> unlike the FBI, the CIA at least knows how to create software with a non-threatening name.
That's because spy agencies are in the habit of giving everything obfuscating code names. 'Oaisis' is just the code name for a system that is actually named "Horny Balrog on an Amorous Rampage", which is about as threatening as it gets.
Of course, it works both ways. The CIA code name for 'pillow' is "convulsing victim".
> his particular piece of technology from the CIA is incredibly cool and very powerful.
Yeah, when you spend a cold lonely night at a listening post you have to turn of the sound on your p0rn0 flicks so you can hear the people you are spying on, and this will let the agents follow the dialog in the movies, so they will understand the plot.
The moral of this story is, if you're a spy, don't televise your meetings with your control.
I mean, like, really, now, dude. Are they going to start scanning soap operas for the sake of national security? Is Jay Leno broadcasting national secrets? Someone clue me in on the intelligence application here.
I suppose it might be handy for transcribing the numbers stations, though somehow I doubt that they'll seem quite so glamorous in ASCII:
> If you want to screw the record industry, make it possible for bands to distribute and sell their own stuff efficiently without paying more than half to the record industry.
Hear, hear!
Some entrepren-howeveryouspellit-urial geek who regrets missing out on the e-IPO goldmine of the past few years should see this as an opportunity to make a name for him-or-her-self, do the public and the world's musicians a favor, and probably get rich as a mere side effect.
Not in trouble??? Wanker Bush can't even drive in the wrong lane without getting thrown in the pokey. How can these guys get away with hanging under a bridge?
> One problem with canonicaltomes.org is that without any way to judge the background or competence of the people providing information about the books it will be hard to evaluate it
I'm glad the site exists, but I'm a bit skeptical that it's going to work. Think what's going to happen when all the Slashdot Trolls see it and run over to screw it up just for the fun of it.
And there are probably problems anyway. I did not see any mechanism for cross-listing books between multiple categories, nor for correcting erroneous entries. Also, the field for price was somewhat surprising, assuming they plan to be around for more than a couple of years. Meanwhile, there are no fields for indicating the year the book came out, nor what editions exist.
To be useful, it will probably need a full-time board of editors to maintain the site. They'll have the troll crap to shovel out, they'll have haphazard category and subcategory definitions, they'll have books posted in the wrong categories, and they'll have books will erroneous entries, grammar and spelling errors in the titles and/or descriptions, and political asides that shouldn't be there.
Also, I rather suspect that most of the submissions will be from authors or publishers ("Buy this book!") or from individuals with a political axe to grind. The voting system naively limits you to three votes, as if the site's creators were unaware how easy it is to get disposible voting accounts, so I expect to see ridiculous voting outcomes within a few days.
Finally, I notice that when you have entered a book's info you are politely prompted to "submit query". It looks like the code may need some cleanup.
All in all, I suspect that it's another noble effort doomed to failure due to naivety and all the problems associated with internet voting.
Also, I wonder if it isn't just a site that hopes to make a big splash in the news and then get bought out by the next p0rtal-wannabe within a few months, so that the creators don't really need to worry about all the very obvious problems with such a site.
> In place of the normal religious hierarchical structure (e.g. in Roman-Catholicism, the ranking is God, Pope, Cardinals, Arch-Bishops, etc.) in which power is delegated from the Supreme Being, Jedaism has a meritocratic (and, possibly, democratic) hierarchy based upon the natural ability, experience, wisdom and skills of the Jedi.
I suspect many religions start off as meritocracies (albeit with a strong seasoning of nepotism).
The question is, what will Jedianity be like in 400 years? Will there be a leadership hierarchy?[1] Will there be a creed? An inquisition?
[1] For those who don't know, the hier- in hierarchy means "priest". It probably isn't an accident that the paradigm for hierarchies was the way priesthoods were organized.
> I saw a PBS interview with Lucas where he claimed to have embraced the mystical belief systems of multiple religions so that he could appeal to the deeply ingrained sociological need for mysticism/spirituality
What did he embrace that made him want to appeal to the deeply ingrained need to buy action figures?
> Campbell responded to Hubbard's complaint that there was little money in writing for magazines. He said that the real money to be made was in Religion, with the added benefit of being exempt from taxation.
> Hubbard started to speculate on what you would need to do, to start a religion. Campbell insisted you couldn't just start a religion, which Hubbard took as a friendly challenge and responded by asserting that he could
Garsh. That almost leaves me wondering who put Jesus, Mohammed, The Buddha, and all those guys up to starting their religions.
> Immaculatist - Believer in the Immaculate Conception of Anakin Skywalker
Nor is Jedianity exempt from theological disputes. For instance, if you were not an heretical infidel, you'd know that immaculate conception refers to the mother's "clean" conception, not to the son's.
You're propagating Midichlorist FUD. She wasn't infected. She didn't even screw around.
> It's easy to tell where the priorities of Bush and Cheney are, that being defense spending and giving large tax cuts
The increased military spending is just another kind of handout. Remember that a few years ago the US Congress approved a defense budget containing billions of dollars for projects that weren't even on the Pentagon's wish list.
All that money goes somewhere, very much of it to defense contractors. Usually those defense contractors are in one of the committee members' home town. The projects get approved because they pour money into the hands of a legislator's cronies back home, and the legislator benefits because the folk back home like the jobs and increased standard of living... to say nothing of the kickbacks^w campaign donations from the companies that got the money.
It shouldn't be any surprise that the current administration is wringing their hands about how negelected the military is. It's just a codeword for how neglected the defense contractors are.
Fasten your seatbelts; we're in it for Regan Era II.
> I saw some program on the Discovery Channel a while ago that new software in ground-based telescopes using adaptive optics allowed them to more or less completely filter out the effects of the atmosphere.
The March Scientific American had an article about interferometry in the visual spectrum, and by using it they're starting to get ground-based photos that resolve close binaries and even show the limb darkening on stellar disks. Cool stuff, and more on the way.
> Is it a PR thing, trying to justify the cost of a space telescope when the ground 'scopes actually do a better job now?
IANATelescopeEngineer, but it seems that the Hubble does still have an advantage in certain areas. For instance, the methods described in the article I mentioned above suffer because they can't collect very much light. Presumably the Hubble still has a slight edge in various aspects of telescopy.
Also, remember that ground-based telescopy has enjoyed a generation of progress since the Hubble was designed, so it stands to reason that the Hubble's advantages would be fading and will soon be cancelled altogether.
Slashdot Mirror
> Now that Disney's getting into the action, Python will be more palatable to other suits.
I find rattlesnake much more palatable, though I still don't know whether to serve it with red wine or white.
--
> unlike the FBI, the CIA at least knows how to create software with a non-threatening name.
That's because spy agencies are in the habit of giving everything obfuscating code names. 'Oaisis' is just the code name for a system that is actually named "Horny Balrog on an Amorous Rampage", which is about as threatening as it gets.
Of course, it works both ways. The CIA code name for 'pillow' is "convulsing victim".
--
> his particular piece of technology from the CIA is incredibly cool and very powerful.
Yeah, when you spend a cold lonely night at a listening post you have to turn of the sound on your p0rn0 flicks so you can hear the people you are spying on, and this will let the agents follow the dialog in the movies, so they will understand the plot.
--
I mean, like, really, now, dude. Are they going to start scanning soap operas for the sake of national security? Is Jay Leno broadcasting national secrets? Someone clue me in on the intelligence application here.
I suppose it might be handy for transcribing the numbers stations, though somehow I doubt that they'll seem quite so glamorous in ASCII:
--
> I'd love it if they could ban use of these in lecture halls by any means necessary.
Even during exams? You're cruel!
--
> Just out of idle curiosity, does anyone else out there see cell phones, pagers, etc. more as leashes and choke chains than anything else
That's how I see them.
--
"fortunately we're not selling anything"
/. to change their karma.
Yeah, people only hack
--
> If you want to screw the record industry, make it possible for bands to distribute and sell their own stuff efficiently without paying more than half to the record industry.
Hear, hear!
Some entrepren-howeveryouspellit-urial geek who regrets missing out on the e-IPO goldmine of the past few years should see this as an opportunity to make a name for him-or-her-self, do the public and the world's musicians a favor, and probably get rich as a mere side effect.
--
> I would like to like site, so I'm going to send the developer some suggestions.
<halfserious>Or we could start our own.</halfserious>
--
> but they were really nervous
Not in trouble??? Wanker Bush can't even drive in the wrong lane without getting thrown in the pokey. How can these guys get away with hanging under a bridge?
--
The real purpose is to keep you from playing the new AntiTrust Action strategy game.
Microsoft thinks it sends the wrong message to kids who might otherwise grow up to be compliant consumers, as patriotism demands.
--
> Yes, there is a vocal contingent of anti-intellectual property folks out there
Is that anti (intellectual property) folks, or (anti intellectual) property folks?
--
> Automatic Gain Control: an automatic system for adjusting the amplification of a signal so that the output is at a standard level.
Ah. That must be how they make sure the commercials are three times as loud as the program.
--
> One problem with canonicaltomes.org is that without any way to judge the background or competence of the people providing information about the books it will be hard to evaluate it
I'm glad the site exists, but I'm a bit skeptical that it's going to work. Think what's going to happen when all the Slashdot Trolls see it and run over to screw it up just for the fun of it.
And there are probably problems anyway. I did not see any mechanism for cross-listing books between multiple categories, nor for correcting erroneous entries. Also, the field for price was somewhat surprising, assuming they plan to be around for more than a couple of years. Meanwhile, there are no fields for indicating the year the book came out, nor what editions exist.
To be useful, it will probably need a full-time board of editors to maintain the site. They'll have the troll crap to shovel out, they'll have haphazard category and subcategory definitions, they'll have books posted in the wrong categories, and they'll have books will erroneous entries, grammar and spelling errors in the titles and/or descriptions, and political asides that shouldn't be there.
Also, I rather suspect that most of the submissions will be from authors or publishers ("Buy this book!") or from individuals with a political axe to grind. The voting system naively limits you to three votes, as if the site's creators were unaware how easy it is to get disposible voting accounts, so I expect to see ridiculous voting outcomes within a few days.
Finally, I notice that when you have entered a book's info you are politely prompted to "submit query". It looks like the code may need some cleanup.
All in all, I suspect that it's another noble effort doomed to failure due to naivety and all the problems associated with internet voting.
Also, I wonder if it isn't just a site that hopes to make a big splash in the news and then get bought out by the next p0rtal-wannabe within a few months, so that the creators don't really need to worry about all the very obvious problems with such a site.
--
It looks like the Cannonical Tomes site has been slashdotted back to the dark ages.
I created an account and got one book added to an empty category, but now it's choking on my second try, and the home page won't even come up anymore.
Barbarians, every one of us! Let's go rent a movie!
--
> In place of the normal religious hierarchical structure (e.g. in Roman-Catholicism, the ranking is God, Pope, Cardinals, Arch-Bishops, etc.) in which power is delegated from the Supreme Being, Jedaism has a meritocratic (and, possibly, democratic) hierarchy based upon the natural ability, experience, wisdom and skills of the Jedi.
I suspect many religions start off as meritocracies (albeit with a strong seasoning of nepotism).
The question is, what will Jedianity be like in 400 years? Will there be a leadership hierarchy?[1] Will there be a creed? An inquisition?
[1] For those who don't know, the hier- in hierarchy means "priest". It probably isn't an accident that the paradigm for hierarchies was the way priesthoods were organized.
--
> I saw a PBS interview with Lucas where he claimed to have embraced the mystical belief systems of multiple religions so that he could appeal to the deeply ingrained sociological need for mysticism/spirituality
What did he embrace that made him want to appeal to the deeply ingrained need to buy action figures?
--
> Jidai Geki is the Japanese term that Lucas derived Jedi from.
Ah, so! Jedi Geek have much force, yes?
--
> But the trick of flight is so simple...Just fall down, and miss the ground...
It also helps to leap from a very high place, 'cause then if you fail you don't have to deal with loss of faith in your religion.
--
> Campbell responded to Hubbard's complaint that there was little money in writing for magazines. He said that the real money to be made was in Religion, with the added benefit of being exempt from taxation.
> Hubbard started to speculate on what you would need to do, to start a religion. Campbell insisted you couldn't just start a religion, which Hubbard took as a friendly challenge and responded by asserting that he could
Garsh. That almost leaves me wondering who put Jesus, Mohammed, The Buddha, and all those guys up to starting their religions.
--
> Immaculatist - Believer in the Immaculate Conception of Anakin Skywalker
Nor is Jedianity exempt from theological disputes. For instance, if you were not an heretical infidel, you'd know that immaculate conception refers to the mother's "clean" conception, not to the son's.
You're propagating Midichlorist FUD. She wasn't infected. She didn't even screw around.
--
> It's easy to tell where the priorities of Bush and Cheney are, that being defense spending and giving large tax cuts
The increased military spending is just another kind of handout. Remember that a few years ago the US Congress approved a defense budget containing billions of dollars for projects that weren't even on the Pentagon's wish list.
All that money goes somewhere, very much of it to defense contractors. Usually those defense contractors are in one of the committee members' home town. The projects get approved because they pour money into the hands of a legislator's cronies back home, and the legislator benefits because the folk back home like the jobs and increased standard of living... to say nothing of the kickbacks^w campaign donations from the companies that got the money.
It shouldn't be any surprise that the current administration is wringing their hands about how negelected the military is. It's just a codeword for how neglected the defense contractors are.
Fasten your seatbelts; we're in it for Regan Era II.
--
Well, they bugger everything else. Why not the Web?
--
> They have a this same picure for today.
For today's today (01-March) they have a way-cool pic of the sun.
--
> I saw some program on the Discovery Channel a while ago that new software in ground-based telescopes using adaptive optics allowed them to more or less completely filter out the effects of the atmosphere.
The March Scientific American had an article about interferometry in the visual spectrum, and by using it they're starting to get ground-based photos that resolve close binaries and even show the limb darkening on stellar disks. Cool stuff, and more on the way.
> Is it a PR thing, trying to justify the cost of a space telescope when the ground 'scopes actually do a better job now?
IANATelescopeEngineer, but it seems that the Hubble does still have an advantage in certain areas. For instance, the methods described in the article I mentioned above suffer because they can't collect very much light. Presumably the Hubble still has a slight edge in various aspects of telescopy.
Also, remember that ground-based telescopy has enjoyed a generation of progress since the Hubble was designed, so it stands to reason that the Hubble's advantages would be fading and will soon be cancelled altogether.
It's still giving the coolest pix, though.
--