Tuesday, March 01, 2005

My Most Imaginary Friend. If you’re a good Quinean, you want to believe the following two theses. The things that best scientific theory quantifies over exist Among the things that exist, there do not exist spooks or souls or certainly not imaginary friends So it would be a little troubling if best scientific theory started quantifying over imaginary friends. But some say that’s what will happen. The Quineans will have to find some way to paraphrase away the imaginary friends without paraphrasing away the benefits, should the benefits be genuine! [Thoughts Arguments and Rants] 10:49:08 PM    comment []

Venture Capital Speaks (Donna Wentworth). Venture capital association brief [PDF] in MGM v. Grokster: It is critical to understand that the threat of secondary liability from copyright suits is qualitatively different from most other sorts of business risk that investors can insure against or built into their risk calculations. The mandatory mechanism of statutory damages -- designed to discourage direct infringement -- has crushing implications for vendors of multi-purpose technologies, where damages from unforeseen users can quickly mount in the millions and even billions of dollars. ...Grokster and StreamCast are just stalking horses for the real targets of the Motion Picture Studios and the Recording Companies. They want to force fundamental, and hugely expensive, changes in the software and hardware that constitutes the Internet, by imposing an obligation on providers to design and engineer their systems to block unauthorized file sharing. Such an open-ended standard of liabiltiy would be a proverbial Pandora's box." Via Fred von Lohmann @ Deep Links. [Copyfight] 10:48:46 PM    comment []

Who Am I?. The "mind" and "self" were formerly the domain of philosophers and priests. Today, it's neurologists who are asking the big questions. [WNYC New York Public Radio] 7:11:57 PM    comment []

Podcasting 101: Audio, Slides, and Transcripts. I gave a presentation today at Northern Voice about Podcasting 101 and it was great to meet up with everyone doing such great podcasts and writing.       Some of you have emailed me for the slides of the presentation, so I've posted them here. Apologies to Firefox folks; it seems the rendering is wonky on the slides, so maybe flip into IE just for these.        The audio of my session is released into the Creative Commons under a Non-Commercial, Attribution licence.       You can now view the slides, read a rough transcript, or download the session audio. Photo credits: KK+ and Karlcow [unmediated] 7:11:31 PM    comment []

Juvenile death penalty abolished. In a seminal 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court strikes down capital punishment for those who commit crimes under age 18. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 7:10:59 PM    comment []

Iran's nuclear smokescreen. Iran forks over evidence of its nuclear technology acquisitions, but won't let the IAEA inspect certain sites or agree to stop enriching uranium. [Salon.com] 7:10:10 PM    comment []

U.N. Says Iran Blocked Investigation of Nuclear Program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog listed several instances where Iran has blocked investigation of its nuclear development program or failed to provide information sought by the agency. By RICHARD BERNSTEIN. [NYT > International] 7:09:57 PM    comment []

IAEA looks at Iran's nuclear past. ElBaradei asks Iran to provide more information about past dealings with nuclear smuggling ring: what news websites around the world are reporting. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 6:14:41 AM    comment []

Stress. Stanford University neurologist (and part-time "baboonologist") Dr. Robert Sapolsky takes us through what happens on our insides when we stand in the wrong line at the supermarket and offers a few coping strategies. [WNYC New York Public Radio] 6:05:47 AM    comment []

Department-store landmarks give way in big merger. This week's $11 billion linkup between Federated and May Department Stores is symbolic of the changes in Americans' buying habits. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 6:05:36 AM    comment []

U.N. Nuclear Chief Says Iran Must Cooperate. The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran must be more forthcoming with inspectors looking into its nuclear program. [NYT > International] 6:02:55 AM    comment []

Copyrights Keep TV Shows off DVD. WKRP in Cincinnati rocked America's TV screens when it was on the air, but it will probably never be released on DVD because of prohibitive music-licensing fees. It's not alone. By Katie Dean. [Wired News] 5:57:23 AM    comment []

Little Advance Is Seen in Ivies' Hiring of Minorities and Women. In 2003, Ivy League campuses hired 433 professors into tenure-track jobs. But only 14 were black and 8 were Hispanic, and women received 150 jobs, according to a report. By KAREN W. ARENSON. [NYT > Education] 5:57:04 AM    comment []