Friday, July 16, 2004

Chess's Lost Soul, Bobby Fischer, Is Held in Tokyo. After two decades of living in secrecy, Bobby Fischer, the former world chess champion, was arrested by Japanese immigration authorities in Tokyo. By By BRUCE WEBER and TODD ZAUN. [The New York Times > International] 10:28:49 PM    comment []

BitTorrent search engine Bitoogle is a front-end for Google that finds BitTorrent files. Link (via Red Ferret Journal) [bOing bOing] 7:34:55 AM    comment []

Hawking: I Was Wrong About Black Holes. On Foxnews: U.S. & World [NewsIsFree: Popular Items] 7:31:40 AM    comment []

Online Games a Massive Pain. Just a couple of years ago, every major game company was developing a massively multiplayer online game, based on the attractive business premise. But after many disappointments in recent months, the industry is realizing these games can become tar pits. By Daniel Terdiman. [Wired News] 7:30:20 AM    comment []

Being a PhD Economist Doesn't Mean Being Able to Construct an Argument.... apparently. The author of this incredibly silly piece (even by the standards of the site on which it appears)--one Arnold Kling--purportedly has a PhD in economics from MIT. The MIT economics faculty can not be happy about this.  ... The author now presents the reader with powerful evidence that people are working much less now, and consuming more goods, than in...the late 19th-century! Since Congressman Sanders and Senator Edwards had not suggested that conditions for working Americans had deteriorated over the last century, but over the last 30 years, the relevance of this evidence is, shall we say, a bit obscure. Even the author correctly stated at the start the claims at issue. Yet he apparently does not realize that a significant portion of his article is devoted to evidence unrelated to any claim at issue in the argument.  ... I confess that it is tempting to conclude from this irrational display that this man is either criminally dishonest or a stark raving moron.  ... [The Leiter Reports: Editorials, News, Updates] 7:25:16 AM    comment []

Conventioneering.com. We hope that online bloggers, accredited as journalists for the first time, bring an edgy note to the coverage of the nominating conventions. [The New York Times > Opinion] 7:20:35 AM    comment []

Season over for 'phishing'?. President Bush is set to sign into law a bill that mandates minimum sentences for ID fraudsters, including Net-reliant "phishers." [CNET News.com] The radio story I heard emphasized increased penalties for identity theft in furtherance of terrorism. Since terrorists often intend to go down with the ship, I don't really see the point. And how much more severe can punishment be than whatever would be the right punishment for blowing up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, or the politically motivated assasination of OB/GYNs who perform abortions? On the other hand, this might be really helpful against groups practicing nonviolent, civil disobedience. Maybe one of those college kids sitting in the street at a WTO protest has a fake ID? 7:20:33 AM    comment []