Equilibrium? He's the rock splitting the water. Or, he is the water flowing along two mounds...
Or, to bring it to the West, if he's Richard Pryor in "Which Way Is Up?", he better watch out for shuttle buses that run over preachers... and better watch out for the Ms Tyson's with vibrators...
Not only that, look at Phelps' proportions (in which his arms span appear to be of a person of one height, his legs of another, his height another, and look at that rib cage, containing lungs that outstrip capacity of other swimmers who cannot hope to beat him on the return leg of the pool swim, even when he is not in first place until the LAST fraction of a second...):
Now, some say he's freakish, while others argue his dimensions are not.
Fortunately, he apparently has no "keel fin" dimension/projections drag problems. If so, he would be too embarrassed to emerge from the pool...
OTOH, if swimming is rigged, then it might be proved by ripping off the swim head gear and looking for ear buds sending the instruction ("slow down JUSSST a bit... Phelps is on your tail... let him hit the Chronos buzzer pad first...")
I hear see the "Yo Quero Robo Belle", and Squi-Squi-Squi-Squi-Squi-Sqeeee- and RaRaFoRaRaROH sounds in the combat circles... Olympus battles Zeus/Aphrodite. ZA wins. Will ZA MOUNT Olympus?
(That subject is NOT the sound of a chihuahau in my computer.... Plus, I doubt dogs can make the "F" sound, hehe)
What's next, dog brains in robots? (Nah, some people who defile some Koreans for eating dog meat would be up in robocopic arms if Fido or FiFi ended up in a little robo-chassis..))
My dick has more PIERCINGS than yours... but yours is like a weak sieve
or
You're bigger, but you're impotent
or
You're directionless... all talk, no wand, so no magic
I imagine, though, that the US will proclaim, "Fuck Russia! We'll go it ALONE", only to in delusion watch Russia form alliances with which the US cannot compete, especially if overseas launch sites are cheaper and prevalent. So far, it seems the USA "leadership" is more interested in being number one at destroying others' vehicles, beaming back pretty solar system pictures, and making bellicose Space Domination assertions.
Besides, so much of Europe needs oil coming from Russia that this thing will fade and the US and maybe Canada will be kicking up sand, grousing and grumbling. Russia is someone the US doesn't want to F*ck with. That area is "Russia's Back Yard", so to speak, and all the US's currency will be worth is grousing. Doing any more will just exacerbate things. If Iowa, or Nebraska had cause or prodding to secede, how long would the rest of the US wait before the various US marshals and federally-deployed troops move in to "restore order" or "rescue US-passport-holding citizens held hostage in break-away states"?
It would be saddening to me (and maybe to many others) if it turns out that there IS only EARTH. Humanity should have sentient, space-faring or space-capable counterparts in the future. Partly because there seems to be enough solar systems that *might* sustain systems like ours. Partly because humans don't singly deserve to roam uninhibited among the stars. Humans, if they/we ever make it into space will most definitely deserve or warrant having potential "keep-in-check/we'll KICK-your-ASS-if-you-get-expansionist-on-the-'Verse" guardians out there.
Human history has shown that however creative and compassionate we are as a species, there are always robber-barons, hyper-industrialists, phony or selfish mega-wealthy types, and innumerable war-mongering cretins down here who do NOT deserve to be given a legacy or say in hijacking resource out there. Maybe in our OWN solar system, but once we encounter other life out there, I sincerely hope they are more enlightened yet quite willing to put humans in "the penalty box" when humans get out of hand.
But, realistically, if they are non-interventionist (until humans royally dick-up), it could be QUITE a while before humans are allowed to find and report incontrovertible proof of non-human intelligence out there. So, the longer we are "deprived" of proof of intelligent space-faring beings out there, the longer we are granted a Nature's Reprieve to clean up our act down here. Based on my observations of history -and ESPECIALLY today's "leaders", it's a good thing that *i* am not the one (if anyone would be) designated to stand "failsafe watch", hand over the red button to shut down humans. (I am assuming the button would be watched for the time just before humans commit the worst of worst egregious acts, like trying to hijack other sentient beings' worlds...)
Why not send a large enough vehicle to launch an orbital string of probes, some of which are repeaters, some of which are trackers to receive from and monitor other vehicles until they ARE crushed. One or two vehicles could be of extraordinary strength, maybe Sputnik-looking spheres to withstand as much as a gas giant might dish out, or maybe Jupiter, or Uranus. Of course, i expect there to be a lot of puns about spheres and Uranus-gazing.
But, as for probing gas giants, aren't they so vastly far away from us that any data they return home would be outdated by the time humanity (if it) progresses to that point, technology and better materials might make personal travel more feasible, and touchy-feely -- assuming no black holes or no wormholes open up near the Moon.
I heard this AM on Michael Krasny's "Forum" a highly-regarded guest say that there is speculation that former KGB and other intel officers are basically running gang outfits in the region, and that they created the pretext for Russia to go and attack Georgia.
Of course, as far as Russia is concerned, this is still its territory.
As for the oil, there's only about 1 million barrels a day flowing out of there (near Georgia?), not much to speak of.
Also, there is some merit (from one or more guests on the show), there could be a diabolical plan (between Bush & Putin? or McCain staff & Medvedev/Putin?) to actually instigate this sudden flare-up to boast McCain's "leadership" credentials. As long as Russia's interests and the current administration's duties don't turn into WW3, Russia wins, and maybe McCain wins by virtue of the fact that Obama is not a veteran, despite every president of the US (or of most nations) having well-heeled military advisers who know a HELL of a lot more than almost any president, despite what the CIA staff may tell the president in the morning/daily intelligence briefings.
Meanwhile, "petro confidence" might bounce and bound merrily along, since most of Europe gets its oil from Russia. That the US didn't HELP Georgia (other than flying back home from the M.E. some 2,000 troops to aid in the debacle/conflict) is quite telling. Georgia is a staunch supporter of the US, and vice versa. They named a road after the current Bush sitting in the White House. He claimed he had a soft spot for Georgia (I guess he had "Georgia on his mind" since his name has some of the same letters as that nation/FSR state...), and yet is letting Putin only hear mild words.
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to see WW III. Likely, this will roll over and go quiet in under 2 weeks. It has to. The EU needs its fuel needs met, and the US for years exacerbated things and pissed off Putin and Putin's few allies by having meddled in Poland, and by having pushed those missile defense shield plans so close to Russia's borders.
Now, as for oil outside of Russia, if you want to see REAL fireworks, just consider that big nations now are vying to carve up the Arctic. Imagine if drilled oil there is spilled, in that frigid/icy water. It could be the most significant, lasting human-instigated environmental disaster ever.
And, for those of you interested the life of a soldier-for-hire writing about his experiences in Iraq ("Highway to Hell: Dispatches from a Mercenary in Iraq")
But, do keep in mind that while he and others see a usefulness in having "mercs" in Iraq and Afghanistan, don't forget that they took all the contracting moneys provided, and yet many don't want the risk associated. They KNEW the risks. So far, some 1,000 (or, is it 2,000) civilian guns for hire have been killed in action there. Also, keep in mind that many of them can "earn" $150,000 to $250,000 a year driving fuel trucks or being body guards for local officials and ministry officials...
Also, in the rounds of speculation, there is the possibility that other parties are involved in the cyber vandalism, exploiting the opportunity to politically assail Georgia. It's being suggested that these are pro-Moscow crackers.
I've listened to NPR yesterday about this, and the best experts have been able to say so far is that it is cyber VANDALISM. No major infrastructure has been crashed. Hospitals and such have not been imploded.
There is even speculation that Georgians themselves crashed/trashed their OWN systems to exploit the current bad image Putin (yes, PUTIN is calling the shots, not Medvedev. Moreover, and ironically, a US-based outfit in, guess where... GEORGIA (yes, the state) offered and took on the hosting for the Georgian President's web site. Guess what? It wasn't working out. It was still being crashed/taken down. So, another party (seems to be Estonia) is helping out.
I really fracking wish some of these sensationalistic headers on Slash would get slashed.
Now, given that Putin/Medvedev claim Russian advances are immediately ceasing (purportedly) there really isn't "cyber warfare" going on, isn't there? If things continue, or escalate, THEN it might truly eclipse the bounds into "warfare".
I don't have a LinkedIn account, but does it allow users to flag/tag they contacts as to:
- persona - business - source - in a field related to my current employers' core line of business - mildly risky - ???
And, what of an employee who has all sorts of non-professional/unprofessional, naughty contacts, say, polluting the list just to waste the time of anyone being an asshole enough to demand the list?
May as well populate the list with names of thousands of deceased. Start name-scraping off headstones in Colma, CA, where the dead outnumber the living something like 10,000 to 1. Actually, the annoyed employees using LinkedIn might want to start combing the obituaries, massage adverts, business license/permit notifications and so on. Then, if the list is subpoenaed, just ignore any demand for living contacts and turn off the character flag and voila!
So, while a submarine "CAN" include robotic vehicles, that thing is so small as to not merit being called a submarine. (It's small enough to fit up a whale's ass...) On top of that, it has a limited range, doesn't carry people, and is remotely controlled.
I suppose anyone thinking of model/RC submarines in a lake would take me to task. But, those are MODELS, representations of real submarines.
Why then, doesn't the US just send to the Beijing Olympics people with clear backgrounds, but are agents, carrying honey-pot and honey-net laptops. They could set EMP-type or other types of micro-bursts so that when the laptops are disassembled, they beacon home. But, I suppose that unless US/US allies satellites are overhead at the right time, they won't know if the laptop is compromised...
No, check that. If the laptop is compromised, it doesn't squawk, YET. I squawks AFTER the carrying agent and they GPS/gyro-fitted laptop are released. But, I don't know if there is a micro-gyro that can be embedded in a laptop and not be detected. And, even if so, the Chinese can just put it in a cushioned bag, toss it in a clothes dryer on air dry, and cycle it about 25 minutes. That gyrating gyro will be needing a serious resetting-- especially if the dryer is in a pressure chamber on skids simulating lateral changes in direction. Even if that laptop has a solid-state chip for recording motions, it might run out of room and over-write itself... well, unless that has been provided for...
But, even better, for foreign governments, they can just find the encryption, charge the agent, and "out" him/her, or arrest him/her.
But, what I suspect will have happened or WILL happen is something I think may have been going on in the DC area for decades.... all those restaurants and bars probably have highly-trained servers who carefully retrieve all the dinnerware for DNA and finger print collection and collation with surveillance camera footage so that any and every time a foreign person of interests crosses into or out of the borders, their assigned ID always follows any aliases they use anywhere in the world, provided they are flagged by collaborating nations. So, all those people not wearing gloves or fake skins or fake lips (and being careful to not backwash) still will leave hair, follicles, skin, and such in their bedding, flooring, and in the air.
If you're paranoid, book a room in advance, then at the last minute, change rooms, or even change hotels. Or, take the room, then go to the concierge and pay under the table to get a 2nd room not logged into the reservations system, and pay extra to keep both rooms...
Is this a case of microsoft being "she blinded with science"? (Thomas Dolby) So hard-up over their own work they couldn't see the weaknesses in the security scheme?
Well, why have virtually ALL my employers of the past 10-15 years had these things as part of the hiring or post-first-interview process? To frighten you into giving up rights they KNOW better than telling you you don't have if they hire you and that they expect to win on appeal any case brought forth by a conflict.
I once worked for a mortgage firm (in 04) that got gobbled up by a La Jolla firm later that year. The lawyer had us re-sign fresh NDA/Non-Compete/Invention Disclosure forms, and expressly told me that I COULD NOT ADD MARK-UPS and expect to retain my job. I wanted to fucking STRANGLE his and every exec's ass involved. I've been for YEARS doing things in databases, and I'm limited by and forced to become creative because of limitations in the interface. Sometimes, these discoveries have useful time-saving purposes in offices in which I've worked.
These fucking Kalifornia corporations think they OWN what you bring to the office on their behalf and bury their stupid heads in the sand when you say, "I have been doing this for YEARS, it's part of my HOBBY, and I'm constrained by the toolset/feature set of the app I use. It's all I know. I don't have ownership rights over the apps of companies i don't control, I cannot and will not re-assign my resourcefulness just because you're hiring me...." Even retroactively, i've said to myself, FUCK that NC. I can prove (even if I don't disclose EVERYTHING to X company) that what I have been doing before they hired me is MINE, their claim is a grab-all, and robber-baron attempt to heist what they want but didn't invent and expect that I won't be compensated for MY INVENTIONS, whether or not I disclose them.
It is time for Kalifor, umm, California to formally issue cease and desist letters along with orders to tear up the NC contracts, inform the employees of this action, and rewrite the California Labor Law so masturbatingly-written by and for business lawyers for business people, in an age where computer applications literally make inventors of all who USE these apps.
That same mortgage firm, from what I could glean, was using open source code and then encrypting it or obscuring it and going on as if IT WAS ITS OWN CODE. I told that lawyer that ALL that code in those how-to books was written by professors and students and programmers who had economic or karma-based motives, and that the company cannot simply co-opt that code, NDA it, and expect me or others to ignore the existence of such code NOT EVEN INVENTED there.
So, California ALSO must/SHOULD start ordering ALL software companies in or doing business in California to sign sworn affidavits or stronger documents stating they:
-- DO or DO NOT use code they did not invent/author -- compelled/asked rejected and hired applicants to sign such documents as part of continued employment -- do or do not intent to inventory code for true ownership determination -- do or do not attribute ownership or code inspiration for code in the company products -- are actively informing employees of the State's decision that NC's in California are illegal/null & void, unenforceable, and so forth.
In that vein, employers probably should be banned from demanding "prior inventions disclosures" whether or not these are similar to the company's activity. If later on a legal battle occurs, then there can be a contest in court, but sometimes, employers exploit an employees OTHER talents and don't compensate the employee, or try to BAN the employee from engaging in activities even REMOTELY related (by virtue of the computer, or the "act of programming" being the only common, tenuous threads.
And finally, the California Labor Law/Code needs to be rewritten. Last time i read it in 2004, prior to in anguish signing that goddamn, near-murder-inducing NDA/NC/Disclosure form, i nearly got a thrombosis trying to rationalize that convoluted, asshole-written piece of law. It was torturous, confusingly-written legal minefield/morass of legalese that on the one hand GAVE the employee rights
Yes, I have heard of OSI. But, I'd prefer IBM sponsor Smart-Suite-based hobbyists and developers who make apps that have great potential to attract existing and new users to redouble their use of SmartSuite. Heck, Anthemion Software writes Storylines, and they support OpenOffice.org. Their app is wonderfully simple, elegant and EASY to use. Mine is thick, somewhat difficult to use, but still is powerful in ways of reporting and linked tables manipulation of data presentation.
Also, I forgot to mention that Vista does a debilitating number on Lotus Approach.
Please, please do something about that. 1-2-3 STILL has no built-in support for mouse wheel scrolling.
I would like to be able to re-develop my app so it can be considered as an app and template (in free and for-pay versions) in SmartSuite. My apps in L/A ran FINE in Win98. Vista brings my dozens of linked tables and dozens of forms and searches to a freaking CRAWL. Unfortunately for me, I have not been able to get neither VirtualBox nor other emulators (other than Win4Lin of old, as in the 2002/3-ish versions) to run win98. Win98 is leaner, faster, and friendlier to SmartSuite, and it seems IBM has dropped the ball and let ms get away with a release SmartSuite-crippling code.
IBM & Mr Sutor could do what for years I have been advocating (to and outside of IBM): MAKE LOTUS SMARTSUITE AN OPEN-SOURCE OPTION.
How hard can it BE? Don't TELL me about cannibalizing Notes/Domino. Don't TELL me about compilers and patents. DON'T TELL ME ABOUT MARKET SHARE! IBM seems all to happy to claim having 10 or 33 million corporate users of SmartSuite, yet totally short-shrifts/screws those of us who are NOT corporate users of SmartSuite.
To me, it's as simple as this:
1. Find and offer pay to worthy developers (inside of or outside of IBM/Lotus)who are former and agitated/longingly-waiting users of SmartSuite and tell them what is expected.
2. Make plans for 3 teams of 5 to 10 developers each: Each is given 4-6 weeks to play with the SmartSuite features, ONLY IN USER MODE, and tele-link them with assignments expected of office users and features asked for non-corporate end-users
2. Go back through your library of patents in SmartSuite owned/co-owned by people IBM's patent/development attorneys have been unable to identify for patent liability releases.
3. Make each team use SmartSuite on monitored/tamper-evident laptops (this is NOT the hack/decompile stage) to streamline the schedule of what they will need to attack and then write up reports of weaknesses vs OpenOffice.org, Corel, ABI Suite, ms office, etc
4. Plan to take the best people from each of the 3 teams and reduce to two teams which will be propositioned for full-time work which will demand they be sequestered for 6 months SOLID; TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES!
5. SHOW the Open Source developers the actual code stripped of the non-IBM code
6. Let them suggest dev tools to either re-write or encapsulate the code in OS-agnostic languages (your GOAL is to supplant ms office simply by making the suite accessible to any OS not engaging in anti-competitive tactics)
7. Carry out the sequester plan, and in mid-stream, let the Unix/Linux/Apple/windows users get a peak at it, and for HEAVEN'S SAKE, don't let it be Symphony. Toss that out and start updating SmartSuite! No more "maintenance fixes...
8. Price it for $100 for corporate and support-seeking users; $0-25 for end-users. SmartSuite IS WORTH PAYING FOR, so it need NOT be totally free, unless you want academic uptake to roar ahead.
IBM has for YEARS sat on its butt, squirming and hawing about patents, market size, and so on. Instead of mulling openly, OPENLY DO SOMETHING that is not an insult to SmartSuite's features.
One reason I am so irritated is because:
-- SmartSuite needs for Lotus Approach a stand-alone executable for the database & apps, similar to MS Access
-- Approach needs sliders on its detail table
-- SmartSuite needs better web intelligence so that its WYSIWYG heritage extends outside the desktop
-- WordPro needs updating to handle more file formats
-- SmartSuite has a vibrant end-user community that needs a reinvigorating surge of love for IBM
-- SmartSuite (particularly Lotus Word Pro and Lotus Approach) hands-down beat OO.o in probably 60% of mission-critical areas that make document creation, editing, and usage much easier, and OO.o devs trapped in Not-Invented-Here syndrom blithely and arrogantly ignore the SmartSuite features that could have softened the pain of SmartSuite users continually INSULTED by half-baked features in OO.o that CLAIM to address issues but do NOT (master/detail documents in text editing; WYSIWYG database forms, templates and applications)
Most of all, my personal stake in SmartSuite is my screenplay/dialog-tracking database and front end, and until SmartSuite is rejuvenated without destroying its lineage and appearance, I cannot realistically deploy for user testing the stuff I want to see thrive in SmartSuite.
IBM, I am NOT a programmer, yet I feel that i'll have to learn to trust (and overcome my fear of being screwed over by unscrupulous) developers/hackers to help me shunt my Approach-based apps to other dev tools such as Kdeve
Cellular tracking technology used the way credit card transaction anti-fraud monitoring works might help immensely.
If two passports geographically separated present the same ID number in a period of time that cannot be traveled by the average person, then BOTH of them get nabbed and checked. It'll inconvenience a lot of people, but it'll slow the uptick in mischievous use of cloned passports. BUT, the thing is, this probably has to be done in REAL TIME.
So, since it's unlikely that two travelers with real and clone p/ps will travel in the verify-window scheme, then biometrically, each traveler would have to indicate "start/stop of my travel through inspected portals". If one views that travel as a band of time and space, then the next presentation of that p/p number should trigger detention of the subsequent presentation, and a track-down of the initial presenter, and the two re-verified at nearest Interpol or law enforcement facility.
OR, since that is still similar to my initial paragraph, then the program may have to go global and require ALL passport holders to have radio-trackable passports, which will not sit well with most people.
I guess this implies that combined retina, fingerprint, DNA and facial scanners may be the ultimate tool, relegating passports to a simple, somewhat unverified ID card.
As said by a US Marine SSgt in charge of me in 1984, "Where there's a WAY there's a WILL!"
Slashdot Mirror
Equilibrium? He's the rock splitting the water. Or, he is the water flowing along two mounds...
Or, to bring it to the West, if he's Richard Pryor in "Which Way Is Up?", he better watch out for shuttle buses that run over preachers... and better watch out for the Ms Tyson's with vibrators...
Not only that, look at Phelps' proportions (in which his arms span appear to be of a person of one height, his legs of another, his height another, and look at that rib cage, containing lungs that outstrip capacity of other swimmers who cannot hope to beat him on the return leg of the pool swim, even when he is not in first place until the LAST fraction of a second...):
http://peakoiljournal.com/topic/michael-phelps-freakish-physique-7359.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/956775/body_types_figure_into_olympic_champions.html
Now, some say he's freakish, while others argue his dimensions are not.
Fortunately, he apparently has no "keel fin" dimension/projections drag problems. If so, he would be too embarrassed to emerge from the pool...
OTOH, if swimming is rigged, then it might be proved by ripping off the swim head gear and looking for ear buds sending the instruction ("slow down JUSSST a bit... Phelps is on your tail... let him hit the Chronos buzzer pad first...")
BTW, i think you meant "IMpertinent"...hehehe, which could justify launching her into a gas giant, or into the rings of Saturn...
LOL! ROTFLMMFAO,TIME!
You can send Little Orphan Annie, if you want.
Is this the shape of things to come?
I hear see the "Yo Quero Robo Belle", and Squi-Squi-Squi-Squi-Squi-Sqeeee- and RaRaFoRaRaROH sounds in the combat circles... Olympus battles Zeus/Aphrodite. ZA wins. Will ZA MOUNT Olympus?
Rat Race for Ratty-assed Rangy Robots?
(That subject is NOT the sound of a chihuahau in my computer.... Plus, I doubt dogs can make the "F" sound, hehe)
What's next, dog brains in robots? (Nah, some people who defile some Koreans for eating dog meat would be up in robocopic arms if Fido or FiFi ended up in a little robo-chassis..))
RaRoFo
It's more like:
My dick has more PIERCINGS than yours... but yours is like a weak sieve
or
You're bigger, but you're impotent
or
You're directionless... all talk, no wand, so no magic
I imagine, though, that the US will proclaim, "Fuck Russia! We'll go it ALONE", only to in delusion watch Russia form alliances with which the US cannot compete, especially if overseas launch sites are cheaper and prevalent. So far, it seems the USA "leadership" is more interested in being number one at destroying others' vehicles, beaming back pretty solar system pictures, and making bellicose Space Domination assertions.
Besides, so much of Europe needs oil coming from Russia that this thing will fade and the US and maybe Canada will be kicking up sand, grousing and grumbling. Russia is someone the US doesn't want to F*ck with. That area is "Russia's Back Yard", so to speak, and all the US's currency will be worth is grousing. Doing any more will just exacerbate things. If Iowa, or Nebraska had cause or prodding to secede, how long would the rest of the US wait before the various US marshals and federally-deployed troops move in to "restore order" or "rescue US-passport-holding citizens held hostage in break-away states"?
It would be saddening to me (and maybe to many others) if it turns out that there IS only EARTH. Humanity should have sentient, space-faring or space-capable counterparts in the future. Partly because there seems to be enough solar systems that *might* sustain systems like ours. Partly because humans don't singly deserve to roam uninhibited among the stars. Humans, if they/we ever make it into space will most definitely deserve or warrant having potential "keep-in-check/we'll KICK-your-ASS-if-you-get-expansionist-on-the-'Verse" guardians out there.
Human history has shown that however creative and compassionate we are as a species, there are always robber-barons, hyper-industrialists, phony or selfish mega-wealthy types, and innumerable war-mongering cretins down here who do NOT deserve to be given a legacy or say in hijacking resource out there. Maybe in our OWN solar system, but once we encounter other life out there, I sincerely hope they are more enlightened yet quite willing to put humans in "the penalty box" when humans get out of hand.
But, realistically, if they are non-interventionist (until humans royally dick-up), it could be QUITE a while before humans are allowed to find and report incontrovertible proof of non-human intelligence out there. So, the longer we are "deprived" of proof of intelligent space-faring beings out there, the longer we are granted a Nature's Reprieve to clean up our act down here. Based on my observations of history -and ESPECIALLY today's "leaders", it's a good thing that *i* am not the one (if anyone would be) designated to stand "failsafe watch", hand over the red button to shut down humans. (I am assuming the button would be watched for the time just before humans commit the worst of worst egregious acts, like trying to hijack other sentient beings' worlds...)
Why not send a large enough vehicle to launch an orbital string of probes, some of which are repeaters, some of which are trackers to receive from and monitor other vehicles until they ARE crushed. One or two vehicles could be of extraordinary strength, maybe Sputnik-looking spheres to withstand as much as a gas giant might dish out, or maybe Jupiter, or Uranus. Of course, i expect there to be a lot of puns about spheres and Uranus-gazing.
But, as for probing gas giants, aren't they so vastly far away from us that any data they return home would be outdated by the time humanity (if it) progresses to that point, technology and better materials might make personal travel more feasible, and touchy-feely -- assuming no black holes or no wormholes open up near the Moon.
I heard this AM on Michael Krasny's "Forum" a highly-regarded guest say that there is speculation that former KGB and other intel officers are basically running gang outfits in the region, and that they created the pretext for Russia to go and attack Georgia.
Of course, as far as Russia is concerned, this is still its territory.
As for the oil, there's only about 1 million barrels a day flowing out of there (near Georgia?), not much to speak of.
Also, there is some merit (from one or more guests on the show), there could be a diabolical plan (between Bush & Putin? or McCain staff & Medvedev/Putin?) to actually instigate this sudden flare-up to boast McCain's "leadership" credentials. As long as Russia's interests and the current administration's duties don't turn into WW3, Russia wins, and maybe McCain wins by virtue of the fact that Obama is not a veteran, despite every president of the US (or of most nations) having well-heeled military advisers who know a HELL of a lot more than almost any president, despite what the CIA staff may tell the president in the morning/daily intelligence briefings.
Meanwhile, "petro confidence" might bounce and bound merrily along, since most of Europe gets its oil from Russia. That the US didn't HELP Georgia (other than flying back home from the M.E. some 2,000 troops to aid in the debacle/conflict) is quite telling. Georgia is a staunch supporter of the US, and vice versa. They named a road after the current Bush sitting in the White House. He claimed he had a soft spot for Georgia (I guess he had "Georgia on his mind" since his name has some of the same letters as that nation/FSR state...), and yet is letting Putin only hear mild words.
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to see WW III. Likely, this will roll over and go quiet in under 2 weeks. It has to. The EU needs its fuel needs met, and the US for years exacerbated things and pissed off Putin and Putin's few allies by having meddled in Poland, and by having pushed those missile defense shield plans so close to Russia's borders.
Now, as for oil outside of Russia, if you want to see REAL fireworks, just consider that big nations now are vying to carve up the Arctic. Imagine if drilled oil there is spilled, in that frigid/icy water. It could be the most significant, lasting human-instigated environmental disaster ever.
For other/more relevant info, see:
http://www.kqed.org/radio/
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R808120900
And, for those of you interested the life of a soldier-for-hire writing about his experiences in Iraq ("Highway to Hell: Dispatches from a Mercenary in Iraq")
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93525811&ft=1&f=13
But, do keep in mind that while he and others see a usefulness in having "mercs" in Iraq and Afghanistan, don't forget that they took all the contracting moneys provided, and yet many don't want the risk associated. They KNEW the risks. So far, some 1,000 (or, is it 2,000) civilian guns for hire have been killed in action there. Also, keep in mind that many of them can "earn" $150,000 to $250,000 a year driving fuel trucks or being body guards for local officials and ministry officials...
Hate to reply to my own post, but I forgot.....
Also, in the rounds of speculation, there is the possibility that other parties are involved in the cyber vandalism, exploiting the opportunity to politically assail Georgia. It's being suggested that these are pro-Moscow crackers.
I've listened to NPR yesterday about this, and the best experts have been able to say so far is that it is cyber VANDALISM. No major infrastructure has been crashed. Hospitals and such have not been imploded.
There is even speculation that Georgians themselves crashed/trashed their OWN systems to exploit the current bad image Putin (yes, PUTIN is calling the shots, not Medvedev. Moreover, and ironically, a US-based outfit in, guess where... GEORGIA (yes, the state) offered and took on the hosting for the Georgian President's web site. Guess what? It wasn't working out. It was still being crashed/taken down. So, another party (seems to be Estonia) is helping out.
I really fracking wish some of these sensationalistic headers on Slash would get slashed.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/2008/08/august_12th_show.html
Now, given that Putin/Medvedev claim Russian advances are immediately ceasing (purportedly) there really isn't "cyber warfare" going on, isn't there? If things continue, or escalate, THEN it might truly eclipse the bounds into "warfare".
I don't have a LinkedIn account, but does it allow users to flag/tag they contacts as to:
- persona
- business
- source
- in a field related to my current employers' core line of business
- mildly risky
- ???
And, what of an employee who has all sorts of non-professional/unprofessional, naughty contacts, say, polluting the list just to waste the time of anyone being an asshole enough to demand the list?
May as well populate the list with names of thousands of deceased. Start name-scraping off headstones in Colma, CA, where the dead outnumber the living something like 10,000 to 1. Actually, the annoyed employees using LinkedIn might want to start combing the obituaries, massage adverts, business license/permit notifications and so on. Then, if the list is subpoenaed, just ignore any demand for living contacts and turn off the character flag and voila!
A BABYwolf cluster of 50,000 286's?!?
Joe's probably gonna need an
-- importer's license by the State of Florida,
-- and probably need a toxic waste handling certificate
-- OSHA certs
-- EPA documentation
-- site security
-- PR office to deal with GreenPeace and other environmental concerns...
That thing truly is a PROBE, or some unmanned vehicle. Submarine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine
So, while a submarine "CAN" include robotic vehicles, that thing is so small as to not merit being called a submarine. (It's small enough to fit up a whale's ass...) On top of that, it has a limited range, doesn't carry people, and is remotely controlled.
I suppose anyone thinking of model/RC submarines in a lake would take me to task. But, those are MODELS, representations of real submarines.
Just my $0.02
Why then, doesn't the US just send to the Beijing Olympics people with clear backgrounds, but are agents, carrying honey-pot and honey-net laptops. They could set EMP-type or other types of micro-bursts so that when the laptops are disassembled, they beacon home. But, I suppose that unless US/US allies satellites are overhead at the right time, they won't know if the laptop is compromised...
No, check that. If the laptop is compromised, it doesn't squawk, YET. I squawks AFTER the carrying agent and they GPS/gyro-fitted laptop are released. But, I don't know if there is a micro-gyro that can be embedded in a laptop and not be detected. And, even if so, the Chinese can just put it in a cushioned bag, toss it in a clothes dryer on air dry, and cycle it about 25 minutes. That gyrating gyro will be needing a serious resetting-- especially if the dryer is in a pressure chamber on skids simulating lateral changes in direction. Even if that laptop has a solid-state chip for recording motions, it might run out of room and over-write itself... well, unless that has been provided for...
But, even better, for foreign governments, they can just find the encryption, charge the agent, and "out" him/her, or arrest him/her.
But, what I suspect will have happened or WILL happen is something I think may have been going on in the DC area for decades.... all those restaurants and bars probably have highly-trained servers who carefully retrieve all the dinnerware for DNA and finger print collection and collation with surveillance camera footage so that any and every time a foreign person of interests crosses into or out of the borders, their assigned ID always follows any aliases they use anywhere in the world, provided they are flagged by collaborating nations. So, all those people not wearing gloves or fake skins or fake lips (and being careful to not backwash) still will leave hair, follicles, skin, and such in their bedding, flooring, and in the air.
If you're paranoid, book a room in advance, then at the last minute, change rooms, or even change hotels. Or, take the room, then go to the concierge and pay under the table to get a 2nd room not logged into the reservations system, and pay extra to keep both rooms...
How about just claiming to be a lawyer, and not admitting the Martian part?
But, as a Martian, I take great offence to be referred to as an Illegal Alien...
"A View to a Kill" (Duran Duran)
Is this a case of microsoft being "she blinded with science"? (Thomas Dolby) So hard-up over their own work they couldn't see the weaknesses in the security scheme?
Well, why have virtually ALL my employers of the past 10-15 years had these things as part of the hiring or post-first-interview process? To frighten you into giving up rights they KNOW better than telling you you don't have if they hire you and that they expect to win on appeal any case brought forth by a conflict.
I once worked for a mortgage firm (in 04) that got gobbled up by a La Jolla firm later that year. The lawyer had us re-sign fresh NDA/Non-Compete/Invention Disclosure forms, and expressly told me that I COULD NOT ADD MARK-UPS and expect to retain my job. I wanted to fucking STRANGLE his and every exec's ass involved. I've been for YEARS doing things in databases, and I'm limited by and forced to become creative because of limitations in the interface. Sometimes, these discoveries have useful time-saving purposes in offices in which I've worked.
These fucking Kalifornia corporations think they OWN what you bring to the office on their behalf and bury their stupid heads in the sand when you say, "I have been doing this for YEARS, it's part of my HOBBY, and I'm constrained by the toolset/feature set of the app I use. It's all I know. I don't have ownership rights over the apps of companies i don't control, I cannot and will not re-assign my resourcefulness just because you're hiring me...." Even retroactively, i've said to myself, FUCK that NC. I can prove (even if I don't disclose EVERYTHING to X company) that what I have been doing before they hired me is MINE, their claim is a grab-all, and robber-baron attempt to heist what they want but didn't invent and expect that I won't be compensated for MY INVENTIONS, whether or not I disclose them.
It is time for Kalifor, umm, California to formally issue cease and desist letters along with orders to tear up the NC contracts, inform the employees of this action, and rewrite the California Labor Law so masturbatingly-written by and for business lawyers for business people, in an age where computer applications literally make inventors of all who USE these apps.
That same mortgage firm, from what I could glean, was using open source code and then encrypting it or obscuring it and going on as if IT WAS ITS OWN CODE. I told that lawyer that ALL that code in those how-to books was written by professors and students and programmers who had economic or karma-based motives, and that the company cannot simply co-opt that code, NDA it, and expect me or others to ignore the existence of such code NOT EVEN INVENTED there.
So, California ALSO must/SHOULD start ordering ALL software companies in or doing business in California to sign sworn affidavits or stronger documents stating they:
-- DO or DO NOT use code they did not invent/author
-- compelled/asked rejected and hired applicants to sign such documents as part of continued employment
-- do or do not intent to inventory code for true ownership determination
-- do or do not attribute ownership or code inspiration for code in the company products
-- are actively informing employees of the State's decision that NC's in California are illegal/null & void, unenforceable, and so forth.
In that vein, employers probably should be banned from demanding "prior inventions disclosures" whether or not these are similar to the company's activity. If later on a legal battle occurs, then there can be a contest in court, but sometimes, employers exploit an employees OTHER talents and don't compensate the employee, or try to BAN the employee from engaging in activities even REMOTELY related (by virtue of the computer, or the "act of programming" being the only common, tenuous threads.
And finally, the California Labor Law/Code needs to be rewritten. Last time i read it in 2004, prior to in anguish signing that goddamn, near-murder-inducing NDA/NC/Disclosure form, i nearly got a thrombosis trying to rationalize that convoluted, asshole-written piece of law. It was torturous, confusingly-written legal minefield/morass of legalese that on the one hand GAVE the employee rights
Yes, I have heard of OSI. But, I'd prefer IBM sponsor Smart-Suite-based hobbyists and developers who make apps that have great potential to attract existing and new users to redouble their use of SmartSuite. Heck, Anthemion Software writes Storylines, and they support OpenOffice.org. Their app is wonderfully simple, elegant and EASY to use. Mine is thick, somewhat difficult to use, but still is powerful in ways of reporting and linked tables manipulation of data presentation.
Also, I forgot to mention that Vista does a debilitating number on Lotus Approach.
Please, please do something about that. 1-2-3 STILL has no built-in support for mouse wheel scrolling.
I would like to be able to re-develop my app so it can be considered as an app and template (in free and for-pay versions) in SmartSuite. My apps in L/A ran FINE in Win98. Vista brings my dozens of linked tables and dozens of forms and searches to a freaking CRAWL. Unfortunately for me, I have not been able to get neither VirtualBox nor other emulators (other than Win4Lin of old, as in the 2002/3-ish versions) to run win98. Win98 is leaner, faster, and friendlier to SmartSuite, and it seems IBM has dropped the ball and let ms get away with a release SmartSuite-crippling code.
IBM & Mr Sutor could do what for years I have been advocating (to and outside of IBM): MAKE LOTUS SMARTSUITE AN OPEN-SOURCE OPTION.
How hard can it BE? Don't TELL me about cannibalizing Notes/Domino. Don't TELL me about compilers and patents. DON'T TELL ME ABOUT MARKET SHARE! IBM seems all to happy to claim having 10 or 33 million corporate users of SmartSuite, yet totally short-shrifts/screws those of us who are NOT corporate users of SmartSuite.
To me, it's as simple as this:
1. Find and offer pay to worthy developers (inside of or outside of IBM/Lotus)who are former and agitated/longingly-waiting users of SmartSuite and tell them what is expected.
2. Make plans for 3 teams of 5 to 10 developers each: Each is given 4-6 weeks to play with the SmartSuite features, ONLY IN USER MODE, and tele-link them with assignments expected of office users and features asked for non-corporate end-users
2. Go back through your library of patents in SmartSuite owned/co-owned by people IBM's patent/development attorneys have been unable to identify for patent liability releases.
3. Make each team use SmartSuite on monitored/tamper-evident laptops (this is NOT the hack/decompile stage) to streamline the schedule of what they will need to attack and then write up reports of weaknesses vs OpenOffice.org, Corel, ABI Suite, ms office, etc
4. Plan to take the best people from each of the 3 teams and reduce to two teams which will be propositioned for full-time work which will demand they be sequestered for 6 months SOLID; TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES!
5. SHOW the Open Source developers the actual code stripped of the non-IBM code
6. Let them suggest dev tools to either re-write or encapsulate the code in OS-agnostic languages (your GOAL is to supplant ms office simply by making the suite accessible to any OS not engaging in anti-competitive tactics)
7. Carry out the sequester plan, and in mid-stream, let the Unix/Linux/Apple/windows users get a peak at it, and for HEAVEN'S SAKE, don't let it be Symphony. Toss that out and start updating SmartSuite! No more "maintenance fixes...
8. Price it for $100 for corporate and support-seeking users; $0-25 for end-users. SmartSuite IS WORTH PAYING FOR, so it need NOT be totally free, unless you want academic uptake to roar ahead.
IBM has for YEARS sat on its butt, squirming and hawing about patents, market size, and so on. Instead of mulling openly, OPENLY DO SOMETHING that is not an insult to SmartSuite's features.
One reason I am so irritated is because:
-- SmartSuite needs for Lotus Approach a stand-alone executable for the database & apps, similar to MS Access
-- Approach needs sliders on its detail table
-- SmartSuite needs better web intelligence so that its WYSIWYG heritage extends outside the desktop
-- WordPro needs updating to handle more file formats
-- SmartSuite has a vibrant end-user community that needs a reinvigorating surge of love for IBM
-- SmartSuite (particularly Lotus Word Pro and Lotus Approach) hands-down beat OO.o in probably 60% of mission-critical areas that make document creation, editing, and usage much easier, and OO.o devs trapped in Not-Invented-Here syndrom blithely and arrogantly ignore the SmartSuite features that could have softened the pain of SmartSuite users continually INSULTED by half-baked features in OO.o that CLAIM to address issues but do NOT (master/detail documents in text editing; WYSIWYG database forms, templates and applications)
Most of all, my personal stake in SmartSuite is my screenplay/dialog-tracking database and front end, and until SmartSuite is rejuvenated without destroying its lineage and appearance, I cannot realistically deploy for user testing the stuff I want to see thrive in SmartSuite.
IBM, I am NOT a programmer, yet I feel that i'll have to learn to trust (and overcome my fear of being screwed over by unscrupulous) developers/hackers to help me shunt my Approach-based apps to other dev tools such as Kdeve
" but the estimated 90,000 coders still versed in COBOL may find themselves in high demand teaching new dogs old tricks."
That's not ... SOBAD...
(lol, or LOL)
Cellular tracking technology used the way credit card transaction anti-fraud monitoring works might help immensely.
If two passports geographically separated present the same ID number in a period of time that cannot be traveled by the average person, then BOTH of them get nabbed and checked. It'll inconvenience a lot of people, but it'll slow the uptick in mischievous use of cloned passports. BUT, the thing is, this probably has to be done in REAL TIME.
So, since it's unlikely that two travelers with real and clone p/ps will travel in the verify-window scheme, then biometrically, each traveler would have to indicate "start/stop of my travel through inspected portals". If one views that travel as a band of time and space, then the next presentation of that p/p number should trigger detention of the subsequent presentation, and a track-down of the initial presenter, and the two re-verified at nearest Interpol or law enforcement facility.
OR, since that is still similar to my initial paragraph, then the program may have to go global and require ALL passport holders to have radio-trackable passports, which will not sit well with most people.
I guess this implies that combined retina, fingerprint, DNA and facial scanners may be the ultimate tool, relegating passports to a simple, somewhat unverified ID card.
As said by a US Marine SSgt in charge of me in 1984, "Where there's a WAY there's a WILL!"