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Stonehenge Discovery using 3D Laser Scanning
Alligator Descartes writes "The BBC reports - 'High-tech lasers have been used to unlock the secrets of Stonehenge.
The work at the ancient site in Wiltshire has already uncovered two carvings which are invisible to the naked eye.' The project website contains lots of images plus some nice animations of the scan data."
What about anal warts?
Rule would control digital TV copies
Rule would control digital TV copies
FCC looks to require devices to block Internet piracy
By Jonathan Krim
THE WASHINGTON POST
Oct. 16 -- The federal government is preparing for the first time to require that personal computers and other consumer electronics devices contain technology to help block Internet piracy of digital entertainment.
A RULE being considered by the Federal Communications Commission is one of a series of proposals pushed by the entertainment industry to help thwart copying and online trading of movies and television shows that increasingly are being broadcast in digital form with high-quality picture and sound.
'BROADCAST FLAG'
But the new rule also would force consumers to purchase new equipment if they wanted to record enhanced digital-quality television programs and replay them on other machines.
Opponents of the proposed rule, including many technology companies and consumer groups, say it won't work. They are especially concerned that the plan might lead to government regulation of how personal computers and other devices are built, particularly if hackers crack the system and further changes are deemed necessary.
Officials at the FCC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they expect the agency to settle on details of the "broadcast flag" rule by the end of the month. The broadcast flag takes its name from the bit of computer code that would be embedded in digital television signals and would be read by "compliant" devices such as a television set or a digital video recorder.
The rule would not affect consumers who record shows the old-fashioned way, with VCRs. Nor would it affect programming received on a cable or satellite system, in part because consumers pay for that content.
But the entertainment industry does not want digitally enhanced "high-value" entertainment sent free over the air to be easily copied and distributed on the Internet.
FCC officials said they expect the final rule to enable competition among different means of deploying the flag system to protect broadcasts, rather than the government anointing one in particular.
Unlike with recent FCC decisions on high-speed Internet access and media consolidation that have deeply split the five-member commission, none of the three Republicans and two Democrats has led a public campaign against the broadcast flag.
"I'm optimistic we'll have a clean majority," said one senior agency official. "The commission has acted in the area of digital television in a very bipartisan fashion."
Promoting digital programming, especially high-definition television, on regular broadcast channels has been a goal of the FCC since the Clinton administration.
Regulators have long worried that if enhanced digital programming is primarily offered on for-pay cable and satellite systems -- which scramble their signals -- free "over-the-air" television could wither and die.
So the FCC granted broadcasters additional spectrum to provide enhanced digital signals, and set quotas for how much programming they must offer, although those quotas have mostly gone unfilled.
Now the agency is addressing how programming can be protected so that it cannot be easily copied and sent around the Internet, undermining the lucrative aftermarket for videos and television syndication.
That puts the FCC in the middle of one of the most contentious issues of the computer age: how to protect against unauthorized use of digital entertainment when part of its appeal is the increased ability to manipulate it, customize it and transfer it to different locations.
WAYS TO CIRCUMVENT
In theory, the broadcast flag system would thwart Internet distribution by preventing computers from copying the files in a way that would allow them to be sent to others.
Critics point out that the system could be easily cir
Yeah, it's over there next to Madonna's "Dress you up in nylons."
Do you have that Steve Miller song "Big Ol' Jet Had a Light On?"
Yeah, it's over there next to Madonna's "Dress you up in nylons."
Don't forget Mr. Mister's "Carry a Laser".
Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.