Slashback: Titanium, Art, Israel

A long outing this time -- a litany of updates and corrections for your edification and amusement. Microsoft apps that run on Free OSes? An art contest that you won't have to go through your high-strung middle-school art teacher for (and is judged by the family Johansen)? A titanium tank which could fall from the sky? All this and more, if you're willing to read on.

You want fries with that software? If the recent report of Microsoft porting apps to *nix, intrigued you, see Paul Thurrott's piece in Windows 2000 Magazine (yes, there is such a thing). Thurrott says, in part: "I can't tell you that the port is going to produce actual products. But I can tell you that Microsoft is looking into it. No, I don't think it's smart. No, it's not what I'd do. But yes, I believe it's true. So why would Microsoft try to port its desktop applications to a platform that has absolutely no desktop market share? I've no idea." Too bad for Microsoft Linux has "absolutely no desktop market share."

Silly! The sky isn't falling! It's just sinking a little each day ... Johann writes "Here is a follow up story to last week's NY Times article which was debated here on Slashdot. The article states that 'Open water at the top of the world isn't evidence that the North Pole is melting, as an article this month in The New York Times suggested.' There are numerous quotes in the article that do suggest that global warming is fact, not fiction."

To which the dapper and elegant Party Remover adds: "The Associated Press reports that a recent New York Times story about liquid water at the North Pole was rather overstating the seriousness of the situation. It seems that the Arctic Ocean is typically 10% ice-free during the summer." And the wording of the correction is amusing, for those of us easily amused.

Getcher doo-dads! Red-hot, computer-generated doo-dads! Get 'em while they're hot, ladies and gents ... ussphoenix writes: "Regarding the /. story about Computer Makes Robot Offspring, here is an article in the journal Nature describing the system. There are also mpegs of the virtual machines and the corresponding real machines moving!"

Next week we explain the buggy-whip makers' case, too. breillysf writes: "Eric Sinrod has condensed the complicated legal issues surrounding 2600's hyperlinking ruling. You can read the article here: Upside Counsel DeCSS article. The article is concise and not filled with legal jargon. A good contribution for those with little time to understand the fundamentals of the case."

And on the DeCSS note, Jim Tyre writes "Tom Vogt, a defendant in the California DeCSS lawsuit brought by DVD CCA, has started DeArt, the DeCSS Art Contest, to further explore the expressive aspects of DeCSS. Original creations only, obviously must be related to DeCSS. The contest runs through Dec. 31, and there will be prizes. Tom and Jon Johansen are the current judges, Emmanuel Goldstein has been asked to be an additional judge. Time for Slashdotters to express their creativity in a new way." I think the most strategic contest area would be performance art. Since it must be digitized, a video recorder would be necessary, I guess. Anyone here watched Roger and Me?[grin]

And if you're feeling less artistic, don't worry: Carpman writes, "I have set up a project to create a letter to congress about the DMCA and its effects. I'm running this like an open source project, you submit, it gets reviewed, and added. Also, you can submit stand alone letters to send allong with the big letter. The page is here." Of course, note the verb sense of "carp" and this makes perfect sense ...

Oh, no, you must have misunderstood. What we meant was something totally different. thebaron writes "Here is a interesting back-pedaling by Sony in this article. One should think before opening mouth and inserting [one's] own foot, even if you're a company exec." Or perhaps especially then. As roblimo pointed out recently, big companies have trouble tying their collective shoelaces sometimes, never mind effecting their own conspiracies.

Hit that high hat, swing that hook! PenguinRadio writes: "The Washington Post notes in Tuesday's paper that Motorola has begun the necessary reporting to certain government agencies so that they can burn up the $4 billion in Iridium satellites. Interesting in this announcements is the fact that their engineers feels certain pieces of the birds may actually reach the Earth and not burn up completely. Most notably a 2 foot by 3 foot titanium fuel tank may make it through the atmosphere. Wanna bet we see it on e-bay if it does fall to earth?"

Comments

Quote:

[fluxrad]

I like this little ditty in regards to the 2600 ruling:

The judge made the following analogy: "It is analogous to the publication of a bank vault combination in a national newspaper. Even if no one uses the combination to open the vault, its mere publication has the effect of defeating the bank's security system, forcing the bank to reprogram the lock."

Actually. I thought it was more like - hey, we made a car...but you have to use our gas to drive the sum'bitch!


FluX
After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network

Typical right-wing hysteria

[Vociferous Troll]

Hey, kids! Remember the old ass-under-the-desk nuclear war drills? Guess what - they're comin' back! If you enjoy the drills, why not thank Al Gore today?

While it is heartwarming to see that you've been keeping up on your South Park episodes ("Look! The volcano erupted! Duck and cover!"), one can hardly imagine a single paragraph more chock full of right-wing hysteria and "enemy complex" than the one above.

• If you're suggesting that the government, or anybody for that matter, believes that "ducking and covering" under desks is an appropriate way to defend against an atomic blast, you are a cretin of unimaginable proportions.
  
  
• If you're suggesting that Al Gore (and Al Gore alone) personally approved Motorola's technology transfer to China, you are a laughable buffoon. You people get a little behind in the polls, and you'll say anything. (Interesting how if the economy is good, you people say we have to give Ronald Reagan the credit personally, but if it goes bad, we have to blame Clinton or Gore personally.)
  
  
• China does not have the military strength to successfully invade Taiwan, a tiny island a stone's throw off of its own shores, and yet you claim that it is somehow a threat to the United States. Sheer, unadulterated poppycock. What is it about the right wing that requires them to always have "an enemy?" Since the Soviet Union collapsed, they can no longer direct their hatred there (well, at least not all of it.) Who is our enemy now? By golly, it must be the Chinese! I've never understood why the right wing (and particularly the religious right) are so terrified of the idea of a peaceful, united world. Perhaps it's part of the damnable "New World Order" that Pat Robertson preaches about so vociferously?
  
  
• Communism is on its way out in China. Over the course of the past few years, the regime has moved to privatize several of its key state-owned industries. With the advent of the Internet and access to it spreading in China, it is ridiculous to suggest that these trends will reverse themselves. With each passing year, China inches away from being a brutal Communist regime. Within 20 years, "Communist China" wil be as much a part of history as the Berlin Wall.

Finally, I personally am glad that China is experimenting with a space program. Space exploration is a necessity, and if a bit of friendly competition can get NASA and the ESA off of their asses and step up their investments in this important field of study, then so much is the better. Admiral Ackbar, you of all people (Mon Calamari?) should appreciate the importance of space exploration.

In the meantime, think for yourself. You are allowed to disagree with the Rush Limbaughs and Michael Reagans and Jerry Falwells of the world. Ask yourself what Communist China has to gain from provoking an arms race with the United States. Take a look at the trends and ask yourself -- honestly -- if you believe that the current regime is going to be in place forever. I personally feel that if the Chinese regime attempted another Tianamen Square today, there would be a bloody revolt that they would be powerless to stop.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

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Re:Warming? Or cooling???

[craw]

Your narrative is a good example of why the issue of global warming is so muddled. First, you say all the "environmentalists" were claiming possible global cooling. All? Some? Few? A vocal minority of nutcases? The public picks up on the wild speculations of ppl who claim to be environmentalist, but who in reality are merely charlatans.

OTOH, listen to the voice of the scientific majority. In it you will hear a relatively conservative, guarded discussion of global warming. Yes, there will be a vocal minority of scientists who put forth outlandish hypotheses, but the consensus of the others will return the debate to more solid ground.

There will be a report on global warming issued this year by an international multidisciple group of scientists. These reports come out every five years. Unless the politicians intervene, this report will state that human activity is having a discernable affect on global temperature increase. This plot shows measured and computed global temperature for the past 1000 yrs. I find it scary.

Things that survive reentry

[Brooks Davis]

I'd say a two foot by three foot fuel tank has a good chance of hitting the ground. I've seen (and touched) a two foot titanium ball from a delta second stage. You can see pictures of things that have survived on my company's website.

Disclamer: I do not speak for The Aerospace Corporation in any capacity.

Global Warming

[gunner800]

There is a lot of "pretty good" evidence that the world really is warming up in recent centuries. However, there is nothing to prove whether it is man-made or natural. The planet went through changes like this before modern humans existed, so jumping to conclusions should be avoided.

I am far more concerned that "environmentalists" will push us into doing something that really does counter environmental changes, and those changes turn out to be natural and necessary.


My mom is not a Karma whore!