The Drake Equation: N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL
Where N* is the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy; fp is the fraction with planets; ne is the number of planets per star capable of supporting life; fl is the fraction of planets where life evolves; fi is the fraction where intelligent life evolves; and fc is the fraction that communicates; and fL is the fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live.
This serious-looking equation gave SETI an serious footing as a legitimate intellectual inquiry. The problem, of course, is that none of the terms can be known, and most cannot even be estimated. The only way to work the equation is to fill in with guesses. An expression that can mean anything means nothing. Speaking precisely, the Drake equation is literally meaningless, and has nothing to do with science.
As for aliens causing Global Warming, read about the Sciencehere.
Amen. I have "used" HP's RHEL support. The first time I called the guy said he was googling for the answer and when I told him to look at the appropriate man page he didn't have a RHEL machine available! Their business model is confused as well. RHN updates are available from the date you activate but HP support runs from the date you purchase which can lead to gaps in support. Further, you are not allowed to talk to their "backline" support (if it in fact exists) and must submit your request by email which will be "forwarded" to the backline. Not really good when the frontline can't google the answer and you have production down. Worse, Redhat support will not deal with you because you purchased from a third party. Finally, it is pretty pricey.
"Before the beginning, there was this turtle. And the turtle was alone. And he looked around, and he saw his neighbor, which was his mother. And he lay down upon his neighbor, and behold! she bore him in tears an oak tree, which grew all day and then fell over -- like a bridge. And lo! underneath this bridge there came a catfish. And he was very big. And he was walking. And he was the biggest he had seen. And so were the fiery balls of this fish, one of which was the sun, and the other, they called the moon." Firesign Theater, I Think We Are All Bozo's On This Bus
This is SOP for the US Government for both Dems and Reps, whether you like it or not. To repeat:
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS -- WITHOUT COURT ORDER
CARTER EXECUTIVE ORDER: 'ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE' WITHOUT COURT ORDER
Bill Clinton Signed Executive Order that allowed Attorney General to do searches without court approval
Clinton, February 9, 1995: "The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order"
Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: "Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order."
WASH POST, July 15, 1994: Extend not only to searches of the homes of U.S. citizens but also -- in the delicate words of a Justice Department official -- to "places where you wouldn't find or would be unlikely to find information involving a U.S. citizen... would allow the government to use classified electronic surveillance techniques, such as infrared sensors to observe people inside their homes, without a court order."
Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, the Clinton administration believes the president "has inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes."
Secret searches and wiretaps of Aldrich Ames's office and home in June and October 1993, both without a federal warrant.
This same prof claims he was beaten up by religious fanatics. Local stories are here, here, and the follow up is here. Local reaction of the community follows the story in the "Reader Reaction".
For those who do not know KU and Lawrence, Kansas, it might help in reading the stories to know that: 1) there are a ton of places to eat, but nothing in the area he claims he was going to get breakfast, 2) KU is widely derided as "Gay U", 3) there is a notorious local "cruising" area for males in the area he claims he was beaten, and 4) coming out of the closet in Lawrence, Kansas means admitting publicly your a christian. The town and University are seems split on whether the beating was faked.
I find it hard to believe that the Chair of Religious Studies at KU would go out of his way to offend a large number of religious people of any persuasion. Had he pulled a similar stunt to offend or embarrass Muslim's, Jew's, Native American's, or any other groups religious beliefs he would have been forced to resign. There is no reason why Christians should not expect equal treatment from the Department of Religious Studies.
On a broader level, why do we even allow KU to teach Religious Studies? Isn't this getting pretty close to the State of Kansas endorsing or promoting religion? I'm not really comfortable with tax dollars being spent for this. Anyone else share my concerns?
This annoys me more than anything. There is NO DIFFERENCE between a privilege and a right. Some people believe that a right is some kind of "Super Duper Privilege", but there is no basis in law for this. Both privileges and rights are protected but both can be taken away. Name a right that can not be taken away by a court of law if you are convicted of a crime? Name a privilege that can be arbitrarily denied you? The state can not deny you the "privilege" of a drivers license if you qualify to have one, nor can you retain the right to a drivers license if you're convicted of multiple DUI's.
Finally, look at the definition of a privilige:
privilege (prv-lj) n. 1. A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right .
American Porn
on
Pornified
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
The best documentary on the business of pornograrphy (from "mom and pop" operations to Fortune 500 companies) is American Porn, produced by Frontline for PBS. It's hard to imagine that the need to feed thousands of websites and their user/subscribers with high quality/high bandwidth pictures isn't significantly driving both internet bandwidth demand and digital photography. BTW, you can watch a streaming video (MS Media Player or Real Player) of that entire documentary for free at Frontline: American Porn
Who?? Well anyway, anyone should be able to get in on the action, kinda like the World Series of Poker. Anything else is just another example of "Facist Corporate America" and "The Man" keeping you down.
Seriously, the choice in this election couldn't be any clearer, at least on those days when Kerry's position is opposed to the Bush policies. On the other hand, on those days when Kerry agrees with the President, it's kinda hard to choose between them.
Its like a NASCAR season, 21 races in 23 days, speed climing, and sprinting all differant races, but on bicycles. 188 bicycles, with the best riders in the world. Rain, wind, potholes, and fans in the road. And the guy that dominates 5 years straight in "Le Tour de Fance" is a Texas cancer survivor who was dropped by his then French cycling team when he first was diagnosed.
Five Sport Illustrated covers (including Sportman of the Year) in a country that is barely conscious of the sport. Armstrong defines human spirit, courage and strength. It is entirely possible we are seeing the "Golden Age of Cycling". Like the NBA without Michael Jordan, it won't be the same without Armstrong.
It was that combination of scientific method and social engineering that made Stoll's aproach so effective. That and his persistance and ability to use very basic tools to accomplish the near impossible, all the while accumulating enough evidence to allow a successful prosecution.
If you haven't seen this interview with Stoll, be sure to read it. It captures that quirky geekiness of his that makes Cuckoo's Egg such a great read.
Some favorite excerpts: "The hacker. The speed of light. The beauty of constraints. What is about Clifford Stoll that arouses such a need for conversation? Cliff Stoll is a lunatic in the sanest sense of the word. He doesn't so much present an argument as digest it with his mouth open. It's not pretty but somehow it works."
"The lab's computer chargeback system had blown up because it could not account for 75 cents of computer time. It took three years for Stoll to prove that a spy was using the computer as a launching pad through Internet to hack at hundreds of military, industrial, and academic computers in search of secrets for the KGB."
"My friends accused me of being co-opted by the State. But I didn't exactly feel like a tool of the ruling class, unless imperialist running dog puppets breakfasted on stale granola. My guts told me that the CIA should know and I ought to tell them."
What is so ironic is that at the time the FBI did not even consider hacking a crime because Berkley couldn't show a sufficient monetary loss. This is despite the fact that the hacker was after military research. How times have changed! In any event, Stoll's ability to use his scientific training as a astronomer, his basic knowledge of computers and programming mixed with a quantum of social engineering and a massive honey pot, he was able to trace this hacker back to a KGB agent in Germany.
If I recall correctly, instead of being arrested, this hacker was found dead in his burnt out car in the middle of a forest somewhere in East or West Germany. It's a great read.
You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip, Skip out for beer during commercials, Because the revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox In 4 parts without commercial interruptions. The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary. The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia. The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal. The revolution will not get rid of the nubs. The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run, or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance. NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32 or report from 29 districts. The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers in the instant replay. There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers in the instant replay. There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process. There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving For just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and women will not care if Dick finally gets down with Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day. The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock news and no pictures of hairy armed women liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose. The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb, Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth. The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back after a message bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people. You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl. The revolution will not go better with Coke. The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath. The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised. The revolution will be no re-run brothers; The revolution will be live.
People complain about corporate greed, of which there are numerous and recent examples. But on April 15th, I am once again reminded of the neverending greed of governments (Federal, State, City, County, sales, etcetera). There appears to be no problem that the government answer to the problem is more and higher taxes (aka "investments"), nor any activity that should not be taxed.
If we actually recieved value for the tax dollars we pay, that would be one thing. But the complete ineptness of virtually every beauracracy that I have ever dealt with (think DMV, USPS, IRS) destroys that hope. On the other hand, perhaps we should be thankful we DO NOT get all the government we pay for!
In the sweepstakes for legislative stupidity, I always like to play this card. The bill House Bill No. 246, Indiana State Legislature, 1897, reportedly set the value of pi to an incorrect rational approximation (ie. "3").
The "creator" of this new value of pi listed as it advantages that it was much easier for school children to use. He even went so far as to offer the new value of pi at no charge to Indiana for use in their school books, however all others would be charged a royality!
10. Mexico is use to running huge budget shortfalls, $40 Billion more, not such a big deal. 9. Reduced costs of preventing "illegal immagration" by making it legal. 8. Most Californian's will never notice. 7. Interest rates are at a all time low, great time to buy. 6. Proceeds used to pay off US Federal budget. 5. Outsourcing IT to "our nieghbors to the West", good foriegn policy. 4. 2 for 1 Taco Tuesday's state wide! 3. English as a second language, good for all Californian's 2. Washington and Oregon can now legally limit immigration from California. 1. El Presidente Fox.
While this might happen in a Communist regime like China, the US Constitution prohibits "Cruel and Unusual Punishments" which this clearly is. I am deeply shocked by this clear violation of human rights.
Slashdot Mirror
The Drake Equation: N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL Where N* is the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy; fp is the fraction with planets; ne is the number of planets per star capable of supporting life; fl is the fraction of planets where life evolves; fi is the fraction where intelligent life evolves; and fc is the fraction that communicates; and fL is the fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live.
This serious-looking equation gave SETI an serious footing as a legitimate intellectual inquiry. The problem, of course, is that none of the terms can be known, and most cannot even be estimated. The only way to work the equation is to fill in with guesses. An expression that can mean anything means nothing. Speaking precisely, the Drake equation is literally meaningless, and has nothing to do with science. As for aliens causing Global Warming, read about the Science here.
Amen. I have "used" HP's RHEL support. The first time I called the guy said he was googling for the answer and when I told him to look at the appropriate man page he didn't have a RHEL machine available! Their business model is confused as well. RHN updates are available from the date you activate but HP support runs from the date you purchase which can lead to gaps in support. Further, you are not allowed to talk to their "backline" support (if it in fact exists) and must submit your request by email which will be "forwarded" to the backline. Not really good when the frontline can't google the answer and you have production down. Worse, Redhat support will not deal with you because you purchased from a third party. Finally, it is pretty pricey.
"Before the beginning, there was this turtle. And the turtle was alone. And he looked around, and he saw his neighbor, which was his mother. And he lay down upon his neighbor, and behold! she bore him in tears an oak tree, which grew all day and then fell over -- like a bridge. And lo! underneath this bridge there came a catfish. And he was very big. And he was walking. And he was the biggest he had seen. And so were the fiery balls of this fish, one of which was the sun, and the other, they called the moon." Firesign Theater, I Think We Are All Bozo's On This Bus
This is SOP for the US Government for both Dems and Reps, whether you like it or not. To repeat: CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS -- WITHOUT COURT ORDER CARTER EXECUTIVE ORDER: 'ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE' WITHOUT COURT ORDER Bill Clinton Signed Executive Order that allowed Attorney General to do searches without court approval Clinton, February 9, 1995: "The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order" Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: "Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order." WASH POST, July 15, 1994: Extend not only to searches of the homes of U.S. citizens but also -- in the delicate words of a Justice Department official -- to "places where you wouldn't find or would be unlikely to find information involving a U.S. citizen... would allow the government to use classified electronic surveillance techniques, such as infrared sensors to observe people inside their homes, without a court order." Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, the Clinton administration believes the president "has inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes." Secret searches and wiretaps of Aldrich Ames's office and home in June and October 1993, both without a federal warrant.
For those who do not know KU and Lawrence, Kansas, it might help in reading the stories to know that: 1) there are a ton of places to eat, but nothing in the area he claims he was going to get breakfast, 2) KU is widely derided as "Gay U", 3) there is a notorious local "cruising" area for males in the area he claims he was beaten, and 4) coming out of the closet in Lawrence, Kansas means admitting publicly your a christian. The town and University are seems split on whether the beating was faked.
I find it hard to believe that the Chair of Religious Studies at KU would go out of his way to offend a large number of religious people of any persuasion. Had he pulled a similar stunt to offend or embarrass Muslim's, Jew's, Native American's, or any other groups religious beliefs he would have been forced to resign. There is no reason why Christians should not expect equal treatment from the Department of Religious Studies. On a broader level, why do we even allow KU to teach Religious Studies? Isn't this getting pretty close to the State of Kansas endorsing or promoting religion? I'm not really comfortable with tax dollars being spent for this. Anyone else share my concerns?
You can get sued for libel and slander. Who knew?
They say "You can't buy happiness." What they don't mention is you can rent it by the hour.
This annoys me more than anything. There is NO DIFFERENCE between a privilege and a right. Some people believe that a right is some kind of "Super Duper Privilege", but there is no basis in law for this. Both privileges and rights are protected but both can be taken away. Name a right that can not be taken away by a court of law if you are convicted of a crime? Name a privilege that can be arbitrarily denied you? The state can not deny you the "privilege" of a drivers license if you qualify to have one, nor can you retain the right to a drivers license if you're convicted of multiple DUI's.
Finally, look at the definition of a privilige: privilege (prv-lj) n. 1. A special advantage, immunity, permission, right , or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right .
The best documentary on the business of pornograrphy (from "mom and pop" operations to Fortune 500 companies) is American Porn, produced by Frontline for PBS. It's hard to imagine that the need to feed thousands of websites and their user/subscribers with high quality/high bandwidth pictures isn't significantly driving both internet bandwidth demand and digital photography. BTW, you can watch a streaming video (MS Media Player or Real Player) of that entire documentary for free at Frontline: American Porn
Who?? Well anyway, anyone should be able to get in on the action, kinda like the World Series of Poker. Anything else is just another example of "Facist Corporate America" and "The Man" keeping you down.
Seriously, the choice in this election couldn't be any clearer, at least on those days when Kerry's position is opposed to the Bush policies. On the other hand, on those days when Kerry agrees with the President, it's kinda hard to choose between them.
Apparently Dan Rather has a fax copy of the orignal speech!
Its like a NASCAR season, 21 races in 23 days, speed climing, and sprinting all differant races, but on bicycles. 188 bicycles, with the best riders in the world. Rain, wind, potholes, and fans in the road. And the guy that dominates 5 years straight in "Le Tour de Fance" is a Texas cancer survivor who was dropped by his then French cycling team when he first was diagnosed.
Five Sport Illustrated covers (including Sportman of the Year) in a country that is barely conscious of the sport. Armstrong defines human spirit, courage and strength. It is entirely possible we are seeing the "Golden Age of Cycling". Like the NBA without Michael Jordan, it won't be the same without Armstrong.
LiveSTRONG, GO POSTAL !!!!!!!!!
US Postal
The Cyclysm
Wear Yellow
Nuff said.
US Postal
The Cyclysm
Wear Yellow
Microsoft just isn't ready for the Enterprise. Perhaps in a few years. Plus there all those nasty rumours about stealing the TCP/IP stack from BSD.
It was that combination of scientific method and social engineering that made Stoll's aproach so effective. That and his persistance and ability to use very basic tools to accomplish the near impossible, all the while accumulating enough evidence to allow a successful prosecution.
If you haven't seen this interview with Stoll, be sure to read it. It captures that quirky geekiness of his that makes Cuckoo's Egg such a great read.
After posting this thread, I found a great interview with Cliff.
Some favorite excerpts:
"The hacker. The speed of light. The beauty of constraints. What is about Clifford Stoll that arouses such a need for conversation? Cliff Stoll is a lunatic in the sanest sense of the word. He doesn't so much present an argument as digest it with his mouth open. It's not pretty but somehow it works."
"The lab's computer chargeback system had blown up because it could not account for 75 cents of computer time. It took three years for Stoll to prove that a spy was using the computer as a launching pad through Internet to hack at hundreds of military, industrial, and academic computers in search of secrets for the KGB."
"My friends accused me of being co-opted by the State. But I didn't exactly feel like a tool of the ruling class, unless imperialist running dog puppets breakfasted on stale granola. My guts told me that the CIA should know and I ought to tell them."
Clifford Stoll book "Cuckoo's Egg:Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage" details his encounter with a german hacker in the 1980's. It was the book that inspired my interest and career in computers and eventually as a System Administrator. In 1990, Nova made a documentary about it called "The KGB, CIA, Computer and Me".
What is so ironic is that at the time the FBI did not even consider hacking a crime because Berkley couldn't show a sufficient monetary loss. This is despite the fact that the hacker was after military research. How times have changed! In any event, Stoll's ability to use his scientific training as a astronomer, his basic knowledge of computers and programming mixed with a quantum of social engineering and a massive honey pot, he was able to trace this hacker back to a KGB agent in Germany.
If I recall correctly, instead of being arrested, this hacker was found dead in his burnt out car in the middle of a forest somewhere in East or West Germany. It's a great read.
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.
Don't tax you,
don't tax me,
tax that LAN,
behind that router.
People complain about corporate greed, of which there are numerous and recent examples. But on April 15th, I am once again reminded of the neverending greed of governments (Federal, State, City, County, sales, etcetera). There appears to be no problem that the government answer to the problem is more and higher taxes (aka "investments"), nor any activity that should not be taxed.
If we actually recieved value for the tax dollars we pay, that would be one thing. But the complete ineptness of virtually every beauracracy that I have ever dealt with (think DMV, USPS, IRS) destroys that hope. On the other hand, perhaps we should be thankful we DO NOT get all the government we pay for!
In the sweepstakes for legislative stupidity, I always like to play this card. The bill House Bill No. 246, Indiana State Legislature, 1897, reportedly set the value of pi to an incorrect rational approximation (ie. "3").
The "creator" of this new value of pi listed as it advantages that it was much easier for school children to use. He even went so far as to offer the new value of pi at no charge to Indiana for use in their school books, however all others would be charged a royality!
Here is a link, but a better link is here,
Has anyone considered outsourcing Management overseas? Seems like Japan might make a nice fit.
Top Ten Reasons to Sell California to Mexico
10. Mexico is use to running huge budget shortfalls, $40 Billion more, not such a big deal.
9. Reduced costs of preventing "illegal immagration" by making it legal.
8. Most Californian's will never notice.
7. Interest rates are at a all time low, great time to buy.
6. Proceeds used to pay off US Federal budget.
5. Outsourcing IT to "our nieghbors to the West", good foriegn policy.
4. 2 for 1 Taco Tuesday's state wide!
3. English as a second language, good for all Californian's
2. Washington and Oregon can now legally limit immigration from California.
1. El Presidente Fox.
While this might happen in a Communist regime like China, the US Constitution prohibits "Cruel and Unusual Punishments" which this clearly is. I am deeply shocked by this clear violation of human rights.