Slashdot Mirror

when you can get a laptop for less? Ok, the tablet is available now but it has no hand crank.

Below is the full article in the event that the above link is inaccessible.

U.S. Scientist Quits Stem-Cell Alliance
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter
November 12, 2005; Page A5A

A prominent U.S. scientist is withdrawing from an international collaboration to create human embryonic stem cells.

Gerald Schatten, a cell biologist at the University of Pittsburgh, said he was severing all collaborations with the laboratory of Dr. Woo Suk Hwang of Seoul University.

Dr. Hwang, a veterinarian, has drawn international applause for leading the first effort to clone human embryos and extract their stem cells. Last month, he announced the formation of the World Stem Cell Foundation, an international alliance aimed at spreading that technology.

Dr. Schatten, who was to have led the organization's board of directors, says he is now severing collaboration with Dr. Hwang, due to questions over the source of human eggs used in a 2004 cloning project, and errors in a 2005 paper coauthored by the scientists.

A 2004 news report in the journal Nature said at least one female laboratory worker had provided eggs for the project, an allegation that Dr. Hwang has denied on several occasions. Under U.S. rules, collecting eggs from women working on a cloning project would be considered unethical. In the original paper, published by the journal Science last year, the scientists said the eggs all came from anonymous donors.

As an aside, cigarettes + old books = bad
"This book almost killed me," Ms. Ridolfo said to her boss, Gabe Juszel, who was preoccupied with a stack of books and didn't reply. Then she walked outside for a cigarette break, pausing along the way to rub her neck."

Not to mention that girls + cigarette smell = not terribly attractive
(but that's just my opinion)

As an aside, cigarettes + old books = bad
"This book almost killed me," Ms. Ridolfo said to her boss, Gabe Juszel, who was preoccupied with a stack of books and didn't reply. Then she walked outside for a cigarette break, pausing along the way to rub her neck."

Not to mention that girls + cigarette smell = not terribly attractive
(but that's just my opinion)

Sorry, but I can't suggest stories apparently due to my strange OS [Win XP ]

You mention Linux; someone should tell the boys to post this story:

$$
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113157984994692879 .html?mod=home_whats_news_us

Linux Backers Form Network To Buy Software Patents

New Nonprofit Company, Funded by IBM and Others, Aims to Reduce Legal Risks

By DON CLARK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 10, 2005

Five big backers of Linux are funding an effort to buy up related software patents, the latest in a series of efforts to reduce legal risks that could impede the wider use of the operating system.

A new nonprofit company, called Open Invention Network, is receiving an undisclosed amount of money from International Business Machines Corp., Sony Corp., Philips Electronics NV, Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. It plans to buy Linux-related patents, offering royalty-free licenses to companies and individuals that pledge not to assert their own patents against the network's other licensees.

Patents are often cited as a threat for users of Linux and other "open source" programs, which take their name from shared programming instructions called source code that companies once routinely kept secret. Such software often uses code contributed by many organizations, making it difficult to ensure that parts of programs don't violate software patents.

Patent suits over Linux have been scarce. The possibility remains that patent holders could try to compel sellers or users of such software to pay royalties.

Microsoft Corp. has indirectly used patent risks of open-source software in its marketing, stressing that it offers indemnification from patent suits for users of its competing products.

Besides the threat of potential patent suits from companies that create their own products, Linux backers cite the danger from what are sometimes called "trolls" -- companies that have no other business than acquiring patents and charging companies for using them. ...

Most cell phones are not really sub-$100 devices.

Are you just saying that, or do you actually _know_ that? Because I would say that the majority of cell phones sold are well below $100 to manufacture. You got to keep in mind that the majority of cell-phones sold are low end phones.

So I'll go out on a limb and say that I think the low end phones cost $25 or less to manufacture. It's very hard to find any information on this but here's a quick thesis:

You can roughly divide the cost of a cell-phone into four parts: display, battery, chipset/electronics, plastic.

The cost of the plastic is going to be negligable, as in a couple dollars at _most_, I think everyone will see that. You can get batteries on eBay (in quantities) for any phone for a few of dollars. You can buy replacement LCDs on eBay (in quantities) for a few dollars (color < $20). Can't find a source for electronics, but based on the price of electronics with similar capabilities/densities, I don't see why it would be more than $10 (minipci 802.11 card for example).

here's an article that talks about cell phone MFG cost, although no current numbers...

and here's a more tangible quote where the person says the BOM can be reduced by 30% to make a $20 phone possible. (which is cost the end-user, not mfg cost)

Before I start, I need to point out that any given medium's bias is not inherently bad. If they post it prominently on their figurative barber pole, then readers can accommodate that bias in their news processing. However, if an organization cloaks their bias in a "fair and balanced" mantra, that's simply dishonest, deceitful and damaging to consumers. I pick on FauxNews, but the same criticism applies throughout the ideological spectrum. If you give us a biased view, we need transparency.

I'm not surprised that the circulation of most newspapers is going down.

No one is.

What is happening is that there are too many liberal reporters and editors chasing after too few liberal readers. It isn't that anyone is intentionally "punishing" these papers, rather this is simply supply and demand. The invisible hand strikes again. There is less demand for liberal news and more demand for conservative news.

I doubt you're even in the ballpark. The circulation shift is not rooted, or even closely related to political ideology. The drop in newspaper circulation follows an blatant trend in media consumption. In the late 20th century, a literate middle class would regularly consume complex stories spanning multiple columns, pages and even days. Now the same demographic prefers to nibble at vacuous soundbites or content-free crawls, often fully satisfied with lead paragraphs masquarading as full reports.

In addition, there is little a print newspaper can do to compete with the immediacy of modern news. TV and internet news is now a multi-channel 24-hour flood of new, often dramatic, but consistently incomplete coverage.

Returning to ideology, I would say that the conservative talking point media aptly capitalizes on this new media consumption model. As a niche, the conservative pundits usually program to it, and they usually do so quite well. That's not a compliment.

Case in point,

Case in counterpoint. They don't come more conservative than the WSJ. But, congruent to my point, the WSJ is densely packed with content.

the circulation boom currently being enjoyed by the Washington Times:

The Times appears to have misrepresented the Wash. Post numbers a bit.This third-party resource shows different numbers. Kudos, though, to the Times for their creativity. Gotta love them for the spin that rising to 1/10 the circulation of their rival paper is a "win". Cookin' with gas now, they are.

Another example is Fox news,

--who pioneered the content-free shout-down political hours, with more drama then depth. It does not surprise me that sheeple get dazzled by FauxNews more than the others. Stewart on (the CNN show) Crossfire was frighteningly on point regarding the damage this programming genre does to our democratic republic.

The premiere liberal radio network, Air America, is also doing badly. In Washington DC its listener share is actually so low that it can't even be detected according to the Arbitron rating service:

And by contrast, when Fox entered TV back in the late '80s, they hit the market nose to nose with the big three, right? No? It took a decade for them to build market share? The hell you say! Perhaps this is normal?! Get OUT!

The issue here is not one of technology, but ideology. This country is, day by day, moving further and further away from the left and closer to the right

As evidenced by the administration's raging popularity right now. I'm stuck between, "Prove it with numbers," and, "You wish," as responses. Hell, why choose? Seriously though, show me the data to support this.

A conservative person is not going to choose news presented with a liberal bent to it when the same information is available with a conservative bent.

This reminds me

I regularly read newspapers from the US, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, latin america and Denmark. IT's interesting to see them looking for different formulas to adapt to the challenges of the internet.

Several french newspapers (like Liberation and Le Monde) have tried to specialize their print and web based deliveries in such a way that the print edition offers in depth reports and analisys, while the web based portion is kept up to date with the cutting-edge-now-unfolding stuff. A few spanish papers seem to be following this trend (like El Pais).

I get the impression that danish papers don't really have a strategy, which stikes me as odd since Denmark is one of the most wired countries in the world. A lot of newspapers there seem to see their web presence as a way to publicize their paper and maybe sell a few stories, but there is no overarching strategy.


In the US you see lots of different approaches, like the Wall Street Journal which practically cut itself out of the blogging trend by keeping all of its material under lock and key except to paying subscribers, thereby insuring that their stories aren't linked to, the New York Times wants you to sell your soul to read anything, and Salon has the interesting strategy of making you watch an add to read their stuff. A kind of contract based approach.

I would really like to see a comparative study of the merits and shortcomings of different approaches. I would also like to see studies on how different reader demographics respond to different paper-web mixes.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB112907965275 566222-lMyQjAxMDE1MjE5MjAxNzI5Wj.html

Just shows what an overpriced cash cow voice is now.

However, I seriously doubt that with REGULAR USE (meaning under normal conditions) wear and tear is such that majority of these Nanos actually can't see the screen.

Mossberg disagrees.

"But, after just under a month of daily use, my own nano is badly scratched, and looks beat up when viewed at an angle. Worse, there are several large scratches across the screen that impede functionality by making text and photos slightly harder to see. I have never tested or owned any portable electronic device that picked up as many scratches as quickly as the iPod nano."

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/mailbox-20051006.html

Although I haven't watched personaly to judge, Al Shamshom seems to be a failure. Few arab bloggers wrote negative reviews about it. Non of my affiliates (all with western education) even carred to watch it. The promotional advs weren't funny at all.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB112925107943 268353-lMyQjAxMDE1MjE5NDIxNTQxWj.html

You sure need to read this Wall Street Journal article. Here's the essence of it:

Before the August 2004 IPO, demand for shares was less than anticipated so Google cut the price range. Insiders who had large stakes in the business and seats on its board decided to cut the number of shares they planned to sell, or not sell any shares.

Some Google investors didn't get this same opportunity to reduce their share sales. In fact, several were told they had to make an even bigger share sale than Google had scheduled them for, at the diminished price to make up the total number of shares offered. That is, they had to cover for those who decided not to sell.

The more I learn about Google management, the more they look like they are from the Enron school, unfortunately. Gates never pulled this kind of crap. Let's not forget the preferred shares they gave themselves either. Innocence is the absolute last word I would use to describe Google management. They are quite ruthless.

I use OO daily, and I agree that v.2.0 is pretty nice, but it is not even close to MS Office! I just can't escape Visio for my tech writing tasks (I know, it wasn't produced by MS, but it is definitely a part of office now), and both the PowerPoint and Excel clones in OO have a long way to go before they are Office's peers. It would actually be sort of scary if they were, office has been in development for quite a while longer than OO.

I don't think Microsoft's attempts at security are lackluster, they're taking security really seriously. Check out the hard stats: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=103

That's also the reason they haven't released a new OS in awhile. Check out this discussion of their new development process, which mentions that they had to scrap a lot of code that was going to end up in Vista to improve reliability: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112743680328349 448,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one (sorry, requires subscription)

On the other hand, IE is falling WAY behind in the features department. They really need to do something to attract more advanced users.

I enjoy developing apps for Linux and Gnome, and I simply couldn't switch back to Windows now after getting so used to the Linux development environment and its broad capabilities. However, I think people need to be fair with Microsoft. If MS weren't around, I highly doubt that a PC (or 7) would be in every modern home, so we'd all be worse off.

Well, I guess Apple could have provided the same (or probably better) ease of use, but competition is always good. :-)

From the Wall Street Journal this morning:

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112776717132552 400,00.html?mod=asia_technology_primary_hs

"A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP
September 27, 2005; Page C5

TOKYO -- Moody's Investors Service put Sony Corp. on review for a possible ratings downgrade, citing doubts about the electronics company's revival plan as its shares fell 3.1% to a three-week low yesterday.

The review reflects concern that Sony will be unable "to regain the strong profit and cash flow generation patterns seen in its past," Moody's said in a statement, adding that the survey could lead to a downgrade of the single-A1 ratings of Sony and its subsidiaries. That is four rungs below the top rating, triple-A.
.
.
.
Analysts generally weren't impressed by the plan, saying it lacked vision and creativity. Instead of deciding on spinoffs or outlining a clearer way to piggyback its electronics units with its entertainment arm, Sony unveiled a proposal that sounded much like other plans to streamline corporate structure, analysts said.
.
.
.
Moody's said prices for consumer-electronics products have been declining so fast that the Sony electronics business has recorded operating losses in the past two years despite earlier attempts to bolster business by shutting factories and cutting jobs.

Aside from the cost cuts, Sony said it would focus on so-called champion products, including PlayStation 3 next-generation video-game consoles, Bravia liquid-crystal-display televisions and Walkman MP3 music players, which so far have been dominated by Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod."
*** *** ***

I have not bought a PSP because of Sony's DRM policies. I may finaly buy one because of this hack. I want a device that I can surf the web with, play new state of the art games with, play Mame games with, use as a remote terminal for my email, use VNC, play MP3s, and watch Tivo/Myth/DVD content that I own.

What I really want (check my other posts) is a upgraded Apple Newton to do the above but for $225 a PSP will do about 80%. All the PSP needs now is a decent portable keyboard and I can go with it. I hope they consider a touch screen version soon.

Maybe Apple is just waiting for the death rattle and they will buy Sony up. It could be a great merger if they focus on the technology, the user, and not cave to the Hollywood assholes. I believe in free enterprise, free speech, and fair use. There does need to be a model and balance of technology where the creators, owners, and producers of both content and hardware get paid. I'm also willing to pay for cool hardware, subscription fees, and for disks/whatnot. I just don't want to pay multiple times for multiple views.

This article was submitted by:

          Carl Bialik from the WSJ
    AKA
          wsjarticles@wsj.com

and the story is at:

          http://online.wsj.com/public/...

I'm sure it's just a coincidence ;)

AuMatar,

This, is why you are incorrect.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112743680328349 448,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

Philosophies such as yours don't scale. Period.

Hmmm... Although Walt looks like the type of guy who would drive around in a convertible, I must confess to having serious doubts over his ability to do "a couple of hours of pounding treadmill exercise". Unless the pounding was him dropping the Nano onto the moving treadmill, while standing off to the side.

Not to mention that he bothered to test a device built on solid-state memory for skipping due to impact...

It's called a product review, dufus!

Sometimes Mossberg's reviews are negative. Sometimes they're positive. In this case, he obviously really liked the iPod nano.

He's a well respected journalist and doesn't just write puff pieces promoting any product he gets sent to him (not even if it's from Apple). I have no idea where you're coming from on this "embarrassment" angle. There is legitimate and valuable journalism in credible reviews, and you're nuts to say otherwise.

It's called a product review, dufus!

Sometimes Mossberg's reviews are negative. Sometimes they're positive. In this case, he obviously really liked the iPod nano.

He's a well respected journalist and doesn't just write puff pieces promoting any product he gets sent to him (not even if it's from Apple). I have no idea where you're coming from on this "embarrassment" angle. There is legitimate and valuable journalism in credible reviews, and you're nuts to say otherwise.

In addition, their chart showing RedHat's subscription sales decline could come from any number of things during that timeframe. My guess [hope] would be the uptake of Solaris 10 and/or the advancement of other completely free competitive enterprise Linux distros eating away at RedHat's growth.

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "As Linux enters the mainstream, adopters 'are demanding many features found on commercial software, including a large variety of add-on application programs and management tools that are easy to use,' the Wall Street Journal reports. 'How quickly open-source programs can narrow the gap with commercial software is a hotly debated topic in the computer industry. The transition may determine whether the technology will continue its momentum, or stall in the face of tougher competition at the heart of corporate computer networks.' Eric Singleton, chief information officer at retailer Tommy Hilfiger Corp., which recently switched its e-commerce site 'Tommy.com' from Linux to Microsoft software, calls Linux 'a great product,' but adds, 'it's got to get the final tier of reliability and predictability that I'm going to bet a multi-billion dollar corporation's future on.'"

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "As Linux enters the mainstream, adopters 'are demanding many features found on commercial software, including a large variety of add-on application programs and management tools that are easy to use,' the Wall Street Journal reports. 'How quickly open-source programs can narrow the gap with commercial software is a hotly debated topic in the computer industry. The transition may determine whether the technology will continue its momentum, or stall in the face of tougher competition at the heart of corporate computer networks.' Eric Singleton, chief information officer at retailer Tommy Hilfiger Corp., which recently switched its e-commerce site 'Tommy.com' from Linux to Microsoft software, calls Linux 'a great product,' but adds, 'it's got to get the final tier of reliability and predictability that I'm going to bet a multi-billion dollar corporation's future on.'"

Here's the free version.

As the article notes, Gracenote currently has 50 million tracks in their database, while current online offerings aspire to a mere 1.5 million songs. Clearly there is room for improvement.

However, one issue that the article doesn't address is how users might navigate the so-called "celestial jukebox". A large catalogue may be useful if one specifically knows the artist/album/song one is looking for, but browsing a catalogue such as Gracenote is impractical (especially since music can be relatively difficult to classify). I believe that personalisation will play a major role here - I'm still waiting for a comprehensive online service that provides recommendations on a par with those provided by Audioscrobbler. The iTunes store is very weak in this area, while Yahoo seems to have invested significant effort into this area (in terms of technology, it ties in nicely with their search personalisation). It will be interesting to see how important this aspect of the buying experience becomes as the depth of their respective catalogues increases.

According to this: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112256752830098 846,00-search.html?KEYWORDS=music+&COLLECTION=wsji e/archive/ Gracenote (the company that finds out the info about a CD when you put it in your computer) has 50 million tracks in their database... So over 50 million songs... The article, being from the WSJ, is for paid subscribers only, but its quite interesting and talks about much of the stuff relevant to this thread - i.e., why the services don't have all the music you want.

if you live in the us or canada, why not try out some of the different mail order rental services? they usually stock the latest and if you like something you always have the option to buy.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000820052061/ via http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB112233103 580095419,00.html

[the WSJ article requires a subscription]

Go check out a copy of The Peter Principle (copyright 1969 -- pick up a used copy from Amazon) to confirm that the current decrepit state of our managerial skilz is nothing new.

When the nation's leaders stop rewarding managerial ineptitude and punishing technical workers, we might have a chance of turning this around. You can count on other nations (China, anyone?) not making this particular blunder.

If it offers hope to anyone, in today's WSJ (subscription required) there is a piece advocating outsourcing of our outrageously overpaid top management to bring excessive top management compensation under control. It's the 7th most-emailed article today. But it will take a long time after such practices begin (assuming they ever begin) before they filter down through the corporate structure and clueless incompetence is no longer rewarded.

Sure they just decided to do it. Not at all prompted by a rival online payment system to their subsiduary company which doesn't have the best reputation.

Example quote:
"Analysts on Monday said the biggest and most immediate risk to PayPal from a Google payment system would be a cap on growth in PayPal's off-eBay business, prompting a 2 percent drop in eBay shares."

Hmmm, let's compare a vague promise to open 'parts' of search functionality (only to registered eBay and PayPal developers) to Google's Summer of Code shall we? Let's face it, eBay still don't look like they "get it" and I doubt this attempt to get free labour will gather much momentum.

Phillip.

FYI, (from a wall street journal report)

Will users be able to install and run Microsoft Windows on the new Intel-based Macs?

Apple's official position is that it won't block the use of Windows on its new machines. Unofficially, however, the company says people won't be able to just buy a copy of Windows XP and install it on an Intel-based Mac. That's because Apple is unlikely to build in all the standard under-the-hood hardware pieces that Windows is designed to mate with. And it won't supply any special software called "drivers" to help Windows use the unique under-the-hood hardware Apple will use.

However, I expect some third-party company to supply the missing drivers and otherwise make it possible to run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Microsoft itself might even do this. That would allow Mac users to run Windows programs that lack Mac equivalents at speeds comparable to a Windows computer's.

Apple and Intel Sitting on a Tree...

By Charles Jo
Senior Appleologist, CharlesJo.com
Rev. June 12, 2005 05:54PM PST

Forget Tom Cruz and his new and barely legal girlfriend. Or Brad Pitt and Lara Croft. The hottest couple of this summer is Apple and Intel. After years of bad-mouthing the Santa Clara-based Nelson of the chip sector, Jobs announced last week that Apple and Intel had been secretly dating for 5 years and now are comfortable enough about their relationship to announce to the world their commitment to each other. When asked about the future of the Cupertino-based computer company, Jobs said,"People want better user experience. So, with the hardware giant working on the [air quotes] exciting stuff, I would like to focus Apple's resources to the really really important stuff."
"The logo is our first priority. People love our Apple logo but I've got some neat ideas to take this to a new level that'll really make people go, 'Wow! Now that is a symbol that rappers would be proud to wear.' Watch out Mercedes. And come on, do you really want to be seen wearing a Dell logo? It's like you're advertising to the entire world that you eat at McDonalds and shop at Walmart." He then took a sip of bottled water, adjusted his Freudian spectacles, and continued,"Next on our list is the screensaver. Apple is at the top of the screensaver technology with the fades and zooms so why improve, you ask?" Before I could respond, he answered his own question with another question,"Why not? It's only a matter of time before the Windows folks and Linux folks copy me but by then, I'll have the next screensaver technology ready and BAM! I am on top again. Seriously, this is really important stuff to people. When you walk away from your workstation and your screensaver starts, you want your cubicle neighbors to turn green with envy and our R&D shows that Apple screensavers are excellent ways to increase social ranking in any corporation. Lastly, our commercials are going to so rock you. We are neck to neck with Sony and Budweiser right now and our future commercials will alter the way you view the universe." Jobs then leaned back and pushed a button on a remote control whereupon a giant white screen descended from the ceiling and in parallel, a podium rose from the floor. He insisted that this one-on-one interview continue with him standing at the podium.

____________________________
Related links:
http://stream.apple.akadns.net/
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06intel.h tml
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050609.html
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050609. html
http://news.com.com/The+brains+behind+Apples+Roset ta+Transitive/2100-1016_3-5736190.html?tag=nefd.le de
http://www.slashnot.com/article.php3?story_id=532
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/12/ 1450217&tid=118&tid=3
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/06/ 1752234&tid=118&tid=179&tid=3
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/12/ 130234&tid=179&tid=1

I use cURL on these:

>curl http://tinyurl.com/8xdkf

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<TITLE>302 Found</TITLE>
</HEAD><BODY>
<H1>Found</H1>
The document has moved <A HREF="http://forwarding.tinyurl.com/redirect.php?n um=8xdkf">here</A>.<P>
</BODY></HTML>

>cURL http://forwarding.tinyurl.com/redirect.php?num=8xd kf

Location: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB11178280 8075750561-moOzLbwRfVRAe_SqomVwCyG2Qds_20060606,00 .html?mod=blogs

The current (11:11 am) headline from the Wall Street Journal online states the switch as fact:

"Apple will start shifting its Macintosh line next year to Intel chips, in a major change of strategy for the computer maker. The move could be a blow to IBM and Freescale, which now supply Apple's PowerPC chips."

From the front page of

http://online.wsj.com/public/us

The actual article is in the paid section.

In fact, a quick look at Apple's stock price reaction here

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=5d

seems to imply this was mostly a done deal on Friday.

The story was just picked up by the Wall Street Journal. Looks like this is not a drill.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111791696757050 994,00.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology

"CNET on Friday reported that Apple would announce the transition plan June 6. It reported that Apple would move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007. An industry executive familiar with the matter, contacted Saturday, verified that schedule."

If you work at MSN, you may have known that the main content provider will be Pictometry International, and that MSN will most likely be doing the publishing.

See article in todays WSJ.

Registration-free example of the "cleaned up" animation.

As Cartoons Go Digital, Something Gets Lost

By VAUHINI VARA
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
May 24, 2005; Page B1

Cartoon fan David Mackenzie has been on the Internet griping about a cartoon called "Gorilla My Dreams," recently released as part of a DVD collection of 60 restored Looney Tunes classics from Warner Bros.

Mr. Mackenzie, an 18-year-old film student in Glasgow, Scotland, says there's something missing from the seven-minute cartoon, about a motherly primate who takes Bugs Bunny on a romp through the jungle: Pause the DVD, and as the two get ready to swing through the air, a piece of vine seems to dissolve.

The glitch is easy to miss. But hardcore animation fans say the case of the vanishing vine is only the latest example of technology gone awry.

"Casual fans will think it's just people nitpicking, but it's really not," Mr. Mackenzie says. "If Gene Kelly's arm disappeared while he was dancing in 'Singin' in the Rain,' everybody would notice."

DISAPPEARING ACT

As studios release more classic movies and television shows on DVD, they are increasingly using digital restoration to smooth over scratches and dirt specks on old film. But the process can also remove some of the lines that make up the animation -- for example, blurring Tom's face in a Tom and Jerry cartoon, or erasing lines in Woody Woodpecker's fast-moving beak.

The technology at issue -- called "digital noise reduction," or DNR -- works by removing lines that appear in one frame of a film but not the next, reasoning that the line doesn't belong. In live-action films, that usually works well. But in cartoons, the process gets sketchier. A fast-moving cartoon is made up of a series of drawings with sharp ink lines. To the casual viewer, the drawings appear to move fluidly from one moment to the next. But in fact, they often change radically from frame to frame. And when DNR is applied, a deliberately drawn line can be mistaken for a stray and removed.

"It's really irritating to watch," says Mr. Mackenzie, who grew up on the Ren & Stimpy cartoons of the 1990s. He keeps a log of what he sees as the most egregious errors on his Web site: One shot from the Looney Tunes cartoon "Have You Got Any Castles?" shows an image of a dancing old man disappearing into a grayish haze.

Until recently, film studios kept old animation tucked away in storage. But as DVDs become more popular, studios have done the math and found that classic cartoons are relatively cheap to restore and sell well. "DVD is the medium for collectors. They gobble this stuff up," says Robert Mayo, senior vice president of video at Classic Media Inc., of New York, which has released two DVD sets of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends. "It has given all the studios, us included, a reason to go back and remaster all these things."

Craig Hoffman, a spokesman for Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., which released the Looney Tunes DVDs last fall, declines to comment on the complaints about the restored cartoons. "There's a wide audience: children, collectors, people who grew up loving them," he adds.

One commonly used DNR product is made by Sweden's Digital Vision AB, which sells equipment ranging in price from $35,000 to $150,000. Hugh Heinsohn, president of the company's U.S. unit, compares his product with a hammer: It's a powerful tool that must be used with care. It can muddy the image depending on the skill of the technician using it.

Digital noise reduction isn't unique to DVD: Earlier, it was used in transferring old cartoons to VHS and laserdisc. The problem was harder to spot in VHS. But studios now are releasing more classics on DVD, and fans are becoming more aware of the issue. Many say it points to a broader problem in Hollywood: Years after the golden age of animation in the 1950s, studios don't pay much atte

The WSJ reports it, but no link to the WSJ's actual story? Well, here it is.

The WSJ reports it, but no link to the WSJ's actual story? Well, here it is.

BTW, the first sentance was originally "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AOL will release Netscape 8.0 - also being reported at BetaNews and a growing number of sites." ... but he changed that to CNet which has the 5 page review ... the Firefox 1.03 reference is from BetaNews.

Finally, I had added this closing statement/question "While Netscape was the dominant browser years ago, it has faded dramatically ... does this release have significant enough features such that end-users will give it another try? Time will tell." ... and I personally think it's a bit too little too late - Firefox works darn well for me, and with the iview extension, I have one-click access to IE if need be. But the browser wars are far from over as IE7 appears to be copying many of Firefox's features, plus Opera and Safari continue to get good press ... so time will tell!

BTW, the first sentance was originally "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AOL will release Netscape 8.0 - also being reported at BetaNews and a growing number of sites." ... but he changed that to CNet which has the 5 page review ... the Firefox 1.03 reference is from BetaNews.

Finally, I had added this closing statement/question "While Netscape was the dominant browser years ago, it has faded dramatically ... does this release have significant enough features such that end-users will give it another try? Time will tell." ... and I personally think it's a bit too little too late - Firefox works darn well for me, and with the iview extension, I have one-click access to IE if need be. But the browser wars are far from over as IE7 appears to be copying many of Firefox's features, plus Opera and Safari continue to get good press ... so time will tell!

Penrose never sued anybody

This blog cites a story from The Wall Street Journal from April, 1997 that appears to be genuine.

LONDON -- Sir Roger Penrose has seen his work on quantum physics and relativity theory celebrated in countless papers. But it was toilet paper that really got the renowned mathematician's attention.

When Sir Roger examined the "Kleenex quilted toilet tissue," made by the British unit of Kimberly-Clark Corp., what he saw was no ordinary piece of toilet paper. Embossed on the surface he discovered a series of interlocking diamonds. They bore an uncanny resemblance to "the Penrose Pattern," a highly complex geometric formula he devised in the 1970s to prove that a nonrepeating pattern could exist, solving one of the great conundrums of the natural world.

"He wasn't pleased," says Sir Roger's lawyer, Richard Kempner a partner at Addleshaw Booth & Co in Leeds, England. So, Sir Roger and Pentaplex Ltd., the Yorkshire, England, company that owns the licensing rights to his work, are going after the toilet paper with court papers, having sued Kimberly-Clark Ltd. for breach of copyright in the High Court in London.

This story says the dispute was resolved amicably shortly afterwards.

Sir Roger Penrose and Pentaplex Limited have resolved their differences with SCA Hygiene Products UK, current holders of the Kleenex toilet tissue and kitchen roll brands.

Pentaplex Ltd and SCA Hygiene Products UK have now developed a working relationship, described by both sides as "cordial and constructive." Pentaplex Limited is undertaking technical consultancy work for SCA Hygiene Products UK.

/.'s article here is the first I've heard of this Real ID plan...

Well, aside from the obvious fact that since the neo-con coup the network media hasn't covered anything except talking-dubya-points, the reason you haven't noticed this tidbit of legistlation (which apparently started back in Feburary) is because "liberal media" has painted it as an immagration issue - that is: the only people targeted by this legislation according to the to PTB and their media cheerleaders were illegal aliens - I heard it debated on Faux News as an immagration issue a least a month ago. I would have to say either a) you haven't been paying attention, or b) you are foolish enough to a ctually believe the that the motives these pseudo-news agencies put forward are the actual intent of the neo-con coup. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course...

Here is a list of articles about this legislation (trivially found using Google) from some touchy feely immagration rights outfit that no one will pay any attention to.

[ -- copied & pasted -- ]

The REAL ID Act in the Media

• "Jewish Groups Oppose US's Stricter Controls on Asylum," Jerusalem Post, March 9, 2005
• "Death Sentence?" Christianity Today, March 8, 2005
• "Republican Plan Would Tighten Laws for Asylum Cases," Hearst Newspapers, March 6, 2005
• "Keep the Doors Open," The Jewish Week editorial, February 25, 2005
• "Unwelcome Mat," The Boston Globe, February 25, 2005
• "Religious Asylum Assailed," Family News in Focus, February 22, 2005 (PDF - 51KB)
• "Proyecto de ley torpedea el derecho de asilo," El Nuevo Herald, February 22, 2005
• "Conservative camps split on tightening asylum," The Boston Globe, February 21, 2005
• "Not broke, don't fix," The Washington Times, February 20, 2005
• "National ID Party," The Wall Street Journal editorial, February 17, 2005 (subscription required)
• "On Guard, America," The New York Times editorial, February 15, 2005
• "Refugee Politics," The Baltimore Sun editorial, February 14, 2005
• "Real ID Act deserves defeat in the Senate," San Antonio Express-News editorial, February 18, 2005
• "Playing the terror card," Contra Costa Times, February 14, 2005
• "Ineffectual migrant policy," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial

This has been stated by Mossberg and not contradicted in at least the first few Google results.

And the standard delete key on a Mac works like the backspace key, not the delete key, in Windows. Mac desktop keyboards have a second, Windows-type delete key, but Mac laptops lack one.

This is 50% true. If you hold Function and push backspace, you get the desired forward-delete. There are two problems with this: a) it isn't labeled directly on the keyboard and b) it is ugly to describe. But I assure you it becomes habit very quickly.

As others have noted, a paper subscription to the WSJ actually typically costs around $99. They still make a profit on paper subscriptions at that price. The online WSJ price is $84. According to the WSJ, they make 20x as much profit at that price. So, if they make - conservatively - say, $3.50 profit for each paper subscription, they would make 20x3.50 = $70 for each online subscription. Wow, that looks like one highly profitable business ripe for the picking. Would-be competitors, take note.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111160514010687 816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

which if you are not already logged in, takes you to the log in page. However, if you insert the word public before the word article like so...

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB11116051 4010687816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

You are taken right to the story. Even better, if you make the URL look like this...

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/0,,SB11 1160514010687816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

You get the story with out any annoying information surrounding it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111160514010687 816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

which if you are not already logged in, takes you to the log in page. However, if you insert the word public before the word article like so...

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB11116051 4010687816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

You are taken right to the story. Even better, if you make the URL look like this...

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/0,,SB11 1160514010687816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

You get the story with out any annoying information surrounding it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111160514010687 816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

which if you are not already logged in, takes you to the log in page. However, if you insert the word public before the word article like so...

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB11116051 4010687816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

You are taken right to the story. Even better, if you make the URL look like this...

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/0,,SB11 1160514010687816,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

You get the story with out any annoying information surrounding it.

Online subscribers pay $84/year, whereas print subscribers are still paying $356

The WSJ only costs you $356 if you buy it from the newstand every day. Don't do that. In fact, you can get a year of the print AND online versions for only slightly more than the online versions. Check here for a $99/year deal. (referral-free link).

What I like about the WSJ is that, unlike in most papers where fact and opinion are combined through out all the news articles, the WSJ is pretty much straight facts in the articles and the opinions are relegated to the Opinion section. Don't get me wrong, I like reading the Opinion section but when it comes to news reporting, just the facts ma'am!

RE: "Smuckers put PB on BOTH pieces of bread. And patented that!"

This post was modded "Informative," but I assume you were joking. Their existing patent is for a "sealed, crustless sandwich"

From the WSJ article:

The Uncrustable sandwich was developed in 1995 in Fargo, N.D., by Len Kretchman and David Geske, two fathers who began mass-producing them for Midwestern schools. Smucker, based in Orrville, Ohio, spotted their success and bought the company. Patent rights on a "sealed, crustless sandwich" were granted shortly after that, in December 1999.

The patent system is really, really, screwed!