Slashdot Mirror

True, but eugenics isn't exactly getting rave reviews anymore.

We just put up the *real* torrents. The other nerdtv.net torrent file was never intended for public consumption.

Use these:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the *real* torrents. The other nerdtv.net torrent file was never intended for public consumption.

Use these:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the *real* torrents. The other nerdtv.net torrent file was never intended for public consumption.

Use these:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the *real* torrents. The other nerdtv.net torrent file was never intended for public consumption.

Use these:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the *real* torrents. The other nerdtv.net torrent file was never intended for public consumption.

Use these:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the *real* torrents. The other nerdtv.net torrent file was never intended for public consumption.

Use these:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the real torrents:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the real torrents:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the real torrents:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the real torrents:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the real torrents:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

We just put up the real torrents:

http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntv001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.m4a.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvjuicy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/ntvnerdy001.mp4.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.ogg.torrent
http://www.pbs.org/hplink/redir/http://nerdtv.net/ video/NTV001/NTV001.mp3.torrent

That's right -- you did. http://www.pbs.org/saf/1506/segments/1506-1.htm

Here is the torrent... unfortunately there are no seeds at the moment though.
Found here, the link seems to be hidden by default.

Get the transcript http://www.pbs.org/cringely/nerdtv/transcripts/001 .html and run it through /usr/bin/festival

They have a feedback page. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/nerdtv/feedback/ Be sure to mention the T word.

Bob mentioned bittorrent when he talked about NerdTV in July. He explained that people downloading NerdTV via bittorrent would only seed the last one or two episodes, and that he would instead build a distributed network similar to Akamai.

From the article: "so the real heavy lifting for NerdTV will be done through a network of distributed servers I've created as a kind of "poor man's Akamai." My distribution cost using this system, by the way, works out to be approximately ONE PERCENT of Akamai's retail price, which shows how much profit there is in that business, or should be."

The best documentary on the business of pornograrphy (from "mom and pop" operations to Fortune 500 companies) is American Porn, produced by Frontline for PBS. It's hard to imagine that the need to feed thousands of websites and their user/subscribers with high quality/high bandwidth pictures isn't significantly driving both internet bandwidth demand and digital photography. BTW, you can watch a streaming video (MS Media Player or Real Player) of that entire documentary for free at Frontline: American Porn

oops that second link was broken.

I disagree that the ACE "did their job well." Several articles -- Google gives me this one and this one -- are pointing out that the construction of the levees directly caused wetland loss, which made New Orleans more vulnerable to big storms. So if the ACE's job was to build levees, then I guess they did good. But if their job was to protect New Orleans, I'd say they did more harm than good.

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi984.htm

For a single machine, improved fuel efficiency lowers the cost of fuel consumption. Historically the number of fuel-consuming devices in a particular industry usually increases as the costs decline. Each individual machine is more efficient then earlier technology, but overall fuel consumption rises when their increased numbers outstrip the individual fuel savings.

The article also mentions the failures of government enterprise (an oxymoron, IMHO) to solve these problems in the 1980's. Energy is the single most important factor for standard-of-living, so I question the agenda of anyone that wants to strangle the energy economy with taxes, regulation, etc.

Ultimately, the possible ways to structure the energy economy has two extremes: rely on centralized decision making from "government intelligence" or rely on the unregulated and distributed decision making of "market intelligence." (The many options along this spectrum include nationalization, public corporations, regulation, tax structuring, etc.) The expectation that "market forces" are preferable to "government control" has been ascendant for the last few decades, and I expect it will continue to be so for a good part of the 21st Century. For more on this point, I redirect you to a well-known public corporation:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/

Read the interview here.

I watched this DVD and it gave me a really good introduction to Relativity, String Theory and Quantum Mechanics. I'm no physicist, but I am able to understand the key ideas through the video.

Or you may prefer to visit their homepage here.

I watched a stream yesterday which explained how dimensions can be interweaved into our own, and how the laws of gravity and Quantum physics can be combined with string theory,

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/

Greene's Elegant Universe

The Mechanical Universe

Last book I enjoyed, Three Roads to Quantum Gravity by L. Smolin... ya, ya, I know, nothing fits, is, isn't, yo momma... no yo momma... can, can't... I'm not touching you!

Many years ago I "shared" a hottub (figuratively speaking, of course) with this rotund fellow, and he seemed a very pleasant,if perhaps an excitable chap. I am sure most of his comments are due to stress, and if recent events seem to bode ill, I look forward to MS and all their latest triumphs. Let us cut him some slack, until he recovers.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/02.ht ml
They didn't know exactly when, but they knew it was inevitable.

http://www.alternet.org/story/24871/
...and certain people didn't listen (or didn't care).

Felonies are meant to be serious crimes like "aggravated assault, arson, burglary, murder, and rape" and not minor infractions like what the "Kutztown 13" possibly did. Almost 95% of felony charges result in a guilty conviction via a plea agreement. It's rather disgusting.

IMO the only reason the "Kutztown 13" got off without a conviction is because of the multitude of complaints generated by the Internet and not out of any "common sense" of any prosecutor. The criminal justice in the US is like a giant meat grinder where the innocent and guilty get ground up together and spit out the other end. "Justice" is rarely a factor.

What is the mechanism by which genes fade? I suggest that you take a basic biology class. Mitochrondrial DNA tests indicate that Neanderthals were an entirely seperate species with no interbreeding.Here's more on MtDNA highlight the discovery of Eve who lived 200,000 years ago.

There is nothing like a stupid revisionist on slashdot.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambu sh/etc/cron.html

December 4th. 1992 [Clinton became prez in 1993]
US President George Bush launches Somalia intervention

Deteriorating security prevents the UN mission from delivering food and supplies to the starving Somalis. Relief flights are looted upon landing, food convoys are hijacked and aid workers assaulted. The UN appeals to its members to provide military forces to assist the humanitarian operation.

With only weeks left in his term as president, George Bush responds to the UN request, proposing that US combat troops lead an international UN force to secure the environment for relief operations. On December 5, the UN accepts his offer, and Bush orders 25,000 US troops into Somalia. On December 9th, the first US Marines land on the beach.

Bush assures the American people and troops involved that this is not an open ended commitment; the objective is to quickly provide a secure environment so that food can get through to the starving Somalis, and then the operation will be turned over to the UN peacekeeping forces. He assures the public that he plans for the troops to be home by Clinton's inauguration in January.

This US-led United Task Force (UNITAF) is dubbed "Operation Restore Hope."

Nova did a story on this and when you saw the change in the magnetic field at the poles it looked like an outline of the ozone hole.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/

It amazed me to hear that there are areas in the southern hemisphere that a compass does not work at all.

Actually, Chicago used to be quite prone to flooding from Lake Michigan, which was only a couple feet below street level. The city's roads and streets were impassable every winter because they would freeze over, and impassable every spring because the rain would turn them to mud. Unlike New Orleans, however, Chicago made the decision to raise its street level by up to 14 feet, thus lifting itself out of the muck and greatly reducing the city's susceptibility to flooding. Not only were streets and sidewalks rebuilt on vaulted arches, but entire buildings were also lifted from their foundations by mechanical jacks, even as people within them went about their business as usual. This was done back in the mid-19th century.

Why New Orleans never followed Chicago's lead is something I'd like to know.

Nova ScienceNOW also did a report in January 2005 on New Orleans' particular vulnerability to hurricanes. As has been said, this was definitely (and unfortunately) a disaster waiting to happen. Watch the 12-minute segment here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/02.ht ml

One could argue - and many have - that the current Internet does not give you enough of either. Security in the Internet context applies also to the security of the user from eavesdropping or interruption.

Also - please distinguish between government funded projects and research - GENI is research, pure and simple. Right now, there's no blueprint for what the results of this will look like, no deployment plan for rolling out a new, improved Internet. Rather, there's a plan to create a testbed to enable network research to be drastically more innovative and effective than it has been. Like all research, there will be successful projects under this umbrella, and unsuccessful ones. But if you never take the risk, you never have the chance to make amazing discoveries. Say what you want about government inefficiency, it's funding like that provided by the NSF, NIH, and (formerly) DARPA, and their corresponding agencies in other countries over the centuries that has made possible some of the greatest advances in the history of humanity.

God damn, the company is just a few years old. It's like watching a nervous parent with a baby: "OMG he just cried! is he hungry? is he STARVING?!!?" (baby sneezes) "OMG! is he sick? is he DYING?!?!?" Fucking A, give'em a couple years, OK?

Has journalism always been like this? Were there articles 95 years ago asking stupid questions like "Does Ford's lack of a steam vehicle spell the death of this company?"

If anything, the success of MS has shown us that you don't even need smart people and good products to maintain a lead. (No offense to the many bright people at MS.) Even if Google has peaked (which I really, really doubt; I think they're just warming up) they can coast along profitably for decades and if they survive that long, it will have a lot more to do with marketing and general business acumen than whether the quality of their products is improving, declining, or staying the same.

Look around your neighborhood. See all those restaurants? See how some close in 2 years and some stay open for 20? It has little to do with the quality of the food. I'm sure everyone has a restaurant they thought was great that is gone. (Me, I miss Darby Dan's in SSF. Unbelievably good sandwiches.) It has to do with luck, skill, circumstances, and a million other things. As long as the food doesn't make people sick, you've got that base covered. Everything else depends on these other things.

And, even if google has peaked, so fucking what? I think everyone on this board agrees that their search engine alone makes the Internet 100x more useful than it was 5 years ago. And as long as they have enough brainpower to keep pumping out nifty things like google maps, I'm happy.

(Note that I say all this as a big fan of Cringely in general. Here's one of many reasons.)

Actually, there is an RSS feed... the clips are being put up one at a time. take a look here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/rss/einstein-podcast. xml

Why caves? Two reasons:

1. Here on Earth, there's some pretty "alien" forms of life in caves that exists in very different and harsh conditions.
2. On Mars, an ecosystem in a cave would be sheltered from the harsh solar radiation that bakes/sterilizes the surface since there's no protective ozone later.

I agree that continuing to explore the surface won't lead to much, but there's probably lots of interesting stuff in caves.

Actually, Cringley put Google and Skype in the same sentence a couple weeks back, but didn't draw the line in that direction.

For Internet searching, Google is a perfect example of this latter effect, entering the market years after Alta Vista and Excite. And the Google of VoIP looks like it might be Skype, which was almost sold last week to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for $3 billion.

He did take a stab at a vague description of the buyer-to-be, and Google could be a contender:

Expect it to go to either a major broadband provider or, more likely, to a big mobile carrier with no fixed telephone assets. And whoever buys Skype, expect them to throw money into making the company into even more of a multinational telecom headache than it currently is.

Cringley has tried to put Google in the broadband business before, buying up dark fiber and such. This may not be too far off.

How about a good arm wrestle match?

One outrageous incident was his arm-wrestling showdown with the CEO of Stevens Aviation in 1992. Both Stevens and Southwest were using the advertising tagline "Plane Smart." To settle the matter, Kelleher suggested an arm-wrestling competition with the winner keeping the rights to the slogan. Kelleher lost the match, but the event generated so much good will and publicity that Stevens let Southwest continue use of the tagline.

reference

Bottom line. Bad. Bad. Bad.

(also negative) here.

In short, the bill is bad. It reflects the worst kind of special interest law-making that hurts us all. And I mean REALLY hurts us because it will only act to discourage inventors. Record and movie companies beating-up on music and film pirates don't save or cost lives, but discouraging new medical inventions literally does cost lives.

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050818. html

See Cringely's take from last week.

90% of all ice on this whole damn spinning rock is located on Antartica. While the phrase "vast majority" is of course relative, I would consider that far beyond the neccessary requirements.
For some more information on a subject you know nothing about, click here.

"Actually, global warming is a fact."

See, this is the type of thing we need to fight. People who don't know the difference between hypotheses, theories, and facts. Or people so closed minded they refuse to believe anything other than what the celebrities on TV tell them.

"The global temperatures are increasing."

You mean the "average ground temperatures of various cities is increasing". Well we know that, and we know what is causing it. Increased development warms the local area. Large concrete buildings and asphalt streets get warmer than medows and forests. Thats not global warming.

"The ocean temperatures are rising"

And you thought the Texans were distorting data? More reading material for you.

PBS Nova is offering online playback of a really neat series called Science Now.

The second episode included a neat profie of researcher Naomi Halas who studies nanoshells -- spheres rather than tubes. One potential appication is as a treatment for cancer.

PBS Nova is offering online playback of a really neat series called Science Now.

The second episode included a neat profie of researcher Naomi Halas who studies nanoshells -- spheres rather than tubes. One potential appication is as a treatment for cancer.

PBS Nova is offering online playback of a really neat series called Science Now.

The second episode included a neat profie of researcher Naomi Halas who studies nanoshells -- spheres rather than tubes. One potential appication is as a treatment for cancer.

Actually, many were. The 30's were called "the streamline era", because everything was streamlined. Several designers rose to stardom status (more info here and here.

PROF. GUENTER NIMTZ: This signal is splitted in two by an electronic mirror here into two parts, so we can compare the signal. One is moving through the air and the other one is moving through the barrier.

NARRATOR: In this experiment, Guenter Nimtz splits a microwave signal in two. Half goes through the air, traveling at the speed of light, and half is fired into a barrier to block the signal. But that's not what happens.

GUENTER NIMTZ: This is the oscilloscope where you see the signal and then we can see which one is faster.

NARRATOR: The two humps on the screen are not in the same place because the microwaves that went through the barrier got to the detector first - apparently exceeding the speed of light.

GUENTER NIMTZ: Only a very small part comes to the other side, but it comes and this part comes at the velocity which is much faster than the velocity of light.

NARRATOR: So how could the microwaves go faster than light - and what was the role of the barrier? Nimtz chalks it up to a strange phenomenon called quantum tunneling. At the subatomic or quantum level, the world is ruled by probability and chance, and the seemingly impossible occurs all the time. For example, when a stream of particles like photons meets a barrier, most bounce off. But a few of them materialize on the far side of the barrier and continue on their way. Nimtz detected the particles that appeared, and measured how fast they got there.

GUENTER NIMTZ: And the news about this we did this for fun, and when we figured out that it's faster than the velocity of light we did not think about its importance.

NARRATOR: Another expert in quantum tunneling is Raymond Chiao. He agrees with at least part of what Nimtz has found.

RAYMOND CHIAO: In our experiments we have measured that a single photon can tunnel across a tunnel ba