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Check this out! Stealing Back the Airwaves

By the same token, there's a Wired Magazine article pointing to a much cooler version of the same thing. A couple of NYU students did the same thing while using a better boombox and adding WiFi.

so go nuts with whatever you can get your hands on. At least that's what the law was the last time I checked: you can't copyright a fact (or a made up fact for that matter), although some people are trying to change this.

I had a the pleasure of once working for a map company, for example, that at a time (before I worked there of course) traced a competitor's maps when drafting their products. An ensuing lawsuit, during which the judge actually acknowledged this practice, resulted in a verdict in favor of allowing such infringements.

...I think the title was "MIX your own B-52."

I must be drunk already.

I hear someone is working on this problem.

Wired has an article on this.

Wired News is covering this topic too: A Fiery Death for Dinosaurs?

Don't worry, Wired is carrying a synopsis of the story.

WIRED = Worthless In Really Every Dimension

"In depth" article ????

WTF ???

I was actually interested when I saw the PIXAR cover ... it's been a while since they had a decent feature article ... WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT ... this "feature" is like, barely FOUR FREAKING PAGES! It's hardly more than a press release.

I remember when WIRED actually *did* have IN-DEPTH feature articles ... many of which went for ten - twelve - even TWENTY pages.

(Anyone remember Neal Stephenson's novella on undersea cable from late '96 ?? )

Mother earth - motherboard

Actually for me, WIRED jumped-the-shark years ago when they ran an issue with like thirty pages on BAGS ... freakin' luggage, I mean!

I'd dump my subscription, but what else is there?

Long ago I was an OMNI fan ... then it disappeared ... and after a five-or-six year run WIRED started to suck ... now it's been at least four years and there is NOTHING decent to replace it ...

SUGGESTIONS WELCOMED!

- - - - - - - - -

My 10 year old nissan gets better gas mileage than most hybrid vehicles do now.

Hybrid Cars Come Up Short

Wrong. They surely do use a 10 Gb/s network.

In the a 2002 Wired article titled "Hacking Las Vegas," the exploits of a MIT Blackjack Team is detailed for us. It's an interesting read in any case.

This month's Wired magazine also has Welcome to planet Pixar article. Not so much technical information and rendering issues, as discussion of how the movies are made.

Yeah, but how about this camera. Dude turned an old mail truck into a camera that produces prints in feet! I suppose you could argue that it isn't portable, but it is mobile . . .

• " coffee, chocolate, men: some things are better rich."

Oh yes, sorry, I just mindlessly summarised the article, without checking your original point. ;)

Still, about three of those arguments still hold. I'm not sure what you mean by harnessing or controlling the CO2 - I mean, the algae takes CO2 out of the atmosphere when it makes the oil (to put it crudely) and then the CO2 is given off when it's burnt. What's to control?

And I read in another article that the hydrogen-producing process needs to reach 50% of its theoretical possible efficiency before it becomes cheap enough to use (they're at 10% at the moment). Biodiesel from algae seems to be cheaper.

IBM used to be profoundly anti-alcohol. Something to do with Thomas J Watson being a Quaker. I may be wrong - it's been almost twenty years since I worked there. Anyway, company policy was offset by the employees, who all drank like fish.

It reminds me of quote from the creator of the iBong:

The IBM PC was created by people who drank alcohol. The Mac was created by people who smoked pot.

Check out this about synthetic diamonds

Article about getting hydrogen from Algae.

Bruce Sterling once referred to the ill-fated Teledesic low earth orbit satellite system as "Microsoft Windows for Spaceships."

"Windows for Supercomputers" probably makes about as much sense and has about as good a chance of succeeding.

Reminds me of the VisuaLABS scandal. This guy fooled investors and squandered millions of dollars on his revolutionary 3D television which was nothing but an off-the-shelf large screen TV with a couple of lines etched into it and some camera tricks to give the illusion of depth. The founder (Sheldon Zelitt) was a bit of a wacko - spent his time in his inventor's studio playing with "optics" - which usually meant doing bizarre and childish things like gluing magnifying glasses to pennies with superglue (I made up that example, but you get the idea). I think he also once wooed investors with a parabolic mirror magic trick which I guess none of them had ever seen. More info here.

Other than a healthy reference page for the interested, there's not much new information in Last's article.

Not sure if you've seen this before, but check out The Civil War Inside Sony. It's a fascinating look at how the interests of Sony the electronics company are in conflict with those of Sony the media giant.

In essence, the electronics division knows they're losing ground because of their emphasis on DRM and proprietary solutions, but their hands are tied.

If you don't know who to root for, then let me tell you: Lindows!

Here's the deal: MS has been playing the conniving bully it's entire existence. It abuses the courts to further its monopoly, it blatantly disregards the consent decree it signed, it represents the worst parts of corrupt capitalism. It produces terrible products that clog our internet with virii and worms, does not adhere to standards it professes to, yet you want everyone else to play nice? Do you want other companies to be able to play in this space or not? Regardless of the legality of ms trademarks (which I believe to be tenuous anyway), I hope Lindows wins.

Wired did a good article a few issues ago called 'Eco-traitor' about another environmentalist, Patrick Moore, who (according to the article) is "a firm believer in James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis".

I don't know if it's emphasized clearly enough in the article, but Homestar Runner has commissioned a few homebrew 2600 coders to make their own game... Imagine the precedence that this could set, IMHO, this is along the same lines as the Counterstrike modders getting published by Sierra (err Valve?)..

Imagine... homebrew people getting paid for their hobby... I think that wired magazine's mention of this makes it a little more interesting: homebrew games are becoming available on a grander scale than just for those in the scene.

Outsource to India and the Philippines for less than $1/page

I'm not suggesting that makes an ounce of sense, but it's certainly not chump change here.

See here.

In a paper to be released next week, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution outlines how open source might facilitate efforts to disrupt or sabotage electronic commerce, air traffic control or even sensitive surveillance systems.

If so, why is it OK when Guy Kawasaki and the folks at Apple do it, and not OK when JBoss does it? I remember a lot of pleas on the EvangeList to do just the same thing on bulletin boards, etc. One tactic was to encourge people to write to little boutique software shops and encourage them to develop Mac versions. This may cause someone to spend 1000s (or millions) of dollars developing a product that there's no real market for, because the Maccies making the requests have no intention of buying the product.

I also know that Apple employees frequent Slashdot and other forums to "mod" dissenting views down, and talk up their technology.

So why is it OK for Apple to do this and not JBoss?

I was developing an arcade video game for the Japanese market, Yu-Lik-Em, kinda like Boong-Ga Boon-Ga only using your tounge, not a finger.

Gotta Lick em All!

Clicky here.

98% is pretty pathetic - 1 error in 50. Most good Bayesian filters (SpamProbe, CRM114, DSPAM) can reach at least 99.9% (1 error in 1000) with ease. Others can grow far beyond this and reach as high as 99.985%, as a recent slashdot article covered (and this one). I reset my stats a few weeks ago, and out of 1800 spams so far, 0 have made it through. The only problem with Bayesian filtering is that it's mismarketed by companies who insist they have a better solution (although it's less accurate).

And to answer your question - collaborative filtering, such as message inoculation works quite well at boosting accuracy even beyond the high levels of accuracy Bayesian filters are really capable of, whereas things like shared groups and such hurt it.

Most people who have spyware on their machines actively don't want it. This is why spyware is rapidly becoming the worst tech support problem out there.

If you think that it is OK to destabilize millions of computers and disrupt businesses worldwide to deliver unwanted ads, then proceed as you already are. If you think that those things are bad, then perhaps you'll want to do what I just did, decide to boycott those stores, and write them to let them know that you are boycotting them and will encourage friends and family to do likewise.

Or is this the answer?

hm....let's see....

Nope. Sky not falling yet. Enjoy your pancakes.

First thing's first. The MythBusters program is meant mainly for entertainment purposes. On many occasions both Jamie and Adam (the hosts) state their position towards a topic, which usually is 'we aren't experts.' The MythBusters are neither a scientific institute nor a regulated body for research of such matters. Take their findings to heart when it comes to things like ice bullets or the physics of firing a chicken out of a cannon. When it comes to your own personal safety, do some research for yourself and use common sense. Personally, I would never talk on a cell phone at a gas station (it seems a little rude), but it is with me at all times.
WGN, a Chicago television station, quoted David Sykuta of the Illinois Petroleum Council as saying, "The truth is there has never been an explosion at a gas station from a cell phone." (link) In addition, Wired put out an article of a similar nature quoting Robert Renkes, a spokesperson for the Petroleum Equipment Institute, as saying "We have not found a cell phone responsible for any fire since the beginning of mankind." (link)
If you want more information on from the Petroleum Equipment Institute you can visit their site and find other articles about cell phones and other ESD information.

>> - Fraud: False claims, planted by partners like Toqueville.

>>You have no knowledge that this particular instance was instigated by Microsoft. Microsoft has *definitely* paid off "independent researchers" to come up with misleading studies in the past, but this is not in the least unusual for large companies in the technology industry, much as I hate to say it.

Did MS Pay for Open-Source Scare?

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed that Microsoft provides funding to the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution.

"We support a diverse array of public policy organizations with which we share a common interest or public policy agenda such as the de Tocqueville Institution," the spokesman wrote in an e-mail.

And no, the article is not about the current report from Tocqueville Institution, it is about previous FUD they have spewed for Microsoft.

Looks like an old dog just repeats it's old tricks at the ordering of it's master.

... can be found in this month's issue of WIRED magazine. There was quite an interesting blogging device that looked like a can. It had a video recorder, audio recorder, and a fold-out screen.
Can we expect this device to be on the market anytime soon?

You too! That's great! ;)

When it comes to banning links, I would tend to agree -- banning a link is one of those "slippery slope" issues. The first example that comes to mind is the 2600 DeCSS debacle.

Which leads to the next question: can I even speak that same URL?

I heard they called in the US Army to find it.

Assuming, of course, that there is one..

Yes, there IS a regions protection scheme (Region Encoding i.e., NTSC or PALS). But, there is also a copy protection scheme (CSS). VHS tapes also have copy protection (macrovision).

The XBox is designed to not run any unsigned code. The modchip is a circumvention device for this protection whether it's the Cromwell or a more nefarious BIOS. Any protection circumvention device is questionable under the DMCA. Hell, if the shift key is questionable a modchip is most likely also questionable.

By Lawrence Lessig, who is widely praised among /. readers for his work in IP law. I wonder if his thoughts on economic protectionism will be as well received. :)

And a more recent article.

This one mentions Laura Callahan, who resigned from Homeland Security after a similar scandal last year. I know someone who worked for her (before she was at DHS), and the day the story broke he was practically grinning from ear to ear. Apparently he had not enjoyed working under her very much and was not surprised by this at all.

but it is fairly obvious that the RIAA is not reporting the most 'useful' numbers to the public

Next you'll tell me that windows is less secure than linux!

Anyone remember the super lethal smallpox virus?

Transmissible gene therapy has some awesome potential, and the fact that such limited resources could pull it off is all the more inredible.

The flip side of this is of course the potential for insanely destructive devices in the hands of anyone with a decent budget and some technical bioengineering skill.

Technological advances are going to drive the price point for this technology down ever further. In 10 years, should we be concerned if $5,000 in supplies and computing equipment allows this same feat to be accomplished?

It's going to start getting very interesting as the decades roll by. The ever increasing and incredible capabilities that these technologies provide are a double edged sword. They will be used for great good, but you can be sure more malicious uses will also be employed...

We had an employee here that was all happy about getting a degree with his life experience. And then I showed him it was from a university in Liberia. He gave up on that and started with University of Phoenix (which I think is just an expensive diploma mill).

Seriously though, what is a fake degree? Just because they are not accredited? No job posting I have seen says "requires a BS from an accredited university". They just want a degree. If the government doesn't make non accredited universities illegal, then no one can complain. If the job requirements are "four year degree", then it would be different. A fake degree would be something I made up in Photoshop and printed out. A degree from a non-accredited university is still a degree.

Go apply for a job on Monster. Guess what you get after you finish your submittal? A nice huge ad for Kennedy Western Note that they have a .edu domain. And how hard is it to fake accreditation? If you read the Wired article it talks at the end of how Hamilton University is accredited by the American Council of Private Colleges and Universities, which looks to only accredit Hamilton.

I remember arguing with a previous manager about a pay raise, and him telling me that 4 years of work experience were equal to one year of "higher" education. What a load of crap. More like the other way around. I have worked with people with real degrees. That doesn't mean that they know anything.

I took a couple courses at University of Phoenix Online. $1200 for 3 credit hours. First class was basically "introduction to group learning and how to write papers according to the APA format". What a waste of time and money! Second class was not any better. So I am out $2400 (or my employer is) for classes that no self-respecting entity should allow or accredit for college credit. So by writing group papers every week somehow I am some greatly enhanced in my mental capabilities and have "earned" a degree. Maybe some other day I will write about how the whole higher education system is just another money making scheme and government brainwashing mill.

Here are a few people who can do it without fancy technology: 3 Blind Phreakers

Just because you can't do something doesn't mean someone else can or can't