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| compos mentis. Concision. Media. Clarity. Memes. Context. Melange. Confluence. Mishmash. Conflation. Mellifluous. Conviviality. Miscellany. Confelicity. Milieu. Cogent. Minty. Concoction. |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
6:07 am EDT, Oct 8, 2002 |
How to ZAP a Camera:
Using Lasers to Temporarily Neutralize Camera Sensors Cameras are ubiquitous today, and, from a technology perspective, the revolution is just beginning. To many, this is good news. But there is a dark side. ... When cameras are everywhere, is it possible to become invisible from them? Yes and no. I began by aiming an inexpensive laser pointer directly into the lens of a video camera. The results were striking. On Monday, John Markoff published a story about the author of this research, Michael Naimark. This work has a certain "Steve Mann meets Ross Anderson" appeal to it. Camera Zapper |
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Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age |
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| Topic: Technology |
5:59 am EDT, Oct 8, 2002 |
A new report released by the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age recommends that a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rather than the FBI should take the lead in shaping domestic information and intelligence priorities to inform policymakers. The report calls for a networked information technology system that effectively shares information among local, state, regional and federal agencies and the private sector, and sets forth a blueprint for how such a system can be established under a set of Presidential guidelines.
Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age |
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Eldred v. Ashcroft legal document archive |
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| Topic: Intellectual Property |
6:27 am EDT, Oct 7, 2002 |
Here is the Openlaw archive for the Lessig copyright case that goes before SCOTUS this Wednesday. You'll find copies of the relevant documents, including briefs from: Yochai Benkler, Pamela Samuelson, Milton Friedman, Hal Varian, Eben Moglen, Jessica Litman, Eric Freedman, Phyllis Schlafly, David Post, ACM, CPSR, FSF, Apache Software Foundation, AOLTW, ASCAP, BMI, the Gershwin Trust (Ha!), Philip Glass, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, MPAA, Nashville Songwriters, RIAA, and many more. Even Ken Starr is involved! Eldred v. Ashcroft legal document archive |
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Court to Review Copyright Law |
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| Topic: Intellectual Property |
6:03 am EDT, Oct 7, 2002 |
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments this week over the constitutionality of a 1998 law that extended copyright protection by 20 years. Experts on both sides of the closely watched case say that its outcome could reshape the way cultural products are consumed and how their profits are divided. Lawrence Lessig will argue that copyright law touches everyone who has an Internet connection, which makes it more important than ever to adhere to the limits the Constitution intended to place on the duration of copyrights. The government will say that no one, including the Supreme Court, can impose an arbitrary definition of "limited times." Jack Valenti: "Who is going to digitize these public domain movies? To digitize a movie costs a huge amount of money." The case has attracted 38 friend-of-the-court briefs. In an elaborate demonstration, Brewster Kahle, the founder of the nonprofit Internet Archive in San Francisco, is driving across the country in a van that has an Internet-linked satellite antenna on top and a laser printer inside. Lawrence Lessig goes to Washington. Be sure to tune in this week for what should be a good Court session. NPR generally has very good coverage of Supreme Court hearings. The hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, October 9. The docket number is 01-618. Court to Review Copyright Law |
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| Topic: TV Drama |
5:55 am EDT, Oct 7, 2002 |
So, what next for "The Sopranos"? "The Sopranos" is now attracting broadcast network-size ratings even though only a third of the nation's television audience subscribes to HBO. HBO now has the first television megahit ever to be unavailable to the majority of viewers. HBO has, from the beginning, produced alternate scenes with different language and other editing for mass-reach outlets. "We always hear about how HBO has got the perfect economic model. But here we have a hit, and we don't have an easy way to directly monetize it. 'The Sopranos' Next Move |
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Iraq's WMD Programs | Office of the DCI [PDF] |
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| Topic: Military |
10:30 am EDT, Oct 5, 2002 |
In a follow-up to the British government's recent public release of informaation on Iraqi WMD efforts, the Director of Central Intelligence has issued this 28 page summary report. This report is based on excerpts from the most recent Nation Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq, which was provided to Congress early this week. (As it turns out, that recent magazine article was wrong about this.) Iraq's WMD Programs | Office of the DCI [PDF] |
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Atoms, Molecules, and Light: AMO Science Enabling the Future [PDF] |
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| Topic: Science |
12:10 am EDT, Oct 5, 2002 |
AMO science -- the study of atoms, molecules, and light, and related applications and techniques -- has yielded innovations with significant impact in many spheres: growth, vitality, and transformation of our economy;
ability to provide ever-improving health care;
understanding and control of the environment;
national security and homeland defense capabilities. AMO science does more than prime the pump from which our society's material wealth flows. In addition to providing the basis fro new technology, it also is a source of the intellectual capital on which science and technology depend for growth and development. This concise new report from the National Academies provides an assessment of atomic, molecular, and optical science. Readily downloaded in PDF format, linked here. Atoms, Molecules, and Light: AMO Science Enabling the Future [PDF] |
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| Topic: Society |
11:59 pm EDT, Oct 4, 2002 |
The 13th Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy will begin on April 1 and run through April 4, 2003 in New York City. The meeting will be held at The New Yorker Hotel, in the shadow of the Empire State Building. Submit your proposal today for a tutorial, plenary session, workshop, technical demonstration, or BOF. November 15 is the cut-off date, so act now. CFP 2003 |
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The Blank Slate | Steven Pinker |
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| Topic: Science |
10:19 pm EDT, Oct 4, 2002 |
Our conceptions of human nature affect everything aspect of our lives, from child-rearing to politics to morality to the arts. Yet many fear that scientific discoveries about innate patterns of thinking and feeling may be used to justify inequality, to subvert social change, and to dissolve personal responsibility. In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. He shows how many intellectuals have denied the existence of human nature and instead have embraced three dogmas: The Blank Slate (the mind has no innate traits), The Noble Savage (people are born good and corrupted by society), and The Ghost in the Machine (each of us has a soul that makes choices free from biology). Each dogma carries a moral burden, so their defenders have engaged in desperate tactics to discredit the scientists who are now challenging them. Pinker provides calm in the stormy debate by disentangling the political and moral issues from the scientific ones. He shows that equality, compassion, responsibility, and purpose have nothing to fear from discoveries about an innately organized psyche. Pinker shows that the new sciences of mind, brain, genes, and evolution, far from being dangerous, are complementing observations about the human condition made by millennia of artists and philosophers. All this is done in the style that earned his previous books many prizes and worldwide acclaim: irreverent wit, lucid exposition, and startling insight on matters great and small. Steven Pinker, best-selling author of _The Language Instinct_, _How the Mind Works_, and _Words and Rules_, has a new book. Amazon offers the table of contents as well as the text of the first chapter. Pinker has collected related materials, including links to published reviews of the book, on his web site. Visit http://www.mit.edu/~pinker/slate.html The Blank Slate | Steven Pinker |
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Nanotechnology in Biomedical Research |
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| Topic: Science |
11:58 pm EDT, Oct 1, 2002 |
Presented by the UMDNJ Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Newark Division Show up at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (on South Orange Ave in Newark) to attend a free one-day symposium. The keynote speaker will be Eric Drexler, founder of the Foresight Institute. Lecture topics include: Nanotechnology and the Future of Medicine
Structural DNA Nanotechnology
Making Things Move Using Nanotechnology - Nanomagnets
Tumor Therapy with Actinium-225 Labeled Nanogenerators Nanotechnology in Biomedical Research |
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