At any given instant, the retina can resolve a contrast ratio of around 100:1 (about 6 1/2 stops). As soon as your eye moves (saccades) it re-adjusts its exposure both chemically and by adjusting the iris. Hence, over time, you can resolve a contrast ratio of about 1,000,000:1 (about 20 stops)."
So the eye is just the light sensing device and your brain can analyse the composited images -that all have a different focus - with a perception of up to 1 000 000:1...
then an addendum " Saccades
Saccades are rapid refocussing actions of the eyes. Many animals are able to quickly look at a point in space (prompted by memory, peripheral vision or an audio cue) without actively looking at anything in between. The eyes simply jerk into a new position. Saccades move the eye at up to 900/s in adult humans. "
"you see the church over there ? go the fuck out my office and go pray for the continuity of your employment ! Where doing business here, not preaching!"
You reap what you sow, etc... Also, can you please explain how to conciliate those two sentences : "it's at-will employment. Anyone can leave or be fired, anytime." "It's a pretty serious betrayal"
It's not a trust party, it's a business. There is no betrayal, there is "Research unit matrix conservation"
"Heck bringing along the entire R&D dept in his back pocket to make his transition to Yahoo a slam-dunk is clearly going to far"
At least he drove his point to the ex-manager that now have a 25% unfinished project and a lone researcher that was so nerdy his co-workers didn't tell him of the switch plan.
Actually it's nice seing a company getting fucked up by it's employees, instead of the usual reverse... You've been fucked off. Resistance is Futile, Pass the KY you will be ass-imilated.
Use of poisoning techniques in the various serach engines are a cheap way to drive down a brand or name, but hey, it's also, basically, your brand too...so don't burn yourself out at the same time
Filing a complaint - there should be a way for each netizen to do so - to the icaan if it's the only choice you have, or trying directly with their registrar...
Or you just send a nice cease-or-desist letter (don't know where you are so ymmv) and threaten to act this, and see whats happens...don't speak to the (possibly) dishonest person , try with the next person that can do something...like the ISP or the registrar he signed with, etc...
Going straight to the international board might be a bit to the top...as a first move...
if the local registrar show any willingness to help, the look with your local Trade Court, or first level justice system (small claims in the US I think)...
Clearly update your own metadata, update your web presence by allowing more data to the bots, etc is one thing - differentiate yourself from the ad-banner guy
Once you have a population that is teached how to read, you can think about laptops and such...
I remember one beautifull idea, late medieval times, a scholar thinking hard and long on how to increase his people minds so they can elevate themselves further from the dark ages.
He thought it started by learning how to read and write, so he created a full method to learn how to read from scratch.
He then distributed it as... a book, to be given directly to the illiterates, that couldn't read...
The countries that are possibly going to get those laptops are both pauper-full and already quite litterate. So laptops are the next possible step... if you also propose a cheap as dirt access to data... and access to Gutemberg Library and other dirt cheap education materials.
Otherwise you will get a generation of young, litterate people that all have the same litterary backgound : the comments of the linux kernel and their local education softwares.
OTOH, a full generation of Linux Teens Geeks could also be considered as a great locust plague on those poor peoples that only just got enough to feed themselves......
1/ don't sleep for at least 36 hours 2 / go to work on monday, having taken something to prevent sleep 3 / early in the afternoon, your colleagues will all encourage you going to the doctor, as you've been a bitch of a zombie to deal with 4 / see the doctor, be constructive, get 15 days off work - renewable 5 / Profit(or)
Well, just sign SEE ID on the receipt, ask him if it is a match, and if he refuse, tell him that even if you have a funny signature his job is just to confirm it matches...
On the next card you get you could even draw a funny cartoon character and it would still be legit, as long as you can reproduce it everytime.
In France we had Pin and Chip for 15-20 years minimum, so almost nobody checks your card, as long as the Pin is ok, you're kosher.
The Subway and Buses in Paris uses a RFID contactless scanner and I have had mine for more than a year.
I quite like it, except for the bloody tourists trying to find a hole to put their ticket on a hole-less RFID reader.
Also sometime (in the buses) the RFID Reader won't scan, so you just show the card to the driver...Good to see they have a backup plan...
All the packets marked as http, mix in some encryption, use Freenet code as a basis and Bittorrent/TOR for distribution...
You won't have the same p2p as we know it, but at least we won't have to get some news about RIAA members pursuing file sharers AND buying the data from p2p trade analysts...
For the upstream part, maybe you could gain "points" that would win you free mp3s, extra video, etc... At least, they won't ask me to give bandwith "for my own good"...
But I think you're right. iTunes and allofmp3 got it right.
Me ? I stream radio from the net. I have access to all the music I want, and didn't get to buy a cd in ages...
Also I rent dvds, learned to cook, and keep my money for the important things (eh...taxes ? insurance ? 500 gig hdd ?)
I even get japanese Anime and "best of the world" selection of tv series...As long as I'm watching TV, at least I get to choose what I see... Being polyglot helps, but so many people sub what I want that didn't get to learn japanese yet.
Of course I don't get the knowledge about the latest innovation in washing powder, but, hell, you have to lose some...
Here is the front page of methlabs...not so much data, just a few hints all is not kosher... I really like the first sentence, saying some member revolted against the whole P2P community...
Either the poster is really trying to cover his back, or he is rally in the middle of something...
"Methlabs Update September 16th, 2005 by Administrator
Dear Methlabs and P2P Community,
Recently, we had several former staff members revolt against the entire P2P community as a whole. They tried to sabatoge Methlabs and attempted to wipe the Methlabs server of all its data.
Unfortunately, they gained access to site backups. In doing so, your passwords may have been compromised, although they are MD5 encrypted. We would like to you login to the Methlabs forums (http://methlabs.org/forums/) and change your password. We sincerely apologize for this issue.
As of right now, the Methlabs site is back online, although forum posts from the past month have been lost.
Since all the data was stolen by former staff members, YOU MAY RECIEVE FAKE EMAILS that look like they are from Methlabs. If they do not come from the Methlabs.org domain and from our email servers, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.
We assure you that Methlabs development will continue, and ALL OFFICIAL PROGRAMS MUST be downloaded directly from Methlabs.org . Assume that all other sites contain spyware or malicious code which may not be directly trusted.
To update everyone on the current situation, there has been some news going around the Internet of a revolt which happened in Methlabs. This is hearsay. The current real news is that PeerGuardian development and Blocklist development is on schedule, and Blocklist should be out of Beta within the next week or so.
Please spread the word that Methlabs.org is ALIVE and DO NOT believe or TRUST any emails that do not come directly from Methlabs.org and our mail servers. These emails are from disgruntled staff members trying to hurt the P2P community as a whole.
We apoligize for the current situation. Please visit http://methlabs.org/ for OFFICIAL updates, and help us spread the word!
1/I take the nice package 2/I Biff the "1 use only" mention 3/I put my initials on the correction 4/I open the package
Voila !
I didn't accept this part of the contract, I dutifuly notified the other party the same way they notified me, put in the correction I wanted and authenticated it...
Now, when I open this pack, Lexmark is legaly bound to the notification I made... (Yeah, I know, this is stupid, but if it works in one direction, it should work in the other...that's the beauty on the juridic system : you can be two playing at being idiots...)
Also, if they just put a patent on the "one use only" system, I'm sure the Condoms industry can come up with some prior art...
So the next question is : who defines what is illegal ?
Illegal meaning against the law, it's you government that should be deciding (with you help - sic) what is illegal...Not Sony and Disney (re-sic)...
Also, in the dvd mods I've seen, there are some people modifying the audio part of their dvd to get a better quality output just by changing a few parts...
From the companies point of view, you just didn't buy the more expensive model that have a better sound, and that should be illegal !!! You make them lose business here !!!
Also, region locking is illegal in some countries, and has never been brought to court in the other...
My dvd player is unlocked, and I am happy to buy from another country a dvd that I want. I'm quite sure this is covered under the free trade agreements that almost everybody signed...
The only problem is that to execute my rights, I might have to go to court, which, as a "nobody", means betting all I got on the court...So my best chance is to join the EFF or some other big association and hope my problem will be taken to court by them...
OR I could gently tell my deputy that this and this is illegal and should be forbidden to the companies, and, as this is an ideal world, he will hear me and act on it (LOL)...
"On occasion one of these ants, while looking for food is infected by inhaling a microscopic spore from a fungus of the genus Tomentella. After being inhaled, the spore seats in the ant's tiny brain and begins to grow, causing changes in the ant's patterns of behavior. The Ant appears troubled and confused; for the first time in its life the ant leaves the forest floor and begins to climb.
Driven on by the growth of the fungus, the ant embarks on a long and exhaustive climb. Completely spent and having reached a prescribed height, the ant impales the plant with its mandibles. Thus affixed, the ant waits to die. Ants that have met their ends in this fashion are quite common in some sections of the forest.
The fungus continues to consume first the nerve cells and finally all the soft tissue that remains of the ant. After approximately two weeks a spike appears from what had been the head of the ant. This spike is about an inch and a half in length and has a bright orange tip heavy with spores which rain down onto the rain forest floor for other unsuspecting ants to inhale. "
If you go looking for the Megaloponera foetens, you'll find that the information all seems to trace back to a single source, the Museum of Jurassic Technology : http://www.mjt.org/index.html
Sorry, I was wrong on that one...more explaination here :
http://workforce.cup.edu/buckelew/dicrocoelium_den driticum_is_a_bi.htm "Dicrocoelium dendriticum is a bile duct fluke of ruminants such as sheep, goats and deer as well as pigs. It is often referred to as the lancet fluke because of its blade-like form. It stands apart from most trematodes since it has a land-based life cycle. The definitive host's feces contain contain miracidia which do not hatch until after they are eaten by the first intermediate host, a land snail, such as Cionella lubrica in the U. S. and other species elsewhere. The miracidium emerges inside the intestine of the snail and metamorphoses into a sporocyst in the digestive gland. Daughter sporocysts are produced within the mother sporocyst and in turn produce xiphidiocercaria which are characterized by having a stylet inside the mouth and tails, normal features of aquatic cercaria, despite the fact they terrestrial. After around 90 days post-infection, cercarial production fills the mantle cavity known as the lung of these air-breathing snails. The cercaria irritate the delicate tissues of the lung, resulting in the defensive production of mucous by the snail. The infestation of the lung, causes the snail to cough, expelling mucous, laden with cercaria into its slime trail. As the slime dries, the exterior hardens, protecting the cercaria from dessication. The second intermediate host is the common brown ant, Formica fusca in North America. The ants gather the slime balls containing cercaria and feed it to their developing larvae. Metacercaria develop in the hemocoel of the ant and are infective to any definitive host which may accidentally ingest ants while grazing. One or two of the encysted metacercaria encyst in the subesophageal ganglion, one portion of the ant brain, and there, remarkably alter the ant's behavior, increasing its chances of being eaten by the definitive host. Ants normally retreat to their burrows as the day cools in the late afternoon to evening and remain there till mid-day when the surface of the soil warms. However, infected ants climb to the ends of blades of grass, clinging by their mandibles, during periods of cool when their hivemates have retreated to their burrows. The consequences of this antithetical behavior is that the ant becomes a prime target of accidental predation by the grazer. Upon ingestion by the definitive host, the metacercaria excyst in the duodenum and migrate up the common bile duct to the liver. The adult fluke matures in 6-7 weeks, producing egg capsules about a month later. "
As far as parasistic behaviour go, I have a peculiar liking for "La petite Douve du Foie" : Dicrocoelium dendriticum (the lancet liver fluke)
"Dicrocoelium dendriticum is called the lancet liver fluke because of its characteristic shape. Unlike most other digenetic trematodes whose life cycles involve aquatic or marine hosts, the life cycle of this parasite is completely terrestrial involving a terrestrial snail as the first intermediate host and an ant as the second intermediate host. The definitive host, which includes sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and humans (rarely), is infected when it ingests ants that are infected with metacercariae (view diagram of the life cycle). In the definitive host the parasite migrates into the bile duct and causes pathology similar to that caused by Clonorchis sinensis. This parasite is distributed throughout much of Europe and Asia, and it is also found in parts of North America and Australia."http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~paras ite/dicrocoelium.html
What is most interesting with Dicrocoelium dendriticum is that it hijacks the ant and make it climb on grass during full daylight and hold tight with it's mandible so it has a greatest chance of being eaten by a passing sheep - quite un-ant like..
if the ant is not successfull in its "suicide" it will do the same thing day after day until the larva dies or it is eaten...
Google a bit for the term Aryan before commenting please...
What was that sentence ? ah, yes : I don't think it means, what you think it means...
Also, your answer could participate in favor of the long stanging argument on eugenics (which means selection by breeding of certain specific, desirable traits, like we do with cattle...=>
* Eugenics (from the Greek, for "well-born") is a philosophy which advocates the manipulation of human reproduction for the purposes of attempting to improve the human species over generations in regards to hereditary features. The term was coined in 1883 by Sir Francis Galton (though the idea had been put forward by Galton some time before), and eventually came to encompass the idea of using social policies which fell into the categories of "positive".... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenic
it's not a gene, but a (some) chromosome that is used in differenciating different genetic population across the human genome. (My fault, really, for failling to use the right word... I keep forgetting this is slashdot....)
The most easy to use are the X and Y chromosome, which allow you to differentiate the people as belonging to different haplogroups and the intermixing thereof, then after studying the specific ADN mitochondrial on those two chomosome and adding some data using the blood groups distribution, you can get a good idea of the various migrations and from what specific stocks they come from (hope the technobabble won't confuse you overmuch...)
To get to the point, when Europe was under an Ice Age from 20000 to 13000 years ago, middle europe was almost emptied of its human population - people went mostly to Ukraine (Balkans) and the Aquitano-Pyrennean zone to escape the freezing.
Later on the migrant flux from the balkans to old europe where a mix from the asiatic (hindi/Aryan) stock that had melanged with the basic european (caucasian, reminds you some ?) stock that took refuge in the south-east europe.
This flux met the one coming from Spain and Pyrenees and intermixed somewhat.
The Neanderthalic population that had retreated into the mountain was more and more isolated as the migratory flux was avoiding their inhospitable part of the mountain except for the usual human predatory habits. This caused some inbreeding, and also the reinforcement of certain genetic straits in the population marking them further apart from the rest.
As for the gene thingy you mentionned, please remember that the human genome is 26,000 genes big, and that your closest relative (the chimpazee) is 99.7% compatible genetically, meaning only 78 genes are separating you from a small furry arboreal creature, possibly less if we take into consideration your stellar answer 8p
Also to take in consideration are linguistic studies that tend to prove that the basque language is arount 8000 years old and has survived without alteration from that time, meaning that hearing two basque people speaking brings you back to the time when Neanderthals and Homo-sapiens were still contemporary.
So, the Basques people have some specific genetic markings that are unique when compared to other migratory flux in europe, are the only representants of that particular genetic stock, are using a language that can be traced back quite some time that has no relation whatsoever with anything else you can hear...when all other language in the region belong to proved homo-sapiens stocks...
Thay are not a different species, just a branch having kept some archaic vestiges of our genetic past...and possibly are the sole descendants of Neanderthals, or a human example of genetic deviation due to long term isolation...
Now make your own mind, do some research, I hope I gave you enough to make you interested in the subject at least....
Last time I had a look at security systems for cars, I saw a company specializing is car RFIDs -> passive system...
Thay have specialized readers installed at all Highway payment booth and all borders, so you cannot sniff the GPS emission and also cannot use the fast roads and/or export the car as is.
Which is why the Joy Riders have more and more problem finding a ride in a decent car, and why the Pros just tow the car away and sell them for parts.
IANAA (I am no an Archeologist) but from what I have learned when younger, there is the possibility that the last descendants of Neanderthal to be the Basque People.
They way my history teacher told it, it seems that Homo sapiens took the best places and competed with Neanderthal on most things.
After some time, the Neanderthals retreated to a somewhat inhospitable region in southern france, high across the Pyrenees Mountains and evolved there for some time.
That theory was later confirmed by the Biology teacher that taught us that ther basques had an differentiator gene that was different from other people of the same area.
Also, the basque language is different from anything you ever heard, having no common root with latin, greek, german nor latin nor eastern form of speech (hindi...)
So they taught us at least. Maybe the basques are not of neanderthal stock, but there is a certainty that they are from an isolated genetic stock that evolved for some time in autarcy.
BTW, I'm happy to remind you that if you are american, you are most certainly of european stock; be it Frog, Brit or Kraut, you all evolved (mutated in some cases) to become the americans...
A good proof for the christian anti-darwinists that it is not always the fittest that survive...
Anyone else thinking about using the tech to learn something about "the grammar of DNA"?
If they can use it for analysing proteine sequences, maybe they can tackle "the grammar of Life" and kickstart the whole Bioengeenering sector into a new life...
OTOH, the integrist christians will probably denounce this as an evil thing...
Slashdot Mirror
"Dynamic Range
At any given instant, the retina can resolve a contrast ratio of around 100:1 (about 6 1/2 stops). As soon as your eye moves (saccades) it re-adjusts its exposure both chemically and by adjusting the iris. Hence, over time, you can resolve a contrast ratio of about 1,000,000:1 (about 20 stops)."
So the eye is just the light sensing device and your brain can analyse the composited images -that all have a different focus - with a perception of up to 1 000 000:1...
then an addendum
"
Saccades
Saccades are rapid refocussing actions of the eyes. Many animals are able to quickly look at a point in space (prompted by memory, peripheral vision or an audio cue) without actively looking at anything in between. The eyes simply jerk into a new position. Saccades move the eye at up to 900/s in adult humans.
"
"you see the church over there ? go the fuck out my office and go pray for the continuity of your employment ! Where doing business here, not preaching!"
You reap what you sow, etc...
Also, can you please explain how to conciliate those two sentences :
"it's at-will employment. Anyone can leave or be fired, anytime."
"It's a pretty serious betrayal"
It's not a trust party, it's a business. There is no betrayal, there is "Research unit matrix conservation"
"Heck bringing along the entire R&D dept in his back pocket to make his transition to Yahoo a slam-dunk is clearly going to far"
At least he drove his point to the ex-manager that now have a 25% unfinished project and a lone researcher that was so nerdy his co-workers didn't tell him of the switch plan.
Actually it's nice seing a company getting fucked up by it's employees, instead of the usual reverse...
You've been fucked off. Resistance is Futile, Pass the KY you will be ass-imilated.
Scarp Machiavelli, go for the original : http://www.kimsoft.com/polwar.htm
...
SUN TZU is a great reading when going to the cubicle battle, and you will find lots of insights
Use of poisoning techniques in the various serach engines are a cheap way to drive down a brand or name, but hey, it's also, basically, your brand too...so don't burn yourself out at the same time
...
Filing a complaint - there should be a way for each netizen to do so - to the icaan if it's the only choice you have, or trying directly with their registrar
Or you just send a nice cease-or-desist letter (don't know where you are so ymmv) and threaten to act this, and see whats happens...don't speak to the (possibly) dishonest person , try with the next person that can do something...like the ISP or the registrar he signed with, etc...
Going straight to the international board might be a bit to the top...as a first move...
if the local registrar show any willingness to help, the look with your local Trade Court, or first level justice system (small claims in the US I think)...
Clearly update your own metadata, update your web presence by allowing more data to the bots, etc is one thing - differentiate yourself from the ad-banner guy
and good luck...
Maybe you can start by teaching them to read...
... a book, to be given directly to the illiterates, that couldn't read...
Once you have a population that is teached how to read, you can think about laptops and such...
I remember one beautifull idea, late medieval times, a scholar thinking hard and long on how to increase his people minds so they can elevate themselves further from the dark ages.
He thought it started by learning how to read and write, so he created a full method to learn how to read from scratch.
He then distributed it as
The countries that are possibly going to get those laptops are both pauper-full and already quite litterate. So laptops are the next possible step... if you also propose a cheap as dirt access to data... and access to Gutemberg Library and other dirt cheap education materials.
Otherwise you will get a generation of young, litterate people that all have the same litterary backgound : the comments of the linux kernel and their local education softwares.
OTOH, a full generation of Linux Teens Geeks could also be considered as a great locust plague on those poor peoples that only just got enough to feed themselves......
1/ don't sleep for at least 36 hours
2 / go to work on monday, having taken something to prevent sleep
3 / early in the afternoon, your colleagues will all encourage you going to the doctor, as you've been a bitch of a zombie to deal with
4 / see the doctor, be constructive, get 15 days off work - renewable
5 / Profit(or)
(Depends on your local ruels of unemployement...
right now the problem they have is the load on the torrent tracker...
the one they show for demo is already on "too many connections" mode...
So, a bittorrent to access the tracker to get a torrent ?
Well, just sign SEE ID on the receipt, ask him if it is a match, and if he refuse, tell him that even if you have a funny signature his job is just to confirm it matches...
On the next card you get you could even draw a funny cartoon character and it would still be legit, as long as you can reproduce it everytime.
In France we had Pin and Chip for 15-20 years minimum, so almost nobody checks your card, as long as the Pin is ok, you're kosher.
The Subway and Buses in Paris uses a RFID contactless scanner and I have had mine for more than a year.
I quite like it, except for the bloody tourists trying to find a hole to put their ticket on a hole-less RFID reader.
Also sometime (in the buses) the RFID Reader won't scan, so you just show the card to the driver...Good to see they have a backup plan...
welcome our new P2P Darknets Overlords....
...
...
...As long as I'm watching TV, at least I get to choose what I see... Being polyglot helps, but so many people sub what I want that didn't get to learn japanese yet.
All the packets marked as http, mix in some encryption, use Freenet code as a basis and Bittorrent/TOR for distribution
You won't have the same p2p as we know it, but at least we won't have to get some news about RIAA members pursuing file sharers AND buying the data from p2p trade analysts...
For the upstream part, maybe you could gain "points" that would win you free mp3s, extra video, etc... At least, they won't ask me to give bandwith "for my own good"...
But I think you're right. iTunes and allofmp3 got it right.
Me ? I stream radio from the net.
I have access to all the music I want, and didn't get to buy a cd in ages
Also I rent dvds, learned to cook, and keep my money for the important things (eh...taxes ? insurance ? 500 gig hdd ?)
I even get japanese Anime and "best of the world" selection of tv series
Of course I don't get the knowledge about the latest innovation in washing powder, but, hell, you have to lose some...
Here is the front page of methlabs...not so much data, just a few hints all is not kosher...
I really like the first sentence, saying some member revolted against the whole P2P community...
Either the poster is really trying to cover his back, or he is rally in the middle of something...
"Methlabs Update
September 16th, 2005 by Administrator
Dear Methlabs and P2P Community,
Recently, we had several former staff members revolt against the entire P2P community as a whole. They tried to sabatoge Methlabs and attempted to wipe the Methlabs server of all its data.
Unfortunately, they gained access to site backups. In doing so, your passwords may have been compromised, although they are MD5 encrypted. We would like to you login to the Methlabs forums (http://methlabs.org/forums/) and change your password. We sincerely apologize for this issue.
As of right now, the Methlabs site is back online, although forum posts from the past month have been lost.
Since all the data was stolen by former staff members, YOU MAY RECIEVE FAKE EMAILS that look like they are from Methlabs. If they do not come from the Methlabs.org domain and from our email servers, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.
We assure you that Methlabs development will continue, and ALL OFFICIAL PROGRAMS MUST be downloaded directly from Methlabs.org . Assume that all other sites contain spyware or malicious code which may not be directly trusted.
To update everyone on the current situation, there has been some news going around the Internet of a revolt which happened in Methlabs. This is hearsay. The current real news is that PeerGuardian development and Blocklist development is on schedule, and Blocklist should be out of Beta within the next week or so.
Please spread the word that Methlabs.org is ALIVE and DO NOT believe or TRUST any emails that do not come directly from Methlabs.org and our mail servers. These emails are from disgruntled staff members trying to hurt the P2P community as a whole.
We apoligize for the current situation. Please visit http://methlabs.org/ for OFFICIAL updates, and help us spread the word!
- The Methlabs Team
"
And they'll be hosting the fishing and the diving conventions just next week, while they can still enjoy the aquatic life...
1/I take the nice package
...
2/I Biff the "1 use only" mention
3/I put my initials on the correction
4/I open the package
Voila !
I didn't accept this part of the contract, I dutifuly notified the other party the same way they notified me, put in the correction I wanted and authenticated it...
Now, when I open this pack, Lexmark is legaly bound to the notification I made
(Yeah, I know, this is stupid, but if it works in one direction, it should work in the other...that's the beauty on the juridic system : you can be two playing at being idiots...)
Also, if they just put a patent on the "one use only" system, I'm sure the Condoms industry can come up with some prior art...
So the next question is : who defines what is illegal ?
Illegal meaning against the law, it's you government that should be deciding (with you help - sic) what is illegal...Not Sony and Disney (re-sic)...
Also, in the dvd mods I've seen, there are some people modifying the audio part of their dvd to get a better quality output just by changing a few parts...
From the companies point of view, you just didn't buy the more expensive model that have a better sound, and that should be illegal !!! You make them lose business here !!!
Also, region locking is illegal in some countries, and has never been brought to court in the other...
My dvd player is unlocked, and I am happy to buy from another country a dvd that I want. I'm quite sure this is covered under the free trade agreements that almost everybody signed...
The only problem is that to execute my rights, I might have to go to court, which, as a "nobody", means betting all I got on the court...So my best chance is to join the EFF or some other big association and hope my problem will be taken to court by them...
OR I could gently tell my deputy that this and this is illegal and should be forbidden to the companies, and, as this is an ideal world, he will hear me and act on it (LOL)...
http://www.mememachinego.com/archives/001484.html
"On occasion one of these ants, while looking for food is infected by inhaling a microscopic spore from a fungus of the genus Tomentella. After being inhaled, the spore seats in the ant's tiny brain and begins to grow, causing changes in the ant's patterns of behavior. The Ant appears troubled and confused; for the first time in its life the ant leaves the forest floor and begins to climb.
Driven on by the growth of the fungus, the ant embarks on a long and exhaustive climb. Completely spent and having reached a prescribed height, the ant impales the plant with its mandibles. Thus affixed, the ant waits to die. Ants that have met their ends in this fashion are quite common in some sections of the forest.
The fungus continues to consume first the nerve cells and finally all the soft tissue that remains of the ant. After approximately two weeks a spike appears from what had been the head of the ant. This spike is about an inch and a half in length and has a bright orange tip heavy with spores which rain down onto the rain forest floor for other unsuspecting ants to inhale. "
If you go looking for the Megaloponera foetens, you'll find that the information all seems to trace back to a single source, the Museum of Jurassic Technology : http://www.mjt.org/index.html
Sorry, I was wrong on that one...more explaination here :
n driticum_is_a_bi.htm
http://workforce.cup.edu/buckelew/dicrocoelium_de
"Dicrocoelium dendriticum is a bile duct fluke of ruminants such as sheep, goats and deer as well as pigs. It is often referred to as the lancet fluke because of its blade-like form. It stands apart from most trematodes since it has a land-based life cycle. The definitive host's feces contain contain miracidia which do not hatch until after they are eaten by the first intermediate host, a land snail, such as Cionella lubrica in the U. S. and other species elsewhere. The miracidium emerges inside the intestine of the snail and metamorphoses into a sporocyst in the digestive gland. Daughter sporocysts are produced within the mother sporocyst and in turn produce xiphidiocercaria which are characterized by having a stylet inside the mouth and tails, normal features of aquatic cercaria, despite the fact they terrestrial. After around 90 days post-infection, cercarial production fills the mantle cavity known as the lung of these air-breathing snails. The cercaria irritate the delicate tissues of the lung, resulting in the defensive production of mucous by the snail. The infestation of the lung, causes the snail to cough, expelling mucous, laden with cercaria into its slime trail. As the slime dries, the exterior hardens, protecting the cercaria from dessication. The second intermediate host is the common brown ant, Formica fusca in North America. The ants gather the slime balls containing cercaria and feed it to their developing larvae. Metacercaria develop in the hemocoel of the ant and are infective to any definitive host which may accidentally ingest ants while grazing. One or two of the encysted metacercaria encyst in the subesophageal ganglion, one portion of the ant brain, and there, remarkably alter the ant's behavior, increasing its chances of being eaten by the definitive host. Ants normally retreat to their burrows as the day cools in the late afternoon to evening and remain there till mid-day when the surface of the soil warms. However, infected ants climb to the ends of blades of grass, clinging by their mandibles, during periods of cool when their hivemates have retreated to their burrows. The consequences of this antithetical behavior is that the ant becomes a prime target of accidental predation by the grazer. Upon ingestion by the definitive host, the metacercaria excyst in the duodenum and migrate up the common bile duct to the liver. The adult fluke matures in 6-7 weeks, producing egg capsules about a month later. "
http://www.cnrs.fr/Cnrspresse/Archives/n347a2.html
p df) from July 2002 explainig how this research we just learned from came to be......
s ite/dicrocoelium.html
Paper is dated from 1997, so it's not such a news item.
You can also peruse the full pdf (http://www.cnrs.fr/Cnrspresse/n403/pdf/n403rd09.
As far as parasistic behaviour go, I have a peculiar liking for "La petite Douve du Foie" :
Dicrocoelium dendriticum (the lancet liver fluke)
"Dicrocoelium dendriticum is called the lancet liver fluke because of its characteristic shape. Unlike most other digenetic trematodes whose life cycles involve aquatic or marine hosts, the life cycle of this parasite is completely terrestrial involving a terrestrial snail as the first intermediate host and an ant as the second intermediate host. The definitive host, which includes sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and humans (rarely), is infected when it ingests ants that are infected with metacercariae (view diagram of the life cycle). In the definitive host the parasite migrates into the bile duct and causes pathology similar to that caused by Clonorchis sinensis. This parasite is distributed throughout much of Europe and Asia, and it is also found in parts of North America and Australia."http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~para
What is most interesting with Dicrocoelium dendriticum is that it hijacks the ant and make it climb on grass during full daylight and hold tight with it's mandible so it has a greatest chance of being eaten by a passing sheep - quite un-ant like..
if the ant is not successfull in its "suicide" it will do the same thing day after day until the larva dies or it is eaten...
when you gotta need a nice pair of designer rubber boots...
science news from yesterday...
I'm definately not that up to date 8)
thx for not flaming me, slashdot feels lonely sometimes, when you're feeding the trolls 8)
Google a bit for the term Aryan before commenting please...
....
What was that sentence ? ah, yes : I don't think it means, what you think it means...
Also, your answer could participate in favor of the long stanging argument on eugenics (which means selection by breeding of certain specific, desirable traits, like we do with cattle...=>
* pertaining to or causing improvement in the offspring produced
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn2.1
* Eugenics (from the Greek, for "well-born") is a philosophy which advocates the manipulation of human reproduction for the purposes of attempting to improve the human species over generations in regards to hereditary features. The term was coined in 1883 by Sir Francis Galton (though the idea had been put forward by Galton some time before), and eventually came to encompass the idea of using social policies which fell into the categories of "positive"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenic
Not being an USA citizen, I had the impression that Indians are a minority, and that most of the population came from old-continent migration...
Might be mistaken, for sure, and my post was perhaps a little bit too simplifying the facts, but then this is slashdot 8)
it's not a gene, but a (some) chromosome that is used in differenciating different genetic population across the human genome. (My fault, really, for failling to use the right word... I keep forgetting this is slashdot....)
The most easy to use are the X and Y chromosome, which allow you to differentiate the people as belonging to different haplogroups and the intermixing thereof, then after studying the specific ADN mitochondrial on those two chomosome and adding some data using the blood groups distribution, you can get a good idea of the various migrations and from what specific stocks they come from (hope the technobabble won't confuse you overmuch...)
To get to the point, when Europe was under an Ice Age from 20000 to 13000 years ago, middle europe was almost emptied of its human population - people went mostly to Ukraine (Balkans) and the Aquitano-Pyrennean zone to escape the freezing.
Later on the migrant flux from the balkans to old europe where a mix from the asiatic (hindi/Aryan) stock that had melanged with the basic european (caucasian, reminds you some ?) stock that took refuge in the south-east europe.
This flux met the one coming from Spain and Pyrenees and intermixed somewhat.
The Neanderthalic population that had retreated into the mountain was more and more isolated as the migratory flux was avoiding their inhospitable part of the mountain except for the usual human predatory habits. This caused some inbreeding, and also the reinforcement of certain genetic straits in the population marking them further apart from the rest.
As for the gene thingy you mentionned, please remember that the human genome is 26,000 genes big, and that your closest relative (the chimpazee) is 99.7% compatible genetically, meaning only 78 genes are separating you from a small furry arboreal creature, possibly less if we take into consideration your stellar answer 8p
Also to take in consideration are linguistic studies that tend to prove that the basque language is arount 8000 years old and has survived without alteration from that time, meaning that hearing two basque people speaking brings you back to the time when Neanderthals and Homo-sapiens were still contemporary.
So, the Basques people have some specific genetic markings that are unique when compared to other migratory flux in europe, are the only representants of that particular genetic stock, are using a language that can be traced back quite some time that has no relation whatsoever with anything else you can hear...when all other language in the region belong to proved homo-sapiens stocks...
Thay are not a different species, just a branch having kept some archaic vestiges of our genetic past...and possibly are the sole descendants of Neanderthals, or a human example of genetic deviation due to long term isolation...
Now make your own mind, do some research, I hope I gave you enough to make you interested in the subject at least....
Last time I had a look at security systems for cars, I saw a company specializing is car RFIDs -> passive system...
Thay have specialized readers installed at all Highway payment booth and all borders, so you cannot sniff the GPS emission and also cannot use the fast roads and/or export the car as is.
Which is why the Joy Riders have more and more problem finding a ride in a decent car, and why the Pros just tow the car away and sell them for parts.
IANAA (I am no an Archeologist) but from what I have learned when younger, there is the possibility that the last descendants of Neanderthal to be the Basque People.
They way my history teacher told it, it seems that Homo sapiens took the best places and competed with Neanderthal on most things.
After some time, the Neanderthals retreated to a somewhat inhospitable region in southern france, high across the Pyrenees Mountains and evolved there for some time.
That theory was later confirmed by the Biology teacher that taught us that ther basques had an differentiator gene that was different from other people of the same area.
Also, the basque language is different from anything you ever heard, having no common root with latin, greek, german nor latin nor eastern form of speech (hindi...)
So they taught us at least. Maybe the basques are not of neanderthal stock, but there is a certainty that they are from an isolated genetic stock that evolved for some time in autarcy.
BTW, I'm happy to remind you that if you are american, you are most certainly of european stock; be it Frog, Brit or Kraut, you all evolved (mutated in some cases) to become the americans...
A good proof for the christian anti-darwinists that it is not always the fittest that survive...
Anyone else thinking about using the tech to learn something about "the grammar of DNA"?
If they can use it for analysing proteine sequences, maybe they can tackle "the grammar of Life" and kickstart the whole Bioengeenering sector into a new life...
OTOH, the integrist christians will probably denounce this as an evil thing...
well, I'm almost kidding...
... at least my solution will save him some space 8)
Someone told this guy to use uuencode