MS is trying to do it again. They're trying to break down any barriers to setting up a blog. Great. Now I can be chastized for not reading my 8 year old cousin's blog, or even better, my 90 year old grandmother's.
What happened to the days when there was SOME barrier to entry, that at least made you put a LITTLE thought and energy into feeling important enough that people should read your every thought?
As another DC resident, I'm not surprised at all. Remember your license plate, 'Taxation without representation'. Sometimes I'm shocked that anything other than Connecticut, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, M, Independence and Constitution avenues are even paved. Senators and reps really only NEED a route out of town (or at least to extreme NW). Everything else spent on DC, in congress's eyes, is just throwing money away.
The thing that amazes me is how much all of this is going to cost. Lawyers will need to pour through the information request in each jurisdiction, someone technical will have to get the requested info out of the systems (if that's possible), and every nitpicky error in the logs will require some justification to demonstrate that it didn't affect the vote tallys. What on earth is the point? Do they honestly think that there is something unscrupulous going on? It can't be worse than trying to decide which hanging chads count and which don't...
Considering the damage caused by the Hurricanes this season, I think it's quite impressive that they're even thinking of a launch next year altogether.
Tell me about it. If I went through a space shuttle disaster, my liver would be pretty damaged from drinking hurricanes (or, more likely Jameson's on the Rocks) too.
Main problem is there are lasers across the visual spectrum. As you start layering filters to cover the major chemical laser wavelengths, then start looking at commercially available solid state lasers and even tunable lasers, and all of the sudden you're looking at a situation where no light is getting in to the cockpit anyway.
I would propose that actually physically seeing out of the window is less and less neccessary. At the same time oLED and plasma displays keep getting better. Why not recreate environment using cameras and flat displays? Sure it wouldn't look normal at first, but keep in mind, pilots all get certified on simulators.
Plus, it opens the door to all sorts of useful heads up display possibilities (porn).
First: That the person knowingly and willfully devised a scheme to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false pretenses, representations or promises; and
Second: That the person knowingly transmitted or caused to be transmitted by wire in interstate commerce some sound for the purpose of executing the scheme to defraud.
but... it goes on to state
It is not necessary that the Government prove all of the details concerning the precise nature and purpose of the scheme; or that the material transmitted by wire was itself false or fraudulent; or that the alleged scheme actually succeeded in defrauding anyone; or that the use of interstate wire communications facilities was intended as the specific or exclusive means of accomplishing the alleged fraud.
What must be proved is that the person knowingly and willfully devised or intended to devise a scheme to defraud; and that the use of the interstate wire communications facilities was closely related to the scheme because the person either wired something or caused it to be wired in interstate commerce in an attempt to execute or carry out the scheme.
This has trouble written all over it. As mentioned a million times throughout the comments, there is a huge risk in terms of people using, what is by definition, wire fraud, to get credit cards etc...
I think there's another risk here though, which is less stated. This service is to go live Sept 1st, from the web site. Unless it's on a minimal page after getting/.ed, I couldn't find any link to terms and conditions. What exactly are you submitting to when you use this? Is your information safe? Keep in mind, the call is routed through their system. Right now, until I see T and C which specifically states that my information is priviledged and cannot be listened in on or used against me, I can only assume it will be. They must have some concept of how they intend to make money.
Also, who's liable for the damages WHEN (not if) someone uses it to commit a crime? This company, I can forsee turning anyone over at the drop of a hat. They're going to have a hard time pleading the internet provider's argument that they are merely the conduit (and therefore not liable for the actions of individuals on their networks), since there is little or no use for the system for legal ethical purposes.
Actually, I think this is a case of RTOFA (O for other). At least currently, though likely to change soon, the last article on the main slashdot site is about how Windows XP and 2003 are slated to get Avalon and Indigo as part of interim releases, since Longhorn is now not slated til 2006.
I think it's really interesting to watch the literal evolution of spam and spam filters. There are really amazing parallels to biological evolution.
First, there's a constant tuning of both preditor and prey (Anti-spam tools and spam).
Second, there seems to be some sort of equilibrium which is inevitably achieved, and
Third, there are occasional discreet major developments which change the game. This would be an example. Now, spam is going to be forced to majorly adapt.
I could see the 'Quality' of spam improving a lot as a result of tools like this. No more letters from my long lost benefactors in nigeria, and no one liners about 'Gushing like a firehose' (My coworkers and I got a good chuckle out of that one), but, as the story said, if you have keywords in a long email, it gets far less penalized. OK. Attach verses from Dante's Inferno, or Joyce's Dubliners to the email. Problem solved. You can't block words like viagra altogether or Pfizer researchers are going to have a hell of a time getting anything through.
Another concern is that if this forces spammers to make up new and compelling spam, people will be more likely to check it out. While my parents are probably pretty confident they didn't win a secret lottery 3 or 4 times last week, they might possibly believe new and creative stories.
Perhaps evolution of email readers is just plain going to be a neccessary part of the solution...
Researchers have been discovering these genes for some time now. They're generally extremely short (~21 nucleotides) and in their endogenous form are referred to as micro RNAs (miRNA).
Interestingly, the mechanism was actually understood before functional miRNAs had been discovered. Back in the 90s there was an upswelling of new biotech companies (Isis, for one) looking at antisense technology. Basically, the idea is that if you insert a complementary RNA strand to a messenger RNA (mRNA- The RNA's which code for proteins), you could block the expression of that gene into protein. The problem was that these weren't very specific (relative to what people would expect, since it was the exact complement of the gene sequence). Also, it's a bitch to get a full length RNA strand into cells reliably, short of using viruses. Generally a bad stigma.
Over time, people started realizing that these antisense targets being inserted were being cleaved into really small (~20 to 25 nucleotide) pieces by an enzyme group called the RISC complex (It's a lot more complecated than that, but whatever). This explained one thing. ~20 nucleotide chunks are much more likely to stick to another gene. There's a much better chance that the 20 bases are identical to 20 bases in another gene, than several hundred to several thousand being repeated. What it didn't answer is what was going on.
It was assumed that the complex that large antisense targets made blocked translation into protein. 20 base pieces were much less likely to do that. What people came to realize is that another enzyme called DICER was chomping up the genes where these ~20 nucleotide pieces stuck. This technique isa called RNA interference, or RNAi, and these ~20 nucleotide sequences were called short interfering RNAs or siRNAs. The sweet thing is these, relative to their much longer antisense couterparts are relatively trivial to insert into cells.
Anyway, to make a long story short, researchers didn't really know why this worked at first, and consensus was that it was either an evolutionary legacy, a mechanism to fight RNA viruses, or a fluke (which generally, very few things in biology end up being).
Anyway, this article points out what researchers all over are finding which is that these little guys appear to be present all over the human and other genomes. They are much more likely to be a mechanism for regulating gene expression. For more info, google 'micro RNA'.
First, I want to thank Bstadil for replying and giving his/her perspective. I didn't mean for it to be a personal attack, and I largely agree with your point that faith, especially government sponsored, can be an extremely dangerous thing. Personally I tend to reserve judgment on things which cannot be proven, modeled, or at least looked at in some empirical sense, so my concern is not from a religous ideology, but more the shock value.
In response to Cgenman, I agree that some connection could be fairly drawn between the trend towards polarizing faith based initiatives created and pushed by the US government and the beliefs and actions of other secular governments or organizations.
I have two main issues... First, I do think that September 11th is far too recent, and is an extremely inflamatory topic to many people who have a close connection to what happened (myself included). I'm trying to be really careful in how I word this, as I see both posters' points, but personally, perhaps due to my experiences, my immediate instinct is to get angry towards the poster of the sig line, rather than question the policies of the Bush administration.
Second, my interpretation is that the sig line is comparing the administration to the pilots (and their sponsors) of the sept 11 planes. Furthermore it seems to suggest that this is acceptable muslim behavior (though I will grant you, never says so explicitly). I don't think this is any more true than the statement that Timothy McVeigh was merely exercising his right as an american to freedom of expression. I'm not trying to put words into your mouth, or suggest that any of this is anyone's intended point, but it's how I read it, especially at first glance.
As I said earlier, it's the poster's right to put it there, and I would never suggest that it should be changed. I do feel though, that I need to point out my own feelings on the issue. If you do change it at some point, I hope it's because you decide you want to, not that I or anyone else think any topic is off limits or taboo. Lastly, I will concede that it's an interesting point, and both the sig itself, and the subsequent postings made me question and think through how and why I feel as I due. For that, I thank you both.
I realize that this is totally off topic, but I need to take exception to your sig. I realize that it may be intended to be humorous, or to make a point about the current state of affairs in US politics (trust me, I have serious issues with the status quo also). While I, for one, support your RIGHT to append whatever sig you want on to your posts, I also feel the need to express my RIGHT to say I think it's offensive, and you have lost any general respect I would offer the average person walking down the street.
This is all I will say on the matter, and people, if need be, feel free to mod me down to troll- it's your right.
I really don't know what to make of this one. In my old place, I had DirecTV, and LOVED it, for several reasons, not the least of which being TechTV. True, it's not the most amazingly technical network in the world, but I really enjoyed shows like FreshGear (where a lot of new toys are previewed, and reviewed), and even the Screen Savers (which delivers computer tips and tricks along with even more web sites to visit in order to make sure my employer gets the least value possible for his employee dollar).
Anyway, a year or so ago I moved to a new apartment, facing the wrong direction for my dish. No big deal. I'll just get cable...
My Bill went from basic programming for about 30something dollars to 70something dollars. Who's my cable company? You guessed it. Comcast.
I still pay out the cash, though the thing that really irks me is that I don't get the stations I had come to take for granted. TechTV, CNBC world (OK, I'm a dork), and a bunch of other, slightly less important channels.
I guess I'm glad, as I'll apparently now likely get TechTV back, but I seriously hope this doesn't mean another rate hike (above the 8% from last fall, out of which we got zero new channels, and a new arrangement of channels so that I had to relearn every channel again.
My Rant is done...I'm going to go watch Dawson's Creek.
I, personally have had a love hate affair with PDAs for years. The thing that finally broke me was a BlackBerry. I lived and died by that thing, but what made me realize I had problems was when I couldn't use it, such as in airplanes and, still to this day, often hospitals (where I spend a decent amount of time for work). I would find myself, perhaps not so covertly huddled up in a window seat trying to time when we'd be above chicago to try to get signal (which I'm absolutely serious does work, if only long enough to get a message in or out between dropping connections).
I was an addict.
Anyway, long story short, went cold turkey. Cancelled my service, gave the blackberry to a friend, and have gone au natural for the last couple years. I'm finally happy and unbound from the tethers of wireless email (ironic, eh...).
The thought of something hanging on my wrist to give me email, web, and IM anywhere anytime scares the crap out of me.
It's entirely possible, but the odds of your wired broadband connection being the death nail, given all of the other sources of electromagnetic fields out there are pretty slim...he says with a cell phone in his front pocket, and a WIFI enabled laptop on his lap. I guess I don't need to worry about accidently becoming a daddy anytime soon!
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This is all getting a little silly.
MS is trying to do it again. They're trying to break down any barriers to setting up a blog. Great. Now I can be chastized for not reading my 8 year old cousin's blog, or even better, my 90 year old grandmother's.
What happened to the days when there was SOME barrier to entry, that at least made you put a LITTLE thought and energy into feeling important enough that people should read your every thought?
As another DC resident, I'm not surprised at all. Remember your license plate, 'Taxation without representation'. Sometimes I'm shocked that anything other than Connecticut, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, M, Independence and Constitution avenues are even paved. Senators and reps really only NEED a route out of town (or at least to extreme NW). Everything else spent on DC, in congress's eyes, is just throwing money away.
Damn, I knew those CS kids in College must have been up to SOMETHING productive...
And, while we're at it, if video killed the radio star...
The thing that amazes me is how much all of this is going to cost. Lawyers will need to pour through the information request in each jurisdiction, someone technical will have to get the requested info out of the systems (if that's possible), and every nitpicky error in the logs will require some justification to demonstrate that it didn't affect the vote tallys. What on earth is the point? Do they honestly think that there is something unscrupulous going on? It can't be worse than trying to decide which hanging chads count and which don't...
SCO? Who'd have thunk it.
Tell me about it. If I went through a space shuttle disaster, my liver would be pretty damaged from drinking hurricanes (or, more likely Jameson's on the Rocks) too.
I would propose that actually physically seeing out of the window is less and less neccessary. At the same time oLED and plasma displays keep getting better. Why not recreate environment using cameras and flat displays? Sure it wouldn't look normal at first, but keep in mind, pilots all get certified on simulators.
Plus, it opens the door to all sorts of useful heads up display possibilities (porn).
Or, among slashdot readers, I once called this computer "girlfriend"...
First: That the person knowingly and willfully devised a scheme to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false pretenses, representations or promises; and Second: That the person knowingly transmitted or caused to be transmitted by wire in interstate commerce some sound for the purpose of executing the scheme to defraud.
but... it goes on to state
It is not necessary that the Government prove all of the details concerning the precise nature and purpose of the scheme; or that the material transmitted by wire was itself false or fraudulent; or that the alleged scheme actually succeeded in defrauding anyone; or that the use of interstate wire communications facilities was intended as the specific or exclusive means of accomplishing the alleged fraud. What must be proved is that the person knowingly and willfully devised or intended to devise a scheme to defraud; and that the use of the interstate wire communications facilities was closely related to the scheme because the person either wired something or caused it to be wired in interstate commerce in an attempt to execute or carry out the scheme.
Smells like wire fraud to me...
I think there's another risk here though, which is less stated. This service is to go live Sept 1st, from the web site. Unless it's on a minimal page after getting /.ed, I couldn't find any link to terms and conditions. What exactly are you submitting to when you use this? Is your information safe? Keep in mind, the call is routed through their system. Right now, until I see T and C which specifically states that my information is priviledged and cannot be listened in on or used against me, I can only assume it will be. They must have some concept of how they intend to make money.
Also, who's liable for the damages WHEN (not if) someone uses it to commit a crime? This company, I can forsee turning anyone over at the drop of a hat. They're going to have a hard time pleading the internet provider's argument that they are merely the conduit (and therefore not liable for the actions of individuals on their networks), since there is little or no use for the system for legal ethical purposes.
Good point, but look where Be is today...
Actually, I think this is a case of RTOFA (O for other). At least currently, though likely to change soon, the last article on the main slashdot site is about how Windows XP and 2003 are slated to get Avalon and Indigo as part of interim releases, since Longhorn is now not slated til 2006.
First, there's a constant tuning of both preditor and prey (Anti-spam tools and spam).
Second, there seems to be some sort of equilibrium which is inevitably achieved, and
Third, there are occasional discreet major developments which change the game. This would be an example. Now, spam is going to be forced to majorly adapt.
I could see the 'Quality' of spam improving a lot as a result of tools like this. No more letters from my long lost benefactors in nigeria, and no one liners about 'Gushing like a firehose' (My coworkers and I got a good chuckle out of that one), but, as the story said, if you have keywords in a long email, it gets far less penalized. OK. Attach verses from Dante's Inferno, or Joyce's Dubliners to the email. Problem solved. You can't block words like viagra altogether or Pfizer researchers are going to have a hell of a time getting anything through.
Another concern is that if this forces spammers to make up new and compelling spam, people will be more likely to check it out. While my parents are probably pretty confident they didn't win a secret lottery 3 or 4 times last week, they might possibly believe new and creative stories.
Perhaps evolution of email readers is just plain going to be a neccessary part of the solution...
Huh... I'll have to remember to download that one...
Ahhh... reminds me of my days making german scheisse films...
Interestingly, the mechanism was actually understood before functional miRNAs had been discovered. Back in the 90s there was an upswelling of new biotech companies (Isis, for one) looking at antisense technology. Basically, the idea is that if you insert a complementary RNA strand to a messenger RNA (mRNA- The RNA's which code for proteins), you could block the expression of that gene into protein. The problem was that these weren't very specific (relative to what people would expect, since it was the exact complement of the gene sequence). Also, it's a bitch to get a full length RNA strand into cells reliably, short of using viruses. Generally a bad stigma.
Over time, people started realizing that these antisense targets being inserted were being cleaved into really small (~20 to 25 nucleotide) pieces by an enzyme group called the RISC complex (It's a lot more complecated than that, but whatever). This explained one thing. ~20 nucleotide chunks are much more likely to stick to another gene. There's a much better chance that the 20 bases are identical to 20 bases in another gene, than several hundred to several thousand being repeated. What it didn't answer is what was going on.
It was assumed that the complex that large antisense targets made blocked translation into protein. 20 base pieces were much less likely to do that. What people came to realize is that another enzyme called DICER was chomping up the genes where these ~20 nucleotide pieces stuck. This technique isa called RNA interference, or RNAi, and these ~20 nucleotide sequences were called short interfering RNAs or siRNAs. The sweet thing is these, relative to their much longer antisense couterparts are relatively trivial to insert into cells.
Anyway, to make a long story short, researchers didn't really know why this worked at first, and consensus was that it was either an evolutionary legacy, a mechanism to fight RNA viruses, or a fluke (which generally, very few things in biology end up being).
Anyway, this article points out what researchers all over are finding which is that these little guys appear to be present all over the human and other genomes. They are much more likely to be a mechanism for regulating gene expression. For more info, google 'micro RNA'.
Cheers
In response to Cgenman, I agree that some connection could be fairly drawn between the trend towards polarizing faith based initiatives created and pushed by the US government and the beliefs and actions of other secular governments or organizations.
I have two main issues... First, I do think that September 11th is far too recent, and is an extremely inflamatory topic to many people who have a close connection to what happened (myself included). I'm trying to be really careful in how I word this, as I see both posters' points, but personally, perhaps due to my experiences, my immediate instinct is to get angry towards the poster of the sig line, rather than question the policies of the Bush administration.
Second, my interpretation is that the sig line is comparing the administration to the pilots (and their sponsors) of the sept 11 planes. Furthermore it seems to suggest that this is acceptable muslim behavior (though I will grant you, never says so explicitly). I don't think this is any more true than the statement that Timothy McVeigh was merely exercising his right as an american to freedom of expression. I'm not trying to put words into your mouth, or suggest that any of this is anyone's intended point, but it's how I read it, especially at first glance.
As I said earlier, it's the poster's right to put it there, and I would never suggest that it should be changed. I do feel though, that I need to point out my own feelings on the issue. If you do change it at some point, I hope it's because you decide you want to, not that I or anyone else think any topic is off limits or taboo. Lastly, I will concede that it's an interesting point, and both the sig itself, and the subsequent postings made me question and think through how and why I feel as I due. For that, I thank you both.
This is all I will say on the matter, and people, if need be, feel free to mod me down to troll- it's your right.
My Bill went from basic programming for about 30something dollars to 70something dollars. Who's my cable company? You guessed it. Comcast.
I still pay out the cash, though the thing that really irks me is that I don't get the stations I had come to take for granted. TechTV, CNBC world (OK, I'm a dork), and a bunch of other, slightly less important channels.
I guess I'm glad, as I'll apparently now likely get TechTV back, but I seriously hope this doesn't mean another rate hike (above the 8% from last fall, out of which we got zero new channels, and a new arrangement of channels so that I had to relearn every channel again.
My Rant is done...I'm going to go watch Dawson's Creek.
I was an addict.
Anyway, long story short, went cold turkey. Cancelled my service, gave the blackberry to a friend, and have gone au natural for the last couple years. I'm finally happy and unbound from the tethers of wireless email (ironic, eh...).
The thought of something hanging on my wrist to give me email, web, and IM anywhere anytime scares the crap out of me.
Never in a million years!
OK- I'm done...
It's entirely possible, but the odds of your wired broadband connection being the death nail, given all of the other sources of electromagnetic fields out there are pretty slim...he says with a cell phone in his front pocket, and a WIFI enabled laptop on his lap. I guess I don't need to worry about accidently becoming a daddy anytime soon!