Slashdot Mirror

Please. Unless the grounds come out of a civet cat's rear end it will never pass my lips.

The problem I see is that we consider "being a good person" to be an innate, defined trait, not an character assessment made on your actions. If someone supports torture, I don't consider them a good person, even if they give candy to kids and scratch puppies behind the ears. Most of us have the assessment backwards, thinking that someone couldn't have done what they clearly did so we can continue to think what we already thought of them. Consequently, reports of widespread torture, abuse, beatings, unecessary killings, etc are discounted so we can continue to think rosy thoughts.

It isn't that Americans are bad or that soldiers/seamen/marines/airmen are bad, but that people all have the capacity for evil, and the situation our government has put them in makes it surface and blossom. And is it still their fault? You're damned right it is.

If you support torture, much less engage in it, you are a bad person. I don't care if someone is wringing their hands and saying "but you have to understand what they've been through!" We don't ask what the suicide bombers or death squad members have "been through," and I don't care what a torturer has been through, even if we share nationalities. Americans don't get a free pass on morality.

The current system minimizes cost, at the expense of security.

No, it finds the best balance between the two. Consider this: there's a vulnerability known to the white- and blackhat communities, but it isn't being widely exploited yet. However, the minute the patch rolls out, it's worldwide news, and all the script kiddies are reverse engineering it and automating the exploit so they can compromise unpatched systems by the hundreds or thousands.

So, yeah, let's take that 1x/month script kiddie window, and have it 3-7 times a month (MS have been releasing about that many patches per month lately). Let's make everyone choose between rebooting 1-2 times a week... or having unpatched vulnerabilities known not to a small black|white-hat community, but a huge botmaster/scriptkiddy/spyware community (who are finding profit in the excercise).

That'll increase security and lower costs, right? And for you, the non-MS user ... it'll definitely lower the number of scripts strobing your firewall and costing you pennies per month in bandwidth charges, eh?

They should make it retroactive and then apply it to the Department of Homeland Security. We know that politics has been the motive of raising the alert level.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10 -ridge-alerts_x.htm

This would criminalize this deplorable government behavior. It would also make it illegal for the government to make up BS about WMDs in some poor country who's oil we want.

The whole idea behind this is that dead people don't have rights, therefore they cannot be violated. I think if you check, you'll find that dead people in the US don't have rights either. Indeed the US has the concept of a "death tax", currently at 46% apparently. The rights you think you have seem to be imaginary, my friend. In France, the current death tax rate for direct descendants in France is I think around 20%, perhaps less.

The people who are taxed are not the dead people but their heir. See my other reply for the rationale behind taxing dead people (or at death) rather than living ones.

In addition, in France like elsewhere, if you don't want the state to pillage your hard-earned assets, you can set up a foundation, you can set up a company and give your heir shares, etc. Oh, this requires a bit of planning, for sure.

You do have a point. The CD market is not competitive; if I want to buy that ABBA CD, I have very limited choices. But the government (FTC) has tried to prosecute the music industry over price-fixing, and in at least one case, the industry has settled over the issue of "minimum advertising price". Also, Eliot Spitzer and nearly all the states settled as a result of the industry's MAP practices.

As I understand law, a settlement does not imply acknowledgement of guilt. Therefore, the industry has never been proved to be in collusion with each other (even though the FTC and the state AGs must have plenty of evidence). But just because the price of a U2 or Usher CD are similar does not mean that the market set the price; perhaps years of illegal price-fixing has ingrained in our minds that CDs always cost $15 (or whatever the hell it is - I haven't bought a CD in many years).

Merck shares sank 30% after the company pulled its profitable Vioxx pain reliever off the market Sept. 30 because of safety concerns. Directors conceded that operating results were below target but gave Ray Gilmartin a $1.4 million bonus after deciding that he'd met his "personal performance objectives." Gilmartin also received options that Merck's proxy says are valued at $19.2 million. He also pocketed $34.8 million exercising options. With Vioxx's revenue stream still dry, Merck directors are lowering the performance bar for 2005 incentive pay. "Merck's focus is now on the future, on renewing the growth of the company," spokesman Chris Loder says. Coleman says: "What's troubling is that most directors still aren't holding management accountable for bad circumstances. When is a bad event not the responsibility of management?"

Negative 'Rumors' at IBM have this funny way of coming true. Cringely might be off with the numbers, but odds are something big is going to go down in the near future. Remember - IBM execs need the stock to grow at least 10% if they are going to make any money on their stock options. Laying off people is a sure-fire way of getting a short-term bump to the price, as the overhead of all that salary and options is gone, which improves the bottom line temporarily.

Specifically, I refuse to throw money at Yahoo! because of their actions in China. You know, the whole dissident who was jailed because of information provided by Yahoo!. I realize that Google is guilty of similar things both in China, and in countries like Brazil. But, thankfully, the Picassa interface is so bad, I wouldn't really consider using it anyhow. And, of course, I think that most countries (save for the United States) have better records on human rights than China does.

As far as every communications company cooperating, that's true to some extent. However, the level to which the company complies varies quite a bit. For instance, AT&T having a secret room is far different than Verizon attempting to not cooperate with the NSA. Maybe Verizon's got a secret room or two. But, for now, I'll find Verizon to be the lesser of two evils.

Even if they do get fired for fucking up, they get millions of dollars anyways. You walk away rich whether you're good or bad--where can I sign up?

I'll bet they charge people to use the park too.

These are the same bastards who take half of Yao Ming's paycheck, remember.

They don't deserve Yao's cash that he sweats for and they certainly don't deserve any profit from ideas that someone payed with time and hard work to create.

Of course, this is why I'm not a socialist or communist and China still claims to be despite backwardness all over the place.

Better yet, why not send ultra religious married couples? Surely no bond could be stronger than that.

Q: People get passionate when Apple comes out with something new the iPhone; of course, the iPod. Is that something that you'd want them to feel about Microsoft?

Ballmer's silly rambling followed that question. At least he "kind of" answered the question. I don't remember Microsoft ever mentioning Apple or any other small competitor during keynotes and shareholder meetings. Those are the kind of venues where Steve Jobs and Scott McNealy regularly talk trash about MS.

People are stupid. Why do you think people run out and buy a $40,000 SUV while gas prices are nearing $4 a gallon and the only use is to get groceries and haul around their 1.5 kids? Why do you think people are running out to buy a hybrid, when right now the best technology we can implement for the batteries only suggest a life of 3 years and the battery is the majority of the value of the car?

Actually people are now buying little microcompacts, like the Toyota Yaris and Chevy Aveo, in huge quantities now. The little Chevy's sales are up by 53% from last year and up 44% in just Q1 of 2007 alone. The little Toyota's sales are up a whopping 463% over last year's sales of the model.

Something about getting 35-40 mpg(highway) in a basic transportation car that costs only $15K brand new is mighty appealing when fuel prices go north of $3/gallon.

I mention this because today's story shows that sites like Reddit and Digg actually make life a lot easier for spin doctors and propaganda.

We all know there's quite a lot of propaganda in the U.S., such as the U.S. army funding Hollywood movies. (I think /. ran this story before. See here, here, and and here). Also, some people think prime time television is getting audiences to get used to the idea of torture. See here.

The point is that sites like Digg, Reddit and Wikipedia are maybe things that actually makes the a government's propaganda job easier, by making authority and authoritative opinion a more diffuse concept. There's no such concept as "reputation" or "editorial independence", like you have in the press.

IMHO, this is a twist on things. In particular, the younger generation that is growing up with such sites and with little or no concept of the traditional media outlets concern me the most. Newspaper sales are going down all over the world, for instance.

... because they don't have to.

When the company IPOed, they issued two classes of stock: one that you could buy (Class A), and special shares for Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt that carry 10 times the voting weight of the shares available on the public market (Class B). The result is that anything that Brin (founder), Page (founder) and Schmidt (CEO) don't want passed can't be passed by a shareholder vote; ordinary shareholders simply don't have the voting muscle, even if they all voted together.

Google's rationale at the time was that this arrangement would free them from pressure to constantly be posting higher earnings each quarter. In their SEC filing, they included an unusual "Letter from the Founders" that defended the approach:

The main effect of this structure is likely to leave our team, especially Sergey and me, with significant control over the company's decisions and fate, as Google shares change hands. New investors will fully share in Google's long term growth but will have less influence over its strategic decisions than they would at most public companies...

Academic studies have shown that from a purely economic point of view, dual class structures have not harmed the share price of companies. The shares of each of our classes have identical economic rights and differ only as to voting rights.

Google has prospered as a private company. As a public company, we believe a dual class voting structure will enable us to retain many of the positive aspects of being private. We understand some investors do not favor dual class structures. We have considered this point of view carefully, and we have not made our decision lightly. We are convinced that everyone associated with Google--including new investors--will benefit from this structure.

(Emphasis mine)

It's hard to read the part about "retain[ing] many of the positive aspects of being private" as anything other than "we don't want shareholders telling us how to run our company". And given how the stock is structured, shareholders can't, unless they can win over one or more of the three top execs at Google to their point of view.

She didn't tell an innocuous lie once thirty years ago on her resume and then forget she'd told that lie. That could be forgiven. She lied, at least by omission, EVERY DAY since that day. Well, maybe not on some weekends.

When she started her new job and they first painted "Dr. M Jones PhD" on her door, she lied (or she lied when she told them she was modest and didn't want anything but her name painted on the door). Every time she came into her office PAST that sign, she lied. When her book came out, she lied. Whenever a bio like this (http://www.mitadmissions.org/Marilee.shtml) talking about her having been "trained as a scientist" came out, she lied. And from accounts of people who've posted here these weren't few and far between. The linked article itself says she made up three different degrees, "at various times." Not to mention she was a dean at an institution where you get expelled for copying an essay. She made up her entire academic career!

Here's a fun article where she says parents shouldn't help their children with the applications process, certainly not writing their essays for them: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/20 03-01-05-jones_x.htm

The Execution Bus, including rumors of organ trade: Linky

The changes include a possible addition to the list of banned API function calls, more aggressive checks for buffer overruns and enhancements to existing fuzz testing tools.

You know if Bill Gates was any kind of leader, he would call for his programmers to scrutinize their code for these kinds of security issues. Oh wait! He did 5 years ago. It's great to know that MS has spent the last 5 years innovating such features.

Parent is correct. (GIYF)

See maps here:
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vot e2004/countymap.htm
http://homepage.mac.com/tcp/PurpleAmerica/

Finally, does Kucinich this this will help him get elected President?

The checks from the government are an equalizer. As is the graduated income tax. As is the substanstial college debt because my parents are wealthy enough so I can't get much need based aid, but not so wealthy that they can afford to pay a dime. As is the anticipated failure of the social security system when it is my retirement time.

Maybe you are older and things were different for you, but times have changed and $$$ doesn't go as far as it used to. Also, bare in mind undeserving individuals who can pull in $300,000 or more per year.

I recognize that globally everyone in the US is extremely lucky. But the widening economic inequality gap in this country isn't inspiring, and my claim is that the middle class is fooling themselves when they believe that they are better than the poor.

Also, happiness, not money, is what is truly important. But money remains a fact of life.

Now, what are your problems?

Unlike Microsoft, which has never engaged in massive layoffs.

You sure have great role models.

Pish posh. The US has plenty of manufacturing capacity. Only recently has China started to overtake the US in exports of real goods(points 4,5 and 6):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/evandavis/ 2007/04/the_state_of_trade.html

Note that the US is the largest exporter overall. Even foreign companies build many of their cars here:

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1004876,0 0.html
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-03-22-ame rican-usat_N.htm

The unemployment rate itself means nothing if the income is not stated for the employment.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2006- 02-23-fed-incomes_x.htm

The statements about the stock market are meaningless without knowing where the indexes come from, how they are derived, and most importantly: using multiple specific indexes centered around economic health stock indicators.
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/04/13/savin g-and-investing-what-is-a-stock-market-index/

Gas prices are around $3.20/Gal here and have been going up. It is getting to the point that it is no longer news worthy to report on the astronomic gas prices because they are becomming a standard. With the major gas companies all reporting record profits and bonuses for the upper management, there is a disconnect between the welfare of the people and the inherrant corporate goals of making a profit for such a vital infrastructure as gasoline. I hope I'm not alone in thinking that some services should be regulated by the government. If only to limit the maximum percentage of personal profit from sales of a vital infrastructure.

If we don't need to push alternative fuel souorces right now with aggressive legislation, then we should have the resources to keep our country running without sending additional billions overseas for oil. Paying the areas of the world that supposedly harbor terrorists. They have an economy just like ours, if there is an influx of money in a region then they prosper. "Trickle down" to the enemy is a bad way to support our troops. This government has reversed and hobbled legislation that could have kept us in the front running technology to become independant. No specific technology will help us now. It must be a multifacited environmental/political/economic push to be better at providing and distributing what we consume. Trash, electricity, and commuting fuel all need to be addressed a whole lot better than they are now. The political grandstanding and photo ops don't cut it. Real action and real commitment from the people in charge (automakers and elected officials) will keep this country a world power, or let it fall into mockery on the world stage, their actions will lead us, and we are responsible for our complicity.

Did you find that little quote under "Fairy tales Sony fanboys tell themselves to sleep at night"?
You realize that most people don't buy their big items (and pay expensive shipping) from Amazon when they are readily available at a local store, right? Since the 360 outsold the PS3 by 2:1 the previous month, it is unlikely the ever widening sales gap between the two is suddenly going to reverse itself. Face it, the PS3 is this generations Gamecube- good initial sales but it will be unable to gain marketshare against its two better-selling competitors. Already third parties are curtaling PS3 development- much earlier than third party developers abandoned the Gamecube. Not a good sign. And blu-ray is a total flop- it's selling at a slower pace than even UMD.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-05 -22-handheld-movies_x.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-14-tunn el_N.htm

Summary: If the channel tunnel went bankrupt, how can you spend $13 billion on a Mediterranian tunnel and expect it to pay for itself?

String theory is not "untestable". There are many string models which can be tested (and many of them have in fact already been ruled out).

My qualification "essentially untestable" was intended to address this. Sure, there are version of string theory that can be rejected. But positive confirmation of many of the artifacts of string theory seems elusive. Since the margins of this Slashdot comment are small, I'll let Sheldon Glashow respond on my behalf.

On the subject of "elegance", in the end, that's largely in the eye of the beholder. One of the reviews of Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell says that "it is for anyone who wishes to experience the sheer beauty and elegance of quantum field theory". I suspect if someone were putting out string theory books more like this than like Greene's, string theory might have better PR. Marketing the theory first to the same laypeople who enjoy Deepak Chopra, and only second worrying about people who might actually be able to understand and critique the theory, is not a good sign.

Besides, even if QFT is conceded to be ugly, it's useful. String theory still can't compete on that level. Having better theories to replace or augment quantum theory would be fantastic. String theory has had a long time to achieve that, but the results haven't been very good, and we have to consider that maybe other approaches deserve more attention. Since Greene opened the door to trial by populism, I'll defer to USA Today on this point.

It is trivial to break in to a laptop when one has unrestricted physical access.

It is usually non-trivial to break into a server that is in a data-center behind firewalls given zero-knowledge.

Fortunately for the bad-guys, laptops have been proven over and over to contain network information, passwords, and raw protected data:

Chicago Public Schools
FBI
Boeing
Starbucks
Towers Perrin
US Commerce Department
US Department of Transportation and Sovereign Bank, et al.
US Navy
US Department of Veteran Affairs
Federal Trade Commission
Equifax
Ernst & Young (many times)

Unless "Get competent administrators" is software that prevents users from putting data on their laptops, this suggestion is meaningless.

"Get competent administrators" is a finger-waving nebulous non-solution from those that have no idea what competent administration looks like.

Competent adminstrators recognize that security problems are not simple and they are only solved by tangible, disciplined, and rigorous solutions, rather than dismissive statements of "be smarter."

>She wasn't covert

Her neighbors were "stunned" to hear she was CIA.

It's a mistake to believe lies. It is wrong to pass them along.

Among its goals, the online search giant will fund for-profit start-ups that also aim for social good, such as a program promoting entrepreneurship in western Africa. Overall, Google executives said Tuesday, its philanthropy will target three areas worldwide: poverty, the environment and energy.

I think it's safe to say I'm not the only one calling Gore an alarmist:

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/research/2007-04-0 9-gray-gore_N.htm?POE=NEWISVA

Thanks a lot, however, for the info on those events. Very sadly, I will actually be packing to move this Saturday and won't be able to attend, but I appreciate you letting me know about it.

I found a source. Too bad for the GP it completely debunks his "theory".

In short, Microsoft beat out Johnson & Johnson this year to take the top spot in the annual "reputation poll". From the article:

Microsoft toppled Johnson & Johnson and its baby-products business from its seven-year position as the company with the best corporate reputation, according to an annual poll by Harris Interactive and The Wall Street Journal.

...

Gates' reputation as a corporate leader contributed to an improvement in the company's emotional appeal, the Journal reported. While some respondents faulted Microsoft for bullying its competitors and unfairly monopolizing the software business, the Journal said, that criticism is less "biting and pervasive" than it used to be.

Harris surveyed 7,886 Americans online or by telephone last summer and asked them to name two companies they think have the best reputations, and two that have the worst, the paper said.

It collected the 60 companies mentioned most, and had them rated online by 22,480 Americans, giving them a score and ranking. They were rated on 20 attributes in six categories, including financial performance, social responsibility, emotional appeal and workplace environment, the paper said.

...

From the stories I've read, the parties wanting to remove references were from the political camp, not the science camp.

I don't normally have a very high opinion of USAToday, but http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarm ing/2007-04-06-global-warming-report_N.htm
is a good summary. A relevant chunk:

The report concerns the effects global warming is already having and will have on life on Earth. The disputed paragraph centered on what has already happened.

The paragraph originally said scientists had "very high confidence" which means more than 90% chance of accuracy in the statement that many natural systems around the globe "are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases."

After days of intensive small group negotiations over this section, delegates from China and Saudi Arabia on Friday insisted that the confidence be reduced to "high confidence" which means more than 80% accuracy.

Three top scientists-authors formally objected to the change by the diplomats, including American scientist David Karoly of the University of Oklahoma. The scientists said it was an unprecedented weakening of the scientific confidence that was not raised when the report was circulated the past several months.

In the hurry to get the report finished before its 4 a.m. ET release and press conference, diplomats forced the last-minute removal and altering of parts of the iconic table, which shows the ill effects of warming with each 1.8 degree increase in temperature, scientists and other delegates told the AP.
============

"What purpose does a section about the economy serve in a document about global warming?" Well, it's part of the IPCC charter. They don't do basic research--they summarize, and produce guidance for policy wonks. There's no way that economic matters aren't going to be a part of this. I'll go further--economic matters *had better be* a part of this, or we are all thoroughly hosed.

A previous post of mine
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=229783 &cid=18644719
has some links to more info on the economics of the issue. Until politicians have some grasp of the economics, there's going to be little real movement on the issue. Maybe not even then...

There's a USA Today article that cites a Microsoft study which found that "workers increased their productivity 9% to 50% by adding a second or third monitor." The entire article can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/ 2006-03-02-two-monitors_x.htm This was the best I found, but there are a number of other web postings on the subject. I just did a Dogpile search using the search string: monitors productivity. Everyone in our office now has three Dell 20" monitors, and we've found that multiple monitors significantly speed our software development. I can display my IDE on one screen, my help documentation on another, and my actual test application plus support programs such as simulators and database displays on a third. It's a no brainer. Best of luck to you!

Totally agree about 110 wins. No way. 110 is an AWESOME season and there's nothing about this year's Yankees to show that they are better than any of the teams from the last nine years since the last time the Yankees cracked 110. (They won 114, setting the record that was broken by the Seattle Mariners [w00t! Sorry, couldn't resist.] in 2001 with 116.]

Interestingly, as you note, the heavy spending has consistently landed the Yankees in the playoffs, but, for several years now (I think they last won the World Series in 2000, but I didn't double check that) it hasn't helped them get past that.

Also, the argument that "they have always spend such money" is not entirely true. This database at USA Today is interesting:
http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/d efault.aspx

Certainly the Yankees stay at the top of the list, but there is definitely a trend toward crazier spending. The database only goes back to 1988 so you can't look too far back, but enough to see what I'm talking about. (When did free agency start anyway, around 1980? It's probably an apples-and-oranges type of thing to compare pre- and post-free-agency numbers.)

The Yankees' payroll now is about 10 times what it was in 1990, way more of an increase than can be attributed to inflation, and it's actually plateaued over the last couple of years (even gone down a little, I think) so increase is even sharper if you look at 1990-2005, rather thann 1990-2007.

Also, in 1990, the Yankees' payroll was just over twice what the lowest-paid team dished out. Now, it's over SEVEN TIMES what the Devil Rays pay. That shows a sharp trend rather than just more of the same-old-same-old.

OTOH, it's also interesting to note that the crazy spending trend does seem to be catching on with some other teams. Today there are nine teams that spend at least half of what the Yankees spend, whereas, as recently as 2005, when the Yankees spent $208M and the Red Sox spent $123M, there was only one. (!)

One thing to note is how freely they Yankees spend money. Other teams seem to be a little more careful about how they spend money. I just read an article the other day where I learned that Jason Jiambi is the second-highest-paid (behind A-Rod) player in MLB. He makes like $23M per year. He's pretty good, but he's nowhere near that good!

When they were at their best, they had some huge stars but they were also bringing up some good young players from their farm system. The Yankees team now looks more like a baseball card collection than a team. Baseball cards often get more valuable as they get older and older, the actual players... not so much.

I will admit that the crazy spending doesn't seem to be hurting ALL of baseball so much, since the Yankees don't seem to be able to turn their regular-season success into playoff/World Series victories, but I do think it's made the AL East rather horrible. I personally don't like NY or Boston and I'm so sick of hearing about them. I hope Toronto, with a mere $81M, gives a strong showing again this year, but I won't count on it. It's so lopsided, it really takes the fun out of that division.

And even so its apparently the #2 music store with a significantly higher market share then other competitors.

Market share for online music retailers:

Apple iTunes: 67%
eMusic: 11%
Real Rhapsody: 4%
Napster: 4%
MSN Music: 3%

There is a tiny Muslim minority in Thailand, which has basically been commiting acts of terrorism against the military junta now in power:

PATTANI, Thailand -- A Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand has grown more violent in the six months since Thai military officers seized power in a coup and promised to end the conflict.

Muslim separatists' attacks on Buddhists in the south have increased in recent months, testing the new government's decision to try a less forceful approach there.

Thai security forces on Wednesday detained seven Muslims suspected of beheading an elderly Buddhist and killing three police officers. Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the army chief who led the Sept. 19 coup that overthrew Thailand's elected civilian government, said last week that the insurgency had intensified. "Insurgent groups have turned their focus on killing randomly, ending the lives of innocent people," he said.

Then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's failure to pacify the south was among the justifications Sonthi and other coup leaders cited for their decision to take power.

Buddhists make up roughly 95% of the 64 million Thais. In three southern provinces, however, there are 1.7 million Muslims and 300,000 Buddhists. The isolated rural area is populated largely by ethnic-Malays and is a rural backwater.

Thailand insurgency grows brutal

You shouldn't try things that'll cost you more than you save. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-22 -daylight-congress_x.htm

How about converting entirely to CFLs and/or raising CAFE standards? These actually try to solve something instead of hand waving.

No? We just extradited the dog, dude! Point is that it happens all the time. We have something things called extradition treaties with other nations. The GP is an ignoramus.

How about Romania? Part of the backwards and ignorant European Union.

Check out this link
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-05 -22-handheld-movies_x.htm [usatoday.com]

According to Sony in 2005, it only took nine months (not eleven) for "Air Force One" to SELL 100,000. So now Sony says eleven months to ship (like anybody can't ship an arbitrary number of copies- it's sales that matter) in order to make Blu-ray not look like a flop. UMD took only a couple of months before it had two titles that SOLD 100,000 units. And they had the full support of Universal. So I guess we can logically conclude that Blu-ray will never be as "successful" as UMD is (was).

Check out this link
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-05 -22-handheld-movies_x.htm

Two interesting facts
1) UMD SOLD not shipped 100,000 for two titles just a few months after release.
2) According to Sony in 2005, it only took nine months (not eleven) for DVD to reach that milestone. So now Sony says eleven in order to make Blu-ray not look like a flop (because at this point in history it is less successful than UMD which we know is a dead format).
Gee, Sony fudges some numbers. What are the odds?

Stop imagining conspiracies of collusion between cutthroat competitors.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2002-09-30 -cd-settlement_x.htm
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/21/sony-others-nam ed-in-video-tape-price-fixing-scheme/
http://news.com.com/Samsung+to+pay+300+million+for +price+fixing/2100-1004_3-5894862.html
http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/pri ce-fixing.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/ch ronicle/archive/2002/05/10/MN24643.DTL
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/May-08 -Wed-2002/business/18699104.html
http://www.powells.com/biblio?PID=28734&cgi=produc t&isbn=0767903277

What's more, you don't have to spend long in today's business culture before it becomes *obvious* that there's enough of a critical mass of actors who believe in getting ahead by amassing control over channels and perception (rather than producing/adding value) that the emergence of price-fixing behavior is practically inevitable.

That's not really accurate regarding american soldiers. Class seems to be one of those ill defined terms that we all know and love, but the information provided in the article would rule out lower class. Perhaps lower middle would still qualify. Do you have any actual cites for soldiers not including upper class individuals? As near as I can tell it's just common myth masquerading as common knowledge.

Not only do we tolerate our children being prosecuted but we allow them to be handcuffed at five and tasered at six. This 10-year-old doesn't stand a chance.

At least one...

I was about to buy 3 of these, but when I actually looked closely at the graph I realised how biased it is toward the biomedical/health sciences. Math is a puny cluster of small dots, there's no area labeled Engineering and Chemistry looks like it has more lines than all the hard sciences put together.

Life Sciences: 54%
Engineering: 17%
Physical Sciences: 10%
Environmental Sciences: 7%
Math, Computer Science: 5%
Social Sciences: 2%
Psychology: 2%
Other: 2%

So the only mismatch here is Engineering. But it's the "Map of Science," so I'm not sure Engineering really belongs in there. Math, I'm afraid, really is a puny cluster.

Medicine is where all the money is. It's 16% of the GDP! (I realize most of that's not research, but still...)