employing private sector hacking groups as cyberwarfare agents (as both probably are), whehter or not they are doing so legally under domestic and/or international law, they aren’t issuing letters of mar…
If they're issuing "non-prosecution agreements" or "immunity agreements" (which is likely what they're actually doing) isn't that fundamentally the same thing? The difference is essentially just semantics. It's like how the US hasn't officially been to war since World War II.
> If they’re issuing “non-prosecution agreements” or “immunity agreements” (which is likely what they’re actually doing) isn’t that fundamentally the same thing?
No.
A letter of marque makes you not pirates but lawful combatants under international law, where there has long been a norm that pirates (but not lawful combatants) are the common enemy of all humanity (hostis humani generis) and subject to summary punishment by any nation, for piracy against the shipping of any nation, without limit. Whereas privateers are, to other nations, of the same legal status as military forces of the sponsoring power.
A nonprosecution agreement gives you immunity from punishment under the domestic law of the country issuing it.
Not the same thing at all.
> It’s like how the US hasn’t officially been to war since World War II.
So, a popular myth? US Courts have long rejected the notion that any particular magic words are necessary for Congress to exercise its power to declare war, and that a Congressional authorization of military force that does not use terms like “declaration of war” (the earliest of which was issued in 1798, this is not a new practice) nevertheless is an exercise of the power to declare war. There are some statutes to which magic words are relevant, but that’s a choice of Congress to structure other statutes that way, not something inherent it what makes a state of war under US law.
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#65"If they ever come up with a swashbuckling school I think one of the courses should be laughing, then jumping off something." -- Jack Handey I tried to register for pistol every single term and never got in; I think this may be the most difficult obstacle in obtaining MIT's pirate cert.
You never had a shot.
He was too slow on the draw.
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#66Suddenly I need a pirate certificate in my life
Gotta have goals. :) I don't have the cert, but I've covered all those skills and I have to say it was fun. :)
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#67Fun fact: registration for the classes required for the pirate certificate (sailing, archery, pistol/rifle, fencing) generally run out within a minute of opening. However, this being at MIT, I was never sure whether this was because of humans or bots.
I realized this list didn't include swimming and thought it was missing, until I remembered that MIT requires swimming prowess in order to graduate.
That seems rather ableist.
As a trivial example, what happens to quadriplegics? Do they not get to go to MIT?
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#68I bet $20 they are gonna remove the pistol requirement from this.
Why? Shooting is an Olympic sport, it is also very pirate-y.
Archery is the odd one here. It is not part of the popular image of a pirate, and historically, I don't think they saw much use in the 1600s and after (so, not during the "golden age").
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I realized this list didn't include swimming and thought it was missing, until I remembered that MIT requires swimming prowess in order to graduate.
That seems rather ableist. As a trivial example, what happens to quadriplegics? Do they not get to go to MIT?
There are obviously commonsense exceptions granted.
Also, you can fulfill the swim requirement by taking 1 beginner swim class regardless of whether you actually learn to swim during that class or not.
Re: MIT Pirate Certificate
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know why universities think the best way to decide enrollment is smashing the register button. My undergrad university had the sense to let everyone pick their first preferences within 24 hours of enrollment starting. Then for over-selected courses, people were enrolled randomly [1]. This was repeated once more, iirc, and then in the third round enrollment was instantaneous. This, thankfully, prevented virtua…
Or why not just hire more faculty and start up more sections? The students are paying huge tuition bills. Why can't they get the courses they want? This is why I often tell everyone, not just high school students, to consider other marketplaces for information like uDemy or Coursera or any of the dozens of upstarts. They're sooo much better than old school universities because they're not designed to enforce artifici…
Because there are limited rooms and times of the day. I have seen the data at the Registrar's office at a couple of universities. Often, room utilization is above 90% with barely any time and space left over for talks and special events. And a university in the middle of a city (where universities should be) often don't have any land to make new buildings.
Not to mention, the highest demand courses are always the easiest ones. As someone who has worked as a professor, I refuse to accept that the universities have some administrative imperative to increase the number of sections of easy courses, so students can learn less.
Students should take online courses, but that is besides the point.