Subscribe to this blog in Radio:
Didn't find what you were looking for?
E-mail this blog's author, Bruce Umbaugh:  |
|
 |
Friday, January 21, 2005 |
Standalone Powerpoint to Flash Converter?. Ok, did I miss something? Or has Macromedia already released a stand-alone Powerpoint to flash converter. Breeze has been able to do this for some time, but I didn't know there was a stand-alone version. I just got done with a survey from Macromedia--yes I was tempted by the possibility of winning an iPod--and at one point was asked to... [GalaxyGoo Blog]
10:06:40 PM 
|
|
Still waiting for our inauguration patdown. For all the talk of inaugural security -- for all the money spent, the roads closed, the surface-to-air missiles ready to launch -- the lockdown around the Capitol isn't exactly airtight, at least from where we're sitting, which happens to be the front row. [Salon.com]
6:20:51 AM
|
|
Is Iran next? And if so, how?.
Last night, I attended a presentation by Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations, on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It was put on by the Houston World Affairs Council about Iran’s nuclear program. (Short plug- Houstonians with sufficient interest in public affairs to read blogs really ought to look into HWAC. It’s one of the best deals in town.)
Shorter Ray Takeyh: Iran is unlikely to stop weaponizing its nuclear program. From our perspective, all options stink.
Longer Ray Takeyh after the break. [Crooked Timber]
6:16:53 AM
|
|
Bush meant Iran?. That's it. In the first half of his speech, I suspect, Bush was clearly speaking about Iran, without naming it. And this is very worrying. Given the new information disclosed by Seymore Hersh about the U.S. already starting covert action inside Iran, I have no doubt he will step up pressure on Iran in his state of union speech. But, as an Iranian, I have to say who doesn't like peace and freedom? But what Bush has brought Iraq is not -- and will probably not -- be freedom and peace. So if I was sure that by invading Iran,... [Editor: Myself (English)]
6:16:42 AM
|
|
Righting Copyright: Fair Use and "Digital Environmentalism" (Donna Wentworth).
The always eloquent Robert Boynton has written the book review to end all book reviews -- at least for copyfighters. It's an in-depth look at four books on the contemporary movement to restore consitutional balance to copyright:
Boynton goes well beyond typical book review territory, offering a compelling synthesis of perspectives as well as an analysis of the current state of play in the copyfight:
The cultural prong of digital environmentalism has had somewhat more success. Represented by writers like Bollier, Vaidhyanathan ..., Kembrew McLeod ..., and others, they all advocate the path of activism and resistance. Working within existing law, they propose that artists and authors aggressively exercise their intellectual property rights in the face of threats and legal challenges from overbearing copyright holders. Bollier, for one, perceives the work of digital environmentalists as benefiting from the momentum generated by legal challenges like Lessig's. "Acts of civil disobedience against the antisocial, personally intrusive claims of copyright law have only grown since the Eldred ruling, in part because of it," he writes. A terrific, involving read, regardless of whether you've read or plan to read the books. Bravo.
[Copyfight]
6:13:10 AM
|
|
Larry Summers, women, and jobs in math and science.
To judge from the latest nytimes.com it seems that Larry Summers, the president of Harvard, is still getting beaten up for saying that women might not be genetically adapted as well as men for careers in math and science. None of the news articles go into the question of whether these are good enough careers that anyone should care about the racial or sexual composition of people in them. More than half of medical students are women. Every graduating MD will get a job and the average salaries in the career range from $150,000 to $300,000+ depending on specialty. A new math or science PhD will compete with 700 other applicants for one job, usually paying less than $50,000 per year. Most of them could have made far more money and had far more job security if they'd gotten a bachelor's in education at the state teacher's college and, at age 22, taken a job as a schoolteacher in a public school.
A lot more men than women choose to do seemingly irrational things such as become petty criminals, fly homebuilt helicopters, play video games, and keep tropical fish as pets (98 percent of the attendees at the American Cichlid Association convention that I last attended were male). Should we be surprised that it is mostly men who spend 10 years banging their heads against an equation-filled blackboard in hopes of landing a $35,000/year post-doc job? [Philip Greenspun Weblog]
6:09:37 AM
|
|
Everything is a service.
Indeed everything can be seen as delivering a service, even the products that you use normally. To prove this point have a look at this chair as reported on BoingBoing. It shows a seat with spikes on the seating area. These spikes retract when you buy a license, i.e. buy the right for a seating service. It is wat BoingBoing calls rentalware.
[Blueblog]
6:07:06 AM
|
|
Meteor Impact Theory Takes a Hit. A second team of scientists says it cannot find evidence to support the hypothesis that a meteorite slammed into Earth 250 million years ago, wiping out the majority of life. But proponents of the impact theory aren't budging. By Amit Asaravala. [Wired News]
6:04:30 AM
|
|
The Surveillance Society. For years, little-known companies have collected data on Americans' purchasing habits. Now Washington Post reporter Robert O'Harrow has shown that those companies are collecting other information like criminal records and sharing it with government agencies. [WNYC New York Public Radio]
6:02:16 AM
|
|
|
