Slashdot Mirror

Combat Wombat sends the news that the government in Australia has begun waffling on whether country-wide Internet censorship will be mandatory. "The Rudd Government has indicated that it may back away from its mandatory Internet filtering plan. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy today told a Senate estimates committee that the filtering scheme could be implemented by a voluntary industry code. ... [The shadow communications minister] said he had never heard of a voluntary mandatory system. ... Senator Conroy's statement is a departure from the internet filtering policy Labor took into the October 2007 election to make it mandatory for ISPs to block offensive and illegal content." The censorship plan, which has been called "worse than Iran," was bypassed even before trials started. A minister's defection may have effectively blocked any chance of implementation.

Combat Wombat writes with this excerpt from Reuters: "A strain of flu never seen before has killed up to 60 people in Mexico and also appeared in the United States, where eight people were infected but recovered, health officials said on Friday. Mexico's government said at least 20 people have died of the flu and it may also be responsible for 40 other deaths. [The government] shut down schools and canceled major public events in Mexico City to try to prevent more deaths in the sprawling, overcrowded capital. ... Close analysis showed the disease is a mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the CDC. Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people. Mexico reported 1,004 suspected cases of the new virus, including four possible cases in Mexicali on the border with California.

Combat Wombat brings news that the legal battle between the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO) and a host of major tech corporations has come to end, with a large settlement going to the CSIRO. The fight was over a patent on wireless LAN technology, which already earned the CSIRO a victory in court over Buffalo Technology and a settlement with Hewlett-Packard. The remaining 13 companies, which include Dell, Intel, Microsoft and Nintendo, have now chosen to settle as well. "[The CSIRO] will use the money won from a Wi-Fi technology patent battle to fund further research. ... It is unclear how much money has flowed to the CSIRO, but experts say the technology would be worth billions of dollars if royalties were paid on an ongoing basis."

thetan asks: "Like a lot of Slashdot readers, I've played a little NetHack as a teenager. Alright, quite a lot - but it was no big deal and I just sort of grew out of it. Now I'm not proud of this, but I got my gf hooked and she's been using daily for a few years now. After she tired of the game, I tried sating the monkey on her back with new fixes like Angband and ADOM. Now, I no longer want be a party to her addiction and self-destruction. She acknowledges the problem but is not yet ready to take that first step. What can I do to help ween her off? Could interactive fiction act as a methadone - or does it result in just as much harm? What other strategies have users employed to get clean? Does anyone know of NetHack addiction support groups or a 12-step? I'm desperate to get her back!"

ExidyBoy writes "While the Gates Brothers fly entire camcorders in their rockets to record onboard footage, a cheaper alternative is to use off-the-shelf 2.4GHz wireless video senders. The Aussie RocketCam site has Windows Media and QuickTime clips of the spectacular results that can be obtained."

ExidyBoy writes "While the Gates Brothers fly entire camcorders in their rockets to record onboard footage, a cheaper alternative is to use off-the-shelf 2.4GHz wireless video senders. The Aussie RocketCam site has Windows Media and QuickTime clips of the spectacular results that can be obtained."

Adam Jenkins writes "More info on the NSA patent has been reported in The Independent. Specifically they have been lab-testing software that can sift through calls and e-mails in search of key phrases." Can you say 'Echelon'? Anyone who still harbors any doubts about whether the network could exist should read this.

Duncan Lawie has returned with a review of Greg Egan's Teranesia, which continues his string of reviews regarding well-written science fiction. This novel, a near future adventure, is in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". Click below to read more - and look for next week's review of Cities in Flight. Teranesia author Greg Egan pages 320 publisher London: Gollancz Aug 99; New York: HarperPrism Nov 99 rating 8.5/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 006105092X summary A stunning near future adventure in the lush biosphere of South East Asia.

Greg Egan has been programming computers since the 1970s and writing science fiction since the 1980s. The latter has become his primary activity in the 1990s. He lives in Western Australia though the bulk of his professional sales have been made overseas. His books have been hard-edged analyses, with principal themes including consideration of many-worlds theory and the integration of technology into human evolution. Consciousness is often treated as the subject of technical manipulation in futures underpinned by the effects of increasingly sophisticated technology.

From this viewpoint the astounding clarity of the opening chapter of Egan's latest book made me wonder whether the setting was, once again, a virtual environment. In fact, Teranesia is, in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". It is set in the early part of the next century. Indonesia continues to convulse in the throes of faction fighting while new creatures are appearing in the island chain. This is a source of considerable interest for biologists prepared to brave the dangers of potential civil war.

Egan's decision to move the focus of his writing from technology into biology provides a new range of signifiers for him to work with. The protagonist, Prabir, is typical of the author's work - highly intelligent and at ease with computers - but in this story his primary motivation is neither technical nor technological but emotional. Prabir is fully formed, well meaning but humanly flawed. In the development of this character Egan is highly successful. Prabir's traits are the natural outcome of the life story we are shown and his actions, whilst frustrating to the observer, are inevitable for Prabir himself. At least one of these observers, Prabir's sister Mahdusree, bursts from the page. In her more positive attitude she provides an effective foil to Prabir. His boyfriend also seems to share Mahdusree's opinion more than Prabir's, though in this case it seems to be a result of coming to terms with himself. Prabir's homosexuality sharpens the drama rather than being any concession to political correctness. In fact, there is a glorious series of extended jokes on political correctness. These involve Prabir's cousin and her academic environment, which are so skilfully drawn as to border on caricature. A hint of this is the cousin's belief that computers are reinforcing patriarchy due to the sexist nature of the ones and zeros which make up binary numbers.

The theme of biological research is riddled with complexity. The bulk of the science occurs outside of Prabir's speciality, allowing the writing to concentrate on time spent in the field. Egan has always been a precise writer, his clarity of description is to be awed. After a long day in the field the accumulated facts are rapidly tied together into new ideas. Scientific method is displayed as theories combine and recombine though Egan's vision of such a degree of co-operation between scientists seems somewhat optimistic. Successive ideas are thrown at the reader so fast that the progress towards a final theory feels like a game. Perhaps this is the point. Perhaps it could also be taken as an indication of how difficult it is to combine a novel of ideas with a character-led story line while retaining the fallibility of these characters.

The tale is well paced. The development of Prabir's story slows whilst scientific progress advances the plot. This leads to a sense of foreboding until the plot regathers, reaching alarming speed in the final pages and hurtling headlong into the back cover. Egan has also managed to pull together the novels themes, recapitulating the story to drive the urgency of the ending. He has taken a brave step into new territory and this is a distinctly visceral, emotional work. At the same time Egan has retained command of clear writing and profound scientific ideas.

Purchase this book from FatBrain.

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• Greg Egan's Site
• Eidolon SF
• Duncan Lawie