Yeah, the earth is actually pretty smooth. Its diameter is 13,000 km, while Mount Everest is only about 9km high -- just 0.07%. Clouds cling very close to the surface at about 5km. That's about the thickness of a piece of paper compared to a basket ball.
I had a look at the original page and decided this all smells a bit fishy...
Jon_Hawk doesn't explicitly say he is unaffiliated with the BBC, in fact the only provable claim he makes is that he is a student. Big deal, like many companies, the BBC employ students.
Even if this isn't a case of viral marketing, I am sure it must happen, as of the BoingBoing correspondents says: I do work at a company that uses Wikipedia as a key part of online marketing strategies...
I think that while this research has been ongoing for some time, the article is highlighting a new interpretation -- that our brains control external "peripherals" (tools, tennis rackets) the same way they control built-in "peripherals" (hands, arms...), and can switch "drivers" on the fly...
FTA: "This finding supports our theory that the brain has extraordinary abilities to adapt to incorporate artificial tools, whether directly controlled by the brain or through the appendages" said Nicolelis. "Our brain representations of the body are adaptable enough to incorporate any tools that we create to interact with the environment. This may include a robot appendage, but it may also include using a computer keyboard or a tennis racket. In any such case, the properties of this tool become incorporated into our neuronal 'space',"
This page is a useful guide if you ever need to create icons for Windows XP. It gives information on style, perspective and colours needed to make icons consistent with that OS. They recommend an app called GifMovieGear to create the actual icon files.
IMHO the PIN system is a great improvement over just checking a signature. I know from bitter experience that signatures are rarely checked, so effectively once someone has your card they can use it.
If they need a PIN as well, their job is made much harder. I would guess that most card thefts are opportunistic, where anyone's card would do. If the thief spies you entering your PIN, they then have to target you specifically to rob you of your card.
In addition, requiring a PIN to be entered forces the checking process, rather than relying on the cashier's vigilance.
I can see a parallel between the free-software ideology of today and a free-data ideology of tomorrow.
Perhaps in the future we'll see Google (the new Microsoft, they wanted to own the apps, Google wants the data) versus the "Free-Informationists" who encourage people to store their data in some sort of distributed database, maintained by "the community" rather than run for profit by a corporation.
I know my company (one of the larger telecomms firms) takes it very seriously. All developers have had to attend seminars on the implications of FOSS licenses. And the legal department are currently very busy auditing every bit of software we might want to install to check that its license is compatible with the company's policies.
I've heard team leaders say things like "We could lose all our intellectual property" if the company is in violation.
Slashdot Mirror
The story submitter working on the site mentioned in the story....
Smells fishy to me...
This hasn't been done before.
Ok, so client-server computing has been done before, but never have two
companies with as much influnce and market-reach done it before.
Yeah, the earth is actually pretty smooth. Its diameter is 13,000 km, while Mount Everest is only about 9km high -- just 0.07%. Clouds cling very close to the surface at about 5km. That's about the thickness of a piece of paper compared to a basket ball.
I think the point was that this is how the world sees the US, not how the US actually is...
I've seen this "checklist" format in a couple of semi-humourous posts on slashdot recently, and it's made me wonder whether there's a parody going on.
Is this some US government standard reply that all you guys across the pond are familiar with? (Let this Limey in on the joke...)
For those just tuning in now, Wikipedia has a nice explanation of this cutting-edge 1780 technology.
Or maybe even cutting edge 250BC technology!
I had a look at the original page and decided this all smells a bit fishy...
Jon_Hawk doesn't explicitly say he is unaffiliated with the BBC, in fact the only provable claim he makes is that he is a student. Big deal, like many companies, the BBC employ students.
Even if this isn't a case of viral marketing, I am sure it must happen, as of the BoingBoing correspondents says: I do work at a company that uses Wikipedia as a key part of online marketing strategies...
I think that while this research has been ongoing for some time, the article is highlighting a new interpretation -- that our brains control external "peripherals" (tools, tennis rackets) the same way they control built-in "peripherals" (hands, arms...), and can switch "drivers" on the fly...
FTA:"This finding supports our theory that the brain has extraordinary abilities to adapt to incorporate artificial tools, whether directly controlled by the brain or through the appendages" said Nicolelis. "Our brain representations of the body are adaptable enough to incorporate any tools that we create to interact with the environment. This may include a robot appendage, but it may also include using a computer keyboard or a tennis racket. In any such case, the properties of this tool become incorporated into our neuronal 'space',"
This page is a useful guide if you ever need to create icons for Windows XP. It gives information on style, perspective and colours needed to make icons consistent with that OS. They recommend an app called GifMovieGear to create the actual icon files.
If they need a PIN as well, their job is made much harder. I would guess that most card thefts are opportunistic, where anyone's card would do. If the thief spies you entering your PIN, they then have to target you specifically to rob you of your card.
In addition, requiring a PIN to be entered forces the checking process, rather than relying on the cashier's vigilance.
Perhaps in the future we'll see Google (the new Microsoft, they wanted to own the apps, Google wants the data) versus the "Free-Informationists" who encourage people to store their data in some sort of distributed database, maintained by "the community" rather than run for profit by a corporation.
I've heard team leaders say things like "We could lose all our intellectual property" if the company is in violation.