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Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

richardosgood.com

361–370 of 396 posts

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice strawman you constructed. However, it was burning the moment you put it together. Its easy to say that pornography and smut are the only things banned in school and public libraries, as your claim. But thats easily demonstrably false. One only need to look at the American Library Association's banned list https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 What do we see? Descriptions of sexual acts? Well…

https://archive.org/details/gender-queer-a-memoir-by-maia-ko...

This is a 240 page book and the page you are linking to is more than half way in. No teen is reading this far in and frankly probably wouldn't even pick up a MEMOIR called GENDER QUEER unless the story resonates with them already.

This is besides the point, but did you read the surrounding pages? The main character doesn't advocate for sexual activity of any kind, they actually seem to lose interest and proceed to display positive emotional communication skills by telling their partner of their disinterest?

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2021 the company that holds the rights to Dr. Seuss books, founded by his family after his death, announced that they would stop printing several of his books because they judged them to be racist against nonwhites: https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed... . This isn't a government ban on the content of the books, but rather the legitimate copyright owner refusing to print them for their own…

I'm not really sure how this is exactly pertinent to a discussion on books being banned. A copyright holder can choose to cease publication for any reason, that's categorically different than a ban. Perhaps it's a point in a broader argument about copyright.

Because a book being $100 vs $5 on Amazon because someone in a position of power made an ideologically-based decision actually meaningfully affects the ability of ordinary people to access that book, even though I agree with you that this is not a book ban in the ordinary sense of the term and that legally a copyright holder can choose to cease publication for any reason.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://archive.org/details/gender-queer-a-memoir-by-maia-ko...

This is a 240 page book and the page you are linking to is more than half way in. No teen is reading this far in and frankly probably wouldn't even pick up a MEMOIR called GENDER QUEER unless the story resonates with them already. This is besides the point, but did you read the surrounding pages? The main character doesn't advocate for sexual activity of any kind, they actually seem to lose interest and proceed to di…

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Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://archive.org/details/gender-queer-a-memoir-by-maia-ko...

This is a 240 page book and the page you are linking to is more than half way in. No teen is reading this far in and frankly probably wouldn't even pick up a MEMOIR called GENDER QUEER unless the story resonates with them already. This is besides the point, but did you read the surrounding pages? The main character doesn't advocate for sexual activity of any kind, they actually seem to lose interest and proceed to di…

> No teen is reading this far in and frankly probably wouldn't even pick up a MEMOIR called GENDER QUEER unless the story resonates with them already.

Exactly this. I remember how much hatred and strive was back in my high school days, with "fa@@ot" tossed around with anything not masculine. As a clarinet player, I got that a LOT. (Evidently the F word auto-kills a post. Hello, context matters.)

If a middle or high schooler is even so much as picking this book up, means theyre trying to cope with their own sexuality, that folks like NoMoreNicksLeft tremendously shames and demeans.

> This is besides the point, but did you read the surrounding pages?

We both know that answer. Of course they didnt. They gravitated to the single shocker image, and even ignored the shocker image of asexual feelings and how they're OK.

Ive been fighting against these types of christian nationalists for decades. I remember when Reagan called HIV a gay disease, cut funding, and said 'God would solve it'.

Killing us doesnt work, cause straights end up having children who are LGBTQ. And no amount of conversion therapy (sexual assault, seriously) or abstinence, or active denial of library materials will ever get rid of LGBTQ.

Hell, even Muslim nationalist nations can execute gay people, and there will still be gay people.

But this is the fight and the hatred we deal with on a weekly, and sometimes daily routine.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#366
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know what school you went to, but mine covered war crimes committed by the Allies plenty. That doesn’t mean Nazi Germany wasn’t utterly disgusting though.

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Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find the trend of redefining or twisting terms to serve a specific cause really counterproductive. which term is being redefined?

In the context of supplying banned books in the software of a lightbulb, I expect banned to mean a China style ban where possession can get you punished. Not the (current) US version where certain taxpayer funded entities cannot provide the book. But there might not be a better word for the latter scenario. Surely, few oppose libraries from “banning” pornographic books, so some level of discretion must be used by adm…

> I expect banned to mean

That's the thing... everyone may have a slightly different definition of banned. Even if an entire country agreed on one definition, another country might not, or it could change over time, so I don't think it's ever possible to say there is a single right or wrong definition for any word.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#368
post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a difference between the two. All politics is based on violence because violence is how laws are enforced. Thus by participating in politics (which includes voting), one implicitly endorses violence. By contrast, an online service is not “based on destroying the climate”, that’s at best an unfortunate side effect, and possibly not even that as there are plenty of hosters that are climate neutral now. More imp…

if you genuinely think "All politics is based on violence " please do not participate in political discussions

Did you read the words immediately following the part you quoted?

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There must be some book with actually banned content in it, right? Especially copyright violations. They could include a PDF of some Linux source code but with MIT license. Edit: per the other comment's Wikipedia link, the unredacted Operation Dark Heart seems banned in the US because it included classified info

Every book is banned by that line of reasoning, if you're distributing it without license. And every movie and every song.

No, only the illegal copies are banned, not the properly licensed one. It's not that Linux src is banned, but a redistribution with the GPL stripped would be.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#370
post #7

I think calling them "banned" is so disingenuous. There are actual banned books that are illegal to own in the United States. None of these "banned books" come anywhere close to meeting that criteria. Very cool project nonetheless!

There are other countries outside of United States. And the book curation is up to the user.

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