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| "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind... War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." -- John F. Kennedy |
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D.J. Bernstein's suit against government crypto laws |
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| Topic: Cryptography |
5:02 pm EDT, May 16, 2002 |
Oral arguments for the next phase of the case are in SF! Unfortunately, it's over the weekend I will be in DefCon. Looks like you can just show up. Not going to DefCon? Live in SF? This looks like it could be interesting. D.J. Bernstein's suit against government crypto laws |
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| Topic: Music |
8:26 pm EDT, May 15, 2002 |
Jega is awesome... AphexTwin/Autechre style strangeness... Check the MP3 on this link. Matador Records | Jega |
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New law gives firms huge tax break |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
8:22 pm EDT, May 15, 2002 |
SAN FRANCISCO, May 14 Uncle Sam is wearing a Santa cap this year, doling out billions in special tax rebates to select corporate citizens. Thanks to a law Congress passed this spring, Cisco is in line to get around $350 million, United Airlines $1.2 billion and CNF Inc. roughly $337 million. And those are just a few examples.
UNDER THE NEW LAW H.R. 3090, a.k.a the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 companies that posted a net loss for fiscal year 2001, but were profitable in previous years, can dig back as far as their 1996 tax returns and apply 2001 losses against income and reduce taxes accordingly. Previously, companies could only apply losses two years back.
Individual companies tax records are sealed, but their published financial information shows the benefits are potentially enormous.
For example, San Jose-based Cisco posted a $874 million net loss before taxes for 2001. Under the new law, it can subtract that from its $1.46 billion net income for 1996, reducing it to $590.8 million. [ Yeah, well, I sure would like to see the numbers on job creation. If you can't sell in today's market why would you hire more people? Seems like this would have been more useful if applied in such a way that a middle-tier of companies had an influx of cash. The people who buy products. -Rek ] New law gives firms huge tax break |
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Anti-Drug Ads Ineffective, Survey Finds |
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| Topic: Society |
8:11 pm EDT, May 15, 2002 |
President Bush's top drug policy adviser says the government's anti-drug ads largely are being ignored by teens, and a survey finds no evidence the multimillion-dollar campaign is discouraging drug use. "These ads aren't having an impact on teen-agers. We've spent millions on these ads and we are not seeing a return on the investment." These surveyors are missing the point. It's not about drug ads. It's about ads in general. No one cares; no one wants them; they are not effective. [ Originally from Jeremy. And I think he says it best. No one wants them. -Rek ] Anti-Drug Ads Ineffective, Survey Finds |
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| Topic: Movies |
8:08 pm EDT, May 15, 2002 |
The emotional climax of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" is fabulous. Soaring and majestic, it reaches deep inside you to stroke chords of fond memory, to reaffirm the pleasure and healing power of narrative, to liberate the imagination. Unfortunately, it comes in the first two seconds. After that, the movie doesn't go downhill or uphill; it doesn't go anywhere. It flatlines. Memo to George Lucas: Hire an editor, bud. ... It's too long, it's too dull, it's too lame. Lucas seems to have based this episode on "The McLaughlin Group." ... What little story creeps out in dribs and drabs ... Hmmm, I forget what happens next. This is now the second "Episode II really sucks" review I've seen; NYT's A.O. Scott said much the same thing in last week's review. [ Add Ebert to the list. I just re-watched IV and V. George Lucas may be making money, but he's losing a lot of people's respect. -Rek ] Force Fizzle |
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Xserve - a rack mounted 1U Mac! |
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| Topic: Computers |
8:03 pm EDT, May 15, 2002 |
I don't know how these things perform, but you gotta love the idea of a 1U rack mounted Mac based on BSD. Even the remote management / monitoring capabilities look reasonable. I can feel the cockles of my warming in delight. Xserve - a rack mounted 1U Mac! |
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OSNews.com - Exploring the Future of Computing |
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| Topic: Computers |
11:25 pm EDT, May 14, 2002 |
Future of UNIX GUIs? This definitely seems like a worthy effort. If you haven't been paying attention you might need to see the AtheOS website among others. OSNews.com - Exploring the Future of Computing |
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