In November the European Parliament’s culture and education committee is due to move forward on its proposed "audiovisual media services" directive, before sending it to the full parliament in December. The new rules update and relax the "Television Without Frontiers" directive of 1989, which opened Europe’s national markets. But critics complain that they also seek to extend fusty regulations from the era of broadcast television to today’s very different technologies. Rules on advertising, the protection of children and so on could potentially also apply to all kinds of video streams, including video blogs, online games and mobile-video services.This could have a chilling effect on innovation and risks stifling emerging technologies with rules designed for another age, says Chris Marsden of RAND Europe, a think-tank that has analysed the potential impact of the proposed rules for Ofcom, Britain’s media and telecoms regulator. "Regulators have to be thoughtful. They cannot predict the future of television "or the internet—no one can," says Niklas Zennstr. m, a co-founder of Skype, who is now setting up an internet television firm.The proposed rules may be unrealistic as well as onerous. The idea that websites can be regulated like broadcasters, which are required to keep strict records of what they show in order to help watchdogs investigate complaints, is untenable. Firms could simply relocate outside the European Union to escape the new rules. Last week Ruth Hieronymi, a member of parliament, said she would introduce wording that might help to overcome some of the objections.Behind the debate is the question of how best to balance competition and protection. Traditional broadcasters worry that they will be shackled by regulations while brisk start-ups can do as they please—so they like the idea of extending regulation to their new rivals. But even if the rules are approved as they stand, they will not come into force until 2010. Such a long, slow process seems incongruous given the pace of technological change. Why Traditional broadcasters want to extend regulations to the new broadcasters()
A. Because they are chained by regulations while the new rivals are free from them
Because it is hard to balance competition and protection
C. Because the new broadcasters are more adapted to the regulations
D. Because the rules come into force in a slow and long process
Will humans always be superior to machinesThis statement actually consists of a series of three related claims: (1) machines are tools of human minds; (2) human minds will always be superior to machines; and (3) it is because machines are human ’tools that human minds will always be superior to machines. While I concede the first claim, whether I agree with the other two claims depends partly on how one defines "superiority," and partly on how willing one is to humble oneself to the unknown future scenarios.(41) After all, would any machine even exist unless a human being invented it Of course not. Moreover, I would be hard-pressed to think of any machine that cannot be described as a tool. Even machines designed to entertain or amuse us—for example, toy robots, cars and video games, and novelty items—are in fact tools, which their inventors and promoters use for engaging in commerce and the business of entertainment and amusement.(42) And, the claim that a machine can be an end in itself, without purpose or utilitarian function for humans whatsoever, is dubious at best, since I cannot conjure up even a single example of any such machine.(43) As for the statement’s second claim, in certain respects machines are superior. We have devised machines that perform number-crunching and other rote cerebral tasks with greater accuracy and speed than human minds ever could. However, if one defines superiority not in terms of competence in performing rote tasks but rather in other ways, human minds are superior. Machines have no capacity for independent thought, for making judgments based on normative considerations, or for developing emotional responses to intellectual problems.(44)Up until now, the notion of human-made machines that develop the ability to think on their own, and to develop so-called "emotional intelligence," has been pure fiction. Besides, even in fiction we humans ultimately prevail over such machines—as in the cases of Frankenstein’s monster and Hat, the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Yet it seems presumptuous to assert with confidence that humans will always maintain their superior status over their machines. In other words, machines will soon exhibit the traits to which we humans attribute our own superiority.(45) And insofar as humans have the unique capacity for independent thought, subjective judgment, and emotional response, it also seems fair to claim superiority over our machines. Besides, should we ever become so clever a species as to devise machines that can truly think for themselves and look out for their own well-being, then query whether these machines of the future would be "machines" anymore.[A] Recent advances in biotechnology, particularly in the area of human genome research, suggest that within the twenty-first century we’ll witness machines that can learn to think on their own, to repair and nurture themselves, to experience Visceral sensations, and so forth.[B] The statement is clearly accurate insofar as machines are tools of human minds.[C] In sum, because we devise machines in order that they may serve us, it is fair to characterize machines as "tools of human minds."[D] It’s hardly surprising that human-made machine can do the most works that belong to human before.[E] In fact, it is because we can devise machines that are superior in these respects that we devise them--as our tools—to begin with.[F] When we develop any sort of machine we always have some sort of end in mind—a purpose for that machine. 43()
早期的网络操作系统经历了由______结构向非对等结构的过渡。
Last weekend, sportsmen and women of an unusually hardy disposition descended on Sherborne, a pretty Dorset town. There, they swam twice around Sherborne Castle’s lake, cycled 180km and then ran a marathon. The winners of this gruelling race—Britain’s inaugural Ironman triathlon—were rewarded with a spot in a prestigious race in Hawaii, where yet more pain awaits.For a sport barely known in Britain five years ago, triathlon has grown at a sprinter’s pace. This year the British Triathlon Association, the governing body, will sanction some 450 triathlons, duathlons (running and biking ) and aquathlons (running and swimming). These vary from tough races aimed at endurance junkies to shorter events designed to lure newcomers. By far the most successful is the London triathlon, which, three weeks ago, brought 8,000—half of them first-timers—to the Royal Victoria Dock in east London. That made it the world’s biggest.There are echoes of the jogging craze of the early 1980s. Both sports are American exports; both have grown partly thanks to television coverage. Inclusion in the Olympic and Commonwealth games has conferred credibility and state funding on triathlon. Even better, Britain’s professional triathletes are doing rather well on the international circuit.There are practical reasons for the growth of the sport, too. Nick Rusling, event director of the London triathlon, points out that established events such as the London marathon and Great North Run are hugely over-subscribed (this year the marathon received 98500 applications for 36000 places). Triathlon offers amore reliable route to exhaustion, and a fresh challenge to athletes who are likely to cross-train anyway.The sport will not soon supplant "the great suburban Everest", as Chris Brasher, founder of the London marathon, described his event. The sport’s tripartite nature means that putting on events is fiendishly complex, a fact reflected in high entry fees: competitors at last weekend’s Ironman race forked out £ 220. Shorter events are cheaper, but participants must still provide their own bicycles and wetsuits and pay for training. Compared with the inhabitants of Newham, the London borough where this year’s London triathlon was held,competitors appeared overwhelmingly white and middle class.Another drag on growth is a shortage of suitable venues in a small island—a problem exacerbated by safety fears. But that ought to be less of a hindrance in future. Two court decisions, in 2003 and earlier this year, have firmly established that the owners of large bodies of water may not be held responsible when adults injure themselves as a result of extravagant sporting actions. It can be learned from the second paragraph of the text that()
A. triathlon is a fast-growing sport in UK
Britain used to be barely known
C. triathlon is a prestigious race in USA
D. Hawaii used to be a spot of pains