Google actively lobbying against it.
Michael Geist describes the situation in detail.
Basically, a few policy groups are asking the legislature for some laws that have applied to media content before the Internet, to be applied to Internet content. It makes intuitive sense to me until I realize that the government should have no right to regulate media content in the first place.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Monday, December 8
Tuesday, October 7
Craiglist Crime Syndicate
http://news.cnet.com/bank-robber-hires-decoys-on-craigslist-fools-cops/?tag=rtcol;pop
The crook hired people on Craigslist to show up near the scene in a particular outfit while he robbed an armored car and made a getaway using an innertube. Police are still looking for him.
Tuesday, August 26
Rat brain powered robot
http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19926696.100-rise-of-the-ratbrained-robots.html
A disembodied rat brain interfaced to a computer chip, interfaced to a robot, which moves around the lab.
This is strongly in territory of 'unknown' of the same sort that can be scary. But I can't think of any specific ethical issues that I have with this line of research.
HT to Timothy at Slashdot.
A disembodied rat brain interfaced to a computer chip, interfaced to a robot, which moves around the lab.
'As they do so, the disembodied neurons are communicating, sending electrical signals to one another just as they do in a living creature. We know this because the network of neurons is connected at the base of the pot to 80 electrodes, and the voltages sparked by the neurons are displayed on a computer screen.'
This is strongly in territory of 'unknown' of the same sort that can be scary. But I can't think of any specific ethical issues that I have with this line of research.
HT to Timothy at Slashdot.
Obama's Technology policy
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
It reminds me of the proverbial candidate for class president who promises CocaCola in the water fountains.
The list of expensive stuff he wants to do is only offset by his increases in taxes that will shrink the economy. He hasn't mentioned a single program that he wants to stop, just programs he wants to start and expand.
It reminds me of the proverbial candidate for class president who promises CocaCola in the water fountains.
The list of expensive stuff he wants to do is only offset by his increases in taxes that will shrink the economy. He hasn't mentioned a single program that he wants to stop, just programs he wants to start and expand.
Wednesday, July 9
Information Overload: A Blessed Curse
What is so bad about information overload?
How the Google generation thinks differently.
The first article specifically talks about the advent of email deluge. How the flood of email from colleagues and clients can get far too powerful to feasibly answer or even read.
The second article is by a mom who doesn't understand why her son does 5 entertaining things while researching a report for his science class. The author distills these characteristics in regards to Google infopath adoption.
How the Google generation thinks differently.
The first article specifically talks about the advent of email deluge. How the flood of email from colleagues and clients can get far too powerful to feasibly answer or even read.
The second article is by a mom who doesn't understand why her son does 5 entertaining things while researching a report for his science class. The author distills these characteristics in regards to Google infopath adoption.
NATIVES v IMMIGRANTS
Digital natives
Like receiving information quickly from multiple media sources.
Like parallel processing and multi-tasking.
Like processing pictures, sounds and video before text.
Like random access to hyperlinked multimedia information.
Like to network with others.
Like to learn “just in time”.Digital immigrants
Like slow and controlled release of information from limited sources.
Like singular processing and single or limited tasking.
Like processing text before pictures, sounds and video.
Like to receive information linearly, logically and sequentially.
Like to work independently.
Like to learn “just in case”.
Thursday, March 20
The Advent of Generation Why
Quite a bit of research has been done on the workplace integration of Gen-Y.
There are those who say that Gen Y will be good for the workplace:
Five Ways Generation Y May Reinvent IT
Generation Y: They've Arrived at the Workplace with a New Attitude
Gen Y Myths Debunked
There are others who say that Gen Y poses new risks:
Beware a Generation of Risk Takers
Has Generation Y overdosed on self-esteem?
Generation Y: Too Demanding at Work?
I was born in 1983, which puts me squarely in Generation Y. While I won't speak for others close to my age, I do value entrepreneurship and flexibility in my career. I'm always confused by companies that expect to retain me indefinitely, unless they offer unlimited growth within their ranks in the form of easily expanded higher positions to make room for quality people. A 5% raise with a fancier title in my current position is not a promotion, it is a retainer.
There are those who say that Gen Y will be good for the workplace:
Five Ways Generation Y May Reinvent IT
Generation Y: They've Arrived at the Workplace with a New Attitude
Gen Y Myths Debunked
There are others who say that Gen Y poses new risks:
Beware a Generation of Risk Takers
Has Generation Y overdosed on self-esteem?
Generation Y: Too Demanding at Work?
I was born in 1983, which puts me squarely in Generation Y. While I won't speak for others close to my age, I do value entrepreneurship and flexibility in my career. I'm always confused by companies that expect to retain me indefinitely, unless they offer unlimited growth within their ranks in the form of easily expanded higher positions to make room for quality people. A 5% raise with a fancier title in my current position is not a promotion, it is a retainer.
Monday, March 17
Clean Energy Gets Cheaper
Business Week: Clean Energy: It's Getting Affordable
Wikipedia: Electricity Market
CBO: Prospects for Distributed Electricity Generation
For the last decades or so, activists and technologists have hoped and worked for a world where cheap clean power improved living conditions all over the world. Not to be melodramatic, Most technological innovation improves living conditions everywhere they're used, freeing resources to improve standards of living everywhere else.
There have been many breakthroughs in the past few years in the forms of 'more efficient' solar cells, that cost more per watt. A power generating floor, and other nifty gadgets that just don't take off. But the real test is in terms of $$$ per Watt. Because it's not really the cleanness that we want, or even the security of knowing that we will have resources for generations to come, but the raw power that keeps us from working in the dark. The environment is important, but it's not how we base our decisions.
One thing I would love our government to actually tackle however, is the legal mess it's already created preventing home owners from selling their own power back to the grid. A good power market should allow this and be transparent enough to permit real time power pricing. So that homeowners can reduce their power consumption when the price gets real high, or feel free to crank up the AC when the price gets real low. If families could MAKE money by selling the power from their solar cell when the price gets high, we might see a much higher adoption rate.
Wikipedia: Electricity Market
CBO: Prospects for Distributed Electricity Generation
For the last decades or so, activists and technologists have hoped and worked for a world where cheap clean power improved living conditions all over the world. Not to be melodramatic, Most technological innovation improves living conditions everywhere they're used, freeing resources to improve standards of living everywhere else.
There have been many breakthroughs in the past few years in the forms of 'more efficient' solar cells, that cost more per watt. A power generating floor, and other nifty gadgets that just don't take off. But the real test is in terms of $$$ per Watt. Because it's not really the cleanness that we want, or even the security of knowing that we will have resources for generations to come, but the raw power that keeps us from working in the dark. The environment is important, but it's not how we base our decisions.
One thing I would love our government to actually tackle however, is the legal mess it's already created preventing home owners from selling their own power back to the grid. A good power market should allow this and be transparent enough to permit real time power pricing. So that homeowners can reduce their power consumption when the price gets real high, or feel free to crank up the AC when the price gets real low. If families could MAKE money by selling the power from their solar cell when the price gets high, we might see a much higher adoption rate.
Wednesday, February 13
Posting Lull
I regret to inform my audience that my computer has died. :-(I will probably have substantially fewer posts for a while. I'll still try to make 5 posts a week, but it will be harder.
A little note, It's bad to run Laptops 24/7. They're cooling systems usually aren't good enough to handle it.
Also, if your computer randomly shuts down quickly and without warning, wait 20 minutes before restarting it. It's probably over heated and needs to cool down.
For those of you interested, my new system will probably be similar to this:
Sunday, February 10
Anon vs. Scientology UPDATE
Anon has released a new and particularly long video announcement.
The text can be found on Google Docs.
See my earlier post on this here.
The text can be found on Google Docs.
See my earlier post on this here.
Thursday, February 7
Reminder of How Science Works
DNA Puts Itself Together 'Impossible'
In case anyone forgot, the world we live in is a wonderful place that the totality of human knowledge barely understands. The world contains matter and energy, they interact in ways that we can see and in ways that we cannot. Science is the process of seeing as much as possible and creating the best possible ideas to understand how all those interactions occur. Compared to the totality of the world, we're barely scratching the surface.
In case anyone forgot, the world we live in is a wonderful place that the totality of human knowledge barely understands. The world contains matter and energy, they interact in ways that we can see and in ways that we cannot. Science is the process of seeing as much as possible and creating the best possible ideas to understand how all those interactions occur. Compared to the totality of the world, we're barely scratching the surface.
Second Life CIA
Concerns Over Online Economies as Breeding Grounds For Terror
Most virtual worlds are proprietary of some sort. World of Warcraft is owned by Blizzard Entertainment, Second Life is owned by Linden Labs, combined they constitute an estimated 22 Million users total, maybe 6-12 million of which are active more than once a week. For the time that they spend in these worlds, very few of their decisions are in any way affected by the laws of their respective real world governments. While the company has full access to all the data regarding chat, text, exchanges, etc.; the government can request that access.
Second Life gets more media attention because of real money that gets exchanged in that world on a daily basis. 18 Million Linden$ ($67 Thousand) was exchanged in Second Life this January. It is illegal, however, to exchange real money in World of Warcraft (it still happens though).
U.S. intelligence officials are cautioning that popular Internet services that enable computer users to adopt cartoon-like personas in three-dimensional online spaces also are creating security vulnerabilities by opening novel ways for terrorists and criminals to move money, organize and conduct corporate espionage.The CIA owns islands in Second Life! I'm glad I pay taxes.
The CIA has created a few virtual islands for internal use, such as training and unclassified meetings, government officials said.
Most virtual worlds are proprietary of some sort. World of Warcraft is owned by Blizzard Entertainment, Second Life is owned by Linden Labs, combined they constitute an estimated 22 Million users total, maybe 6-12 million of which are active more than once a week. For the time that they spend in these worlds, very few of their decisions are in any way affected by the laws of their respective real world governments. While the company has full access to all the data regarding chat, text, exchanges, etc.; the government can request that access.
Second Life gets more media attention because of real money that gets exchanged in that world on a daily basis. 18 Million Linden$ ($67 Thousand) was exchanged in Second Life this January. It is illegal, however, to exchange real money in World of Warcraft (it still happens though).
Monday, February 4
Light Bulbs galore
I bought light bulbs today.
I bought 6, 2 energy smart 26 watt bulbs, and 4 soft white 100 watt bulbs.
I did this because I wanted to have the packages so I could make this blog post.
I came up with formula to figure the total cost of light to me. The energy bulb is 18% cheaper at my energy price. But most of that discount is raw bulb cost if I reduce the price of electricity to $.001, the Energy bulb is still 17.7% cheaper.
Here's the formula:
cost per bulb X number of bulbs used in year
+ Watts X Price of Electricy X Hours of usage
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total cost of light for the year
Results may vary based on prices in your area, but feel free to use my spreadsheet to lower your cost of light, these prices don't change much, so you could do it once and not ahve to do it again for a while.
I bought 6, 2 energy smart 26 watt bulbs, and 4 soft white 100 watt bulbs.
I did this because I wanted to have the packages so I could make this blog post.
I came up with formula to figure the total cost of light to me. The energy bulb is 18% cheaper at my energy price. But most of that discount is raw bulb cost if I reduce the price of electricity to $.001, the Energy bulb is still 17.7% cheaper.
Here's the formula:
cost per bulb X number of bulbs used in year
+ Watts X Price of Electricy X Hours of usage
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total cost of light for the year
Results may vary based on prices in your area, but feel free to use my spreadsheet to lower your cost of light, these prices don't change much, so you could do it once and not ahve to do it again for a while.
Friday, February 1
Information Super-Highway
Somebody accidentally cut an undersea Internet cable off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, which disrupted Internet service in India by a great deal.I didn't know there were cables spanning the Pacific! That's a lot of water. The description of the cable is amazing as well. 14 cm thick with several layers of steel wire mesh guarding a narrow (like, 1 cm) wide fiber optic core that actually carries the data. It would take some heavy equipment to break that.
Video Game Tax in New Mexico
New Mexico Proposes Video Game Tax to Punish Staying Indoors
Joseph Henchman says:
More ambiguously though, I agree with the philosophy of government given by Mr. Henchman. While it's appealing to think that Parks'n Rec would be paid for by Gamestop, as a service, parks and rec should be paid for by people that use it, not by people that don't. People should want more outdoor activities, government should try to 'make them want' more outdoor activities.
Hat Tip to Joseph Henchman @ Tax Policy Blog
But a coalition of groups, led by the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club, is sold on the idea that outdoor education programs can inspire children in a way that video games and television cannot.
The coalition wants state lawmakers to create a No Child Left Inside Fund with a 1 percent tax on TVs, video games and video game equipment. The fund would help pay for outdoor education throughout the state.
Joseph Henchman says:
The fundamental purpose of taxes is to raise revenue necessary for programs, not micromanage people's decisions with subsidies and penalties. If a tax targeting video games is justified, it should be on the basis of actual negative externalities, not the whims of social engineers picking things they don't like at random.For myself, I can say without ambiguity that I vastly prefer this type of policy to efforts to ban certain types of video game content. One advantage is that a direct tax creates a disincentive to hurt the industry.
More ambiguously though, I agree with the philosophy of government given by Mr. Henchman. While it's appealing to think that Parks'n Rec would be paid for by Gamestop, as a service, parks and rec should be paid for by people that use it, not by people that don't. People should want more outdoor activities, government should try to 'make them want' more outdoor activities.
Hat Tip to Joseph Henchman @ Tax Policy Blog
Wednesday, January 30
Friday, January 25
Anon vs. Scientology
A hacker group called Anonymous, has declared war on the 'church' of Scientology. So far they seem to have successfully executed a DoS attack on the Scientology website, and a prank on the church's hotline.
Various Media outlets have picked up on this.
Australia Wired The Register National Post
Anon has responded to media coverage of the 'war.'
I fight the urge to support Anon in this solely because of the quality of their videos. But really I don't see what they're going to do. They can't cause any real harm by pulling pranks like a DoS or phone line redirects. They'd really have to cause financial messes, like stealing money from the 'church' and sending it to the FBI, then send an email politely asking them to spend the money investigating the 'church.' That would be impressive, because it's really hard to do. So until they show themselves to actually be serious in this, I have to write them off as a bunch of kids playing important on YouTube.
Various Media outlets have picked up on this.
Australia Wired The Register National Post
Anon has responded to media coverage of the 'war.'
I fight the urge to support Anon in this solely because of the quality of their videos. But really I don't see what they're going to do. They can't cause any real harm by pulling pranks like a DoS or phone line redirects. They'd really have to cause financial messes, like stealing money from the 'church' and sending it to the FBI, then send an email politely asking them to spend the money investigating the 'church.' That would be impressive, because it's really hard to do. So until they show themselves to actually be serious in this, I have to write them off as a bunch of kids playing important on YouTube.
Thursday, January 24
Head Tracking using the Wii-mote
It's important to note, that Johnny is not actually using the Wii to run this program. But I haven't seen anything to indicate that the capacity to run this type of operation isn't there.
The one thing holding Nintendo back from destroying the M$FT and Sony empires is the perpetual Wii shortage. The Wii has been completely sold out of stores ever since the system launched 14 months ago. The ticker symbol is NTDOY.
Another hat tip to my roommate, Ryan Lea. He's the guy on the left.
Branson's Spaceship
Virgin Galactic Unveils Spaceships That'll Take Passengers to Space in 2009
More reasons why I intend to be a millionaire by age 30.
Also, check out the Spaceport in New Mexico that the amazing Richard Branson is building to launch.
Tuesday, January 22
Less is More
We're doing more with less. That's good for planet Earth.
I recommend checking out the other Knowledge labeled posts. As this sort of change is what knowledge economies are good for.
Hat tip to Brian Hollar at Thinking on the Margin. Which is rapidly becoming one of my all time favorite blogs! Not to detract from my extensive respect for the eminent professors at Marginal Revolution & Cafe Hayek. Their sites are much better known.
Since 1977 the value of the U.S. economy has doubled, yet the amount of physical stuff it took to supply all the needs and wants of Americans fell from 1.18 trillion pounds to 1.08 trillion pounds. Even more astonishing: the "weight" of the economy fell while U.S. population grew by some 55 million people.This probably not true for each individual resource, only in aggregate. 55 million additional people will require additional water, and while water can be delivered and used more efficiently, the total supply is not unlimited. The good news is that although the use of water probably went up, that means other resources were probably used less, and those other resources were probably less environmentally friendly than water.
I recommend checking out the other Knowledge labeled posts. As this sort of change is what knowledge economies are good for.
Hat tip to Brian Hollar at Thinking on the Margin. Which is rapidly becoming one of my all time favorite blogs! Not to detract from my extensive respect for the eminent professors at Marginal Revolution & Cafe Hayek. Their sites are much better known.
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