"Computers replace petri dishes in biological labs."
That isn't very realistic. Data collection is still the major driving force in life science discovery. Good IT infrastructure enables large screens, but only in conjuction with robotics, microfluidics, sweat, and a lot of disposable plastic, including petri dishes.
Modeling biological systems is a difficult task. As Hiroaki Kitano points out, "[in biological systems] large numbers of functionally diverse, and frequently multifunctional, sets of elements interact selectively and nonlinearly to produce coherant rather than complex behaviours". There are still a huge number of elements and relationships to discover.
My Athlon workstation noticed the heat before I did. It crashed three times in one day. Wasn't the OS (LeeNux for heaven's sake), couldn't be MY code, must be the hardware. Cracked the box and sure enough dust bunnies camping out all over, including the cooling fins under the cpu fan. All was well after a simple vacuum, but it got me thinking, at 90F, it isn't even hot yet for the Central California Valley. I hate using the AC, but most recent architecture around here assumes that you will use it. There is an earth burmed home a short distance from here. Makes perfect sense in this climate.
Suspension of disbelief is not the only effect of stylization. Stylization can also create a more universal identification with characters. Scott McCloud covers the topic well in his book Understanding comics.
"Solid state has to be the way to go - no more waiting for your computer to "boot up", just turn it on and it's running your desktop, right where you left it last."
Absolutely. We already have it in PDA architectures where it makes obvious sense for a number of reasons, including intermittent use and low power consumption. Will we one day look back with amusement on big power supplies, power hungry cpus and disks, and large volume cases with amusement? Probably, but I am still pretty impressed with what we have now.
Then:
I believe Watson and Crick's solution to DNA structure was a fabulous achievement, but press should also be given to Hershey and Chase's 1952 experiment proving DNA as the genetic material. Of course, they too rested on the shoulders of giants in chemistry and biology, but their work has equal claim to initiating an era of reverse engineering hereditary mechanisms.
Now:
Biology has come a long way reverse engineering life, but still has a long way to go. Unlike systems composed of similar components interacting to create a complex and often unpredictable outcome, life is composed of a huge variety of components which can interact to create stable outcomes (homeostasis). As we identify the individual components and subsystems, a new field is emerging. This field, called systems biology, is about modeling this complexity.
Now/Next:
Perhaps most exciting, there now exists enough information to begin forward engineering life. In living systems we have the ultimate collection of both components and subsumption architectures for making complex systems. Rodney Brooks was brilliant for modeling his robots after living systems, but a living system can be the starting point for further engineering. This work has begun, but consists mostly as limited applied science with pharmaceutical, agricultural, or industrial enzyme goals. Is anyone (else) engineering life for the sake of engineering?
Novozymes Biotech in Davis, California is selectively breeding better enzymes for converting the cellulose in corn by-products to fermentable sugars. Who knows, maybe some day Kansas will power your calls.
For an example of a very large prehistoric insect and some discussion of fluctuations in the Earth's oxygen levels see Meganeura monyi and:
Dudley, R. 1998, Atmospheric oxygen, giant Paleozoic
insects and the evolution of aerial locomotor performance.
Journal of Experimental Biology. 201: 1043-1050.
Graham, J.B., Dudley, R., Aguilar, N.M., and Gans, C.
1995, Implications of the late Paleozoic oxygen
pulse for physiology and evolution. Nature.
375: 117-120.
I did try it and no matter what band I entered "Omara Portunundo" was recommended. Gee, that band must really have universal appeal. It would be really ironic if the slashdot effect caused the sudden popularity of this band.
Precisely, it has now been demonstrated in all great apes that culture can dominate over independent innovation (not that it always dominates). Something in our evolutionary line facilitated the jump from individual innovation to group learning (culture), something that preceded language and human brain structure.
The Science article makes the case that observed orangutan behavior is more closely correlated with geographic location and opportunities for direct transfer of skills than to habitat (independent innovation). The authors then speculate that the common ancestor of all the great apes could have had this ability, and therefore, the beginnings of hominid culture could extend back 14 million years.
I find it interesting to speculate that something in our neural circuitry enabled early primates to learn from each other. I wonder if anyone within the human brain project is considering this area of research.
I have taught several university courses in computer labs and can sympathize with the distraction of having to compete with email and the web, but this article is not about high school. University students are paying customers and instructors are employees. It may be rude to the instructor, but as long as they are distracting other students, then it is their choice. Of course, I am far less likely to assist a student who spent more time chatting (on line or off) than a student really working to master the material.
Double and triple check your systems, including servers, workstations, laptops and any remote installations (teleworkers, etc).
Great advice, but after determining that you have not violated any software licenses, merely document the audit, communicate a denial, and stop there. There is no need to either harass your employees or bend over for Borland. Very simply, Borland is not going to give you a penny for an internal audit. They will claim, correctly, that legal compliance is your responsibility. You will be stuck with the bill. In addition, requiring employees to make verbal or written statements offers little legal protection and will send a clear message of mistrust to your own people. Does your company already have an employee handbook with a policy on pirated software? If so, then a simple emailed memo reminding the employees of this fact (or stating this policy) will add to your documentation without sacrificing employee moral. As an employer, I would not consider sacrificing trust for Borland.
You have already responded correctly. You investigated the accusation, determined that it is incorrect, and communicated your position.
They are fishing, which is exactly what licensing officers get paid to do. Ignore them.
I run a biotech company and received a similar communication on Christmas Eve [Merry Christmas]:
You may not be aware that [technique] is a patented process and that performing
[technique]-based service assays for third parties (or internal quality control)
requires a license under patents owned by [company A]. [company B] has the exclusive right to grant licenses for this purpose in
certain fields
1. A license issuance fee of US$10,000.00, which is fully creditable
against the first year's royalties;
2. A royalty of 15% of the net selling price for all [technique]-based services;
3. The requirement that all such testing be carried out using Authorized
[technique equipment] purchased from a licensed source;
4. Quarterly reporting of all [technique]-based services performed, along with
payment of royalties.
Since we have over 115 licensees worldwide, the
terms and conditions are not negotiable.[We are Borg...]
[Finally, the accusation:]
...As your website mentions analysis of pathogen load, [your company] may
require a license in at least one field, most like that of Quality
Assurance/Quality Control Testing, although I would need more information
regarding the types of samples being analyzed to determine this.
As a matter of fact, my company does not offer pathogen load testing for QA/QC, or any other service requiring a license as per their defined criteria. I responded once, and unless we offer relevant services in the future, I will not respond to further letters. They can fish elsewhere.
I had a manager, I'll call him Dr. B, who knew next to nothing about anything IT related. But Dr. B. was an ex-professor, had a doctorate in biology, and had a brother who was a programmer. Biggest blowhard and control freak I have ever met. Dr. B. simply could not help but insert himself into every aspect of every effort. He simply could not back off, even when given a direct order by the CEO not to get involved and not to introduce feature creep. The entire group (bioinformatics) was finally removed from under his supervision... and still he managed to bog us down. I finally left for a more reasonable work environment. I have been designing a much better system as therapy and will open source it as revenge! (twitter-flinch-shake)
The really interesting thing here is the ability to study a human stem cell in the context of an experimental organism. Working in mice offers huge advantages: the mouse genome has been sequenced, gene expression systems for every mouse gene will be available within a year, there are already a large number of inbred and engineered strains, and there is a large body of literature around mouse embryology itself.
A system like this can will allow for significant insight into human biology.
I use a a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. I am fortunate to live in a city with bountiful open wireless nodes, which I mapped out on bicycle with the kismet/kismet-qt WLAN sniffer. I mostly use the PDA to ssh to my servers and check my mail. I have even scripted out and submitted batch jobs for my cluster. I occasionally take it to a cafe and read/., but the WLAN card knocks the battery life from ~8 down to ~1.2 hours. I only take a laptop along when I know I'm going to code. I like the weight reduction, since I go everywhere by bike.
This experiment is very exciting for many reasons, but the modeling aspects alone make it worth while. Just following the up and down regulation of thousands of genes is an overwhelming burden. Modeling/visualizing the entire cell network with the normal complement of entities would be fantastically difficult. Simplification through gene reduction is a fundamentally important first step.
Hmmm... a lot of trees will die if Boehringer Mannheim tries to print this one out (a la biochemical pathways).
Yes, and I pointed out that your argument is invalid because it is traditional agriculture and not GMOs that caused the narrowing of the gene pool. It is obvious that you are unfamiliar with common agricultural practices. Read up on traditional hybrid breeding before you embarass yourself again.
Ah yes, once again you lower the bar:
You don't think the decisions that "there is no significant risk to the environment or food supply" has anything to do with monsanto and other companies stacking regulatory agencies with their own shills
No, but it is and indication that you are suffering from paranoid delusions. Do you really think that the EPA is out to contaminate your food supply? Do you think they are also responsible for fluoride in your drinking water?
It is amazing that some people were given a brain when a spinal chord would suffice.
Of course selective gene modification isn't the same as classical breeding. It is more controlled. Rational thought should tell you so.
Whoa there! It is classical breeding, specifically hybrid production, that has been narrowing the gene pool. Do you think that those huge mono-culture fields are GMOs? You really need to get your facts straight.
"Let loose" in the environment like the European Honey Bee in North America, the single reason why hundreds of native solitary bee species can no longer be found? How about feral pigs, donkeys, non-native grasses and weeds and the huge amount of damage they have caused?
The introduction of pests is hardly the result of genetic engineering, rather the byproduct of traditional agriculture and other human activity. How does the highly selective introduction of individual genes in pre-existing agricultural species alter the risk of creating feral populations? Really, please explain the mechanism of this enhanced risk.
The reason that some GMO specific tests and controls are mostly voluntary is that environmental protection agencies recognize that there is no significant risk to the environment or food supply. You see, they rely on rational risk assessment rather than blatant propaganda and fear tactics.
Slashdot Mirror
That isn't very realistic. Data collection is still the major driving force in life science discovery. Good IT infrastructure enables large screens, but only in conjuction with robotics, microfluidics, sweat, and a lot of disposable plastic, including petri dishes.
Modeling biological systems is a difficult task. As Hiroaki Kitano points out, "[in biological systems] large numbers of functionally diverse, and frequently multifunctional, sets of elements interact selectively and nonlinearly to produce coherant rather than complex behaviours". There are still a huge number of elements and relationships to discover.
From the article:
I've seen no evidence that desktop Linux distros are more secure than Windows
Well then, here is some required reading: Why not microsoft
My Athlon workstation noticed the heat before I did. It crashed three times in one day. Wasn't the OS (LeeNux for heaven's sake), couldn't be MY code, must be the hardware. Cracked the box and sure enough dust bunnies camping out all over, including the cooling fins under the cpu fan. All was well after a simple vacuum, but it got me thinking, at 90F, it isn't even hot yet for the Central California Valley.
I hate using the AC, but most recent architecture around here assumes that you will use it. There is an earth burmed home a short distance from here. Makes perfect sense in this climate.
Suspension of disbelief is not the only effect of stylization. Stylization can also create a more universal identification with characters. Scott McCloud covers the topic well in his book Understanding comics.
Finally, a game both my father and I can enjoy. We are both huge Tron fans.
:-(
Wait, no multiplayer?! Aaaarrrg!!!
"Solid state has to be the way to go - no more waiting for your computer to "boot up", just turn it on and it's running your desktop, right where you left it last."
Absolutely. We already have it in PDA architectures where it makes obvious sense for a number of reasons, including intermittent use and low power consumption. Will we one day look back with amusement on big power supplies, power hungry cpus and disks, and large volume cases with amusement? Probably, but I am still pretty impressed with what we have now.
Then:
I believe Watson and Crick's solution to DNA structure was a fabulous achievement, but press should also be given to Hershey and Chase's 1952 experiment proving DNA as the genetic material. Of course, they too rested on the shoulders of giants in chemistry and biology, but their work has equal claim to initiating an era of reverse engineering hereditary mechanisms.
Now:
Biology has come a long way reverse engineering life, but still has a long way to go. Unlike systems composed of similar components interacting to create a complex and often unpredictable outcome, life is composed of a huge variety of components which can interact to create stable outcomes (homeostasis). As we identify the individual components and subsystems, a new field is emerging. This field, called systems biology, is about modeling this complexity.
Now/Next:
Perhaps most exciting, there now exists enough information to begin forward engineering life. In living systems we have the ultimate collection of both components and subsumption architectures for making complex systems. Rodney Brooks was brilliant for modeling his robots after living systems, but a living system can be the starting point for further engineering. This work has begun, but consists mostly as limited applied science with pharmaceutical, agricultural, or industrial enzyme goals. Is anyone (else) engineering life for the sake of engineering?
Novozymes Biotech in Davis, California is selectively breeding better enzymes for converting the cellulose in corn by-products to fermentable sugars. Who knows, maybe some day Kansas will power your calls.
For an example of a very large prehistoric insect and some discussion of fluctuations in the Earth's oxygen levels see Meganeura monyi and:
Dudley, R. 1998, Atmospheric oxygen, giant Paleozoic insects and the evolution of aerial locomotor performance. Journal of Experimental Biology. 201: 1043-1050.
Graham, J.B., Dudley, R., Aguilar, N.M., and Gans, C. 1995, Implications of the late Paleozoic oxygen pulse for physiology and evolution. Nature. 375: 117-120.
I did try it and no matter what band I entered "Omara Portunundo" was recommended. Gee, that band must really have universal appeal. It would be really ironic if the slashdot effect caused the sudden popularity of this band.
Revolution OS
Precisely, it has now been demonstrated in all great apes that culture can dominate over independent innovation (not that it always dominates). Something in our evolutionary line facilitated the jump from individual innovation to group learning (culture), something that preceded language and human brain structure.
The Science article makes the case that observed orangutan behavior is more closely correlated with geographic location and opportunities for direct transfer of skills than to habitat (independent innovation). The authors then speculate that the common ancestor of all the great apes could have had this ability, and therefore, the beginnings of hominid culture could extend back 14 million years.
I find it interesting to speculate that something in our neural circuitry enabled early primates to learn from each other. I wonder if anyone within the human brain project is considering this area of research.
as long as they are not distracting other students
I have taught several university courses in computer labs and can sympathize with the distraction of having to compete with email and the web, but this article is not about high school. University students are paying customers and instructors are employees. It may be rude to the instructor, but as long as they are distracting other students, then it is their choice. Of course, I am far less likely to assist a student who spent more time chatting (on line or off) than a student really working to master the material.
Naw, the silk is being manufactured from milking herds of engineered African Pygmy Goats. And I thought venomless bees were cool.
Finally, people are getting serious about forward engineering life. When can I get a chairdog?
Double and triple check your systems, including servers, workstations, laptops and any remote installations (teleworkers, etc).
Great advice, but after determining that you have not violated any software licenses, merely document the audit, communicate a denial, and stop there. There is no need to either harass your employees or bend over for Borland. Very simply, Borland is not going to give you a penny for an internal audit. They will claim, correctly, that legal compliance is your responsibility. You will be stuck with the bill. In addition, requiring employees to make verbal or written statements offers little legal protection and will send a clear message of mistrust to your own people. Does your company already have an employee handbook with a policy on pirated software? If so, then a simple emailed memo reminding the employees of this fact (or stating this policy) will add to your documentation without sacrificing employee moral. As an employer, I would not consider sacrificing trust for Borland.
You have already responded correctly. You investigated the accusation, determined that it is incorrect, and communicated your position. They are fishing, which is exactly what licensing officers get paid to do. Ignore them.
...As your website mentions analysis of pathogen load, [your company] may
require a license in at least one field, most like that of Quality
Assurance/Quality Control Testing, although I would need more information
regarding the types of samples being analyzed to determine this.
I run a biotech company and received a similar communication on Christmas Eve [Merry Christmas]:
You may not be aware that [technique] is a patented process and that performing [technique]-based service assays for third parties (or internal quality control) requires a license under patents owned by [company A]. [company B] has the exclusive right to grant licenses for this purpose in certain fields
1. A license issuance fee of US$10,000.00, which is fully creditable against the first year's royalties;
2. A royalty of 15% of the net selling price for all [technique]-based services;
3. The requirement that all such testing be carried out using Authorized [technique equipment] purchased from a licensed source;
4. Quarterly reporting of all [technique]-based services performed, along with payment of royalties.
Since we have over 115 licensees worldwide, the terms and conditions are not negotiable.[We are Borg...]
[Finally, the accusation:]
As a matter of fact, my company does not offer pathogen load testing for QA/QC, or any other service requiring a license as per their defined criteria. I responded once, and unless we offer relevant services in the future, I will not respond to further letters. They can fish elsewhere.
I had a manager, I'll call him Dr. B, who knew next to nothing about anything IT related. But Dr. B. was an ex-professor, had a doctorate in biology, and had a brother who was a programmer. Biggest blowhard and control freak I have ever met. Dr. B. simply could not help but insert himself into every aspect of every effort. He simply could not back off, even when given a direct order by the CEO not to get involved and not to introduce feature creep. The entire group (bioinformatics) was finally removed from under his supervision... and still he managed to bog us down. I finally left for a more reasonable work environment. I have been designing a much better system as therapy and will open source it as revenge! (twitter-flinch-shake)
The really interesting thing here is the ability to study a human stem cell in the context of an experimental organism. Working in mice offers huge advantages: the mouse genome has been sequenced, gene expression systems for every mouse gene will be available within a year, there are already a large number of inbred and engineered strains, and there is a large body of literature around mouse embryology itself.
A system like this can will allow for significant insight into human biology.
I use a a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. I am fortunate to live in a city with bountiful open wireless nodes, which I mapped out on bicycle with the kismet/kismet-qt WLAN sniffer. I mostly use the PDA to ssh to my servers and check my mail. I have even scripted out and submitted batch jobs for my cluster. I occasionally take it to a cafe and read /., but the WLAN card knocks the battery life from ~8 down to ~1.2 hours. I only take a laptop along when I know I'm going to code. I like the weight reduction, since I go everywhere by bike.
This experiment is very exciting for many reasons, but the modeling aspects alone make it worth while. Just following the up and down regulation of thousands of genes is an overwhelming burden. Modeling/visualizing the entire cell network with the normal complement of entities would be fantastically difficult. Simplification through gene reduction is a fundamentally important first step.
Hmmm... a lot of trees will die if Boehringer Mannheim tries to print this one out (a la biochemical pathways).
Ah yes, once again you lower the bar: No, but it is and indication that you are suffering from paranoid delusions. Do you really think that the EPA is out to contaminate your food supply? Do you think they are also responsible for fluoride in your drinking water?
Whoa there! It is classical breeding, specifically hybrid production, that has been narrowing the gene pool. Do you think that those huge mono-culture fields are GMOs? You really need to get your facts straight.
"Let loose" in the environment like the European Honey Bee in North America, the single reason why hundreds of native solitary bee species can no longer be found? How about feral pigs, donkeys, non-native grasses and weeds and the huge amount of damage they have caused?
The introduction of pests is hardly the result of genetic engineering, rather the byproduct of traditional agriculture and other human activity. How does the highly selective introduction of individual genes in pre-existing agricultural species alter the risk of creating feral populations? Really, please explain the mechanism of this enhanced risk.
The reason that some GMO specific tests and controls are mostly voluntary is that environmental protection agencies recognize that there is no significant risk to the environment or food supply. You see, they rely on rational risk assessment rather than blatant propaganda and fear tactics.