battle@cs.utk.edu (David Battle) (03/09/90)
From wuarchive.wustl.edu ~ftp/graphics/gif/R_X_rated/README: > We're sorry, but the R_X_rated directory of GIF files has been taken > off-line due to questions about its usefulness as a research and/or > academic tool as required by the Appropriate Use Guidelines for the > Internet. They as though pictures of Bill the Cat (which are still available) are useful in research but nudes are not. I can think of at least two uses for images of nudes in academic/research situations. One might be a figure drawing class where art students are studying the human form and another might be sample images for an image analysis project. I can't think of any use for a picture of Bill the Cat in research except maybe to make a poster for said researcher's wall. They might as well admit that, despite popular demand, you have caved in the the demands of a prudish minority and succumbed to their censorship. > If you are a faculty member at a degree granting institution of higher > learning and you, or a graduate student under your supervision, would > like to use this material for research or teaching purposes please let > us know by sending e-mail to archives@wugate.wustl.edu. We will > contact you as soon as possible and request a letter describing your > position and how the material would be used for teaching or research, > the material will then be returned to the archives. I have not seen any of these images myself, but until I have I could not possibly hope to decide whether they might be useful in research. And if they are not on-line, how am I supposed to make that decision? I am not a faculty member but I hope that some art or image processing (or other) professor out there will muster his or her courage and request that these images be returned to the archives. -David L. Battle battle@utkux1.utk.edu -- -David L. Battle battle@utkux1.utk.edu battle@battle.esd.ornl.gov
root@neuro.usc.edu (System Manager) (03/09/90)
In article <1990Mar8.222758.8166@cs.utk.edu> battle@cs.utk.edu (David Battle) writes: >From wuarchive.wustl.edu ~ftp/graphics/gif/R_X_rated/README: > >> We're sorry, but the R_X_rated directory of GIF files has been taken >> off-line due to questions about its usefulness as a research and/or >> academic tool as required by the Appropriate Use Guidelines for the >> Internet. > The Internet Appropriate Use Guidelines do not dictate what information can be stored on a computer system connected to the network. Formally, these guidelines may impose some limitations on who can use the network and the content of messages transmitted over the network. Informally, there appears to be tacit acceptance that the benefits of a free flow of communications relating to computer science, software, social issues and recreational discussions permit free flow of such information over the network. It seems to me that the Appropriate Use Guidelines do not contemplate the censorship of an archive of images. While I have never seen the subject images, I do not expect that they are any more or less appropriate as subjects for image enhancement and/or any other research purpose. Indeed, the presumably smooth contours of subjects contained and presumably less than ideal lighting conditions would make at least a few of these images good candidates as examples of difficult image processing tasks. Strict interpretation of the Internet Guidelines would preclude much of the discussion in this newsgroup and a large amount of current network bandwidth. [Exactly how many of you have current federal contracts/subcontracts requiring network access and/or represent a federal agency with approval to use the Internet?]
chn@lanl.gov (Charles Neil) (03/09/90)
In article <1990Mar8.222758.8166@cs.utk.edu>, battle@cs.utk.edu (David Battle) writes: > From wuarchive.wustl.edu ~ftp/graphics/gif/R_X_rated/README: > > > We're sorry, but the R_X_rated directory of GIF files has been taken > > off-line due to questions about its usefulness as a research and/or > > academic tool as required by the Appropriate Use Guidelines for the > > Internet. > > They as though pictures of Bill the Cat (which are still available) are useful > in research but nudes are not. > > I can't think of any use for a picture of Bill the Cat in research except > maybe to make a poster for said researcher's wall. > What's wrong with posters for the researcher's wall? -- Charlie Neil (chn@lanl.gov) Los Alamos National Laboratory (505) 665-0978
kassover@jupiter.crd.ge.com (David Kassover) (03/10/90)
In article <1990Mar8.222758.8166@cs.utk.edu> battle@cs.utk.edu (David Battle) writes: >From wuarchive.wustl.edu ~ftp/graphics/gif/R_X_rated/README: > >> We're sorry, but the R_X_rated directory of GIF files has been taken >> off-line due to questions about its usefulness as a research and/or >> academic tool as required by the Appropriate Use Guidelines for the >> Internet. > Hmm.. This is pure speculation, but it's possible that, in spite of the wording of the announcement, the institution(s) involved may be simply trying to cut costs, one of them being the network bandwidth necessary to ship this stuff around. If that is so, and if they have analyzed the traffic and found that the requests for X material were highly disproportionate to other stuff, then quoting the document mentioned above may be their attempt to avoid a firestorm about censorship/constitutional rights to access the net, and so forth. Or one of their funding sources twigged them about what they were using the funds for...
kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley) (03/10/90)
In article <5913@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> kassover@jupiter.crd.ge.com (David Kassover) writes: >>From wuarchive.wustl.edu ~ftp/graphics/gif/R_X_rated/README: >> We're sorry, but the R_X_rated directory of GIF files has been taken >> off-line due to questions about its usefulness as a research and/or >Hmm.. This is pure speculation, but it's possible that, in spite >of the wording of the announcement, the institution(s) involved >may be simply trying to cut costs, one of them being the network >bandwidth necessary to ship this stuff around. > Or maybe when the semester (quarter?) started, they decided that they really needed the 23+ Megabytes for student accounts? kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propeller Labs Kaleb Keithley spelling and grammar flames > /dev/null
duqu@tank.uchicago.edu (walter bismarck duque de estrada) (03/10/90)
Lost in all this controversy is the fact that WashU's archive is possibly one of the slowest to download from in the nation; downloading any file will take over 20 min at .25 k/sec . The problem is that other places carry very limited GIF collections, for the lack of the aforementioned disk. It would be nice if some of the faster archives could handle some of the GIF files that Wash U carries right now instead of having them repeated at other facilities net wide Just my opinion Walter Duque College: where the geeks come to meet and mate on their feet
Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (03/12/90)
Actually, I would consider a store of images of the human figure to be
very important to many areas of research in computer imaging/graphics.
Figure studies and sequential movement studies are used by:
Artists, medical students and practitioners (in a very broad range of
specialties), animators, athletic instructors, teachers, etc., etc. for
diverse applications. Some examples:
Reconstructive surgery. People generally think of face lifts, but what
about treatment for burns, accident wounds, amputation, congenital defects.
Digital imagery is appropriate for monitoring and planning treatment.
Congenital defects. Digital monitoring and examples of patterns of
growth in dwarfism and other conditions relating to proportion and size.
Athletics. Digital recording, monitoring and correction of technique,
movements; comparative studies, physiotherapy, kinestheology, etc.
I could write volumes of applications in almost any field, but there are
are more direct ways in which rendering, projects and other types of imagery
make appropriate use of the figure. Human beings are genetically programmed
to be aware of extremely subtle nuances in shape, proportion and coloring as
relates to faces and figures (especially faces). If you were testing
dithering patterns, palette reduction, palette correction, raster to vector
algorithms, curve or size manipulation of images and you wanted data which
would show up immediate problems or anomalies, human figure images are
one of the types of images to include. The reason is simple. Subtle dif-
ferences in a rock or a tree or a chipmunk escape us, subtle differences in
people seldom do.
I would heartily support inclusion of appropriate nude images. If space
is limited, limit the images, don't E-liminate them. I do not heartily
support an image bank which is disproportionate in terms of sex or age group.
If the archive is predominantly full-frontal buxom females between 17-28,
then it's rather obvious that it's not there to fulfill valid research goals.
So balance it, but keep the archive.
Julie Petersen (LadyHawke@cup.portal.com)perand@nada.kth.se (Per Andersson) (03/14/90)
In article <5913@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> kassover@jupiter.crd.ge.com (David Kassover) writes: >Hmm.. This is pure speculation, but it's possible that, in spite >of the wording of the announcement, the institution(s) involved >may be simply trying to cut costs, one of them being the network >bandwidth necessary to ship this stuff around. Hmm. It doesn't seem to reduce traffic because everyone gets them from somewhere in Europe instead ( read : Finland ). Maybe it can be used as a point for upgrading the speed of the Nordunet connection ? Ha ha Per -- --- Per Andersson Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden perand@admin.kth.se, @nada.kth.se
sjw2264@cec1.wustl.edu (Stephen John Von Worley) (03/17/90)
In article <7943@tank.uchicago.edu> duqu@tank.uchicago.edu (walter bismarck duque de estrada) writes: > Lost in all this controversy is the fact that WashU's archive > is possibly one of the slowest to download from in the nation; downloading > any file will take over 20 min at .25 k/sec. The problem is that other places > carry very limited GIF collections, for the lack of the aforementioned disk. > It would be nice if some of the faster archives could handle some of the GIF > files that Wash U carries right now instead of having them repeated at other > facilities net wide. Well, here at Wash U, the download rate is 50 k/sec (or more). :) :) Anyway, on a more serious note, I can understand why the folks here decided to close the R and X rated section of wuarchive. The loading by anonymous users here was getting quite high, and thus, a limit had to be instated which capped the number of anonymous sessions on the archive at any one time. This resulted in wuarchive being inaccessible during most of the daylight hours, and thus it was unusable for most people here at Wash U. I assume that transfers of the R and X stuff were quite frequent, and this led to the decision to close the section. In my own humble opinion, I think it was a prudent move. -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Stephen Von Worley "Honesty is my only excuse." -- Metallica Internet: sjw2264@cec2.wustl.edu Ski the winter sun: Ski New Mexico!