This film is very strong; after seeing both, I'd say Pan's Labyrinth probably doesn't stand a chance at the Oscars, despite getting almost impossibly high praise from critics. (I haven't yet seen Indigènes.)

Goodness, as a subject for art, risks falling prey to piety and wishful thinking, but “The Lives of Others,” one of the nominees for this year’s best foreign-language film Oscar, never sacrifices clarity for easy feeling. Posing a stark, difficult question — how does a good man act in circumstances that seem to rule out the very possibility of decent behavior? — it illuminates not only a shadowy period in recent German history, but also the moral no man’s land where base impulses and high principles converge.

I didn't read this article until afterward, and I'm glad, because I feel like Scott's review gives too much away in an effort to convince you to go see the film (or perhaps on the assumption that you won't, anyway, so it's no danger). Other positive reviews are from filmcritic and TV Guide.

The Lives of Others

This paper studies approximate distributed routing schemes on dynamic communication networks. The paper focuses on dynamic weighted general graphs where the vertices of the graph are fixed but the weights of the edges may change. Our main contribution concerns bounding the cost of adapting to dynamic changes. The update efficiency of a routing scheme is measured by the number of messages that need to be sent, following a weight change, in order to update the scheme. Our results indicate that the graph theoretic parameter governing the amortized message complexity of these updates is the local density D of the underlying graph, and specifically, this complexity is ${\tilde\Theta}(D)$ . The paper also establishes upper and lower bounds on the size of the databases required by the scheme at each site.

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Dynamic Routing Schemes for General Graphs

Researchers have proposed a variety of metrics to measure important graph properties, for instance, in social, biological, and computer networks. Values for a particular graph metric may capture a graph’s resilience to failure or its routing efficiency. Knowledge of appropriate metric values may influence the engineering of future topologies, repair strategies in the face of failure, and understanding of fundamental properties of existing networks. Unfortunately, there are typically no algorithms to generate graphs matching one or more proposed metrics and there is little understanding of the relationships among individual metrics or their applicability to different settings. We present a new, systematic approach for analyzing network topologies. We first introduce the dK-series of probability distributions specifying all degree correlations within d-sized subgraphs of a given graph G. Increasing values of d capture progressively more properties of G at the cost of more complex representation of the probability distribution. Using this series, we can quantitatively measure the distance between two graphs and construct random graphs that accurately reproduce virtually all metrics proposed in the literature. The nature of the dK-series implies that it will also capture any future metrics that may be proposed. Using our approach, we construct graphs for d = 0, 1, 2, 3 and demonstrate that these graphs reproduce, with increasing accuracy, important properties of measured and modeled Internet topologies. We find that the d = 2 case is sufficient for most practical purposes, while d = 3 essentially reconstructs the Internet AS- and router-level topologies exactly. We hope that a systematic method to analyze and synthesize topologies offers a significant improvement to the set

Systematic Topology Analysis and Generation Using Degree Correlations

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs has been MIT's introductory pre-professional computer science subject since 1981. It emphasizes the role of computer languages as vehicles for expressing knowledge and it presents basic principles of abstraction and modularity, together with essential techniques for designing and implementing computer languages. This course has had a worldwide impact on computer science curricula over the past two decades. The accompanying textbook by Hal Abelson, Gerald Jay Sussman, and Julie Sussman is available for purchase from the MIT Press, which also provides a freely available on-line version of the complete textbook.

These twenty video lectures by Hal Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman are a complete presentation of the course, given in July 1986 for Hewlett-Packard employees, and professionally produced by Hewlett-Packard Television. The videos have been used extensively in corporate training at Hewlett-Packard and other companies, as well as at several universities and in MIT short courses for industry.

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Video Lectures

(270 minutes) In a four-and-a-half-hour special, News War, FRONTLINE examines the political, cultural, legal, and economic forces challenging the news media today and how the press has reacted in turn. Through interviews with key figures in the print and electronic media over the past four decades -- and with unequaled, behind-the-scenes access to some of today's most important news organizations, FRONTLINE traces the recent history of American journalism, from the Nixon administration's attacks on the media to the post-Watergate popularity of the press, to the new challenges presented by the war on terror and other global forces now changing -- and challenging -- the role of the press in our society.

I expect this to be excellent. Frontline is great.

Check out the episode breakdown:

NEWS WAR: SECRETS, SOURCES & SPIN (Part I)

Feb. 13, 2007, 9pm (check local listings)

In part one of News War, FRONTLINE examines the political and legal forces challenging the mainstream news media today and. how the press has reacted in turn. Correspondent Lowell Bergman talks to the major players in the debates over the role of journalism in 2007, examining the relationship between the Bush administration and the press; the controversies surrounding the use of anonymous sources in reporting from Watergate to the present; and the unintended consequences of the Valerie Plame investigation -- a confusing and at times ugly affair that ultimately damaged both reporters' reputations and the legal protections they thought they enjoyed under the First Amendment.

NEWS WAR: SECRETS, SOURCES & SPIN (Part II)

Feb. 20, 2007, 9 pm (check local listings)

Part two continues with the legal jeopardy faced by a number of reporters across the country, and the additional complications generated by the war on terror. Correspondent Lowell Bergman interviews reporters facing jail for refusing to reveal their sources in the context of leak investigations and asks questions on tough issues that now confront the editors of the nation's leading newspapers, including: how much can the press reveal about secret government programs in the war on terror without jeopardizing national security? FRONTLINE looks past the heated, partisan rhetoric to determine how much of this battle is politics and whether such reporting actually harms national security.

NEWS WAR: WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE NEWS

Feb. 27, 2007, 9 pm (check local listings)

(90 min.) The third part of News War puts viewers on the front lines of an epic battle over the future of news. America's major network news divisions and daily... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

FRONTLINE: News War

The WGBH Forum Network is an audio and video streaming Website dedicated to curating and serving live and on-demand lectures given by some of the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policy makers and community leaders. These events are hosted by world-class cultural and educational organizations in the Greater Boston area. Through this online service thousands of interested people across the world partake of these lectures from the comfort of their home or office at any time they choose. We are proud of the role we serve in our community, of protecting and projecting the public voice; and of informing and inspiring that public voice to foster deeper understanding of and civic engagement in important issues.

You'll be amazed by the breadth and depth of this archive.

WGBH Forum Network | Free Online Lectures

Ray Kurzweil gave the keynote at SuperComputing 2006. These are his slides.

Excerpts from the abstract:

The paradigm shift rate is now doubling every decade, so the twenty-first century will see 20,000 years of progress at today's rate. ...

We are rapidly learning the software programs called genes that underlie biology. We are understanding disease and aging processes as information processes, and are gaining the tools to reprogram them. ...

... The portion of the economy comprised of information technology is itself growing exponentially ...

Once nonbiological intelligence matches the range and subtlety of human intelligence, it will necessarily soar past it ... Intelligent nanorobots will be deeply integrated in the environment, our bodies and our brains, providing vastly extended longevity, full-immersion virtual reality incorporating all of the senses, experience "beaming," and enhanced human intelligence. The implication will be an intimate merger between the technology-creating species and the evolutionary process it spawned.

The Coming Merger of Biological and Non Biological Intelligence [PPT]

Rattle wrote:

So far, there are only three technical implementations of methods for securing digital downloads: Apple’s, Microsofts, and Real’s. Real can be written off, as Rhapsody is completely failing in the marketplace.

Do you have good data on that?

A year ago, they were still growing:

Forbes says that Real now has 1.4 million subscribers compared to its 700,000 customers at the end of 2004.

"Real executives argue that consumers are warming to the notion of subscriptions, arguing that the success of satellite-radio offerings from Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio prove that people are willing to pay a monthly fee for music. But to date, Internet music subscription offerings like those from Real, Napster and Yahoo! have yet to take off-–there are perhaps 3 million subscribers to Internet music services, compared to 9 million for satellite radio."

For more recent figures:

As of the September quarter, RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK) claimed 1,650,000 subscribers to its Rhapsody music service ...

That's from a few months ago, so clearly they have leveled off. But note this:

Rhapsody subscribers, who pay $10 a month for unlimited access, today listen to about 130 million songs per month.

So Real is pulling in $200M annually, whereas Apple pulled in (less than*) $1B last year. So in terms of cash flow, Real has about 20% of the market. That isn't winning, but it's a far cry from "completely failing." Also, Jobs says iTunes now sells ~150M tracks in a month. That's comparable to the number of plays that Rhapsody sees from a much smaller user base.

Lately, they are moving beyond PC-based services; see their recently announced partnership with TiVo, for example.

Don't get me wrong, I am no fan of PlaysForSure -- it is incredibly flaky code -- but I think the business model is still full of potential.

Fortune magazine recently commented on the future of music. Here's their senior editor:

Rhapsody, not iTunes, in my opinion, is the future of music.

...

RealNetworks is way ahead of Apple in navigating the complexities of licensing and software for a streaming music service. Maybe the two companies will somehow get together. Until they do, or Apple otherwise gets the music subscription religion, the iPhone won't be what it should be.

I tend to agree. The Rhapsody experience is so remarkably different from that of the iTunes Stores, it's hard to communicate effectively. I might draw comparisons to the way that the new/upcoming Netflix streaming service will change the way you watch movies.

(*) Jobs says that iTunes sold a billion songs in 2006. Considering discounts for album sales, this is less than $1B in revenue.

RE: DRM, Statutory Licensing, Broadcast Flags, and Satellite Radio

Let’s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future.

The first alternative is to continue on the current course ...

The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology ...

The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely.

The problem with this pitch is that he frames the debate in a way that excludes certain business models from the discussion. In particular, he ignores the music-as-service model as implemented by his rival, Real, with Rhapsody (and Rhapsody To Go).

A DRM-free music rental service would be a hard sell to the big four.

Steve Jobs - Thoughts on Music

In a recent talk at MIT, the author of The Social Life of Information revisits much of the second half of this book, in particular, the last chapter about the future of education.

In a digitally connected, rapidly evolving world, we must transcend the traditional Cartesian models of learning that prescribe “pouring knowledge into somebody’s head." We learn through our interactions with others and the world ...

While the wired world may be flat, it now also features “spikes,” interactive communities organized around a wealth of subjects. For kids growing up in a digital world, these unique web resources are becoming central to popular culture. Now, educators must begin to incorporate the features of mash-ups and remixes in learning, to stimulate “creative tinkering and the play of imagination.”

With the avid participation of online users, the distinction between producers and consumers blurs. In the same way, knowledge ‘production’ must flow more from ‘amateurs’ – the students, life-long learners, and professionals learning new skills.

The challenge of 21st century education will be leveraging the abundant resources of the web – this very long tail of interests – into a “circle of knowledge-building and sharing.”

Perhaps the formal curriculum of schools will encompass both a minimal core “that gets at the essence of critical thinking,” paired with “passion-based learning,” where kids connect to niche communities on the web, deeply exploring certain subjects.

Education will become “an act of re-creation and productive inquiry,” that will form the basis for a new culture of learning.

Relearning Learning: Applying the Long Tail to Learning