One of the better online SF communities is the venerable
rec.arts.sf.written newsgroup (available
here for the usenet-challenged), worth reading for an
unusually high level of discussion (if you can ignore the usual
sprinkling of spam). There are plenty of people there who'll
make useful suggestions if you let them know what you like already.
Check out SF Site
for tons of reviews, excerpts, and another forum.
I actually find Amazon quite useful for discovering new stuff
(especially now they have excerpts from a fiar number of books). It
doesn't need to be 'dicey and expensive' if you buy secondhand or
discounted stocks from Amazon Marketplace traders with decent feedback
(or similar small dealers that sell via ebay or AbeBooks ).
'What's the oldest piece of code you can get running? Either on emulation or on original hardware. Be creative, winner gets... well, kudos. But that's gotta count for something on Slashdot right?:^P'
'So the raw act of cleaning the footage probably didn't add copyright, but all of the other stuff did. (Performing color balancing and other tasks other than pure physical 'cleaning' of the film stock.)'
I've been wondering how this sort of thing affects audio recordings. Here in the UK, we're in the interesting position of having a 50 year limit on recording copyright, and there are several companies that do a very good job of restoring and re-releasing out of copyright material (often better than the major labels that continue to sell overpriced and poorly transferred CDs of 'their' artists). Some of this material is still very marketable (e.g. classical and jazz from the 50s), and will soon include major artists/cash cows from the 60s (early Beatles records in 2013). Reputable companies that lack access to the masters will usually try to get hold of the best preserved publicly released vinyl or shellac discs they can find and restore from them. Less reputable companies casually 'pirate' the CDs released by the restorers, avoiding the substantial amount of work that goes into a typical restoration. The legality of the latter seems to be something of a grey area, at least in the UK:
'It is debatable as to whether merely removing "clicks and crackle" from an old record would [establish a new copyright claim]...It is possible, however, that the creative use of equalisation or special effects...or even the making of an analogue to digital transfer, might well be sufficient...Currently there is evidence that some commercial re-issues of restored public domain sound recordings are being openly pirated, perhaps on the assumption that no copyright can exist in these copies...[this] has yet to be tested in the courts.'
It'll be interesting to see how this pans out in a few years time, when people start openly posting mp3s of Beatles albums on UK sites, selling cheap compilations in Asda, and distributing lovingly restored audiophile transfers from the original vinyl (as already happens illegally). Will there be legal moves to block international distribution (e.g. to the US, where the recordings will still be in copyright)? Will (as I assume) the current CD transfers from the 80s still be judged to be in copyright? Is the recent (and yet to be released) remastering (/remixing?) project from the original masters basically a ploy to extend copyright on the 'definitive' versions by another 50 years?
At least some dSLRs have both a conventional shutter and an 'electronic shutter'. This is why the humble Nikon D70 has an unusually high flash synch speed of 1/500s (presumably the sensor is only active for part of the time the conventional electro-mechanical shutter is open).
'I can't wait for these types of cars to hit mass production and come down in price so that us normal people can afford them.'
They'd be much cheaper without all the Vorlon technology that's gone into the 'range-extended' Whitestar. But look out for some real competition from Modern Associates, a new startup that's rumoured to have developed a 'killer' new vehicle in response to a detailed study of exactly what their customers want.
In a related project, a team from Blendtec are close to completing a 20 ton working version of Babbage's less well known Grinding Engine Number 5, which will (briefly) be installed at the Computer History Museum later this year in an attempt to address a crucial question about the Difference Engine's design:
'Unless the BSA gets its act together and replaces overstated and misconstrued data with properly researched and carefully presented facts, it will become known as an arrogant organ of propaganda.'
The latest version of Elements is actually a pretty nice, powerful package now that Adobe has (finally!) stopped playing games and is no longer leaving out vital tools like Curves:
'Translation: crystallizing materials (cooling molten metals, cooling glasses, drying out of sugars and salts, all sorts of things you can picture remaining from an ancient environment) can leave traces of acoustic vibrations that were passing through them when they were cooling in their crystal structure. Meaning that we could potentially recover them. I don't know how widely applicable this technique is, but it certainly seems possible.'
Interestingly, recovery of sounds 'recorded' by various accidental mechanisms (e.g. in the grooves of a clay pot) has been the subject of semi-serious speculation, a well-known hoax, several SF stories, an episode of the X-files, and even some published but highly dubious research:
Probably rather like a stack of cards with holes punched in them! This site actually has some examples of programs for an analytical engine emulator based on Babbage's specifications:
Indeed. We're all ignoring the real issue here - does generating a search warrant in response to clicking a link violate the Amazon One Click Order patent..?
''Smith!' screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. '6079 Smith W.! Yes, YOU! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You're not trying. Lower, please! THAT'S better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me.'
A sudden hot sweat had broken out all over Winston's body. His face remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single flicker of the eyes could give you away.'
'Isn't there now an add compain going on in radio and TV over there telling you if you see strange activity in a house, a person with too many cell phones, or just strange behavior on the street to call a national hotline for terror?'
'I love it when arts majors try to emulate Orwell and struggle hard to
dream up "dystopian" scenarios in anything and everything to appear
sophisticated in the eyes of their colleagues..'
Especially when there's no need to dream up anything - over here on
Airstrip One, a far more effective dystopian surveillance system than
Google's snapshot is already
in place:
"According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2 million
CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent
of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught
on camera an average of 300 times daily. Use of spy cameras in
modern-day Britain is now a chilling mirror image of Orwell's fictional
world, created in the post-war Forties in a fourth-floor flat
overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London. On the
wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell
lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the
anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are
32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move."
'Those VL glasses. Virtual light...Friend of mine, he'd bring a pair home from the office where he worked. Landscape architects. Put 'em on, you go out walking, everything looks normal, but every plant you see, every tree, there's this little label hanging there, what its name is, Latin under that. ..'
See the original post - he's talking about a password the parents can't guess. If someone is too young to remember a secure password, they're certainly too young to use a networked computer (or any online service that requires its own password) unsupervised. Let a responsible adult manage the access (and any necessary passwords).
Slashdot Mirror
Mentioned here, along with the cat bomb, anti-tank dog and exploding rat (no, really):
http://www.oddee.com/item_91684.aspx
One of the better online SF communities is the venerable rec.arts.sf.written newsgroup (available here for the usenet-challenged), worth reading for an unusually high level of discussion (if you can ignore the usual sprinkling of spam). There are plenty of people there who'll make useful suggestions if you let them know what you like already.
Check out SF Site for tons of reviews, excerpts, and another forum.
I actually find Amazon quite useful for discovering new stuff (especially now they have excerpts from a fiar number of books). It doesn't need to be 'dicey and expensive' if you buy secondhand or discounted stocks from Amazon Marketplace traders with decent feedback (or similar small dealers that sell via ebay or AbeBooks ).
Why not subscribe to one of the major SF magazines like Interzone or Analog ?
'What's the oldest piece of code you can get running? Either on emulation or on original hardware. Be creative, winner gets... well, kudos. But that's gotta count for something on Slashdot right? :^P'
How about this?:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage
http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/applet.html
'So the raw act of cleaning the footage probably didn't add copyright, but all of the other stuff did. (Performing color balancing and other tasks other than pure physical 'cleaning' of the film stock.)'
I've been wondering how this sort of thing affects audio recordings. Here in the UK, we're in the interesting position of having a 50 year limit on recording copyright, and there are several companies that do a very good job of restoring and re-releasing out of copyright material (often better than the major labels that continue to sell overpriced and poorly transferred CDs of 'their' artists). Some of this material is still very marketable (e.g. classical and jazz from the 50s), and will soon include major artists/cash cows from the 60s (early Beatles records in 2013). Reputable companies that lack access to the masters will usually try to get hold of the best preserved publicly released vinyl or shellac discs they can find and restore from them. Less reputable companies casually 'pirate' the CDs released by the restorers, avoiding the substantial amount of work that goes into a typical restoration. The legality of the latter seems to be something of a grey area, at least in the UK:
http://www.copyright.mediarights.co.uk/
'It is debatable as to whether merely removing "clicks and crackle" from an old record would [establish a new copyright claim]...It is possible, however, that the creative use of equalisation or special effects...or even the making of an analogue to digital transfer, might well be sufficient...Currently there is evidence that some commercial re-issues of restored public domain sound recordings are being openly pirated, perhaps on the assumption that no copyright can exist in these copies...[this] has yet to be tested in the courts.'
It'll be interesting to see how this pans out in a few years time, when people start openly posting mp3s of Beatles albums on UK sites, selling cheap compilations in Asda, and distributing lovingly restored audiophile transfers from the original vinyl (as already happens illegally). Will there be legal moves to block international distribution (e.g. to the US, where the recordings will still be in copyright)? Will (as I assume) the current CD transfers from the 80s still be judged to be in copyright? Is the recent (and yet to be released) remastering (/remixing?) project from the original masters basically a ploy to extend copyright on the 'definitive' versions by another 50 years?
At least some dSLRs have both a conventional shutter and an 'electronic shutter'. This is why the humble Nikon D70 has an unusually high flash synch speed of 1/500s (presumably the sensor is only active for part of the time the conventional electro-mechanical shutter is open).
Sorry, something seems to be Keeping me from spelling his name correctly...
'I can't wait for these types of cars to hit mass production and come down in price so that us normal people can afford them.'
They'd be much cheaper without all the Vorlon technology that's gone into the 'range-extended' Whitestar. But look out for some real competition from Modern Associates, a new startup that's rumoured to have developed a 'killer' new vehicle in response to a detailed study of exactly what their customers want.
'Wait, I'm confused. Does that mean that all companies are required to import at least ONE item from Cuba?'
Close, but no cigar.
In a related project, a team from Blendtec are close to completing a 20 ton working version of Babbage's less well known Grinding Engine Number 5, which will (briefly) be installed at the Computer History Museum later this year in an attempt to address a crucial question about the Difference Engine's design:
http://www.willitblend.com/
I wouldn't argue with that. And I've got a pretty clear mental image of exactly which organ...
Now we just need someone to translate the BSA's 'statistics' into something approaching reality. As zdnet put it when discussing previous claims:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002982,39205464,00.htm
'Unless the BSA gets its act together and replaces overstated and misconstrued data with properly researched and carefully presented facts, it will become known as an arrogant organ of propaganda.'
'I dont think i was supposed to hear that, im not feeling very well now...'
Thank the Eighth Dynamic that effective treatment is available!:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29709
Note also that inserting the P connector into the wrong type of V port can seriously damage the P connector:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artid=1968092&pageindex=1
The latest version of Elements is actually a pretty nice, powerful package now that Adobe has (finally!) stopped playing games and is no longer leaving out vital tools like Curves:
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_adobe_photoshop_elements_6.php
The Express edition is just a very basic editor written in Flash that barely competes with Picasa, but with Photoshop branding.
'Translation: crystallizing materials (cooling molten metals, cooling glasses, drying out of sugars and salts, all sorts of things you can picture remaining from an ancient environment) can leave traces of acoustic vibrations that were passing through them when they were cooling in their crystal structure. Meaning that we could potentially recover them. I don't know how widely applicable this technique is, but it certainly seems possible.'
Interestingly, recovery of sounds 'recorded' by various accidental mechanisms (e.g. in the grooves of a clay pot) has been the subject of semi-serious speculation, a well-known hoax, several SF stories, an episode of the X-files, and even some published but highly dubious research:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002875.html
Probably rather like a stack of cards with holes punched in them! This site actually has some examples of programs for an analytical engine emulator based on Babbage's specifications:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/cards.html
http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/contents.html
Don't forget the 'P' card ('Print the result of the last arithmetic operation performed by the Mill on the Printing Apparatus').
Indeed. We're all ignoring the real issue here - does generating a search warrant in response to clicking a link violate the Amazon One Click Order patent..?
Oh great. Obligatory Orwell quote:
''Smith!' screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. '6079 Smith W.!
Yes, YOU! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You're not
trying. Lower, please! THAT'S better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the
whole squad, and watch me.'
A sudden hot sweat had broken out all over Winston's body. His face
remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment!
A single flicker of the eyes could give you away.'
'Isn't there now an add compain going on in radio and TV over there telling you if you see strange activity in a house, a person with too many cell phones, or just strange behavior on the street to call a national hotline for terror?'
Indeed there is:
http://www.met.police.uk/so/at_hotline.htm
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080307-terrorist-campaign-photographers-searched-london
Examples of terrorist paraphenalia include cameras, credit cards, mobile phones, computers, suitcases, cell phones and, err, vans.
This is from the same people who brought us my all time favourite 'public security' campaign:
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/News/eyes.htm
'Aren't there cameras that talk back if you get unruly on the street?'
Generally only if the unruly behaviour is caused by mushroom intoxication. But we do have rather a lot of cameras:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23391081-details/George+Orwell,+Big+Brother+is+watching+your+house/article.do
'I love it when arts majors try to emulate Orwell and struggle hard to dream up "dystopian" scenarios in anything and everything to appear sophisticated in the eyes of their colleagues..'
Especially when there's no need to dream up anything - over here on Airstrip One, a far more effective dystopian surveillance system than Google's snapshot is already in place:
"According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2 million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily. Use of spy cameras in modern-day Britain is now a chilling mirror image of Orwell's fictional world, created in the post-war Forties in a fourth-floor flat overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London. On the wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move."
Welcome to the UK, Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes.
'Those VL glasses. Virtual light...Friend of mine, he'd bring a pair home from the office where he worked. Landscape architects. Put 'em on, you go out walking, everything looks normal, but every plant you see, every tree, there's this little label hanging there, what its name is, Latin under that. . .'
- William Gibson, _Virtual Light_
See the original post - he's talking about a password the parents can't guess. If someone is too young to remember a secure password, they're certainly too young to use a networked computer (or any online service that requires its own password) unsupervised. Let a responsible adult manage the access (and any necessary passwords).
How about:
mybigbrotherissuchageek
or
nowicantalktocreepsonlinewithoutmyparentsknowing
?
Why on earth does a kid of this age need a secure password?
I think the University of Michigan researchers have a rather different weapons platform in mind:
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2006/02/20/Science/Sharks.The.Initial.Frontier-1620047.shtml
'Wasn't Sony on the wrong side of all these battles? What gives? Sony may actually win a standards war?'
Yes, apparently the mood in the opposing bunker is pretty grim:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB2e7pfZmGA