Comment Too Late (Score 1) 60
These cats are already out of their bags. The real question is, when it bites us on the ass, will we be able to put them back in?
Comment Re: Cheaper solution (Score 2) 50
My type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, triggered by a virus. It makes my white cells attack my pancreatic cells. My eating habits are not the cause, and even a strict diet would not improve my lack of insulin.
Submission + - East Coast Visible CubeSat Launch tonight
bobstreo writes: The United States Air Force plans to blast nearly 30 satellites into orbit tonight (Nov. 19) in a record-setting launch that should be visible from a large stretch of the U.S. East Coast, weather permitting.
Currently scheduled between 7:30 and 9:15 PM Eastern time
http://news.yahoo.com/record-setting-rocket-launch-loft-29-satellites-tonight-131841174.html
Visibility Map:
http://www.space.com/23623-rocket-launch-east-coast-visibility-maps-november-19.html
Currently scheduled between 7:30 and 9:15 PM Eastern time
http://news.yahoo.com/record-setting-rocket-launch-loft-29-satellites-tonight-131841174.html
Visibility Map:
http://www.space.com/23623-rocket-launch-east-coast-visibility-maps-november-19.html
Submission + - First lab demonstration that the ability to evolve can itself evolve (nature.com)
ananyo writes: Research on Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, shows that the capacity to evolve can itself be the target of natural selection.
B. burgfdorferi can cause a chronic infection even if its animal host mounts a strong immune response — evading those defences by tweaking the shape and expression of its main surface antigen, VIsE. A series of unexpressed genetic sequences organized into ‘cassettes’ recombine with the VIsE gene, changing the resulting protein such that it escapes detection by the host’s immune system.
The researchers studied the molecular evolution of the cassettes’ genetic sequences in 12 strains of B. burgdorferi. They found that natural selection seemed to favour bacteria with more genetic variability within their cassettes, and hence a greater capacity to generate different versions of the antigen.
“Greater diversity among the cassettes in itself shouldn’t be a selective advantage considering they aren’t expressed and don’t do anything else,” says lead author Dustin Brisson. “But we did find evidence of selection, so the question is what else could it be for besides evolvability?”
B. burgfdorferi can cause a chronic infection even if its animal host mounts a strong immune response — evading those defences by tweaking the shape and expression of its main surface antigen, VIsE. A series of unexpressed genetic sequences organized into ‘cassettes’ recombine with the VIsE gene, changing the resulting protein such that it escapes detection by the host’s immune system.
The researchers studied the molecular evolution of the cassettes’ genetic sequences in 12 strains of B. burgdorferi. They found that natural selection seemed to favour bacteria with more genetic variability within their cassettes, and hence a greater capacity to generate different versions of the antigen.
“Greater diversity among the cassettes in itself shouldn’t be a selective advantage considering they aren’t expressed and don’t do anything else,” says lead author Dustin Brisson. “But we did find evidence of selection, so the question is what else could it be for besides evolvability?”
Submission + - Bill Gates's Plan to Improve Our World (wired.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Bill Gates has written an article in Wired outlining his strategy to improve people's lives through philanthropy and investment in technology and the sciences. He says, 'We want to give our wealth back to society in a way that has the most impact, and so we look for opportunities to invest for the largest returns. That means tackling the world’s biggest problems and funding the most likely solutions. That’s an even greater challenge than it sounds. I don’t have a magic formula for prioritizing the world’s problems. You could make a good case for poverty, disease, hunger, war, poor education, bad governance, political instability, weak trade, or mistreatment of women. ...I am a devout fan of capitalism. It is the best system ever devised for making self-interest serve the wider interest. This system is responsible for many of the great advances that have improved the lives of billions—from airplanes to air-conditioning to computers. But capitalism alone can’t address the needs of the very poor. This means market-driven innovation can actually widen the gap between rich and poor. ... We take a double-pronged approach: (1) Narrow the gap so that advances for the rich world reach the poor world faster, and (2) turn more of the world’s IQ toward devising solutions to problems that only people in the poor world face.'
Comment Learn to value the people and the relationships. (Score 1) 361
If you can learn to place an intrinsic value on the people in your workplace and your relationships with them, instead of seeing them as a means to an end, both you and they will benefit.
Submission + - Critics Reassess 'Starship Troopers' as a Misunderstood Masterpiece 2
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Calum Marsh writes in The Atlantic that when Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers hit theaters 16 years ago today, American critics slammed it as a “crazed, lurid spectacle” featuring “raunchiness tailor-made for teen-age boys" and “a nonstop splatterfest so devoid of taste and logic that it makes even the most brainless summer blockbuster look intelligent.” But now the reputation of the movie based on Robert Heinlein's Hugo award winning novel is beginning to improve as critics begin to recognize the film as a critique of the military-industrial complex, the jingoism of American foreign policy, and a culture that privileges reactionary violence over sensitivity and reason. "Starship Troopers is satire, a ruthlessly funny and keenly self-aware sendup of right-wing militarism," writes Marsh. "The fact that it was and continues to be taken at face value speaks to the very vapidity the movie skewers." The movie has rightfully come to be appreciated by some as an unsung masterpiece. Coming in at number 20 on Slant Magazine’s list of the 100 best films of the 1990s last year, the site’s Phil Coldiron described it as “one of the greatest of all anti-imperialist films,” a parody of Hollywood form whose superficial “badness” is central to its critique. "That concept is stiob, which I'll crudely define as a form of parody requiring such a degree of over-identification with the subject being parodied that it becomes impossible to tell where the love for that subject ends and the parody begins," writes Coldiron. "If you’re prepared for the rigor and intensity of Verhoeven’s approach—you’ll get the joke Starship Troopers is telling," says Marsh. "And you’ll laugh."
Comment Don't stop there... (Score 1) 1
Let's not forget the tax-loopholes and favors for large corporate entities like General Electric, that reportly does not pay ANY income tax. What would be wrong with a flat tax? No loopholes, favors or exemptions. Everyone and every corporation pays their fair share. Let's write our representatives and demand this.
Comment The Power of Communication Networks... (Score 1) 1
...Belong to those who OWN one.
Comment A Perfect Argument for Telecommuting (Score 1) 484
If Corporate America is is pained by the floorspace taken up by IT staff, then why will they STILL not let me telecommute? They could reduce office space, reduce my carbon footprint and get government incentives to boot. I think they just like torturing us.
Comment This is a defining moment in our social evolution (Score 1) 283
I am all for freedom of speech and Net Neutrality. Having said that, I see real practical problems here. Freedom of Speech is an inalienable right. If we tie that to an infrastructure that costs billions of dollars to create and maintain, who will pay for it all? Should we all be taxed to provide the access (implying that it belongs to Government)? Do for-profit corporations just have to "suck it up" as a price of doing business?
Comment Simulations can have unexpected impacts (Score 1) 337
During the late 70's to mid-80's it was a common practice during U.S.N. flight simulator sessions for the flight instructor to pause a simulation in mid-flight, then give feedback and instruction to the student. Then they began having pilots "freeze" under similar conditions during actual flight-time. Policy was ammended to ban the interruption of any simulation training scenario and debriefs were performed at the end of the session. The incidents of "freezing pilot" began to decline. You most likely WILL fight the way you train.
Comment Re:Checks (Score 5, Insightful) 494
This is something I have never understood. Why on earth do normal people use banks when there are credit unions?
Comment Re:Sad propaganda from the Chief of the Nerd Polic (Score 1) 628
Find a better, more well-written opinion in this thread and I'll be impressed.
iPhone users have a choice as do all smartphone users. Many iPhone users selected the iPhone knowing that they'd be locked into the App Store and the rules that apply.
Those who preach the "open is better" mantra at all costs obviously don't speak for the public. For the most part, Apple's customers seem quite happy with the iPod, the iPhone and other "closed system" devices. Sadly, Tim Bray seems to have joined this crowd and has done so without critical evaluation of Android.
As you pointed out, Google needs to make advances in phone technology to win--not copy nor denigrate the choices other manufacturers have made. If they feel they have a superior alternative to RIM, Apple or WinMO then let customers speak. So far, RIM and Apple lead the pack.
US Inadvertently Enabled Chinese Google Hackers 103
Phrogman writes "In this CNN article by Bruce Schneier, he states that the US Government inadvertently enabled Chinese hackers access to Google's Gmail. The article states 'Google made headlines when it went public with the fact that Chinese hackers had penetrated some of its services, such as Gmail, in a politically motivated attempt at intelligence gathering. The news here isn't that Chinese hackers engage in these activities or that their attempts are technically sophisticated — we knew that already — it's that the US government inadvertently aided the hackers.'"
Update: 02/22 20:26 GMT by S : As readers have noted, Schneier said not long after he wrote this article that he no longer thinks this is what happened.
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