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March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Understanding Your Computer: Web Browsers

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Understanding Your Computer: Operating Systems

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Protecting Portable Devices: Data Security

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Understanding Encryption

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Understanding Digital Signatures

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Protecting Portable Devices: Physical Security

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Recognizing and Avoiding Spyware

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Understanding Denial-of-Service Attacks

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Protecting Your Privacy

March 10, 2010 07:44 AM

Un_notas nos cuenta: «John Chambers, director ejecutivo de Cisco Systems ha presentado un nuevo modelo de 'router', el CRS-3 Carrier Routing System con unas prestaciones muy prometedoras. Prometen multiplicar por 12 la velocidad de sus competidores, llegando a 322 terabits por segundo, aunque la única demostración realizada con AT&T fue de 100Gbps. El 'router' tendrá un precio de sálida de 90.000 dólares. Los directivos de AT&T han destacado la importancia del desarrollo de estos productos ante las perspectivas sobre el tráfico futuro de Internet, a la que ya se ha bautizado como la Era del Zettabyte».

by rvr at March 10, 2010 07:00 AM

あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

去る平成22年2月22日、独立行政法人 農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構 果樹研究所が、カンキツ新品種「はるひ」を育成したとプレスリリースした。「日向夏」に似たさわやかな風味が特徴だそうだ。

このゾロ目に何か意味があるのかは分からない。もちろん品種名が何かに引っかけられているのかどうかは中の人しか知るよしもない。ともあれ同名の映画のようなヒットを祈りたい。

ちなみに、「日向夏」はリンゴのように剥いて皮の白いところごとカットして食べるのがおいしいと思う。あの白いところが甘いというのにはちょっとびっくりしたものだ。「はるひ」のお味はどんなだろうか。

すべて読む | ニュース | アニメ・マンガ

関連ストーリー：
涼宮ハルヒの消失、劇場公開中 2010年02月09日
一年中花を咲かすサクラの新品種、理化学研究所が開発 2010年01月19日
秋田の新米「萌えみのり」アキバ登場！ 2009年11月24日
甘さ2倍の小麦が開発される 2006年12月13日
渋皮が簡単に剥ける栗、「ぽろたん」開発 2006年10月05日

by hylom at March 10, 2010 07:00 AM

あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

本家記事、The Telegraphなどによると、AppleがiPhoneを利用して車や家の鍵を開けられる電子キーシステム（通称「iKey」）の特許を申請しているそうだ。

「iKey」では画面に表示される金庫のダイヤルを回すようにiPhoneを回して暗証番号を入力し、錠と通信して鍵を開けるとのこと。特許ではiPhoneと錠との間の通信を全てエンクリプトすることでハッキングを防ぐ仕組みも提唱している。また、万が一不法に鍵を開けようとする兆候を検知した場合には警報を鳴らしたり、持ち主や家主にアラートを送る仕組みも提唱されているという。

デバイス間の通信に使われる規格はNFC（Near Field Communication）だそうで、今後本当にiPhoneに組み込まれるとすれば、Appleによる「お財布携帯」分野への進出も視野に入ってくると元記事は伝えている。

当然ながら、現時点でAppleは公式なコメントを拒否しているとのことだ。

すべて読む | アップルセクション | アップル

関連ストーリー：
Apple、HTCを特許侵害で提訴 2010年03月03日
「iPad」の商標問題、Appleは事前に手を打っていた？ 2010年02月09日
Apple、OS で広告を表示させる技術の特許を出願 2009年10月27日
Appleの新特許は「盗まれたiPhoneが自動で通報」機能 2009年04月07日

by hylom at March 10, 2010 06:00 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/07/dave-eggers-zeitoun-hurricane-katrina"&gt;The Guardian recently interviewed Dave Eggers&lt;/a&gt; and found that the Staggering Genius is no more.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Time to break the ice. You hate doing interviews, don't you? I ask, sitting down (there is no desk; he works on an old sofa). "No, not at all," he says. There is a look of mild amazement on his face as he tells me this and it's not disingenuous; as he will explain later, he feels a certain sense of distance from his old self. Perhaps he prefers not to remember exactly how he used to be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Dave Eggers"&gt;Dave Eggers&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/interviews"&gt;interviews&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 10, 2010 05:46 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/07/dave-eggers-zeitoun-hurricane-katrina"&gt;The Guardian recently interviewed Dave Eggers&lt;/a&gt; and found that the Staggering Genius is no more.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Time to break the ice. You hate doing interviews, don't you? I ask, sitting down (there is no desk; he works on an old sofa). "No, not at all," he says. There is a look of mild amazement on his face as he tells me this and it's not disingenuous; as he will explain later, he feels a certain sense of distance from his old self. Perhaps he prefers not to remember exactly how he used to be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Dave Eggers"&gt;Dave Eggers&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/interviews"&gt;interviews&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 10, 2010 05:46 AM

One of the most striking images from The Terminator was the weapon he carried and used in his first attempt on Sarah Connor's life: the .45 Longslide, with laser sighting. Who can forget the scene in the gun shop? The gun was likewise such a striking presence on screen it was used on the film's poster. There are T-shirts dedicated to the gun.

Terminator was released in 1984, and while laser sights on weapons are common now, when the film was first shown the red laser was able to communicate something subtle and powerful to the audience: this is a machine, deadly accurate and futuristic. It made the Terminator seem other-worldly and terrifying. At a party during CES, Deputy Editor Jon Stokes and I bumped into some representatives from SureFire, a company that specializes in tactical flashlights. We talked about some of our favorite moments with technology in cinema, and The Terminator came up.

"We created that laser!" I was told. They told me the gentleman who built the prop was named Ed Reynolds, and he was still with the company. More than a little jazzed about bumping into a fun part of film history, we knew we had to get the full story behind the Terminator's gun.

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March 10, 2010 05:30 AM

20-something guy dressed as Edward Cullen for Halloween: So anyway, I walk in, and they are both sitting there, playing with each other's erections...

--Bedford Ave & Berry St

Overheard by: Marie Miller Barnes

Ginger kid in audience, as photo of awkward Asian teen sticking banana in his mouth is projected on movie screen: I am definitely aroused.

--Tisch School of the Arts

Joggers to another: Raging hard-ons!

--Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Overheard by: Katie

20-something girl to another: How could he not go out with you? I mean, you gave him a boner at Relay For Life!

--Union Square

Overheard by: Becca

March 10, 2010 05:00 AM

ある Anonymous Coward 曰く、

百貨店業界が Google と提携し、「デパート内部を立体的な画像で閲覧する」サービスを立ち上げると NHK ニュースが報じている。詳細は不明だが、デパート内を Google ストリートビューのような感じで閲覧できるものになるのだろうか。ただ、これが販売促進に繋がるかどうかはタレコミ子的には疑問なのだが……。

ちなみに Google はすでにストリートビュー パートナープログラムという、施設内をストリートビューで公開できるサービスを提供している (参考: /.J 記事) ので、これを使うのだろうか。

すべて読む | ITセクション | Google | ビジネス

関連ストーリー：
私有地向けストリートビュー撮影用自転車 trike 2009年05月21日

by reo at March 10, 2010 03:30 AM

Apple COO Tim Cook's warning from early 2009 wasn't the only one that handset makers received before Apple sicced the lawyers on HTC last week. According to a research note from Oppenheimer analyst Yal Reiner, Apple began warning top executives at companies such as HTC and Motorola in January that it wasn't too happy about seeing allegedly iPhone-related IP showing up in proposed new products.

According to "industry checks," Cook's comments last January during the quarterly analyst call—that Apple "will not stand for having our IP ripped off, and we'll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal"—were taken seriously by the likes of LG, Samsung, and even Nokia. Though the Palm Pre openly flaunted multitouch capabilities (what most handset makers believed were at the heart of Cook's warning), its sales numbers haven't proven to be much of a concern for Apple so far.

Read the comments on this post

March 10, 2010 03:25 AM

ある Anonymous Coward 曰く、

充電池のエネループの姉妹商品として、新たに「エネループ ライト」が発売されるようです (三洋電機のニュースリリース、engadget 日本語版の記事より) 。

定格容量が単 3 で 1900 mAh から 950 mAh に、単 4 で 750 mAh から 550 mAh となり、低〜中消費電力機器をターゲットにする製品。お値段も重さも 30 % ダウン。

しかしまあ、素人によくわからない微妙な仕様違いのラインナップ拡大はかえって不便という向きもあります。

すべて読む | ハードウェアセクション | 電力

関連ストーリー：
充電池「eneloop」8 色セットと犬型バッテリーチェッカー 2009年11月09日
三洋、使用回数が 1.5 倍になった第二世代 eneloop を発売 2009年10月08日
三洋電機、eneloop向けの非接触型充電器のプロトタイプを展示 2007年11月07日
三洋電機、eneloop用 USB充電器を発表。 2007年04月20日
三洋電機、太陽光でUSB給電もできる充電器発表 2006年11月01日

by reo at March 10, 2010 03:00 AM

kineko 曰く、

いささか旧聞に属するが、ITmedia News の記事によると、Skype が「Skype Lite」と「Skype for Windows Phones」の提供を終了したとのこと。先月中旬頃には提供を終了していた模様。

Skype Lite は Java 搭載携帯電話向けアプリ、Skype for Windows Phones は Windows Mobile 搭載携帯電話向けアプリだったのだが、同社のサイトでは既に、これらソフトのダウンロード提供を中止している。Skype Lite については、既にインストールしているユーザーは 2010 年中まで利用可能という。

Skype はこの決定について、「優れたユーザー体験を提供できない」と説明している。Skype Lite は対応キャリアが少なく、また Skype 間通話でも携帯料金が発生することが問題となった。Skype for Windows Phones については、最新版の Windows Mobile では、キャリアの協力なしで、幅広い端末でユーザーが期待するような機能を維持するのが難しくなっている、とのこと。

Windows Mobile 採用の W-ZERO3 を持っているので、この記事を見て急いで公式サイトを見たものの、既に公開は終了していました。ソフトを持っている人は、継続して利用できるようですが不具合が発生した場合、修正版へのアップデートは出来ないので今後が不安です。

# 無線 LAN 対応、低価格な日本語対応 skype 通話が出来るアイテムなんてありませんかね ?

すべて読む | モバイルセクション | インターネット | モバイル

関連ストーリー：
Skype の月額サービスにオンライン番号はつかない ? 2009年04月23日
iPhone 向け「Skype」を正式リリース 2009年04月01日
PSPでSkypeが使用可能に 2008年01月07日

by kineko (posted by reo) at March 10, 2010 02:30 AM

いずれ憲法にも記載か… 曰く、

Reuters の日本語抄訳記事によると、BBC World Service の調査によって世界の 5 人に 4 人 (79 %) はインターネットへのアクセスを「基本的権利の一つ (a fundamental right)」と考えていることが明らかにされたそうだ (BBC News の記事、調査報告詳報 [PDF]) 。

詳報によると、調査方法は日本を含む 26 カ国 26000 人以上に 2009 年 11 月から 2010 年 2 月まで各国の成人 (15 歳以上・18 歳以上など。日本は 20 歳以上) に面談または電話による調査で行ったもので、インターネット調査ではないことに注意。フィンランドおよびエストニアのような国ではすでに法的権利として認められている (/.J 記事) 。インターネット利用者と非利用者に分けた場合、利用者は 87 %、非利用者でも 71 % が持つべき権利と答えた。全体の 78 % はインターネットによって自由が得られると答え、90 % はインターネットは学ぶのに良いところ、51 % はSNSで過ごすのを楽しんでいると答えたそうだ。

また、日本では 84 % がインターネット無しには暮らせないと答え、インターネットによって自由が得られる、学べる場所だという意見がそれぞれ 94 %、95 % に達した。加えて、インターネットへの個人情報の流出への関心が高いのも日本の特徴だそうだ。

すべて読む | ITセクション | インターネット

関連ストーリー：
フィンランド、ブロードバンド接続を法的権利として定める 2009年10月19日

by reo at March 10, 2010 02:22 AM

無料サービスではセキュリティ面が不安ですか？富士通なら安心！≪今だけ20％オフ≫

March 10, 2010 02:22 AM

Andy Baio : Wired Reread, blogging the best ads from '90s-era Wired - also, the complete SPIN archives are on Google Books

March 10, 2010 02:00 AM

ある Anonymous Coward 曰く、

本家 /. の記事より。教育現場では様々な指導技術や手法が試されたりもしてきたが、教師の占める重要性については見過ごされがちであった。Newsweek の記事や NY Times の記事では、最近「良い教師」の重要性に関する記事を相次いで掲載しているが、それによると力の無い教師に 3 年間ついた生徒は、より力量のある教師についた生徒よりも平均して点数が 50 パーセント低いことが統計学的に明らかになっているという。同じ学校で、同じ学年を教えていても教師によって大きな差が発生し得るということだそうだ。

またビルゲイツのビル & メリンダ・ゲイツ財団も教師の質に着目しており、教員の質の向上を目指して 3.35 億ドル (約 300 億円) の投資を行うことを決定しているそうだ。財団としてはこのイニシアチブを通じて教員の質に重きを置いた政策をプッシュしていきたいとのこと。

さて、/.J 諸兄方の考える「良い教師」とは ?

すべて読む | Slashdotに聞けセクション | 教育

by reo at March 10, 2010 02:00 AM

無料サービスではセキュリティ面が不安ですか？富士通なら安心！≪今だけ20％オフ≫

March 10, 2010 02:00 AM

Girl: Dave! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?
Dave, completely serious: Who are you?

--St. Mark's Place

March 10, 2010 02:00 AM

The entire family of devices built on the iPhone OS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) have been designed to run only software that is approved by Apple—a major shift from the norms of the personal computer market. Software developers who want Apple's approval must first agree to the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement.

So today we're posting the "iPhone Developer Program License Agreement"—the contract that every developer who writes software for the iTunes App Store must "sign." Though more than 100,000 app developers have clicked "I agree," public copies of the agreement are scarce, perhaps thanks to the prohibition on making any "public statements regarding this Agreement, its terms and conditions, or the relationship of the parties without Apple's express prior written approval." But when we saw the NASA App for iPhone, we used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to ask NASA for a copy, so that the general public could see what rules controlled the technology they could use with their phones. NASA responded with the Rev. 3-17-09 version of the agreement.

UPDATED: we are now also posting the most recent version of the agreement, dated January 2010.

This "license agreement" is particularly relevant right now, given the imminent launch of the iPad and anytime-now issuance of the U.S. Copyright Office's ruling regarding jailbreaking of the iPhone.

So what's in the Agreement? Here are a few troubling highlights:

Ban on Public Statements: As mentioned above, Section 10.4 prohibits developers, including government agencies such as NASA, from making any "public statements" about the terms of the Agreement. This is particularly strange, since the Agreement itself is not "Apple Confidential Information" as defined in Section 10.1. So the terms are not confidential, but developers are contractually forbidden from speaking "publicly" about them.

App Store Only: Section 7.2 makes it clear that any applications developed using Apple's SDK may only be publicly distributed through the App Store, and that Apple can reject an app for any reason, even if it meets all the formal requirements disclosed by Apple. So if you use the SDK and your app is rejected by Apple, you're prohibited from distributing it through competing app stores like Cydia or Rock Your Phone.

Ban on Reverse Engineering: Section 2.6 prohibits any reverse engineering (including the kinds of reverse engineering for interoperability that courts have recognized as a fair use under copyright law), as well as anything that would "enable others" to reverse engineer, the SDK or iPhone OS.

No Tinkering with Any Apple Products: Section 3.2(e) is the "ban on jailbreaking" provision that received some attention when it was introduced last year. Surprisingly, however, it appears to prohibit developers from tinkering with any Apple software or technology, not just the iPhone, or "enabling others to do so." For example, this could mean that iPhone app developers are forbidden from making iPods interoperate with open source software, for example.

You will not, through use of the Apple Software, services or otherwise create any Application or other program that would disable, hack, or otherwise interfere with the Security Solution, or any security, digital signing, digital rights management, verification or authentication mechanisms implemented in or by the iPhone operating system software, iPod Touch operating system software, this Apple Software, any services or other Apple software or technology, or enable others to do so

Kill Your App Any Time: Section 8 makes it clear that Apple can "revoke the digital certificate of any of Your Applications at any time." Steve Jobs has confirmed that Apple can remotely disable apps, even after they have been installed by users. This contract provision would appear to allow that.

We Never Owe You More than Fifty Bucks: Section 14 states that, no matter what, Apple will never be liable to any developer for more than $50 in damages. That's pretty remarkable, considering that Apple holds a developer's reputational and commercial value in its hands—it's not as though the developer can reach its existing customers anywhere else. So if Apple botches an update, accidentally kills your app, or leaks your entire customer list to a competitor, the Agreement tries to cap you at the cost of a nice dinner for one in Cupertino.

Overall, the Agreement is a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn. That's not unusual where end-user license agreements are concerned (and not all the terms may ultimately be enforceable), but it's a bit of a surprise as applied to the more than 100,000 developers for the iPhone, including many large public companies. How can Apple get away with it? Because it is the sole gateway to the more than 40 million iPhones that have been sold. In other words, it's only because Apple still "owns" the customer, long after each iPhone (and soon, iPad) is sold, that it is able to push these contractual terms on the entire universe of software developers for the platform.

In short, no competition among app stores means no competition for the license terms that apply to iPhone developers.

If Apple's mobile devices are the future of computing, you can expect that future to be one with more limits on innovation and competition (or "generativity," in the words of Prof. Jonathan Zittrain) than the PC era that came before. It's frustrating to see Apple, the original pioneer in generative computing, putting shackles on the market it (for now) leads. If Apple wants to be a real leader, it should be fostering innovation and competition, rather than acting as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord. Developers should demand better terms and customers who love their iPhones should back them.

by fred at March 10, 2010 01:49 AM

I know we are all riveted on Utah today, but take a moment, please, because this is important. Jonathan Schwartz, formerly CEO of Sun, has a personal blog, What I Couldn't Say ..., where he has begun to tell us what he couldn't tell us before about events during his tenure there. He has a interesting tale to tell about Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer asking Sun to pay patent royalties to Microsoft on ... OpenOffice.

March 10, 2010 01:32 AM

ある Anonymous Coward 曰く、

本家 /. 記事より。Ars Technica では広告をブロックしないよう読者に求める試みの一環として、広告ブロックツールの利用者には表示されないコンテンツを12時間掲載するという実験を行ったそうだ (Ars Technica の記事) 。今回の実験ではあるメジャーなツールのみにを対象としていたとのことで、実験は成功したという。

実験の目的は広告のブロックがサイト運営に与える影響に目を向けてもらうことにあったそうで、記事では下記のような主張が展開されている。

広告のブロックはあなたが好んで利用しているサイトにとって致命的である可能性があるということだ。広告をブロックすることが、何らかの盗み行為だとか、倫理的でないとか、不道徳だとか、悪だとかと言うつもりはない。しかし、誰かが仕事を失うことやコンテンツの減少に繋がる可能性もあり、またコンテンツの質の低下は免れられないだろう。

サイトにとってはデススパイラルに陥ることを意味するかもしれない。読者の皆もよく知っていると思うが、サイトの広告収入が減るにつれて如何わしい広告を掲載せざるを得なくなる場合が多い。

Ars Technica では広告の質について定期的に意見を交わしていることを誇りに思っており、この 12 年間、読者に代わって戦うべき時はそのようしてきた。勿論、時には隙を突いて煩わしい広告が出現したりするだろうが、そういう場合もあるということだ。しかし、このサイトの読者であれば、そのような広告は稀にしかないことはお分かり頂けるだろう。

我々は毎月、読者にそぐわないような広告を不採用にしてきている。この姿勢に対して、読者の皆には広告をブロックしないようお願いしたいだけである。

すべて読む | ITセクション | インターネット | ビジネス

by reo at March 10, 2010 01:30 AM

A typical neuroscience paper (or a typical report on one) is a laundry list of structure:function relationships between brain regions and the mental tasks they perform. The amygdala deals with registering rewards, the hippocampus handles memory, and so on. These relationships have been the result of over a century of work, starting with rare cases of brain injury and building through modern medical imaging, which can detect ever-smaller lesions and associate neural activity with specific cognitive processes. Doctors routinely rely on the combination of brain imaging and structure:function relationships for diagnostic purposes, but is wider society willing to trust it in the courtroom, where it might make the difference between guilt and innocence?

That question was handled in a rather unusual manner at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: a mock trial. Most other panels consisted of a set of scientists who each gave a fairly standard presentation. This one was presided over by Louis Rodriguez, an Orange County Superior Court Judge, and featured a law school professor and a practicing attorney, each with a neuroscientist as an expert witness. Although the proceedings were heavily scripted, anyone who's sat through a jury trial would recognize that they were a reasonable attempt to approximate a normal courtroom experience.

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March 10, 2010 01:24 AM

nelson : iPhone dev agreement - Abusive contract

Tags : iphone apple mac software eff

March 10, 2010 01:00 AM

Five years after announcing its development, and following a month-long online campaign trailing the launch, Pentax has finally unveiled its much anticipated 645D medium format digital camera. The first digital version of the company's 645 medium format camera system, it features a 40MP, 44 x 33 CCD sensor, 921k dot 3.0" LCD and is compatible with the existing 645 system lenses. The camera will initially be available only in the Japanese market at a suggested retail price of ¥850,000 (~ US $9,400) from May 2010.

March 10, 2010 01:00 AM

In conjunction with its announcement of the 645D medium format camera, Pentax has announced the smc D FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL[IF] SDM AW lens. First in the D FA 645 lens series, this weather-resistant prime lens features a Supersonic Direct-drive Motor (SDM) autofocus drive and Quick-Shift for instant AF/MF switching. It is also the company's first 645 system lens to incorporates a rounded diaphragm.The 55mm lens will be available alongside the 645D camera at a suggested retail price of ¥100,000 (~ US $1,100).

March 10, 2010 01:00 AM

Rod Begbie : Books: Rework, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson - Great take-down of 37Signals's bluster by someone who manages real, non-internet-fairy-dust companies. "Don't try and make a name for your software company by issuing such over-heated generalisations."

Tags : 37signals bookreview theemperor'snewclothes

March 10, 2010 12:00 AM

Andy Baio : Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer - related: McSweeney's categories for the meta-awards

March 10, 2010 12:00 AM

Andy Baio : Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg perform Lazy Sunday live - for the first time, backed by The Roots

March 10, 2010 12:00 AM

The Census is a popular topic of right-wing conspiracy theories and Fox News host Glenn Beck spent a good portion of radio show today fear-mongering about it. Going through the form, he determined that the government doesn’t have the right to ask any of the questions — except for the first one asking how many people live in your home.

He took particular issue with a question asking for the respondent’s race. But after Beck’s co-host pointed out that the question has been part of the Census since the Founding Fathers’ time, Beck twisted the three-fifths law to claim that the Census is now breeding slavery:

BECK: Why were they asking the race question, you said when, in 1790? … Right, they want to know, do you count as three-fifths? Do you count at all? So, you have to know how many slaves did you have? People find that offensive today because the idea was, if we’re going to count, we want to know how many are here for services etc. etc. and slaves would get less. Well that’s not right. One. One. ‘I’m not three-fifths, I’m one. Whites are not worth than me.’ Now reverse it, why are they asking this question today?

CO-HOST: Because minorities are worth more than whites.

BECK: Exactly right. So you will get more dollars if you are a minority. So you are worth more as a monitory. Well there is no difference. The reason you don’t answer the race question is because one, everyone counts as one. All men are created equal. If you were offended back in 1790 about slavery and that everyone should count the same, do not answer the race question. How dare you. How dare you. At least in 1790, they were doing it to slow the South down on slavery. To try to stop it as much as they can. Today they are asking the race question to try to increase slavery. Your dependence on the master in Washington. No way, don’t answer that question.

Listen here:

Beck seems to be arguing that because a handful of federal programs provide funding to help minority communities, minorities are “worth more” than white people. Of course, the Census actually counts everyone equally, as the Constitution requires, so Beck’s complaints seem aimed more at civil rights programs than at the Census.

Moreover, there is a big “difference” between a law that counted people as less than human and a question that helps minority communities get needed aid. The Census’ race question is “critical” to enforcing civil rights policies and is used to “promote equal employment opportunities and to assess racial disparities in health and environmental risks.” So by urging his listeners to not complete this question, he’s potentially damaging these important efforts.

As ThinkProgress has previously noted, the three-fifths law was not an abolitionist provision designed to “slow the South down on slavery,” as Beck claims. Many of the Founders were from the South and owned slaves, and there were other pro-slavery clasuses in the Constitution that Beck’s revisionist history can’t explain.

So does Beck think the Census has a “deep seated hatred of white people or white culture”?

by Alex Seitz-Wald at March 09, 2010 11:40 PM

THE OTHER DICK DROPS: Reader “Ben H.” suggested Wonkette liveblog Eric Massa’s appearance on Glenn Beck this afternoon. Wonkette, however, is not capable of watching the Glenn Beck Show under any circumstances. This is unfortunate because: “Representative Eric J. Massa, who resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct, vehemently denied any wrongdoing during a television appearance late on Tuesday even as he described having tickle fights with staffers in a house they shared. But he insisted that was as far as it went.” HAHAHAHAHAH. Tickle fights are actually gayer than anal sex, is the thing. [NYT]

by Jim Newell at March 09, 2010 11:17 PM

Would it surprise you to find out that it turns out that apparently one of the jurors might be related to one of SCO's prior corporate officers? At any rate they have the same last name, and Salt Lake City is a big place, so perhaps not. Novell noticed the similarity in names, according to our reporter today, MSS2, only after jury selection was over.

MSS2 has just sent me his first report of day 2 of the jury trial in SCO v. Novell, with more to come. Today was opening arguments by both sides. And we have lots more goodies for you from two eyewitnesses, MSS2 and Tilendor. We begin with SCO's opening argument by Stuart Singer. All I can say after reading it is maybe you needed to be there. Or SCO must be a slow learner or Mr. Singer never reads Groklaw, or ... well, see what you think.

March 09, 2010 11:14 PM

Facebook is allegedly planning to roll out location sharing capabilities next month, once again playing catch-up to other services that have gained popularity thanks to location data. The rumor comes courtesy of anonymous sources who have been "briefed on the project" speaking to the New York Times, who said that Facebook will announce the feature at Facebook's annual f8 conference in late April.

The company's plans for such a feature have not been entirely secret—Facebook hinted at location features when it updated its privacy policy in November. Like other postings made to Facebook, location information will only be made available to the people you decide to broadcast it to.

"When you share your location with others or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post," reads the policy. "If we offer a service that supports this type of location sharing we will present you with an opt-in choice of whether you want to participate."

The location features will come in the form of an API for third-party developers and from Facebook, according to the Times' sources.

The feature will undoubtedly be popular among many of Facebook's 400 million users, as it has already proven itself with other services. For example, Twitter added geolocation to its API last year, not to mention that Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Latitude, and Loopt have all built their success solely upon the use of user location data. Needless to say, it's not something that will be new to the Web, though it probably will be new to a sizable chunk of Facebook's audience. Let's just hope the company rolls it out the right way, as implied by its privacy policy, and doesn't end up broadcasting everyone's locations to the world by default.

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March 09, 2010 11:10 PM

Andy Baio : Adam Savage's pursuit of the perfect Blade Runner gun replica - related: his quest for the perfect replica Maltese Falcon and dodo skeleton

March 09, 2010 11:00 PM

NYU guy #1: Yeah, she totally came!
NYU guy #2: Twice!

--Cloister Cafe

March 09, 2010 11:00 PM

Last week, the Washington Post published a front-page photo of two (gay?) men kissing in the courthouse’s “gay marriage line.” Many readers were furious. Today, Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander determines once and for all whether this gay kiss ever even happened.

No, something else. He is determining once and for all… something else. Was it inappropriate for the Post to display this news photo of hot man-on-man sexy kiss time so prominently in its print newspaper, which America’s seniors read in the privacy of their own homes?

A few of the readers have engaged in rants, often with anti-gay slurs. One called me to complain about “promoting a faggot lifestyle.” Another complained about the photo in an e-mail to the two Post reporters who wrote Thursday’s story about the licenses: “That kind of stuff makes normal people want to throw up. People have kids who are being exposed to this crap. I will be glad when your rag goes out of business. Real men marry women.”

But most simply said The Post had offended their sensibilities by publishing the photo, especially on the front page.

[...]

Wrote Lee Miller of Columbia: “I would appreciate it if your cover pictures would not be so disturbing where my kids can see it easily on the kitchen table… please don’t shove this “Gay” business in our face. This is something that should have shown up on an inside page or two (without the picture).”

In comments to the ombudsman’s call-in line (202.334.7582), one reader said, “the picture of two guys kissing makes me cringe.” Another called it “ridiculous,” adding: “Put it on page 10 or page four, put it in the paper, but I do not like it right there where I can’t avoid looking at it.”

Summary:

– No fucking gay faggots should be on the front page, stupid fucking faggots. Real faggots marry women.

– “Gay business” should not be shoved down my kids’ throats.

– Show the photo on an inside page and don’t show the photo.

– Don’t put the photo on the front page, because then people can’t help but stare at it constantly, amirite? (Thank you, caller got-no-pants.)

Ombudsman Andrew Alexander, however, insults all of these folks in his final paragraph:

There was a time, after court-ordered integration, when readers complained about front-page photos of blacks mixing with whites. Today, photo images of same-sex couples capture the same reality of societal change.

Ha ha, who says these same complainers ever accepted the black/white photographs? ASK ‘EM ABOUT THOSE, IN 2010.

Readers react to photo of two men kissing [WP/Omblog]

by Jim Newell at March 09, 2010 10:56 PM

Erin Rosa of Campus Progress reports that NumbersUSA, a “mainstream” immigration restrictionist group with troublesome ties to hate groups, hosted a public conference call last night to discuss “a variety of tactics to thwart an upcoming march on Washington DC by immigrant rights supporters.” One tactic proposed on the call involves portraying women from Mexico as the “new welfare queens”:

CALLER 1: I would like to speak out on something. I feel the new welfare queen in America today is women coming from Mexico with a bunch of babies. So I feel they’re all coming over here and having all these babies, they are the new welfare queen in America….

New people in America today with a lot of babies, ’cause they coming from Mexico having a bunch of babies. And our tax dollars is taking care of them babies, ’cause the mothers are illegal. So to me, we need to speak out about letting them know they’re the new welfare queens in America.

CALLER 2: That was well said brother!

MACDONALD: We will make a note of that. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

CALLER 3: One piece of information would be, they aren’t babies, they’re dependents. Don’t use babies. It’s emotional to them. They have dependents. We have babies.

Callers also complained that tea party organizers are “for the illegals.” Despite acknowledging that FreemdomWorks chairman Dick Armey funds and inspired the movement itself, Armey was dismissed as not being a “true Tea Party patriot” due to his pro-immigration views. Another caller indicated that tea party organizers specifically asked her to put immigration within the movement’s focus — limited taxation — and asked for more advice on “putting it in their terms.” Roy Beck, Executive Director, responded that “we’ll be a whole lot better off if when [sic] we talk about illegal immigrants we leave off the Hispanic-Latino stuff” and agreed that the tea party’s narrative was the “best way to talk about this.”

However, as long Beck counts on the support of activists who want to equate Mexican mothers with welfare queens, he may have a hard time disassociating his movement from the “Hispanic-Latino stuff.” It says a lot when even Armey perceives anti-immigrant groups as toxic. With his eye quietly on the growing Latino electorate, Armey has explicitly stated that he’s not interested in associating with folks like former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), citing his “harsh and uncharitable and mean-spirited” immigration positions as his number one reason.

Armey isn’t alone. Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Fox News host Glenn Beck are two tea party darlings who have also expressed a need for a more humane immigration policy. Nonetheless, anti-immigrant nativists have done their best to exploit the tea bagger rage that folks like Armey, Palin, and Beck have nurtured. As a result, groups like NumbersUSA have achieved at least some success in recruiting a number of vocal supporters who seek to define both immigrants and “tea party patriots” on their own terms.

Cross-posted on the Wonk Room.

by anill at March 09, 2010 10:41 PM

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * Israel puts Biden in an awkward spot: "Hours after Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. vowed unyielding American support for Israel's security here on Tuesday, Israel's interior ministry announced 1,600 new housing...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 10:30 PM

The Microsoft browser ballot released this month to Windows users in the EU is already doing Microsoft's rivals a favor. Two of the major competitors to Internet Explorer have seen an increase in downloads, while the other two are not willing to share data. We contacted the makers of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera; here's what they had to say.

Opera, the Norwegian browser maker that first filed a complaint with the European Union in December 2007, accusing Microsoft of violating EU antitrust law by bundling IE with Windows, is pleased with the progress its browser is making. "Since the browser choice screen rollout, Opera downloads have more than tripled in major European countries, such as Belgium, France, Spain, Poland, and the UK," an Opera spokesperson told Ars. The company said it currently did not have more detailed numbers but plans on sharing more as they become available.

Mozilla, which has a particularly solid foothold in Europe, was slightly more specific in the progress it was seeing with its browser downloads. "Early data suggests 50,000 to 100,000 new users chose Firefox as a direct result of seeing the Ballot Choice screen," a Mozilla spokesperson told Ars. "We expect these numbers will increase as the Ballot Choice rolls out in additional countries and will share updated metrics as they become available."

Apple did not respond at all, and while Google was happy to respond, the company wouldn't get specific: "We generally don't share download stats on that granular of a level," a Google spokesperson told Ars. The company did not respond to a follow-up question if Chrome saw an increase in number of downloads period. While Apple and Google haven't said much, we think it's likely that both have also seen a bump in the number of downloads of their browsers. Hundreds of thousands of users who may not have known of a world outside of Internet Explorer are being confronted with the alternatives.

The browser ballot will be presented on Windows computers across the EU for at least the next five years. Microsoft's rivals are, however, already pushing to have it appear outside of Europe as well.

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March 09, 2010 10:22 PM

In recent days, prominent conservatives have denounced a McCarthyite ad questioning the loyalties of Justice Department lawyers who have represented Guantanamo detainees in the past. The ad was produced by Keep America Safe, the new group led by Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney. Today, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) added his name to the opposition:

“I’ve been a military lawyer for almost 30 years, I represented people as a defense attorney in the military that were charged with some pretty horrific acts, and I gave them my all,” said Graham. “This system of justice that we’re so proud of in America requires the unpopular to have an advocate and every time a defense lawyer fights to make the government do their job, that defense lawyer has made us all safer.”

– DJ Carella

by Guest Blogger at March 09, 2010 10:03 PM

&lt;p&gt;After analyzing dozens of Hollywood films, &lt;a href="http://www.physorg.com/news185781475.html"&gt;a team of researchers has found evidence&lt;/a&gt; that the visual rhythm of movies at the shot level matches a pattern called the 1/f fluctuation, the same pattern that is found in dozens of natually occurring phenomena, including the length of the human attention span.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;These results suggest that Hollywood film has become increasingly clustered in packets of shots of similar length. For example, action sequences are typically a cluster of relatively short shots, whereas dialogue sequences (with alternating shots and reverse-shots focused sequentially on the speakers) are likely to be a cluster of longer shots. In this manner and others, film editors and directors have incrementally increased their control over the visual momentum of their narratives, making the relations among shot lengths more coherent over a 70-year span.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;Modern action movies are particularly adept at matching the audience's attention span in this manner. &lt;a href="http://people.psych.cornell.edu/~jec7/pubs/cuttingetalpsychsci10.pdf"&gt;The full paper is available here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/mathematics"&gt;mathematics&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science"&gt;science&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 09:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;In addition to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2HKJ8GjTn5F6uP8kV5O9yznKNbQ"&gt;Australian scientists have found evidence that humans can also taste fat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"We found that the people who were sensitive to fat, who could taste very low concentrations, actually consumed less fat than the people who were insensitive," Keast told AFP. "We also found that they had lower BMIs (Body Mass Indexes)."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/food"&gt;food&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science"&gt;science&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 09:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;After analyzing dozens of Hollywood films, &lt;a href="http://www.physorg.com/news185781475.html"&gt;a team of researchers has found evidence&lt;/a&gt; that the visual rhythm of movies at the shot level matches a pattern called the 1/f fluctuation, the same pattern that is found in dozens of natually occurring phenomena, including the length of the human attention span.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;These results suggest that Hollywood film has become increasingly clustered in packets of shots of similar length. For example, action sequences are typically a cluster of relatively short shots, whereas dialogue sequences (with alternating shots and reverse-shots focused sequentially on the speakers) are likely to be a cluster of longer shots. In this manner and others, film editors and directors have incrementally increased their control over the visual momentum of their narratives, making the relations among shot lengths more coherent over a 70-year span.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;Modern action movies are particularly adept at matching the audience's attention span in this manner. &lt;a href="http://people.psych.cornell.edu/~jec7/pubs/cuttingetalpsychsci10.pdf"&gt;The full paper is available here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/mathematics"&gt;mathematics&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science"&gt;science&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 09:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;In addition to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2HKJ8GjTn5F6uP8kV5O9yznKNbQ"&gt;Australian scientists have found evidence that humans can also taste fat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"We found that the people who were sensitive to fat, who could taste very low concentrations, actually consumed less fat than the people who were insensitive," Keast told AFP. "We also found that they had lower BMIs (Body Mass Indexes)."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/food"&gt;food&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science"&gt;science&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 09:44 PM

LOSING OLD FRIENDS BEFORE FINDING NEW ONES.... For all the renewed sense of optimism and momentum surrounding health care reform, never, ever, overlook Democrats' capacity to shoot themselves in the foot. If health care reform stands any chance at all,...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 09:40 PM

WEIRD EDWARDS SLAVE & WIFE LITERALLY GOING TO JAIL FOR 100 YEARS: Holy potatoes, the judge actually went through with it! This is bigger than Judy Miller and Obama combined: “PITTSBORO, NC (WTVD) — A judge ordered Andrew Young and his wife jailed Tuesday until they produce a sex tape in the lawsuit filed against them by John Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter.” SHOW THE INTERNET FIRST. [ABC 11]

by Jim Newell at March 09, 2010 09:38 PM

Google's recent announcement of a 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home testbed has communities across the US salivating—but imagine what the Internet might be like if that connection to your home were even faster. Say... 100Gbps. In less than 20 years, such speeds will be possible, but only for companies who installed the right sort of fiber architecture.

The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom commissioned a lengthy report on the future of fiber (PDF) (or "fibre," in this case) from the firm Analysys Mason. In it, the company sketched out the future of fiber capacity with a pair of handy charts. Both are clear: between 2025 and 2030, shared fiber tech will be able to offer 10Gpbs to each user; individual fiber can offer a full 100Gbps. Whether ISPs will support it or not is a separate question.

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March 09, 2010 09:33 PM

Look everyone, Red State’s Erick Erickson is trying to pilfer more money from Amazon.com, with gimmicks! (ERICK HOW CAN WE DO THIS TOO?)

What happened yesterday is that Charlie Crist suggested Marco Rubio got a back wax, and now Erick Erickson wants people to send back wax to Charlie Crist. HEY-O!

We’re glad that the right wing is caring about this Florida Senate primary, so we don’t have to. Interestingly, Erickson suggests that this Crist comment may have been racially motivated, since Rubio is Mexican like the dickens, and illegals all have back hair. SO NOW EVERYONE IS RACIST, IS WHAT YOU’RE SAYING ERICK? Stupid liberals.

[RedState via Instaputz]

by Jim Newell at March 09, 2010 09:30 PM

BECAUSE THE FART APP ALONE CANNOT DEFEND FREEDOM: “Those who dismiss the Tea Party movement as a bunch of rednecks may be interested to know that the Tea Party Patriots now have a new iPhone app.” Indeed! Originally designed as a GPS device for locating Thomas Jefferson’s expertly hidden geocaches, “The Tea Party Finder” can also backwards-fax Scott Brown an annotated copy of the Articles of Confederation with a preface by Ayn Rand written in glitter-sharpie. It also lets you Chatroulette with random Tea Party Leaders and their respective dangly bits. [HuffPo]

by Riley Waggaman at March 09, 2010 09:05 PM

As the outlook on passage of health reform improves, Republicans have shifted to a new obstructionist strategy: attacking the process of reconciliation. Republicans claim that reconciliation was only intended to be used for bills dealing closely with the budget. In fact, when Republicans were in power, GOP lawmakers used reconciliation numerous times to pass major domestic policy legislation, including the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 and important changes to health care policy. In fact, 34 of the 41 Senate Republicans have used reconciliation in the past to pass major pieces of domestic policy.

In 2005, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) famously defended reconciliation as “majority rules.” Think Progress has compiled a video of some of these 34 senators who have, in the past, defended reconciliation and railed against the filibuster. Some highlights:

– “If you’ve got 51 votes for your position, you win.” — Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), 3/15/05

– “For some time, I hoped that my colleagues who oppose reform would allow a majority in both bodies to prevail and do what the vast majority of the American public desires.” — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 10/15/99

– “It [the filibuster] is the product of a rule of the Senate passed many years after the ratification of the Constitution. This rule does not derive from the authority of the Constitution.” — Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), 5/19/05

– “Filibusters are neither an idea of the founding fathers nor a historical tradition of the Senate.” — Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), 4/27/05

Watch it:

The full list of Senate Republicans who have used reconciliation to pass major domestic policy, as well as a list of those pieces of legislation can be found after the jump:

Major domestic policy legislation that these 34 Senators have voted for through reconciliation in the past 20 years: Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Balanced Budget Act of 1995, Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Taxpayer Refund and Relief Act of 1999, Marriage Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2000, Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007

Senator	State	Senator	State
Lamar Alexander	Tennessee	Judd Gregg	New Hampshire
John Barrasso	Wyoming	Orrin Hatch	Utah
Robert Bennett	Utah	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Texas
Christopher Bond	Montana	James Inhofe	Oklahoma
Sam Brownback	Kansas	Johnny Isakson	Georgia
Jim Bunning	Kentucky	Jon Kyl	Arizona
Richard Burr	North Carolina	Richard Lugar	Indiana
Tom Coburn	Oklahoma	John McCain	Arizona
Susan Collins	Maine	Mitch McConnell	Kentucky
Bob Corker	Tennessee	Lisa Murkowski	Alaska
John Cornyn	Texas	Pat Roberts	Kansas
Mike Crapo	Idaho	Jeff Sessions	Alabama
James DeMint	Sourth Carolina	Richard Shelby	Alabama
John Ensign	Nevada	Olympia Snowe	Maine
Mike Enzi	Wyoming	John Thune	South Dakota
Lindsey Graham	South Carolina	David Vitter	Louisiana
Chuck Grassley	Iowa	George Voinovich	Ohio

by Victor Zapanta at March 09, 2010 09:03 PM

THE 18TH IS NEXT THURSDAY.... I've listened to it a few times, but can't quite make out the word President Obama uses. Towards the very end of his remarks at yesterday's health care rally near Philadelphia, it sounds to me...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 08:45 PM

MASSA WAS JUST COLD SLAMMIN’ EVERYBODY: It seems there’s more to the crazy Eric Massa sexytime allegations than him drunkenly telling some dude, at a wedding, how much he wanted to bone: “Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) has been under investigation for allegations that he groped multiple male staffers working in his office, according to three sources familiar with the probe. The allegations surrounding the former lawmaker date back at least a year, and involve ‘a pattern of behavior and physical harassment,’ according to one source.” Where’s the problem? These staffers are all such prudes. [Washington Post]

by Jim Newell at March 09, 2010 08:30 PM

Sleazy but “better than John Edwards” person Andrew Young, who illegally sucked John Edwards off every night before bedtime until realizing “hey I can write a tell-all and make big bucks,” is in super big-time trouble. A judge is threatening to send him and his wife Cheri — that’s his real wife; his fake wife is Rielle Hunter — to jail for lying, on the record, about how many people they showed the John Edwards Sex Tape. Was it just a few agents and one ABC News producer, in public, as they suggested? Or was it to all sorts of New York journalists on his big screen teevee, late at night, during epic masturbation parties?

Andrew Young previously said he showed the sex tape to a producer for ABC and two book agents. After that, lawyers for Rielle Hunter, Edwards’ mistress who Young says also appeared in the video, produced an affidavit from a ghost writer who previously worked for Edwards, Robert Draper of New York.

Draper swore in the document that on March 31, 2009, he and Young met at the Youngs’ house. After Cheri Young had gone to bed, Andrew Young offered to show Draper the sex tape and played it on a big screen television in his office from his laptop, which suggested there was a digital copy stored on the laptop.

Young has turned over the original tape and a VHS copy. Federal agents have a DVD copy, but Young has sworn that other copies do not exist. He also did not disclose that he had shown it to Draper.

So this Andrew Young keeps it on his laptop and jerks off to it every night, with cool journalists.

Finally, some closure that we can believe in.

Young ‘lied’ about Edwards sex tape; judge considering contempt [Charlotte Observer]

by Jim Newell at March 09, 2010 08:18 PM

La asociación KDE España recibió una gran cantidad de candidaturas de sede para la Akademy-es 2010, muchas de ellas de una gran calidad. La afortunada ha sido la oferta de itsas, grupo para la promoción del software libre en la Universidad del País Vasco. Así pues, la Akademy-es 2010 tendrá lugar en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Bilbao, los días 7, 8 y 9 de mayo. Encontrarás más información en el anuncio oficial. Se abren también el Call For Papers y las inscripciones.

by Quique at March 09, 2010 08:18 PM

Apple subsidiary FileMaker has released version 11 of its flagship FileMaker Pro database. The updated software purports to make building and maintaining databases even easier, while acknowledging that many users are accustomed to using spreadsheets for database purposes by including pivot table-like reporting and Excel-like charting features. FileMaker Pro Server has also been updated, dropping the simultaneous client access limit for the Advanced version.

FileMaker Pro already laid claim to being one of the easiest cross-platform database tools available, but the company added additional features designed to enhance that ease of use. The Quick Start screen has been improved, offering clear ways to begin a new database. You can start from scratch; import existing data in tab or comma-separated files, Excel spreadsheets, or Bento databases; or choose from a number of Starter Solution templates. A new invoicing template has been added in version 11 to make that common business task practically a plug-and-chug operation; customer data can later be linked for other purposes.

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March 09, 2010 08:06 PM

A new study released by the research and consulting firm Spectrem Group finds that the number of millionaires in the United States increased by double digits the last year. According to Spectrem Group’s data, “families with a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding primary residences, rose to 7.8 million in 2009,” an increase of 16 percent:

The millionaires’ club in the U.S. grew by 16 percent in 2009, following a 27 percent decline in 2008.

Families with a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding primary residences, rose to 7.8 million in 2009, an increase from 6.7 million a year earlier, according to a survey of high- net-worth U.S. households conducted by Spectrem Group.

“With the markets trending upwards, we expected an increase,” George H. Walper Jr., president of Spectrem Group, said in a telephone interview. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 24 percent in 2009 and has risen 68 percent over the past 12 months

While the number of American multimillionaires rose last year, Americans continued to suffer from the Great Recession. The unemployment rate reached double digits, millions of Americans lost their homes, and wages for most workers stagnated. The United States is unique among industrialized countries in its enormous income inequality. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that if income inequality continues to rise at the current rate, the income gap in the United States “will resemble that of Mexico by year 2043.”

by Zaid Jilani at March 09, 2010 08:00 PM

Jeremy Zawodny : Setting Up Irssi with Freenode - Setting Up Irssi with Freenode: handy

March 09, 2010 08:00 PM

En Bitelia Dani Muñoz cuenta 7 días sin Google: comenzamos: «¿Existen alternativas a Google? En Bitelia nos hemos propuesto, como bien sabéis ya, comenzar un debate sobre la calidad de los servicios que compiten con cada una de las herramientas de Google medianta una experiencia muy particular: durante una semana estaré bajo abstinencia absoluta de cualquier servicio que Google me pueda brindar. Las razones para esta propuesta son varias, pero la principal reside en saber hasta qué punto se ha adueñado Google de nuestros hábitos en la red para valorar al mismo tiempo la viabilidad de una Internet sin Google». ¿Serías capaz de vivir una semana sin Google?

by rvr at March 09, 2010 08:00 PM

Little boy, whispering to brother: That's a cop. He can arrest people.
(brother starts tickling little boy)
Little boy: Arrest him! Arrest him!
Cop: Sorry, kid. I'm off duty.

--5 Train

Overheard by: Bruce Lee

March 09, 2010 08:00 PM

SLOWLY BACKING AWAY.... As recently as yesterday, it looked like Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) was going to become a right-wing hero. The freshman congressman, who resigned under a cloud of scandal yesterday, was alleging a fanciful conspiracy involving congressional Dems, the...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 07:50 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://themorningnews.org/tob/"&gt;The Morning News Tournament of Books&lt;/a&gt; is underway with a first round matchup between Nami Mun's Miles From Nowhere and Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. As a semifinal judge, I know at least one of the final two books and for your betting purposes, I'll open the bidding on that knowledge at, say, $50K.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/books"&gt;books&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 07:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://themorningnews.org/tob/"&gt;The Morning News Tournament of Books&lt;/a&gt; is underway with a first round matchup between Nami Mun's Miles From Nowhere and Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. As a semifinal judge, I know at least one of the final two books and for your betting purposes, I'll open the bidding on that knowledge at, say, $50K.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/books"&gt;books&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 07:44 PM

THE GENERIC BALLOT AND A LINGERING ENTHUSIASM GAP.... A few months ago, Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) reflected on what his party needs to do: "We must deliver. I need to give Democrats something to be excited about." The recommendation continues...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 07:05 PM

Insurers have responded to the administration’s campaign against recent rate hikes by blaming increasing health care costs, provider cost increases and adverse selection (healthier Americans are dropping coverage) for their premium increases. To hear them tell it, the insurance industry is a low-profit industry that spends just one cent of every premium dollar on administration and strives to reduce costs by encouraging efficiencies. Insurers “do not deserve to be vilified for political purposes,” Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) told the AP:

For every dollar spent on health care in America, less than one penny goes toward health plan profits. The focus needs to be on the other 99 cents.

But the argument that insurers run a tight ship is misleading, on several counts, not least of which is the fact that insurers are planning to spend “more than $1 million” not on health care claims — as their justification for the premium hikes would suggest — but “to run television ads on cable stations nationwide beginning in the next few days to push back on the attacks on insurers.”

That $1 million ad fund will presumably come from the one penny that goes towards health care profits. But this too is misleading. Zirkelbach is clever enough to compare the private insurance industry’s administrative spending to national health care expenditures — 45 percent of which includes spending in Medicare, Medicaid and other public programs. In the context of total spending, insurers administrative costs may look small, but compared to the revenues of private insurers, administrative spending is seen as far more substantial. Insurers skim off 15-20 percent of premium dollars for administrative costs and profits which fund TV ad campaigns, Washington lobbyists, lavish company retreats and outlandish CEO salaries.

The top five earning insurance companies averaged profits of $12.2 billion, an increase of $4.4 billion, or 56 percent, from 2008. And in 2008 (the last year for which data was available), CEO compensation for these companies ranged from $3 million to $24 million.” Below is a partial list of insurer/CEO profits:

Insurer:	Company Profits 2009:	CEO Total Compensation 2008 Or Earlier:	CEO 5 Year Compensation:
UnitedHealth Group	$3.8 billion	$5 million	–
WellPoint	$4.75 billion	$4 million	–
Atena	$1.28 billion	$38 million	$77 million
Humana	$1 billion	$2 million	$56 million
Cigna	$1.3 billion	$10 million	$121 million

Insurer profits increased even in the midst of the current recession. Last week, during a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, WellPoint admitted that it increased premiums to keep up with medical costs and maintain a 2% profit. The company’s 2009 fourth quarter net income “was more than $2.7 billion, a 727 percent increase from the fourth quarter of last year” — even as membership declined by some 4 percent.

Insurer profits are of course just one culprit for increasing premiums, but considering that insurers have been able to increase their returns by purging sicker Americans from the rolls and pulling out of competitive markets, the President’s strong rhetoric is more than justified. The Senate bill will start forcing insurers to earn profit by figuring out ways to deliver quality care more efficiently and they’re not very interested in accepting these changes.

by Igor at March 09, 2010 06:51 PM

The European Parliament is fed up with the secrecy surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Today, representatives from all the major parliamentary coalitions introduced a resolution demanding that the European Commission release all negotiating texts, inform Parliament about the negotiating process, and absolutely refuse to countenance any sort of "three strikes" Internet disconnection penalty for online copyright infringement.

The measure comes up for a vote tomorrow and looks set to pass—it has the support of all the important groups in Parliament, including the EPP, S&D, ALDE, and the Greens/EFA. One notable supporter: Christian Engström, the Pirate Party's lone MEP in Parliament, who aligns with the Greens/EFA group.

Read the comments on this post

March 09, 2010 06:38 PM

Interesting commentary:

I don't think this is really a case about ISP liability at all. It is a case about the use of a person's image, without their consent, that generates commercial value for someone else. That is the essence of the Italian law at issue in this case. It is also how the right of privacy was first established in the United States.

The video at the center of this case was very popular in Italy and drove lots of users to the Google Video site. This boosted advertising and support for other Google services. As a consequence, Google actually had an incentive not to respond to the many requests it received before it actually took down the video.

Back in the U.S., here is the relevant history: after Brandeis and Warren published their famous article on the right to privacy in 1890, state courts struggled with its application. In a New York state case in 1902, a court rejected the newly proposed right. In a second case, a Georgia state court in 1905 endorsed it.

What is striking is that both cases involved the use of a person's image without their consent. In New York, it was a young girl, whose image was drawn and placed on an oatmeal box for advertising purposes. In Georgia, a man's image was placed in a newspaper, without his consent, to sell insurance.

Also important is the fact that the New York judge who rejected the privacy claim, suggested that the state assembly could simple pass a law to create the right. The New York legislature did exactly that and in 1903 New York enacted the first privacy law in the United States to protect a person's "name or likeness" for commercial use.

The whole thing is worth reading.

by schneier at March 09, 2010 06:36 PM

BECK TARGETS CHURCHES THAT EMBRACE 'SOCIAL JUSTICE'.... On his radio show yesterday, right-wing host Glenn Beck warned his audience about churches that care about social justice. As the deranged media personality sees it, "social justice" is code for ... something...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 06:20 PM

Last month, Rush Limbaugh criticized Mitt Romney for endorsing Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in his campaign against J.D. Hayworth in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary. “I think he’s risking his career over a guy, endorsing McCain, who is so out of step with what’s going on right now,” Limbaugh complained. Newsmax asked Romney about Limbaugh’s criticism in a new interview. But while Romney (surprisingly) stuck to his position, he couldn’t help but seize the moment to pander to the Limbaugh crowd:

ROMNEY: Well, you know, I find it hard to disagree with Rush Limbaugh on topics but on this one I do. I know Senator McCain. [...] It may not be right for me politically but frankly, the country’s in a posture right now. We face such challenges right now. It’s time for people to do what they think is right for the country and to spend less time about what may or may not be good for them politically.

Watch it:

It’s remarkable that Romney would criticize someone for taking a political stand, considering he has distinguished himself as one who regularly changes his positions for political gain.

by Ben Armbruster at March 09, 2010 06:01 PM

Microsoft today began rolling out its new MSN homepage, but not everyone will be getting it at once: the update will trickle out over the next few weeks to the site's 100 million US customers. The software giant is touting the new version as "its most significant homepage redesign in over a decade." It comes with a new MSN butterfly logo (which complements the Bing logo), a larger Bing search box and tighter integration with the search engine, local information from a new feature dubbed MSN Local Edition, as well as the addition of three social network streams: the Windows Live "What's New" feed of course, Facebook, and Twitter.

The above was previewed in November, but Microsoft says the redesign includes more than 30 updates that are based on 70,000 pieces of customer feedback. These new features include TrendWatch, which highlights the day's top trends and movers on Twitter, Hyper-local Tweets, which uses Bing to highlight tweets from your location (available on the new Local Edition), and My Cities, which allows you save up to three cities to keep up with your friends or family across the entire country in your MSN Local Edition.

Microsoft says it has seen double-digit increases in Bing search queries coming from the new homepage thanks to changes that make the decision engine more prominent. As for the MSN Local module on the homepage, the software giant says it is driving over 50 percent more traffic to the MSN Local Edition and that the main module on the new homepage also received over 50 percent more clicks than the original homepage. Microsoft made improvements to these sections based on the data it was seeing. For example, the company says the social networking additions were welcomed with open arms, so it has made sure the default social network tab is the one that the user frequents the most.

The real test, not only for the servers but for the designers, will come in the next few weeks as the majority of users start to see the new version. As we've said before, we think the new look is much cleaner than the old version, but—as Facebook knows all too well—users aren't always happy with huge revamps of major websites.

Read the comments on this post

March 09, 2010 05:51 PM

&lt;p&gt;Maciej Ceglowski tells the story of &lt;a href="http://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm"&gt;how the cure for scurvy was discovered, lost, and finally redsicovered&lt;/a&gt;, but not before it disrupted Robert Falcon Scott's 1911 expedition to reach the South Pole.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a good example of how the very ubiquity of vitamin C made it hard to identify. Though scurvy was always associated with a lack of greens, fresh meat contains adequate amounts of vitamin C, with particularly high concentrations in the organ meats that explorers considered a delicacy. Eat a bear liver every few weeks and scurvy will be the least of your problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But unless you already understand and believe in the vitamin model of nutrition, the notion of a trace substance that exists both in fresh limes and bear kidneys, but is absent from a cask of lime juice because you happened to prepare it in a copper vessel, begins to sound pretty contrived.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Antarctica"&gt;Antarctica&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Maciej Ceglowski"&gt;Maciej Ceglowski&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/medicine"&gt;medicine&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Robert Falcon Scott"&gt;Robert Falcon Scott&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science"&gt;science&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 05:45 PM

&lt;p&gt;Maciej Ceglowski tells the story of &lt;a href="http://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm"&gt;how the cure for scurvy was discovered, lost, and finally redsicovered&lt;/a&gt;, but not before it disrupted Robert Falcon Scott's 1911 expedition to reach the South Pole.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a good example of how the very ubiquity of vitamin C made it hard to identify. Though scurvy was always associated with a lack of greens, fresh meat contains adequate amounts of vitamin C, with particularly high concentrations in the organ meats that explorers considered a delicacy. Eat a bear liver every few weeks and scurvy will be the least of your problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But unless you already understand and believe in the vitamin model of nutrition, the notion of a trace substance that exists both in fresh limes and bear kidneys, but is absent from a cask of lime juice because you happened to prepare it in a copper vessel, begins to sound pretty contrived.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Antarctica"&gt;Antarctica&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Maciej Ceglowski"&gt;Maciej Ceglowski&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/medicine"&gt;medicine&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Robert Falcon Scott"&gt;Robert Falcon Scott&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/science"&gt;science&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 05:45 PM

Podemos leer en Público que 'La lista de Sinde' llega al Ministerio de Industria: «Los responsables de más de 1.100 páginas web se declararán hoy culpables de facilitar el intercambio de archivos ante el Ministerio de Industria. La iniciativa, conocida como La lista de Sinde, comenzó a mediados del pasado diciembre ante las medidas incluidas en el anteproyecto de la Ley de Economía Sostenible (LES), que contempla la creación de una comisión administrativa para determinar si una web infringe los derechos de autor. "Si cierran una web tendrán que cerrar todas", destacan desde la página de la plataforma organizadora de la campaña, Hacktivistas.net. La lista de Sinde surgió como respuesta al listado de 200 webs que la Coalición de Creadores e Industrias de Contenidos, que agrupa a productoras y gestoras de derechos de autor, envió a Sinde».

by manje at March 09, 2010 05:32 PM

IN CASE DEMS NEEDED ADDED MOTIVATION.... A caller asked right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh yesterday where he would "go for health care" if the Democratic health care reform package passes. "I'll just tell you this," Limbaugh said. "If this passes...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 05:30 PM

The parties are still going back and forth over pre-trial issues, specifically over the jury instructions and the verdict form. We may see even more on this, because jury instruction and the verdict form come at the very end, so there is still time to try to get it just right. Not that either side will be entirely happy with the result. SCO, of course, wants the last word.

But in truth, the wording of these documents does matter a lot, so it's typical to have quite a lot of discussion on exactly how to phrase things. After all, when the jury is deciding, they will be reading that wording, and going over it with a fine-tooth comb on any issues where they don't immediately agree, most likely. You've seen what a mess the unclear wording in the appeals court ruling created, so imagine if the jury were to be confused into thinking they *have* to rule a certain way if they actually don't, based on a misreading of an unclear phrase.

I thought it was funny yesterday that the parties couldn't come up with a proposed introduction to give the judge to read, so he wrote his own, and when they handed up one they'd finally been able to agree on, he decided to just use his own anyway. It was too late. I expect that incident was inspirational to both parties. And as you'll see in a minute, they are really trying on the jury instructions, with Novell putting the model instructions and both parties' competing phrasing all in one document, so the judge has it all in one place. And then Novell says SCO wants to file its own also.

March 09, 2010 05:30 PM

The .xxx domain is back on the table. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will reconsider the top-level domain during a meeting in Kenya this week, nearly three years after it was shot down and nine years after it was first introduced as a way to identify pornography sites and hopefully confine them to their own Internet red-light district.

The .xxx domain was first proposed in 2001 and approved in 2005 for exclusive (but voluntary) use by the adult entertainment industry. The idea was to provide a place for porn sites online that would be explicitly obvious from the domain, which would not only help consenting adults find the sites, it would also help parents and corporations better block access to them.

Read the comments on this post

March 09, 2010 05:07 PM

The LA Times reports today on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s growing “large-scale grass-roots political operation” that is being “funded by record-setting amounts of money raised from corporations and wealthy individuals.” In 2009, the Chamber spent $144 million on lobbying and grassroots organizing, “well beyond the spending of individual labor unions or the Democratic or Republican national committees.” Some more details on its new initiative:

The chamber has signed up some 6 million individuals who are not chamber members and has begun asking them to help with lobbying and, soon, with get-out-the-vote efforts in upcoming congressional campaigns. [...]

The new grass-roots program, the brainchild of chamber political director Bill Miller, is concentrating on 22 states. Among them are Colorado, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is vulnerable; Arkansas, where Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces an uphill reelection battle; and Ohio, where the chamber sees opportunities in numerous House races and an open Senate seat.

The network, called Friends of the U.S. Chamber, has been used to generate more than a million letters and e-mails to members of Congress, 700,000 of them in opposition to the Democratic healthcare plan. That is an increase from 40,000 congressional contacts generated in 2008.

According to the LA Times, the Chamber’s “expanding influence” is “worrisome” to top White House officials, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. This frustration was echoed yesterday in a meeting with top Treasury Department officials, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, that ThinkProgress attended.

When asked by ThinkProgress what they think of the Chamber, officials agreed that the association — along with some other groups in the business community — are deliberately distorting the administration’s positions to the American public. They expressed particular dissatisfaction with the the Chamber’s ad campaign fear-mongering against the administration’s push for a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency. In January, the Chamber arranged to “fly-in” some representatives from small businesses to Capitol Hill and “lead” them to a pre-arranged series of anti-CFPA meetings. The association’s ad campaign contains the ludicrous claims that the CFPA would regulate bakeries and grocery stores.

As many federal lawmakers and the Obama administration push for cap-and-trade legislation, health care reform, regulatory reform, and corporate tax reform, the U.S. Chamber stands as the most well-funded opposition to progressive change. The group spent $10-$20 million of insurance-industry-provided cash on fighting reform. After Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts, the Chamber was quick to congratulate itself for running television ads in support of the candidate.

by Amanda Terkel at March 09, 2010 05:01 PM

TUESDAY'S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP.... Today's installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn't generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers. * The bottom falls out: the latest survey from Public Policy Polling shows Florida Gov....

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 05:00 PM

Deli worker: Dude, did you just see those girls walk by outside?
Friend: Damn, dude, those girls are walking around like their shit don't stink! And it definitely doesn't.
Deli worker: Yeah, tell me about it!
Friend: Seriously, bro, I'd let both of them fart in my mouth!

--Deli, Greenpoint

March 09, 2010 05:00 PM

PRIMARY COLORS.... It's always fascinating to see what politicians are willing to do before they face a primary challenger and after. A moderate Democrat who had vowed to oppose any effort by party leaders to push a health care bill...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 04:25 PM

Same-sex couples began marrying in the nation’s capital today, with some lining up as early as 3:30 a.m. to pick up their licenses from D.C. Superior Court. The first couple to officially tie the knot was Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend, who met in a constitutional law class at the University of the District of Columbia. They wed at the office of the Human Rights Campaign, along with two other couples. Watch part of Young and Townsend’s ceremony here:

D.C. is now the sixth place in the country where marriage equality is legal, following Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Watch more coverage of today’s celebrations.

by Amanda Terkel at March 09, 2010 03:59 PM

THIESSEN DEFENDS THE INDEFENSIBLE.... Stop by the Washington Post's op-ed page today, and you'll find Eugene Robinson condemning Liz Cheney and her Keep America Safe group for smearing Justice Department attorneys. Robinson doesn't hold back, characterizing Cheney's smear as "scurrilous,"...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 03:45 PM

&lt;p&gt;The Ransom Center at the University of Texas &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/"&gt;has acquired the archives of David Foster Wallace&lt;/a&gt;, joining those of Don DeLillio and Norman Mailer.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;The archive contains manuscript materials for Wallace's books, stories and essays; research materials; Wallace's college and graduate school writings; juvenilia, including poems, stories and letters; teaching materials and books.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Highlights include handwritten notes and drafts of his critically acclaimed "Infinite Jest," the earliest appearance of his signature "David Foster Wallace" on "Viking Poem," written when he was six or seven years old, a copy of his dictionary with words circled throughout and his heavily annotated books by Don DeLillo, Cormac McCarthy, John Updike and more than 40 other authors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Materials for Wallace's posthumous novel "The Pale King" are included in the archive but will remain with Little, Brown and Company until the book's publication, scheduled for April 2011.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;The web site currently contains some tantalizing examples of what the archive will eventually hold, including &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/images/ij_large.jpg"&gt;the first page of a handwritten draft of Infinite Jest&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/dictionary/"&gt;his annotated dictionary&lt;/a&gt; -- circled words included benthos, exergue, hypocorism, mendacious, rebus, and witenagemot -- and &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/books/"&gt;some heavily annotated books he owned&lt;/a&gt;, including his copy of Players by DeLillo.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/dfw-delillo-book.jpg" width="500" height="406" alt="David Foster Wallace's annotated DeLillo" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This is really exciting and sad all at once. (thx, matt)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/David Foster Wallace"&gt;David Foster Wallace&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Don DeLillo"&gt;Don DeLillo&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Infinite Jest"&gt;Infinite Jest&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/The Pale King"&gt;The Pale King&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 03:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;The Ransom Center at the University of Texas &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/"&gt;has acquired the archives of David Foster Wallace&lt;/a&gt;, joining those of Don DeLillio and Norman Mailer.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;The archive contains manuscript materials for Wallace's books, stories and essays; research materials; Wallace's college and graduate school writings; juvenilia, including poems, stories and letters; teaching materials and books.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Highlights include handwritten notes and drafts of his critically acclaimed "Infinite Jest," the earliest appearance of his signature "David Foster Wallace" on "Viking Poem," written when he was six or seven years old, a copy of his dictionary with words circled throughout and his heavily annotated books by Don DeLillo, Cormac McCarthy, John Updike and more than 40 other authors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Materials for Wallace's posthumous novel "The Pale King" are included in the archive but will remain with Little, Brown and Company until the book's publication, scheduled for April 2011.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;The web site currently contains some tantalizing examples of what the archive will eventually hold, including &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/images/ij_large.jpg"&gt;the first page of a handwritten draft of Infinite Jest&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/dictionary/"&gt;his annotated dictionary&lt;/a&gt; -- circled words included benthos, exergue, hypocorism, mendacious, rebus, and witenagemot -- and &lt;a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/press/releases/2010/dfw/books/"&gt;some heavily annotated books he owned&lt;/a&gt;, including his copy of Players by DeLillo.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/dfw-delillo-book.jpg" width="500" height="406" alt="David Foster Wallace's annotated DeLillo" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This is really exciting and sad all at once. (thx, matt)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/David Foster Wallace"&gt;David Foster Wallace&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Don DeLillo"&gt;Don DeLillo&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Infinite Jest"&gt;Infinite Jest&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/The Pale King"&gt;The Pale King&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 03:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width="500" height="307"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P78pl1FUXfA&amp;#038;hl=en_US&amp;#038;fs=1&amp;#038;rel=0&amp;#038;hd=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P78pl1FUXfA&amp;#038;hl=en_US&amp;#038;fs=1&amp;#038;rel=0&amp;#038;hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="307"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Fuck. Yes.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/trailers"&gt;trailers&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Tron Legacy"&gt;Tron Legacy&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 03:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;object width="500" height="307"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P78pl1FUXfA&amp;#038;hl=en_US&amp;#038;fs=1&amp;#038;rel=0&amp;#038;hd=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P78pl1FUXfA&amp;#038;hl=en_US&amp;#038;fs=1&amp;#038;rel=0&amp;#038;hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="307"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Fuck. Yes.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/trailers"&gt;trailers&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Tron Legacy"&gt;Tron Legacy&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 03:44 PM

Government and industry bureaucrats addicted to spewing out mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations, be very afraid; Edward Tufte is coming to Washington, DC. The Obama administration has appointed Tufte to serve on the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, which will suggest ways that the $787 billion stimulus program's watchdog accountability board can do its job.

"I'm doing this because I like accountability and transparency, and I believe in public service," Tufte explained on his website on Sunday. "And it is the complete opposite of everything else I do."

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March 09, 2010 03:35 PM

A SMALL VICTORY IN TEXAS.... Regular readers know we've been keeping a close eye on developments with the Texas Board of Education, which has been working on a breathtakingly right-wing curriculum, which could undermine education in other states given Texas's...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 03:05 PM

“It’s impossible,” Gerald said in a matter-of-fact tone, “simply impossible.”

“Now just so we’re clear,” Craig responded, “by ‘impossible’, you actually mean ‘a big pain in the ass’, but you’re a smart guy who can make it happen, right?” That drew a few chuckles from the handful of other coworkers who joined them in the conference room, but Gerald just sighed. “No, Craig, by impossible, I mean impossible. Not doable. Can’t be done. Im-poss-i-ble. Well I mean, unless you can somehow change the underlying structure of the way everyone communicates on the Internet.”

“But we don’t need to change it for everyone,” Craig jumped in, “just one client. Surely, you can do that!”

The situation at hand was not an uncommon one. Craig, one of the company’s top producing sales reps, had once again sold a client on a feature they did not have. He certainly didn’t lie about having the feature, but instead proposed an offer the client couldn’t refuse: if you buy it, we’ll build it.

Management, not being the type to turn down booked sales, couldn’t refuse the offer either. And thus, they sided with Craig on what ‘impossible’ actually meant. They also assigned Gerald and team to develop the much-needed feature: an IP-based authentication system that would allow users of their Software-as-a-Service product to access the system without ever needing to log in.

Gerald’s main objection with IP authentication was that the majority of users – and in fact, all of the users at the client site – were behind a router. Though they’d certainly each have an internal IP address assigned, they would all share the same public IP, making one computer indistinguishable from the next.

To make matters even more tricky, their application was used by hospitals to track certain kinds of patient data, which meant that HIPAA – the regulatory framework that defines how patient data must be stored and accessed – needed to be followed. And not just followed, but followed, tested, certified, re-certified, and double-tested. Any change to the HIPAA-related functions – authorization included – would need to go through a painful internal and external QA process.

Given the impossibility of getting the end-users internal IP address from the outside, Gerald figured that using cookies would be the next best thing. Have the user log-in once, and then store an authentication cookie on the computer for as long as possible. Sure, that meant clearing cookies would trigger a new login, but it seemed to be a fair and easy work-around. Well, not so much: the client vehemently rejected the idea, saying that their employees couldn’t be bothered with having to remember yet another login, even if only temporarily.

After going back to the drawing board, Gerald came up with another idea: configure the firewall proxy server on the client’s side to add a custom HTTP header (X-Forwarded-For) that included the original IP address. That idea went over just about as well: HTTP headers could be forged, and a malicious employee inside of the company could hack in too easily.

Gerald’s third proposal to the client involved a site-to-site VPN connection. The application server would be exposed access via the client’s internal network, which would not only allow them to use IP authentication, but Windows-integrated authentication as well. It was his best idea yet, and made things that much easier, as the client would be able to configure which username has access instead of which IP address. Unfortunately, the IT folks at the client weren’t a big fan of the approach, as “a VPN connection is inherently insecure.”

At wits end, Gerald came up with yet another idea: a “Single Sign On” approach of sorts. When the end-user would access their application, the system would look for an “authentication ticket” cookie. When not present, the user would be redirected to another server – which lived inside the network – whose sole purpose was to generate a secure authentication ticket that included the private IP address. The ticketing server would then redirect to hosted application, which would then verify the authenticity of the ticket and give the user access.

The client absolutely loved the idea. “This is exactly what we’re looking for,” the client’s project manager said, “no need to remember logins, plus solid security.” The sales contract was signed, and the project was officially a go.

And finally, three months later, the new feature was finished. It took three solid weeks of development time, two weeks of QA testing, several thousand dollars in new hardware, and tens of thousands of dollars for an external HIPAA assessment, but the sales rep and the client’s project manager said it’d be worth it: no more remembering logins. Now, all that was needed for implementation was a list of IP addresses that were allowed to use the computer.

“Hi Gerald,” the client’s project manager wrote in an email, “please provide the following IP with access to the system: 10.1.23.97.”

Gerald confirmed, and reconfirmed: only one user needed access to the system. And apparently, she really hated remembering logins.

March 09, 2010 03:00 PM

Hate radio host Rush Limbaugh has been one of health care reform’s most vociferous opponents, warning that “[h]uman beings will die earlier than normal” under the “freedom killing” and “life threatening” plan, and calling for it to be “aborted.” Yesterday, Limbaugh put his money where his mouth is, saying that if health care passes and all his fears are realized, he’ll leave the country:

CALLER: If the health care bill passes, where would you go for health care yourself? And the second part of that is, what would happen to the doctors, do they have to participate in the federal program, or could they opt out of it? [...]

LIMBAUGH: My guess in even in Canada and even in the UK, doctors have opted out. And once they’ve opted, they can’t see anybody Medicare, Medicaid, or what will become the exchanges. They have to have a clientele of private patients that will pay them a retainer and it’ll be a very small practice. I don’t know if that’s been outlawed in the Senate bill. I don’t know. I’ll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica.

Listen here:

Limbaugh’s self-imposed exile should be all the incentive needed to pass health care reform.

by Alex Seitz-Wald at March 09, 2010 02:55 PM

WSJ STILL HEARTS PHIL GRAMM.... The Wall Street Journal's almost comically foolish editorial page has long been dismissive of the White House's proposed deficit commission, despite the fact that it was initially a Republican idea. As the WSJ sees it,...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 02:30 PM

Mozilla's high-performance TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which was first introduced in 2008, has lost a lot of its luster as competing browser vendors have stepped up their game to deliver superior performance. Firefox now lags behind Safari, Chrome, and Opera in common JavaScript benchmarks. In an effort to bring Firefox back to the front of the pack, Mozilla is building a new JavaScript engine called JägerMonkey.

The secret sauce that will drive Mozilla's new JavaScript engine engine into the fast lane is some code borrowed from Apple's WebKit project. Mozilla intends to bring together the powerful optimization techniques of TraceMonkey and the extremely efficient native code generator of Apple's JSCore engine. The mashup will likely deliver a significant boost in Firefox's JavaScript execution speed, making Mozilla's browser a formidable contender in the ongoing JavaScript speed race.

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March 09, 2010 02:11 PM

Former president George W. Bush, “in his most active intervention since leaving the White House,” called the UK’s Conservative Party leader David Cameron to ask him to support the Northern Ireland peace process. Members of Congress wrote to Cameron last month to tell him that insurgents would be “emboldened” if the peace process is slowed down.

The International Brotherhood of Electric Workers has filed a lawsuit against the mega investment bank Goldman Sachs for overpaying its top executives. The lawsuit “seeks to stop Goldman from allocating roughly 47 percent of 2009 net revenue as compensation, saying such allocations ‘vastly overcompensate management and constitute corporate waste.’”

62 percent: Turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, “higher than in last year’s provincial ballot, despite attempts by Sunni Islamist insurgents to disrupt the vote with attacks that killed 39.”

“Leaders of nearly a dozen grass-roots immigrant rights groups excoriated President Obama and congressional Democrats on Monday, accusing them of moving too slowly to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants.” The White House said that President Obama will soon be meeting with Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to “discuss the bipartisan immigration bill.”

In Israel, Vice President Biden assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today that Israel has Washington’s “unstinting support,” and said the U.S. intends to curb Iran’s nuclear program. “There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security,” Biden said.

“Mideast rivals Israel and Syria” each announced ambitions to develop nuclear energy, today. Laying out their hopes “at an international conference in Paris on civilian nuclear energy,” the countries “could come under the microscope of international inspectors” to ensure they don’t use the programs to make weapons.

A bipartisan group of representatives in the House plans to force a vote Wednesday on withdrawing from Afghanistan. “We haven’t had a real debate,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). “We want to light the fire of the American peace movement.” House leaders plan to allow “three hours of formal debate” on Kucinich’s measure.

Nearly “200 women who served as military pilots during World War II as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program” will finally be recognized in a ceremony at the Capitol tomorrow, where they will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The women “did everything the men did except participate in combat.”

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear a case dealing with the free speech rights of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay hate group. The court will “consider an appeal from the father of a slain Marine” whose $5 million verdict against the church was overturned by an appeals court.

And finally: Disgraced former congressman Mark Foley returned to the public eye yesterday when he went to a speech by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at the Forum Club in Florida. “People have been begging me to come back to the Forum Club,” said Foley, who was a regular before his 2006 scandal.

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by Think Progress at March 09, 2010 02:00 PM

salvo nos cuenta: «Este viernes, los Madrid Perl Mongers organizamos una sesión técnica con varias presentaciones relacionadas con el lenguaje de programación Perl. Sera a partir de las seis de la tarde en Medialab Prado. ¡Os esperamos!»

by rvr at March 09, 2010 02:00 PM

Dad to four-year-old son: Okay, this is our stop.
Four-year-old son: I hate life.
Dad: What?
Four-year-old son: I hate life.

--1 Train

Overheard by: RAF

March 09, 2010 02:00 PM

MASSA ENDS BRIEF POLITICAL CAREER ON A SOUR NOTE.... It's been sad to watch freshmen Rep. Eric Massa's (D-N.Y.) struggles of late. Just six days ago, Massa announced he would retire due to serious health concerns. He acknowledged rumors about...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 01:40 PM

Many of the parasites that plague humans have life cycles that are positively baroque, hopping between species and hiding out in tissues for years before setting off a damaging infection. These habits can make them extremely difficult to study, since it can be hard to tell what tissues and cells the parasites pass through on their way to causing disease. But a clever bit of genetic engineering has now forced one parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, to leave telltale signs of its progress.

The work took advantage of some basic understanding of Toxoplasma biology. Upon infecting a cell and taking up residence, proteins in a specific organelle get exported into its hosts' cells. The researchers took the gene for one of the proteins that is known to be shipped into hosts, toxifilin, fused it to a site-specific DNA recombinase called cre, and injected the fusion gene into Toxoplasma cells. The resulting cells were called secreted Cre, epitope-tagged, presumably so that the authors could use the abbreviation SeCreEt to refer to them.

When a SeCreEt expressing parasite infects a mouse cell, the recombinase will catalyze DNA rearrangements at any sites that match a specific sequence. So, for example, the researchers used a DNA construct that normally expresses a red fluorescent protein, but switches to green following cre-based rearrangement. When mouse cells carrying this construct were infected with SeCreEt parasites, 95 percent of them switched from glowing red to glowing green. Mice that expressed a cre-dependent luciferase gene (the protein that helps fireflies glow) could be infected, and the progress of the infection tracked over the course of a week.

The authors suggest that SeCreEt cells will be useful for eliminating various host genes during infection, so that we can test whether different mouse proteins are essential for Toxoplasma to grow. But the general approach could potentially be used simply to follow the parasite during infection, since it could be used to create a trail of glowing green cells behind it. It might also be possible to engineer systems that don't actually require the parasite to enter cells.

In any case, the CDC calls Toxoplasma "the third leading cause of death attributed to foodborne illness in the United States," so knowing more about it can't be a bad thing.

Nature Methods, 2010. DOI: 10.1038/Nmeth.1438  (About DOIs).

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March 09, 2010 01:05 PM

STUPAK 'MORE OPTIMISTIC' ABOUT HEALTH REFORM'S CHANCES.... Passing health care reform will be difficult under the most favorable of circumstances, but if Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) pulls away 12 supporters from final passage success becomes practically impossible. Stupak, of course,...

by Steve Benen at March 09, 2010 01:00 PM

The "Microsoft Online Services Global Criminal Compliance Handbook (U.S. Domestic Version)" (also can be found here, here, and here) outlines exactly what Microsoft will do upon police request. Here's a good summary of what's in it:

The Global Criminal Compliance Handbook is a quasi-comprehensive explanatory document meant for law enforcement officials seeking access to Microsoft's stored user information. It also provides sample language for subpoenas and diagrams on how to understand server logs.

I call it "quasi-comprehensive" because, at a mere 22 pages, it doesn't explore the nitty-gritty of Microsoft's systems; it's more like a data-hunting guide for dummies.

When it was first leaked, Microsoft tried to scrub it from the Internet. But they quickly realized that it was futile and relented.

Lots more information.

by schneier at March 09, 2010 12:59 PM

Las agencias de seguridad estadounidenses han detectado un troyano en un cargador USB de baterías para ordenador. Según US-Cert, un programa, en el momento de conectarse al ordenador, carga los ficheros UsbCharger.dll y Arucer.dll. Éste último es el que contiene el código que abre la puerta del ordenador a los intrusos. El troyano permite el control remoto de la máquina, enviar y recibir ficheros, etc. El remedio inmediato es desinstalar el programa adjunto al cargador y borrar el fichero Arucer.dll, así como bloquear su puerto de entrada.

by amieiro at March 09, 2010 12:24 PM

"Spatial perception can easily be acquired if two separate sensory organs are available, such as two eyes for visual orientation. [...] Stereo smelling in animals is not new -- rats and humans are thought to have this ability as well."

March 09, 2010 12:10 PM

En RTVE.es Nacho Palou cuenta Android empieza a robar usuarios al iPhone: «Aunque los usuarios de iPhone son los más satisfechos con su teléfono, según una encuesta realizada por AdMob, lo datos de Quantcast (servicio de medición de audiencias) referentes al reparto del mercado de los teléfonos móviles que se utilizan para acceder a la web dejan entrever que, desde finales de 2009 cada vez menos usuarios optan por el iPhone en favor de Android, el sistema operativo para móviles de Google. [...] En los últimos cuatro meses la de Google ha pasado de ocupar la última posición (por detrás de, además del iPhone, BlackBerry y el conjunto formado por otras plataformas menores) a estar justo por debajo del de Apple con algo más de un 15 %»

by rvr at March 09, 2010 12:00 PM

Google ha completado la adquisición de DocVerse. ¿Por qué DocVerse? Se trata de la pieza que le faltaba para afianzar, aún más su posicionamiento en Cloud Computing; con Docverse se pueden modificar documentos creados con Microsoft Office, lo cual significa que lo que busca Google es conseguir cuota en el mercado de las aplicaciones ofimáticas del escritorio. ¿Qué opinas de esta compra? ¿Piensas qué dará resultado?

by el inspector ardilla (posted by amieiro) at March 09, 2010 11:27 AM

あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

MicrosoftのMicrosoft Office 2010 Engineeringブログによると、Office 2010が今年6月にリリースされることが決定したそうだ。また、3月5日以降にOffice 2007を購入したユーザーはOffice 2010への無償アップグレードが可能とのこと。なお、6月の一般消費者向けリリースに先立ち、5月12日には企業ユーザー向けへのリリースが行われるとのこと。

また、Office 2010のベータ版もすでに公開されている（Office 2010ベータのダウンロードページ）。

すべて読む | マイクロソフト

関連ストーリー：
Windows 8のリリース日は2011年7月1日？ 2010年01月29日
OpenOffice.orgでMS Officeファイルを作るコツを教えて！ 2010年01月29日
Wordが特許侵害で発売禁止に 2009年12月24日
Excelを方眼紙代わりに使う日本人、クレイジーと米国人が驚愕 2009年11月04日

by hylom at March 09, 2010 11:01 AM

無料サービスではセキュリティ面が不安ですか？富士通なら安心！≪今だけ20％オフ≫

March 09, 2010 11:01 AM

Un pobrecito hablador nos cuenta: «Navegando por Reddit me he encontrado con una herramienta llamada tup, una alternativa a make totalmente diferente a las ya vistas. El sistema almacena el grafo acíclico dirigido (DAG) de dependencias en una base de datos (sqlite), que luego usa para determinar que archivos necesitan ser actualizados para generar un nuevo DAG que posea solo los nodos que deben ser procesados. Para comprender mejor el sistema, se puede leer el artículo escrito por el autor llamado Build System Rules and Algorithms. Si se quiere algo más rápido se puede apreciar algunos ejemplos». Una alternativa popular a make es cmake.

by rvr at March 09, 2010 11:00 AM

Child to father, on a sunny day on the train: Daddy, the train is moving, so how come the sun doesn't move at all?
Father, sounding sure of himself: That's cuz the sun moves so fast that it looks like it's not moving at all.

--F Train

Overheard by: GD

March 09, 2010 11:00 AM

あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、

先日、英マンチェスターやヒースロー空港でテロ対策として「全身透視スキャナー」が導入されたことが話題になった。このスキャナ、人体を白、それ以外の異物を黒で表示するというもので、衣類の中に隠されたものを探知できるという代物。しかし、被験者の身体的特徴が見えてしまうということでプライバシ問題が危惧されていた。そこで新たに「裸に見えない」新型全身透視スキャナーが登場、イタリアのフィウミニーノ空港に試験導入されるそうだ（AFPBBニュース）。

この新型スキャナは体形などが簡略化されて表示されるとのことで、写真を見る限り確かに「裸」は見えない。これで問題解決、といったところか。

すべて読む | テクノロジー

関連ストーリー：
英空港で「全身透視スキャナー」運用開始 2010年02月03日
英ヒースロー空港、全身透視検査を実施 2010年01月04日
「服が透けて裸が見える」透視メガネiPhoneアプリ「NUDE IT」 2009年11月06日

by hylom at March 09, 2010 10:03 AM

豊富な実績＋万全なセキュリティで効率的な研修を実現！かんたんで、すぐにスタート！

March 09, 2010 10:03 AM

El próximo 10 de marzo comenzarán a apagarse progresivamente los últimos repetidores que transmiten la señal analógica de televisión, con lo que se iniciará la tercera y última fase del Plan Técnico Nacional de la Televisión Digital Terrestre, que afectará a más de 30 millones de personas. Las previsiones del Gobierno es poder acabar con la señal analógica entre el miércoles y el 30 de marzo, aunque dada la "complejidad" de esta fase, en la que se incluyen los municipios más grandes como Madrid o Barcelona, en algunos sitios el apagón tendrá que esperar hasta el último momento. Los principales centros de distribución de televisión, Torrespaña (Madrid) y Collserola (Barcelona), apagarán las señales analógicas el próximo 30 de marzo, cuatro días antes de la fecha marcada por el Gobierno para dar el salto definitivo a la televisión digital terrestre (TDT). ¿Cómo consideráis que se ha llevado la transición de la televisión analógica a la digital? ¿Qué os ha aportado la televisión digital respecto a la analógica?

by amieiro at March 09, 2010 08:10 AM

Bimbo #1: What is The Vagina Monologues about?
Bimbo #2: I think its about like... The history of like...
Older man, stretching: Penises.

--New York Sports Club, 86th St & 3rd Ave

Overheard by: stillinshock

March 09, 2010 08:00 AM

Tamron has announced the development of a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens featuring image stabilization and an ultrasonic auto-focus drive. The SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD is the company's first lens to feature its latest Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD) autofocus motor, with full-time manual focus override. The optical design includes an element made from Extra-Low Dispersion (XLD) glass, said to have optical properties similar to fluorite. Designed for both full-frame and APS-C digital SLRs, the lens will be initially available in Nikon mount followed by Canon and Sony versions.

March 09, 2010 07:00 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://kottke.org/10/02/bill-cunningham-the-movie"&gt;Bill Cunningham, the movie&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em class="dimsmaller"&gt;orig. from Feb 25, 2010&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="smaller"&gt;* Q: Wha? A: These previously published entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours. &lt;a href="http://www.kottke.org/tag/post%20updates"&gt;You can find past updates here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/post updates"&gt;post updates&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 05:44 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://kottke.org/10/02/bill-cunningham-the-movie"&gt;Bill Cunningham, the movie&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em class="dimsmaller"&gt;orig. from Feb 25, 2010&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="smaller"&gt;* Q: Wha? A: These previously published entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours. &lt;a href="http://www.kottke.org/tag/post%20updates"&gt;You can find past updates here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/post updates"&gt;post updates&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 05:44 AM

Angry 20-something woman: The main problem is that our whole relationship is just about your dick.
30-something man, carrying loads of shopping bags: Well, it's about your pussy too.

--Madison Ave

Overheard by: itgoesandgoes

March 09, 2010 05:00 AM

Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch claims that the company's ubiquitous Flash plug-in doesn't ship with any known crash bugs. One can only assume that he has never used the software. As Adobe representatives exhibit an increasingly dismissive attitude about Flash's technical deficiencies, the browser vendors have stepped up to address the problems and are finding ways to insulate their users from Flash's poor security and lack of stability.

Several mainstream browsers isolate Flash and other plug-ins in separate processes in order to prevent an unstable plug-in from crashing the entire browser. Mozilla is preparing to introduce a similar feature in the next version of Firefox. A developer preview that was recently made available to users offers an early look at the new plugin crash protection.

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March 09, 2010 03:35 AM

Two-year-old boy: I see a saxophone! He's singing a saxophone!
Father: You don't sing a saxophone, you play a saxophone.
Two-year-old boy: That's not true!

--66th St

Overheard by: crazy cute.

March 09, 2010 02:00 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2010/3/5retherford.html"&gt;The categories&lt;/a&gt; include:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Best Long, Rambling Speech, Which Must Be Forcefully Cut Short by the Orchestra, Given After Receiving This Award&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most Worthy of Winning This Award By Sheer Virtue of the Number of Times She Has Not Previously Won This Award&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;(via &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/tcarmody"&gt;@tcarmody&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/lists"&gt;lists&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 01:45 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2010/3/5retherford.html"&gt;The categories&lt;/a&gt; include:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Best Long, Rambling Speech, Which Must Be Forcefully Cut Short by the Orchestra, Given After Receiving This Award&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most Worthy of Winning This Award By Sheer Virtue of the Number of Times She Has Not Previously Won This Award&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;(via &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/tcarmody"&gt;@tcarmody&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/lists"&gt;lists&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 09, 2010 01:45 AM

Amazon has pulled the plug on its affiliate program in Colorado thanks to a new state regulation on sales tax collection. The company sent a notice to its Colorado-based affiliates Monday morning to let them know about the decision, urging residents who depend on the affiliate program to contact their lawmakers if they want the program back.

Most states only require retailers to collect sales tax if they have a sufficient enough brick-and-mortar presence thanks to a 1992 Supreme Court decision on Quill Corp. v. North Dakota. Despite this, a handful of states have tried to pass laws in recent years (often dubbed the "Amazon Tax") that would force Amazon to start collecting sales tax if their affiliates—that is, those who use Amazon's affiliate links on their own sites or blogs in order to earn a return on referrals—are based in those states.

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March 09, 2010 01:25 AM

An unresolved question in astronomy is how the Milky Way reached its current state. One theory is that the Milky Way grew, at least in part, by cannibalizing smaller dwarf galaxies that happened to get too close. If this was the case, then it would follow that there should be stars in the Milky Way that are similar in chemical makeup to those in the dwarf galaxies that exist throughout our neighborhood of the Universe.

Since it is known that metal-poor stars—stars having up to 100,000 times less metal than our Sun—exist in the Milky Way's halo, similar stars should be found in dwarf galaxies. "The Milky Way seemed to have stars that were much more primitive than any of the stars in any of the dwarf galaxies," says co-author Josh Simon of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution. "If dwarf galaxies were the original components of the Milky Way, then it's hard to understand why they wouldn't have similar stars."

As described in this week's edition of Nature, researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution have found an extremely metal-poor star in the dwarf galaxy Sculptor. Located 290,000 light-years away, the star, S1020549, has a remarkably similar chemical make-up to the Milky Way's oldest stars. Using spectroscopic measurements of the faint light from S1020549, they observed metal levels about 6000 times lower than that seen in the Sun. The value is also five times lower than the levels seen in a star during any previous survey of dwarf galaxies.

While this is only a single data point, it bolsters the idea that the Milky Way has grown by absorbing old dwarf galaxies. The authors suggest that future optical telescopes that are currently under construction will expand our ability to find these faint stars that will shed further light on the origins of galaxies in general, the Milky Way included.

Nature, 2010. DOI: 10.1038/nature08772  (About DOIs).

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March 09, 2010 12:20 AM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://flowingdata.com/2010/03/08/data-underload-12-famous-movie-quotes/"&gt;Information visualization of some well-known movie quotes&lt;/a&gt;. A picture is, how you say, worth a thousand words:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/movie-quotes-graphed.gif" width="500" height="217" alt="Movie quotes graphed" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/infoviz"&gt;infoviz&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 11:45 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://flowingdata.com/2010/03/08/data-underload-12-famous-movie-quotes/"&gt;Information visualization of some well-known movie quotes&lt;/a&gt;. A picture is, how you say, worth a thousand words:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/movie-quotes-graphed.gif" width="500" height="217" alt="Movie quotes graphed" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/infoviz"&gt;infoviz&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 11:45 PM

Cisco today said that after the close of markets on Tuesday, the company will announce a significant news (we're guessing a major acquisition) which will "forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and governments." We first learned of the news from MarketWatch.

Cisco has been rumored to be about to purchase almost every interesting company in the technology field over the last decade. The company's closest kept secret has been the degree of real interest it has in EMC. While such an acquisition would be huge in the financial markets, it is unclear why it would forever change the Internet. Also, the rumor mill around that partnership has more or less died.

One may feel tempted to think that Cisco wants to get in the bandwidth game, chasing after Google's recent announcement: a trial of open-access, fiber-to-the-home Internet service at speeds of 1Gbps in select locations. But Cisco claims that they have no interest in being a service provider. David McCulloch, Spokesperson at Cisco, told MarketWatch, "our strategy remains to partner very closely with service providers to enable advanced new telecommunications services versus building out public networks ourselves." We wonder if they protest too much, especially since the company just said it was also bailing on WiMAX. My bet is that it's someone in streaming video, or possibly someone in wireless. A streaming video play would make more sense for a company like Cisco. Either they've built something, or they've bought someone.

I know, I know! They are buying Chatroulette! I kid.

So we invite you, for the honor of having great bragging rights, to lay down your bets on just who is going to get a big check from Cisco tomorrow (or more likely, after the deal clears). Or, if you don't think an acquisition is in the works, what magical announcement might they make?

Update: It looks like the Internet won't be changing all that much after all.

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March 08, 2010 11:40 PM

The US Treasury Department today relaxed export regulations against Iran, Sudan, and Cuba, allowing US companies to provide instant messaging, e-mail, and social networking services to those countries. The goal is to ensure that citizens can "exercise their most basic rights," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.

The new policy provides a general license to tech companies. According to the official rule, they can now export "services incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet, such as instant messaging, chat and e-mail, social networking, sharing of photos and movies, Web browsing, and blogging, provided that such services are publicly available at no cost to the user."

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March 08, 2010 11:10 PM

The Oklahoma legislature is currently locked in a dispute over whether to tackle the state’s divorce rate, the third-highest in the nation. Although some Republicans are pushing the legislation, other conservatives are outraged at the “government intrusion” into their private lives:

Republican members proposed three pieces of legislation imposing new regulations on marriage and divorce in Oklahoma. Two of the measures were defeated, but another — requiring counseling for those planning to wed, and therapy sessions for couples considering divorce — is awaiting action.

The issue has produced sharp clashes among conservative colleagues who normally find themselves in agreement. The debates have featured charges of hypocrisy and of betraying Republican principles against government intrusion into private lives. [...]

“How far do I want government to come into my home and your home about private personal matters?” asked Rep. Leslie Osborn, a Republican from Tuttle, in a debate. She referred to state government as a “huge monster.”

ThinkProgress spoke with state Rep. Jeannie McDaniel (D), who opposes the divorce bills because one hour of counseling — as proposed by one of the measures — won’t make a major difference in people’s marriages:

We know that one hour of counseling doesn’t do anything. We have counseling programs, especially in Family and Children Services…for families that are going through divorce who have children…and those have proven to be very effective. And they’re paid for by our Department of Human Services; they have grants available. They’ve been in place for over 14 years. They have a very high success rate of good outcomes. … They [participants in the programs] sort of laughed at this and said, “One hour, you’ve got to be kidding?” And it can be by anybody — it can be by your priest, it can be by a faith-based counselor.

McDaniel noted that some of the strongest debates on the divorce measures are coming from within the Republican Party, many of whom are against the government intervention. However, some of their concern rings a bit hollow; some of these same lawmakers — including Osborn — have had no problem imposing “government intrusion” into women’s “private lives.” Last fall, the Oklahoma passed a law that would have collected personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and posted them on a public website. (The Oklahoma County District Court struck down the law last month because it covered too many topics for one piece of legislation.)

McDaniel noted that Republican lawmakers are now putting forth several anti-choice measures once again, as single bills. Just last week, for example, the state House passed a measure “that would require a woman be given a description of ultrasound images of her unborn child and be offered those images before getting an abortion.” Rep. Dan Sullivan (R), the sponsor of the abortion website legislation, opposed the divorce counseling bill in a Feb. 22 vote.

Oklahoma also bans same-sex couples from marrying — a clear “government intrusion” into private life that many Republican lawmakers seem to find perfectly acceptable.

Tony Perkins, president of the far-right Family Research Council, said that he endorses efforts to lower the divorce rate, as long as the government does not “mandate” them. “I prefer the carrot versus the stick,” said Perkins, who opposes marriage equality.

by Amanda Terkel at March 08, 2010 11:09 PM

Douche #1: Yeah, I can only wear tailored shirts now, I can't wear stuff right out of the store anymore.
Douche #2: Dude, do you, like, get them mammogramed?
Douche #1: Nah, I'm not sure if my tailor does that.

--4 Train

Overheard by: I.D.H.

March 08, 2010 11:00 PM

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * The potency of Iraq's insurgency seems to be waning: "Defying a sustained barrage of mortars and rockets in Baghdad and other cities, Iraqis went to the polls in strength on Sunday to...

by Steve Benen at March 08, 2010 10:30 PM

Valve has stopped with the teasing and has officially announced that its online gaming service Steam is coming to the Mac. As a bonus, the company also plans to make the Mac a "tier-1" platform, promising simultaneous release of games on Mac OS X, Windows, and Xbox 360.

Valve has developed a Mac-native version of its Source engine, using the cross-platform OpenGL. "We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation," John Cook, Director of Steam Development, said in a statement. "The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward."

Beginning in April, Mac users will be able to access games via Steam, including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series. The Mac Steam client is based on the latest version for Windows that is currently in beta, which is where the first hints of Mac OS X compatibility were discovered.

That version includes a new Steam Play API that will allow users to access and play games from either a Windows PC or a Mac. Progress on one platform is automatically updated and synced when using the other, meaning all the fragging you do on your work PC (on your lunch break, of course) will be reflected when you log in from your Mac at home. Playing games on either platform won't cost extra.

The Mac compatibility extends beyond Steam Play, however. All future games, beginning with Portal 2, will be available for the Mac the same day as the Windows version. "We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360," Cook said. Players on all platforms will be able to play each other in online multiplayer setups, as well. "We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients."

These announcements are surely music to Mac gamers' ears. Besides Steam and Valve's own titles, making Source cross-platform also means other developers using Valve's engine can easily create Mac-compatible versions of games without much additional effort.

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March 08, 2010 10:15 PM

According to the Associated Press, home-schooling parents seeking textbooks that include evolution are finding the dominance of Christian-based materials to be isolating and frustrating. The publishers that largely control the home-school textbook market, which include Bob Jones University Press and Apologia Educational Ministries Inc., often include overt affirmations of Christianity and “stack the deck against evolution“:

“Those who do not believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God will find many points in this book puzzling,” says the introduction to “Biology: Third Edition” from Bob Jones University Press. “This book was not written for them.” The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its “History of Life” chapter that a “Christian worldview … is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is.”

In 2007, 83 percent of home-schooling parents said they preferred to give their children “religious and moral instruction.” But science educators who have reviewed sections from some of the popular home-school books say the texts could “steer students away from careers in biology or the study of the history of the earth.” According to Jerry Coyne, an ecology and evolution professor at the University of Chicago, “These books are promulgating lies to kids.” When the AP asked for comment from Bob Jones University on the “History of Life” chapter criticized widely by scientists, a spokesman said the “ultimatum” inclusion was “an editing error” and would be excluded from future editions.

– Nick McClellan

by Guest Blogger at March 08, 2010 10:10 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1802286"&gt;Posters featuring accurate movie titles&lt;/a&gt; for some 2010 Oscar nominees. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Up --&amp;gt; Suck It Dreamworks&lt;br /&gt; Inglourious Basterds --&amp;gt; Inaccurate Trailer&lt;br /&gt; Blind Side --&amp;gt; White Lady Saves the Day&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Oscars"&gt;Oscars&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 09:45 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1802286"&gt;Posters featuring accurate movie titles&lt;/a&gt; for some 2010 Oscar nominees. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Up --&amp;gt; Suck It Dreamworks&lt;br /&gt; Inglourious Basterds --&amp;gt; Inaccurate Trailer&lt;br /&gt; Blind Side --&amp;gt; White Lady Saves the Day&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/movies"&gt;movies&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Oscars"&gt;Oscars&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 09:45 PM

My, if we think we're having trouble keeping up, how'd you like to be Judge Ted Stewart? Or Sterling Brennan, for that matter? So many filings already, and more today. Proposed exhibit and witness lists, a Memorandum of Authorities Regarding Excusing Potential Jurors Having Knowledge Pertaining to this Dispute -- the one I'm going to read first -- and another responding to SCO's Objection to Board Minutes and a letter from Brennan to the court. And then one more motion in limine denied. Judge Stewart has denied Novell's motion asking for a further, and broader, ruling on its already successful motion in limine #4. He views is as rearguing a point Novell lost already in the denied Request for Judicial Notice of Prior Factual Findings, and he's not going to change his mind. Of course, that's what appeals are for. And now Novell is fully positioned.

March 08, 2010 09:45 PM

Two weeks ago, we reported that Internet search giant Google had acquired third-party iPhone mail application reMail. At the time, Google rehired reMail CEO and programmer Gabor Cselle to work as a product manager on the Gmail team. reMail was then pulled from the App Store and Google decided to discontinue the app, only offering support through the end of March. However, Google recently contacted Ars to say that it had decided to make the code available as open source on Google Code under the Apache 2.0 License.

The Apache 2.0 License states that the code is free to use, alter, and redistribute as the user sees fit. Further, users can charge for any aspect of the software they choose, including the application itself or support. That means people can use portions of code to add functionality in their own applications or create totally new ones without having to release them under an open source license. Google usually favors the Apache license over alternatives and uses it for Android.

This may still mean the end of reMail, but it's good news for anyone looking to incorporate more advanced e-mail functionality into their own applications. As Cselle pointed out in his blog post, he has already dealt with many of the obstacles associated with developing an e-mail client, including communication with IMAP and parsing MIME messages. In other words, there's no need to reinvent the wheel if you don't have to.

If you're interested in poking around, the code can be found on Google Code, where there has already been a fair amount of action since the announcement on Friday.

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March 08, 2010 09:38 PM

During his reign as Senate Minority Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has led his party to engage in an unprecedented level of obstruction — wielding the filibuster to block even routine bills and nominations while simultaneously lying about his own previous support of majority rule in the Senate.  No one has fared worse under McConnell’s blanket obstructionism than President Obama’s nominees to key government positions, ambassadorships and judgeships.  A massive 237 Obama nominees presently await Senate confirmation, yet Mitch McConnell has done nearly everything in his power to ensure that Obama’s nominees will never even receive a Senate vote.

Because the government includes several agencies and boards whose members are required by law to be bipartisan, however, the party-out-of-power’s Senate leader traditionally gets to make a few nominations of his own.  One such McConnell nominee is Sharon Browne, a nominee to the Legal Services Corporation’s board who fundamentally disagrees with the Corporation’s mission of providing legal services to the poor. Browne has spent most of her career with a right-wing litigation shop that repeatedly fought to cut off funding for indigent legal services; and she was a plaintiff in a court case which claimed that a method of funding legal services for poor Californians violated that state’s law. In other words, McConnell has selected someone to help lead the Legal Services Corporation who is committed to destroying the Legal Services Corporation.

Yet despite Browne’s obvious unfitness for this job, and despite the fact that her patron has fought tooth and nail to prevent President Obama’s nominees from even receiving a Senate vote, Senate HELP Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) scheduled a committee vote on Browne’s nomination this Wednesday. Not one Democratic senator has taken a serious step to slow down Browne — such as placing a hold on the nomination — and she appears to be on track for confirmation.

Of course, it remains to be seen how Wednesday’s vote will go. Maybe HELP Committee Democrats will do the right thing and kill Browne’s nomination outright. It’s also possible that the HELP Committee members will lack sufficient spine to do so, but a minority of Senate Democrats will block Browne’s nomination by subjecting it to a McConnell-style filibuster. Or maybe Browne’s nomination will simply be rejected by the full Senate. Should the Senate majority allow Browne to be confirmed, however, they will send a clear message to Mitch McConnell and his ilk: “keep on blocking President Obama’s nominees, because there will be no consequences whatsoever if you do so.”

by Ian M. at March 08, 2010 09:07 PM

China is now the largest emitter of CO₂ on the planet, as it powers a large industrial base primarily through the use of coal-fired power plants. However, many of those goods are immediately shipped overseas, often to the US and EU, which generate and use power far more efficiently. A new paper, which will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, now takes a look at the impact of outsourcing these carbon emissions by tracking CO₂ based on a product's point of use. For some Western European economies, the result is enormous: anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of their emissions come in the form of imported goods.

The calculation was performed by Stanford's Steven Davis and Ken Caldeira, who built a database of national energy production and tracked international trade of both raw materials (including fossil fuels) and finished goods. The most recent year for which all that data was available was 2004, which means the figures don't cover some of the changes that have accompanied the recent economic downturn. The basic calculation involves taking the CO₂ emissions for various nations and regions, subtracting those associated with exported goods, and then adding back emissions associated with imports. The result, termed consumption emissions, was then analyzed on a per-capita and per-GDP basis.

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March 08, 2010 08:50 PM

Funny:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—Responding to recent public outcries over its handling of private data, search giant Google offered a wide-ranging and eerily well-informed apology to its millions of users Monday.

"We would like to extend our deepest apologies to each and every one of you," announced CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking from the company's Googleplex headquarters. "Clearly there have been some privacy concerns as of late, and judging by some of the search terms we've seen, along with the tens of thousands of personal e-mail exchanges and Google Chat conversations we've carefully examined, it looks as though it might be a while before we regain your trust."

Google expressed regret to some of its third-generation Irish-American users on Smithwood between Barlow and Lake.

Added Schmidt, "Whether you're Michael Paulson who lives at 3425 Longview Terrace and makes $86,400 a year, or Jessica Goldblatt from Lynnwood, WA, who already has well-established trust issues, we at Google would just like to say how very, truly sorry we are."

by schneier at March 08, 2010 08:24 PM

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) introduced a bill last week to cut pay for members of Congress by $8,700 a year — or five percent — and freeze their automatic cost-of-living increase. With Congress’ approval ratings “spiraling downward,” the cost-of-living pay increase “has become largely unpopular.” “Families across the country are getting by on lower wages…so why shouldn’t senators and representatives have to feel the same pinch?” Kirkpatrick said. The cut would be the first since the Great Depression:

The first-term congresswoman said she’s hopeful, given the enormous fiscal challenges facing the country, the measure can pass. She said she’s already started handing over 5 percent of her pay every month — or $870 — to help chisel away at the national debt. The monthly payment would have been less, but Kirkpatrick is, according to her office, paying extra to make up for the two months of 2010 she missed.

“I’m putting my money where my mouth is. I’m leading by example and I hope my colleagues will join me,” she said. [...]

“The last time Congress took a cut in pay was 77 years ago. I don’t know anyone who has not had a pay cut in 77 years.”

Members of Congress are currently paid $174,000 — leaders earn more — and Kirkpatrick’s office estimates the proposal would save $4.66 million a year. “Though it’s slight compared with the $12.5 trillion debt,” Kirkpatrick argued that it’s hard to justify the automatic pay increases in the current economic situation. So far, 21 lawmakers from both parties have signed on as co-sponsors and the measure is being considered in two House committees.

by Alex Seitz-Wald at March 08, 2010 08:09 PM

"The best camera is the one you have with you" is an old photography adage, and Apple may be looking to extend that principle to its iPhone. And it's not about the iPhone as a camera, either—if you always have it with you, an iPhone could serve as a remote control device for any number of uses, including as a wireless electronic key.

Using the iPhone as an electronic key is part of a recently published patent application titled "Motion Based Input Selection." It's important to remember that the patent application itself merely describes a unique way of using motion detection to generate an input, such as turning a virtual combination lock-style dial. Still, it's the suggested uses of a unique numerical sequence or other combination of input that is generating excitement.

The Telegraph says that the patent is already being referred to as the "iKey" patent, based on the suggestion that a "device" such as an iPhone could use the motion-based input method to generate a combination which is then "transmitted to an external device to unlock the external device." Such an external device could be anything, including an "electronic lock that may be used to access a door, car, house, or other physical area."

The patent in particular describes methods in which the input could be selecting combinations of numbers, letters, colors, or images, or even a combination. In fact, if the external device is suitably capable, it can send an application the necessary configuration of input needed to unlock it. The possible inputs can also be randomized, and the transmission between the mobile device and the external device could encrypted for greater security.

Since the iPhone is the kind of device you tend to always have with you, it could be a great all-in-one control device. For instance, Apple also recently filed a patent application for using the iPhone as a sort of advanced universal remote—one that can dim the lights, adjust the surround sound, switch the TV to "cinema mode," all in preparation for watching a movie at night. The company already offers an app that can control iTunes or an Apple TV remotely, and other apps exist to control home automation systems or a DSLR tethered to a WiFi-equipped computer. Car security firm Viper also offers an app to lock, unlock, and remotely start a vehicle that has the company's SmartStart electronics installed.

Though many remote applications already exist for the iPhone—including one that locks and unlocks a car—perhaps Apple could leverage the patent's motion sensing to build an app with a consistent interface that is designed to communicate with a wide variety of lock devices, making the iPhone an out-of-the-box electronic key.

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March 08, 2010 08:02 PM

Guy #1: Yeah, she was really upset. You can just tell when girls get upset.
Guy #2: They smell different.
Guy #3: Their vaginas get all crinkly.
Guy #2: They smell like... dolphins.
Guy #3: And they turn all white.
Guy #2 to guy #1: You learned something today.

--8th St & University Pl

March 08, 2010 08:00 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/03/why-ad-blocking-is-devastating-to-the-sites-you-love.ars"&gt;Ars Technica argues&lt;/a&gt; that ad blocking is harmful to the sites you love.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you read a site and care about its well being, then you should not block ads (or you subscribe to sites like Ars that offer ads-free versions of the site). If a site has advertising you don't agree with, don't go there. I think it is far better to vote with page views than to show up and consume resources without giving anything in return. I think in some ways the Internet and its vast anonymity feeds into a culture where many people do not think about the people, the families, the careers that go into producing a website. People talk about how annoying advertisments are, but I'll tell you what: it's a lot more annoying and frustrating to have to cut staff and cut benefits because a huge portion of readers block ads. Yet I've seen that happen at dozens of great sites over the last few years, Ars included.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;They also ran an interesting little experiment: for those running ad blockers, they also blocked the content.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/advertising"&gt;advertising&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 07:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/03/why-ad-blocking-is-devastating-to-the-sites-you-love.ars"&gt;Ars Technica argues&lt;/a&gt; that ad blocking is harmful to the sites you love.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you read a site and care about its well being, then you should not block ads (or you subscribe to sites like Ars that offer ads-free versions of the site). If a site has advertising you don't agree with, don't go there. I think it is far better to vote with page views than to show up and consume resources without giving anything in return. I think in some ways the Internet and its vast anonymity feeds into a culture where many people do not think about the people, the families, the careers that go into producing a website. People talk about how annoying advertisments are, but I'll tell you what: it's a lot more annoying and frustrating to have to cut staff and cut benefits because a huge portion of readers block ads. Yet I've seen that happen at dozens of great sites over the last few years, Ars included.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;They also ran an interesting little experiment: for those running ad blockers, they also blocked the content.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/advertising"&gt;advertising&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 07:44 PM

In an announcement published last week, Nokia's Valtteri Halla revealed that Intel and Nokia are planning to launch the public MeeGo source code repository by the end of the month.

The MeeGo project began to take shape last month when Intel and Nokia announced plans to merge their respective Linux-based mobile computing platforms into a single open source software project. The unified software platform, which consists of technology from Maemo and Moblin, will be designed for use on a wide range of device form factors and will support both ARM and x86 architectures.

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March 08, 2010 07:25 PM

Tomorrow, conservative groups Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and Americans for Tax Reform are organizing a rally at the Georgia State Capitol to protest the state’s upcoming budget. The protest, like many recent anti-tax protests, is cloaked in an ideological veneer of fiscal conservatism and limited government. The invitation presents the rally, where Grover Norquist is speaking, as an opportunity to “cut spending and encourage economic growth.” But the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jim Galloway notes that the fine print at the bottom of the invitation e-mail says the list serv was paid for “by Altria Clint Services on behalf of Philip Morris USA”:

Notably, part of the new budget is a proposal to levy a dollar-a-pack cigarette tax. Both groups involved in the protest have a long history of astroturfing for corporations to build popular support for their policies. AFP is led by Tim Phillips, a longtime astroturf lobbyist who has used evangelical and conservative groups to lobby on behalf of corporations like Enron and the gambling industry. AFP was founded and continues to be funded by oil billionaire David Koch, who has aggressively used his group to oppose clean energy reforms that might cut into his business.

by Lee Fang at March 08, 2010 07:07 PM

Those playing Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC got a rude reminder of DRM's pitfalls when the servers that authenticate the game went down. Many complained on the company's official forum, and tempers ran hot. Remember: the game has to be in contact with Ubisoft's servers to work; if the connection is lost, the game shuts down.

Ars Technica contacted Ubisoft to ask about the issue, and we were told that the issue wasn't simply a server malfunction. "This 'failure' was due to a massive DDoS attack on our servers," an Ubisoft spokesperson told Ars. "Our servers didn't go down but 5 percent of the overall people attempting to connect received denial of service errors. This is, of course, unacceptable and our teams are working around the clock to ensure it doesn't happen again."

The issue of pirates playing the game also gets short shrift. "Neither Assassin's Creed II nor Silent Hunter 5 are cracked at the time we speak. As mentioned previously, 'cracked' versions are incomplete... as in missing whole parts of the game and crucial features," the spokesperson continued. That means that with just the data from the disc or your download, you won't be able to play the game. The content requires whatever the Ubisoft servers are giving it. 

Ubisoft leaves us all with a reminder that no matter how intrusive or failure-prone it is, DRM isn't going away. "We worry about our customers and apologize to anyone who couldn’t play ACII or SH5 yesterday. All in all, we hope people understand all this is done to preserve the future of PC gaming."

Read the comments on this post

March 08, 2010 06:45 PM

Happily, cpeterson was able to attend this morning's session.

Update: It looks like that will be all the news for today. They are keeping the public in the hall mainly, to fit all the prospective jurors in, so unless there is something unexpected, tune in tomorrow.

Also, I see questions about what's hearsay within hearsay and things like that, so here are all the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure -- meaning the rules you follow for civil trials in federal district courts, and you'll find every other kind of applicable rule linked on the Utah District Court's Rules page. There are local rules as well, and then judges have their preferences, if you recall the judge's marching orders the other day. If you dig and learn something interesting, please share it in your comments. Thanks.

March 08, 2010 06:42 PM

Access to the Internet is a fundamental right to nearly four out of five adults across the globe, and those in South Korea, Mexico, and China seem to have the strongest feelings on the topic. This is according to a report (PDF) by the BBC World Service, which polled 27,973 adults on their feelings about, usage of, and concerns about the Internet. Although users are somewhat divided on whether the Internet should be regulated, they are in agreement on its usefulness for learning and information discovery.

Across all 26 countries, 79 percent of Internet and non-Internet users said that they felt that Internet access should be "the fundamental right of all people." When isolated for people who already use the Internet, that number went up to 87 percent. Almost universally (90 percent), respondents said that the Internet was a good place to learn and almost 80 percent said the Internet brought them greater freedom.

Read the comments on this post

March 08, 2010 06:10 PM

In November of 2009, Sarah Palin — who is always suggesting that health care reform will lead to socialism — insisted that Canada needs to reform its health care system to “let the private sector take over.” But this past Saturday in Calgary, Canada — at “her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska last summer” — Palin seemed to deviate from her fear of socialized Canadian medicine when she revealed that her family may have benefited from the Canadian system:

PALIN: We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada. And I think now, isn’t that ironic?

This isn’t the first time Palin highlighted the difficulty of obtaining affordable health care in America. During the presidential campaign, Palin discussed how she and her husband Todd had “gone though periods of our life here with paying out-of-pocket for health coverage until Todd and I both landed a couple of good union jobs.” At the vice presidential debate, Palin recalled times in her marriage “in our past where we didn’t have health insurance and we know what other Americans are going through as they sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out how are they going to pay out-of-pocket for health care?”

Palin’s experience also highlights the fact that American medical-tourism to Canada is common, despite conservatives’ claims that Canada’s health care system drives Canadians into the states. “Every year, thousands of Americans undergo surgery in other countries” where they can receive the same care “at half the price.” “In 2007, an estimated 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care; this number is anticipated to increase to six million by 2010″ — far outpacing the number of Canadians coming into the United States for medical treatment. It’s good to know that Palin was once one of them.

Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.

by Igor at March 08, 2010 06:09 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/8-bit-nyc.jpg" width="500" height="347" alt="8-bit NYC" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Fully draggable, zoomable, &lt;a href="http://8bitnyc.com"&gt;Zelda-like map of NYC&lt;/a&gt;...this is awesome. But where are the Octoroks? (via &lt;a href="http://waxy.org/"&gt;waxy&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/maps"&gt;maps&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/NYC"&gt;NYC&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 05:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/8-bit-nyc.jpg" width="500" height="347" alt="8-bit NYC" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Fully draggable, zoomable, &lt;a href="http://8bitnyc.com"&gt;Zelda-like map of NYC&lt;/a&gt;...this is awesome. But where are the Octoroks? (via &lt;a href="http://waxy.org/"&gt;waxy&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/maps"&gt;maps&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/NYC"&gt;NYC&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 05:44 PM

Last year, the House of Representatives passed a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration and devoting $70 billion to airport infrastructure through 2012. The bill also changed an inequity in labor law which has allowed FedEx to operate under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), while other shipping companies like UPS are governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The RLA poses larger barriers to organizing than the NLRA, which has enabled FedEx to prevent its drivers from collectively bargaining. So the company has invested a lot of time and effort into blocking the change, including characterizing it as a “bailout” for UPS.

And FedEx has an ally in Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who is preventing the FAA reauthorization from moving in the Senate, until he receives assurance that the change in labor law won’t occur:

Corker’s action extends a years-long fight in Washington between the mostly non-union FedEx and its unionized rival United Parcel Service Inc. over how workers at both companies should be treated under U.S. labor laws. “We are supportive of the Senate FAA bill, but we have placed a hold until we can be assured that the controversial FedEx provision will not be included in the final legislation,” Laura Lefler Herzog, a spokeswoman for Corker, a Republican, said today in an e-mailed statement.

The Senate’s version of the FAA bill doesn’t actually include the change, but Corker wants to ensure that it isn’t added when the Senate bill is reconciled with the House version. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has also expressed his disapproval of the legislation. Both of these senators are invested in this issue because FedEx has its headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.

While Corker, Alexander, and FedEx itself characterize the change as “singling out” FedEx, all it would do is level the playing field between FedEx and other shipping companies when it comes to unionizing. FedEx CEO Fed Smith — “who raised more than $100,000 for 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain and was George W. Bush’s fraternity brother” — has said that “I don’t intend to recognize any unions at Federal Express,” and the company successfully lobbied Congress in 1996 to keep its RLA status.

Not only does FedEx prevent unionization by keeping its status as an RLA-covered company, but it also systematically misclassifies its drivers as contractors (instead of full employees) so that they can’t organize. As American Rights at Work has pointed out, “by classifying nearly 15,000 drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, FedEx Ground lowers its labor costs by avoiding payroll taxes and benefits.” Its drivers are responsible for fuel and maintenance of the trucks, and are not provided with paid vacation or sick leave.

UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley said that the change should be made because “we believe all drivers in the country, who are doing the same job, should be treated by the same law. To us, it is literally that simple.” But Corker’s obstruction is preventing that from happening.

Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.

by Pat G. at March 08, 2010 05:05 PM

How not to destroy evidence:

In a bold and bizarre attempt to destroy evidence seized during a federal raid, a New York City man grabbed a flash drive and swallowed the data storage device while in the custody of Secret Service agents, records show.

The article wasn't explicit about this -- odd, as it's the main question any reader would have -- but it seems that the man's digestive tract did not destroy the evidence.

by schneier at March 08, 2010 05:00 PM

Woman, approaching stranger on train: What are you reading?
Older man: (points to his book)
Woman, pointing to name: It says "Joyce"!
Older man: Oh, yeah it does.
Woman: I read a book.
Older man: Oh really? What was it?
Woman: It was a girly book.

--Q Train

Overheard by: Natalie

March 08, 2010 05:00 PM

Lawmakers in Florida are hoping to pass a $75 million incentive package to attract movie studios to film in Florida, but a little noticed provision could deny tax credits to movies that feature gay or other “nontraditional family values.” Florida’s Entertainment Industry Economic Development Act would revise the current incentive program — which already offers a tax credit worth 2% of a movie’s production costs if it is “family friendly” — to specifically exclude movies that depict “nontraditional family values” from receiving the additional credit. Here is the relevant provision:

A certified production determined by the Commissioner of Film and Entertainment, with the advice of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council, to be family-friendly…Family-friendly productions are those that have cross-generational appeal; would be considered suitable for viewing by children age 5 or older…and do not exhibit or imply any act of smoking, sex, nudity, nontraditional family values, gratuitous violence, or vulgar or profane language. Under the current incentive program, review of the final release version is not required and nontraditional family values, gratuitous violence, and implied acts do not exclude a film from receiving this additional credit.

State representative Stephen Precourt, whose district includes Disney World, says the purpose of the credit is to encourage movies to depict cinematic life from the 1960s. “Think of it as like Mayberry,” Precourt told the Palm Beach Post News. “That’s when I grew up — the ’60s. That’s what life was like. I want Florida to be known for making those kinds of movies: Disney movies for kids and all that stuff. Like it used to be, you know?”

Precourt claims that his provision does not specifically target movies with gay characters but “asked if shows with gay characters should get the tax credit, he said, ‘That would not be the kind of thing I’d say that we want to invest public dollars in.’”

Florida has been recognized by eQualityGiving.com for being one of the least gay-friendly states in America. Florida has no statewide law prohibiting discrimination; its constitution prohibits gay marriage; and, it is the only state in the union that forbids gays from adopting children.

by Igor at March 08, 2010 04:00 PM

[This is the fourth post in a series on best practices for government datasets by Harlan Yu and me. (previous posts: 1, 2, 3)]

Even cautiously edited datasets sometimes contain errors, and even meticulously produced schemas require refinement as circumstances change. While errors or changes create inconvenience for developers, most developers appreciate and prepare for their inevitability. Agencies should strive to do the same. A well-developed strategy for fixes and changes can ease their burden on both developers and agencies.

When agencies release data, developers ideally will interact with it in creative new ways. Given datasets containing megabytes to gigabytes of data, novel uses will reveal previously unnoticed errors. Knowledge of these errors benefits the agency as well as other developers using the data, so agencies should take steps to encourage error reporting. Labels in a dataset allow developers to specify errors efficiently and unambiguously. An easy-to-find channel for reporting errors, such as a prominently provided email address or web form, is also critical. Tracking down the contact information of the person responsible for a dataset can be difficult, and a well-known channel reduces this barrier to feedback.

Upon learning of an issue in a dataset, an agency should correct the problem and release the corrected dataset in a timely manner. An important fact to keep in mind when correcting data is that numerous developers may have already downloaded and begun using the old flawed version. For these developers, even a minor modification can cause major issues if not done carefully. Agencies should think about two things: how they will make developers aware that the dataset has been modified and how they will change the dataset itself. The first point is sometimes ignored in spite of its importance. Not only should datasets contain version information, but agencies should also notify developers when the data that they rely on has changed. In particular, agencies should allow developers to subscribe to an email list or an RSS feed for specific datasets that details updates in a well-structured manner. These updates should clearly specify the dataset and version affected, a location where the updated dataset can be found, and a description of the changes to the dataset. When possible, these changes should be specified via a formal, structured description--for example, a diff output--as well as a brief prose explanation.

Correction of dataset contents should proceed cautiously. Suppose that an application allows user to comment on parts of a document. If labels are in a dataset are not maintained consistently across versions, the developer may need to painstakingly map comments from the old data to the corresponding parts of the new dataset. Issues like this can be mitigated through several practices. First, an agency should seek to preserve labels across versions of a dataset when possible (alternatively, in some cases an agency might wish to change the labels but provide a mapping to assist developers). For example, a dataset might aggregate numerous documents, and a minor change in one document should not necessarily change the labels for the other documents. Recall the side note from our previous post that labels should be separate from ordering information. Corrections to a dataset may add, remove, or reorder items. Detaching order from labels can help agencies ensure label consistency across dataset versions. In addition, the last post and its comments discussed whether agencies should provide a label that is separate from its internally used agency label. This separation allows labels to remain consistent even when Subsection X becomes Section Y based on the internal agency labels. Note that these points about consistent labeling can be useful whenever a dataset could have multiple versions: for example, consistent labeling might be beneficial across various versions of a bill.

Similarly, the structure that agencies use for datasets, the locations where the datasets are hosted, and other details of a dataset sometimes must change. Suppose that an agency releases various statistics each month. When the agency is asked to provide a new statistic, the new data may necessitate changes to the XML schema. Alternatively, the agency may decide to host data at the address "http://www.agency.gov/YEAR/MONTH/data.xml" rather than "http://www.agency.gov/MONTH-YEAR/data.xml," causing issues for automated tools that periodically check for and download new data. To reduce the adverse impact of these changes on developers, agencies should provide detailed notice of the changes as early as possible. Early notice gives developers time to modify their tools. These notifications can occur via an email list or RSS feed providing details of the changes in a clear, consistent format.

The possibility of changes and their impact on developers should be taken into account at all stages of the data production process. Suppose an agency adds an element to a schema that specifies a unique individual, but the schema may someday need to specify a corporation instead. Although the agency should not speculatively add unnecessary elements to the schema, it should be mindful of possible changes when designing the rest of the schema. Various design choices may minimize the impact of a change if necessary later. Agencies should also avoid the urge to alter a schema dramatically each time it requires a minor change. A major overhaul—even when done to clean up the schema—may require equally dramatic changes in tools utilizing the data. To ensure that developers notice changes to XML schemas, both schema files and datasets should contain a prominent schema version number. If an agency changes the location where data is hosted, it should consider temporarily using aliases so that requests using old addresses automatically take you to the correct data. Once the old addresses are phased out, agencies should use a standard HTTP 404 status code to indicate that the requested data was not found at the specified location. Simply supplying a "Not Found" page without this standard code could make life harder for developers whose automated tools must instead parse this page.

When making changes, agencies should consider soliciting input directly from developers. Because the preferences of developers might not be obvious, this input can lead to choices that help developers without increasing the burden on agencies. In fact, developers may even come up with ideas that make life easier for an agency.

Our next and final post in this series will discuss a handful of additional issues for agencies to consider.

by Joe Calandrino at March 08, 2010 03:45 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/sand-ball.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Sand ball" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;It's not exactly &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/10/02/balls-of-mud-that-shine"&gt;a shiny ball of mud&lt;/a&gt; but until it dried out and fell apart the next day, this little fellow was surprisingly round, dense, and rock-like. Ollie started making his own after watching me; after a minute of effort on each, he liked to throw them into the water.&lt;/p&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 03:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;An ultra slow motion video clip featuring firecrackers, smashed watermelons, and Stephen Hawking.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;object width="500" height="281"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9805357&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=0&amp;amp;show_byline=0&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=ffffff&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9805357&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=0&amp;amp;show_byline=0&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=ffffff&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="500" height="281"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Stephen Hawking"&gt;Stephen Hawking&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/video"&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 03:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.kottke.org/plus/misc/images/sand-ball.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Sand ball" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;It's not exactly &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/10/02/balls-of-mud-that-shine"&gt;a shiny ball of mud&lt;/a&gt; but until it dried out and fell apart the next day, this little fellow was surprisingly round, dense, and rock-like. Ollie started making his own after watching me; after a minute of effort on each, he liked to throw them into the water.&lt;/p&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 03:44 PM

&lt;p&gt;An ultra slow motion video clip featuring firecrackers, smashed watermelons, and Stephen Hawking.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;object width="500" height="281"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9805357&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=0&amp;amp;show_byline=0&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=ffffff&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9805357&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=0&amp;amp;show_byline=0&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=ffffff&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="500" height="281"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tags:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/Stephen Hawking"&gt;Stephen Hawking&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://kottke.org/tag/video"&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; </content>

by Jason Kottke at March 08, 2010 03:44 PM

Today, former Bush adviser Karl Rove was on NBC’s Today Show to talk about his new book and how he became “a political mastermind.” In the interview, Rove addressed the fact that his adopted father might have been gay, and denounced critics who have used the story to attack him:

LAUER: It seems to me that their story — in particular this episode, an event in their story — is used by some to even go a step further, Karl. It is to say either you are one of two things: If you are the son of a gay man, then you were either traumatized by that — and that may be the reason for your stance against things like gay marriage — or that you’re a hypocrite. That you couldn’t feel that way about gay marriage being the son of a gay father.

ROVE: If he were gay, and that was sufficient grounds for him to reject me, he obviously didn’t. But that’s politics — our view in political issues, on issues of public policy can and should be divorced from our families. And our families shouldn’t be used as convenient targets to shoot at in order to get at people in politics.

Watch it:

Rove, however, has reportedly personally orchestrated such smears. In 2008, the Nation reported:

Rove invented a uniquely injurious fiction for his operatives to circulate via a phony poll. Voters were asked, “Would you be more or less likely to vote for John McCain…if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?” This was no random slur. McCain was at the time campaigning with his dark-skinned daughter, Bridget, adopted from Bangladesh.

Roy Fletcher, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) deputy campaign manger, also said that the entire South Carolina smear “was orchestrated by Rove,” and Cindy McCain has reportedly said she would “stab” Rove.

In his talk with Lauer, Rove denied any involvement in attacking Bridget. “Nothing to do with it,” Rove said. “This is the kind of thing the media love, these kind of allegations. But for people in practical politics, I’ve got to tell you, I was seized with fear when this rumor began to circulate through South Carolina. It was sent out by a professor at Bob Jones University.”

Rove then went on to criticize McCain for not seeing the smear as “an enormous opportunity to give an insight into who he and his wife are.” “But rather than doing that, John McCain said, ‘I’m a victim,’ and was angry and complained about it and pointed the finger at Bush when he had no evidence whatsoever,” he added.

Rove was also involved in the leaking the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, in order to discredit her husband, Amb. Joseph Wilson, who was criticizing the Bush administration’s claims on Iraq.

by Amanda Terkel at March 08, 2010 02:58 PM

“I was hired as a ‘best practices consultant’ to help bring a 300-developer company’s development practices into the 21st century,” wrote Ian, “and after six months, I had failed.”

“Our first objective was to introduce automated unit testing. They had all sorts of horribly interconnected code, and the tests would help reduce the fix-here/break-there problems. However, after many, many tutorial sessions with developers, and quite a few long meetings spent trying to convince them of the benefits, no tests emerged. The developers stubbornly held that testers should test code, not them.”

Ian continued, “Adding some teeth to our policies, we set-up a continuous integration server that emailed everyone reports of unit test code coverage. This way, managers could take responsibility for getting their teams to write unit tests. That seemed to do the trick: the number of unit tests and code coverage started to steadily climb on all projects.”

“I finally felt that all my efforts were worthwhile,” he added, “the overall health of the team’s code would now increase immeasurably. Less bugs, less time manual testing, and all that good stuff. And then I started to look at the unit test code.”

public class StaticDataRequestTest {

    @Test
    public void startClientReqest() {

        try {
            new StaticDataRequest().onData(null);
            assertEquals(
                " processing client static data request  ",
                true, 
                true);
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            assertEquals(
                " processing client static data request  ",
                true, 
                true);
        }
    }
}

Ian added, “I guess we got what we asked for.”

March 08, 2010 02:00 PM

College woman: Did I tell you? I got my lip gloss today!
Friend: Oooooh, from where?
College woman: Dubai.

--Barnard College

Overheard by: graduating soon....

March 08, 2010 02:00 PM

Interesting paper: "A Practical Attack to De-Anonymize Social Network Users."

Abstract. Social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Xing have been reporting exponential growth rates. These sites have millions of registered users, and they are interesting from a security and privacy point of view because they store large amounts of sensitive personal user data.

In this paper, we introduce a novel de-anonymization attack that exploits group membership information that is available on social networking sites. More precisely, we show that information about the group memberships of a user (i.e., the groups of a social network to which a user belongs) is often sufficient to uniquely identify this user, or, at least, to significantly reduce the set of possible candidates. To determine the group membership of a user, we leverage well-known web browser history stealing attacks. Thus, whenever a social network user visits a malicious website, this website can launch our de-anonymization attack and learn the identity of its visitors.

The implications of our attack are manifold, since it requires a low effort and has the potential to affect millions of social networking users. We perform both a theoretical analysis and empirical measurements to demonstrate the feasibility of our attack against Xing, a medium-sized social network with more than eight million members that is mainly used for business relationships. Our analysis suggests that about 42% of the users that use groups can be uniquely identified, while for 90%, we can reduce the candidate set to less than 2,912 persons. Furthermore, we explored other, larger social networks and performed experiments that suggest that users of Facebook and LinkedIn are equally vulnerable (although attacks would require more resources on the side of the attacker). An analysis of an additional five social networks indicates that they are also prone to our attack.

News article. Moral: anonymity is really, really hard -- but we knew that already.

by schneier at March 08, 2010 12:13 PM

Mamiya has announced the price and availability of its new DM40 medium format camera and a digital back of the same name. Priced at $21,990 for the camera and 80mm f/2.8 lens D series lens, and $19,990 for the digital back, they will start shipping from this month onwards. Both incorporate 40MP, 44 x 33 mm sensors and feature true 16 bit/channel RAW capture, ISO range of 80-800 and capture images at 0.8 seconds per frame. The DM40 digital back can be used with compatible medium or large format cameras via an adapter.

March 08, 2010 11:57 AM

50-something rugged man to book-reading lady: Oh, hey! Great to see you reading a book. You know everyone these days is reading a twatter.
Book-reading lady: Thanks? (exits train)

--E Train

March 08, 2010 11:00 AM

Novell has asked the Court to rule further on their Motion in Limine No. 4 [PDF; text]. The Court had previously issued a ruling [PDF] granting that Motion, but Novell now asks for further ruling, stating that "[t]he Court addressed this issue solely in the context of SCO's covenant of good faith claim. However, Novell's motion covered all of SCO's claims, including slander of title. The Court's prior ruling did not expressly address other claims, so Novell requests the Court to rule on the issue that was left open by its prior order."

March 08, 2010 04:05 AM

SCO's Chapter 11 Trustee Edward Cahn bragged at Friday's bankruptcy hearing that he had won all the Daubert motions and most of the motions in limine in Utah. However, Judge Stewart has just reversed himself with regard to Novell's Motion in Limine No. 2 and No. 3 and has now granted them.

If you look at the chart we've prepared you can see that and if you do the math, you'll see that Novell was denied on six of its motions in limine, but it won on five, and in won in part and was denied in part on 8.

It also wouldn't be true to say that SCO won all its motions in limine. SCO was denied without prejudice on one, denied outright on another, denied in part and granted in part on one, granted on two, and one was taken under advisement. SCO did prevail in the three Daubert motions. Just setting the record straight.

In reversing himself on Novell's two motions in limine in his recent order [PDF], I think he made a mistake in describing Novell's press releases, however. It's fundamental to what exactly are the disputed copyrights. So I thought I'd take the time to explain.

March 07, 2010 06:41 PM

We need a volunteer to cover the first day of trial. Our volunteer has the flu, so it's a crisis. This will be the day they pick the jury and possibly also do the opening statements, about the most important day of the week.

Further, I don't think there will be a transcript of the jury picking, so if we don't have anyone, we'll never know what happened.

So if there is any way you can attend, this is your moment. Monday, bright and early and it ends by a little after lunch. 3/8/2010 08:30 AM in Room 142 before Judge Ted Stewart.

Please try. If you email me, I can give you more detailed instructions.

March 07, 2010 04:24 PM

            ____    _________|\___\_   |\.-------| |   |\   | \\       \|_[]|\\   |  \\             \\   |   \\ ____________\\                    |    +---------------+   |    |  _____  ____  |  TAKE THIS YOU IGNORANT MOTHERFUCKERS!!!   |    | |_   _||  o | |          |    |   | |  | .--' |   |    |   |_|  |_|    |            \// ______ _ ___      |    |               |          

March 07, 2010 01:44 PM

Focus on Imaging 2010: Eighteen months after unveiling the worlds first Micro Four Thirds camera, Panasonic has introduced its successor- the Lumix DMC-G2, with touch control shooting. Built around the same body design as the G1, it records 720p HD videos in AVCHD Lite format and features a touch sensitive 460K dot 3.0" LCD. Its advanced touch features allows shooting by just tapping the subject on the LCD. Other features include AF tracking, a dedicated movie mode and a faster Venus Engine HD II processor. We've had a pre-production example in the office and have put together a hands-on preview.

March 07, 2010 09:00 AM

Focus on Imaging 2010: Panasonic has released what it calls 'the world's lightest interchangeable lens camera with a viewfinder' in the shape of Lumix DMC-G10. It features the same 12.1MP Live MOS sensor and Venus Engine HD II as the DMC-G2, also announced today. It also comes with a 460K dot 3" LCD but without the tilt/swivel and touch options of the G2 and gets a lower resolution viewfinder. The G10 can record 720p HD movie in Motion JPEG format. Both cameras can accept the high-capacity SDXC format cards and are offered with a new 14-42mm kit lens.

March 07, 2010 09:00 AM

Focus on Imaging 2010: Alongside the Lumix DMC-G2 and G10 Micro Four Thirds cameras, Panasonic has also released the Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Mega O.I.S. image stabilized lens. Offering an equivalent zoom range of 28-84mm, the lens is a new optical design but offers a similar specification to the original 14-45mm G System zoom. The new lens, known as the H-FS014042, loses the image stabilization on/off switch and metal mount of its predecessor and comes in a slightly larger body.

March 07, 2010 09:00 AM