The MSDN article I cited above mentions "Police in Malaysia are hunting for the members of a violent gang who chopped off a car owner’s finger to get round the vehicle’s hi-tech security system"...

Yep, that's a serious issue.

There is a difference between identity and authentication, and that difference is lost when one uses biometric identity measures for authentication.

Great writeup on this from 2006 over at MSDN

Short version: identify and authentication must remain distinct if you want to have a system where users are held responsible for their actions.

Good man!

Eh. Offer was also made from Joyent.

They are now offering a refund or 5 years of hosting. I'll probably take it and move on.

"resulted in Peter Jackson not directing The Hobbit" Hmm. Are you aware he IS directing it? See the Hobbit Blog for proof, or at least an elaborate ruse. Or is the word 'resulted' evolving into some new meaning of which I was not previously aware?

Ethanol-fueled: I'm a doctor. I guess I need to talk to pharma about getting my cut, 'cause I haven't seen anything. Maybe you can point me in the right direction with some data supporting your claim?

Yep, a MINIMUM of 3 years, and up to 7. Then, many do an additional year or two of fellowship.

Will purely physical objects be of potential interest?

I'll be submitting!

Thanks man. That was really nice. I wish I had been there too. Best wishes with the 3 year old...

Sometimes I wonder how people develop their hypotheses. In this case, I'm wonder whether one of the researchers may have been struck by Morrison's Joker in the Batman Comic Arkham Asylum - in which a researcher describes the joker as hyper-sane, unable to filter out stimulus from the world around. Hmm.

Thanks. I was unaware of the Provenge issue, and it is certainly uncomfortable. This is exactly the kind of issue the FDA struggles with - attempting to provide clear, specific evidence that a drug is safe and effective. In the face of public pressure. Their standards for approval are fairly high.

Since this IS Slashdot, I'll ask a couple of questions: Your language is fairly judgmental - you seem convinced "the FDA" was out to hurt people. On purpose. Since that's quite a claim, can you help me out a bit here: the FDA advisory panel voted 13-4 in favor of approval. When you say "contrary to any and all expert opinion", are you excluding the 4 that voted no when using the word "all"? Or was that a bit of exaggeration?

Also, I've read several pages from the Google results and am still unclear. What is the evidence that it "maliciously held back" the drug?

Uhm, you're numbers are off a bit. At least for measles, it takes more like 95% (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20392713). Unless you have better, peer-reviewed data?

Also, CDC reported several hundred vaccine reported deaths in the last 10 years. I personally would rather my child have a small risk of allergic reaction or a mild illness than die. Particularly if the mild illness is part of keeping the group as a whole well, but the death my own fault.