Will there be a need for sewer search warrants in the future?
Actually, they don't need a warrant to take your DNA from hair/fluids that you leave voluntarily anywhere outside your property (or any other area where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy - for example your locked office cabinet).
So yes, they can test your sewage without a warrant - as long as they are off your property.
The iPhone is great, but there are a lot of features in my Sprint PDA (Windows Mobile) that make me look at the iPhone and say "So what?"
It reminds me of when Windows was released and people were going gaga over a Graphical User Interface but those of us who had been using Apple Macs went "So what?"
The argument, in a nut shell, is as follows:
Dr. Bostrom assumes that technological advances could produce a computer with more processing power than all the brains in the world, and that advanced humans, or "posthumans," could run "ancestor simulations" of their evolutionary history by creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems.
...if the posthumans were to run lots of simulations for research purposes or entertainment, then the number of virtual ancestors they created would be vastly greater than the number of real ancestors.
In fact, the number of virtual ancestors (X) is likely to be so huge compared to the number of real ancestors (Y) that Y is a tiny % of (X+Y). So the probability that we are a part of the X bucket is a lot more.
Users are inherently lazy. If you ask them to download a software product and learn to use it, you have already lost a bulk of the potential market share.
The key is to bundle it together. Have Firefox pre-installed on computers. Make is hassle-free for the user. Make it a no-brainer. Dell installing GooglePack (which includes Firefox) on every PC they ship - that's a start. Yahoo messenger downloads should bundle Firefox (side note - this can be installed as an opt-in or opt-out component. While opt-in i.e. checkbox unchecked by default is a more "considerate" option, opt-out is better if you want to increase downloads) In any case, hyperlinks from Yahoo messenger chat windows should open in Firefox windows if FF is installed. Ditto with Trillian.
Yes, this is a sort of militant technique (the same technique that MS used to make IE a monopoly). But let's face it - it's not the geeks but the users who don't know about FF that need FF most because they are most vulnerable to the security cracks in IE.
Some other things they can do: bundle the most useful extensions with the product (Map This, AdBlock, Fetch text URL, DictionarySearch, BugMeNot, SearchPluginHacks), reduce the memory it hogs, interactive tutorial. They need to get out of the "of the geeks, by the geeks, for the geeks" mentality.
There are 2 elements to the bigger picture related to this story:
1. The overall quality of search still has a long way to go. Ask has tried to do some innovative things. Vivisimo is another great example. But even today it is difficult to get the specific information that you need. Search is in desperate need for a (r)evolution. Some geeks may not like the idea of The Algorithm being replaced by humans but think about it for a minute. What are all the huge indexes of search engines really worth? At the end of the day, even if Google finds 200,000 results for a query the users look at the first 4-5. Or maybe the top 10 results. How many users go beyond that? So eventually any search engine that displays good quality top 10 results is going to be a hit. Seems to me that people-powered sites like ChaCha and Wikia can do at least that.
2. Models like Wikia search engine and ChaCha and YouTube rely on user generated content. These sites have not sorted out the payment issue yet. The environment is ripe for a PayPal-like service to manage micropayments to users for all these sites. This service will tie up with all sites that want to compensate their users for content (or any other contribution). The users get a single account to manage these finances. This also makes the pot bigger for the user. The service can even create a virtual currency of their own.
Funny...I have never been able to walk and light a cigarette at the same time.
But in any case, isn't the cerebelluem required for motor skills and maintaining balance while walking?
Desktop search has always been a feature of the Windows operating system, even before Google existed. With every new version of Windows, there have been some enhancements to this feature.
Frankly, Google can kiss my ass. This is just corporate harrassment. They don't have a case here but they will have to spend time and resources fighting all the legal battles for the next several months.
Although this is not strictly an intelligence-related observation, it is interesting to note that dolphins not only have acute eyesight but also echolocation abilities. Dolphins emit sound waves and from the reflection of these sound waves, they perceive the objects in their environment inside out.
Imagine looking for a potential mate and perceiving candidates inside out so that you know how strong the bones are, for example. How cool is that.
Indian tax laws DO NOT exempt special allowances and perks. While this was a practice 5 years ago, the taxmen have wizened up and tax EVERYTHING that constitutes the magic number that gets deposited to your bank account every month. (Yes, salaries in India are paid once a month.)
Apple never had tech support personnel in India that you might have interacted with.
And everyone I know has been frustrated with Tech support - regardless of where it's located. I've had to deal with Sprint customer service with weird accents (some Filipino, some Hispanic). An average Indian has a 'cleaner' accent than people from these countries. But what is interesting is that we have Americans who have emigrated from all these countries and so Americans may have an accent that is even more difficult to understand than Indians.
Much of the anger against customer service professionals in general is diverted to Indian or foreign professionals in particular.
The U.S. needs Indian IT workers desperately because all American techies are busy helping Bush monitor web searches, phone conversations, e-mails, IM chat and every other means of communication known to man.
What is interesting to me is how the revenue model is going to work. There can be a tiered model where Google charges $X for every graphic impression of the ad, $Y for every download/playing of the ad and $Z for every visit to the advertiser's website. If it's Flash, the ad can include a hyperlinked URL at the end, can't it?
And does it matter how long the ad is? Will there be differential pricing depending upon the length of the ad?
For advertisers, I think this is a good challenge because they have to make their first graphic interesting/eye-catching/enticing. So we may get to see good, creativite work (or just photographs of hot chicks with strategically located Play buttons).
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, they don't need a warrant to take your DNA from hair/fluids that you leave voluntarily anywhere outside your property (or any other area where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy - for example your locked office cabinet).
So yes, they can test your sewage without a warrant - as long as they are off your property.
The iPhone is great, but there are a lot of features in my Sprint PDA (Windows Mobile) that make me look at the iPhone and say "So what?"
It reminds me of when Windows was released and people were going gaga over a Graphical User Interface but those of us who had been using Apple Macs went "So what?"
So are we talking about real life or virtual life here?h tml - The New York Times has an article about all of us being simulations.
...if the posthumans were to run lots of simulations for research purposes or entertainment, then the number of virtual ancestors they created would be vastly greater than the number of real ancestors.
In fact, the number of virtual ancestors (X) is likely to be so huge compared to the number of real ancestors (Y) that Y is a tiny % of (X+Y). So the probability that we are a part of the X bucket is a lot more.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/science/14tier.
The argument, in a nut shell, is as follows: Dr. Bostrom assumes that technological advances could produce a computer with more processing power than all the brains in the world, and that advanced humans, or "posthumans," could run "ancestor simulations" of their evolutionary history by creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems.
Users are inherently lazy. If you ask them to download a software product and learn to use it, you have already lost a bulk of the potential market share.
The key is to bundle it together. Have Firefox pre-installed on computers. Make is hassle-free for the user. Make it a no-brainer. Dell installing GooglePack (which includes Firefox) on every PC they ship - that's a start. Yahoo messenger downloads should bundle Firefox (side note - this can be installed as an opt-in or opt-out component. While opt-in i.e. checkbox unchecked by default is a more "considerate" option, opt-out is better if you want to increase downloads) In any case, hyperlinks from Yahoo messenger chat windows should open in Firefox windows if FF is installed. Ditto with Trillian.
Yes, this is a sort of militant technique (the same technique that MS used to make IE a monopoly). But let's face it - it's not the geeks but the users who don't know about FF that need FF most because they are most vulnerable to the security cracks in IE.
Some other things they can do: bundle the most useful extensions with the product (Map This, AdBlock, Fetch text URL, DictionarySearch, BugMeNot, SearchPluginHacks), reduce the memory it hogs, interactive tutorial. They need to get out of the "of the geeks, by the geeks, for the geeks" mentality.
If they allowed every John, Rick and Larry to post comments on links to news stories, would that be like..oh I don't know...Gdot.org?
...when all corporations move to Enterprise Gmail?
There are 2 elements to the bigger picture related to this story:
1. The overall quality of search still has a long way to go. Ask has tried to do some innovative things. Vivisimo is another great example. But even today it is difficult to get the specific information that you need. Search is in desperate need for a (r)evolution. Some geeks may not like the idea of The Algorithm being replaced by humans but think about it for a minute. What are all the huge indexes of search engines really worth? At the end of the day, even if Google finds 200,000 results for a query the users look at the first 4-5. Or maybe the top 10 results. How many users go beyond that? So eventually any search engine that displays good quality top 10 results is going to be a hit. Seems to me that people-powered sites like ChaCha and Wikia can do at least that.
2. Models like Wikia search engine and ChaCha and YouTube rely on user generated content. These sites have not sorted out the payment issue yet. The environment is ripe for a PayPal-like service to manage micropayments to users for all these sites. This service will tie up with all sites that want to compensate their users for content (or any other contribution). The users get a single account to manage these finances. This also makes the pot bigger for the user. The service can even create a virtual currency of their own.
Funny...I have never been able to walk and light a cigarette at the same time.
But in any case, isn't the cerebelluem required for motor skills and maintaining balance while walking?
Desktop search has always been a feature of the Windows operating system, even before Google existed. With every new version of Windows, there have been some enhancements to this feature. Frankly, Google can kiss my ass. This is just corporate harrassment. They don't have a case here but they will have to spend time and resources fighting all the legal battles for the next several months.
Although this is not strictly an intelligence-related observation, it is interesting to note that dolphins not only have acute eyesight but also echolocation abilities. Dolphins emit sound waves and from the reflection of these sound waves, they perceive the objects in their environment inside out.
Imagine looking for a potential mate and perceiving candidates inside out so that you know how strong the bones are, for example. How cool is that.
Indian tax laws DO NOT exempt special allowances and perks. While this was a practice 5 years ago, the taxmen have wizened up and tax EVERYTHING that constitutes the magic number that gets deposited to your bank account every month. (Yes, salaries in India are paid once a month.)
Apple never had tech support personnel in India that you might have interacted with.
And everyone I know has been frustrated with Tech support - regardless of where it's located. I've had to deal with Sprint customer service with weird accents (some Filipino, some Hispanic). An average Indian has a 'cleaner' accent than people from these countries. But what is interesting is that we have Americans who have emigrated from all these countries and so Americans may have an accent that is even more difficult to understand than Indians.
Much of the anger against customer service professionals in general is diverted to Indian or foreign professionals in particular.
The U.S. needs Indian IT workers desperately because all American techies are busy helping Bush monitor web searches, phone conversations, e-mails, IM chat and every other means of communication known to man.
What is interesting to me is how the revenue model is going to work. There can be a tiered model where Google charges $X for every graphic impression of the ad, $Y for every download/playing of the ad and $Z for every visit to the advertiser's website. If it's Flash, the ad can include a hyperlinked URL at the end, can't it?
And does it matter how long the ad is? Will there be differential pricing depending upon the length of the ad?
For advertisers, I think this is a good challenge because they have to make their first graphic interesting/eye-catching/enticing. So we may get to see good, creativite work (or just photographs of hot chicks with strategically located Play buttons).