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Very true. For a current example, look at the significant pressure (withdrawing advert) GM has exerted on the LA Times, for what seems to me stating the obvious: GM is in trouble. (Where else but LA would you get pulitzer prize winning articles on the auto industry?)

So rather than take the advice, make corrective action, they , having seem to failed in their efforts to muzzle the reporter, apply pressure by withdrawing their advert. Yes, I agree it's a fine line - why advertise in a paper that writes bad reviews - however the possible impact on the Time's objectivity, or any other newspaper, is important. GM to stop LA Times advertising

On Wednesday, the paper published a column by auto critic Dan Neil that called GM, which has struggled recently with sluggish sales, "a morass of a business case" and called for the "impeachment" of two executives. Among other criticisms, Neil said GM "utterly missed the boat on hybrid gas-electric technology" while speeding up production of SUVs.

Neil won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, cited by the judges for "one-of-a-kind" reviews of automobiles blending technical expertise with "offbeat humor and astute cultural observations."

Bill Moyers, before retiring from NOW, said one of the most critical issues facing democracy was that increasing control of the media by just a few companies (Think Murdoch and the Fox Empire).

Actually the platypus lays eggs and feeds its young with breasts. So it does happen on Earth.

Then again, if you have to use the platypus to justify anything you have probably gone too far...

This topic came up in a recent episode of the PBS news magazine NOW. Of particular interest was SBC's attempt to squash the attempts of a small community in Indiana (not served with broadband by SBC) to stave off hemorrhaging jobs by establishing a municipal wireless service.

This topic came up in a recent episode of the PBS news magazine NOW. Of particular interest was SBC's attempt to squash the attempts of a small community in Indiana (not served with broadband by SBC) to stave off hemorrhaging jobs by establishing a municipal wireless service.

A interesting read: Frontline: nixon & detroit: inside the oval office.

I saw a program on Nova about this phenomenon. As I recall, there's some special "mirror neuron" in normal humans (as opposed the autistic, they speculate) that makes it easy for us to experience things vicariously, which also makes communication and learning much easier. Right up there with the show on dogs (dog/wolf relationship), I thought.

• There was an episode of Scientific American Frontier where a test subject was blindfolded and asked to interpret symbols (braille) by touch. The sight-area of the brain took on the task of interpreting the symbols (since it's used often for reading, etc') only after a few days without sight.
• Adults learning to play music. I started piano lessons when I was starting high school and I suffer from some of the road-blocks of a late-starter. Nonetheless, I can do it.

Watch this video titled "The Philadelphia Experiment" and maybe then you'll understand.

http://www.pbs.org/now/thisweek/index_022505.html# video

Bravo! I admit, it is one of the shows that I enjoy - along with Fullmetal Alchemist, Samurai Jack, and One Piece (The Fansubbed version, not the abomination on "4Kids TV" - blecch!) among others.

So I have eclectic tastes - so sue me. I also like "Hey! Spring Of Trivia" (SpikeTV - a Japanese Gameshow), Survivor, The Entertainer (just ended), Nova, Antiques Roadshow, and have a morbid fascination with Carpocalypse.

In any case, the best thing about true anime shows, IMO, is that they are *not* designed for *American* kids. Ever since Johnny Quest went off the air, American Cartoons have been watered down dreck. If CN can actually capture some of the story depth and maturity of real Japanese Anime (even the lightest Anime is deeper than any Network cartood that I can think of), then I will do nothing but cheer them on. If they stick it with an 'american' depth and maturity, I'll turn it off.

Bravo! I admit, it is one of the shows that I enjoy - along with Fullmetal Alchemist, Samurai Jack, and One Piece (The Fansubbed version, not the abomination on "4Kids TV" - blecch!) among others.

So I have eclectic tastes - so sue me. I also like "Hey! Spring Of Trivia" (SpikeTV - a Japanese Gameshow), Survivor, The Entertainer (just ended), Nova, Antiques Roadshow, and have a morbid fascination with Carpocalypse.

In any case, the best thing about true anime shows, IMO, is that they are *not* designed for *American* kids. Ever since Johnny Quest went off the air, American Cartoons have been watered down dreck. If CN can actually capture some of the story depth and maturity of real Japanese Anime (even the lightest Anime is deeper than any Network cartood that I can think of), then I will do nothing but cheer them on. If they stick it with an 'american' depth and maturity, I'll turn it off.

Hopefully you will read and consider Darwin's work with an open mind, but please bear in mind that much work on evolutionary theory has been done since his time. You may be better served by reading a more current account, such as some of Stephen Jay Gould's work.

You have to be careful when considering the evolution of specific features of animals. There have been too many instances of "just-so" stories that try to explain a specific feature of an animal, and these often are based upon speculation rather than evidence. Evolutionary theory only describes the general means of inheritance and selection. The specific biology of different species needs to be studied to understand the specific characteristics of any species.

I am unfamiliar with the taxonomy of the rhino, but it's likely that the horn comes from an ancestor species, rather than originating with that particular species. Interestingly enough, it is primarily composed of keratin, the primary component in fingernails and hair. It probably originated as a mutation of one of those.

However, the eye is a much better understood feature. It is so useful that it has evolved multiple times in different species, and in different ways.

You say that without rods, cones, lenses, and the other features of human eyes that the eye would be useless. Consider that many current species have only a rudimentary light spot that only gives a general indication of the amount of light in the area. This can be enough to indicate the possible presence of a predator, or a change in the environment. (if you're a cave fish, a whole lot of sunlight is nothing but trouble)

This link has (a little) more information on the evolution of the eye. Enjoy.

Before they teach you that, they teach you to make sure you never put yourself in a situation where someone can pull a gun on you.

Of course we teach awareness and avoidance. You can do a lot to reduce the risk, but unless you never leave the house or have extensive intrusive security, there's no way to never be in a situation where someone can pull a gun on you. (Heck, even people with extensive intrusive security get shot.) Therefore considering in advance what you're willing to risk getting shot over is highly advisable.

"Personally, I don't have a problem with the security thing. It's just for the police, and I personally don't have anything to hide from them."

Presumably you're not a pretty girl, then. Thanks to Safety Cap (253500) for this story of a on-duty cop copying nudie pics for his off-duty enjoyment.

But that's only one cop. Click for the Top 10 List of Police Database Abuses.

It includes such charming cop activities as "Prosecutor's Office Uses Database to Smear Prosecutor's Political Opponent", "Police Lieutenant Charged With Abusing Database to Influence Elections", and "Cop Uses Database to Find Woman's Unlisted Phone Number -- Gives It to Woman's Ex"

But that's just local cops you say? We can trust the FBI, you say? Well, Martin Luther King couldn't.

And the FBI even tried to get the Mafia to silence Dick Gregory when he spoke against narcotic trafficking. And framed environmental activists. Not to mention COINTELPRPO, or the FBI helping Chicago police murder Fred Hampton in cold blood.

But that's all in the past you say? Well, if two years ago is "the past".

But you have nothing to hide, so I guess you're safe.

Tell that to "[m]ost of the 110,000 persons removed for reasons of 'national security' [who] were school-age children, infants and young adults not yet of voting age" forced by the U.S government to move to:
* Manzanar War Relocation Center
* Tule Lake War Relocation Center
* Heart Mountain War Relocation Center
* Minidoka War Relocation Center
* Topaz War Relocation Center
* Poston War Relocation Center
* Gila River War Relocation Center
* Granada War Relocation Center
* Rohwer War Relocation Center
* and Jerome War Relocation Center

You, know, mostly I let the links speak for themselves. I'm going to deviate from that this time, and I'll get modded down for it, but sometimes you just have to say it.

You don't deserve to vote. You don't deserve the nation created by Jefferson and Madison and Washington. You don't deserve to inherit the legacy of the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives to make America (more or less) free.

YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE AN AMERICAN.

It's one thing if you realize that government is always a threat to liberty, and weighing the alternatives, reluctantly decide to cede more power to the government.

But you aren't doing that. With the whole frigging internet at your finger-tips -- much more than Thomas Jefferson ever had -- you can't even be bothered to type into Google "police surveillance abuse" and read the fucking history of your own fucking country.

Instead, you just blithely assume that since what you're doing isn't illegal yet that since you're not on a watch-list yet that the color your skin or your accent or your politics aren't "suspicious" yet, you can sit back fat and happy without giving thought to how this might affect others or even -- governments and laws do change -- yourself in the future.

And yet you get to go into a voting booth and pull the lever because of people who did know better and who made the hard choices and who often die

How about France's support of the rebelling colonies in the Revolutionary War? Without France, Washington would have had a much harder time beating the English. They signed a Treaty of Alliance in 1778.

There outta be a rule that the original /. poster CANNOT include in his post any of the standard tired old slashdot response jokes, i.e.:

(1) I, for one, welcome, etc.
(2) In Soviet Russia...
(3) Any Simpsons reference.
(4) 1,2,???,Profit!

There outta be a rule that the original /. poster CANNOT include in his post any of the standard tired old slashdot response jokes, i.e.:

(1) I, for one, welcome, etc.
(2) In Soviet Russia...
(3) Any Simpsons reference.
(4) 1,2,???,Profit!

Nova did a great piece on the all of physics (a lot on the universe and big focus on Quantum Mechanics and String Theory). It's pretty good if you are trying to find commonplace explanations of some of the theories the article just mentions and doesn't explain.

I also remember reading in a Russian science and technology journal (Yiuniy Tehnik) in the early 90s, about a patent to have a huge solar array in space that would send the power to the ground as a microwave beam.

Archimedes didn't even like the idea of irrational numbers. Pi isn't even algebraic for Athena's sake.

i know it's still around, it's just not the same without ira.

sorta like how scientific american frontiers wouldnt be the same without alan alda.

Einstein was an intelligent man, but there are some doubts about how much stature to accord him. Perhaps you missed the PBS examination of the role his wife played in developing those early ideas, and perhaps you've ignored the more serious accusations leveled against him.

There's no doubt, however, that his importance to anti-Nazi propogandists deserves considerably more comment than it has received.

Ah yes, that was in Triumph of the nerds. I loved that show (and Glory of the Geeks/Nerds 2.0), but still haven't got around to reading Accidental Empires. Well, I did read a small section, in which we have a quote from Gates about Jobs - when NeXTSTEP was released, Gates was asked (I think by Cringely for InfoWorld, but that point isn't made clear) whether he would be developing for the new system. "Develop for it? I'll piss all over it!" Well, in terms of sales he did, but in terms of style? I don't think so.

Frontline did an excellent episode on the current state of the music industry... (Seem's like I've mentioned it before, but it's been a while...)

You can watch it online if you can view QuickTime or WMV streams...

It seems kind of unfair to reference Ms. Rosen up front as being "quite attractive," just because she has a nice portrait of herself next to her quite well-written article. You must know that as a result, many /.'ers are going to click over there to scope her out...while ignoring the article entirely.

It strikes me that there's a bit of gender bias lurking here--I mean, do you see people referencing the "devastatingly handsome" John C. Dvorak or the "toe-curlingly sexy" Robert X. Cringely?

...

Oh. Right. Sorry.

j

I don't think you can make a case against students learning to use computers now, as opposed to waiting until they are over 40 and trying to find the Any Key.

Sure, students should learn how to use computers. That doesn't mean they should be in every classroom, or should be used in a pathetic attempt to replace teachers. Learning how to use a word processor and a web browser is maybe two weeks of instruction in middle school, not a major educational investment.

Computers will no more be the magic bullet that makes education fun and easy than radio, tape recordings, filmstrips, movies, TV, videotapes, or all the other educational media that have come and gone. Clifford Stoll is right on target about computers in the classroom.

This is getting childish guys. It was an analogy, it was even in quotes ("copyright terrorist"). Going into detailed semantics on strict definitions misses the point of an analogy. The point is that Senator Hatch is using extreme tactics, including the use of fear, to force people to conform to an ideal that they disagree with but that he believes in strongly. There is an analogy to terrorism in there, but of course it does not fit a strict definition of the meaning. Just like the Monte Carlo method has nothing to do with the city, a seahorse is not related to a horse, and neural networks don't actually use neurons.

For those who aren't aware Richard A Clarke was the former cyber security and counterterrorism czar, national security counselor to three presidents (including Democrat Bill Clinton), and a trusted member of Bush's own advisory staff until May 2003. Putting aside partisan feelings on the man, he knows what he's talking about.

For those who aren't aware Richard A Clarke was the former cyber security and counterterrorism czar, national security counselor to three presidents (including Democrat Bill Clinton), and a trusted member of Bush's own advisory staff until May 2003. Putting aside partisan feelings on the man, he knows what he's talking about.

For those who aren't aware Richard A Clarke was the former cyber security and counterterrorism czar, national security counselor to three presidents (including Democrat Bill Clinton), and a trusted member of Bush's own advisory staff until May 2003. Putting aside partisan feelings on the man, he knows what he's talking about.

...why does it take so long for these things to get on slashdot? The article is over two weeks old. There have been two other "I, Cringely" columns since this one, as you can see here.

It's even more annoying when I think of all the great submissions that won't make it to the front page, because of all the dupes and old news that get on there.

A follow up to the March 3 column appears at the end of his March 17 column.

"And there are other dirty tricks available to broadband ISPs. Telecom New Zealand, for example, is reportedly planning to alter TCP packet interleaving to discourage VoIP. By bunching all voice packets in the first half of each second, half a second of dead air would be added to every conversation, changing latency in a way that would drive grandmothers everywhere back to their old phone companies."

Why do they make it sound like it's a suprise that the placebo effect is biochemical and that the "mind can affect the body"??

Here's an excellent example of how the mind can affect the body physiologically; check out this link to Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran's work with phantom limbs.

It was as though Philip had some temporary inhibition or block of the neural circuits that would ordinarily move the phantom and the visual feedback had overcome this block. More amazing still, these bodily sensations of the arm's movements were revived instantly, even though they had never been felt in the preceding ten years!

His work isn't about the Placebo effect, but rather about how the surface of the body is mapped on the brain in neuroscience.

Why do they make it sound like it's a suprise that the placebo effect is biochemical and that the "mind can affect the body"??

Here's an excellent example of how the mind can affect the body physiologically; check out this link to Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran's work with phantom limbs.

It was as though Philip had some temporary inhibition or block of the neural circuits that would ordinarily move the phantom and the visual feedback had overcome this block. More amazing still, these bodily sensations of the arm's movements were revived instantly, even though they had never been felt in the preceding ten years!

His work isn't about the Placebo effect, but rather about how the surface of the body is mapped on the brain in neuroscience.

As a reminder, Microsoft makes up to $ 1 billion of profit per month according to Cringely.

$ 5m per day is something like $ 1.8 billion dollars per year. So, it hurts bad, but it's still something Microsoft can afford.

This being said, the EU could also decide to slowly raise the fines over time. That would probably make Microsoft move. I just hope they are not going to introduce Windows XP Starter Edition in Europe... Scratch that, I hope MS is going to do just that, since that would make many europeans switch to Linux.

The program, titled "Saving the National Treasures", has a web site which han be found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/charters/.

So .. let me get this right. I'm supposed to pay you for the chance to do YOUR job FOR you?

"Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"

Watch Dot Con, a Frontline episode dedicated showing how corporate America cajoled the media into feeding a runaway train of hype which bilked billions.

Watch Dot Con, a Frontline episode dedicated showing how corporate America cajoled the media into feeding a runaway train of hype which bilked billions.

... by checking out the Frontline episode "Dot Con". Totally blew my mind on how things worked financially in the tech boom. This is viewable on the web here.

Sadly, Windows Media Player or Real Player is required. My OSX/Debian boxes are pissed just as much as you are. ;)

It's just a media difference. The codec is the same for both media. What's interesting is that just a few weeks ago, Cringely predicted that Apple would straddle the fence for as long as possible.

Forget about Sony, HP, Matsushita, Apple, Dell, and Disney...

The porn industry, which releases 11,000 titles a year, will likely silently decide which format "wins" (previous slashdot coverage).

And some of the bigger porn houses are coming down on the side of Blu-ray because of its capacity advantage over HD-DVD. That the porn industry would have such an influence comes as no surprise to those who know just how big the industry really is.

Ahh... here it is.

It's hard to determine who exerts the social pressure on women and men. (Or, more accurately, young girls and boys.) When things are so entrenched in society and media and culture it's impossible to point to one area specifically. The recent controversy over the portrayal of women in hip hop music is one example that comes to mind.

At a time when the prime interest rate is less than 3% and banks pay less than 1% interest, charging 19-24% interest IS EXTORTION

Actually the term for it is usury.

The definition fro me relates to an immoral, rather than illegal, charge of interest on money, as many religions prohibit usury, for the reasons that are becoming increasingly evident in the credit card business.

I wouldn't classify bank loans and mortages as usury, but I certainly would the the credit card, as the practices by the companies, esp. concerning the contracts, as deceptive.

Health insurance is another area that flat out reeks, and is beyond the scope of this thread. Just don't get sick. Because even if you do have health insurance, as you pointed out, it still could be a crushing blow.

It's stunning really, that with a report released that listed 50% of bankruptcies due to people not able to pay their health care bills, congress then passes a bankruptcy bill that ignores completely this statistic. You would think that they would work on reforming health care instead.

Unfortunately, I am not optimistic about changes. You can only hope that the "values voter" realizes the shortcomings in their choices at the polls. Also, there has to be meaningful third party candidates besides republican/democrat for there to be changes.

I also think that if you call yourself a republican, you need to take a hard look at the twin deficits and ask yourself if that is "fiscal conservatism."

So much as music is concerned, I suggest you buy all your music used. The RIAA hates this as they don't see a dime. I'm sure that they would want to do away with this if they could. Buying the music used is a way to enjoy music guilt free.

Cringley has been mulling over this in recent columns... His theory is that IBM pulling out of the PC market releases them from Microsoft's OEM stranglehold, and by investing more time, money and effort into the Cell processor, they may be looking to free themselves of Intel's hold, too. Cell-powered, unix/linux servers? Wild speculation it may be, but it's believable.

Funny thing though, when it was blue collar jobs that were being shipped elsewhere no one really gave two hoots (when was the last time you bought clothes that were 100 percent made in the US, with US-sourced materials?),

His prediction: VoIP may have seen its best days and faces slow extinction by cartels of carriers using QOS to throttle all but their own VoIP services.

Cringley wrote about parent's concept in his current column:

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050303. html

Someone is reading their Cringely. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/rss/redir/cringely/pul pit/pulpit20050303.html

Tagged packets get both less restrictive rules for passage and a private highway lane to drive on.