Mindraker2 wrote:
] Elonka wrote:
] ] "When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir
] ] cevinpl."
]
] "When cryptography is outlawed only outlaws will have cryptography"

Oooh, *so* close, but no cigar. Try again! It's a real cipher that can be translated.

RE: When Crypto Is Outlawed...

] Last April, Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh
] ruled that computer and video games had "no conveyance of
] ideas, expression or anything else that could possibly
] amount to free speech" in a St. Louis County case that
] sought to limit children's access to mature video games.
]
] The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, saying a
] "particularized message" is not required when it comes to
] the First Amendment.

Good news! I was baffled when Judge Limbaugh (yes, I hear he's related to Rush) ruled that video games didn't qualify under the first amendment. I'm glad to see that the appeals court overturned his decision!

Appeals court rules: Video games do qualify as free speech

My Memestream is going to be a bit quieter than usual over the next week, since I'm going to be very busy with my own convention, SimuCon, which runs from Thursday through Sunday.

As a note of explanation: SimuCon is a semi-private party where people who play our play.net online games fly in to St. Louis from all over the world for a real-life gathering. The festivities include seminars, banquets, dances, games, costume contests and all manner of parties from the chaste to the unmentionable. ;) This is our 8th year, and (IMHO) it just keeps getting better every year. :) (Granted, I'm biased, but I *still* think it's an amazing party)

This year we're going to be expanding on something we did last year, and doing a major live webcast from the con which will include live interviews with GameMasters, as well as a sneak peek at our next big release, the graphical MMORPG Hero's Journey.

I'll also be doing an hour-long "call in" show of my own on the history of Simutronics games, and fielding any questions that someone wants to IM with. I've been involved with the company since 1989, so have a wealth of stories about the growth of the online game industry (a timeline of Simu games in particular is here: http://elonka.com/SimuTimeline.html)

My "History of Simu Games" show will be on Saturday, June 7th, from 3-4 p.m. Central, at http://www.simuradio.com. Questions during the show can be sent in via AIM "RadioFreeSimu"

Heading back to the pre-con mayhem,

Elonka :)

Radio Free SimuCon

My favorite of the Flash Cow "Mooovies". Do not watch with anyone under 18 -- unless you're ready to do a *lot* of explaining. ;)

(Not Safe for Work!) Flash Video - 'I'm A Cow'

For cat-lovers: 90 seconds of very funny cat-related home movies. About a 3 MB download.

Funny Cat Videos

The Planetary Society keeps coming up with neat perks. Through my membership with them I've gotten invitations to go on some nifty expeditions (that's how I ended up going to Antarctica in 1999), and a couple years ago my name got put on a space probe, Stardust, that's currently on its way to meet a comet.

Today, I found out that my name is now going to Mars! The new Mars Rover is taking a mini-DVD with my name (and over 3.5 million other names (grin)) with it. What a cool idea!

For more info on the mission, check here:
 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/

To search for other names (no partial matches, you have to type it in exactly), check here:
 http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/2003/namequery.htm

Elonka's Going to Mars! -- Well, her name is . . .

Impressively thorough article in "U.S. News and World Report" this week about the status of the Al Qaeda hunt. We're making good progress on arrests and breaking up the infrastructure, though sometimes the techniques being used are questionable (such as CIA operatives hacking into foreign bank account records to follow the money).

] U.S. News has retraced the war on terror, starting in the very
] first weeks after 9/11, to examine in detail how Washington and
] its allies launched an unprecedented drive, led by the Central
] Intelligence Agency, to disrupt and destroy bin Laden's
] operation. Interviews were conducted with over three dozen past
] and current counterterrorism officials in a half-dozen countries;
] the magazine also reviewed thousands of pages of court records
] and analytical reports.

In terms of crypto, the article's researchers agree with my own conclusions:

] . . . al Qaeda operatives are not the high-tech
] terrorists some imagine. Their computer files are rarely
] encrypted, and when they are, U.S. officials have broken
] the codes easily. Nor have they used encrypted
] telephones. Al Qaeda's "codes" consist of simple word
] substitutes or use of flowery Arabic phrases.

For anyone following the Al Qaeda Hunt, this article is interesting reading.

U.S. News: The inside story of how U.S. terrorist hunters are going after al Qaeda

Another of the subcultures I indulge in. International Folk Dancing.

] Incorporated in 1964, the IFDA has been serving the
] greater St. Louis area for 38 years as a non-profit
] organization dedicated to the teaching and enjoyment of
] folk dances and to the sharing of knowledge and
] appreciation of folk cultures from around the world. The
] IFDA and its activities are open to anyone interested in
] folk dancing or folklore.

International Folk Dance Association of University City

] Scientists yesterday said they have discovered a
] long-sought master gene in embryonic stem
] cells that is largely responsible for giving those cells
] their unique regenerative and therapeutic potential.
 . . .
] In recognition of that power, the researchers have named
] the gene "nanog," a reference to the mythological Celtic
] land of Tir Nan Og, whose fairy-like residents are said
] to stay forever young.

Well, if nothing else, we may be able to breed immortal mice!

Stem cell -holy grail- found

Fascinating interview with Fyodor, the creator of the Nmap port-scanning tool. He discusses some of the ways that Nmap has been used (ranging from Chinese students using it to bypass governmental "internet-jamming", to its recent fame as the tool-of-choice in The Matrix), talks about the etiquette of doing port-scans on unknown computers (including what he thinks about script kiddies), and also brings up how he's launched attacks against a few companies himself.

This is extremely interesting information from someone who really knows his stuff.

Some of the info here is too technical for the average person on the street to understand, but I recommend that even non-techies scan through it for the human interest stories in the interview. You'll learn a lot!

Slashdot Interview: Fyodor, creator of Nmap, speaks