On January 7, 2005, President Bush announced the establishment of a bipartisan panel to advise on options to reform the tax code to make it simpler, fairer, and more pro-growth to benefit all Americans.

The Advisory Panel will submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a report containing revenue neutral policy options for reforming the Federal Internal Revenue Code as soon as practicable, but not later than November 1, 2005. These options should:

* simplify Federal tax laws to reduce the costs and administrative burdens of compliance with such laws;
* share the burdens and benefits of the Federal tax structure in an appropriately progressive manner while recognizing the importance of homeownership and charity in American society; and
* promote long-run economic growth and job creation, and better encourage work effort, saving, and investment, so as to strengthen the competitiveness of the United States in the global marketplace.

The report is out. I haven't read it. Memeing to start some discussion once people have some relevant analyses. -k

President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform

Security company F-Secure says it is expecting to see viruses exploiting the rootkit technology used in Sony's DRM software anytime now.

F-Secure's Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypp�nen said that the company was already in discussions with Sony before the news broke on Monday, but because of the huge security risks that this information poses those talks were behind closed doors.

'We didn't go public with the info at the time as we were worried with the implications (especially with the info on how outsiders can hide files which have names starting with "$sys$"),' he said. 'We're waiting for the first virus which uses filenames like that.'

[ And we move one step further... now Sony feels they have the right to root my box in order to keep me from ripping audio tracks. This is all going to end badly for everyone. There's gonna have to be a compromise at some point, because the road paved with heavy duty DRM leads to the utter destruction of the industry, in my opinion. And that's not just the music industry, but the better part of the entire entertainment industry unless lessons are learned. Ridiculous. -k]

PC Pro: News: Sony rootkit DRM to spark copycat viruses

Danger Mouse and MF Doom are two of the hottest names in indie hip-hop right now, so it's saying something that their collaboration, "The Mouse and the Mask," is every bit as good as it was expected to be

It is a *lot* of fun. Hip-hop interacts with Adult Swim characters.

[ I've been spending a good bit of time listening to this one... it's great. The indie rap scene is great these days, and this record is as good an example of any. Clever beats, intelligent lyrics and lots of entertainment. -k]

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Audiofile

Ok, let’s go over this together. The Institute for Bank Innovation (ibi) in Germany has developed PSYLock — a biometrical means of identifying us based on the unique way we type on a keyboard.

I actually don't care about the technology, byt why the hell is their logo flipping me off? Jerk.

PSYLock identifies you based on your unique typing skills - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Passport-embedded RFID tags are back with a vengeance, as the State Department has given the go-ahead for December testing of a new system with enhanced security features, following intense public pressure that forced them to scuttle their original design this past June. The new arrangement contains two key security upgrades: embedded anti-skimming material to prevent non-authorized personnel from stealing personal data and Basic Access Control, which requires user-certification before the RFID chip will broadcast its signal.

We'll have to wait and see if this added security is meaningful or not, but I'm still glad I got mine already. I *really* don't see what the problem was with contact based smart chips, assuming you absolutely must go electronic. The whole thing seems silly. By which I mean, it seems like someone got paid off big time.

State Dep’t. OK’s RFID Passports - Engadget - www.engadget.com

The main light source of the future will almost surely not be a bulb. It might be a table, a wall, or even a fork.

An accidental discovery announced this week has taken LED lighting to a new level, suggesting it could soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to the traditional light bulb. The miniature breakthrough adds to a growing trend that is likely to eventually make Thomas Edison's bright invention obsolete.

...

Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was just trying to make really small quantum dots, which are crystals generally only a few nanometers big. That's less than 1/1000th the width of a human hair.

Sweet! Go Vandy Physics!

Accidental Invention Points to End of Light Bulbs

You might have thought that the White House had enough on its plate late last month, what with its search for a new Supreme Court nominee, the continuing war in Iraq and the C.I.A. leak investigation. But it found time to add another item to its agenda - stopping The Onion, the satirical newspaper, from using the presidential seal.

The newspaper regularly produces a parody of President Bush's weekly radio address on its Web site (www.theonion.com/content/node/40121), where it has a picture of President Bush and the official insignia.

Protecting the Presidential Seal. No Joke. - New York Times

SOMETIMES, WHEN THINGS GET SUFFICIENTLY WEIRD, SUBTLETY NO longer works, so i'll be blunt: The gleaming device I am staring at in the corner of a machine shop in San Rafael, California, is the most audacious machine ever built. It is a clock, but it is designed to do something no clock has ever been conceived to do—run with perfect accuracy for 10,000 years.

I've been fascinated by this concept since i first read about it few years back. In a world where most people can't see beyond today, I think it's wonderful to contemplate what is essentially eternity.

I'll certainly make the trip to see it.

-k]

Time Machine - Discover Magazine - science news articles online technology magazine articles Time Machine

The plaintiff named in the suit, Jason Tomczak, bought his Nano in September. He said the screen quickly became so scratched that he could not view it. He claims in the suit that the screen was so easily scratched that even rubbing a paper towel across it left significant marks. The suit also claims that putting the Nano in your pocket with items such as car keys, coins, a credit card or the device's headphones can render the screen hard to read. Apple has reportedly sold more than 1 million Nanos since the device's introduction.

Maybe I'm just being a fanboy, but I don't buy it. Apple has certainly been hardnosed about defects in the past, but I think this dude's a dick. If you put your iPod in our pocket with metal objects, it's gonna get hella scratched. I mean, seriously.

Unless Apple's lying about the use of one plastic over another (they say the nano uses the same resin as the previous models), then i think this is a retarded lawsuit.

mtv.com - News - Nano Users Sue Apple Over Scratched iPod Screens

Five publishing houses - McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education and Penguin Group (USA), Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons - filed a suit in New York yesterday, claiming that Google's plans would infringe their copyrights.

"If Google can make ... copies, then anyone can," Patricia Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers, told Reuters. "Anybody could go into a library and start making digital copies of anything."

Ok, they have a point... this sets a precedent. I still think they're shooting themselves in the foot. It's not always easy to locate interesting and relevant books. A card catalog simply doesn't cut it.

I think this could be really beneficial to smaller publishers and independent authors, but as usual, the big entrenched interests are kicking and screaming. For example, the music, movie, cable, telecom industries. Anything to slow the passage of time.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Further obstacles to Google's library plans