BitTorrent + INDUCE Act + Linspire 5.0

[Brian Densmore]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Leo Mauler
> 
> 
> --- Brian Densmore wrote:
> 
> > Is it possible to invoke Godwin's law by naming 
> > Eva Braun, it being a circular reference to 
> > Hitler? Or does that invoke the corollary of 
> > Godwin's law? Or is it in itself a circular 
> > reference to Godwin's law?
> 
> I think its a good time to point out that "Godwin's
> Law" is nothing more and nothing less a statement of
> the probability of Hitler being mentioned in a given
> discussion, being that the probability of Hitler being
> mentioned in a UseNet discussion ("Godwin's Law" was
> originally developed on UseNet NEWS) is directly
> proportional to the length of the UseNet discussion.
What Godwin's Law states and what it has come to mean are not 
necessarily the same thing. There are lots of "standards"
but the real question should be what is the defacto "standard".

> 
> It does not make any mention of who "wins" the
> discussion, a common misconception about "Godwin's
> Law".
I don't recall saying anything about winning or losing, I was
merely mentioning the fact that perhaps this discussion had gone
on long enough that some of us might have gotten the feeling we 
were now members of the BitTorrent users group. ;')

For further reading and in support of my position, I contribute the 
following quote and link:

quote,

"The Law is generally used on Usenet as an indicator of whether a 
thread has gone on too long, who's playing fair and who's just slinging 
mud, and who finally gets to "win" the discussion.  It has, over time, 
become the closest thing to an impartial moderator that Usenet can get.

	So, what this means in practical terms:

	o If someone brings up Nazis in general conversation when it
	  wasn't necessary or germane without it necessarily being an
	  insult, it's probably about time for the thread to end.
	o If someone brings up Nazis in general conversation when it 
	  was vaguely related but is basically being used as an insult, 
	  the speaker can be considered to be flaming and not debating.
	o If someone brings up Nazis in any conversation that has been
	  going on too long for one of the parties, it can be used as 
	  a fair excuse to end the thread and declare victory for the
	  other side."

and link,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

Not necessarily related.

Now to go see how my Nazi memorabilia is selling over on EBay.