Slashdot Mirror

respect sent us an article about AMD aligning with Transmeta, which isn't that surprising since everybody who is not Intel should be busying aligning with anyone who is also not Intel. My favorite quote "The industry has been gradually moving toward a 64-bit architecture [From 32 Bits], which multiplies the amount of data the processor can access by four". Rock on CNN!

Jackmon writes: "CNN has a story about a new polymer that can be applied to a surface to keep it permanently disease-free. And it works electrically, so that bacteria can't easily develop a resistance to it ... Cool! If only Howard Hughes was still alive to see this."

Saint Aardvark writes: "CNN reports here that a second bright spot has been found on Titan. The speculation is that it's a continent, but scientists can't be sure until Cassini arrives at Saturn and drops the Huygens probe through the atmosphere."

The NYTimes had an article this morning about MusicNet, a new venture of Real and the record industry to provide pay-per-listen music to the masses. (Read the AP version if you don't want to register with the Times.) Meanwhile, CNET reports that SDMI adjourned from their most recent meeting without picking any technologies to go forward with - an admission that they are all thoroughly broken, by the team led by Professor Felton, who spoke yesterday at Stanford.

chrisd writes: "There is a fascinating web presentation called "Terminal Count" on CNN about what it takes to prep a shuttle for flight. Very interesting stuff. Includes lots of video and more. Fun quote: 'A running joke is that a shuttle is considered ready for launch once the stack of paperwork stands as high as the rocket.'"

chrisd writes: "There is a fascinating web presentation called "Terminal Count" on CNN about what it takes to prep a shuttle for flight. Very interesting stuff. Includes lots of video and more. Fun quote: 'A running joke is that a shuttle is considered ready for launch once the stack of paperwork stands as high as the rocket.'"

Matthew Moyle-Croft writes "On the ISS the Astronauts have been hard at work building a kitchen table away from the prying eyes of mission control."

leperjuice asks: "I recently had the pleasure of speaking with John Podesta (Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff, now a visiting professor at Georgetown ) about tech issues and was pleasantly surprised: not only did he know of the DeCSS case but he knew of Jon Johansen and actually quoted an interview with him. This got me thinking; which politicos out there actually understand tech issues (rather than just have a staffer who occasionally reads Wired)? Which ones don't? What have been your experiences?"

Sleen writes: "A new study that will appear in today's issue of the journal Science reports that the mass extinction event that preceded the age of the dinosaurs was much more sudden than expected. This article has some preliminary details. The dinosaurs actually survived this event and went on to be quite successful. But the small mammal-like reptiles did not. At this point they don't know if this cataclysm was caused by an asteroid, like in the case of 65mya at the KT boundary, or if it was caused by excessive volcanism. In the case of the dinosaur extinctions, they were on their way down when the asteroid hit, perhaps being the last straw. But this earlier event that somehow wiped out up to 80% of life on earth didn't kill them off. Interesting..."

aristotle2000 writes: "CNN.com has an article about IT unionization. I have generally been against the idea but the article raises some interesting issues, like training and development standards." Netslaves had a piece about the history of unionization a few days ago, good reading.

Slashbacked below are a handful of updates, corrections and followups, on topics ranging from Tito in space to who really developed the next-generation OS/2. Please enjoy.

But who's counting? Martin Bogolmoni wrote in response to the report on the well-and-truly networked Dutch gaming fest called The Gathering, as mentioned here and praised for it's huge number of available gaming connections.

" The Gathering 99 -- 5300 switchports, but only 2,500 attendees (tickets). 2500 tickets has been all that can be sold for the last few years. TG01 was the first time that more than that have been sold .. 4,100. Also, for people coming from out of the Netherlands, (USA, England, etc..) there is no entrance fee. You are considered a VIP. -grin- Just a quick correction, since I love attending and working with The Gathering. (Not to mention speaking there...) "

Thanks, Martin :)

Whodunnit, really? A number of people emailed (some of them even politely!) to correct the story about the new eComStation, including Bob St John of Serenity Systems International, to point out that " the developer is not Mensys .. they are our distributor ... Serenity Systems is the developer."

Radu Trimbitas adds: "Mensys (like Indelible Blue in U.S.) is the main distributor of eComStation in Europe, among other things (Linux, BeOS, etc. distributors). They are very OS/2-friendly, so they made efforts to support this distribution, providing a web site with infos, support, etc."

Money may not talk but it has great facial expressions. Darren.Moffat writes "OSOpinion has updated their story and the OpenGroup also now mentions Apple this came from Daily Daemon News"

Space for me, and not for thee. csy writes "Dennis Tito returns jubilant to Earth. Meanwhile, John Glenn criticizes Tito's trip as a "misuse of a spacecraft designed for research". I guess space junkets by geriatric senators must count as research. Read the story on CNN."

And speaking of reactions, DelphiGeek writes: "There have been a plethora of stories on Microsoft's Mundie and his comments on Open Source. Postings of ESR, Linus and others rebuttals were posted here. However, I never saw anything displaying RMS' response. I find this odd seeing how the GPL was the license that was directly attacked. Here is a link to RMS' official response. Also on GNU there are several documents that are older that state his postion."

You'll note that RMS does not find "conciliatory" in his personal dictionary ;)

Nobody's opening any kimonos here, pal!

"Since the kimono has already been opened...

RLX is going to be demoing the RLX System 324 Web Server at Networld+Interop. RLX is not on the show floor but if you want to see it, look on their website and call the number or email sales@rlxtechnologies.com to get the info and get into see it.

Just a few notes of what has already been done with these things. An initial 220 Node Beowulf Cluster in one rack in under two man days, just as a proof of concept. On that line, RLX has been working with Scyld, (people like Don Becker and the original Beowulf crew), on some real cool integration of Scyld Beowulf. Brings the time down for a beowulf from days to hours. The rumor is they will even have a small cluster using the Scyld stuff at N+I.

An Anonymous Coward points to this CNN article, writing: "look here, Microsoft and Napster are talking, looks like Microsoft is going to buy Napster." Actually, the story specifically says that Microsoft has rejected buying Napster, and that the ongoing secretive talks actually have another probable outcome: Microsoft's digital protection schemes for music files are a more likely point of confluence between the scrappy, beleagered protector of Internet Freedom and Goodness and, well, Napster.

An AC was the first to send in this CNN article about FBI wiretapping, based on documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request. (I found the article funny because the documents were so heavily censored - the FBI gets to eavesdrop on the public, but not vice-versa.) According to CNN: wiretapping is up, up, up. But the Electronic Privacy Information Center notes that the U.S. court system has just released its annual wiretapping report, and according to EPIC, wiretapping is down. I think someone forgot to carry a 1 somewhere.

BodyCount07 writes: "CNN has this article on the sea-based launch of a geosynchronous satellite that will provide US citizens with a coast-to-coast radio network. The network will provide news and entertainment channels to its subscribers. More information is available at XM Radio's official site." Well, it's interesting. But broadcast radio is free. Will people pay for radio that still has ads? I suppose if you live in the large country-music-only zone in the U.S., you might be willing to pay for something different...

Joshua Strzalko writes: "Aparently, the match, so to speak, that lit the big bang has been discovered by some detectors down in Antarctica. What would be the megatonage of that explosion? Full story can be viewed here." As always, working hypotheses are just that, of course. Update: 04/30 07:12 PM by T : CodeWheeney writes: "The home page for the instrument that was used is located here."

SanLouBlues writes: "This story has the scoop on Dennis Tito in space. He is up there now and will be for the next 6 days "with his video camera and CD player." whee." trolebus contributes links to coverage on CNN and on Reuters. It's been a long, strange story -- the optimisic Tito was originally planning on going to Mir, but looks like he got an upgrade. I hope he's savoring this trip for $20 million worth of memories. Don't forget, there is a cheaper version of space tourism on the horizon, too.

Lostman writes: "CNN has an article that details a computer glitch that has occured at the international space station. The problem disrupted all communication from the command computers on the station. Although NASA knows that this was because an onboard server had crashed, the cause of this was not immediately known." See also space.com, the BBC, or NASA's status update. NASA is using Windows for most of their computing functions, as mentioned here.

Lostman writes: "CNN has an article that details a computer glitch that has occured at the international space station. The problem disrupted all communication from the command computers on the station. Although NASA knows that this was because an onboard server had crashed, the cause of this was not immediately known." See also space.com, the BBC, or NASA's status update. NASA is using Windows for most of their computing functions, as mentioned here.

NeoCode writes: "It's been 11 years already and the stats are mind boggling. Hubble is celebrating its 11th birthday and it sent another beautiful image. Stories here (CNN) and here (Space). A lot of these images have been called "space-art". The image bank can be found here."

NeoCode writes: "It's been 11 years already and the stats are mind boggling. Hubble is celebrating its 11th birthday and it sent another beautiful image. Stories here (CNN) and here (Space). A lot of these images have been called "space-art". The image bank can be found here."

kade writes: "MSNBC has an article on a story about the FBI hacking the machines of a bunch of Russian crackers in an attempt to get evidence on them due to the the inability or unwillingness of the Russian goverment to assist them in fighting cybercrime." Another reader pointed to coverage on CNN as well.

The war on drugs is expensive, and, like most wars, deadly. But it looks like it isn't going to go away any time soon. With that as a given, why not let those who want to wage war on drugs do it in an online gaming environment? The cost of setting up the servers for "Drug Czar" would be lots less than the cost of all those street arrests, border interdictions, and air intercept missions in Peru and Colombia. And, best of all, no one would get hurt.

It could be a wonderful game, with shoot-em-up segments, sim-style strategy, morbid scenes of decayed inner-city neighborhoods, jut-jawed cops and Federal agents, droopy-drawered street drug vendors, and plenty of other colorful characters. Add in politicians, TV preachers, Colombian kingpins, middle-aged parents trying to keep their kids on the straight and narrow plus a bunch of furtive teenage drug experimenters, and you'd have roles in this MUD-variant for everyone who is interested in the drug war -- from either side.

Some players' roles would be predetermined. The U.S. government's drug policy chief would obviously get the Drug Czar role. George W. Bush would play the President. Congressmen, Senators, and agency heads could also mirror their real-life selves. A few taxpayers might whine about these officials getting paid to play games, but isn't the drug war nothing but a silly game anyway? And if it must be played, shouldn't it be played in a virtual environment where keeping a non-violent drug offender in prison doesn't cost taxpayers $20,000 or more per year, and lives aren't ruined or lost?

You can even argue that this game would be the most effective anti-drug policy the government could possibly have. If, indeed, video games have the potential to turn young people into killers, then hollow-faced, chronically sick game avatar junkies constantly searching for a high "by any means necessary" should steer plenty of kids onto the straight and narrow.

There are other drug-dealing games out there, but they don't have the scope, power, and visual ingenuity it will take to wean government drug warriors (not to mention people on the lucrative "dark side" of the fight) away from the non-virtual version. "Drug Czar" needs to be truly overwhelming, a game so vast that only the government can afford to produce it and make it freely available to players all over the world.

How much would all this cost to design and set up? $10 million? $20 million? Even a billion dollars would be a trifle compared to the cost of the offline version. And if it was an Open Source project (I'm sure SourceForge would be happy to host it, especially if the government kicked in a little pocket change to help with server maintenance), I'll bet volunteers from all over the world would help with development.

But remember, U.S.government is of the people, by the people, and for the people, so this isn't going to happen unless you write your elected representatives to tell them that you understand how much fun they are having with their war on drugs, and that you don't want want to take that pleasure away from them but would like them to stop playing it in real life and move it onto the Internet, where it would be less dangerous and more fun than the current version -- and probably at least as effective.

Olmy's Jart writes "From CNN: IBM Seems to have gotten into a bit of trouble with San Francisco city officials over some pro Linux graffiti. They claim their ad campaign is done in "bio degradable chalk" but that, even after a rain storm, "the penguins were still there ... smiling broadly." IBM Advertising Guy (wearing long-hair wig and tie-dyed Tux shirt, dirty jeans): "Hey man, relax, like, y'know? We're all just, like, self-motivated hippies here, right? Be cool, be cool, we'll clean it all up."

Olmy's Jart writes "From CNN: IBM Seems to have gotten into a bit of trouble with San Francisco city officials over some pro Linux graffiti. They claim their ad campaign is done in "bio degradable chalk" but that, even after a rain storm, "the penguins were still there ... smiling broadly." IBM Advertising Guy (wearing long-hair wig and tie-dyed Tux shirt, dirty jeans): "Hey man, relax, like, y'know? We're all just, like, self-motivated hippies here, right? Be cool, be cool, we'll clean it all up."

mblase writes "CNN.com reports on an Israeli company that has developed a "mouse" for the blind that enables them to "see" web graphics. The VirTouch Mouse (VTM) has three fingertip-sized arrays of 32 pins each that rise and fall depending on how white, black, or grey a particular part of the screen is. According to reactions posted on the company Web site, 25 out of 26 users reported "good" or "very good" success with the device. This could be the first step in making the Web truly accessible to the blind; now if only we could eliminate all-Flash sites as well."

Pedrito writes "CNN is running a story here about a new theory that competes with the Big Bang. I figured it would already be up here. The theory goes that the universe "existed" before as a vacuous space, devoid of matter or energy. Two universes collided and the collision brought matter and energy to the void. The theory explains some things that the Big Bang doesn't. It's also partially based in String theory, of which I'm a big believer."

GeHa writes "ABCnews has a story about the possible recovery of a hidden Japanese gold cache. Remember Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon?" A search on google brings up several interesting stories on this Thai gold hunt, including one to a 1996 article which includes a photo allegedly showing the entrance to the cave holding this cache. Now I have to re-read Cryptonomicon;)

cheesethegreat writes: "CNN has an article on a study by the US government is setting up to examine the structure of the internet. The study is set up by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB), and will look at issues like infrastructure, how easy to navigate it is, and top-level domain name issues. Interesting article, it says this is partially in reaction to people speaking out against ICANN. But what does the US government plan to do about it?"

A Crowd of Cowards submitted the news found in this LA Times article that Yahoo! will now sell pornographic videos though an online store. The new section ("Adult & Erotica") is not exactly flashing on the Yahoo! front page, but it's only a few clicks away. (And wants your valid credit card number as proof of age, btw.) Does this mean that all of Yahoo! will be blocked by the various censorware companies? Reader fezzgig points to coverage on CNN as well.

CritterNYC writes: "CNN is carrying a brief article on the FIRST Robotics Competition in Florida (as originally reported on Slashdot here). This is the competition that Dean Kamen (Ginger inventor, etc) organized. Couple of interesting pics." Any FIRST participants out there who can link to pages describing their schools' projects? If anyone from CNN is reading, it would be great if you had some higher-res shots, too :)

CritterNYC writes: "CNN is carrying a brief article on the FIRST Robotics Competition in Florida (as originally reported on Slashdot here). This is the competition that Dean Kamen (Ginger inventor, etc) organized. Couple of interesting pics." Any FIRST participants out there who can link to pages describing their schools' projects? If anyone from CNN is reading, it would be great if you had some higher-res shots, too :)

Soft writes: "NASA's latest Mars probe has had a good launch on the first try. Stories at SpaceflightNow, CNN, and the BBC. The Delta rocket's onboard camera gave impressive pictures of the ascent..." Read the CNN story for an awesome picture from the nose of the rocket looking back. I want a print of that.

ford23 writes "CNN has a story on Hollywood and how it portrays Hackers to the public, and how the view on them has changed as the issues of hacking have evolved. Listed and discussed are 9 movies that have had the most effect on the image of hackers, WarGames and The Matrix naturally included." Tragically they also included The Net. At least Real Geniuses offsets it.

ford23 writes "CNN has a story on Hollywood and how it portrays Hackers to the public, and how the view on them has changed as the issues of hacking have evolved. Listed and discussed are 9 movies that have had the most effect on the image of hackers, WarGames and The Matrix naturally included." Tragically they also included The Net. At least Real Geniuses offsets it.

Observations made by the Hubble telescope have produced evidence that the universe is full of "dark energy", stuff that has mass but does not emit nor block light, and that a disregarded theory first postulated by Einstein about "negative gravity" is actually valid. If true, this would provide firm evidence that the universe will not collapse in a "big crunch" but will expand indefinitely. See the SF Chronicle, New York Times, MSNBC, or CNN for stories (the Chronicle story is the best, IMHO). For background information, you may want to check out the cosmology FAQ or more information about negative gravity. (Update: 04/04 11:03 AM by michael : A couple of people have pointed out that this write-up is inaccurate; I'm not going to try to correct it, but read the comments for more information.)

Ronin Developer writes with word of this "interesting article on CNN about a new desktop-size super computer that reconfigures itself on the fly. The company name is 'Star Bridge.' Ring any bells? If I remember correctly, wasn't there something on /. about this a year ago?" Indeedy do -- Star Bridge seems to go straight from wacky-but-cool promises to Where are they now? (and back) with finesse. It's the the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie plot of hardware companies -- simultaneously head-scratchingly implausible, mildly compelling, and numbingly persistent.

ParticleGirl asks: "Dennis Tito's flight to the ISS is scheduled for the same time that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)'s robotic arm is supposed to be installed. Speaking for the CSA, Marc Garneau did an interview with Space.com. Now that Canada has come out against Tito going into space, it'll be interesting to see what kind of a compromise will be reached. Until now, this has been a sort-of standoff between Russia and the United States, but now other countries are entering the fray. Should this dude have access to the space station just because he's got the cash? He did work for NASA, and he seems to be intelligent and capable. On the other hand, he's not a trained astronaut and could plausibly be a liability if there is some sort of emergency. Will this be our first extra-orbital international incident?" While the article at Space.Com downplays any possibility of such an occurence, I can see reasons for both sides, here: Russia should be able to run their own space program, without any interference from the US, however Tito's presence on the ISS affects more than Russian interests. If the issue is a matter of training, however, I'm sure that Tito will need to pass some form of certification for space travel. Another thing to remember: the Russians have been at this space-travel thing longer than the US has. As always, feel free to share your thoughts on this issue.

Slashback tonight with bits on those things that go up coming down; those things meant to go up but which save the trip and just stay down; a nitpicking dissenter (kidding!) on the spelling and goodness of automated supervisory privileges for Canadian televisions; and a nostalgic look back at the ring-mice of yesteryear.

One day it will happen, just not yet. The launch of India's first GSLV anticipated on Slashdot a few days ago appears to have flopped. As Jon Erikson writes: "The launch of the GSLV-D1 has failed. The takeoff was successful, but shortly after its launch flames could be seen coming from the side of the rocket and the launch was aborted. As of yet there is no explaination. The story is here at BBC News." And fiscally-minded defence budget points to Rediff's story on same.

Correction, correction! The name of the country is not "Kanada," either. Jeremy Burman of Toronto's Myubi Search Technologies wrote in response to the recent post about Canadian broadcasters' V-Chip readiness, saying: "You posted a Canadian V-Chip piece to Slashdot earlier today but, unfortunately, the source both misspelled and got the CBC's name wrong. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is one of our country's greatest treasures; the institution of the V-Chip will allow parents more freedom in allowing their children to watch shows, giving the kids control of their TV time and helping them learn independence that much sooner."

The real Canadian Broadcasting Corporation are the ones to blame or praise for all this child liberation, not the devious Candadian Broadcast Company.

Why we used these back in the boiler room, a hundred years ago, and they were old-hat then, too! Isaac Grover of the SJSU College of Engineering writes of the head-tracking pointer system which made a recent appearance on these pages:

"This is *not* new technology. In my Win3.1 days I used a similar device by Spectrum (now Kantek/Spectrum at www.kantek-spectrum.com) called the RingMouse. It has since gone unsupported by Spectrum, but they are still out there and in use (google:RingMouse).

And surprisingly it is still superior to the capabilities of the Naturalpoint device in that it was three-dimensional in applications that supported it."

Wei muss Alles Be Immer About Mir?! Unlike Iridium, which has been pretending to have human owners ever since it gained sentience a few months back, Mir has bit the bullet, bought the farm, shuffled off this mortal coil (or rather back onto it), and is no more. Except possibly for some big titanium balls. (Every space collector's dream?)

Cryptacool writes: "http://www.mirreentry.com posted videos (finally) but it doesn't seem to be the footage from the planes rather captured from a video camera on the ground." Knave trickery, but just as well, since none are available in a Linux-friendly format right now :(

And slathering writes: "CNN.com reports that there are decent odds of bits of charred Mir washing up on the shores of pacific islands. The guy they interviewed thinks that the pieces would be worthless but I imagine they'd fetch a reasonable amount of money on eBay."

Now how much would you pay?

tuiterwyk writes "According to this article on CNN.com, the US Supreme court is considering whether print publishers who have paid a free-lance writer for an article or story are able to include that work in their on-line or CD versions without the permission of the original author or without being required to pay additional compensation. The impact on on-line searches and newspaper sites could be dramatic." See the New York Times story as well. Publishers such as AOL/Time Warner have no problem pirating the work of freelance writers to sell for a profit - when it's their profit. Note: I have not been able to find any article by any major publisher that describes what the publishers are doing (distributing copyrighted works without permission, for money) as "piracy", please post a comment with a link if you know of one.

quakeaddict writes "Apparently those of us who have been lucky enough to live in the far northern/southern latitudes, the light shows have been tremendous. Perhaps someone could point us to a page with some interesting pictures? I have always wanted to see these things in person, but a web page will have to suffice."

wayne writes: "CNN is running a story on web search engines and their inablity to keep up with the growth of the web. Web directories such as Yahoo! and the Open Directory Project can take months to add a site and the queue of unreviewed sites is growing. Most search engines are even further behind and are filled with off-topic and dead pages. The trend is toward pay for listing. Will the free, searchable web fade away?" The article gets beyond the "Wowie, so much content, engines can't keep up" typical blather and addesses some of the reason search engines have a hard time keeping up.

wayne writes: "CNN is running a story on web search engines and their inablity to keep up with the growth of the web. Web directories such as Yahoo! and the Open Directory Project can take months to add a site and the queue of unreviewed sites is growing. Most search engines are even further behind and are filled with off-topic and dead pages. The trend is toward pay for listing. Will the free, searchable web fade away?" The article gets beyond the "Wowie, so much content, engines can't keep up" typical blather and addesses some of the reason search engines have a hard time keeping up.

NeoCode writes: "Tomorrow, India will launch its first GSLV satellite using the Russian launchers. Its an amazing feat since they have built the satellite from scratch. If the launch is successful, India will become the sixth nation (US, Russia, China, Japan and the European Space Agency being the others) to build and launch a GSLV class satellite. Rediff.com has complete coverage on the story behind the making of this satellite. More details can found here @CNN, @TribundIndia.com and @Space.com."

therevan writes: "Headline News reports here that TiVo, the digital television recording technology, has been accused by privacy groups of selling user usage info to advertising agencies. Now you're not even safe with your computer unplugged." Though no specific sale is talked about, the article says that TiVO has acknowleged creating an (anonymized) database of viewing information for that purpose. It's not the first time that privacy concerns about TiVO viewing habits have been raised, but the company insist that all such information is separated from personally identifying information.

noweb4u writes "According to their website it looks like the failed merger with verizon was the straw that broke the camel's back. Hope they can get funding enough to allow their DSL customers to migrate to other providers." CNNfn also more details about the details of the case - for all those who are Northpoint customers - good luck.

Several people wrote in with news about a possible new genus of pre-humans, based on fossils found in Kenya. Check out the less-technical articles at CNN or MSNBC, or the hardcore paper in Nature (which has some very nice pictures of the actual fossils).

argentus was one of many to write in regarding the Children's Internet Protection Act, challenged today in Philadelphia. Read the ACLU and American Library Association press releases, or perhaps the complaint filed by the ALA or complaint filed by the ACLU. Here's a story about the case, but there's a bit more information below.

In a nutshell: a few years ago, Congress got the bright idea that libraries and schools ought to have internet connections and computers. You may be aware that for many years, there has been a tax levied on telephone service which goes to the "universal service" fund - this money is supposed to be used to fund telephone service in remote areas of the United States, to ensure that all U.S. citizens have access to a telephone. Alaska is a major beneficiary.

The universal service fund was the natural place to tap to provide funds for discounted internet access to libraries and schools, and it was. Under the new programs, schools and libraries could receives funds to purchase computers and ongoing discounts on internet access charges. The new program was called "E-Rate", and about $5.5 billion has been spent so far, and up to $2.25 billion may be spent each year. My phone bill says that I am being taxed $0.43/month/line for universal service - I'm not certain if this is constant across the United States or not. You can check your local school or library to see if they are receiving funding here.

However, the Federal Government giveth and the Federal Government taketh away. For several years running, conservatives in Congress attempted to add language which would require recipients of this funding to censor their internet access. So, internet=GOOD, uncensored internet=BAD. Senator John McCain spearheaded the drive to impose internet censorship in any institution which accepted the funds or discounts. In December 2000, the language was added to the 2001 omnibus spending bill, which was ten inches thick when Congress finally voted to approve it - thick enough that no one on earth could claim to know what actually was in the spending bill and what was not.

Although there were attempts to make the bill apply only to terminals used by minors, the final bill applies to all terminals used by anyone. The institutions receiving funding are required to block access to (at a minimum) obscene materal, child pornography, and material harmful to minors (when minors are using the terminals). Given the technical limitations of the software, it's impossible for blocking to be limited to those areas listed. Some schools and libraries will choose to reject the funding and find some other way to budget for internet access. Some will accept the funding and the conditions. Talk to your library and find out.

And here we are. The plaintiffs -- libraries and library associations, library patrons, and people who publish content likely to be blocked -- are asserting that Congress has violated several Constitutional rights with the passage of this law. Read the last few pages of either complaint for an explicit listing of their claims. These are hard claims to make - the court system has often upheld Congress' power to put conditions on funding, since after all, the libraries do have the option of declining the funds - perhaps eliminating their internet access - and in that case, they wouldn't be bound by the law's requirement to censor their internet access. Funding for the interstate highway system has been tied to a national speed limit and to a national drinking age, for example.

In other words, this legal challenge is no slam dunk. This is more like a shot from half court with Michael Jordan in your face. The remedy with the greatest chance of success is pushing Congress to reverse itself and make the E-rate funds restriction-free.

Carnage4Life writes "While browsing ZDNet I found this article that describes how U.S. members of congress receive so much email (about 55,000 a month) that they now routinely ignore email messages especially since a lot of them do not even come from their constituents. " Here's a similiar story where emails to our congressional representatives are referred to as spam. Although I'm sure mass-mailing reps is common, I wouldn't be at all surprised if 50,000 people emailed during the Napster hearings. But we've said it before, Reps don't understand bits and bytes. If you don't send them dead trees, they don't think you vote.

ErrantKbd writes: "CNN's science section features this article about BMW's recent tinkerings with hydrogen-powered cars. It has some interesting information about safety issues, which are understandably a major concern for cars no less than for zeppelins. Hopefully other manufacturers will adopt the same attitude as BMW, so the rest of us can afford these if they should ever emerge on the market." For now these cars have a limited range and one (1) fueling spot, which is fine if you commute to and from the Munich airport. One day, though, it'd be great for the rooftop solar collector to be separating fuel for the next day's commute ...

ErrantKbd writes: "CNN's science section features this article about BMW's recent tinkerings with hydrogen-powered cars. It has some interesting information about safety issues, which are understandably a major concern for cars no less than for zeppelins. Hopefully other manufacturers will adopt the same attitude as BMW, so the rest of us can afford these if they should ever emerge on the market." For now these cars have a limited range and one (1) fueling spot, which is fine if you commute to and from the Munich airport. One day, though, it'd be great for the rooftop solar collector to be separating fuel for the next day's commute ...