I'd like to point out that this database would likely not contain one's whole genome as it would be unnecessary given the vast majority of our genomes are "junk DNA". This database would likely contain expressed sequence tags (ESTs) as the genomic fingerprint in question. With sequences are short as this the amount of medical information you can extract about someone is pretty small, if at all.
That said, I think this is a very bad idea. While today we may use ESTs as genomic finger prints, perhaps tomorrow we use full genomes. Doubly, the policy of the government today (e.g. "We won't do genetic profiling", "The information will be locked up, and for law enforcement purposes only.") has a tendency to change given a set of circumstances (*cough*9/11*cough*).
How is the demand infinite? I don't know about you, but I'm not demanding or wanting a copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger's work out tapes on iTMS (Yes, it's really on there.)
I caught that in the quote too. If there was variable pricing for anything, it should be for things that should cost less, e.g. old recordings out of copyright.
Would I pay more than $0.99 for a song? Sure:
Songs that are longer than the average pop song, e.g. 10+ minutes, i.e. anything by Godspeed You Black Emperor, or Mogwai
Well, if it turns out mandatory, do you mind putting some sort of patent or copy protection on that and then sitting on the patent until it runs out to buy us some time?
I thought I'd throw my experience in the hat. In my OAC Biology class (that'd be like "grade 13") my professor happened to make a big deal of it every time someone gave a correct, and good answer in a way that made you feel good about responding. He showed me that you have nothing to fear from your classmates. They may be upset you're answering a question, they make look at you with disdain, but they're really jealous they didn't know the answer. So instead of taking advantage of a moment to build on their knowledge, they'd rather pout and tease you for knowing something.
I think these clickers are asinine. Anonymity? Grow up, and stand up. You can't hide forever. Group rates of understanding the material? Nothing a show of hands won't do. Teacher catering to the slower learners? Teacher should encourage the student to meet after class. We don't need a damn remote to fix the problem, we just need a little maturity.
Patents are really neat things. AFAIK you can release closely related patents provided that there is a discernible difference between products (feel free to correct me). It seems to me that many companies involved in the world of computer business tread this thin line between violation and derivation very closely. Thus it seems to me whilst Creative may argue Apple violates their patent, Apple may be able to point out discernible differences (and prove them) to stay in the clear.
Also of consideration is that many companies in this field hold an armada of patents with competition silently respecting these patents. Perhaps if Creative aggressively pursued Apple with this patent Apple in turn may "fire a salvo" of patent violation charges against Creative. It is my belief that this patent is more a bragging right for Creative than a weapon against Apple (i.e. they're giving the kings of the UI the middle finger for having received this UI patent).
For those of you using OS X that have an interest in GIMP, I ran across Seashore the other day while reading Drunkenblog. It's a major improvement over GIMP for OS X. Definitely something to keep your eye on.
Exactly! You hit the nail right on the head, imo. Go ahead, ask your programming friends the top big companies they'd like to work for. I can almost bet that they want to work for Google as one of their choices. They're exciting, they're young, they're innovative, they're successful and they treat their employees well. What's not to like unless you happen to own a company that can't generate the same buzz?
It matters. When you inject a foreign protein (or most anything for that matter) in your body you mount a defense to it. This can lead to flu-like symptoms and flat out rejection of the treatment. Even when you have HIV your immune system is still kicking around albeit in a weaker state. The last thing you need is to deal with HIV and some foreign protein.
What will probably happen with this knowledge, assume it's viable, is the generation of chimeric antibodies, i.e. those with human and non-human components. What happens is you take the active bits of the non-human anbtibodies, find the gene, and then insert that into a human antibody gene. This gene is then expressed in some eukaryotic critter, e.g. yeast. The end result is that you can largely bypass the problems of the body mounting a defense against the antibody because it mostly looks natural. Pretty cool, eh?
In case you're wondering, yes this approach could work. HIV attacks the part of your immune system that mounts a defense (the cells that say "Hey, I remember this. This is how we fixed the problem last time" -- the exact cell name escapes me at this point in time), not the antibodies themselves.
The agency said in 2000 that it would see initial savings of at least £245,000 (US$439,000) from switching to StarOffice and Linux, and that the open-source deployment would allow it to bring productivity software to more of its officers. (Emphasis mine)
Donkey.NET is a sample Microsoft Visual Basic.NET application that gives Visual Basic developers a first look at new features in the Visual Basic.NET language. The sample, a driving simulation, enables users to drive through a three-dimensional terrain while trying to avoid the donkey obstacles. Behind this lighthearted demo is some very serious technology.
For anyone else reading this and that is not clicking through, the parent is not referring to the demo in question, but rather a game written by Bill Gates and Neil Konzen to show off the capabilities of Basic and the IBM PC. Wikipedia entry (pops).
I was wondering if someone in the know could explain how this is known:
There's a reason for this. 60GHz is interesting, and genuinely can offer Gigabit speeds. However, it is limited by the propagation characteristics of electromagnetic radiation at that frequency.
I.E. what about this frequency dictates this property?
You make some good points, but I'd like to examine the last point you made:
If you want a social, living coffeeshop, I'd say cut off the internet access. People go to a coffeeshop to relax with friends, listen to jazz, or curl up in a comfy chair with a big book.
The irony is that these same people are also unlikely to spend money. A local Starbucks in the mall here (Windsor, ON) is situated in the Chapters store (it's our version of Barnes & Noble). Numerous people grab a book and plunk themselves on the couches without ever buying anything at Starbucks. Computers, or books, people are just as likely to try and use your accomadations for free.
For the record, I'm more likely to go to a coffee shopwith wireless when I want to get work done, but will also go to the same place. I will not, however, go to a coffee shop without wireless when I want to get work done. I spend the same amount of money regardless of where I go, and whether or not I am doing work. In summation: yes it's worth it, yes people will download illegal things, and just block bit torrent on your firewall and you'll be okay for the most part (don't block MSN/AIM/etc., that's just annoying).
I'm relatively new to the whole computer scene even though I've been using them since my family first inherited a 286 when I was 12 (which I promptly disassembled). When I turned 16 I took a programming class in high school where they taught us a terrible language called Turing. I remember one day where the teacher approached me and asked me to show a student some technique because he, the teacher, didn't understand it as well as I did. It was a good day:)
Well, that's exactly what they're hoping this device will do: send signals through the Vagus nerve to help regulate portions of the brain involved in mood to "...keep [you] feeling real good!" See here for more information. AFAIK this would be painless if that's what you're worried about.
I'm pretty sure that for someone with extreme, darn near conventionally untreatable depression that such a device will help them become (relatively) "hyper-productive".
Perhaps you are correct, but I'd like to point you to the third paragraph of TFA:
The pacemaker-like implant has been sold since 1997 to control intractable epilepsy, a much smaller market.
If perchance you happen to be more in the know than I am on the subject (which wouldn't be very difficult), perhaps you wouldn't mind enlightening the curious as to the difference between the two?
Re:I highly doubt the widescreen rumor is true
on
New iBooks 'Any Day Now'
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I respectfully disagree that this next update won't include a widescreen display. The next line of iBooks will have a widescreen display as Apple needs to keep up the pressure and incentives on their consumer line. I would have bought an iBook instead of my Powerbook, for instance, had Apple offered a widescreen display.
Lastly, new != more expensive. The widescreen display may in fact cost less than the current display. For instance, perhaps the manufacturer wants to move away from the old style because it's cheaper to produce the newer style. They may offer a price incentive for their customers to cease production of the old, more costly version (we do this sometimes where I work with new product formulations, i.e. move to a new cheaper formula, charge less, but retain the margins).
Excellent point everphilski. On the topic of intuitiveness, it seems to me that most people think in terms of rows and columns more easily than circular relationships, at least in our culture (e.g. some cultures think of time as cyclical, versus ours which sees time as linear).
Perhaps someday when we see something like e-paper become more affordable we'll see dynamic tables that change according to the relationship you currently want to view. E.g. the table reorders itself when you want to view elements in terms of melting points, or perhaps by relationship when as super atoms (as described in the article slide show).
Slashdot Mirror
I'd like to point out that this database would likely not contain one's whole genome as it would be unnecessary given the vast majority of our genomes are "junk DNA". This database would likely contain expressed sequence tags (ESTs) as the genomic fingerprint in question. With sequences are short as this the amount of medical information you can extract about someone is pretty small, if at all.
That said, I think this is a very bad idea. While today we may use ESTs as genomic finger prints, perhaps tomorrow we use full genomes. Doubly, the policy of the government today (e.g. "We won't do genetic profiling", "The information will be locked up, and for law enforcement purposes only.") has a tendency to change given a set of circumstances (*cough*9/11*cough*).
How is the demand infinite? I don't know about you, but I'm not demanding or wanting a copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger's work out tapes on iTMS (Yes, it's really on there.)
Well, if it turns out mandatory, do you mind putting some sort of patent or copy protection on that and then sitting on the patent until it runs out to buy us some time?
I thought I'd throw my experience in the hat. In my OAC Biology class (that'd be like "grade 13") my professor happened to make a big deal of it every time someone gave a correct, and good answer in a way that made you feel good about responding. He showed me that you have nothing to fear from your classmates. They may be upset you're answering a question, they make look at you with disdain, but they're really jealous they didn't know the answer. So instead of taking advantage of a moment to build on their knowledge, they'd rather pout and tease you for knowing something.
I think these clickers are asinine. Anonymity? Grow up, and stand up. You can't hide forever. Group rates of understanding the material? Nothing a show of hands won't do. Teacher catering to the slower learners? Teacher should encourage the student to meet after class. We don't need a damn remote to fix the problem, we just need a little maturity.
Patents are really neat things. AFAIK you can release closely related patents provided that there is a discernible difference between products (feel free to correct me). It seems to me that many companies involved in the world of computer business tread this thin line between violation and derivation very closely. Thus it seems to me whilst Creative may argue Apple violates their patent, Apple may be able to point out discernible differences (and prove them) to stay in the clear.
Also of consideration is that many companies in this field hold an armada of patents with competition silently respecting these patents. Perhaps if Creative aggressively pursued Apple with this patent Apple in turn may "fire a salvo" of patent violation charges against Creative. It is my belief that this patent is more a bragging right for Creative than a weapon against Apple (i.e. they're giving the kings of the UI the middle finger for having received this UI patent).
For those of you using OS X that have an interest in GIMP, I ran across Seashore the other day while reading Drunkenblog. It's a major improvement over GIMP for OS X. Definitely something to keep your eye on.
Exactly! You hit the nail right on the head, imo. Go ahead, ask your programming friends the top big companies they'd like to work for. I can almost bet that they want to work for Google as one of their choices. They're exciting, they're young, they're innovative, they're successful and they treat their employees well. What's not to like unless you happen to own a company that can't generate the same buzz?
It matters. When you inject a foreign protein (or most anything for that matter) in your body you mount a defense to it. This can lead to flu-like symptoms and flat out rejection of the treatment. Even when you have HIV your immune system is still kicking around albeit in a weaker state. The last thing you need is to deal with HIV and some foreign protein.
What will probably happen with this knowledge, assume it's viable, is the generation of chimeric antibodies, i.e. those with human and non-human components. What happens is you take the active bits of the non-human anbtibodies, find the gene, and then insert that into a human antibody gene. This gene is then expressed in some eukaryotic critter, e.g. yeast. The end result is that you can largely bypass the problems of the body mounting a defense against the antibody because it mostly looks natural. Pretty cool, eh?
In case you're wondering, yes this approach could work. HIV attacks the part of your immune system that mounts a defense (the cells that say "Hey, I remember this. This is how we fixed the problem last time" -- the exact cell name escapes me at this point in time), not the antibodies themselves.
That was an awesome post. Thank you for enriching /.
For anyone else reading this and that is not clicking through, the parent is not referring to the demo in question, but rather a game written by Bill Gates and Neil Konzen to show off the capabilities of Basic and the IBM PC. Wikipedia entry (pops).
So, ideally we'd like something with a very large wavelength, but that provided the same bandwidth as something with a short wavelength?
- PubMed's list of Derek Lovley's papers (pops).
- Geobacter Project Page at UMass (pops).
- The paper in question (pops -- warning, PDF).
Enjoy!Does anyone have a link to the paper in question?
Linky goodness for the interested: OSU Subsurface Biosphere (tons of articles for the interested)
You make some good points, but I'd like to examine the last point you made:
The irony is that these same people are also unlikely to spend money. A local Starbucks in the mall here (Windsor, ON) is situated in the Chapters store (it's our version of Barnes & Noble). Numerous people grab a book and plunk themselves on the couches without ever buying anything at Starbucks. Computers, or books, people are just as likely to try and use your accomadations for free.For the record, I'm more likely to go to a coffee shop with wireless when I want to get work done, but will also go to the same place. I will not, however, go to a coffee shop without wireless when I want to get work done. I spend the same amount of money regardless of where I go, and whether or not I am doing work. In summation: yes it's worth it, yes people will download illegal things, and just block bit torrent on your firewall and you'll be okay for the most part (don't block MSN/AIM/etc., that's just annoying).
I'm relatively new to the whole computer scene even though I've been using them since my family first inherited a 286 when I was 12 (which I promptly disassembled). When I turned 16 I took a programming class in high school where they taught us a terrible language called Turing. I remember one day where the teacher approached me and asked me to show a student some technique because he, the teacher, didn't understand it as well as I did. It was a good day :)
Well, that's exactly what they're hoping this device will do: send signals through the Vagus nerve to help regulate portions of the brain involved in mood to "...keep [you] feeling real good!" See here for more information. AFAIK this would be painless if that's what you're worried about.
I'm pretty sure that for someone with extreme, darn near conventionally untreatable depression that such a device will help them become (relatively) "hyper-productive".
I respectfully disagree that this next update won't include a widescreen display. The next line of iBooks will have a widescreen display as Apple needs to keep up the pressure and incentives on their consumer line. I would have bought an iBook instead of my Powerbook, for instance, had Apple offered a widescreen display.
Lastly, new != more expensive. The widescreen display may in fact cost less than the current display. For instance, perhaps the manufacturer wants to move away from the old style because it's cheaper to produce the newer style. They may offer a price incentive for their customers to cease production of the old, more costly version (we do this sometimes where I work with new product formulations, i.e. move to a new cheaper formula, charge less, but retain the margins).
After writing my above comment I decided to do a quick search on super atoms to see what I could find. Here's a short list for those interested:
- Super Atoms
- Super Atoms from Bose-Einstein Condensation
Enjoy!Excellent point everphilski. On the topic of intuitiveness, it seems to me that most people think in terms of rows and columns more easily than circular relationships, at least in our culture (e.g. some cultures think of time as cyclical, versus ours which sees time as linear).
Perhaps someday when we see something like e-paper become more affordable we'll see dynamic tables that change according to the relationship you currently want to view. E.g. the table reorders itself when you want to view elements in terms of melting points, or perhaps by relationship when as super atoms (as described in the article slide show).