] Microsoft Corp. faces a proposed class-action lawsuit in
] California based on the claim that its market-dominant
] software is vulnerable to viruses capable of triggering
] "massive, cascading failures" in global computer
] networks.

For those of you in the "make'em liable and they'll fix it" camp, this bud's for you...

Microsoft faces class-action suit over security breaches - Oct. 2, 2003

I very interesting article on using editing techniques to speed up the WPM of audio recordings without loosing tonality. Its like speed reading a lecture. I wish NPR preprocessed all their audio programming this way.

Now Hear This, Quickly

] Since the earliest research into the the English Language
] as spoken in North America was begun by Noah Webster in
] the early 18th century, the regional variations in
] dialect have always been the most challenging and
] difficult to explain field. Since the development of
] carbonated beverage in 1886, one of linguistic
] geography's most important and least investigated
] phenomena has been the sharp regional divisions in the
] use of the terms "pop" and "soda." Due to the domination
] of hard-line conservative lingusitic geographers in such
] leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and
] the University of the West Indies, this dilemma has been
] swept under the rug . . . until now. Using the new
] technologies of the Internet and the World Wide Web, I
] and my colleagues at the California Institute of
] Technology and Lewis & Clark College are undertaking a
] bold new research into this fascinating area.

I memed the dialect survey at the bottom of this page a few months ago (search memestreams for dialect). I wonder is there is any relationship between the term "bog rolling" and the term "blog rolling."

The Pop vs. Soda Page

] Yet another Network Solutions/Verisign deception plot at
] work. My company has a number of names (unfortunately)
] registered with Verisign. So we moved one of them about
] gosh, the beginning of August.
]
] So guess what we get in the email this morning? A dunning notice
] for *not paying* for our domain registration. And an offer to reclaim
] the domin before "it becomes available to the general public".

These guys were sanctioned for this days ago! Four options:

1. Verisign has decided that they are beyond reproach.
2. Verisign has been sniffing glue.
3. Someone is framing Verisign.
4. My computer is controlled by trolls from the underworld.

Verisign back in the fraud?!

] The home telephone numbers of 11 top executives of the
] Direct Marketing Association -- which has waged a bitter
] court battle to kill a proposed federal no-call list --
] are on the new federal registry, making them off-limits
] to those annoying early evening sales calls.

In addition to everything else this article says about the issue, it also points out the privacy problems with the list. :)

Call Center Execs on Do Not Call List!

] Albert Titus, an assistant professor of electrical
] engineering at the University at Buffalo, New York, has
] created a silicon chip that mimics the structure and
] functionality of an octopus retina.
]
] His "o-retina" chip can process images just like an
] octopus eye does. The chip could give sight to rescue or
] research robots, allowing them to see more clearly than
] human eyes can in dark or murky conditions.

Titus notes, "the retina is an extension of the brain, so where does the distinction between seeing and perceiving begin and end?"

Wired News: The Octopus as Eyewitness

] 2.13 x 0.94 x 0.08 in
] (54 x 24 x 2.1 mm)

The picture of this thing that appears on my monitor is larger then the device itself. 802.11 is now small enough for use in bugs.

Socket Communications: SDIO Wireless LAN CF Card

] At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied
] that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said
] she was delegated to request his help. He asked me not to
] use her name, saying she probably never again will be
] given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name
] might cause "difficulties" if she travels abroad. He
] never suggested to me that Wilson's wife or anybody else
] would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her
] name.

I get the impression that both sides are lying...

Robert Novak: The CIA leak

] So the fact that she's been undercover for three decades
] and that has been divulged is outrageous because she was
] put undercover for certain reasons. One, she works in an
] area where people she meets with overseas could be
] compromised. When you start tracing back who she met
] with, even people who innocently met with her, who are
] not involved in CIA operations, could be compromised. For
] these journalists to argue that this is no big deal and
] if I hear another Republican operative suggesting that
] well, this was just an analyst fine, let them go
] undercover. Let's put them overseas and let's out them
] and then see how they like it. They won't be able to
] stand the heat [...]

Daily Kos: Plame's former classmate vents

] "There are lots of reasons why people need anonymity
] online and why it should not be so easy to lose," Hansen
] said. "If the recording industry can uncover your
] identity simply by claiming that a copyright violation
] has occurred, then the Chinese government can use the
] same tool to find out the name of a dissident, and a
] batterer can use it to find out the address of a domestic
] violence shelter."
]
] The ACLU's lawsuit says the DMCA subpoena provision is
] "totally lacking in procedural protections," making it
] "an invitation to mistake and misuse."

RIAA news roundup. Only new information not covered here is the 41 percent drop in kazaa use over the last 3 months.

ACLU Steps Into DMCA Subpoena Controversy