Like any other technology, this could be abused
on
Smart Bullets Phone Home
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· Score: 3, Interesting
This story reminded me of a recent art exhibit in NYC. Jakob Boeskov, an Danish artist, infiltrated an international weapons fair in China with a fake weapon, the "ID Sniper Rifle". While his story is interesting, his concept weapon was frightening; although even more frightening was the response it received from interested parties at the fair.
What is the ID Sniper Rifle?
To put it short, the idea is to implant a GPS microchip in the body of a human being, using a high-powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito bite, lasting a fraction of a second.
At the same time, a digital camcorder with a zoom lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis. GPS microchip technology is already being used for tracking millions of pets in various countries, and the logical solution is to use it on humans as well, when the situation demands it.
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Projectiles witht the ability to "phone home" are in our near future. How long can we expect to wait until something like the ID Sniper Rifle really exists?
While I do agree that the musicians should take home the majority of the profits, eliminating all revenue from the record companies might hurt musicians' ability to tour. Think about: who pays for the arena, mics, monitors, stage crew, and concert promotion? Don't record companies make it possible for Dave Matthew to have sold out arena tours? If you kill off their revenue, how would artists be able to go on the road and support themselves directly? More to the point, why would record companies care to do this?
Granted, musicians don't have to go the lavish route and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a show; just perform at smaller venues. But if the line of thinking in the previous paragraph is true, it could signal an end to 20,000+ concerts tours for many artists.
I'm in general agreement that the record companies are blood sucking, murderous bastards, though.
Iraqi internet appears to be totally down
on
Strike on Iraq
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· Score: 1
After seeing a post in another thread regarding Iraqi news sources, I noticed every Iraqi news site, informative site, or government site that appeared to be in Iraq down, was down. Considering as of 2000 there was only one ISP in the country (maybe 2 or 3 by now at most), its suffice to say the 1 or 2 laser guided smart bombs cuts off Slashdot access for Iraqis. Some key sites down:
After booting up the install cd, instead of hitting enter to proceed with the installer, type "bf24" and Debian will use the 2.4.18 kernel instead.
Debian really requires you to completely delve into the "Debian world" to make full use of it. It seems that whenever I need the Debian version of a particular utility, it is there, you just have to find it (which I admit, can be daunting).
Need to search for package, but don't know what the name is, or even what you're looking for? Use "apt-cache search".
Want to update the services inetd listens for without manually editing a text file? Use "update-inetd".
How about modifying run levels? Yep, Debian has that too with "update-rc.d". Oh, need to reconfigure that package you just downloaded? Try "dpkg-reconfigure ".
My point is that like any OS (or linux distribution, for that matter), you need to readup on the documentation. Try reading that Debian Handbook sometime- lots of good stuff!
I do understand your frustration though; I wish they would just make that the default kernel.:)
Not quite true. The procedure you're refering to, known as a islet transplant, is still in the extremely experiemental phase. While it shows great promise, the main problem associated with islet transplantation is the auto-immune reaction. The drugs used to suppress this reaction have horrible side effects and for most, make the cure worst than the disease. Genetic research such as stem cell development may someday allow diabetics to use their own cells for transplanation. Assuming Bush doesn't completely ban it, or lead us into World War III- I guess it wouldn't be very useful if no one was around to use it....
I'm *really* looking forward to this- I've wanted to get a tat for awhile, but decided against it until I found with meaning--boy would this be the meaning I've been searching for!
For those who don't know (I'm sure all the diabetics here are familiar, or should be), the "Islets of Langerhans" as they're known, are the part of the pancreas that produces insulin. A type 1 diabetic is someone whose islets (or beta cells) have been destroyed or are not functioning. A type 2 diabetic has decreased sensitivity to insulin- their body still produces it, but their ability to process it is greatly diminished.
I'm almost 22. I was diagnosed with type 1 right after my 20th birthday- there is no history of diabetes in my family and I was in excellent health. Just something to think about for all the jaded and ambivalent folks out there...not to scare you or anything:)
It might hurt sales somewhat, but you figure *most* people just want to be able to check email and download webpages quickly. This wouldn't affect them.
Slashdot Mirror
What is the ID Sniper Rifle?
To put it short, the idea is to implant a GPS microchip in the body of a human being, using a high-powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito bite, lasting a fraction of a second.
At the same time, a digital camcorder with a zoom lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis. GPS microchip technology is already being used for tracking millions of pets in various countries, and the logical solution is to use it on humans as well, when the situation demands it.
-------------
Projectiles witht the ability to "phone home" are in our near future. How long can we expect to wait until something like the ID Sniper Rifle really exists?
Check out Boeskov's account of the weapons fair- crazy! http://events.thing.net/Boeskov_text.html
00-03-93 (hex) Apple Computer, Inc.
000393 (base 16) Apple Computer, Inc.
20650 Valley Green Dr.
Cupertino CA 95014
UNITED STATES
Here's a link to the aforementioned SNL sketch:
Old Glory Insurance
While I do agree that the musicians should take home the majority of the profits, eliminating all revenue from the record companies might hurt musicians' ability to tour. Think about: who pays for the arena, mics, monitors, stage crew, and concert promotion? Don't record companies make it possible for Dave Matthew to have sold out arena tours? If you kill off their revenue, how would artists be able to go on the road and support themselves directly? More to the point, why would record companies care to do this?
Granted, musicians don't have to go the lavish route and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a show; just perform at smaller venues. But if the line of thinking in the previous paragraph is true, it could signal an end to 20,000+ concerts tours for many artists.
I'm in general agreement that the record companies are blood sucking, murderous bastards, though.
After seeing a post in another thread regarding Iraqi news sources, I noticed every Iraqi news site, informative site, or government site that appeared to be in Iraq down, was down. Considering as of 2000 there was only one ISP in the country (maybe 2 or 3 by now at most), its suffice to say the 1 or 2 laser guided smart bombs cuts off Slashdot access for Iraqis. Some key sites down:
Iraqi Government Gateway
Iraqi news site
Iraqnet
Iraq.com
After booting up the install cd, instead of hitting enter to proceed with the installer, type "bf24" and Debian will use the 2.4.18 kernel instead.
:)
Debian really requires you to completely delve into the "Debian world" to make full use of it. It seems that whenever I need the Debian version of a particular utility, it is there, you just have to find it (which I admit, can be daunting).
Need to search for package, but don't know what the name is, or even what you're looking for? Use "apt-cache search".
Want to update the services inetd listens for without manually editing a text file? Use "update-inetd".
How about modifying run levels? Yep, Debian has that too with "update-rc.d". Oh, need to reconfigure that package you just downloaded? Try "dpkg-reconfigure ".
My point is that like any OS (or linux distribution, for that matter), you need to readup on the documentation. Try reading that Debian Handbook sometime- lots of good stuff!
I do understand your frustration though; I wish they would just make that the default kernel.
Not quite true. The procedure you're refering to, known as a islet transplant, is still in the extremely experiemental phase. While it shows great promise, the main problem associated with islet transplantation is the auto-immune reaction. The drugs used to suppress this reaction have horrible side effects and for most, make the cure worst than the disease. Genetic research such as stem cell development may someday allow diabetics to use their own cells for transplanation. Assuming Bush doesn't completely ban it, or lead us into World War III- I guess it wouldn't be very useful if no one was around to use it....
:)
I'm *really* looking forward to this- I've wanted to get a tat for awhile, but decided against it until I found with meaning--boy would this be the meaning I've been searching for!
For those who don't know (I'm sure all the diabetics here are familiar, or should be), the "Islets of Langerhans" as they're known, are the part of the pancreas that produces insulin. A type 1 diabetic is someone whose islets (or beta cells) have been destroyed or are not functioning. A type 2 diabetic has decreased sensitivity to insulin- their body still produces it, but their ability to process it is greatly diminished.
I'm almost 22. I was diagnosed with type 1 right after my 20th birthday- there is no history of diabetes in my family and I was in excellent health. Just something to think about for all the jaded and ambivalent folks out there...not to scare you or anything
Those aren't ports ala TCP/IP...they are the physical ports on the line cards.
I wonder if the new Cray in Alaska can handle it? I hear they have 128 MB of RAM now...what will they think of next!
It might hurt sales somewhat, but you figure *most* people just want to be able to check email and download webpages quickly. This wouldn't affect them.
What about mailing lists? I receive 50+ emails day from various lists... it would be a pain to accept each and every one.