rgoldste - Slashdot User

Submission + - JFK Library Launches Largest Pres. Online Archive (computerworld.com)

Submitted by Lucas123 on Thursday January 13, 2011 @06:19PM

Lucas123 writes: The JFK Library launched what it is calling the largest presidential online archive, offering the public 117TB of data related to John F. Kennedy's presidency. The four-year project digitized a plethora of analog material including 200,000 pages that include JFK's outgoing mail; 300 reels of audio tape containing more than 1,245 individual recordings of telephone calls, speeches and meetings; 300 museum artifacts; 72 reels of film; and 1,500 photos. "As young people increasingly rely on the Internet as their primary source for information, it is our hope that the library's online archive will allow a new generation to learn about this important chapter in American history. said Carolyn Kennedy, the wife of the late John F. Kennedy, Jr., who was on hand at the opening of the archive.

Submission + - Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer Beats Humans (discovermagazine.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 13, 2011 @03:14PM

An anonymous reader writes: Ok, this was just a practice round. But in short a demonstration today IBM's Jeopardy-playing supercomputer, a whiz by the name of Watson, thoroughly bested two talented human contestants. IBM has been working on this artificial intelligence project for years to prove that a computer can be programmed to understand conversational speech and wordplay. In today's demo, Watson seems to have proved the point: it started out on a roll in the category "Chicks Dig Me," about women and archaeology. The real man versus machine face-off (in which the same contestants compete for a $1 million prize) will be taped tomorrow, and aired in February.

Submission + - Patriot Act Up For Renewal, Nobody Notices

Submitted by

Ponca City, We Love You

on Thursday January 13, 2011 @03:02PM

Ponca City, We Love You writes: "When the Patriot Act was first signed in 2001, it was billed as a temporary measure required because of the extreme circumstances created by the terrorist threat. The fear from its opponents was that executive power, once given, is seldom relinquished. Now the Examiner reports that on January 5th, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) introduced a bill to add yet another year to the soon to be expiring Patriot Act extending it until February, 2012 with passage likely to happen with little debate or contention. If passed, this would be the second time the Obama administration has punted on campaign promises to roll back excessive surveillance measures allowed under the act passed in the wake of 9/11. Last years extension passed under the heading of the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act. "Given the very limited number of days Congress has in session before the current deadline, and the fact that the bill’s Republican sponsor is only seeking another year, I think it's safe to read this as signaling an agreement across the aisle to put the issue off yet again," writes Julian Sanchez."

Comment Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know (Score 1) 497

by rgoldste on Thursday June 26, 2008 @06:34AM (#23946675) Attached to: White House Refused To Open Unwelcome EPA E-Mail

I'm sympathetic to your view, but you're about 80 years too late. Our Constitution is not the one the Founding Fathers adopted; it's been amended formally 27 times. The "amendment" that allows administrative agencies to make law was not a formal one--basically FDR bludgeoned the Supreme Court into ratifying agencies' legality during the New Deal. However, the Constitution is not just what's written on a piece of parchment, it's the organizing principle of our society, and therefore it is fair to say the New Deal ushered in a new Constitution that contemplates power residing in agencies with authority delegated from the legislature. Yale law prof Bruce Ackerman is the original exponent of this theory; he calls the New Deal a "constitutional moment," just like Reconstruction and the Civil Rights era.

In short, the constitutionality of administrative agencies has been settled for 80 years. They're at this point as American as apple pie. Heck, in some cases, agencies can actually "interpret" the law in a manner that is literally inconsistent with the congressionally-enacted statute. See Zuni Public School Dist. 89 v. Secretary of Education.

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