Top products from r/legaladviceofftopic

https://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM

it looks like a strict liability law, so you need license (use or other one sec 13-?. the table at the end has permitted levels- i'd send them the amazon link with license app, but it looks likes the amazon sample is under the permitted limits and harmless(ish)... it looks like there's no restrictions on it in US, as its natural ore. so NK or ISIS could order a ton from zon and bezos would not commit treason (i think US decided quick that the ore is too costly/abundant to secure, and pivoted away from rocks to secure/ban trade in the refining technology... so it looks like the radioactive levels NZ permits are same as the natural ore, to get above that, it needs to be refined, which you can't do unless you're NK, CN, FR, UK, IR, USA, etc.

If it's "inevitable," it's a very, very long ways off. Modern machine learning techniques are more a result of huge data volumes than of particularly sophisticated math - even things like deep neural networks are more akin to doing a lot of calculus quickly than they are akin to anything you're recognize as "thinking." I know it's an old joke in the field that "anything we know how to do isn't AI any more," but we're not materially closer to creating a mechanical system we'd even hypothetically recognize as sapient than we were 30 years ago.

Once you start arguing about "brain in a box"-style AI, you rapidly run afoul of the sort of logical shortcuts that plague groups like LessWrong, where you rapidly start either rationalizing arbitrarily-strong characteristics into your supposed AI or start rationalizing away physical limits.

For further reading, I recommend Rule 34, by Charlie Stross. (Yes, the title is a reference.) He takes this premise a bit more seriously than I do, and follows one scenario (where a research lab creates a strong AI personal assistant, which then influences events beyond the lab) through to its conclusions. While he doesn't get into the legislative or judicial elements, he does explore the problems such a creation would pose for policework and investigation, and the kinds of things that might make the question "is an AI alive" rather urgent for the law.

There is a book called The Courage of Their Convictions which discusses the Supreme Court Case and interviews the parties to the case.

WHile true, it's not just then. It happens all the time when people literally run out of money after paying every penny they have towards the court order. Not just with child support, either, in fact. It's significantly more common with "just" misdemeanors.

Punishment Without Crime is an excellent book on the topic.

Well then I strongly recommend going straight to the source and reading Thunder Below!. Written by Fluckey himself, this book is literally too insane to be made into a movie, because no one would believe it.

This is probably the best submarine story ever written. And there's cake.

https://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Law-Principles-Policies-Treatise/dp/1454849479/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527540913&sr=1-1&keywords=chemerinsky+constitutional+law

The Chemerinsky is excellent and very readable. Highly recommend.

So now I wonder if a prosecutor can argue that Sasquatch is a humanoid and can receive similar protection as humans under the law, and that argument goes up the chain through appeals courts, or if a political position or legislative body must decide if Sasquatch is human-like enough to count before a prosecutor can use murder or manslaughter as the charge for Ernie in the lowest criminal court.

Wouldn't that require ascertaining its intelligence? What if Ernie shot an ape under the same circumstances? Wouldn't he at least get a cruelty to animals charge? Well, if Sasquatch's intelligence has to be determined before deciding if it's human, so a prosecutor can know what to charge Ernie with, and Ernie shot Sasquatch so no one can know... this is a sad movie with a poignant message about outsiders now.

Also, and this is the God's honest truth... my best friend's cousin wrote a nonfiction book about Sasquatch being able to travel interdimensionally by will. Like this is the reason no one ever sees Sasquatch because it's gone into another dimension. Does that indicate something about the intelligence of Sasquatch? It might not be able to count or read, but it can travel interdimensionally. What if Sasquatch's intelligence is observable but not measurable?

Unicorn Butt Cops: Computer Forensics

/u/Cypher_Blue has a hard-on for justice, and he'll enhance anything to pound some justice into perpetrators.

My FIL just purchased this and it's wonderful:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016IQYO6U/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1#immersive-view_1492041152822

Looks like it's on sale.

OOSSXX 4-Channel HD 960P Wireless Network/IP Security Camera System(IP Wireless WIFI NVR Kits),4Pcs 1.3 Megapixel Wireless Indoor/Outdoor IR Bullet IP Cameras,P2P,App https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M5HKSU9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-Rz7ybR6A0DYC

Have you heard of Henrietta Lacks ?

Here’s a book about what happened to her cells.

I used to get wakened most weekends by religious solicitations until I hung this sign on my door knob a few years ago. Not a single issue since. The message is equally suitable for salespeople and religious proselytizers.

Full disclosure: Am not actually a night shift worker.

$100?

Look at this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Prosecution-Fundamentals-Preparation-Summation/dp/1889031348

Oh, god no. He should read this, and then get a job at a fat-food restaurant.

Think smaller... insects are cheap and easy to acquire and you don't have to feel bad about harming something cute and fuzzy. It could take months to get rid of all of them!

https://www.amazon.com/1500-Live-Ladybugs-Guaranteed-Delivery/dp/B00533KOIC

https://flukerfarms.com/live-crickets/

Get a privacy latch that can only be locked / unlocked from the inside.

https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Line-9888-Flip-Action-Door/dp/B001LR1YA6/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=privacy+lock&qid=1565019113&s=gateway&sr=8-9

These attach to the inside edge of the frame. If the apartment management complains tell them their people need to knock and ask permission to enter.

I had a big problem with people selling products or religions ignoring my "no soliciting" sign, so around eight years ago I switched it to this sign on the door knob. I'm not a night shift worker.

This has worked with only one person ignoring it in all that time. My thought was that while pushy people will ignore a no soliciting sign, very few want to deal with an angry homeowner they've just awakened. That, and maybe a little pity mixed in. Either way, it's been good.