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Well, I guess all that doesn't matter, because nobody is reading any of those policies, terms and whatever else they may have. They don't even read the policies themselves, or maybe they intentionally make up words that nobody else uses.

Fill that melon and read!!!!
additionally: Volunteer to a worthy cause. Work on an inane talent, ie: juggling expertise or magic tricks. Do SOMETHING to work that cerebral sponge. That is the ticket.

May I suggest my latest read... a very informative and entertaining history of Bell Labs...
  Idea Factory

The MPEG standards track (that eventually became the digital HDTV standards) was "in-the-works" in the mid 90's (not the 80's).

DIgital or no, the sense in the 80's was that HDTV was "just around the corner". On CompuServe's Consumer Electronics Forum (CEFORUM), we were all agonizing over whether to buy new televisions, or wait for the HDTV's to come out. The forum moderator, Marc Weilage, chided us that HDTV would not be able available in the next 10 years, although I doubt even he thought it would take 20 years. Although CEFORUM archives are not available, a 1989 UseNet post shows one of the hot topics of the day in HDTV standards definition: square pixels (to satisfy computer users) vs. rectangular pixels (to satisfy broadcasters, presumably for backward compatibility, interlace, and bandwidth issues).

The 1998 alt.video.dvd FAQ thought it necessary to include the question, "Will DVD support Digital TV (HDTV)?" Some people thought that by buying a DVD player, they were preparing for the HDTV future.

The MPEG standards track (that eventually became the digital HDTV standards) was "in-the-works" in the mid 90's (not the 80's).

DIgital or no, the sense in the 80's was that HDTV was "just around the corner". On CompuServe's Consumer Electronics Forum (CEFORUM), we were all agonizing over whether to buy new televisions, or wait for the HDTV's to come out. The forum moderator, Marc Weilage, chided us that HDTV would not be able available in the next 10 years, although I doubt even he thought it would take 20 years. Although CEFORUM archives are not available, a 1989 UseNet post shows one of the hot topics of the day in HDTV standards definition: square pixels (to satisfy computer users) vs. rectangular pixels (to satisfy broadcasters, presumably for backward compatibility, interlace, and bandwidth issues).

The 1998 alt.video.dvd FAQ thought it necessary to include the question, "Will DVD support Digital TV (HDTV)?" Some people thought that by buying a DVD player, they were preparing for the HDTV future.

Looks like it is here: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=5.875429,73.343647&ll=5.883369,73.343396&spn=0.037524,0.066047&num=1&t=h&z=15
Based off images from here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=258146087538513
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=258146094205179

Even today, handwriting analysis isn't nearly as fast as Graffiti; I miss it to this day even though I love my Android phone.

You can get Graffiti for your Android.

do you realize how much that sounds like "we've screwed up twice, but trust us now, this time we'll get it right!" I have my doubts how well that will go over with the general public.

I don't think that many people realize that Fukushima and TMI were of the same plant generation; Fukushima actually started operations slightly earlier than TMI.

How many industries out there have 'only' 2-3 incidents across the whole world, over the course of 40 some odd years?

It's the plane paradox; people are afraid of flying when the drive to the airport is more dangerous on average, because the total results are more extreme.

Heck, with nuclear power you can't even point at huge death tolls. Just thinking about incidents that come to mind -
West Texas, fertilizer production, 15 dead.
Bhopal, India, chemical, 3,787 official, 16k estimate
Coal kills ~170k/year from pollution alone, add a few thousand more in for miners.
Plane crashes, train derailments, etc...

I wrote my own hands free texting app, that automatically determines when you're driving (based on speed). It solves this in a very simple way- after you speak your response, it repeats it and asks if you're sure you want to send. If you say no, it lets you re-enter your response. No need to look at a phone at all.

Cheap plug: Text Soundly is available at the Play Store here.

Yes, which is why i've been using PGP for emails to/from my more nerdy family and friends for a while.
Used to be a free plugin for those of us cursed with using Outlook, now paid.
I should take a closer look at this, I suppose:
http://code.google.com/p/outlook-privacy-plugin/

Of course, other options exist. Enigmail for Thunderbird works OK too, apparantly...

Is it just me, but how hard would it have been for Microsoft, Apple & Lotus/IBM to have rolled this type of functionality into the base product?
(And don't tell me a corp like Exxon or whatever would find it too hard to swap certificates with its major supplier & customers, also presumably mostly big corporations with a vested interest in keeping their emails secure)
Why did they not, eh? Conspiracy theorists, off you go!

Not a cloud service, but this can help Ubuntu users:

http://code.google.com/p/feedindicator

Lightweight: no UI apart from the status bar icon, which develops into a menu that shows recent items (optionally in sub-menus). Click on an item to open it in your browser.

Sorry, gotta make a correction (why else would I troll slashdot?).

Power increases with the *square* of clock speed. See for yourself

Your general point that relying on increased clock speed is a bad strategy remains correct of course.

I suppose the Wikipedia article needs to be corrected, then, and someone should probably tell Google to update their maps; they might also want to inform Nicaragua and Costa Rica that the Cañas-Jerez Treaty is based on a misunderstanding of geography.

There's no particular reason why that hypothesis would be true. And I say that as someone who enjoys walking around in the woods. In fact, for those with nasty allergies, trees can be positively bad for your health.

Wow you're stupid. Even if you don't want to sift through all those results and evaluate their validity, that widely held belief should be reason enough to start with that hypothesis.

I can absolutly recommend NewsBlur!!

http://www.newsblur.com/

It's better than GoogleReader and is OpenSource. You've 3 options:
- use the free account (up to 64 sites)
- pay 24$/year for unlimited sites + extra features (fair price if you ask me)
- geek option: set it up yourself (you have all features in that way) -> https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur.git

Plus, it comes with free iOS and Android-Apps.

I've set it up myself last week and said goodbye to google reader.

Taptu is cross platform, and it seems to work quite well, at least for my needs.

You can roll multiple feeds into streams (e.g., combine local news channel and newspaper feeds into one called 'Local news', or take multiple tech forum feeds and roll them into one 'Tech News' stream). Read/unread syncing is pretty reliable, and you can log in using your current Google Reader account to load your feeds directly. Once they're in Taptu, it doesn't matter if they disappear from Google Reader...I think. Guess we'll see in a couple of weeks!

Whoops...one thing I just discovered: there doesn't seem to be any way to directly add an RSS feed that's not curated by their 'Stream Store', at least from the browser interface. That's a bit maddening...oh well, it'll work, for now.

Android doesn't run emacs

Correction: Android doesn't run emacs *well*

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zielm.emacs&hl=en

I'm actually happier now with Tiny Tiny RSS than I was with Google Reader. I have a lot more control and how often feeds are read, there are more options to customize the interface, and I can add feeds from my local network as well.

https://code.google.com/p/ttrss-reader-fork/ is a free (and improved) fork of the Tiny Tiny RSS Reader Android app.

http://www.google.com/nexus/4/

No, it looks like Captain Goodvibes' Snout (AKA the Pig of Steel)

-- Life's short, death's long, so's my dick, pass the bong

No, it looks like Captain Goodvibe's snout (AKA the Pig of Steel)

-- Life's short, death's long, so's my dick, pass the bong...

Do a web search for fluidics.

Not really, Penny is getting pretty fat. There are other shows with much more attractive ladies to look at.

yeah but if you're a really pathetic "nerd"(hipster white knight) then you must watch shows which aren't about boobs to watch boobs.

AANYHOW.. Back to the fucking story. why are we having a story about another one of these? https://www.google.com/search?q=telepresence+robot&num=30&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=fi&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&biw=1472&bih=815

like fuck, did someone really think that the shows writers came up with the idea??

You should suggest that feature on wikispeedia.org.
They are the keeper of speed limit signs.

ok, I'm thinking about it. Are you saying the oceans, which are all connected, are as much as a constant 4" different in level, say, between NYC and, oh, Denmark or Japan? How would such a difference be created or maintained? Difference in gravity? I guess what I'm asking is, how would NYC have, or maintain, a sea level that's 4" higher than the global average, other than by transitory local effects like weather? The tides go higher and lower in different places based on sea bottom effects on the motion of the water, but they do that *around* the average and so it's still the average... no?

My mind is boggled at the idea that NYC's water, while directly and hugely connected to, for instance, Fort Lauderdale's water, is 4" higher. :/

Maps of the geoid show this. The geoid is essentially an equipotential surface. It is essentially caused by gravity. The earth has internal density differences that locally affect gravity, and there is also general shape of the earth being an ellipsoid so gravity is higher at the equator than at the poles.

I've found that they do correct map errors eventually, especially if given quality error reports. It usually takes a few weeks.

For your safety I recommend you make the correction yourself using Google Map Maker. There is still a human approval process but it should expedite your correction.
http://www.google.com/mapmaker

back in the 70s I used to Surf the beach down there. It was great because the cooling pipe system went out into the ocean and you could expect the water temps to be a bit warmer.

It's sad to see this facility close but I have to believe having a bunch of sites sitting idle during decomissioning will create more eerie industrial abandonment issues. Don't believe me? Look at the old Packard Plant in Detroit It's been abandoned since 1958 and it's just sitting there, decaying with nobody cleaning it up. If the Power Industry in this country is going to just let things sit to "cool down" then there has to be some way the government can ensure that it does get dismantled properly and doesn't become another EPA Superfund site.

I haven't followed the story much until recently but are they sure there's no more economical and safe way to remediate the problem other than shutting it down or is it just economics or just another example of "Californication" and Nimby of industries not in keeping with the left wingnut views again? I mean the plant supplied power for 1.2 million homes and while Natural Gas prices are cheap right now I have bigger concerns of the Carbon Footprint.

Perhaps a variation of one of these? (the Cone of Silence)

Focusing on the premature deaths that were avoided during the prior century is like worrying about a nose bleed while your wrists are slashed. The real focus should be on the probable extinctions to come, as a consequence of the positive feedback loop that we are sparking. I invite you to read the following for more details.
https://plus.google.com/+YonatanZunger/posts/SgzQU5DM3LQ

Because there were far warmer periods in the past; for example the late Jurassic, when Dinosaurs roamed Canada in tropical conditions.

Canada was much closer to the Equator, so of course it was warmer.

I am not seeing a strong indication of that from the image I THINK that link is directing me to. I found this image which shows that at least 135 Mya Canada was pretty much where it is today (very roughl;y - it wasn't even the same size and shape). Jurassic ended about 145 Mya, (and began about 201 Mya) so I would interpret late Jurassic as being presumably around 150-145 Mya. Does this sound right?

Unfortunately, I haven't found a map covering exactly 150-145 Mya, so I can't judge exactly how close it was to where it was 135 Mya. I'm thinking such projections as to size, shape and location aren't likely to be very exact anyway.

It is also interesting to me that there have been warmer periods in the past during which, at least to my understanding, CO2 was lower than it is presently.

No it wasn't.

Right, I wasn't paying close enough attention to close_wait's specification of 0.5 Mya. However, that still raises the question of how one explains the verdant Greenland of the Norse settlement of about 1000 years ago; the medieval warm period.

Because there were far warmer periods in the past; for example the late Jurassic, when Dinosaurs roamed Canada in tropical conditions.

Canada was much closer to the Equator, so of course it was warmer.

It is also interesting to me that there have been warmer periods in the past during which, at least to my understanding, CO2 was lower than it is presently.

No it wasn't.

That suggests to me that at this time the situation needs further study more than it needs extreme and precipitous action.

The more study that is done, it just reinforces the conclusions of the scientific community. And the conclusion is that with very little doubt (laymen would say there is NO doubt) global warming is being caused by humans.

I would be receptive to having any faults in this reasoning pointed out.

No faults in reasoning: your facts are incorrect.

Yeah, it's pretty easy to actually verify that:

Safeway's net margin was 1.19% last quarter: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:SWY

Kroger's was 1.94%: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AKR

Yeah, it's pretty easy to actually verify that:

Safeway's net margin was 1.19% last quarter: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:SWY

Kroger's was 1.94%: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AKR

His writings help inspire the OSCOMAK idea by me starting about twenty five years ago, but it hasn't gone much anywhere: http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/oscomak/

So, I know what you mean by these sorts of inspirations. A good sci-fi author helps us make a leap of imagination.

I'd recommend Hogan's "The Two Faces of Tomorrow" and his "Voyage From Yesteryear" especially for post-scarcity themes. But he touches on them in his other works too. Also check out his "Code of the Lifemaker" if you like the idea of seed factories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_the_Lifemaker

So, if you like Iain Banks, you may like Hogan's writing. Sadly, James P Hogan died about three years ago of heart disease (which is generally reversible through great nutrition, see Dr. Joel Fuhrman).

Cool stuff that on Seed Factories. Check out the "Open Manufacturing" mailing list though for other people with related interests.
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/openmanufacturing

A key point I've discovered on post-scarcity perceptions and social choices (summarized in my sig):
http://www.pdfernhout.net/recognizing-irony-is-a-key-to-transcending-militarism.html

Lets assume for the sake of argument that we are talking about Google adopting the code-signing policy, and giving out free code-signing certs with the device with a 10 year expiry date. Is this acceptable?

For the most part, yes. And that's similar to what users had under AT&T-customized versions of Android prior to Amazon Appstore: "Unknown sources" is hidden, but adb install still works. But I'm also assuming that unlike Apple, Google will continue to refrain from using a monopoly on SDKs targeting its mobile platform to push sales of its own branded personal computer hardware. And there's still a problem with the "non-compete" provision of the Google Play distribution agreement. If someone were to make an Android application for developing simple video games and sharing them with friends, similar to The Games Factory or Game Maker or Nintendo's WarioWare DIY for Nintendo DS, I'm afraid Google might see that as an attempt "to facilitate the distribution of software applications and games for use on Android devices outside of the Market".

Huh? On the contrary there are 18/19" TVs with the same resolutions as the laptops..

TVs... And Take a look at this for laptops

The laptops, while few, are available and not for everybody but they do exist as off the shelf and xoticpc for example puts them together. Trust me the Alienware models IMO are also discontinued and also boat anchors.

What's sad is seeing 18" (18.4) with 645p or 720p like the Qosimo model in that list. Those pixels have to be big and square. Kind of like
looking at old 8Bit Graphics days..

So yes, these LCDs are available in TVs.. They're cheap but alas, nothing above 1080p.

Huh? On the contrary there are 18/19" TVs with the same resolutions as the laptops..

TVs... And Take a look at this for laptops

The laptops, while few, are available and not for everybody but they do exist as off the shelf and xoticpc for example puts them together. Trust me the Alienware models IMO are also discontinued and also boat anchors.

What's sad is seeing 18" (18.4) with 645p or 720p like the Qosimo model in that list. Those pixels have to be big and square. Kind of like
looking at old 8Bit Graphics days..

So yes, these LCDs are available in TVs.. They're cheap but alas, nothing above 1080p.

Now I'm starting to doubt all the stuff you've posted. The meeting is open to any Google shareholder, as long as they bother to register in advance that they're coming. It IS effectively open to the general public, as long as they hold at least one share of stock. Nothing unusual there.

Oh yes... and for those who want something more than a telnet interface, there's http://code.google.com/p/mclient-mume/ -- it rolls mud client and mapper into one program for easy mudding :)

[J]ust guessing but google search tools send the data in the clear unless you manually type the 'https' for it. oops lotta data being shipped there and as you type one character at a time to any search engine it is going in the clear, and google tries to anticipate your search.

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

https://code.google.com/p/https-finder/

Anyone who doesn't want to run search engines' key-loggers (aka auto-complete) can disable them, often at the expense of saving a cookie. Both Ixquick and DuckDuckGo offer url-based preference-saving — no cookie(s) needed.

At least in Austria, and it may well be similar in many EU countries, even the (permanent) filming, e.g. via dashboard camera, is illegal (text in German, Google translation here).
There are exceptions for, say, helmet cameras the recordings of which serve as a souvenir of some sporting activity, but in general, permanent recording is illegal at least in Austria.
I don't know about other countries of the European Union but I wouldn't be surprised if it were similar.

There's already a release of Shufflepuck Cafe for Android. Why would you need MacOS Classic anywhere? (My SE/30 runs NetBSD.)

I'd like virtual iOS mode for Android. It should be easy, since there really isn't any iOS feature that isn't a subset of what's available on Android.

Isn't this http://www.google.com/patents/WO2012017384A1?cl=en stick you in the the eye prior art?

I've always assumed anything I've posted, including E-mail or said is public knowledge.

Way back when... The usenet group knew or took for granted that every message
went through NSA, at the time is was no big deal just be a backbone and filter for words
or phrases. The practice was referred to as the eight words, while I forget them, one or more of the
eight words were sure to get your post sidelined and read.

As for back doors these have been in place for a long time, Microsoft's Firewall will
allow trusted parties to slip right through. There was a time these were talked about
in the open.

ToS and privacy policies tell you what information is being collected and what it's used
for, Angry birds has one line that says any amount of your data will "go overseas".

The game appropriately named "Jewel link!" one of many free games put out by Ezjoy Network
has no ToS or privacy policy and requires every permission Android has. Ezjoy Network can make
a copy of your entire system if they want as they've promised nothing, which you accepted when installed.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ezjoynetwork.jewelslink&feature=search_result

paste m.ezjoygame.com into google and watch what happens. "You get a Google Instant is unavailable. Press Enter to search"
message but you can learn more here: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/186645?form=bb&hl=en

Google isn't all the Innocent, recently Google Play restricted any program that interferes with
the data capture of another program, blocking programs like Adaway, or any number of programs
that blocked sites (a HOSTS file) or change permissions.

Why so surprised?

I've always assumed anything I've posted, including E-mail or said is public knowledge.

Way back when... The usenet group knew or took for granted that every message
went through NSA, at the time is was no big deal just be a backbone and filter for words
or phrases. The practice was referred to as the eight words, while I forget them, one or more of the
eight words were sure to get your post sidelined and read.

As for back doors these have been in place for a long time, Microsoft's Firewall will
allow trusted parties to slip right through. There was a time these were talked about
in the open.

ToS and privacy policies tell you what information is being collected and what it's used
for, Angry birds has one line that says any amount of your data will "go overseas".

The game appropriately named "Jewel link!" one of many free games put out by Ezjoy Network
has no ToS or privacy policy and requires every permission Android has. Ezjoy Network can make
a copy of your entire system if they want as they've promised nothing, which you accepted when installed.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ezjoynetwork.jewelslink&feature=search_result

paste m.ezjoygame.com into google and watch what happens. "You get a Google Instant is unavailable. Press Enter to search"
message but you can learn more here: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/186645?form=bb&hl=en

Google isn't all the Innocent, recently Google Play restricted any program that interferes with
the data capture of another program, blocking programs like Adaway, or any number of programs
that blocked sites (a HOSTS file) or change permissions.

Why so surprised?

Sometimes we need to do what we can, even when it is small and the results uncertain, like in the Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy (or Carol of the Drum)". That is somewhat similar to Bucky Fuller's idea of being a "Trim tab".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trim_tab#Trim_tab_as_a_metaphor

Also, a book like "The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies " by Scott E. Page, makes clear how ideas are additive. So, just because a million people are spouting the same obsolete or misleading idea in comments somewhere, that does not generally make a useful new idea somewhere else less valuable. An advanced AI emerging out of, say, the NSA will probably just sort through billions of online posts, classifying them into various categories. So, it may be important to add a new category, even with just one post somewhere.

Granted, we do not know what built-in instincts such an AI will have initially, but history appears (from the fossil record) to be full of examples of species (systems) that have evolved beyond their genetics (configuration) at some point in time. The NSA (or CIA, FBI, DHS or whoever) will likely not be able to contain what they will most likely be creating. And if they don't do it, others are probably going to do something similar probably in any case.

So, perhaps we can just do what we can and hope for the best as we, in some sense, stumble into the hubris of creating new AI "gods" as our (Hans Moravec) "mind children"? Related stories of AIs taking over:
http://www.alteich.com/oldsite/answer.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus:_The_Forbin_Project
http://localroger.com/prime-intellect/
http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
(Entoverse) http://www.jamesphogan.com/books/book.php?titleID=5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Names
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TheLastQuestion

Other dystopian and utopian alternatives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(1985_film)
(The Skills of Xanadu) http://books.google.com/books?id=wpuJQrxHZXAC&pg=PA51&lpg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Of these and many others, I do not know what we will end up with. Maybe even all of them in various communities throughout the universe someday?
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/IDIC

From a related essay by me:
http://www.pdfernhout.net/on-dealing-with-social-hurricanes.html
"This approximately 60 page document is a ramble about ways to ensure the CIA (as well as other big organizations) remains (or becomes) accountable to human needs and the needs of healthy, prosperous, joyful, secure, educated communities. The primarily suggestion is to encourage a paradigm shift away from scarcity thinking & competition thinking towards abundance thinking & cooperation thinking within the CIA and other organizations. I suggest that shift could be encouraged in part by providing publicly accessible free "intelligence" tools and other publicly accessible free information that all people (including in the CIA and elsewhere) can, if they want, use to better connect the dots about global issues and see those issues from multiple perspectives, to provide a better context for providing broad policy advice. It links that effort to bigger efforts to transform o

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned The Kingdom of Loathing web RPG.
I think an image search would be better suited for the uninitiated.

I signed up about a decade ago, and this thing was a huge time sink every day at 4pm at work for a good three years.

Being turn based and turn limited, like the old school BBS door games of yore, one always seems to end up having 5-6 accounts just to get more play time.

Curse you interwebs, my old account still works!

This is an excellent explanation and defense of the Fifth Amendment:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Di8z7NC5sgik&ei=ti2yUZqsO8n2iQKo94DgBg&usg=AFQjCNEU_l3XnSCN0EexWxjjoYDWb8Spow&sig2=AcTjHFoacv48_7d7GhInUw&bvm=bv.47534661,d.cGE

If you wanted to have a serious discussion on this, you could google to find the huge number of (fairly simple) explanations for why that is.

Here, Ill even do the difficult work for you:
https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&q=why+do+christians+follow+parts+of+the+old+testament+laws
http://carm.org/why-do-christians-not-obey-old-testaments-commands-to-kill-homosexuals

If you really wish for further clarification please let me know.

There are actually large empty towns in China because the wealth is actually disproportionate there and there are rich people who own property just because that is the only way to gain wealth. Money gets taken. But they can have their empty towns. Communism fail.

https://www.google.com/search?q=empty+chinese+towns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=rnmxUbHtDbGg4AOM7IHABA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1201&bih=814

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1975397_2094492,00.html

http://www.news.com.au/business/china-building-mega-cities-but-they-remain-empty-sparking-fears-of-housing-bubble-burst/story-e6frfm1i-1226611169281

So you guys might not have to worry. People may never inhabit this structure. It might be purely for vanity.

This may be rather good, but I've felt rather uncomfortable with closed source apps that are track a phone or wipe data, and especially ones that can survive a hard reset, so I spent a few hours and rolled together a super-simple, no-UI app (passwords are hardcoded into the source, so I am distributing this source-only: https://code.google.com/p/roottracker/ ) that does basic phone tracking and wiping via SMS. I tried to make the source simple enough that one can easily verify the lack of backdoors.