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This op ed from Sunday's Washington Post is worth a read.

The author is sypathetic to NSA, claiming the agency isn't currently spying on Americans or otherwise overreaching it's mandate, but even he worries about the future potential of the technolgies NSA is developing.

>The managers of the bill brought it to the floor
>under suspension of the (House) rules, meaning
>it didn't go through the rules committee, which
>is a normal course of action. Bills that are
>brought up under suspension of the rules require
>2/3rds majority to pass.

I bow to your superior knowledge. The Washington Post article on the subject confirms this.

Online Contracts Fail in House

The Post also has an article from a few days ago on concerns that the new law would weaken consumer protection: Acti vists Call 'Digital Signature' Bills Flawed

A digital signature bill is still alive in the Senate, and hopefully this will all be worked out soon.

>The managers of the bill brought it to the floor
>under suspension of the (House) rules, meaning
>it didn't go through the rules committee, which
>is a normal course of action. Bills that are
>brought up under suspension of the rules require
>2/3rds majority to pass.

I bow to your superior knowledge. The Washington Post article on the subject confirms this.

Online Contracts Fail in House

The Post also has an article from a few days ago on concerns that the new law would weaken consumer protection: Acti vists Call 'Digital Signature' Bills Flawed

A digital signature bill is still alive in the Senate, and hopefully this will all be worked out soon.

See this Washingt on Post story Quote:

That January, during one of their nocturnal pranks, Harris and Klebold were arrested on juvenile charges of felony burglary for stealing from a van. They got the lightest sentence available: a diversion program, with the charges expunged after 10 months of counseling and community service. In fact, their own light sentence has provoked questions among some parents that school officials were lax not only toward athletes, but toward all sorts of student misbehavior.--Lorraine Adams and Dale Russakoff, Washington Post Staff Writers

) Why would having a computerized test, even if it worked, change matters? I suspect that the "violence-prone students" will simply be forced to attend useless anti-violence classes one or two days a week, while suffering the taunts of fellow classmates "Oooh, look it's Violence Bob. Oooh, I'm scared he's going to kill me... Come on, take swing at me, Bob..."

Since nothing constructive is actually done about proven violent students, nothing useful will actually be done about students "caught" by MOSAIC. But it will let people think that the school's are doing something to protect our children, and that's really its job, isn't it?

Wait a second, Microsoft is not at fault.

It's the U.S. Government and its evil anti-trust division at the Department of Justice which is trying to keep Microsoft from innovating. Microsoft has to defend itself. Everybody agrees.

You see, Microsoft has this website called the Freedom to Innovate Network.

But then I forgot to pay my Microsoft tax and I was shot.
----

Domain names are not different. Current trademark law already protects companies from domain name squatters. If you don't believe this, look at case law on the subject from the last 4 years.

There's no need for this extra legislation.

Again, there is NO NEED FOR THIS EXTRA LEGISLATION!!!!

It only makes it easier for a large corporation (such as Microsoft) to fuck a little guy for having a good idea first, but not having the legal manpower (read: $) to back it up.

See Microsoft and Windows2000.com. Registered in 1996, this domain (well in advance) preceded M$ decision to let its OS assembly line slip in production once again so that it had to rename its OS to Windows2000. Does microsoft own the trademark windows? Maybe. Actually, not really since it is f*cking generic. I'm sitting next to three (3) windows right now, and M$ didn't have thing to do with them. I look outside and I see people.

Windows were a concept first introduced to the computer world at large by Apple computers (and they were called just that, windows), first with Lisa & then with the Macintosh Operating System (now called MacOS). Apple borrowed this idea from previous work, but the previous work was non-commercial. M$ stole the work from Apple for the simple reason that Apple made a product with this work, licensed use of this work to M$ for use in writing programs for Macintoshes, and then M$ turned around and bit Apple in the *ss by coming out with its own OS based on the concepts that it had learned within the legally-binding relationship of a non-disclosure (and thus non-use except as specified) by Apple.

Well, I'm way the f*ck off topic, but the current trademark laws are sufficient, and there is no need to give police power to corporate America. They're got enough power as it is.

Microsof t pays congress to cut the Department of Justice's budget

"Where do you want to go tomorrow?" How about to court?

MSoft Throws Up Hands over 'Palm' -- Sort of

Micro$oft f*cks GoldTouch Technologies

As far as customer goodwill, does Microsoft have any?

Actually, the "Big Brother" show is shot in the Netherlands. They have a web site at:
http://www.big-brother.nl/

There's also an article about it at the Washington Post site (which is in English).
http ://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-09 /25/094l-092599-idx.html

The main difference seems to be that the group nominates the evictees, but the viewing public actually decides. Two are already gone. Out of the remaining eight, five will be booted before the new year. The remaining three get about $118,000US each.

My favorite quote from the article:
Their trips to the bathroom will be on camera in the control room for security reasons and to prevent secret meetings, but not broadcast. Nor will the fronts of showering ladies.

I'd like to point out that the reporting on this story is very muddy. None of the science writers seem to know how to use the words force, velocity, impulse, or energy correctly in a sentence, nor which units go with which measurements.

I'd like to offer the following as evidence:

• SF Chronicle
  
  Their computers used the metric term newtons, or grams per second of force, to send final course and velocity commands to the Mars-bound spacecraft.
  
  A newton is not a gram per second!
• LA Times
  
  As a result, JPL engineers mistook acceleration readings measured in English units of pound-seconds for a metric measure of force called newton-seconds.
  
  Force is not measured in newton-seconds!
• Washing ton Post
  
  The navigators, in turn, performed their analysis of the spacecraft's position in space based on the assumption that the descriptions of these firings were in metric units of force per second (newtons). In fact, the numbers instead represented pounds (of force per second).
  
  A pound is not force per second!
• LA Times
  
  But, basically, Lockheed was providing the JetPropulsion Laboratory with data on the amount of energy imparted to the spacecraft by its thrusters that are fired periodically. This was measured in pound-seconds, Hinners said.
  
  Energy is not measured in pound-seconds! Perhaps an energy change was indicated by a reading in pound-seconds, but it's erroneous to write that energy is measured in those units.

It looks to me that either a Reuters, AP, or some press release initially confused impulses with force, and the error has propogated through every major news organization in the country. Either that, or quite a few science writers would seem to think that the general public has no real idea about what they're reading and couldn't care less if it's technically correct. Something should be written about the correct relationship between force, impulse, and energy using the words correctly in a sentence, along with the correct units of measurement so that some education of the American public comes of this.

Or it could be that I'm being too nit-picky. Sue me for being an engineer...

Robby

The Infinite Brain

It's mainly about the "plasticity" of the human brain; its ability to actually change the way that it is arranged. Imagine a computer being able to rewire its circuitry at will, daily, or when some error occured (like loss of a piece of hardware).

Just because some guy with a Pakistani or Indian sounding name says that Pakistan is breaching the line doesn't mean its _just_ Pakistan.

Read the press briefing at the Whitehouse on July 4, 1999, after Bill Clinton had talks with the Pakistani prime minister and told him to get his forces back behind the Line of Control.

Let me apply this situation to our own situation in the 1700s. What if France hadn't helped us against Britian?

France did what they did because of their enmity with Britain. What about Quebec today? Should Quebec secede from Canada? What about Ireland, and Scotland? What about the Basques in Spain? All of these countries have a democractic framework.

I'd like to see how much of what the Indian muslims want their government to do gets done. India is democratic only if your Hindu.

False. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed to all under the Indian Constitution.

if India is so open to religions, then why is the government funding a campaign to drive out catholics? Please explain. We have see reports about 6 churches being destoryed and christians being persecuted, please explain why India is doing this?

Please provide unbiased, reliable, verifiable sources of your claims. It can be argued that the United States, with its many church burnings[1] [2], is a greater threat to Christianity.

I disgree with your statements on the Muslims of East Pakistan being abused by West Pakistan. It sounds like more FUD to me.

Read about Bangladesh's independence, especially about the holocaust and the US involvement.

...and us pissing off another country or two sitting on the security council.

This is a real danger. US actions have made the UN and Security Council increasingly irrelevant in the last few years. The US government attitude runs on the lines of I'm taking the ball home if you don't play by my rules. Dues to the tune of millions of dollars to the UN have been witheld. Continuing action against Iraq is being undertaken with a rather elastic view of previous Security Council resolutions. The Kosovo intervention was without the Security Council's approval(since Russia would have vetoed any military action). This is going to make other countries justifiably scared. Can the EU expect to be bombed in the future if the banana dispute is not resolved in favour of the US? Independent-minded countries like France and China will be giving serious thought to countering the growing US influence.

Answer to your question can be found at the main washington post article linked in this story (which many didn't fully read) 5th paragraph from to bottom is:

But asking Jackson to take ``judicial notice'' of the industry changes is an unusual legal ploy since the evidentiary record in the trial is officially closed. The judge can recognize these events but can't consider them as evidence because the government wasn't given the opportunity to challenge Microsoft's interpretation of their meaning.

The space station is largely irrlelvant for science as a whole; much of its capacity for making a contribution to anything beyond being a "feel-good, high-tech, public works project" has been compromised in the interest of cutting costs and getting it up into the sky.

The real embarrassment in terms of scientific spending is how NASA, the DOE, and NSF must compete with the VA, HUD, and Americorps this fiscal year in a zero-sum-game for appropriations. The latter three have highly vocal constituencies, and will almost certainly gain significant amounts of revenue which would otherwise be used for R&D spending. Given that 50 percent of the US's GDP since the end of World War II has been the result of scientific and technical innovation (70 percent over the past few years), it seems ill-advised to accept such massive cuts in scientific spending.

Federal support of R&D is now only about 45% of what it was 30 years ago. This trend is unlikely to reverse itself anytime soon without the involvement of the (largely apathetic) scientific and technical constituencies.

Perhaps we could all devote 1% of the time we spend bashing Microsoft, Apple Co., intellectual property and patent law, GNOME/KDE, RHS, the NSA, AOL, the DOJ, and Sun Co., and instead write an informed letter to a congressperson or two in support of scientific and technical spending in this country. This would do much to give the impression that some are indeed concerned about these issues.

A Wash ington Post editorial by Allan Bromley, a former president of the American Physical Society, makes a compelling case for increasing science appropriations.

(My apologies for the non-USA readers for this USA-centric post).

And here is a quote from this site

In reality, the new technologies do not live up to their promises at all. In a recent small-scale study conducted by Consumer Reports of 22 easy-to-find websites that had been judged by investigators to be inappropriate for young children, not one of the four most common software blockers--CyberPatrol, CyberSitter, NetNanny, and SurfWatch--blocked all of the sites. NetNanny failed to block any of the 22 sites, while 14 were blocked by CyberSitter, 16 by CyberPatrol, and 18 by SurfWatch; and only 3 sites were blocked by Internet Explorer (Is your kid 1997, 30). These rates are far below the levels that parents and other consumers have been led to expect. Another small-scale study by PC World found marginally better performance: two of the five products tested were effective in blocking all ten of the adult-oriented sites in the evaluation (Internet filters 1997).

The thing is ludicrous on several levels.

John Lapeyre

Washington Post story here.
Perhaps we shoul illegailize the internet even though many find it inspirational.

I submitted this as a story, but it probably won't be posted now. Here is the original Washington Post article all the other news sources are quoting...

This is a very cerebral movie. If you don't have an imagination, than you won't find it scary -- in fact, you'll probably walk out of the movie saying, "What the hell?"

I was originally intruigued by the movie because the Washington Post gave it an excelle nt review which is uncommon (the Washington Post can easily tear a new movie to shreads). The movie is only as scary as you let it be. It gives you room to imagine the worst. Modern media doesn't let you think for yourself. Ordinarily, when a film wants to express something, they do it with images. There's no room for misinterpretation. If they want you to visualize a dog, they'll put a dog on the screen; if they want you to visualize a cheeseburger, they'll put a cheeseburger on the screen, and so on. The Blair Witch Project uses the ultimate horror-creating device -- your own mind. You get the opportunity to visualize (for yourself) the worst possible thing that could happen, and then listen to their screams as it does.

This is not easy for many people because they like passive entertainment. They like not having to think during the movie. These people will be VERY DISAPPOINTED with the Blair Witch Project. However, if you let your imagination roam, then you can make the movie as scary as you want.

I went home and changed all the burned out lightbulbs in my house.

This is a very cerebral movie. If you don't like using your imagination, then you'll come out of the movie saying, "What the hell?"

The Washington Post gave an excelle nt review of the movie -- something I find surprising, considering the Washington Post can usually tear a new movie apart. The most important thing to remember when you're watching the film is that you have to let your imagination wander. Ponder the worst possible thing that could happen and then listen to the horror in their voices. That is this film's unique ability.

Many people have become accustomed to having the media tell you what to think. In many movies, they paint the picture on the screen so there is no mistaking what is going on. In the Blair Witch Project the movie is only as scary as your imagination makes it...

I went home and changed all the lightbulbs that had burned out.

See the Wash ington Post's news.

I thought this should be made available for reference here. I don't believe it has received wide circulation.

By now it's over. If you are reading this my mission is complete. I have finished revolutionizing the neoeuphoric infliction of my internal terror. Your children who have ridaculed (sic) me, who have chosen not to accept me, who have treated me like I am not worth their time are dead. THEY ARE [FUCKING] DEAD. Surely you will try to blame it on the clothes I wear, the music I listen to, or the way I choose to present myself -- but no. Do not hide behind my choices. You need to face the fact that this comes as a result of YOUR CHOICES. Parents and Teachers, YOU [FUCKED] UP. You have taught these kids to be gears and sheep. To think and act like those who came before them, to not accept what is different. YOU ARE IN THE WRONG. I may have taken their lives and my own -- but it was your doing. Teachers, Parents, LET THIS MASSACRE BE ON YOUR SHOULDERS UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE. Am I insane? Maybe. Is it my fault? No. I did not choose this life, but I have indeed chosen to exit it. You may think the horror ends with the bullet in my head -- but you wouldn't be so lucky. All that I can leave you with to decipher what more extensive death is to come is "12Skizto." You have until April 26th. Goodbye.

Eric Harris, April 19th.

Yes, after reading the diary of one of the killers, the media is finally getting at the high-school-is-hell causes for the massacre...

An article .

Exerpt:

Harris and Dylan Klebold were bright young men who became social outcasts at their suburban Denver high school, and then built their own internal society by plucking strands from the pop whirlwind of cyberspace and fantasy games, the soundtrack of American youth, and a netherworld that glamorizes Nazi symbols and terrorist violence... Klebold, who attended the senior prom Saturday night, spent a lot of time playing Internet war games like Doom, but serious fans of Doom in the Denver suburbs say they had never heard of either of the Littleton shooters... Similarly, although many students describe Harris and Klebold as "Goths," and report that the boys considered themselves part of the Gothic subculture, local Gothic groups knew nothing of the pair... Harris and Klebold were dabblers, skimming through the fringes of the culture, searching, tasting, shouting and, in the end, finding nothing that could make them whole.

Why take responsibility when you can sue someone? Now, I'm starting to sympathize with the tobacco companies.

Most people (and here I refer to the non-geek world that still forms a majority), when they buy today's Washington Post or the newest John Grisham or Tom Clancy paperback, are looking for something they can read once, just about anywhere, and then get rid of. When you make an e-book as easy to read and handle as a paperback or a newspaper, AND bring the cost down to roughly $7-10 for the novel or 25-50c for the news, then people will be interested.

Until then, I'll stick with stacks of paperbacks in my bookshelf and a print edition of the Post that I can take and read anywhere, and leave my online general-news reading to the four other regional newspapers I read daily, but for which I couldn't afford printed editions to be mailed to my dorm room.

Apparently AOL wants to prove that there are enough morons who associate the phrase with AOL to give it common law rights. My guess is that AOL will try to claim trademark rights to "The Internet" next.

Incidentally, is the offending code mentioned in any of the "annotated source code" books out there-- e.g. "The Lions Book"? I'd love to see a copy of "login.c" from 1989, but I can't find an appropriate Web/Gopher/FTP resource-- Linux dates from 1991, and I think the FreeBSD varients date from the same period.