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Thread: Who needs a pointer anymore?

  1. #11
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    The big problem is that products like this if they cause injury will possibly cause a knee jerk reaction and lead to all lasers being banned from private hands not just pointers but ALL lasers.

    We saw this with hand guns in the UK. The illegal ones were abused with only ever a couple of legitimately held ones being involved in incidents, but it led to all being banned.

    The more incidents there are like this the more and more I think pointers should be banned. I'm sorry for those who love them, but I think the alternative is we lose access to all lasers. Incidents with pointers and these derivatives are going to end badly for all of us. A few incidents and we could easily end up wiyth a situation where there's licensing and the only people who are allowed to own lasers including projectors are universities, industrial processors using lasers for commercial cutting and licensed club premises, with no private ownership for anyone, even DJ's or display professionals as well as hobbyists.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnar View Post
    In these days we see over-protective governments and nanny states trying to protect the 1% (I feel it much more) that would have otherwise been taken out of the game by natural section.

    I say let natural selection run it's course!

    The gene pool could do with a good strong dose of chlorine...
    Just as my signature says, it's totally true.
    http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3985/laser.gif

    Doc's website

    The Health and Safety Act 1971

    Recklessly interfering with Darwin’s natural selection process, thereby extending the life cycle of dim-witted ignorami; thus perpetuating and magnifying the danger to us all, by enabling them to breed and walk amongst us, our children and loved ones.





  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by X-Laser View Post
    Nothing wrong with being libertarian or worrying about nanny states... both are completely valid. But the problem here is that the 1% is not just the guy who plays Russian Roulette... it is all the people around him when he does it. I can easily see a DJ buying a pair of these, going out to a school dance and blasting away. Lasers shooting from the palms of your hands?!?! That's pretty cool.

    I really do subscribe to a certain extent in Darwinism and the Feds simply cannot and should not protect us from all of the standard deviations in the world, but this is about the people around the standard deviation - and the people who are then further impacted by a tragedy.

    As John and Adam point out, this would not be something that would be hard to over-legislate in some reactionary folie a deux. Then where does that leave the rest of us?
    Your "but" makes me think that I was not clear enough explaining my position.

    I think that this should NOT be marketed to the public AND that eBay should take down the auction.

    Darwinism is fine for the fellow using his hunting rifle as a bong. This product is more likely to injure an "innocent" rather than the person who buys it. That could, indeed, move some politician to take some "safety" related action against lasers in general.

    Peace,
    dave

  4. #14
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    So does that place the burden of “knowing better” on our shoes? I think in some instances like this....yes. Tell them to pull the listing. After more people find out that the media in local areas get involved....more attention will divert into the wrong direction and we will all pay the price for some careless individual’s reckless abandon for others. I can see legal repercussions from here...more than creating a looming aura of danger to the general public that are , for the most part, uneducated about what lasers encompass.
    This was on the TV a couple of days ago....11:00 news local to me....
    http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_s...storyid=150597

    See what I mean by uninformed? BS reply or not...not enough of the truth is out there...simple fact is most don't want to learn about things before they do something. Not logical at all.
    You are the only one that can make your dreams come true....and the only one that can stop them...A.M. Dietrich

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doc View Post
    Just as my signature says, it's totally true.
    Doc, ever seen a movie titled "Idiocracy"? I suggest you check it out if you haven't already. The story line holds very true; this is my worry.
    This space for rent.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnar View Post
    Doc, ever seen a movie titled "Idiocracy"? I suggest you check it out if you haven't already. The story line holds very true; this is my worry.
    I haven't but I will.

    I vision a future with safety devices fitted to forks to stop the ignorami from taking out both eyes trying to eat a yorkshire pudding.
    http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3985/laser.gif

    Doc's website

    The Health and Safety Act 1971

    Recklessly interfering with Darwin’s natural selection process, thereby extending the life cycle of dim-witted ignorami; thus perpetuating and magnifying the danger to us all, by enabling them to breed and walk amongst us, our children and loved ones.





  7. #17
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    Read about the plot here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy the movie is a must see.
    This space for rent.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikkojay View Post
    Completely agree, I did so as well. If that listing is not taken down, my faith in ebay will be even less than it is lately (just one blip above immeasureable by humans)
    I suggest we also send an NTD request to YouTube.

    Even if they can't take him down for demonstrating unsafe practices (his handheld YAG is a directed-energy weapon, period), we can still get his videos offline by sending a 'copyright infringement' complaint with YT. Most of the time it means the videos are taken down unless the user replies to the complaining party.

    In the latter case, and mr. AnselmoFanZero *does* send a sensible reply, he's got some explaining to do.

    EDIT: I just checked his account and found out he's living in Germany. As far as I know that country has very strict laws regarding 'handheld lasers' and weapons...

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnar View Post
    Read about the plot here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy the movie is a must see.




    I have not yet seen Idiocracy, however, the guy behind it, Mike Judge, did "Beavis and Butthead", "King of the Hill", and "Office Space". He has also done a lot of animation for Comedy Central and SNL.

    If you want something with better reviews, "Harrison Bergeron", while more of a tragedy, is also a must see. It does have its funny moments. The author is Kurt Vonnegut.


    One line is something like this, from a teacher, to a 16 year old or so Harrison:

    "Harrison, I'm sorry, you will not be moving on to sixth grade, you once again had a 100 on the test!"
    Something like "Harrison, you must not try so hard, dear" is the next line.

    Higher education is illegal in Harrison's day. Studies had shown Americans were most happy in the 1950s, so the whole country is rolled back to bobby sox, B&W TV, long skirts, and cars with fins, and some sort of alien, cold war, enemy that does not exist.

    Harrison's first girlfriend is given a sort of lobotomy when the "dumbing down" headset she wears
    stops working, but no one can fix it. She no longer remembers being happy with him. So he decides to get revenge. I wont spoil it with how he does it, but it is something we all dream of. Its worth watching or reading, but it has a sad ending.

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 11-20-2010 at 07:04.

  10. #20
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    Lest anyone think that these are excessive exaggerations, at the beginning of a new quarter/semester my grading is rife with deductions for grammar and sentence structure. My students are shocked that I refuse to try to "figure out" what they were really trying to say and give them credit for their "effort."

    Many students (at least in California) graduate high school, literally being unable to construct a complete sentence.

    Peace,
    dave

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