Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google's founders and biggest shareholders, made plain in their listing prospectus that the company would reject many of the orthodox methods of doing business with Wall Street and instead adopt a mantra to encourage its employees to do good and not "evil".
Whether or not Google is actually adhering to that mantra is debatable, but beside the point. When Google went public, they became obligated to the stockholders, regardless of any preexisting 'mantras'.
Why no physical thumb board? Surely the screen could have slid up (a la Sidekick) to reveal a physical QWERTY keyboard...it's good that there's an option for the onscreen thumboard deal in the lower corners, but it's intrusive and unnecessarily difficult (I have to learn a new key layout now?). The alternative,of course, is the stylus...and although I recognize the versatility of a stylus, I was still more than happy to retire mine when I switched from Palm to Sidekick.
Is this thing supposed to be a phone as well? The teaser site touts Origami as the "go-everywhere, do-everything mobile device", but in the screen shots I couldn't find any phone software, and I can't imagine holding this thing up to my ear (until Sidekicks became popular, everyone looked at me funny when I answered a call, and the Sidekick is about a quarter of the Origami's size).
Does it run Linux? No...seriously. Does it? Or will it in the future? The device looks great, but I'd be happier running Linux on it than Windows. Unfortunately, I don't think Bill will buy back your Windows CE license if you do decide to switch. ^_^
It is by coffee alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of the java bean that thoughts acquire speed. The teeth acquire stains; the stains become a warning. It is by coffee alone I set my mind in motion.
The MessageLabs Intelligence Report for February also found that the United Arab Emirates had the highest rate of viruses transmission, with one virus received per 13.9 emails.
And this is the country we're going to be trusting our ports to.
He's a world-weary FBI investigator with depth perception issues. She's a feisty NASA electrical design engineer armed with twin lasers. They fight crime!
'[One] answer is that we're totally scared of new media, because new media is railways and we're canals, and you all just know how that's going to end.
And near the bottom of the page:
What we'd really like to hear is a debate on the issue we did raise. If the ISPs can't now detect torrent data, then how will the security services manage it? And if they do figure it out, won't RnySmile and company just up the ante again?
And is this secret war between Hollywood and the ISPs on the one side and the P2P community on the other one that can ever end in a truce, or will the stakes just keep raising and raising to the detriment of us all?
The findings come as the Federal Communications Commission is considering lifting the ban on the use of cell phones during flight.
Why would the FCC 'consider' lifting this ban? If technologies like AirCell are involved, cell calls from airplanes are completely safe. If not, however, there's no point in lifting the ban, as an unassisted cellphone call has an extremely poor chance of getting through above 2000 feet (which would be during landings and takeoffs...precisely when you cell calls can be most hazardous).
Either way, there doesn't seem to be much room for 'consideration'. Either AirCell is used, in which case there is no safety issue, or not, in which case cell calls are both hazardous and nigh-imposible.
"People really like stomping with two feet to delete spam," said Kevin Schofield, general manager of strategy and communications at Microsoft Research. "And it raises your energy level and heart beat, which is good for sedentary health issues.
After a thousand or so spams, this 'stomping with two feet' business is going to get mighty old.
Also, when (it's only a matter of time) one of those couch potatoes suffers a coronary after attempting to delete endless floods of spam by 'stomping with two feet', who will get sued?
Added to that, there is the fact that as the observer is accelerated towards the singularity, reletavistic effects kick in and time passes more slowly for them. Given a big enough black hole, it's possible that the observer may not notice they've indeed crossed an event horizon.
Even more importantly, if an unauthorized person tries to record the knocking sequence and play it back in order to open the door, the lock will not open since the knocking sequence changes every time.
Much more information regarding this decision can be found in this Salt Lake Tribune article, including many memorable quotes from the legislators involved.
From TFA:
...religion infused the debate on SB96 from the beginning. [Senator Chris] Buttars forwarded the proposal because he insisted many evolution lessons contradict religious instruction. He is disgusted by the idea that humans evolved from what he calls a "lower species."
Also from TFA (this one is priceless):
"There are a number of influential legislators who believe you evolved from an ape," Buttars said following the vote. "I didn't."
Kudos to the Utah House of Representatives for giving this bill (as well as Senator Buttars himself) the treatment they both so richly deserve.
Can the DoD use the same excuse that google is giving it?
Seeing how well that excuse is working out, I highly doubt it.
Getting all that information out into the public might not be as trivial as doing a database dump.
If there is indeed so much information that merely disseminating it is an unworkable proposition, that alone is enough of an indictment on the wholesale breach of privacy the current administration is indulging in.
Here's the Associated Press article on the same subject...contains a bit more info on the actual request than the Reuters copy, including: From TFA:
The lawsuit said the Department of Defense acknowledged receipt of the request on Dec. 30, 2005, but the response, required in 20 business days, never came.
Coming from an administration that took 411 days to set up a Public Inquiry into 9/11, the most significant terrorist attack in the history of the American nation, this amont of foot-dragging is a mere warm-up. Expect this to go nowhere fast.
Given the intransigence the U.S. has displayed in the past regarding control of TLDs, this move isn't all that surprising. It is somewhat surprising, however, that China has chosen.com and.net as two of their TLDs, virtually guaranteeing operability problems with the rest of the Internet. While this manufactured difficulty is obviously by design, the motive remains unclear. Do the Chinese wish to:
create their own internet, by design incompatible with the rest of the world,
cause as much trouble as possible for the 'other' internet, or
a combination of the two?
One thing is for sure...network administrators will have an interesting time trying to reconcile the conflicting TLDs.com and.net. Perhaps the fact that the Chinese TLDs are in the Chinese character set can be used to some effect, but I'm not certain.
Wha I am certain of is this: when I'm in charge, we'll have none of this 'multiple language' crap. Everyone will speak Esperanto, or else.
That's a nice red herring, but the fact of the matter is that Fulton Armstrong had been a publicallyidentifed intelligence officer for several years before Kerry let his name slip, along with Sen. Lugar (funny, though, how you don't mention him).
At first, I thought it was fairly amazing how an outfit that calls itself 'newsmax' could be so off base on this issue....but then I saw the big ad for the DVD 'The Religion of Evolution', as well as the ads on the side promising "super strength" and "'lost art' power-throwing secrets", and suddenly, it made a lot more sense.
When I first read the summary, I thought these kids had designed some new interesting ceramic material that would prove to have many practical applications. After all, that's what the contest is for...
From TFA:
Contestants generally try to design mugs out of high-tech materials so they won't break.
But the New Mexico Tech team used a different tactic...making part of their mug expendable, to save the rest. In short, they cheated.
Now don't get me wrong...I'm all for thinking outside the box...after all, I'm the one whose egg drop design in high school incorporated a parachute, ensuring my egg could survive a drop from any altitude. I was the clear winner, because I too 'thought outside the box'.
Did I get a commendation for my cleverness? Did I get a write-up in USA Today?
No. I got an F, despite there being no rules whatsoever prohibiting parachutes (although I hear they wrote in that rule the following year).
These New Mexico Tech students 'thought outside the box', and in doing so, completely subverted the whole point of the competition. Using this strategy, they managed to net second place, and they get a newspaper article for it.
Slashdot Mirror
From TFA: Whether or not Google is actually adhering to that mantra is debatable, but beside the point. When Google went public, they became obligated to the stockholders, regardless of any preexisting 'mantras'.
Why no physical thumb board? Surely the screen could have slid up (a la Sidekick) to reveal a physical QWERTY keyboard...it's good that there's an option for the onscreen thumboard deal in the lower corners, but it's intrusive and unnecessarily difficult (I have to learn a new key layout now?). The alternative,of course, is the stylus...and although I recognize the versatility of a stylus, I was still more than happy to retire mine when I switched from Palm to Sidekick.
Is this thing supposed to be a phone as well? The teaser site touts Origami as the "go-everywhere, do-everything mobile device", but in the screen shots I couldn't find any phone software, and I can't imagine holding this thing up to my ear (until Sidekicks became popular, everyone looked at me funny when I answered a call, and the Sidekick is about a quarter of the Origami's size).
Does it run Linux?
No...seriously. Does it? Or will it in the future? The device looks great, but I'd be happier running Linux on it than Windows. Unfortunately, I don't think Bill will buy back your Windows CE license if you do decide to switch. ^_^
Emperor Palpatine Accuses Jedi Council Of Collusion!
Film at 11!
Actually, they did...or at least they think so...
For anyone interested in the hard numbers, here's NASA's impact risk summary of 2004 VD17.
For those like myself who prefer pretty pictures, here's the 3D orbit diagram of 2004 VD17 (Java required).
From the page from A-HEC's website cited in the summary, the title reads:Glancing further down the page, we see this gem:So we are to subscribe to the The Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness Alliance?
A-HEC might want to get all their ducks in a row before lecturing to us about 'higher education'...
From TFA: And this is the country we're going to be trusting our ports to.
Marvelous.
He's a world-weary FBI investigator with depth perception issues. She's a feisty NASA electrical design engineer armed with twin lasers. They fight crime!
(Don't like mine? Make your own!)
'[One] answer is that we're totally scared of new media, because new media is railways and we're canals, and you all just know how that's going to end.
And near the bottom of the page:
What we'd really like to hear is a debate on the issue we did raise. If the ISPs can't now detect torrent data, then how will the security services manage it? And if they do figure it out, won't RnySmile and company just up the ante again?
And is this secret war between Hollywood and the ISPs on the one side and the P2P community on the other one that can ever end in a truce, or will the stakes just keep raising and raising to the detriment of us all?
Answers on a plain text postcard please.
Frustrated by your next-door-cubicle-neighbor's incessant dancing?
Pent up frustrations, indeed.
They aren't.
The findings come as the Federal Communications Commission is considering lifting the ban on the use of cell phones during flight.
Why would the FCC 'consider' lifting this ban? If technologies like AirCell are involved, cell calls from airplanes are completely safe. If not, however, there's no point in lifting the ban, as an unassisted cellphone call has an extremely poor chance of getting through above 2000 feet (which would be during landings and takeoffs...precisely when you cell calls can be most hazardous).
Either way, there doesn't seem to be much room for 'consideration'. Either AirCell is used, in which case there is no safety issue, or not, in which case cell calls are both hazardous and nigh-imposible.
From TFA: After a thousand or so spams, this 'stomping with two feet' business is going to get mighty old.
Also, when (it's only a matter of time) one of those couch potatoes suffers a coronary after attempting to delete endless floods of spam by 'stomping with two feet', who will get sued?I can't wait.
Added to that, there is the fact that as the observer is accelerated towards the singularity, reletavistic effects kick in and time passes more slowly for them. Given a big enough black hole, it's possible that the observer may not notice they've indeed crossed an event horizon.
*Sigh*....please RTFA next time.
From TFA:
Much more information regarding this decision can be found in this Salt Lake Tribune article, including many memorable quotes from the legislators involved.
From TFA: Also from TFA (this one is priceless): Kudos to the Utah House of Representatives for giving this bill (as well as Senator Buttars himself) the treatment they both so richly deserve.
Can the DoD use the same excuse that google is giving it?
Seeing how well that excuse is working out, I highly doubt it.
Getting all that information out into the public might not be as trivial as doing a database dump.
If there is indeed so much information that merely disseminating it is an unworkable proposition, that alone is enough of an indictment on the wholesale breach of privacy the current administration is indulging in.
Here's the Associated Press article on the same subject...contains a bit more info on the actual request than the Reuters copy, including:
From TFA:
Coming from an administration that took 411 days to set up a Public Inquiry into 9/11, the most significant terrorist attack in the history of the American nation, this amont of foot-dragging is a mere warm-up. Expect this to go nowhere fast.
Given the intransigence the U.S. has displayed in the past regarding control of TLDs, this move isn't all that surprising. It is somewhat surprising, however, that China has chosen
One thing is for sure...network administrators will have an interesting time trying to reconcile the conflicting TLDs
Wha I am certain of is this: when I'm in charge, we'll have none of this 'multiple language' crap. Everyone will speak Esperanto, or else.
Check here to see all the duties of the Secret Service....among them, you will find:
Sales of blank CDs in Detroit area soar! Details at eleven!
That's a nice red herring, but the fact of the matter is that Fulton Armstrong had been a publically identifed intelligence officer for several years before Kerry let his name slip, along with Sen. Lugar (funny, though, how you don't mention him).
At first, I thought it was fairly amazing how an outfit that calls itself 'newsmax' could be so off base on this issue....but then I saw the big ad for the DVD 'The Religion of Evolution', as well as the ads on the side promising "super strength" and "'lost art' power-throwing secrets", and suddenly, it made a lot more sense.
When I first read the summary, I thought these kids had designed some new interesting ceramic material that would prove to have many practical applications. After all, that's what the contest is for...
From TFA:
But the New Mexico Tech team used a different tactic...making part of their mug expendable, to save the rest. In short, they cheated.
Now don't get me wrong...I'm all for thinking outside the box...after all, I'm the one whose egg drop design in high school incorporated a parachute, ensuring my egg could survive a drop from any altitude. I was the clear winner, because I too 'thought outside the box'.
Did I get a commendation for my cleverness? Did I get a write-up in USA Today?
No. I got an F, despite there being no rules whatsoever prohibiting parachutes (although I hear they wrote in that rule the following year).
These New Mexico Tech students 'thought outside the box', and in doing so, completely subverted the whole point of the competition. Using this strategy, they managed to net second place, and they get a newspaper article for it.
Again, bah.
Just one more reason to use the Scroogle scraper.