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I didn't think Objectivist ideas was _that_ strong in USA to inflict on the election. Maybe I'm wrong though...

I don't know that a reliable count of American Objectivists has ever been conducted. In some ways, they're a difficult group to track, because they don't build churches (except under contract :-), haven't formed an independent political party (though most, one would think, at least lean Libertarian), etc.

They are certainly out there, however. I keep a copy of Atlas Shrugged on my desk at work, and have found perhaps a half-dozen like-minded peers through this simple advertisement. Not a stellar count over a few years, but that is partly the product of the generic Objectivist aversion to proselytization. I am always pleased to hear Neal Boortz's periodic plugs on "hate radio" :-)

Indeed, that is part of why I am posting today. Seeing so many electoral commentators broad-brush Bush "moral values" voters as "evangelical", I decided that perhaps I should rise to the charge. Objectivism, and the world, could do with a healthy dose of evangelical exhortation, and the mood of the country suggests that perhaps they are ready to listen. One may hope.

From the referenced BN page:

"I have been fascinated by leadership dynamics throughout my working career. [...] A concern is that we often get to hear the same leadership issues over and over again, yet leaders continue to lead with mediocrity and passiveness".

His Billness will not take this lightly! These guys can kiss their jobs at Microsoft Research goodbye! :-)

does that mean they'll incorporate "children popup books" technology into newspaper ads?

ACK! :(

Nader has been a celebrity lawyer ever since the Corvair thing back in the 60's. His book, Unsafe at Any Speed, was a bestseller. He followed it up with so many consumer advocate style lawsuits that he was already established as newsworthy when he decided to run for office. I don't think he was ever been out of the public eye.

They didn't "kill off" The Wind Done Gone, they actually turned it into a bestseller that you can buy just about anywhere. Also, "great" isn't all that accurate either. I haven't read it, but the reviews were pretty harsh. The final paragraph of the encyclopedia link I gave above sums up the critical reaction.

I also recommend that you spend some time with On War by Carl von Clausewitz. Despite the fact that this work is approaching 200 years old it remains one of the definitive works on the subject.

Now, when we are already at war, it's too late to whine and whimper. You may not agree with us being there, or think we should be there but for different reasons than we are. None of that matters now. What matters is that we are there and at war. It's time to deal with reality and get the job done that we went over there to do. It's time to put this partisan whining aside and finish what has been started. We can deal with "should have" and "would have" after our service men and women are no longer at risk.

As Kosh put it in Babylon 5, "When the avalanche has started it is too late for the pebbles to vote".

In Portland, Oregon, a friend mentioned that, before the last election, there were no signs in the yards in the wealthy area where he lives. Now there are seven Kerry/Edwards signs in the yards around his. There are no Bush signs.

I began looking for Bush signs as I drive around my area. I've seen none. There is at least one Kerry sign on each block, usually more.

I've heard that there are plenty of Bush signs in the rural areas of the state.

Many people in the U.S. know very, very little about the activities in their government. There are many very angry people. The ignorant and the angry are easily manipulated. To them, for example, bombing for democracy makes sense.

During the Clinton years, I read the books that were published about him. They said he was having sex with slutty women. They tried to find something wrong with his small losing investment called Whitewater. They said he may have, at some time during his being governor of Arkansas, associated with people who later turned out to be involved in questionable activities. I found the books interesting, but a little lame.

Now I've read the books about Bush. It's amazing. The information about Bush is about severe corruption of government.

The negative information about George W. Bush seems endless. Just when I think I know 10% of the corruption, I find more detail that shows I know less than 1% of it. For example, George W. Bush's brother was shown in a lawsuit deposition on 20/20 casually talking about his prostitutes and his use of government influence to make money. This is Neil Bush talking about himself.

George H.W. Bush was involved in the weapons business with a brother of Osama bin Laden. See House of Bush, House of Saud: The secret relationship between the world's two most powerful dynasties by Craig Unger, 2004, Scribner, New York, New York, USA. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

Most media exists to make money. Advertisers are understandably careful not to alienate anyone. It is not possible to develop an accurate opinion of government activities only by listening to the carefully crafted phrases from media employees who would lose their jobs if they seemed to indicate a preference for one policy over another. It's necessary to read books.

George Soros says, "President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests, and undermining American values." If Dole had been elected instead of Clinton, the U.S. would have had sensible leadership. This election is different. It is not a matter of which candidate you like. If you vote for Bush, you are poorly informed. This is not a claim that Kerry and Edwards are perfect. They represent, at minimum, a needed change.

--
Government data compares Democrat and Republican economics.

No. Perception mediates reality, but the real is not entirely out of grasp.

I believe the grandparent was doing one up on Kant and distinguishing between perceived reality and actual reality. What Kant fails to solve is the fact that there is always a risk of discrepancy between the two. When there is, people tend to go for the former and ignore the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I am not disagreeing with Kant. I just think that Kierkegaard and David Bohm have clarified some gaps in "Logic". Even Kant admits that truth is in the eye of the beholder but tries to justify this with the extistence of a "thing in itself".

This is the effect that lets government define a reality in which terrorists are right around the corner. Most people can be conditioned with fear and the beauty of human perception is that the fear need not even be real.

Books about those who designed
the Bush administration's deliberate dishonesty

There are many excellent people in the Republican political party in the United States. But there is are people who say they are Republicans who might be called "Re-money-cans". (There is no "public" in Remoneycan.) They are only interested in money and power and they achieve them by using dishonesty as a tool. For example, the Remoneycans have been running advertisements on U.S. television claiming that George W. Bush is a more experienced military leader than John Kerry, who opposes him for the 2004 presidential election. During times when people in the U.S. feel threatened, a large percentage of them feel that violence is the only answer, and the ads manipulate that feeling. The ads may be very convincing if the viewer does not know the truth, that John Kerry is much more experienced, as the Military Service Records for Bush and Kerry show. Also see the essay Bush's Military Records Show He Shirked.

1. Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The brains behind the remarkable political triumph of George W. Bush by Lou Dubose, Jan Reid, and Carl M. Cannon, 2003, PublicAffairs. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

   The secret of Karl Rove's success is that U.S. voters don't want to believe there is widespread corruption in their government. Therefore, if lies are extreme enough, they will be accepted.

   President George W. Bush has a habit of giving disrespectful nicknames to those with whom he works. "Boy Genius" is one of President Bush's nicknames for Karl Rove. President Bush also calls Karl Rove, "Turd Blossom". The term refers to a flower that grows in the feces of a cow.

2. Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove made George W. Bush presidential by James Moore and Wayne Slater, 2003, John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York, USA. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

   An Amazon review about the present U.S. president, George W. Bush, quotes the book: "Karl Rove matters to all Americans, many who have never even heard his name. While the president chafes at the description of Rove as 'Bush's Brain,' he can hardly deny that every policy and political decision either goes through, or comes from, the consultant," write the authors, leading them to pose the question, "Who really runs this country?"

3. Bad Boy: The life and politics of Lee Atwater by John Brady, 1997, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon

   Lee Atwater and Karl Rove worked together, but Lee died of a brain tumor when he was 40. Mr. Atwater also had no interest in government policy, but only in how to get someone elected. For example, see the top of page 103 of the hardcover edition: "Indeed, Lee had no interest in the policy loop." Another quote, about his sexual involvement with women other than his wife, from page 151: "He [Lee Atw

Books about those who designed
the Bush administration's deliberate dishonesty

There are many excellent people in the Republican political party in the United States. But there is are people who say they are Republicans who might be called "Re-money-cans". (There is no "public" in Remoneycan.) They are only interested in money and power and they achieve them by using dishonesty as a tool. For example, the Remoneycans have been running advertisements on U.S. television claiming that George W. Bush is a more experienced military leader than John Kerry, who opposes him for the 2004 presidential election. During times when people in the U.S. feel threatened, a large percentage of them feel that violence is the only answer, and the ads manipulate that feeling. The ads may be very convincing if the viewer does not know the truth, that John Kerry is much more experienced, as the Military Service Records for Bush and Kerry show. Also see the essay Bush's Military Records Show He Shirked.

1. Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The brains behind the remarkable political triumph of George W. Bush by Lou Dubose, Jan Reid, and Carl M. Cannon, 2003, PublicAffairs. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

   The secret of Karl Rove's success is that U.S. voters don't want to believe there is widespread corruption in their government. Therefore, if lies are extreme enough, they will be accepted.

   President George W. Bush has a habit of giving disrespectful nicknames to those with whom he works. "Boy Genius" is one of President Bush's nicknames for Karl Rove. President Bush also calls Karl Rove, "Turd Blossom". The term refers to a flower that grows in the feces of a cow.

2. Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove made George W. Bush presidential by James Moore and Wayne Slater, 2003, John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York, USA. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

   An Amazon review about the present U.S. president, George W. Bush, quotes the book: "Karl Rove matters to all Americans, many who have never even heard his name. While the president chafes at the description of Rove as 'Bush's Brain,' he can hardly deny that every policy and political decision either goes through, or comes from, the consultant," write the authors, leading them to pose the question, "Who really runs this country?"

3. Bad Boy: The life and politics of Lee Atwater by John Brady, 1997, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon

   Lee Atwater and Karl Rove worked together, but Lee died of a brain tumor when he was 40. Mr. Atwater also had no interest in government policy, but only in how to get someone elected. For example, see the top of page 103 of the hardcover edition: "Indeed, Lee had no interest in the policy loop." Another quote, about his sexual involvement with women other than his wife, from page 151: "He [Lee Atw

Books about those who designed
the Bush administration's deliberate dishonesty

There are many excellent people in the Republican political party in the United States. But there is are people who say they are Republicans who might be called "Re-money-cans". (There is no "public" in Remoneycan.) They are only interested in money and power and they achieve them by using dishonesty as a tool. For example, the Remoneycans have been running advertisements on U.S. television claiming that George W. Bush is a more experienced military leader than John Kerry, who opposes him for the 2004 presidential election. During times when people in the U.S. feel threatened, a large percentage of them feel that violence is the only answer, and the ads manipulate that feeling. The ads may be very convincing if the viewer does not know the truth, that John Kerry is much more experienced, as the Military Service Records for Bush and Kerry show. Also see the essay Bush's Military Records Show He Shirked.

1. Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The brains behind the remarkable political triumph of George W. Bush by Lou Dubose, Jan Reid, and Carl M. Cannon, 2003, PublicAffairs. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

   The secret of Karl Rove's success is that U.S. voters don't want to believe there is widespread corruption in their government. Therefore, if lies are extreme enough, they will be accepted.

   President George W. Bush has a habit of giving disrespectful nicknames to those with whom he works. "Boy Genius" is one of President Bush's nicknames for Karl Rove. President Bush also calls Karl Rove, "Turd Blossom". The term refers to a flower that grows in the feces of a cow.

2. Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove made George W. Bush presidential by James Moore and Wayne Slater, 2003, John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York, USA. Reviews: Powell's Barnes & Noble Amazon

   An Amazon review about the present U.S. president, George W. Bush, quotes the book: "Karl Rove matters to all Americans, many who have never even heard his name. While the president chafes at the description of Rove as 'Bush's Brain,' he can hardly deny that every policy and political decision either goes through, or comes from, the consultant," write the authors, leading them to pose the question, "Who really runs this country?"

3. Bad Boy: The life and politics of Lee Atwater by John Brady, 1997, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon

   Lee Atwater and Karl Rove worked together, but Lee died of a brain tumor when he was 40. Mr. Atwater also had no interest in government policy, but only in how to get someone elected. For example, see the top of page 103 of the hardcover edition: "Indeed, Lee had no interest in the policy loop." Another quote, about his sexual involvement with women other than his wife, from page 151: "He [Lee Atw

1. Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War by Producer/ Director Robert Greenwald, 2003, 56 minutes. Independent film by the Producer. Web site: Uncovered. Reviews: Powell's (out of stock, no reviews) Barnes & Noble Amazon

   This documentary shows the actual video of Bush administration officials justifying the war in Iraq. The overall effect is powerful.

   Quotes:

   • "... it is a federal felony, it's a crime, to mislead and distort information and present it to the Congress." -- 23:14 minutes into the movie.

   • "... the administration has not been honest..."

   • "... very disturbing ... intervention by people particularly from Vice President Cheney's office and Vice President Cheney himself ... to produce precisely the language which would allow them ... to support the decision to go into Iraq." -- Dr. David C. MacMichael, former CIA analyst. Page 7 of the transcript, 7:32 minutes in the movie.

   • "It is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have a hundred percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction's existence, and zero certainty about where they are." -- Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector, referring to the administration's statements, at 34:44 minutes into the movie.

   This work is available several in several forms, some of which are free:

   • A transcript of the movie is available online. NOTE: Both forms of the transcript contain errors. The errors I've seen are minor. The quotes here have been checked against the movie.

   • The transcript is also available as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The Acrobat PDF Reader software needed to view the transcript is a free download for all computers.

   • You can buy the DVD online for $9.95 from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or from CafeShops.com, at a Cafe Shops online store that is inappropriately titled Disinformation. The store originally sold items connected with a humorous TV show called Disinformation.

   • The DVD is available on loan through Netflix.

   • Make your own copies: Kate McArdle, one of the producers, told me that they encourage people to make copies of the DVD and give them to friends (but not sell them, of course). Also, they encourage people to play the movie for groups of people, without extra payment.

2. Unprecedented - 2000 Presidential Election by Richard Ray Perez, Joan Sekler, and Robert Greenwald, 2002, reissued 2004. Web site: Unprecedented. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon, DVD Amazon, VHS IMDB

   From a

1. Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War by Producer/ Director Robert Greenwald, 2003, 56 minutes. Independent film by the Producer. Web site: Uncovered. Reviews: Powell's (out of stock, no reviews) Barnes & Noble Amazon

   This documentary shows the actual video of Bush administration officials justifying the war in Iraq. The overall effect is powerful.

   Quotes:

   • "... it is a federal felony, it's a crime, to mislead and distort information and present it to the Congress." -- 23:14 minutes into the movie.

   • "... the administration has not been honest..."

   • "... very disturbing ... intervention by people particularly from Vice President Cheney's office and Vice President Cheney himself ... to produce precisely the language which would allow them ... to support the decision to go into Iraq." -- Dr. David C. MacMichael, former CIA analyst. Page 7 of the transcript, 7:32 minutes in the movie.

   • "It is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have a hundred percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction's existence, and zero certainty about where they are." -- Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector, referring to the administration's statements, at 34:44 minutes into the movie.

   This work is available several in several forms, some of which are free:

   • A transcript of the movie is available online. NOTE: Both forms of the transcript contain errors. The errors I've seen are minor. The quotes here have been checked against the movie.

   • The transcript is also available as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The Acrobat PDF Reader software needed to view the transcript is a free download for all computers.

   • You can buy the DVD online for $9.95 from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or from CafeShops.com, at a Cafe Shops online store that is inappropriately titled Disinformation. The store originally sold items connected with a humorous TV show called Disinformation.

   • The DVD is available on loan through Netflix.

   • Make your own copies: Kate McArdle, one of the producers, told me that they encourage people to make copies of the DVD and give them to friends (but not sell them, of course). Also, they encourage people to play the movie for groups of people, without extra payment.

2. Unprecedented - 2000 Presidential Election by Richard Ray Perez, Joan Sekler, and Robert Greenwald, 2002, reissued 2004. Web site: Unprecedented. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon, DVD Amazon, VHS IMDB

   From a

1. Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War by Producer/ Director Robert Greenwald, 2003, 56 minutes. Independent film by the Producer. Web site: Uncovered. Reviews: Powell's (out of stock, no reviews) Barnes & Noble Amazon

   This documentary shows the actual video of Bush administration officials justifying the war in Iraq. The overall effect is powerful.

   Quotes:

   • "... it is a federal felony, it's a crime, to mislead and distort information and present it to the Congress." -- 23:14 minutes into the movie.

   • "... the administration has not been honest..."

   • "... very disturbing ... intervention by people particularly from Vice President Cheney's office and Vice President Cheney himself ... to produce precisely the language which would allow them ... to support the decision to go into Iraq." -- Dr. David C. MacMichael, former CIA analyst. Page 7 of the transcript, 7:32 minutes in the movie.

   • "It is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have a hundred percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction's existence, and zero certainty about where they are." -- Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector, referring to the administration's statements, at 34:44 minutes into the movie.

   This work is available several in several forms, some of which are free:

   • A transcript of the movie is available online. NOTE: Both forms of the transcript contain errors. The errors I've seen are minor. The quotes here have been checked against the movie.

   • The transcript is also available as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The Acrobat PDF Reader software needed to view the transcript is a free download for all computers.

   • You can buy the DVD online for $9.95 from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or from CafeShops.com, at a Cafe Shops online store that is inappropriately titled Disinformation. The store originally sold items connected with a humorous TV show called Disinformation.

   • The DVD is available on loan through Netflix.

   • Make your own copies: Kate McArdle, one of the producers, told me that they encourage people to make copies of the DVD and give them to friends (but not sell them, of course). Also, they encourage people to play the movie for groups of people, without extra payment.

2. Unprecedented - 2000 Presidential Election by Richard Ray Perez, Joan Sekler, and Robert Greenwald, 2002, reissued 2004. Web site: Unprecedented. Reviews: Barnes & Noble Amazon, DVD Amazon, VHS IMDB

   From a

Terran, or solar escape velocity? Local, or general?

At local terran escape velocity of 10 kps, you're about ready to start lunar colonization. At local solar escape velocity of about 42 kps, you're ready to start mining the Oort cloud for volitiles (for space colonies and/or terraforming Mars and Venus) and any other fun stuff out there. At base solar escape velocity of about 620 kps, you can get anywhere in the solar system, and have a decent start on leaving it.

Of course, it's not all fun and games now. As reported earlier, there's already people trying to make a fast buck off of it.

So, any guesses until the first private race to the moon?

Terran, or solar escape velocity? Local, or general?

At local terran escape velocity of 10 kps, you're about ready to start lunar colonization. At local solar escape velocity of about 42 kps, you're ready to start mining the Oort cloud for volitiles (for space colonies and/or terraforming Mars and Venus) and any other fun stuff out there. At base solar escape velocity of about 620 kps, you can get anywhere in the solar system, and have a decent start on leaving it.

Of course, it's not all fun and games now. As reported earlier, there's already people trying to make a fast buck off of it.

So, any guesses until the first private race to the moon?

Terran, or solar escape velocity? Local, or general?

At local terran escape velocity of 10 kps, you're about ready to start lunar colonization. At local solar escape velocity of about 42 kps, you're ready to start mining the Oort cloud for volitiles (for space colonies and/or terraforming Mars and Venus) and any other fun stuff out there. At base solar escape velocity of about 620 kps, you can get anywhere in the solar system, and have a decent start on leaving it.

Of course, it's not all fun and games now. As reported earlier, there's already people trying to make a fast buck off of it.

So, any guesses until the first private race to the moon?

Terran, or solar escape velocity? Local, or general?

At local terran escape velocity of 10 kps, you're about ready to start lunar colonization. At local solar escape velocity of about 42 kps, you're ready to start mining the Oort cloud for volitiles (for space colonies and/or terraforming Mars and Venus) and any other fun stuff out there. At base solar escape velocity of about 620 kps, you can get anywhere in the solar system, and have a decent start on leaving it.

Of course, it's not all fun and games now. As reported earlier, there's already people trying to make a fast buck off of it.

So, any guesses until the first private race to the moon?

Should I be suprised that I see no the mention of CSS3, let alone CSS2(everything is just stated as "CSS"), anywhere on Slashdot, the book's synopsis, reviews, or even the author's own website?

For all I know, it just teaches you Microsoft's faulty CSS1 specification they used back during the release of Internet Explorer 3.0 back in 1996, exciting! What could be better worse than this? Lots of things, I'm sure, but even Cascading Style Sheets For Dummies mentions CSS3 which Opera and Firefox/Mozilla support.

The descriptions of the tsunamis were incredible (I know it's a fiction book, but still...): 100 ft. high waves travelling at high speeds, one after another. Sure, some buildings may survive one of those, but several?

Good book, but had to give it back to the library before I could finish it.

The descriptions of the tsunamis were incredible (I know it's a fiction book, but still...): 100 ft. high waves travelling at high speeds, one after another. Sure, some buildings may survive one of those, but several?

Good book, but had to give it back to the library before I could finish it.

Having listened a bit more thoroughly since I wrote that, I'd say that the style _IS_ subtly different from the first two series. I also screwed up by using lame commercial versions of Wikipedia content - Google seems to be thoroughly bombed with such crap now - and of course it's Life The Universe... Not Fish. The missing electronic music is a more serious problem - it sounds like they've used bland library music. The use of snippets of 'commercial' stuff in the original (eg 'Wish you were here' on Magrathea, bits of Jean-michel Jarre etc) was a nice touchj, almost an easter-egg. I still listen to teh original two series at least once a year and still find new pleasures therein. Only time will tell if the new will be as good, but so far it looks hopeful.

Having listened a bit more thoroughly since I wrote that, I'd say that the style _IS_ subtly different from the first two series. I also screwed up by using lame commercial versions of Wikipedia content - Google seems to be thoroughly bombed with such crap now - and of course it's Life The Universe... Not Fish. The missing electronic music is a more serious problem - it sounds like they've used bland library music. The use of snippets of 'commercial' stuff in the original (eg 'Wish you were here' on Magrathea, bits of Jean-michel Jarre etc) was a nice touchj, almost an easter-egg. I still listen to teh original two series at least once a year and still find new pleasures therein. Only time will tell if the new will be as good, but so far it looks hopeful.

And for the non-internet version, "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker.

Real-life security!

Instead of going on a class, get him to buy good books. I like wrox and Oreily books but others may be good also.

As Christian Parenti has documented, the "war" on drugs has been laying this groundwork for decades. In the Reagan years we were already at a point where people's goods or persons could be carted off and locked up merely as a result of someone (not even a government employee) saying, "That guy is a drug dealer."

Unless you are using mathematically PROVABLE methodologies (got an assignment statement? there goes provability....), there will be the risk of bugs in the code.

Your suggestions are good for REDUCING the number of errors. They won't ELIMINATE errors completely.

They didn't fabricate results, their results just became public too quickly

Oh? I seem to recall hearing about a neutron emission energy spectrum plot with a peak that kept wandering around between press conferences, until they finally withdrew it.

I'm going to have to pick up a copy of "Yes, We Have No Neutrons" one of these days so that I can have all of the questionable bits at my fingertips for situations like this.

Isn't there one of those science discovery betting pools that has "cold fusion" as one of the things to bet on? I desperately want to bet against it, at whatever odds they'll give me. Easy money at 100000:1. Looks like gullible /.-ers alone would put the book at more like 10:1 though, meaning that if it had a two-year window it would be a 5% investment even if I had to put the money in escrow up front. Heck, if it weren't illegal in the US, I would make book on it myself. Advantages of a physics degree and a wide reading list, dontcha know.

At the moment I feel that I trust the British government enough that this is an acceptable

I'll go with David Brin on this one: we must be able to watch the watchers. I read in one article that several of those cams (the ones in the downtown London area) *are* monitored 24/7. There must be a publically available "watch the cam crew" cam. How will we know they aren't being racist, using the cams for inappropriate purposes, whatever? Easy, we can watch them. After all, if the cams are supposed to keep us safe from crime, shouldn't the same principle be applied to keeping us safe from the cam crews?

Similarly, I'd argue that the street cams should be available to the public; after all their taxes paid for 'em. You wanna see what's going on at 93rd and Main, check the cam.

What with cameras getting smaller and smaller it seems inevitable that they will, soon, be everywhere. Even if they were outlawed that hasn't stopped governments in the past, it'd just ensure that the cam network is hard to spot and kept a tight secret. Best to produce accountability, and transparency. Don't let access to the cams be a thing held only by the elite, make it available to everyone. And never forget to watch the watchers, naturally they'll scream that a public cam in the cam control room is wrong. Kinda interesting how they act when *we* want to watch *them*, isn't it?

I was once one of the "cams are evil, and I'll join the cam destruction teams" crowd. Then I read Brin's The Transparent Society. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of cams everywhere, but I can see the inescapiable conclusion that with cameras getting smaller and cheaper it will be possible for the government to put them out in secret. I'd rather have transparency and accountability on a known cam network than the false believe that I've got privacy because I don't know about the secret cam network. Let's have even more cameras. Cop cams (pubically accessable) mounted on every police officer's shoulder when they're on duty. My own private cam that I can put on *my* shoulder when a cop stops me. Kinda makes for amore polite discussion when we both know the world can watch, ne? Etc...

Brin says it better than I do (which is to be expected I suppose, considering that he is a published author while I'm just a geek on slashdot). I'd recommend The Transparent Society to everyone here.

As Kevin Mitnick pointed out in his book The Art of Deception, anyone with a PBX system can program their outgoing Caller-ID information to show anything they want.

As far as star38.com goes, I wonder what purpose they hope to serve by doing this. After all, it's a free service, and as we all know, nothing in this world is free. Could it be that star38.com will sit in the middle and record these conversations, either to sell prank calls a la The Jerky Boys? Or, maybe they'll gleam little bits of information about people and sell that marketing information to companies?

Remember, a Leftist can simply parrot his instructors and be assured of high grades and graduation. They have never been placed in a situation where they must defend or even examine their beliefs. They just nod along to get along, and are rewarded.

Someone who thinks for himself, however, will be forced to do four times the work for half the grade. Every statement he makes will be challenged, and even if his logic is perfect and his writing is sublime, his chances of flunking increase exponentially with his deviation from the party line.

And since even an unadorned link to this book, the most important book published this year, must be suppressed, you are modded down by the open-minded Left.

It's sad, really, that these imbeciles were never taught to think.

I'm sure my boss would like to see me spending my time running through the maze of the cube farm looking for cheese.

Well duh! Management typically gives away training books on the subject.

THE AMYGDALA AND PARASITIC CASTRATION

A key structure in human fertility, particularly male fertility, is the amygdala, which dramatically reduces in size upon castration. According to Malsbury and McKay, the amygdala shrinkage can be about 25% within 8 weeks of castration. (Malsbury, C.W. and K. McKay. Neurotrophic effects of testosterone on the medial nucleus of the amygdala in adult male rats. J. Neuroendocrinology, 1994, 6:57-69.) Although reduction in size is not the only way this brain-structure may be reprogrammed to effect parasitic castration, it is a possible observable. Furthermore, since large changes in human migration patterns have occurred in living memory, there should be plenty of intact amygdala specimens that can be correlated with their genotype as well as changes in the environmental genotypes that may impose extended phenotypic parasitic castration.

During the period of greatest environmental influx of more dominant genes into the environments traditionally reserved for more recessive males in the United States, autism rates have increased four-fold, from 1 in 2000 before 1970 to 1 in 500 in 2000. Furthermore, although reporting is always problematic, the increases are most apparent in peripheral geographic regions associated with more recessive traits that have experienced some of the greatest rates of change in geneflow as measured by dominant:recessive ratio -- regions such as the Pacific Northwest.

Furthermore, as reported in The Geek Syndrome:

In the past decade, there has been a significant surge in the number of kids diagnosed with autism throughout California... Through the '90s, cases tripled in California. "Anyone who says this is due to better diagnostics has his head in the sand."

California is not alone. Rates of both classic autism and Asperger's syndrome are going up all over the world, which is certainly cause for alarm and for the urgent mobilization of research. Autism was once considered a very rare disorder, occurring in one out of every 10,000 births. Now it's understood to be much more common - perhaps 20 times more. But according to local authorities, the picture in California is particularly bleak in Santa Clara County.

What genetic change has occurred in Santa Clara more than in California, in California more than in the rest of the world, and in the rest of the world over the last decade, more than other times in history ?

Immigration and high degrees of integration among populations that have undergone very little coevolution.

Furthermore, according to Dr. Jeff Bradstreet a little-mentioned fact is that over 90% of autistics are blood type A. If true, that would be better than twice the expected frequency for American "whites" and so close to 100% that the probability of it being due to chance is disappearingly small. Add to that the fact that the only type A blood common among "whites" is called ABO*A2, and that this blood type is centered in northern Scandinavia, according to the gene map on page 3 of the world gene maps in "The History and Geography of Human Genes" (unabridged

The DaVinci code guy wrote a book about this.

• Conservation of energy. i.e. Laziness as a virtue, not a vice.
• Computers are toys to be played with.

Now, with that in mind I can think of some MUCH better uses of that $120 per month.

First things first, hop on over to levenger for some book storage. When I'm through with you you'll turn off that idiot-box altogether! Well, except for quality DVDs and TV shows (which are becoming all the more scarcer by the moment, don't even get me started on that topic!)!

So, unless you already have an AMPLE solution (meaning a decent bookcase with lots of pictures, carded star wars figures, hummels or whatever the heck you may be into) you're gonna NEED some first rate book-stashage! :D

Not that there's anything at all with grabbing a bit-torrent of something that's not yet out on DVD. And in my mind Netflix is a perfectly fine solution! Just more convenient than torrenting, less brain cycles that could be devoted to reading. If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend treating yourself to Lain and to Cowboy BeBop, as well as City of Lost Children.

But if you're a coder, I really honestly feel that developing fascility with Assembly is a good move. I am only part way through a great book from No Starch called [CAUTION:PDF] the "Art of Assembly" that (in the short time I've been reading it) has allowed me to tighten up my C++ code a bit! I cant wait to see the result when I am finished! I also planning to read another book I have on Assembly, but this one is so good I'm not sure how much I'll need it! I'll probably read that second book anyway though. The author contends that no matter WHAT the language in question, be it C, C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, Python, or Lisp, your coding will benefit.

I accidentally ran into the president of No Starch at the last 2600 conference. His name is Bill, and he's a really mellow very nice dude! I've been emailing him back and forth and he was nice enough to email me sample chapters from the upcoming title "Enterprise Linux Clustering". Honestly I haven't given them a thorough read, just a perusal but it seems top notch so far! I honeslty believe that No Starch is developing into the "New O'Reilly". Not in every sense of course, because O'Reilly's website is far more developed in the form of information and online instructive articles and news. Not even to mention that I have yet to be disappointed by an O'Reilly release! But NS is DEFINETLY an admirable up and commer!

Once you're through a good set of skill building in Assmebler, you can reinforce your mad skillz by moving onto what will eventually be a 3 part series specifically written for people wo like their High languages like C++ or Perl or whatever called "Writing Great Code" by the same author as the Assembly book. I understand the series to focus mostly on machine archictecture, rather than assembly which will benefit every coder from Assember on up to C or maybe even VB. From there you can move onto some more interesting uses for your newfound knowledge (sorry if I'm incorrectly assuming you to not be a veteran Assembly yoda). What's the fun of writing ANY language if all you get to write is "Hello World" shite? So you can move on to cool and useful things like how to crackpro

I bought Open Source Network Administration by Kretchmar to answer this question. I was looking for open source tools to be used in a service provider environment and was unpleasantly surprised at what was revealed in this book. However, since it seems you're looking for enterprise-ish stuff, I highly recommend this.

You'll find many of the tools within to be quite useful during both day-to-day operations and troubleshooting as well as long term planning on your network. The author does a fairly decent job of walking you through a basic installation of each tool.

Slashdot reviewed it here.

Here are most of the tools discussed in this book.

And don't forget to do the same on:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Don't forget to give feedback here as well.

Kati.com at Barnes and Noble

The book exists in several versions on various internet bookshops. They all deserve reviews, don't you think? 1, 2

• Microelectronic Circuits, by Sedra and Smith.
  This is the semiconductor devices bible for electrical and computer engineering (in North America, at least).
  
  
• Analog Integrated Circuit Design, by Johns and Martin.
  Excellent book recapping device behavior and describing analog circuits and the issues that come up when you're trying to integrate elements on a die.
  
  
• Principles of CMOS VLSI Design, by West, Eshraghian, and Smith.
  This also covers layout and circuit issues, though mostly for digital logic design.
  

• Microelectronic Circuits, by Sedra and Smith.
  This is the semiconductor devices bible for electrical and computer engineering (in North America, at least).
  
  
• Analog Integrated Circuit Design, by Johns and Martin.
  Excellent book recapping device behavior and describing analog circuits and the issues that come up when you're trying to integrate elements on a die.
  
  
• Principles of CMOS VLSI Design, by West, Eshraghian, and Smith.
  This also covers layout and circuit issues, though mostly for digital logic design.
  

• Microelectronic Circuits, by Sedra and Smith.
  This is the semiconductor devices bible for electrical and computer engineering (in North America, at least).
  
  
• Analog Integrated Circuit Design, by Johns and Martin.
  Excellent book recapping device behavior and describing analog circuits and the issues that come up when you're trying to integrate elements on a die.
  
  
• Principles of CMOS VLSI Design, by West, Eshraghian, and Smith.
  This also covers layout and circuit issues, though mostly for digital logic design.
  

I bet it also inspired a big part of the Batman vs Superman movie that's rumored to be in the works.

The similarity between the picture on the web site and Frank Miller's "Batmobile" are indeed striking. Perhaps Miller is on the design team for the movie?

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
ISBN 1563893428
$13.95@bn.com

so if in contact with a BSE protein it'll learn to fold the BSE way.

So this sounds very close to an Ice 9 like scenario, with this particular molecule in a brain. Is that the kind of model you're describing?

If you're not tired, you probably don't need the sleep.

This is a very widespread misconception. I've read about studies that show people who say they're not tired but testing (most notably using performance tests or a protocol called MSLT) indicates they are. Performance testing time and again indicates that sleep deprivation == impaired performance, even if the subjects don't recognize the degree.

I don't have precise references, but one such study that comes to mind was performed by Tom Roth of the Henry Ford Hospital in 1988. Another was performed by Dr. William Dement, a few years before 1999 (not sure just when). Both are mentioned in a book I've recommended in several threads here, The Promise of Sleep .

I can't tell you about the OP's condition, but I can give you a few examples.

Fatal familial insomnia is a rare, inherited degenerative brain disorder. It's pretty much what it sounds like: the victim gradually loses the ability to sleep, and dies within 7 to 36 months.

Nocturnal cardiac ischemia is one cause of insomnia: chest pains keep the victim awake at night. It is caused by atherosclerotic heart disease. (You can Google this stuff.)

Any number of obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as emphysema, can cause severe insomnia.

Now, I'm going to talk about a more common disease that can be fatal, but is frequently misunderstood: obstructive sleep apnea. In this disease, the soft tissues of the throat collapse during the night. The lungs work harder and harder to pull in air, and this only draws the throat tighter, like sucking a milkshake through a straw. The victim eventually wakes up, the throat muscles tighten, and with a gasp, the lungs fill. The victim then goes back to sleep.

All this time, the victim's blood oxygen level is plummeting. The victim is suffocating, turning blue, and the heart is losing its ability to function. Too long without oxygen, and the heart can stop altogether, possibly unable to restart. What's more, when the heart does get oxygen, it suddenly is working like mad to get it to the rest of the body: transient BPs of 300/* have been measured at this time (normal BPs are around 115/*). An estimated 38,000 strokes and heart attacks per year are due to apnea.

This happens hundreds of times per night. And, amazingly, the victim doesn't know it; the barely-awake mind doesn't have its long-term memory wired up right yet.

At best, the victim knows that he snores, and that he's tired during the day. Besides the direct fatalities during the night, tired people can be killed in a number of ways, such as missing a light if they doze off at the wheel, or making a bad judgement and crashing a ship (Exxon Valdez). Apnea is theorized to be an indirect cause of a number of high-risk conditions, particularly high blood pressure.

I'm going on about obstructive sleep apnea because it's amazingly common and dangerous, yet amazingly easy to diagnose and treat. What's more, apnea (like most sleep disorders) is barely-- if at all-- understood by most physicians: they just don't have training to deal with it. So people get misdiagnosed for years, maybe decades.

Personally, I'd recommend that anybody who feels tired and snores should learn about apnea, and see a doctor (possibly not in that order). I learned about it by reading a book I heard about on /.: The Promise of Sleep , by Dr. William Dement, which I strongly recommend to anybody who wants to know about sleep.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and have no medical background or training.

I just got back from an overnight sleep test at the Stanford Sleep Clinic.

There's a lot of misunderstandings about sleep. Many "pop" books regarding sleep, and a number of physicians, have plenty of misconceptions about sleep and sleep problems.

I highly recommend the book The Promise of Sleep . It's written by Dr. Dement, one of the foremost sleep researchers. It helped me understand healthy sleep and sleep disorders, and lead to my discovery that I have a potentially life-threatening sleep disorder (which has just been diagnosed, and I'm about to begin treatment).

Sleep problems can lead to lots of problems in your physical and mental well-being. In my case, over the last several months, my productivity at work is shot. I can't concentrate on my code. I also don't have the energy to go out and have fun with my friends like I used to.

It's also difficult to recognize the results of sleep problems as such. You might not feel tired, even when your body is desperately needing more restful sleep-- but it still interferes with your daytime activities. You might think that they're related to other problems. I thought that my problems were the result of problems with diet, exercise, etc. In my case, these were contributing factors, but the sleep thing seems to be the biggest cause.

I highly recommend you-- and anybody else who has the slightest inkling that they may not be sleeping as well as they could-- read Dr. Dement's book.

You're delusional. In terms of movie and book sales, scifi/fantasy comprise a very small portion of the total amount. Reason? *Most people don't care for scifi or fantasy*.

But once again you think your personal opinion is actual fact, regardless of evidence to the contrary.


I would now like to draw your attention to the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time:

1. Titanic
2. Star Wars
3. Star Wars: Episode I
4. E.T.
5. Jurassic Park
6. Forrest Gump
7. Lion King
8. Return of the Jedi
9. Independence Day
10. The Sixth Sense

Six of ten are sci-fi.

The top books of 2003 put a "mere" 3 sci-fi/fantasy books in the top ten. (including #1 and #2) Not a majority, but 33% is hardly a "very small portion of the total amount." Especially considering that the rest of the top ten includes two diet books, a self-help book, and two biographies. So... of the top 10 books of 2003, there are only five fiction books, and three are sci-fi.

It seems the original poster is not the only one mistaking his personal opinion for actual fact.