- Install latest Mac OS X R build 2.10 - Install latest tcltk - In R, execute: install.packages("igraph"); install.packages("twitteR"); install.packages("ggplot2");
Erickson and Balée belong to a cohort of scholars that has radically challenged conventional notions of what the Western Hemisphere was like before Columbus. When I went to high school, in the 1970s, I was taught that Indians came to the Americas across the Bering Strait about 12,000 years ago, that they lived for the most part in small, isolated groups, and that they had so little impact on their environment that even after millennia of habitation it remained mostly wilderness.
The 'sacred' rainforest concept is invented by postmodern new agers, who mourn its destruction - when in fact its a product of european contact/decimation?
Dunno if its true, but gold star. Amazing article in the Atlantic.
EFF representing Memestreams again DMCA attack from TI
Topic: Miscellaneous
3:07 pm EDT, Oct 14, 2009
The EFF is representing Tom against TI their DMCA takedown filed against Memestreams.
The crux of this letter from the EFF to TI was the same point many of us were discussing on Memestreams the very day the DMCA notice was served: The TI signing key that was cracked does not protect access to copyrighted material. This is not the same thing as using DeCSS to decrypt the contents of DVDs on a unauthorized and unlicensed devices. That would be circumventing an encryption method (CSS) used to protect copyright material (the film on the DVD). That *would* be a violation of the DMCA. Just go ask 2600 about that...
But that's not whats happening in this case.
The TI signing key allows software written by anyone to run on TI hardware that someone owns. The TI hardware checks the signature (created by signing key) of any software it tries to run. Now that the signing key has been published anyone can run new, non-TI software on TI hardware they have ownership of.This is not a copyright issue in anyway, shape, or form. The DCMA does not apply. This (among other things) is what the EFF is asserting.
Frankly, that's fairly obvious, cut and dry. Having been on the receiving end of a DMCA threat and the countless other cases where baseless DMCA claims are used to shut smart people up, I'm optimistic that the EFF will prevail.
But that's not what's interesting.
What *is* interesting are the legal issues around private keys. Is a private key a trade secret? A 3rd party, through no illegal act, who independently discovers the a trade secret can utilize or publish that secret. Only we aren't talking about the Coca-Cola formula here. Public and private keys are mathematically linked. You can derive a private key, given a public one. It just can be very very (infinite grains of sands on a beach) hard. Or not. As in the TI case. You can't patent a private key, that kind of makes it public. ;-) So what do we do? Does there need to be some new kind of IP protections beyond traditional ones like patents, trademarks, and trade secrets? Are massive efforts to compute a mathematical value legal? Is it based on what that value protects or unlocks? Is it based on the intent of the people who derive the value? Homebrew software developers vs. Blueray crackers?
While I hope this matter is resolved quickly for Tom's sake, I would like to see some of these other legal issues addressed.
The science of waves . . . and the ecosystem surrounding the reef at Mavericks
Topic: Recreation
7:38 am EDT, Oct 11, 2009
Giant wave faces. Swirling boils. Explosive speed. Huge peaks that pitch almost straight out. Ever wonder what makes a Mavericks wave -- the Mount Everest of surfing -- so unique and completely intimidating? Much it has to do with what's going on underneath the surface.
Mavericks is the world-renowned, big-wave break located 1/2 mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay, California. In 1975, Jeff Clark became the first person to ever surf Mavericks. Until 1990, he surfed there alone. Many believe this 15-year solo effort to be one of the great feats in surfing history. By the early 1990s, word of Jeff's adventures began to spread. Since then Mavericks has moved into the foreground of big-wave surfing, attracting the most elite riders to test its limits each time it breaks. These riders are presented with waves as high as 50 feet, remarkably strong currents, dangerous rocks, shallow reefs, and frigid water temperatures.
A Xerox PARC talk by Jeff Clark, the first man to surf Mavericks, and a hell of a 'big wave scientist.'
Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner: Steve Blank, Serial Entrepreneur - Retooling Early Stage Development
Topic: Technology
7:46 pm EDT, Sep 26, 2009
Ninety-percent of Silicon Valley's start-ups fail not because of faulty product, but because they don't tap the right market and they don't know their customer. Well-seasoned serial entrepreneur Steve Blank drafts a new model for plotting the path between good idea and market success.
If you're even tangentially interested in startups, it is vital that you listen to everything Steve Blank says.
Robin writes a book (and you get a copy) — Kickstarter
Topic: Arts
8:41 pm EDT, Aug 30, 2009
Hello family, friends, Snarkmarket readers, Twitter pals, and internet gremlins!
I'm writing a book: a detective story set halfway between San Francisco and the internet. And the more people who reserve a copy, the better each one will be!
The basic setup is: Imagine a Sherlock Holmes for the 21st century. All the really good cases are on the internet. And Holmes is a woman, and Watson is an A.I., and San Francisco... oh, poor San Francisco...
To get a feel for the style and setting, check out a short story I published recently, Mr. Penumbra's Twenty-Four-Hour Book Store. Basically, if you enjoy it, and think "hmm, yes, I'd read more like this," this project is the way to make it happen.
Robin Sloan wrote an amazing story about Big Data Analytics called Mister Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore: http://robinsloan.com/2009/41/
It is truly great. He is writing a book to continue to explore this line of narrative. You should buy a copy. I did. You are pre-funding the development of the book in doing so. Really cool.
