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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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Ivan A. Getting, 91; Developer of GPS |
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| Topic: Military Technology |
8:37 am EDT, Oct 22, 2003 |
Ivan A. Getting, a physicist and electrical engineer who envisioned and then pushed for the development of today's ubiquitous Global Positioning System, has died. He was 91. GPS is considered the most important achievement in navigation in the 20th century. During World War II, Getting directed the Division of Fire Control and Army Radar at the MIT "Rad Lab"; his group developed the microwave tracking radar that was credited with destroying 95% of the V-1 cruise bombs used by Germany against England. "His life was just one great accomplishment after another." Ivan A. Getting, 91; Developer of GPS |
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Ban on Videos for Oscar Voters May Be Lifted |
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| Topic: Intellectual Property |
8:27 am EDT, Oct 22, 2003 |
Jack Valenti is expected to reverse an edict barring studios from sending videos of their films to Academy Award voters. The ban, instituted three weeks ago as an anti-piracy measure, touched off a revolt in Hollywood. The studios have yet to decide [on a watermarking technology]. Under the current discussions, only encoded videotapes would be distributed for screening purposes. Any deal is days away and could still fall apart ... a stopgap and would most likely be changed next year. ... misbehaving members would risk expulsion ... Ban on Videos for Oscar Voters May Be Lifted |
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| Topic: High Tech Developments |
1:29 am EDT, Oct 22, 2003 |
Juniper and Lucent have called on fellow vendors and network operators throughout the industry and the world to cooperate to speed the migration to all-IP to ensure better quality, reliability and security for wireline and wireless Internet communications. There are three fundamental aspects to delivering the assured performance of an infranet: * The ability for a customer's chosen application to automatically request the level of security, quality and bandwidth it requires from the network. * The network's ability to ensure delivery of services with the level of performance and security required by the customer's application. * Selectively open connections between carrier networks that support and reward the delivery of advanced services, such as content distribution and virtual private networks, across the global public network, not just the carrier's own physical network. The Infranet Initiative |
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| Topic: Technology |
12:56 am EDT, Oct 22, 2003 |
It has been the genius of the Internet that it does as little as possible. VeriSign violated Net custom and procedure when it changed its translation services for the .com and .net domains. VeriSign, we regret, has been adamant that its action was not improper. We disagree. We reject VeriSign's attempt to characterize its action as the introduction of a service. There's a tendency to think that "the way it works" is the only way it can work. That's a fragile assumption, waiting to be disproved ... The first page of the 20 October issue of eWeek states, by way of lead-in, that "we think Verisign was wrong ... and we say so." VeriSign Was Wrong |
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Talking with: Security Expert Mich Kabay |
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| Topic: Computer Security |
12:15 am EDT, Oct 22, 2003 |
Adaptive attackers, novice computer users, indifferent management ... it's no wonder our defensive mechanisms need continuous refinement. Norwich University ... has an information warfare laboratory where students do lab work on defensive countermeasures. ... Users don't take security seriously. Management does not take security seriously. ... We give people dangerous, unprotected tools and expect novices to install and configure them. ... electronic voting ... not hopeless, but it is very difficult. ... some of the COTS software being sold should be qualified as beta versions ... fundamental designs are flawed. Talking with: Security Expert Mich Kabay |
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Shirky: File-sharing Goes Social |
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| Topic: High Tech Developments |
12:20 am EDT, Oct 21, 2003 |
[The RIAA's] attack on trustworthiness points to one obvious reaction: move from a system with search horizons to one with real membranes, and make those membranes social as well as technological. ... trusted intermediaries who broker introductions ... act as a kind of social Visa system. You search for resources a certain social distance from you. ... ways to move to such membrane-bounded systems include retrofitting existing networks to allow sub-groups with controlled membership ... [If the RIAA succeeds,] users will switch to social spaces. The RIAA may reason that they have little to lose by attacking social sharing systems with a vengeance. It is clear that the current environment favors the development and adoption of social and collaborative tools. On the one hand, Shirky seems to suggest that fans of Memestreams should cheer on the RIAA, since this will drive users to adopt social systems (like Memestreams). Unfortunately, he also predicts that the RIAA will proceed to attack the social systems even as they grow in popularity. So, then, the Memestreams weather forecast is, "big waves ahead, followed by a hurricane." Is your computer equipped with Storm Windows? Shirky: File-sharing Goes Social |
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British man cleared of hacking US port computer |
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| Topic: Computer Security |
11:41 pm EDT, Oct 20, 2003 |
A British court cleared a teenager today of hacking into the computer of the port of Houston, Texas, after the youth testified that his computer had been taken over by someone else to mount the attack. Caffrey had insisted that, although the infiltration was triggered from his computer, he was not behind it. He testified as an expert in his own defense, arguing that a hacker could have taken over his machine to mount the attack. Outside the courtroom, the lanky teenager told TV reporters that he now hopes to get a job as a computer security consultant or programmer. Just the world needs -- another inept computer security professional! British man cleared of hacking US port computer |
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American Social Hygiene Posters, ca. 1910-1970 |
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| Topic: Health and Wellness |
11:54 pm EDT, Oct 19, 2003 |
From the Scout Report: This fascinating collection of social hygiene posters (designed to inculcate certain social practices regarding hygiene, friendship, prostitution, and mental health) is culled from the fine holdings of the Social Welfare History Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries. There are some gems to be found here, and the collection is easily browsed. Consider "Beware of Chance Acquaintances" and "Danger in Familiarities". American Social Hygiene Posters, ca. 1910-1970 |
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Arab Human Development Report 2003: Building Knowledge Society |
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| Topic: Society |
12:03 pm EDT, Oct 19, 2003 |
On Monday, 20 October, visit this site to download the Arab Human Development Report for 2003. For now, you can review the 2002 Report. This report is a product of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Arab Human Development Report 2003: Building Knowledge Society |
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| Topic: Society |
11:58 am EDT, Oct 19, 2003 |
As Lawrence Summers, Harvard's president, likes to say, "One good example is worth a thousand theories." Iraq -- maybe -- could be that example. A group of courageous Arab social scientists decided to begin fighting the war of ideas for the Arab future ... Tomorrow, they will unveil the Arab Human Development Report 2003, which focuses on the need to rebuild Arab "knowledge societies." I sense it will be a bombshell. Arab region: 18 computers per 1,000 people. 371 R&D scientists and engineers per million citizens.
Worldwide: 78.3 computers per 1,000 people. 979 R&D scientists and engineers per million citizens. ... Tons of foreign technology is imported, but it's never really internalized ... Tom Friedman on Arab society in the Sunday New York Times. Courageous Arab Thinkers |
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