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Julian Assange's Online Dating Profile Leaked 334 Screenshot-sm

Posted by samzenpus
from the leaker-love dept.
Ponca City writes "The Telegraph reports that an online dating profile created by Julian Assange in 2006 has been unearthed from OKCupid disclosing that the WikiLeaks editor sought 'spirited, erotic' women 'from countries that have sustained political turmoil.' Writing under the pseudonym of British science fiction author Harry Harrison, Assange described himself as a 'passionate, and often pig headed activist intellectual.' Assange said he was seeking a 'siren for [a] love affair, children and occasional criminal conspiracy' adding that he was 'directing a consuming, dangerous human rights project which is, as you might expect, male dominated' and added enigmatically: 'I am DANGER, ACHTUNG.' Among Assange's listed interests were the 'structure of reality' and 'chopping up human brains' – although he added the caveat '(neuroscience background)' lest the latter put off potential admirers. 'I like women from countries that have sustained political turmoil,' Assange wrote. 'Western culture seems to forge women that are valueless and inane. OK. Not only women!'"
Censorship

Sharp Rise In Jailing of Online Journalists; Iran May Just Kill Them 233

Posted by timothy
from the your-ethics-may-vary dept.
bckspc writes "The Committee to Protect Journalists has published their annual census of journalists in prison. Of the 136 reporters in prison around the world on December 1, 'At least 68 bloggers, Web-based reporters, and online editors are imprisoned, constituting half of all journalists now in jail.' Print was next with 51 cases. Also, 'Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business.' China, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma were the top 5 jailers of journalists." rmdstudio writes, too, with word that after the last few days' protest there, largely organized online, the government of Iran is considering the death penalty for bloggers and webmasters whose reports offend it.
Data Storage

Enthusiasts Convene To Say No To SQL, Hash Out New DB Breed 423

Posted by timothy
from the sql-like-a-pig dept.
ericatcw writes "The inaugural NoSQL meet-up in San Francisco during last month's Yahoo! Apache Hadoop Summit had a whiff of revolution about it, like a latter-day techie version of the American Patriots planning the Boston Tea Party. Like the Patriots, who rebelled against Britain's heavy taxes, NoSQLers came to share how they had overthrown the tyranny of burdensome, expensive relational databases in favor of more efficient and cheaper ways of managing data, reports Computerworld."
Input Devices

First Fully Programmable Gesture-Recognition Glove, Cheap 77

Posted by timothy
from the classroom-clickers-don't-capture-gestures-correctly dept.
Al writes "The AcceleGlove from AnthroTronix, is the first fully programmable glove that records hand and finger movements. Other gloves — like 5DT's Data Glove, which is used primarily in virtual reality — normally cost $1,000 to $5,000, but the AcceleGlove costs just $499. The AcceleGlove comes with software that lets developers use Java to program it for any application they wish. AnthroTronix initially developed the glove with the US Department of Defense for robotic control but it could also be used in video games, sports training, or physical rehabilitation."

Comment: The Limbaughs and O'Reillys of the world... (Score 3, Interesting) 365

by Alyeska (#26445369) Attached to: FOSS Development As Economic Stimulus
...would just use this as a wedge issue, further "proof" of Obama's "socialism," and Obama has been going out of his way to avoid wedge issues. I think he knows that he can rule, but can't be effective, with a 51% majority.
As much as I love the entire open source movement, I don't think it would ever fly, politically, in our current culture.

Comment: Myers-Briggs.... (Score 1) 581

by Alyeska (#26429135) Attached to: Personality Testing For Employment
The only time I've been subjected to a personality test at the office, it was Myers-Briggs as a "Team-Building" effort. All results would be confidential, they assured us when we questioned the ability of oil industry managers to gauge us with psychological exams... and these results would *not* be used to prejudice.

Out of the hundred or so participants, I was the only person with my personality type. The event coordinator -- an HR manager who had never before met me -- made me stand below a sign bearing my 4-letter code, and explained to everyone there what I was capable and incapable of doing, both in the industry and in my personal life.

It's pop psychology at its worst.

Comment: Re:Inept management (Score 1) 581

by Alyeska (#26428857) Attached to: Personality Testing For Employment
Close.... For most of my career, I've written business processes to manage very large industries.

Today's managers aren't satisfied with the status quo, regardless of how successful it may be. They compete with each other to make *changes* -- not necessarily improvements -- to make it look like they're taking an active role in managing their responsibilities.

The latest book, the latest software tool, the latest Zen Management Philosophy seminar, it doesn't matter: It's "the latest."

Can't tell you how many times I heard impassioned questions like, "What? You haven't read 'The Tipping Point' yet?"

Biotech

Vein Patterns Could Replace Fingerprints 152

Posted by samzenpus
from the no-two-alike dept.
Death Metal writes "Companies in Europe have begun to roll out an advanced biometric system from Japan that identifies people from the unique patterns of veins inside their fingers. Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin."
Software

Ghostscript unified, long live GPL v2->

Submitted by bmcage
bmcage writes "Ghostscript is back, but does it still have a future for printing or on the Desktop with pdf going strong? Whatever happens, everybody should rejoice, as Ghostscript has a new version, a new license, and most importantly, the EPS Ghostscript fork has come to an end.

Welcome back in the fold, GPL Ghostscript! We'll make some room on the hard disk for you."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:I wrote my thesis on FrameMaker (Score 1) 544

by Alyeska (#8664454) Attached to: Adobe Kills FrameMaker for Mac
I've done some big document projects.

Example: I and three others re-wrote and published the "Owner's Manual" (System Information Manual) for the trans-Alaska pipeline in Frame. Four writers, four years, 44 volumes, who-knows-how-many thousands of pages. Frame coordinated all very well, never had a problem. It was the first desktop system we ever tried -- had used IBM's VM publishing (tagged script) up until that point.

I still use it on every project, although I've moved to PC for the publishing nowadays. We all feared Adobe would make big changes when they bought out Frame, but really nothing much has changed since v.5.1. -- just better performance, incorporation of the (formerly optional) web tools, etc.

It's a shame they won't be putting it on Mac anymore, but it works just fine on PC, too....

Best. Technical. Document. Tool. Ever.

"Experience has proved that some people indeed know everything." -- Russell Baker