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Thursday, December 04, 2003 |
Technology Review: The Myth of Doomed Data. Simson Garfinkel. This ironic death of Domesday has been taken as a rallying cry for an increasingly vocal group of computer scientists and archivists who argue that we are in danger of losing our cultural heritage--or at least that part of our cultural heritage that we have been foolish enough to commit to electronic storage devices. There's just one problem with this reasoning: it's wrong. [Tomalak's Realm]
I haven't read this yet. Simson's a smart guy, though I don't agree with every jot and tittle of his inferences.
5:16:44 PM 
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Restoring integrity, part 61,211, or, as Andrew puts it:
Mission Accomplished II - This Time With Plastic!. Plastic Turkey for Breakfast This is too rich. In the most famous picture from his trip to Baghdad, President Bush had himself artfully photographed to look like he was serving turkey to the troops. The image was emblazoned on front...
[Not Geniuses]
But remember, Clinton and Gore are Liars. Bush is the honest one. Restoring integrity to the White House since, what? restoring integrity to the White House since 2005?
5:13:53 PM
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Report: A third of spam spread by RAT-infested PCs. By Munir Kotadia,
CNET News.com.
The acronym's a new one on me: Remote
Access Trojans.
William Knowles notes, on the ISN list,
Probably the fastest way to nip this in the bud would be to give
users a financial reason to use home firewall and anti-virus software
by offering them lower rates on their internet service if the
software/hardware is installed and kept up-to date. Or on the
flip-side, increase the prices of internet service if you wish to
throw caution to the wind and run nothing. I can't see why this
incentive isn't out there, everyone wins in the long run.
3:24:57 PM
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Otherness:
The Construction of Race & its Consequences
in the 20th Century.
A Conference at Webster University, St. Louis, December 5-6, 2003
Emerson Library Conference Room.
Recent work on the human genome project confirmed what
biologists have argued for decades: there is no scientific foundation for
the idea of race. It is left to scholars in the social sciences and the
humanities, then, to explain the origins of racial thinking, its peculiar
staying power in western culture, and its devastating impact upon world
history.
In fact, there has been a groundswell of research over the past two decades
on the historical construction of “otherness,” or how groups of people
become categorized as essentially different. Anthropologists and
sociologists have demonstrated that perceptions of difference are always
shaped by cultural and social forces. Literary scholars and psychologists
have examined the mental processes through which people are marked as
“other.” Historians have described how racial myths fueled politics, social
policies, and war.
This two-day conference will present the insights of scholars from around
the world who work on some aspect of the question of otherness. Presenters
will include nationally-known experts on the Holocaust, the history of
eugenics, civil rights, and the anthropology and psychology of racial
difference.
Among the questions to be addressed:
- How did modern concepts of racial difference arise? To what extent
were traditional stereotypes and traditional views of otherness
appropriated, transformed, or superseded in the 20th century?
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How and why have perceptions of otherness linked up with fears of deviance,
crime, corruption, and sexual danger?
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How did racial thinking shape political and social movements of the
20th-century?
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What was the historical relationship between genocide, constructions of
difference, and everyday practices of discrimination?
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How do assumptions about race impact popular thinking and government
policies on immigration and terrorism today?
Organizers and Sponsors
This conference is sponsored by Webster University in St. Louis, the Des
Lee International Visiting Professor Program, and The Center for Advanced
Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington.
Additional support is provided by the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center
in St. Louis, MO and the Multicultural Learning Center at Webster.
Organizers are: -
Dr. Wolf Gruner, historian, Berlin, and Des Lee Visiting Professor of
Global Awareness at Webster University
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Dr. Warren Rosenblum, historian, Webster University, St. Louis
Receiving Credit
For students interested in receiving graduate (in-service) credit in
Education, the cost is $60. For more information on registration and
requirements, click here.
For students interested in receiving credit in International Relations or
History, the cost will be equal to a regular credit hour at Webster. Please
contact Warren Rosenblum if you are interested.
1:24:40 PM
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Stretching the Rainbow With New Paper and Inks. Pantone, the company whose color-matching system is the standard in industries from printing to design, is releasing a line of premium printer paper and inkjet cartridges that it says will be less expensive than replacements supplied by the printer makers. By Roy Furchgott. [New York Times: Technology]
6:51:46 AM
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Dude Where's My Blogshares? Blogshares.com is no more. Founder Seyed Razavi says: Dear BlogShares players, I am sorry to announce that BlogShares will not be reopening after the current technical difficulties are resolved. . . . . It's been an interesting and very rewarding nine months bringing a bit of entertainment to bloggers (and blog lovers). I'd like to thank especially all those people who donated money or their valuable time, those who became premium subscribers, those who worked on cool toys which made use of the fledgling API and all those who could be found on the forums and IRC channel. . . . . You can also find me at my perpetual home: monkeyx.com.
(thanksXeni!)
6:49:49 AM
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A Brewing Constitutional Crisis: Afghan Delegate Meetings Foreshadow Difficult Battles.
By Pamela Constable, Washington Post.
We want democracy, but only if it is according to Islamic law," asserted Nasrullah, 55, a farmer from Ghazni province, as a dozen men around him nodded vigorously. "In this document it is written that killing criminals is not allowed, but we need qisas to stop crime, he said, referring to the Islamic doctrine of eye-for-an-eye vengeance. This is not the law of the Taliban. It is the law of God.
The gathered elders agreed, in principle, that women should be able to participate in the assembly, provided they wear proper Islamic head coverings. But the lone woman candidate was nowhere to be seen. She spent the day segregated in a classroom, cut off from all the discussion, and she said no one had given her a copy of the proposed constitution.
As more than 19,000 delegates gathered in eight cities this week to choose 500 members of the constitutional assembly, or loya jirga, the impassioned and often contradictory views of delegates foreshadowed a long, heated battle at the meeting, due to open Wednesday, and reflected the deep strains in a society pulled both toward a rural, religious past and a future as a modern nation.
6:43:24 AM
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Regarding the recent worries about Jorn having gone missing Eric has a further Jorn Barger UPDATE!
Jorn has been located. While I do not have word from him personally, it appears he is, quite literally, "getting away from it all". Those near him, who had feared the worst, are glad he is safe and are respecting Jorn's wishes to keep him out of sight.
If there is further word, I will let you know.
6:30:49 AM
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