Certainly, this is just another "think of the children" program, intended to scare kids shitless with the idea that everyone in the world is on a mission to touch their naughty bits. But why not also teach them about some more useful bits of Internet safety, like techniques for avoiding malware, phishing, and other scams? Such a lesson will serve these kids for the rest of their lives.
That's what I've always thought about annualcreditreport.com. It's the FTC running the show, so why don't they get a.gov domain name? Now, we're stuck with Experian's crappy TV commercials with that idiot driving the car (die already, will you?) where they trick people into thinking they're the way you're supposed to get free credit reports. They already got their wrist slapped once, but they're still at it.
You do realize that blocking the easy-to-block ads will just make them create more annoying ones, right? (see: interstitials) That's why God invented Greasemonkey. If there's an interstitial ad out there, there's probably a Greasemonkey script to bypass it.
Really, identification and characterization of facial features is probably the more interesting (now, anyway) part of this project. Once you figure out how to characterize those features, you can just apply and train a feed-forward neural network based on your training set (decades-old technology now), and Bob's your uncle.
Putting one in the Whitehouse certainly didn't simplify things. Sniff. I miss the 1990s, when sexual intentions in the White House were so easy to discern.
I'm not that impressed. I was maintaining a lab of 16 Atari 800's when I was roughly his age. If he were smart, he'd switch to a less virus-resistant platform - I mean, we never had any problems.
Don't forget that part of IBM's brand recovery was a fundamental shift in their core business to focus a lot more on services and software solutions rather than hardware, and they've still never managed to recover their former ubiquity.
Of course, what's really going to get us is that scientists will discover the precise mass of the Higgs boson, causing the planet to become compressed down to the size of a pea. Still, I guess that's better than having your whole universe converted into flying robotic arms.
I think tortious interference was one of the claims made in a class action lawsuit filed by a group of players against IGE (one of the bigger gold farming outfits). I suspect Blizzard would have better luck with this angle as well, for the same reasons. At the very least, they should be sure to include it in their claims.
The first set of claims (1-7) seem to be describing SETI@Home, more or less. The patent was filed in January 1999, while SETI@Home was released to the public in May of that year. Just something to think about.
What I don't get is that the federal copyright statutes make explicit provisions for granting attorney's fees and court costs to the prevailing party, but it's still apparently like pulling teeth to get the courts to go along with it. If Congress didn't intend for people to actually be able to claim compensation when they win after suing/being sued, why did they put it in the statute?
Well, the subtlety I was talking about is that beer ads suggest to the viewer that ample sex with gorgeous women is in store for them if they drink the advertised product, but they never actually say it (because it's obviously not true).
Is it better to be a part of a modern mega-Car-making Machine?.. or a modern mega-Paper-pushing Machine? While advertising does help to connect sellers with buyers, it does so in a skewed way that can decrease the information available to one side (the buyer, when the seller is doing the advertising). A lot of advertising is done in a way that unfairly represents the product or service in a positive light, in some cases in a rather subtle manner (hot chicks in beer ads, for instance).
So, considering that a large portion of advertising is intended to deceive people, yes, I would say it is better to be part of a modern mega-car-making or paper-pushing machine.
Light, in general, suppresses the production of melatonin by the retina, and melatonin plays a role in maintaining circadian rhythms. Higher levels of melatonin make you more sleepy, which is why melatonin is sold OTC as a sleep aid.
One of the treatments for some sleep disorders is called "light therapy", and involves having a fairly bright light in view for about an hour after you wake up. This inhibits melatonin production and resets the circadian cycle to keep that as your wake-up time (which also places your go-to-sleep time at an appropriate time of day). Recent studies indicate that the suppression of melatonin production peaks around 450nm, so a blue light around that wavelength is far more effective per lumen than broad-spectrum light.
So, if you're a person who does a lot of night driving (you work the night shift, you drive trucks at night, etc.), this is great for you, because you can get by with a much dimmer light, perhaps even one in the vehicle while you're driving. If you just need this for one or two nights, you're a bit likely to give yourself jet lag by screwing up your sleep schedule.
Actually, the "Anthology of Interest" episodes (you watched it - you can't unwatch it!) were among my favorites from the original series, indicating that extremely short episodes really provided the structure that helped the writers to shine. I wouldn't mind seeing more Tales! Of! Interest! included as bonus features on the upcoming DVDs.
I liked Bender's Big Score a lot better than, say, That's Lobstertainment or The Honking, but they really had some great episodes during the original run that'll be hard to top.
On an unrelated note, I seriously hope they improve the media and packaging quality for the next DVD. My DVD player is barely able to play the BBS disc I got (no scratches or anything, just can't seem to stay focused on the disc, especially layer 2), and the packaging only manages tenuously, at best, to keep the disc from falling out and rolling across the floor.
Slashdot Mirror
That's approximately one sextillion photons per firing.
Which explains how Dawkins met Lalla Ward. She discusses it briefly on the DVD commentary for Destiny of the Daleks.
Certainly, this is just another "think of the children" program, intended to scare kids shitless with the idea that everyone in the world is on a mission to touch their naughty bits. But why not also teach them about some more useful bits of Internet safety, like techniques for avoiding malware, phishing, and other scams? Such a lesson will serve these kids for the rest of their lives.
Maybe they could try filtering their outgoing messages? Just a thought.
Sorry, that's all I got.
That's what I've always thought about annualcreditreport.com. It's the FTC running the show, so why don't they get a .gov domain name? Now, we're stuck with Experian's crappy TV commercials with that idiot driving the car (die already, will you?) where they trick people into thinking they're the way you're supposed to get free credit reports. They already got their wrist slapped once, but they're still at it.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/08/consumerinfo.shtm
Really, identification and characterization of facial features is probably the more interesting (now, anyway) part of this project. Once you figure out how to characterize those features, you can just apply and train a feed-forward neural network based on your training set (decades-old technology now), and Bob's your uncle.
This way, they can post it as a dupe tomorrow, thus making it funny for multiple reasons.
I'm not that impressed. I was maintaining a lab of 16 Atari 800's when I was roughly his age. If he were smart, he'd switch to a less virus-resistant platform - I mean, we never had any problems.
Don't forget that part of IBM's brand recovery was a fundamental shift in their core business to focus a lot more on services and software solutions rather than hardware, and they've still never managed to recover their former ubiquity.
21 December 2012 isn't that far away.
Of course, what's really going to get us is that scientists will discover the precise mass of the Higgs boson, causing the planet to become compressed down to the size of a pea. Still, I guess that's better than having your whole universe converted into flying robotic arms.
I think tortious interference was one of the claims made in a class action lawsuit filed by a group of players against IGE (one of the bigger gold farming outfits). I suspect Blizzard would have better luck with this angle as well, for the same reasons. At the very least, they should be sure to include it in their claims.
The first set of claims (1-7) seem to be describing SETI@Home, more or less. The patent was filed in January 1999, while SETI@Home was released to the public in May of that year. Just something to think about.
What I don't get is that the federal copyright statutes make explicit provisions for granting attorney's fees and court costs to the prevailing party, but it's still apparently like pulling teeth to get the courts to go along with it. If Congress didn't intend for people to actually be able to claim compensation when they win after suing/being sued, why did they put it in the statute?
Well, the subtlety I was talking about is that beer ads suggest to the viewer that ample sex with gorgeous women is in store for them if they drink the advertised product, but they never actually say it (because it's obviously not true).
So, considering that a large portion of advertising is intended to deceive people, yes, I would say it is better to be part of a modern mega-car-making or paper-pushing machine.
I think we're just trying to avoid falling victim to one of the classic blunders, namely, getting involved in a land war in Asia.
Light, in general, suppresses the production of melatonin by the retina, and melatonin plays a role in maintaining circadian rhythms. Higher levels of melatonin make you more sleepy, which is why melatonin is sold OTC as a sleep aid.
One of the treatments for some sleep disorders is called "light therapy", and involves having a fairly bright light in view for about an hour after you wake up. This inhibits melatonin production and resets the circadian cycle to keep that as your wake-up time (which also places your go-to-sleep time at an appropriate time of day). Recent studies indicate that the suppression of melatonin production peaks around 450nm, so a blue light around that wavelength is far more effective per lumen than broad-spectrum light.
So, if you're a person who does a lot of night driving (you work the night shift, you drive trucks at night, etc.), this is great for you, because you can get by with a much dimmer light, perhaps even one in the vehicle while you're driving. If you just need this for one or two nights, you're a bit likely to give yourself jet lag by screwing up your sleep schedule.
Actually, the "Anthology of Interest" episodes (you watched it - you can't unwatch it!) were among my favorites from the original series, indicating that extremely short episodes really provided the structure that helped the writers to shine. I wouldn't mind seeing more Tales! Of! Interest! included as bonus features on the upcoming DVDs.
I liked Bender's Big Score a lot better than, say, That's Lobstertainment or The Honking, but they really had some great episodes during the original run that'll be hard to top.
On an unrelated note, I seriously hope they improve the media and packaging quality for the next DVD. My DVD player is barely able to play the BBS disc I got (no scratches or anything, just can't seem to stay focused on the disc, especially layer 2), and the packaging only manages tenuously, at best, to keep the disc from falling out and rolling across the floor.