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On the other hand, you could say that the Democrat primaries turn out the candidate most effective at appealing to Democrats. Which would be all well and good, except that that is not the same thing as appealing to the general American populace.

I mean, just check out these poll results. Note how Dean is leading the Democrat contenders, yet Clark has more widespread appeal. For instance.

Lego, expecting worst loss in its history, fires two executives, ponders layoffs

Unfortunately, it seems the primary motivation for the Mars for the general population is now sensationalism. I'm sure the Slashdot audience how a different view on Mars though.
USA Today has a good article about how Mars is shifting from science to politics.
The Washington Post explains better the goals of the current US gov.

I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing because that's usually how space projects get more funding but it might explain why the photos are looking more "nice to the user" than "scientifically realistic".

Might this soil crust on Mars be same/similar to the biological soil crust found at Arches National Park (Moab, Utah)?

Additional details regarding biological soil crusts maybe are to found here:

intermediate details

advanced details

You do realize that the world population is now predicted to stabilize near 9 billion? And that even if the world population continued to climb indefinitely, there is no feasible way to transport billions of people off-planet anyway?

" Fiorina's unusual first name Carleton dates back to her Civil War ancestors. "

Might this soil crust on Mars be same/similar to the biological soil crust found at Arches National Park (Moab, Utah)?

Additional details regarding biological soil crusts maybe are to found here:

intermediate details

advanced details

Add to that the idea that folks who work with their brain are less likely to contract Altzheimer's, and that I don't eat entire large pizza's in one setting anymore, I might live to a ripe old age after all.

Man, you guys need to get out more. Google's been synonymous with internet search among a huge swath of non-geek people, and it's been that way for a pretty long time now.

William Safire mentions Google in passing without bothering to define it in the NYT just a few Sundays ago.

Or perhaps you're thinking of the uber-geek reference of the Oxford English Dictionary which now lists Google as a new word for 2003.

Once they reorganized, things got better - not for MOT but for the new owners, and users... USA Today April 03...

Reference

Actually, Iraq's chemical weapons are NOT from the United States.

This is factually incorrect. This list of agents was proven to have come from the United States.

Also, the story on Usa Today

>> You dont need nuclear weapons for that. Look at Japan. Heck even cuba doesnt have nuclear weapons. They all manage to stand up to US "bullying". And now after being nuclear power also, successive Indian govts vie (with pakistan) to be "better friend" of US rather than saying anything against their "bullying tactics".

Japan is virtually a colony of the west. Their constitution (whose drafting was overseen by the US) does not allow their military an offensive role, so they depend on the US for their external security. They have a colonial mindset where everything American and Western is preferred and many of their women prefer caucasian men
Cuba only survives because Castro has been extremely quiet after the fall of the Soviet Union and the US has bigger things to worry about.

>> There were many reports pointing the lack of safety in Indian nuclear power plants including some official/semiofficial agency report.
You mean like this, this, this, this, this or this?

Krishna

The Pledge of Allegiance isn't a formal part of being an American?

The Pledge of Allegiance has an interesting history. It first published in 1892, and said "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

It only became popular with the official government in 1954, when the McCarthyist Red Scare was in full swing. US citizens were randomly forced to take "loyalty oaths" to test if they were communist spies (a silly idea, because good spies are usually good liars). The Pledge was used as one loyalty oath. They added "Under God" into the middle of it, so that it'd be further disagreeable to USSR-style communists, who were officially atheist. (And also more agreeable to some branches of Christianity, who are not allowed to swear to anything other than The Lord)

Of course, with the added religious reference, the Pledge really started to violate the US 1st Amendment, especially when it was required before anyone could be sworn into public office. In recognition of this, in modern times the Pledge is not required of anyone, but the habit established in the 50s lives on, and it was ritualistically used in both public schools and inauguration ceremonies.

Until last year... when it was finally noticed that kids in a classroom have little real ability to disobey their teacher when she orders them to recite an oath. Therefore, the Pledge of Allegiance was banned from school ceremony. (The legal case will probably continue through a few more appeals & countersuits). The end result might be either that "Under God" is dropped, or that the Pledge of Allegiance itself dimishes in popularity. (Here's a Flash cartoon on the topic)

First he gets fuel to fly from Antarctica back to New Zealand and now this :)

Seriously though, as I'm sure many of these hackers/crackers will be heralded as (demi-)heroes [...], it should not be forgotten that they -did- commit a crime.

Since when has that mattered to anyone? (link to news about a certain ex-NY Times reporter and a book deal...)

Walden O'Dell, head of Diebold Election Systems, wrote a letter to Republican contributors in August that said "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

Maybe there really was much basis for his confidence ....

The Dutch courts have ruled that the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a worldwide analogue of the RIAA), can not sue Kazaa for the transgressions of its users (e.g.). This means Kazaa will be available for legal filesharing, and the recording industry must go after individuals who engage in illegal filesharing.

The Dutch make up about 20% of the world's filesharing individuals, according to the article.

under new consumer protection laws, companies that knowingly divulge your personal information to a third party without informing you are liable. A California woman has sued MS, saying that it's various OS and browser vulnerabilities amount to divulging information to third parties without her

The case you are thinking of alleged violations of one of California's different consumer privacy protection laws from last year, along with the California Business and Profession Code's Unfair Business Practices statutes, which are just amazingly broad and unpredictable in scope.

IANAL but IMHO she's going to lose against claiming the disclaimer is unfair (she should have alleged that the disclaimer is insufficiently communicated), but would otherwise win on the monopoly factors. Only time will tell.

http://www.invisiblue.com/

As long as their is a market someone will make it.

And the reason this works is that they failed to secure it despite available technology (what an old story that is!) From an article linked at that site:

Their primary makers, 3M Co. and Tomar Electronics Inc., offer encryption technology that can lock out unauthorized devices. Encryption has been available from 3M for more than a decade -- but it is far more expensive than systems that operate in the clear.

Hey, Saddam called some of later missile strikes "Operation Monica", not me. Though now that you mention it, I don't know why the news article called it Desert Fox, which it couldn't have been. My point is its hypocritical to say Bush is doing this as a PR campaign, or to deflect attention, when basically the same thing happened with Clinton and his many cruise missiles. I personally tend to give them both the benefit of the doubt. But this is Slashdot, so we should only give one the benefit of the doubt and the earlier one must have been good because we only have 2 year memories. I'm sorry you lost your buddy in Iraq; My family has lost relatives in every war from WW1 to Vietnam; We've been lucky since then.

Who launched a half-assed attack against Al Qaeda? Can you find a reference to "Al Qaeda" that exists before 9/11/01? Not likely. This is all made up bullshit.

Here you go, that took about 10 seconds. I guess you're technically right since it was only called "bin Laden's network of terrorist groups", not "Al Qaeda" then. Of course, 1998 was such a long time ago, and those cruise missiles were just a friendly gesture. Here's an interview where OBL himself mentions the attack. Half-assed is demonstrated in these two articles, however the latter one is written after 9/11 and it isn't fully fair, since hindsight is 20/20. But we could have done better, that's for sure. Here's another referenencing the attack. Calling it all "made up bullshit" sure sounds good, but its hard to rebut the facts of history. Do I think Clinton's scandal caused the 75 cruise missile attack? No, but the timing sure seems bad. Now tell me again why Bush is doing this all as a big PR campaign? Seems like "No War" would have been a hell of a lot more popular with the voters around here.

as a result of the previous Bush's actions

We made a mistake in 1991, but again hindsight is perfect. We're finishing it now; the sanctions and cruise missiles were just putting it off. Responsibility for OBL and Al Qaeda rest soley with Clinton and later GWB. Sure, the original Gulf War fanned the flames a lot, but that was a UN war, and our options were limited since the UN only knows limited/partial war, and all the limited/partial results that brings (see Korea). So who's your favorite leader? More likely than not they either (1) fought a war in which Americans died, or (2) ignored a security threat so that his successor had to fight the war instead. Don't even say JFK was your favorite... you'll have a lot more bodies to count.

Virtually no Americans (Canadians maybe?) believe Hussein planned the 9/11 attack. We are not stupid.

As for the Bush government *saying* that Saddam was involved in 9/11, no, no one associated with the Bush government ever actually said it. But they sure did imply it. Here's links to the implications. Remember, when in doubt try the facts, they're much better than your faith in the Bush government, if a bit less comfortable to begin with.

• The old tell the lie loud, issue a quiet retraction ploy
  
• more on the whole thing here complete with quotes from members of the Bush government. The quotes start about halfway down the page.
  

here's the link

I might also point out Embassies are considered sovereign U.S. territory. As found here U.S. Embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania August 7, 1998. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

At least when Clinton lied about a blow job from a mildly unattractive ditz nobody got killed.

Actually the answer is at least 25 killed and 75 wounded. Now I know 4 years is an awful long time to remember, so here's a link. We called it Operation Desert Fox. They called it "Operation Monica", because of the very interesting timing.

Don't forget around that time who launched a half-assed attack on Al Queda, which only really served to piss them off further. I wonder when 9/11 got planned. We're still waiting for a good president; It's been quite a while. But at least this one finishes things, rather than just exacerbating them.

You mean like when it's OK to attack Iraq when Clinton says it, but not when Bush says it? Face it, everywhere you go, people are self-serving.

This sugar eating bacteria battery looks more promising. Runs on sugar and has an 80% conversion efficiency.

...life is re-created by an act of God through the union of man and woman, and not by a scientist in a lab.

Guess what? You're about to be proven wrong. When? Well, as soon as life *is* recreated in a lab. In other words, any time now. You can just file your "act of god..union of man and woman" nonsense in the same folder as "the universe was created in seven days", "the sun rotates around the earth," and the countless other religious canards that have been disproven in the past few centuries.

Sustaining the misguided fiction of your 2,000-year-old cult is not the responsibility of science, and no matter how far deep you bury your head in the sand, reality will catch up with you.

In the meanwhile, enjoy your fantasy.

You might want to try again. Blame a screwed currency exchange rate for example.

I'd rather not. It is generaly agreed that the U.S. dollar is overvalued (of note, the pdf ends by saying that "overvalued" doesn't mean much when private market forces hold sway and the government doesn't intervene...but check out what G.W. Bush has been doing as of late.)

As for the bloated lifestyle, I would like to ask you the following: how much do you spend a year on cable, satelite, cellphone, laundry services, fuel, restaurants, computer games, music, clothes, electronics. That list isn't all encompassing, its just to give you an idea.

Next, tell me how much on average how much do you spend on a new shirt? On a pair of shoes? On a tie? On sunglasses? How much did you spend on your SUV (yes, I'm assuming here, but don't forget in my original post I said Americans (in general)).

Do you see where I'm getting at? Now contrast this to a country like Russian, which person for person could more or less get any given US job done just as well. How much do they own? How much do they spend for one shirt (hint, as a rule of thumb, they ain't buying polo and hilfigger)? Ok, then turn it up a notch and think India, think China!

That is what I was talking about when I refered to bloat.

Fact is, this shit has already happened (think Canada!) and its only a matter of time till it happens on a grander scale (and if you're saying "it happened to Canada and we're fine, so what?" don't forget that Canada only has 30,000,000 people, and its own economic sectors to keep them busy, all the other countries I've listed have significantly more people, and not necessarily other economic sectors to fall back on, which makes them more eager to take yours).

I'm starting to ramble a bit but what I'm still saying is unless Americans cut back you won't be able to stop this from happening. If you still don't understand what I mean by now, then unfortunately you are one of the masses who doesn't realise not just how good they've got it, but how excessive they've got it as well.

A downturn in the economy (think black monday 1929 + drought) would seriously change your response to the questions I asked above. What if that downturn was spawned by an exoduse of jobs from the US, and the crash of an overinflated U.S. dollar? And since the US has a massive trade deficite, if its dollar lost a significant amount of its value, wouldn't that affect its purchasing power? Do you think you'd still own/enjoy the things you do right now?

Oh, and one final note. Although I don't expect the above to happen tomorrow, has it occured to you that the reason you don't hear about this sort of stuff in the media, is because they have a vested interest in not alarming/letting you know? That's right, just keep giving them your money so that when the time does come, they have a pillow to fall on. What will you fall on?

Although my arguments may not be entirely right or convincing, I hope they gave you though, and I hope you at least now see where I'm coming from.

Second, I doubt that a free-falling bullet would have enough velocity to hurt anyone, even if the tiny thing managed to hit them.

Guess again: Participant at KKK initiation wounded after shots are fired into sky Quoting the article: "A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said."

Or maybe, the North American worker already doesn't have a chance. If you wait until all the human manufacturing labor is outsourced to other countries (which is happening fast), you can appeal to the local nationalism to build factories and robots in the country, in the name of "bringing back Made in the USA".

You could build a factory of robots anywhere in the world, so why are they built in some nations and not others? Regulations, and tax structures... two items that are seriously broken in the USA. When the tax structure is made more fair for corporations & high tech salaries, we can expect jobs to come back.

The problem with your argument is that most people don't want to download all the songs on an album- they only want a few. To download 2 or 3 good songs off of an album at high quality (192kbps+) still takes less time than it would to get in your car and drive to the store. And it is also infinitely cheaper.

Funny you should say that because there was a USA Today article in today's newspaper that discussed the implications of a single song music market, ie- the end of the album. There are still some artists who produce albums as an artistic whole, not just a bunch of singles, but as a complete artistic statement. The fear is that if the per song market becomes dominent, that the art of albums will consequently suffer.

Definitely some interesting thoughts to consider. I've been on both sides of the fence. I've bought albums that I thought, "Wow, the rest of this sucks." and I've also bought albums and thought, "Wow, I'm so glad I have all of this, it rocks!".

Back in high school I remember the BK broiler conveyor belt carrying hamburger across the flames.

I think by now, they can get it wrapped in a bun. Extra pickle, no problem.

This same think tank guy said they had computer replacements for the cashier, but people paid more money to talk to a real person, than order themselves.

I think a robotic McGriller is ready, but is the world ready for the robotic McGriller. What would all those high school kids do for work? What about everyone else?

I guess they have a bun manufacturing facility in the midwest that puts Krispy Kreme to shame.(insert pun or off color humor here.)

A buddy of mine burnt several DVD+Rs for me. After I came back home, they became coasters as I found out none of the PCs I own read them. My laptop is less than a year old for god's sake. Despite its hype, DVD+R format is useless unless you have a compatible drive(players should be ok).

Also, new 8x recorders are coming.
Also, new double-layer recorders are coming.
The target is constantly moving...

As far as the next generation high capacity DVD format is concerned, Blue-ray is currently under development, headed by Sony, Matsushita(panasonic) and phillips. Meanwhile, (oh what a surprise) there is another high-cap DVD standard using blue-laser technology, headed by Toshiba and NEC. It is called HD-DVD and it stores 5 times more data than current DVD+/-Rs can hold. Needless to say they are incompatible to one another.

while neither of new DVD standards is available in the market yet, it is a matter of time that they will replace the current standards. Then again, we will face incompatibility issues between Blue-Ray and HD DVD. Competition is good, but consumers have got enough of those with VHS/Beta, LaserDisc/Videodisc, Win/Mac, yada yada yada.

Despite its hype and promises, DVD+R may live a short life (maybe 10 years) IMO.

Look for articles on Tommy Carmichael.
Here's a quick bio. From that link:
he devised a device that would shine a light down into the slot machine, tripping a switch that would empty the buckets that held the coins
That's Carmichael's "Light Wand" trick.

Ack! I just figured out why you couldn't find it. Its a "Light Wand" not "Magic Wand" (my bad). Google has lotsa results (ie usa today article on Carmichael.)

The Corporations That Supplied Iraq's Weapons Program (mirror)

Report: U.S. supplied the kinds of germs Iraq later used for biological weapons

I have solved the problem.
People on the ISS should order nothing but pizza, it solves the storage problem;hot or cold, the quality problem, the crumb problem...it's gold baby!
And as a bonus since most pizza chains don't have their own rocket program it'll take more than 30 minutes to deliver it, so the food is free!

PS Maybe the ISS crew member from the US should have had that
Turkey and Gravy flavoured pop
from Seattle. Un-carbonated though.

More Specs are available here.

"The HD DVD format is a violet laser-based optical disk system with a capacity of 15-20 Gbyte per side using the same disk structure as current DVD disks."

A quick comparison of existing specs here shows that the blue lazer DVD's are well ahead of these higher-density DVD's.

The Blu-ray Disc, supported by nine major makers, including Sony, Panasonic, Philips and Pioneer, could store up to 50 GB of data (more than six times the data capacity of today's DVD) by using a blue laser beam instead of the current red laser. Blu-ray recorders and players could play current DVDs, but Blu-ray discs could not be played on current players.
Advanced Optical Disc, a second blue-laser system proposed by NEC and Toshiba, brings disc capacity to 20 GB. One advantage touted by backers: Today's DVD-making equipment could easily be modified for the new discs.
HD-DVD-9, based on the current DVD format, uses improved software compression to pack 135 minutes of HD video onto the disc. It was developed by Warner Bros.

The most interesting one is the final option... Upgrading the software codec. The MPEG consortium was attempting to get mpeg-4 out the door in time to become a standard for DVD's. They didn't meet that lofty goal, but MPEG4, DIVX, and many other codecs are significantly better at compressing video than MPEG 2. A new codec would require a new decompression chip, but it would cost less than a new laser system, and would provide a platform from which to move up... After all, codecs probably won't see the same growth over the years that hardware will, so using an MPEG4 or other codec could last for many years, at least until Blue laser systems come down in price, at which point you could keep the codec.

• According to Bill Gates, as reported in USA Today, Microsoft was never in talks with Google about an acquisition.
• 
  
  link
  

Between Microsoft and the tobacco company settlements, residents of states ought to evaluate the effectiveness of their government appointed watchdogs by dividing the settlement size by the number of residents in the state.

Impoverished states like New Mexico caved early as Microsoft offered settlement terms that include attorney's fees.

Yea, adopting a simple black and white mentality sure makes this an easy issue to deal with. The way you worded the above paragraph gives the impression that you think acts of agression seem to originate solely from the Palestinian side and the Israeli government (and extremists, yes there are Israeli terrorists as well you know) is left high and dry trying to defend its citizens. Blowing up a Starbucks is definetly not a counter attack but why don't you point your finger at Israel as well? Are you telling me that they haven't inticed violence at all or overreacted in any way by killing innocent Palestinians?

• http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=54872
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,5247 00,00.html
• http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001/09/04/vigi lantes.htm

My point isn't that the Palestinians are being treated unfairly (eventhough I feel they are). It is that people like you need to adopt a more balanced view regarding this situation. Both sides are equally guilty for committing atrocious crimes and that the blame should be shared equally.

Here's a better one for you: FBI checks out library records of terrorist suspects 06/25/2002

Are these available in the U.S.? The last time encrypted cell phones made the news there were no plans of selling them in the U.S.

Nerds are a special interest group. We are the aristocrats of computerdom and geekery. We see no more wisdom in a Congressman from Minnesota making laws than we do in a PHB issuing clueless work orders on how and when to code. They simply don't know what they're talking about.

So, it's pretty clear that whatever solution for spam a lawmaker from Minnesota, or anyone else in Congress, makes, it won't get the nod of the geek would-be aristocrats.. including myself.

But he's right.. you can't have it free and unrestricted on the one hand and have KOL (!) on the other. The only thing we differ over is which side to favor. Too bad he gets to decide.

In a rush to avoid the tragedy of the commons we'll throw the baby out with the bath water. There, I've said it. That's positively the lamest little meme I could think up to describe what's going on.

Either we keep the internet, socially, as a p2p network that requires lots of care, thinking and personal responsibility, or it becomes hub-and-spoke network that, through a variety of enclosure laws - like e-mail taxation - turns into the next medium for mass-stupidity and mass-vegitation. TV will, by comparison, seem like yesterday's radio. The Matrix will be seen by most as a wrong-headed, pessimistic critique of the real benefits of zombification.

Ah, who am I kidding. Who's going to go spend the holidays with their family and explain the virtues of open and free, a promising cultural renaissance, and DIY to families full of folks happy to just get up-to-the-second sports scores, infinite celebrity gossip, free music and endless naked women (or men) so long as nobody asks too many questions? Thought so.

They're the voters, mind you. Mmmm... democracy.

The G-men are coming, and the Internet will be owned by their favorite caretakers. Back to work, peons.

Ah right, that's me too.

True, but Nintendo isn't playing for the top position lately. Sony, however, has been hard at work to stay on top with their new PS3 (both PS3 and XBox2 are due to release in 2005-2006). Everything is still a rumor with both companies, but it appears that Sony is going to fight every bit as hard as MS is in the gaming console business.

I did find this though that says Sony is losing $$ on each sale of a PS2, so you're right on with that one. The good news is games benefit from such fierce competition, no matter what their preference (we have both a PS2 and an XBox at home.. no gamecube).

Dont forget the i-Loo that M$ made, then made up, then again admitted to making and then cancelled.

Gaydar. Nuff said.

Since this is a science article, maybe replace it with this?

But of course, taste differs, so I'm sure there are people finding this one interesting as well.

Lets go over this one last time-- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY WINDOWS. MICROSOFT CAN INCLUDE ANY FEATURES IT DAMN WELL SEES FIT IN ITS OWN PRODUCT. Yes, yes... We know they were engaged in anti-competitive practices, but that really doesn't have a thing to do with this. Exactly which media alternative have they been supressing with this one? I know, winamp, right?

No, lets look at it from a different angle. Such as this one.