Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Tenure economics. [Leiter Reports: Guest-Bloggers Jason & Marcus Stanley, Nov. 28 to Dec. 4] Concise summary. 9:00:59 PM    comment []

Overhaul of the General Public License. This article in the IHT says "the rules governing the use of most free software programs will be revised for the first time in 15 years,in an open process that begins on Wednesday.Free software,once regarded as a tiny counterculture in computing,has become a mainstream technology in recent years,led by the rising popularity of programs like the Linux operating system.Industry analysts estimate that the value of hardware and software that uses the Linux operating system is $40 billion.And Linux has become a competitive alternative to Microsoft's Windows, especially in corporate data centers.So the overhaul of the General Public License,which covers Linux and many other free software programs,is an issue of greater interest today than before".Further,"a document that describes the principles and timeline for updating the GPL,as well as the process for public comment and resolving issues,will be posted Wednesday on the Web, www.gplv3.fsf.org.A first draft will be presented at a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Jan. 16 and 17.A second draft is expected by summer. If a third draft is required, it should be completed by the fall of 2006". Looking to the future: Rules governing free software face overhaul [Smart Mobs] 8:55:49 PM    comment []

Best Books of 2005: Nonfiction. Hints for holiday shopping: the Monitor's favorite books of the year. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 8:55:23 PM    comment []

Mathematics of surprise. Scientists have modeled surprise in the form of a mathematical theory. The computational model is capable of predicting what stimuli an individual will pay attention to amidst the flood of sensory of data. In their experiments, the researchers from the University of Southern California and UC Irvine's Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics used their theory to identify the most "surprising" features in a video. Then, they observed the eye movements of humans watching the same video. Apparently, the subjects' responses matched the predictions of the computational model. According to the scientists, "efficient and rapid attentional allocation is key to predation, escape, and mating -- in short, to survival." Link [Boing Boing] 8:54:45 PM    comment []

FT.com / Home UK - An energetic guide for a 21st-century journey. This quote is flat: From an interview with Thomas Friedman in the Financial Times: "And what's even more interesting to me is: who invented podcasting? Nobody. It was an application that just emerged from the network." One of the "initial developers" of podcasting responds: "Analogously, who wrote Tom Friedman's latest book? No one, it just popped off the printing press." (Rexblog flashback, 10/11/2004: "Marconi personally taught me how to podcast") [rexblog: Rex Hammock's Weblog] 8:54:20 PM    comment []

Wireless New Orleans. "Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans will deploy the first municipally owned wireless internet system in the United States that will be free for all users",AsiaMedia reports."The move is a bid to jump-start recovery by making living and doing business in the city as attractive as possible.The system,which Mayor Ray Nagin was scheduled to announce at a news conference last night,will also be used in law enforcement and for an array of city government functions,such as speeding the approval of building permits.The system,which uses devices mounted on streetlights to provide the wireless coverage,is scheduled to be operational today in the central business district and the French Quarter and will be expanded over time". US:@ New Orleans,no wires attached [Smart Mobs] 8:53:37 PM    comment []

Sony knew about rootkits 28 days before the story broke. [Boing Boing] 8:53:18 PM    comment []

The nose cells that may help the paralysed walk again. UK: Surgeons in London to try revolutionary stem cell technique on crash victims. [Guardian Unlimited] 8:47:55 PM    comment []

Three from BNA News: TOKYO MAN ARRESTED FOR POSTING FALSE INVASION STORY Japanese police have arrested a former computer programmer for allegedly publishing a fabricated news article on a fake Yahoo Japan new Web site saying China had invaded the Japanese island of Okinawa. The Web site was accessed 66,000 times until it was taken down on Oct. 19. FTC RELEASES SPAM FILTER STUDY An FTC study finds that e-mail spammers are aggressive as ever but Internet providers are getting better at blocking junk messages before they reach users' inboxes. The FTC found that spammers continue to scrape e-mail addresses from the Web using automated programs that look for the telltale "@" sign. But up to 96 percent of those messages were blocked by the two Web-based e-mail providers used by the FTC in its test. Report (PDF) Coverage NC JUDGE DISMISSES DIEBOLD BID FOR ELECTION EXEMPTIONS A North Carolina judge has told Diebold Election Systems that the e-voting company must comply with tough North Carolina election law and dismissed the company's case seeking broad exemptions from the law. Earlier this month Diebold obtained a broad temporary restraining order that allowed it to evade key transparency requirements without criminal or civil liability. 10:04:53 AM    comment []