] Douglas Rushkoff, author of eight books on media and
] culture, as well as the novels Ecstasy Club and Exit
] Strategy, marks his graphic novel debut with Club Zero-G.
] Teaming with Canadian independent comic artist Steph
] Dumais, Rushkoff has delivered America's answer to
] Japan's animé: a mind-altering journey into a universe
] where consensus reality is up for grabs.
]
] The story follows Zeke, a gangly, unpopular, 19-year-old
] college student-a townie who also happens to attend the
] elite college in his community-who has discovered a
] terrific new club where he is accepted and popular.
] There's only one catch: everyone at the club is dreaming.
] It only exists in the shared dream consciousness of its
] participants. If at all.

This sounds like it might be cool...

Amazon.com: Books: Club Zero-G

] Analysts say the intelligence chatter about an attack on
] the United States has shown up in open Internet forums
] and is similar to message traffic that preceded the
] Madrid bombings. "It's not just the official [terrorist]
] websites but also the chat rooms and Web forums," says
] Gabriel Weimann, a scholar in residence at the U.S.
] Institute for Peace. "The picture is not looking very
] good." Messages posted before the attacks in Madrid,
] Weimann says, described the Spanish government as "the
] first domino."

The correct incantation into google will present the discourse of the people who are trying to kill you.

USNews.com: Suspicions about a new terrorist attack have U.S. spies scrambling (5/31/04)

] Mobile phones fitted with digital cameras have been
] banned in US army installations in Iraq on orders from
] Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Britain's The Business
] newspaper reported yeterday.

And I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those miserable cellphones!

Rumsfeld bans camera phones in Iraq

Hijexx wrote:
]
] Where did you read this? I refer you to this study:

The difference is whether you consider estimated or proved reserves. The people who are arguing that we're about to run out of natural gas are arguing that all the estimates are wrong and that there is no more natural gas out there then we've already located. They also seem to be ignoring several new sources of natural gas because we haven't perfected extraction technologies. Historically increases in proved reserves have matched increases in consumption.

http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/natgas.htm

In 2000, natural gas reserves in the United States were estimated to be 1,190 trillion cubic feet, and U.S. gas production was 19.2 trillion cubic feet.

61 years...

http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/resources.asp

The graph below shows the change in proved natural gas reserves in the United States from 1990 to 2000, as recorded by the EIA. As can be seen, the levels of proved reserves in the United States have not changed significantly over the past 10 years. If the additions to proved reserves in a given year are larger than the subtractions from production, then proved reserves will increase, and vice versa. Usually, however, the additions are close enough to the subtractions to maintain a relatively constant level of proved reserves.

This peak oil website juxtaposes the above information with the idea that the total number of wells we drill seems like "a large number."

http://www.hubbertpeak.com/gas/primer/

In June 1999, a disturbing article was published in Oil & Gas Journal. It described how Texas, which produces one-third of the nation's gas, must drill 6,400 new wells each year to keep its production from plummeting. That's 17 wells each day. As recently as 1998, the state only needed to drill 4,000 wells to keep annual production steady. The reason for the change? As drillers target ever-smaller pools, new wells experience steeper depletion rates. Indeed, a typical new well has an astounding first-year decline of 56%, which is another way of saying it begins dying soon after it is born. No one likes talking about depletion; it is the crazy aunt in the attic, the emperor without clothes, the wolf at the door. But the truth is that drillers in Texas are chained to a treadmill, and they must run faster and faster each year to keep up.

I don't really understand this concern. The number of wells drilled is increasing. This reflects increase in demand. It can reflect smaller well size, but the fact that we are tapping smaller wells doesn't directly imply that there are no larger wells to tap. The economics are more complex then that. Some wells are easier to tap then others. Cheaper transportation costs are a huge factor. In the US much of our supply is on federal lands and is illegal to tap. Furthermore, there are new t... [ Read More (0.1k in body) ]

RE: As prices rise, concerns grow about world oil supplies

] Specialized Reading List for "Literary History of the
] Beat Generation," a course taught by Allen Ginsberg
] at Naropa Institute during the summer of 1977.

Many of the texts are linked from the page. Looking for some summer reading?

Ginsberg's Celestial Homework

] But the FBI told Congress on Thursday that it has
] "identified over 100 significant spammers" so far and is
] targeting 50 of the most noxious for potential
] prosecution later this year.

My oped on this law has been "we'll see" mostly because:
1. There is no reason why these 100 people weren't prosecuted years ago.
2. Some that have still seem to be spamming.

If they actually enforce this law, and the penalty is actually significant in relation to the profits, and a large number of people are prosecuted, it might have an impact on spam. It will change spam from a "legitimate business" to something you look over your shoulder if you do. That should actually deter some of these people.

Then again, it hasn't seemed to have any impact on the availability of drugs.

FBI plans spammer smackdown - News - ZDNet

] At current rates of production, there were 40.6 years of
] consumption covered by proven reserves in 2002, the latest
] data available, according to the Wall Street Journal.
]
] The newspaper, citing the BP Statistical Review, said
] that in 1989, there were 44.7 years left of consumption.
]
] "[A shortage] will probably happen in the next 10 to 20
] years," Professor David Goodstein, a physicist at the
] California Institute of Technology, told CNNfn.

hrm...

As prices rise, concerns grow about world oil supplies

] Intelligence professionals should always resist the temptation to
] become policy advocates because, being mostly human, intelligence
] analysts want to be right -- and when they are advocates of a strategy,
] they will be tempted to find evidence that proves that policy to be
] correct and ignore evidence that might prove the policy in error.
] Advocating policies impairs the critical faculties. Besides, in a world in
] which opinions are commonplace, there is a rare value in withholding
] opinions.

] The United States' invasion of Iraq was not a great idea.
] Its only virtue was that it was the best available idea
] among a series of even worse ideas.

] This means the goal of reshaping Iraqi society is beyond the reach
] of the United States. Iraq is what it is. The United States, having
] performed the service of removing Saddam Hussein from power,
] cannot reshape a society that has millennia of layers.

I guess William Safire would say that future "revisionist reportage" will blast Stratfor as "ignoble ethnic-racist" "naysayers."

Strategic Forecasting decides to offer an opinion...

Jeremy wrote:
] A scientist shortage? Again? The gloomy warnings are
] back.
]
] A crisis is in the making, says a report.
]
] Overall, a grim picture -- of questionable validity.

See my post in the DMCA Congressional hearing thread...

This author correctly notes that the political/economic system incents lawyers and disincents scientists. It also disincents artists and more recently, engineers. This author is also correct in noting that minor policy decisions which run against the grain of the economy are counterproductive.

I have a great interest in the legal profession and a lot of respect for many good lawyers that I know. However, the ABA readily admits that what large numbers of lawyers do in a society is protect entrenched interests. You have to be an entrenched interest to afford a 6 figure person to protect you. Thats why the ABA is so hopping mad about salaries for public defenders.

A society that incents large numbers of lawyers and disincents artists, scientists, and engineers is a society that is becoming more entrenched. One that is become less creative, less dynamic, and less adaptible.

History is a long list of societies which became entrenched and static and then collapsed under the weigh of changes beyond their control.

What the author is missing is that you have to think outside the box and ask if the system is really taking you in the direction you ought to be going. People who drive cars with blindfolds on don't live very long.

RE: What Scientist Shortage?

] A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday filed by
] VeriSign (Quote, Chart) against the government's ruling
] body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
] Numbers - or ICANN.

Sounds like a bigger deal then it is. This lawsuit is just getting started. But its interesting to see one of their claims already on the mat.

Judge Dismisses V$'s Antitrust Claim against ICANN