I bought Acts of the Apostles on the basis of a previous Slashdot mention, and the sample chapters available on the web.
Although Sundman writes well and creates some interesting scenes, I found that Acts didn't really gel. The plot developed more slowly than I expected, and there was too much exposition and discussion. Although he obviously knows a lot about computers, his attempt at plausible biotechnology wasn't convincing.
MILD SPOILER:
Bad guys demonstrate a nanomachine that can activate single genes. Sundman thinks that if you activated a growth hormone gene along one side of a mouse, that side would grow, in a matter of minutes!
END SPOILER
The bad guys' evil plot, when it's finally revealed (more by authorial fiat than anything else, IIRC) is a good (if implausible) premise for a thriller, but it is all left too late in the book. With the wide-ranging plot strands and technical detail, it could have been a biocomputing equivalent of Cryptonomicon, but I was a bit disappointed.
On the plus side, there are LOTS of ideas and plot strands in the book. The portrayal of the ways of computer developers is interesting and engaging. In particular, a lot of the book revolves around the actions of what seems to be a thinly disguised version of Sun Microsystems (Sundman worked for them) and their computer language 'espresso', so it might be especially entertaining if you know the company well.
I wouldn't particularly recommend Acts, but I would like to read his future books.
Just recently, there seem to have been a lot of cases of people who speak out against the actions of companies being hired by or "forming a business relationship" with the entity they criticise.
Now I'm not accusing all these people of necessarily selling out, but obviously, if you work with a company, you're less likely to speak frankly about how much it sucks (if only because you have to take into account the interests your employees/shareholders).
I have heard that cheeses made in the middle ages have developed thicker rinds at the bottom over time due to very slow cheese flow, but I have never seen it firsthand. Does anyone know if cheese is a liquid or not?
Update: 09/02 15:34 GMT by CT: Oops, this is a duplicate. Move along:) We suck so much. Blah blah blah.
Why do you expect people to pay for subscriptions when you constantly repeat stories, post press releases as news, and even post obvious garbled rubbish?
This kind of thing might be OK in a free, community led service, but the fact that you don't give a shit what you're publishing hardly inspires enough trust to pay you money. I can see that last post now.
Update: 09/02 15:34 GMT by CT: We're closing down, folks. Move along:) You won't get a rebate on your subscriptions. We suck so much. Blah blah blah.
a better writer of geek fiction
on
0wnz0red
·
· Score: 1
Charles Stross does this sort of thing so much better.
or learned how to time travel back in time and affect the present. Being a nice guy, you decide to warn the world now and give everybody a few years to prepare before revealing the discovery.
In the case of time travel, the solution is simple. Travel back a few years and place a series of bets that you know you will win. Publicise that you are doing this. People will gradually come to realise that you have indeed come from the future. Assuming that the outcome of the things you are betting on hasn't been affected by your presence in the past.
In Greek mythology, the Palladium was a magic statue of Pallas carrying a sword and shield which was supposed to protect the city of Troy. It was stolen by the Greek side, allowing the fall of Troy to the famous wooden horse trick.
So Microsoft have chosen to name their security technology after a defensive measure which failed and allowed in a Trojan horse. Maybe they're trying to tell us something?
This server has encountered an internal error which prevents it from fulfilling your request. The most likely cause is a misconfiguration. Please ask the administrator to look for messages in the server's error log.
If you are using Opera 6.0 (or later) for your browser, the error may be related to your browser's configuration. Click here for a description of an Opera browser configuration parameter that may correct the misconfiguration.
Then a link which tells me to edit a Charset parameter in my browser's.ini file.
nor can they seem to make an installer system so I don't have to mess with command line crap to run a Java application.
This is a very good point. I have a Java outliner program which is good, but it's launched by a 20 line batch file (this is on Windows). If you make a shortcut to launch it from outside the folder it's installed in, it fails to launch. Now, I could probably fiddle with the batch file and fix it if I really cared, but that would stump most users and they'd think the app was broken.
Until Java apps install and run just like other Windows apps, they just won't be suitable for the desktop.
I've recently been asked several times in job interviews to do a task on paper when, if I got the job, I would be doing it for real on a screen.
I'm not talking about coding here, but copyediting and writing copy.
I find it really hard to write well on paper because I'm used to editing as I write.
Of course, all the candidates have the same problem, but surely you want to make your test reflect the conditions of the job? The best candidate when working on paper might not be the best at editing or writing on screen.
With exams, I can see the argument that as long as you don't demand perfect syntax, paper could be OK.
I agree with most of the criticism in the article, but I'm not sure if the complaint that "...it didn't really exist in the wild" is a valid criticism to make of a virus alert.
Surely it is sensible to be defending against potential threats before you are actually exposed to them? In other words, if a threat actually exists in the wild, it will be too late for a lot of people to download the right updates. Especially with this "Warhol Worm" idea going around.
If there was a security hole in a server and the vendor said "this hasn't been exploited in the wild", surely that would be a sign of the vendor's incompetence?
Viruses in JPEGs? How about lethal Godelian images?
See COMP.BASILISK FAQ
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/n ature/journal/v402/n6761/full/402465a0_fs.html
No one seems to have mentioned the biggest hurdles in cloning an extinct mammal.
Sure you can amplify bits of DNA from the thylacine (aka Tasmanian tiger).
You might be able to reconstruct the entire genome, or at least reconstruct the coding part of it exactly and the non-coding parts of it (like junk DNA) closely enough to work.
But you still have two hurdles:
You need to make the genome into functioning chromosomes. This means wrapping huge DNA molecules with a structural scaffolding of protein and stuff. There are also chemical modifications to some bases (such as methylation) which occur in poorly understood patterns and affect gene expression. Artificial chromosomes have been made, but I don't think we know how to assemble a stable, full-size, fully functioning chromosome yet.
More importantly, say you have total genome sequence assembled into chromosomes - what do you do with it? To produce an animal, you also need to reconstruct a thylacine ovum (egg). A mammal's ovum is full of special genetic instructions (mRNA) and regulatory proteins produced by the mother. How will we make one? Even if we found a preserved one, nobody knows how to assemble a functioning animal cell, let alone one of an unknown type. I seriously doubt the Jurassic Park solution of "use an egg cell from a related species" would work.
To really clone an extinct animal, you'd need to have to reconstruct how the ovum worked by some kind of fantastically complex computer simulation based on the genome sequence. Then you'd have to make the ovum, put it in an artificial womb or modern day host (which would be fairly easy compared with the previous bits), and bring it to term.
I think any information we can get about the thylacine is worth getting, but don't hold your breath for results...
Slashdot needs to figure out some automatic mirroring scheme to avoid shutting down useful sites. Make it available to subscribers only if you have to.
Slashdot Mirror
Someone seems to have tinkered with his surname - is it Felten or Felton??
Nuff said.
Although Sundman writes well and creates some interesting scenes, I found that Acts didn't really gel. The plot developed more slowly than I expected, and there was too much exposition and discussion. Although he obviously knows a lot about computers, his attempt at plausible biotechnology wasn't convincing.
MILD SPOILER:
Bad guys demonstrate a nanomachine that can activate single genes. Sundman thinks that if you activated a growth hormone gene along one side of a mouse, that side would grow, in a matter of minutes!
END SPOILER
The bad guys' evil plot, when it's finally revealed (more by authorial fiat than anything else, IIRC) is a good (if implausible) premise for a thriller, but it is all left too late in the book. With the wide-ranging plot strands and technical detail, it could have been a biocomputing equivalent of Cryptonomicon, but I was a bit disappointed.
On the plus side, there are LOTS of ideas and plot strands in the book. The portrayal of the ways of computer developers is interesting and engaging. In particular, a lot of the book revolves around the actions of what seems to be a thinly disguised version of Sun Microsystems (Sundman worked for them) and their computer language 'espresso', so it might be especially entertaining if you know the company well.
I wouldn't particularly recommend Acts, but I would like to read his future books.
For example:
Now I'm not accusing all these people of necessarily selling out, but obviously, if you work with a company, you're less likely to speak frankly about how much it sucks (if only because you have to take into account the interests your employees/shareholders).
I have heard that cheeses made in the middle ages have developed thicker rinds at the bottom over time due to very slow cheese flow, but I have never seen it firsthand. Does anyone know if cheese is a liquid or not?
Look at the title of the article. They've put "Britan". Honestly.
It's Britain, you assmonkeys.
Why do you expect people to pay for subscriptions when you constantly repeat stories, post press releases as news, and even post obvious garbled rubbish?
This kind of thing might be OK in a free, community led service, but the fact that you don't give a shit what you're publishing hardly inspires enough trust to pay you money. I can see that last post now.
Update: 09/02 15:34 GMT by CT: We're closing down, folks. Move along :) You won't get a rebate on your subscriptions. We suck so much. Blah blah blah.
Online samples of his fiction
I especially recommend "A Colder War", although it's not geek-specific.
Note that he's collaborating with Doctorow now, too.
or learned how to time travel back in time and affect the present. Being a nice guy, you decide to warn the world now and give everybody a few years to prepare before revealing the discovery.
In the case of time travel, the solution is simple. Travel back a few years and place a series of bets that you know you will win. Publicise that you are doing this. People will gradually come to realise that you have indeed come from the future. Assuming that the outcome of the things you are betting on hasn't been affected by your presence in the past.You can factor numbers which are the sum of two large primes, though.
Product, for fuck's sake. Product.
This is stating the obvious, but I haven't seen any comments modded above 1 that point this out.
You can't factor a prime number, by definition.
You can factor numbers which are the sum of two large primes, though.
Apparently Gates made the same mistake in his 'Business at the Speed of Light' book. So don't feel too bad.
So Microsoft have chosen to name their security technology after a defensive measure which failed and allowed in a Trojan horse. Maybe they're trying to tell us something?
It does in 6.0x at least -- make sure "show tool tip for element titles" is checked in Preferences -> Accessibility.
Server Error
This server has encountered an internal error which prevents it from fulfilling your request. The most likely cause is a misconfiguration. Please ask the administrator to look for messages in the server's error log.
If you are using Opera 6.0 (or later) for your browser, the error may be related to your browser's configuration. Click here for a description of an Opera browser configuration parameter that may correct the misconfiguration.
Then a link which tells me to edit a Charset parameter in my browser's .ini file.
Does anyone know what this is about?
This is a very good point. I have a Java outliner program which is good, but it's launched by a 20 line batch file (this is on Windows). If you make a shortcut to launch it from outside the folder it's installed in, it fails to launch. Now, I could probably fiddle with the batch file and fix it if I really cared, but that would stump most users and they'd think the app was broken.
Until Java apps install and run just like other Windows apps, they just won't be suitable for the desktop.
I'm not talking about coding here, but copyediting and writing copy.
I find it really hard to write well on paper because I'm used to editing as I write.
Of course, all the candidates have the same problem, but surely you want to make your test reflect the conditions of the job? The best candidate when working on paper might not be the best at editing or writing on screen.
With exams, I can see the argument that as long as you don't demand perfect syntax, paper could be OK.
Surely it is sensible to be defending against potential threats before you are actually exposed to them? In other words, if a threat actually exists in the wild, it will be too late for a lot of people to download the right updates. Especially with this "Warhol Worm" idea going around.
If there was a security hole in a server and the vendor said "this hasn't been exploited in the wild", surely that would be a sign of the vendor's incompetence?
Viruses in JPEGs? How about lethal Godelian images? See COMP.BASILISK FAQ http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/n ature/journal/v402/n6761/full/402465a0_fs.html
Quoth Dave Green: [upon being Slashdotted midway through event] "Why link to us now? Yeah, like they're going to fly over from San Francisco today."
So, I have an old dead (ie I don't know how to fix it or it's not worth my time) PC that I want to get rid of. What's the right thing to do with it?
Sure you can amplify bits of DNA from the thylacine (aka Tasmanian tiger).
You might be able to reconstruct the entire genome, or at least reconstruct the coding part of it exactly and the non-coding parts of it (like junk DNA) closely enough to work.
But you still have two hurdles:
- You need to make the genome into functioning chromosomes. This means wrapping huge DNA molecules with a structural scaffolding of protein and stuff. There are also chemical modifications to some bases (such as methylation) which occur in poorly understood patterns and affect gene expression. Artificial chromosomes have been made, but I don't think we know how to assemble a stable, full-size, fully functioning chromosome yet.
- More importantly, say you have total genome sequence assembled into chromosomes - what do you do with it? To produce an animal, you also need to reconstruct a thylacine ovum (egg). A mammal's ovum is full of special genetic instructions (mRNA) and regulatory proteins produced by the mother. How will we make one? Even if we found a preserved one, nobody knows how to assemble a functioning animal cell, let alone one of an unknown type. I seriously doubt the Jurassic Park solution of "use an egg cell from a related species" would work.
To really clone an extinct animal, you'd need to have to reconstruct how the ovum worked by some kind of fantastically complex computer simulation based on the genome sequence. Then you'd have to make the ovum, put it in an artificial womb or modern day host (which would be fairly easy compared with the previous bits), and bring it to term.I think any information we can get about the thylacine is worth getting, but don't hold your breath for results ...
Hey, the British film industry may be be shit, but I'm sure a lot of expat British "creatives" read the Guardian. It might do some good.
Which words were too long for you here?
Here are the automatic mirrors: http://www.eu.cryptome.org/echelon2-arch.htm http://www.nl.cryptome.org/echelon2-arch.htm http://www.at.cryptome.org/echelon2-arch.htm
Slashdot needs to figure out some automatic mirroring scheme to avoid shutting down useful sites. Make it available to subscribers only if you have to.