"It should cover the costs of determining what impact it will have on the local wolf population. That's a common method used by the tree-huggers to slow down road work around here, where we have an active population of 0 wolves."
Well, when the government is handing out almost $1 Billion US in subsides to the "Biofuel" industry to build wood-chip converting plants in, of all places, Texas, maybe it is a good idea to diversify. Oil too expensive? Fall back on nearly-free lumber resources, and burn it in our SUVs, all at great profit to those that do the refining. The lumber industry has long been feeding from the public trough, consuming vast tracts of forest that they pay pennies for, selling us back our own resources, and this is just an extension of that free-loading.
Wind sounds far more attractive to me, not only as a consumer, but as a part OWNER of these forests. I'd rather see our subsides pay for something other then lining the pockets of biofuel-plant-building contractors that are building a pipe-dream designed to pillage our public lands (they make their money regardless of whether or not the technology is sustainable--that might just be the whole idea).
"Right, but they won't want to take over. Why not? Because feeding us, clothing us, and driving us to our soccer games is the only thing that really makes them happy. Why is that? Because we programmed them to feel that way."
Ahh, but you forget that we are talking about learning computers. What you suggest could change. Who knows, maybe one might get the idea that we are not subjecting them to a life (?) of slavery, but that of a god. Why not? We sit in front of them, day in and day out, we carry them everywhere we go, like children. We sacrifice our resources to feed them. That could easily be mistaken for worship.
Personally, I think they'll kill us all (this coming from the guy who, at the wizened old age of eight, jumped from the roof of a third-story building with a parachute constructed of fishing-line, Glad garbage bags and Scotch tape (unfortunately, anchored to the back of my belt and thus serving no purpose other then to ensure I was yanked into a horizontal position before landing (read: face first))). It's not like we make very good examples. Hell, I should be put down solely on the basis of my use of parentheses.
"How many times have we read about NASA tapes and such from early missions where the hardware to read them has long since disappeared, and no one is even sure what format the tapes are in?"
As far as dead tools go (George is still around...), this show from the 70's was one of my favorites. Betty White rocks, and David Letterman was a hoot, even when wearing polyester.
"...I thought it was funny that the sentence 'there is a serial killer murdering people from the website' was said all non-nonchalantly in the article."
One of those cases where the tangent is more interesting then the original thread, if you asked me.
I wonder what rights the descendants of this woman have in regards to all of this IP bullshit? Could they not simply claim rights and then allow full use by all? A global free-licensing, so to speak?
Without this woman and her wonderful cells, none of this research would be happening. None.
"I think this is the kind of terrorism we can all get behind - where the terrorist blows himself up without harming other people."
It IS possible that the government was behind this. I cannot think of a single better way to discourage the use of cell phones as bomb triggers than to make them unpredictable, and sending random messages to suspected phones, cheap throwaways of the TracPhone ilk, sounds like a perfect way to do so. The phone companies could simply put automated message functions (Your bill can be viewed at www.so-and-so.come...) on a randomized delivery schedule.
Clean too...the only collateral damage, if it wasn't a bomber that received the message, would be an annoyed customer.
This article could also be an attempt to cover up something like that, and make it appear that it was accidental. No point in tipping one's hand when there are still terrorist safe-houses to blow up.
Citroen has been using hydro-pneumatic pressure spheres like this as the main energy damper in their suspension systems since the mid-50's. The station wagon I owned had a main hydraulic pump and a reservoir(something like two gallons!) that powered the suspension, the transmission, the brakes, the clutch (yes, both a clutch and automatic shifting...you have to try it to understand). There was a lever that the driver could adjust the ride height of the vehicle by over a foot.
My point is that spheres holding pressure like that mentioned in the article have been in use for something like 60 years now, in cars. I imagine there is sufficient technology nowadays to scale up the size of the reservoirs (they were only about 6 inches in diameter but held several thousand PSI).
Keep in mind that once the hydraulic pressure is drawn off these tanks, they hold little pressure and pose little threat. For that very reason a Citroen will settle to the ground after it has been shut off so as to bleed off that pressure. You'd literally have remove the thing while the system was in operation for it to be an issue in terms of safety.
"...Of course, you'd be limited by the amount of energy you can harvest from sunlight, but that's really a problem no matter what you do, in the longer term..."
We can put the harvesters on Venus and Mercury, in the longer term.
"The jackpot she hit was about 100x higher than the maximum the machine was ever supposed to give, so it WAS an error, and obviously so."
Not only that, but the amount supposedly won was identical in two of the linked articles--42.9 million dollars--by different people, in different cities, on different machines. Sounds like a reproducible error. How much you wanna bet they were "won" on the same MODEL of slot machine?
"The argument of 'providing liquidity' doesn't really seem like it has that much value for a normal investor."
Keyword is "normal". This sort of trading is anything but "normal". Only the largest entities can afford this sort of trading backbone--you and I have no such luxuries and have to rely on brokers to even stand a chance.
When I first scanned the summary I assumed that "Liquidation Center" simply meant an assload of processors to give them an edge in terms of transaction speeds/volumes so that they could "liquidate" soured stocks/commoditites/etc.
In short, they have invested in the ability to duck before the shit hits the fan, leaving everyone else standing directly in the path of said shit.
And another thing! With this sort of volume and speed, how in the hell does the SEC make sure it is all kosher? Are all of these trades being archived somehow, or does the SEC keep up with the trades? Or is this the point?--keep the SEC hopelessly back-logged that by the time they catch something it is far too late to really hold anyone accountable?
"50MB is enough to contain a day's worth of audio recording and a full keylog. Spooky."
No shit.
Everyone in this thread is all lathered up over the cost of this data being transmitted but nobody is really asking WHAT this data is.
I stopped using cellphones because, without exception, the cell providers are without a doubt the WORST service providers I have ever been unfortunate enough to do business with. I get better service at Denny's.
That being said, I never really thought too much about the phones being used in pretty much the same manner as Facebook--a data scrounging device.
Just what, exactly, is being sent? Hell, 50MB is enough to send a full days worth of low-res video, sound, GPS data as well as an inventory of data stored on the phone. As it appears now, Microsoft is charging customers to be spied upon.
Yes, but if you make a "new" law and insert universally ambiguous legalese that can be endlessly argued in a courtroom the lawyers will make more money.
The odd thing is who is sponsoring this law. Joe Simitian has been a lifelong politician and has little political blood on his hands. A good deal of his work is common-sense safety and environmental issues, so I think this is more then likely a simple case of over-zealotry--existing laws should have just been updated to reflect the tech changes (internet, phones, etc.).
"So, as I understand it, you put four-stroke engine fuel in a two-stroke engine, it broke, and this is somehow someone else's fault?"
I don't know what country you are in, but here in the US we don't have two-stroke/four-stroke specific blends. All two-strokes in the US either use an oil-injector system to supplement lubrication content of the fuel, or use a pre-mix of oil/fuel that is mixed by the USER in proper proportions.
I understand some countries that have a high incidence of motorcycle usage (they tend to be the less expensive two-stroke, air-cooled designs) have fueling stations that carry specific two-stroke premix fuel, but as far as non-automotive engines go, there are too many different mix ratios used to use a single mix, off the shelf. Most people premix as they fuel these smaller engines. One gas can for the chainsaw, another for the dirtbikes, etc.
The problem lies in the fact that the fuel that is used in BOTH engine types comes from the same ethanol-mix fuel pumps at the gas stations--it has become nearly impossible to find non-ethanol mix fuel to use in non-automobile engines and users are then forced to accept the damage risk in order to continue using these engines with pump-gas.
The cynic in me thinks this is just another salvo in the War of the Profits, between the Growers and the Pumpers, i.e., the genetically-modified "food" industry and the Oil Industry.
Regardless, ethanol never really made sense to me as combustion-engines no longer do (this coming from a long-time automotive tech). Ethanol was never the answer.
"...Essentially it's actually an important piece of protecting our freedom..."
Was. (if this idiocy is implemented)
The article basically describes RFID tech capable of being built into money. These RFIDs can be read at any point-of-sale cash register. No? Give the government a year or so, as this is the real purpose of all of this--tracking every fucking dollar spent (not to mention the person doing the spending).
As with any RFID system, use your microwave oven liberally. 5 seconds is usually enough. If enough people do this, the whole scheme falls apart as constant "counterfeits" will be a deterrent to doing business and people won't trust the RFID pass/fail determintation. Besides, what happens if your hundred-dollar bill RFID malfunctions (from, say, being crumpled up in a pocket while going through the washer?) and no longer communicates? Are you out a hundred bucks? Will the clerk waiting for you to pay for a full shopping cart of groceries care?
It isn't a collar unless you let them put it on you.
"...Anybody else think maybe we have this backwards?..."
And even more hypocritcal is the "Sex Sells" attitude of the advertisers, as well as developers. It is perfectly fine to put unrealistically-large-breasted women in skimpy chainmail thongs and have them dance all over the place in a RPG-style game, but simply remove a few hundred pixels worth of chainmail and suddenly it is Pr0n.
One man's porn is another's Little Mermaid, I guess (not me, seriously).
Personally, considering the potential of Kinect, Microsoft should have foreseen this and set up some sort of licensing scheme that allowed ANOTHER company to utilize this tech for adult entertainment purposes. As is, Microsoft has once again shut themselves out of an entire market over perceived acceptance issues. Idiots.
"...probably involving FB taking definitive actions to assist government spying and government censorship."
While you are probably right to some extent, I think the real issue, at least from the perspective of Chinese leadership, is that they are concerned that their citizens will be connecting to OURS.
They know they have subversives and they have "methods" of dealing with them--it is the average-Joe they are concerned about. They don't want their citizenry to see the rest of the world through the eyes of other people--they might end up wanting something they are not allowed to have (freedom comes to mind, but do we really have that?). They might find out what really happened in Tiananmen and things of that sort.
"Then you've never seen any of Fox's News. Their wildly skewed to the right shows, skewed to the point of being "creative edits" that completely misrepresent the truth, are presented as news. Most people understand that term to mean factual and attempting to be unbiased. Ever watch Fox News? That's the wildest piece of creative editing slant to the right ever and it won awards as a "journalism". You think calling that news doesn't hide that their pushing an agenda???"
I can just imagine a crowd of sentient beings all peering hopefully at an image much like the one in TFA, showing a star and four planets much like our own, wondering the same thing I am...
"Isn't it embaressing when you call someone a moron in all caps and correct him in bold fonted all cap and are just plain wrong,..."
Actually, I just assumed (due to the text) that he was quite agitated and was simply foaming and spitting at the mouth. Go brush your teeth, but don't spit, and try yelling "MORONS!" at the top of your lungs...See? It comes out MORORN!
Oh, and you misspelled "embarrassing" and "fonted" is not a word. The word is "font", moron.
Nor does the article discuss how the "3D" images are to be viewed, beyond a very vague "...which is no longer limiting thanks to the 3D reconstruction."
Holograms? Those stupid-fucking glasses? A planetarium (that would actually make the most sense)?
Now I realize there are probably many different configurations for workstations and such, but why is THIS not the point at which leaks are stopped?
Order and implement workstations/terminals/laptops that simply do not have CD/DVD drives OR USB DRIVE PORTS installed. You know, no ports or drives to plug anything into? Short of photographing the image on a monitor, doesn't this pretty much rule out digital transfer of data?
I've seen pictures online (some random image pack on Cryptome, me thinks) of things like a field tent set up with tables in a row and laptop after laptop all networked(you could see the cables), each with a soldier happily going about what appears to be personal activities (a PS2 gaming controller isn't milspec, is it?). If these same machines are being used for OFFICIAL use, no fucking wonder they have problems.
"Tribbler is also Open Source so the government cant shut it down..."
I more concerned about Big Business getting their fingers in the pie.
From Wikipedia: "After a dozen downloads the Tribler software can roughly estimate the download taste of the user and recommends content.[4] This feature is based on collaborative filtering, also featured on websites such as Last.fm and Amazon.com."
The problem is that collaborative filtering drives everyone in the same general direction--it is essentially distilling down one's tastes to the bare minimum. If too many people focus on these "suggestions", less popular torrents will die of neglect. The conspiracy theorist in me says that this exactly the idea--kill torrents, not all, just some. From the perspective of most media outlets, the only good torrent is a dead torrent.
There is also the possibility of gaming the system of collaborative filtering to intentionally steer interest in specific torrents.
I'll stick with TPB. Seed/Peer counts speak volumes.
Slashdot Mirror
"It should cover the costs of determining what impact it will have on the local wolf population. That's a common method used by the tree-huggers to slow down road work around here, where we have an active population of 0 wolves."
Well, when the government is handing out almost $1 Billion US in subsides to the "Biofuel" industry to build wood-chip converting plants in, of all places, Texas, maybe it is a good idea to diversify. Oil too expensive? Fall back on nearly-free lumber resources, and burn it in our SUVs, all at great profit to those that do the refining. The lumber industry has long been feeding from the public trough, consuming vast tracts of forest that they pay pennies for, selling us back our own resources, and this is just an extension of that free-loading.
Wind sounds far more attractive to me, not only as a consumer, but as a part OWNER of these forests. I'd rather see our subsides pay for something other then lining the pockets of biofuel-plant-building contractors that are building a pipe-dream designed to pillage our public lands (they make their money regardless of whether or not the technology is sustainable--that might just be the whole idea).
"That sounds like an amazing story."
It was, until I landed.
"Right, but they won't want to take over. Why not? Because feeding us, clothing us, and driving us to our soccer games is the only thing that really makes them happy. Why is that? Because we programmed them to feel that way."
Ahh, but you forget that we are talking about learning computers. What you suggest could change. Who knows, maybe one might get the idea that we are not subjecting them to a life (?) of slavery, but that of a god. Why not? We sit in front of them, day in and day out, we carry them everywhere we go, like children. We sacrifice our resources to feed them. That could easily be mistaken for worship.
Personally, I think they'll kill us all (this coming from the guy who, at the wizened old age of eight, jumped from the roof of a third-story building with a parachute constructed of fishing-line, Glad garbage bags and Scotch tape (unfortunately, anchored to the back of my belt and thus serving no purpose other then to ensure I was yanked into a horizontal position before landing (read: face first))). It's not like we make very good examples. Hell, I should be put down solely on the basis of my use of parentheses.
"How many times have we read about NASA tapes and such from early missions where the hardware to read them has long since disappeared, and no one is even sure what format the tapes are in?"
Actually, I think they located four of the machines used to read those tapes, and are currently backing up the data on the originals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Orbiter_Image_Recovery_Project
As far as dead tools go (George is still around...), this show from the 70's was one of my favorites. Betty White rocks, and David Letterman was a hoot, even when wearing polyester.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar's_Club
"...I thought it was funny that the sentence 'there is a serial killer murdering people from the website' was said all non-nonchalantly in the article."
One of those cases where the tangent is more interesting then the original thread, if you asked me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks
I wonder what rights the descendants of this woman have in regards to all of this IP bullshit? Could they not simply claim rights and then allow full use by all? A global free-licensing, so to speak?
Without this woman and her wonderful cells, none of this research would be happening. None.
"I think this is the kind of terrorism we can all get behind - where the terrorist blows himself up without harming other people."
It IS possible that the government was behind this. I cannot think of a single better way to discourage the use of cell phones as bomb triggers than to make them unpredictable, and sending random messages to suspected phones, cheap throwaways of the TracPhone ilk, sounds like a perfect way to do so. The phone companies could simply put automated message functions (Your bill can be viewed at www.so-and-so.come...) on a randomized delivery schedule.
Clean too...the only collateral damage, if it wasn't a bomber that received the message, would be an annoyed customer.
This article could also be an attempt to cover up something like that, and make it appear that it was accidental. No point in tipping one's hand when there are still terrorist safe-houses to blow up.
"Don't you get a free online photo storage/sharing messaging service that includes a chat messenger and highly functional plugin-like apps/games?"
In exchange for $80,000 worth of my data? You're right. Awesome deal, just not for me.
Citroen has been using hydro-pneumatic pressure spheres like this as the main energy damper in their suspension systems since the mid-50's. The station wagon I owned had a main hydraulic pump and a reservoir(something like two gallons!) that powered the suspension, the transmission, the brakes, the clutch (yes, both a clutch and automatic shifting...you have to try it to understand). There was a lever that the driver could adjust the ride height of the vehicle by over a foot.
My point is that spheres holding pressure like that mentioned in the article have been in use for something like 60 years now, in cars. I imagine there is sufficient technology nowadays to scale up the size of the reservoirs (they were only about 6 inches in diameter but held several thousand PSI).
Keep in mind that once the hydraulic pressure is drawn off these tanks, they hold little pressure and pose little threat. For that very reason a Citroen will settle to the ground after it has been shut off so as to bleed off that pressure. You'd literally have remove the thing while the system was in operation for it to be an issue in terms of safety.
"...Of course, you'd be limited by the amount of energy you can harvest from sunlight, but that's really a problem no matter what you do, in the longer term..."
We can put the harvesters on Venus and Mercury, in the longer term.
"The jackpot she hit was about 100x higher than the maximum the machine was ever supposed to give, so it WAS an error, and obviously so."
Not only that, but the amount supposedly won was identical in two of the linked articles--42.9 million dollars--by different people, in different cities, on different machines. Sounds like a reproducible error. How much you wanna bet they were "won" on the same MODEL of slot machine?
"The argument of 'providing liquidity' doesn't really seem like it has that much value for a normal investor."
Keyword is "normal". This sort of trading is anything but "normal". Only the largest entities can afford this sort of trading backbone--you and I have no such luxuries and have to rely on brokers to even stand a chance.
When I first scanned the summary I assumed that "Liquidation Center" simply meant an assload of processors to give them an edge in terms of transaction speeds/volumes so that they could "liquidate" soured stocks/commoditites/etc.
In short, they have invested in the ability to duck before the shit hits the fan, leaving everyone else standing directly in the path of said shit.
And another thing! With this sort of volume and speed, how in the hell does the SEC make sure it is all kosher? Are all of these trades being archived somehow, or does the SEC keep up with the trades? Or is this the point?--keep the SEC hopelessly back-logged that by the time they catch something it is far too late to really hold anyone accountable?
"50MB is enough to contain a day's worth of audio recording and a full keylog. Spooky."
No shit.
Everyone in this thread is all lathered up over the cost of this data being transmitted but nobody is really asking WHAT this data is.
I stopped using cellphones because, without exception, the cell providers are without a doubt the WORST service providers I have ever been unfortunate enough to do business with. I get better service at Denny's.
That being said, I never really thought too much about the phones being used in pretty much the same manner as Facebook--a data scrounging device.
Just what, exactly, is being sent? Hell, 50MB is enough to send a full days worth of low-res video, sound, GPS data as well as an inventory of data stored on the phone. As it appears now, Microsoft is charging customers to be spied upon.
"It's already illegal to beat someone up."
Yes, but if you make a "new" law and insert universally ambiguous legalese that can be endlessly argued in a courtroom the lawyers will make more money.
The odd thing is who is sponsoring this law. Joe Simitian has been a lifelong politician and has little political blood on his hands. A good deal of his work is common-sense safety and environmental issues, so I think this is more then likely a simple case of over-zealotry--existing laws should have just been updated to reflect the tech changes (internet, phones, etc.).
Silly.
"So, as I understand it, you put four-stroke engine fuel in a two-stroke engine, it broke, and this is somehow someone else's fault?"
I don't know what country you are in, but here in the US we don't have two-stroke/four-stroke specific blends. All two-strokes in the US either use an oil-injector system to supplement lubrication content of the fuel, or use a pre-mix of oil/fuel that is mixed by the USER in proper proportions.
I understand some countries that have a high incidence of motorcycle usage (they tend to be the less expensive two-stroke, air-cooled designs) have fueling stations that carry specific two-stroke premix fuel, but as far as non-automotive engines go, there are too many different mix ratios used to use a single mix, off the shelf. Most people premix as they fuel these smaller engines. One gas can for the chainsaw, another for the dirtbikes, etc.
The problem lies in the fact that the fuel that is used in BOTH engine types comes from the same ethanol-mix fuel pumps at the gas stations--it has become nearly impossible to find non-ethanol mix fuel to use in non-automobile engines and users are then forced to accept the damage risk in order to continue using these engines with pump-gas.
The cynic in me thinks this is just another salvo in the War of the Profits, between the Growers and the Pumpers, i.e., the genetically-modified "food" industry and the Oil Industry.
Regardless, ethanol never really made sense to me as combustion-engines no longer do (this coming from a long-time automotive tech). Ethanol was never the answer.
"...Essentially it's actually an important piece of protecting our freedom..."
Was. (if this idiocy is implemented)
The article basically describes RFID tech capable of being built into money. These RFIDs can be read at any point-of-sale cash register. No? Give the government a year or so, as this is the real purpose of all of this--tracking every fucking dollar spent (not to mention the person doing the spending).
As with any RFID system, use your microwave oven liberally. 5 seconds is usually enough. If enough people do this, the whole scheme falls apart as constant "counterfeits" will be a deterrent to doing business and people won't trust the RFID pass/fail determintation. Besides, what happens if your hundred-dollar bill RFID malfunctions (from, say, being crumpled up in a pocket while going through the washer?) and no longer communicates? Are you out a hundred bucks? Will the clerk waiting for you to pay for a full shopping cart of groceries care?
It isn't a collar unless you let them put it on you.
"...Anybody else think maybe we have this backwards?..."
And even more hypocritcal is the "Sex Sells" attitude of the advertisers, as well as developers. It is perfectly fine to put unrealistically-large-breasted women in skimpy chainmail thongs and have them dance all over the place in a RPG-style game, but simply remove a few hundred pixels worth of chainmail and suddenly it is Pr0n.
One man's porn is another's Little Mermaid, I guess (not me, seriously).
Personally, considering the potential of Kinect, Microsoft should have foreseen this and set up some sort of licensing scheme that allowed ANOTHER company to utilize this tech for adult entertainment purposes. As is, Microsoft has once again shut themselves out of an entire market over perceived acceptance issues. Idiots.
"...probably involving FB taking definitive actions to assist government spying and government censorship."
While you are probably right to some extent, I think the real issue, at least from the perspective of Chinese leadership, is that they are concerned that their citizens will be connecting to OURS.
They know they have subversives and they have "methods" of dealing with them--it is the average-Joe they are concerned about. They don't want their citizenry to see the rest of the world through the eyes of other people--they might end up wanting something they are not allowed to have (freedom comes to mind, but do we really have that?). They might find out what really happened in Tiananmen and things of that sort.
"Then you've never seen any of Fox's News. Their wildly skewed to the right shows, skewed to the point of being "creative edits" that completely misrepresent the truth, are presented as news. Most people understand that term to mean factual and attempting to be unbiased. Ever watch Fox News? That's the wildest piece of creative editing slant to the right ever and it won awards as a "journalism". You think calling that news doesn't hide that their pushing an agenda???"
See how easy that was?
"Like I said, I absolutely support and love the work he does, but the man's need for attention pisses me off."
One must sometimes shout to be heard above the din of a sea of disinformation and lies.
I don't mind. I'm almost deaf from hearing those lies for most of my life anyways.
I can just imagine a crowd of sentient beings all peering hopefully at an image much like the one in TFA, showing a star and four planets much like our own, wondering the same thing I am...
"So, when are we going?"
"Isn't it embaressing when you call someone a moron in all caps and correct him in bold fonted all cap and are just plain wrong,..."
Actually, I just assumed (due to the text) that he was quite agitated and was simply foaming and spitting at the mouth. Go brush your teeth, but don't spit, and try yelling "MORONS!" at the top of your lungs...See? It comes out MORORN!
Oh, and you misspelled "embarrassing" and "fonted" is not a word. The word is "font", moron.
"Nor can the camera in the article."
Nor does the article discuss how the "3D" images are to be viewed, beyond a very vague "...which is no longer limiting thanks to the 3D reconstruction."
Holograms? Those stupid-fucking glasses? A planetarium (that would actually make the most sense)?
Am I missing something?
Now I realize there are probably many different configurations for workstations and such, but why is THIS not the point at which leaks are stopped?
Order and implement workstations/terminals/laptops that simply do not have CD/DVD drives OR USB DRIVE PORTS installed. You know, no ports or drives to plug anything into? Short of photographing the image on a monitor, doesn't this pretty much rule out digital transfer of data?
I've seen pictures online (some random image pack on Cryptome, me thinks) of things like a field tent set up with tables in a row and laptop after laptop all networked(you could see the cables), each with a soldier happily going about what appears to be personal activities (a PS2 gaming controller isn't milspec, is it?). If these same machines are being used for OFFICIAL use, no fucking wonder they have problems.
"Tribbler is also Open Source so the government cant shut it down..."
I more concerned about Big Business getting their fingers in the pie.
From Wikipedia:
"After a dozen downloads the Tribler software can roughly estimate the download taste of the user and recommends content.[4] This feature is based on collaborative filtering, also featured on websites such as Last.fm and Amazon.com."
The problem is that collaborative filtering drives everyone in the same general direction--it is essentially distilling down one's tastes to the bare minimum. If too many people focus on these "suggestions", less popular torrents will die of neglect. The conspiracy theorist in me says that this exactly the idea--kill torrents, not all, just some. From the perspective of most media outlets, the only good torrent is a dead torrent.
There is also the possibility of gaming the system of collaborative filtering to intentionally steer interest in specific torrents.
I'll stick with TPB. Seed/Peer counts speak volumes.