Slashdot Mirror

When people who voted on this poll read about that story, they'll probably think "we need stricter knife control laws to prevent this from happening!"

I think the fact that a student would want to stab/shoot/blow up other students is a much, much more important issue than their capability to do so. I guess I'm weird that way.

I think this just goes to show you that schools should pay a LOT more attention to teasing/abuse and make moves to prevent it rather than report the kid as dangerous. Big brother programs within schools would probably be very effective at helping this problem. Partner the teased kid up with an older, sensible and most importantly popular/big kid to deflect flac and help the misfit regain self esteem.

Isolation is the problem!

http://cbc .ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2000/04/07/op tochip000407

Small article at the CBC website about said chip..
.------------ - - -
| big bad mr. frosty
`------------ - - -

There are a couple areas of industry that really need the protection that patents give. These are industries such as pharmeceuticals, where the amount of time and money put into developing a new drug is so enormous that the patent serves as a way to earn back those expenses before your competitor can manufacture it and sell it for less. Pharmeceuticals are also the reason why patents currently last so long. Since the patent is usually applied for before testing begins, by the time lab testing, animal testing, limited human trials, larger clinical studies, and full FDA approval are granted, there may only be a couple of years left on the patent. And, up to this point, the drug company has invested millions of dollars with no income.

Yes, I feel so sorry for the huge drug companies that are using their patents to gouge consumers charging ridiculous prices for drugs when they could easily charge less and still turn a profit. As for the investments they make, american drug companies are highly subsidized by the United States government, sometimes paying millions of dollars in development costs while the drug company reaps all the benefits. Furthermore, the drug companies have effectively used patents and WTO procedures to block companies in third world nations from making cheap versions of their drugs that could be used to save thousands of lives. Instead, they must rely on expensive drugs made by american companies which of course they cannot afford and thousands die.

Thank you and good day.

There was a segment on "The Nature of Things" last night which had me thinking about Jon's obsession with the Helmouth articles.

In a nutshell, the theory is that the "nature" component of the nature vs nurture debate has more to do with peer groups than it does with parents.

The segment was called "Do parents matter?"

The thought is certianly not original, but the papers and the solid evidence is original. I should probably give the book a read.

They had an interview with an terribly rejected plump school kid, he was in absolute tears because day in day out for what perceptibly is his entire life, he has lived in a world where none of his peers would even give him the time of day.

A quick blurb from a psychologist followed and said, to paraprhase, "Take anybody and place them in a situation where they are among 24 peers, all of which dislike them, for years and there will certainly be long lasting, profound, adverse effects on that individual's personality."

http://w ww.tv.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/programs/extra.cgi?SC=NT&file =NT20000207.html

It was a fantastic segment, and it reiterated and vastly expanded upon much of what Jon has been going on about for the past year or so... including discussions of not only the "geeks", "outcasts" or "loners", but including brief analysis of those who are popular, those who are leaders and soforth.

"On Thursday, 10 film and three broadcast organizations filed a complaint in a U.S. district court in Pennsylvania, accusing iCraveTV of copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition. " - From CBC's web site"

How does filing suit in Pennyslyvania help them? The company is based in Ontario! Would somebody more knowlegeable about the law please enlighten me. Perhaps they need a court ruling in the US so that they can use some provision of NAFTA or some other international agreement?

"Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, accused the Canadian Internet service of "one of the largest and most brazen thefts of intellectual property ever committed in the United States." " - From CBC's web site

Is this guy on crack or something? It's quite obvious that he's talking out of his arse! Canada is still an independent soverign state - nothing has happened within the United States: what is Valenti talking about?

You can read more about this at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news service here. There is a bit more information here then at the yahoo article referenced in the original posting. Along with some related site links.

You can read more about this at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news service here. There is a bit more information here then at the yahoo article referenced in the original posting. Along with some related site links.

Which was unauthorized. She sued 'em and won too.

As the Simpsons hit a milestone anniversary we talk to one of the voices behind the cast of characters; Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr. Burns, Smithers, Flanders and more than a dozen more

As the Simpsons hit a milestone anniversary we talk to one of the voices behind the cast of characters; Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr. Burns, Smithers, Flanders and more than a dozen more

If everyone submits the story, they might get impression that we want it on slashdot.

I submitted it and had it rejected.

Other links regarding the MIA probe include:
The Official Mars Polar Lander Website
CBC's coverage (with two different video feeds... I love broadband)

NASA Waits for Signal from Mars (16:20 EST)

Mars Polar Lander Official Website

I don't think you've got all the facts right here:

• This isn't the WTO, this is NAFTA. It has nothing to do with the UN or the WTO.
• All of the stories I've seen have companies suing the US (not California) government for damages. This is compensation for potential lost revenue, not an attempt to force a change of any law.
• It's impossible to petition the WTO to turn over a ban instituted by a government. How are they going to enforce it? The WTO could ask (for the law to be overturned or damages), but they have no method of ensuring cooperation other than allowing the levying of tariffs by other countries. This doesn't work for companies, especially those with domestically based branches and competitors.

MBG

The show is available in RealAudio from here .

This program also includes a story about a Planetary Society project to send a microphone to mars..

Pentop

Freedom of the Press?

I don't think you realize just how not free the US media is. Check out Project Censored here

If you think Canada lacks Freedom of Press, it's obvious you've never heard of the CBC, an insitution with far more freedom and far more honesty than anything public or private that exists in the US.

I actually met Prof. Franklin a few years back when she came to lecture in one of my courses. She has an absolutely amazing grasp of the different ways that technology impacts our lives. That lecture and reading her book have definitely changed the way I perceive the technological world we live in.

As a side note, The Real World of Technology was re-released this year with 3-4 new chapters on the impacts of information technology. You can also listen to the original lectures in RealAudio here.

Since this is a big ol' Canadian brouhaha, try the CBC for more details:

Here's some quotes that provide a much better factual detail of what he did:

After Corel's results were released in September 1997, the average closing price of Corel stock over the next month was $5.57 - almost $3 below the $8.47 average price Cowpland had received when he sold in August.

This suggests Cowpland made $7 million more than he would have by selling when he did, rather than after the results were released.

The stock sale represented almost one-third of Cowpland's 7.9 million shares he owned in the company.

The Royal Canadian Air Farce has a recurring sketch about a bunch of canucks discussing current events in the donut shop.
In small towns (well, big ones too>, the donut shop is where people gather and spread gossip.
It sounds no more ludicrous than Sociological research of Tea Rooms or Pubs in the British Isles.
---

What a coincidence. Right before I saw this story I heard a segment on CBC Radio's Basic Black about a man in Aspen, Colorado who owns and operates the "Ultimate Taxi." In addition to an internet connection, there is fog on the floor and crazy lights, including a laser, all over the place. Apparently the driver also sings and plays music on an in-car keyboard and MIDI drum kit. Don't ask me how he does this while driving -- you'll have to watch the MPEG movie. Geez, and I just wanted to get home!

Don't you hate it when your /. account mysteriously disappears?

Sorry to say - the moon already _is_ owned. At least
according to a story on As it Happens heard on CBC and APR. I heard the story on the
show about two years ago, and proceeded to find a link to the people
that claim lunar possession.
According to what the show said, there was a treaty signed between countries that no country could declare ownership of the moon. But nowhere did it say that no individual could.
The person who noticed this said at the time that he was going to sue NASA for leaving a mess on his propriety. And they're selling 18000 acre proprieties for 30 bucks.

(Yeah, I know. Its most likely a scam. But I just had to point it out. :) )

I heard the fellow interviewed on CBC Radio's As It Happens program. He said that he already had a modern pc, but that he used the Altair for a lot of boilerplate legal forms that would have taken him too much time to convert to a modern program. Since the Altair was working satisfactorily, there was no reason to take the trouble to port the stuff over. With this new computer from Dell, he says he now has too many computers.

I heard the fellow interviewed on CBC Radio's As It Happens program. He said that he already had a modern pc, but that he used the Altair for a lot of boilerplate legal forms that would have taken him too much time to convert to a modern program. Since the Altair was working satisfactorily, there was no reason to take the trouble to port the stuff over. With this new computer from Dell, he says he now has too many computers.

I regularly listen to CBC Radio One (Toronto), otherwise known as "News, and More" (all broadcasted regions can be listened to on the CBC website and CBC Radio Two (nation-wide), otherwise known as "Classics, and beyond", over real-audio. These radio stations are Publicly funded and have No Commercial Interests. The News on CBC is considered to be the world standard, very unbiased (though, obviously, the occasional bias slips through).

Its very listenable radio, no ads, lots of cool science programs, art programs, International news every hour.

I regularly listen to CBC Radio One (Toronto), otherwise known as "News, and More" (all broadcasted regions can be listened to on the CBC website and CBC Radio Two (nation-wide), otherwise known as "Classics, and beyond", over real-audio. These radio stations are Publicly funded and have No Commercial Interests. The News on CBC is considered to be the world standard, very unbiased (though, obviously, the occasional bias slips through).

Its very listenable radio, no ads, lots of cool science programs, art programs, International news every hour.

I regularly listen to CBC Radio One (Toronto), otherwise known as "News, and More" (all broadcasted regions can be listened to on the CBC website and CBC Radio Two (nation-wide), otherwise known as "Classics, and beyond", over real-audio. These radio stations are Publicly funded and have No Commercial Interests. The News on CBC is considered to be the world standard, very unbiased (though, obviously, the occasional bias slips through).

Its very listenable radio, no ads, lots of cool science programs, art programs, International news every hour.

CBC Radio reports that linux is taking centre stage at the Comdex Computer trade show in Toronto. The link will be modified soon (its latest news, radio transcription) CBC Radio News includes an audio report from Comdex: Michael Colton report in Real Audio
Here's the article as it appeared:
Move over Microsoft and Bill Gates, and make room for Linux. Linux is a computer operating system that's now gaining widespread recognition. And the people behind the company, who were once brushed off as 'geeks', are now standing confidently. They claim Linux systems beat any of the Windows products offered by Microsoft. Typical of the 'overnight success story', Linux seemingly came from nowhere. But in fact, it came from everywhere. Computer programmer volounteers throughout the world over have developed Linux on the Internet. And best of all to its designers, it's open-source software. That means it's free. Linux is one of the hits this week at a giant computer trade show in Toronto, called Comdex. Michael Colton reports.

M5 blew up on me within the first 3 minutes that I was trying it out. And no, I wasn't trying any funky pages -- only Example2 and goto.com

I've had it explode reliably and cleanly while rendering www.cbc.ca three times in a row now. There are other eccentricities -- looks like it hangs if a page I'm trying to view is already in the cache, for instance, and the handling of JavaScript mouseover twitches is incomplete.

Anyone who tells you to junk your current Win9x browser and use M5 is either delusional or malicious.

On the plus side, M4 threw three fatal-looking errors just starting up on my Win95 machine. M5 starts cleanly and lets me turn off some of the superfluous toolbars. No question that progress is being made, and some pages just fly up on the screen.

Now, if someone would just make it so that the scrollbar thumbs didn't blink. What, are they trying to remind me that I just used them?

Gory details available here.

Check out
ht tp://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi ?/news/1999/02/18/cansat990218

But why worry about being spied on by optical imagery? Just go out only after dark or when it's overcast/cloudy.

RADARSAT-2 is all-weather and has 3x3m res. It's also owned by a private company in Canada ( MacDonald Dettwiler). (Which happens to be a subsiduary of an American firm).

Check out CBC Newsworld, Canoe and other sites for info. Heck, it's even on BBC World Service.

It's unfortunate that /. didn't post a link I submitted over a week ago.
Wired New reports on the issue, but what it mentions
(which everyone here seems to have failed to notice so far) is that this levy is still very much in the air.
"The government body that's supposed to administer the fund doesn't yet exist, and the Canadian government hasn't even decided how
much the levy will be, or to what it will apply." It's very possible that it will be as
as little as pennies per disc. Unfortunately, the ammendment is retroactive,
meaning that once the amount has been set, the government will be expecting payment for new stock acquired after Jan 1.
The same story was reported on CBC's Defintely Not the Opera this weekend as well.
I'm not saying I support it, and I definitely think that the details should have been sorted out ahead of time, but for now, people need to know the facts.
It would be cool if DNTO put that segment up on their page... a lot of people here could use good, clear, objective take on the story...