spin the cat

Windows 8 on ARM - There are no apps behind the curtain (desktop)

2012-02-10T20:10:00.001-05:00

Office will run on the desktop, but nothing else. They should have made them run in the Metro UI even if they aren't Metro apps. This just looks bad. [Link]

Ending months of speculation on the matter, Microsoft has revealed that Windows 8 on ARM will indeed contain a desktop—and that desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote will all be pre-installed.
Microsoft insists that the desktop holds real value, and that it makes Windows less valuable to users if it was missing (a view we're sympathetic to). To that end, Windows 8 on ARM ("WOA") will have a desktop, with a taskbar, that includes Explorer, most of the current desktop utilities that ship with Windows (though not all, and Microsoft hasn't said what won't be included), and supports applications. All WOA machines will support USB and Bluetooth mice and keyboards, so users who want to will be able to use the desktop in a traditional way.
To prove the point, the company has produced a video showing the desktop running on an ARM system. The video gives a first look at Office 15, and though we don't see much of it, it appears to be a Metro-esque evolution of Office 2010: it still uses the ribbon, though it's now collapsed by default, and the aesthetic is much flatter and simpler (and so it unfortunately doesn't match the conventional Aero styling of Explorer's ribbon).
But though it looks the same as the traditional desktop, it has one major difference: it won't run any old application. Microsoft has long said that WOA will not include an x86 emulator, so legacy applications would never run directly on the platform, but there was always the possibility that existing desktop applications could be recompiled. That option is now unambiguously eliminated, with Microsoft saying "WOA does not support running, emulating, or porting existing x86/64 desktop apps." Office is a special, unique case. All third-party applications for WOA will be Metro applications delivered via the Windows Store, and must meet the restrictions imposed on those applications.

Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover

2012-02-10T19:46:00.001-05:00

Comic miniseries coming soon. [Link]

Bleeding Cool has squirrelled out news of an upcoming crossover that might send certain minds reeling. That in May, IDW are to publish a Doctor Who/Star Trek: The Next Generation crossover series. Featuring The Doctor, Rory, Amy, Captain Picard, Worf, Data, Geordie LaForge, Deanna Troy, Will Riker and the rest. And that this art, featuring the Doctor, Rory and Amy on the bridge of the Enterprise is a cover that will be used in the series.
Doctor Who has never engaged in any such officially sanctioned crossover outside of the Doctor Who universe before. The closest was Dimensions In Time, a much derided charity telethon show which featured characters from the BBC soap operaEastenders. Then there was Death’s Head who kinda popped in and out. Star Trek has also seen comic book crossovers with X-Men and the Legion Of Superheroes. But this is the first time that two such major competing TV sci-fi franchises have been allowed to merge in any way before.

Space:1999 to be remade as Space: 2099

2012-02-10T19:41:00.002-05:00

Launch Eagles! [Link]

HDFilms president Jace Hall here called science fiction: "A powerful format capable of visualizing the human condition in thought-provoking ways."

Hall's clearly sat through Battlestar Galactica.

Hall continued: While we are indeed re-imagining the franchise and bringing something new and relevant to today's audiences... I feel strongly that some of the overall tones set by the original Space: 1999 television show represent an exciting platform to explore possibilities."

Space: 1999 was the work of the Andersons, the pair behind the wire-controller puppetry ofThunderbirds, Stingray, Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and live actioner UFO.

Space: 1999 came in the hunt for a successor to UFO and ran for just two seasons between 1975 and 1977. It told the story of boffins working on Moonbase Alpha who were propelled into fantastic adventures beyond imagination after a massive nuclear explosion on the moon on 13 September 1999 sent our little satellite planet into deep space.

The programme introduced us the graceful Doctor Helena Russell, the cranially gifted Professor Victor Bergman, shape-shifter and day-saver Maya, plucky chief pilot and Ozzie Alan Carter, and – yes – Commander John Koenig played by actor Martin Landau, who no matter how many grown-up roles he takes with Woody Allen or Tim Burton will, forever, be John Koenig.

Stylistically, Space: 1999 was of the 1970s with its funky-disco opener that previewed each week's episode. It was stuffed with hero shots, explosions, alien encounters and a re-cap of that fateful nuclear blast. It set hairs tingling on the backs of pre-teen necks setting down for some pure space action.

It was also a chip of the black obelisk of that seminal sci-fi film of that era, 2001: A Space Odyssey, from the colon in the name, to the Luna-bleached exterior shots of Moonbase Alpha, and, ahem, "computers" that served as blinking and chundering background props and did little actual computing. The boffins' flared, cream uniforms with obligatory colour flashes that denoted function were a firm nod to that other great influence of the era: Star Trek.

Space has come along way since 1975: we've jettisoned flares and story lines that worked around and avoided computers. And an update is overdue. Let's just hope that the Eagles and the staple guns make the cut.

George Lucas: Han never shot first

2012-02-09T22:32:00.001-05:00

You were just confused. You know George, the more you try to "fix" Star Wars to make it "better", the more obvious it is that you never understood it at all. [Link]

As it turns out, those who saw that controversial edit as a fundamental betrayal of the character—changing Han Solo from a shrewd, streetwise bad-ass to a guy who got really lucky that Greedo is such a lousy shot; rendering his evolution from amoral antihero to full-blown hero less meaningful, etc. —well, they were just confused all along, because Lucas now says Han never shot first:

The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.

Indeed, it was only the audience’s own bloodlust that led them astray and left them so confused for so many years—a bloodlust that festered into their ravenous need to set jaws upon George Lucas every time he tries to make his work a little more innocent and magical. Fortunately, all it took was a wider shot and a grafted-on cartoon laser beam to save future generations from wandering down that same dark path, which leads only to anger, hatred, and in forthcoming editions, a nice periwinkle garden.

Don't go into diabetic shock in Nevada

2012-02-09T18:45:00.002-05:00

You may get beaten up by cops mistaking his condition for drunkness. [Link]

A Nevada city will pay a diabetic man $158,500 after police beat him while he was in diabetic shock, thinking he was a drunken driver.

The Henderson, Nev., city council approved the settlement on Tuesday for the physical and emotional distress endured in late 2010 by the man, who asked not to be identified.

“It’s alarming and it’s egregious,” the man’s attorney, Todd Moody, told ABC 13 Action News. “It will make you a little sick to your stomach watching it.”

The incident was caught by the dash cam of a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper present during the incident, which began as a chase in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2010. Police suspected the man was driving drunk.

It was not clear why the man led police on a chase.

The video showed that once the car was pulled over, police officers swarmed the driver and began kicking him.

“Stop resisting motherf****r. Stop resisting motherf****r,” an officer yelled as the man lay on the ground.

However, the man was not drunk – he was suffering a diabetic episode. Insulin shock can mimic the symptoms of intoxication.

Even if he was drunk, that is egregious behavior.

Police officer chases self

2012-02-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

You can't make this stuff up. [Link]

The junior officer, who has not been named, was monitoring an area hit by a series of burglaries in an unnamed market town in the country’s south.

As the probationary officer from Sussex Police searched for suspects, the camera operator radioed that he had seen someone “acting suspiciously” in the area.

But he failed to realise that it was actually the plain-clothed officer he was watching on the screen, according to details leaked to an industry magazine.

The operator directed the officer, who was on foot patrol, as he followed the "suspect" on camera last month, telling his colleague on the ground that he was "hot on his heels".

The officer spent around 20 minutes giving chase before a sergeant came into the CCTV control room, recognised the “suspect” and laughed hysterically at the mistake.

Reducing travel costs to space

2012-02-09T11:34:00.002-05:00

Reusability and quick turnaround are key. [Link]

[T]here are two primary ways to recover a rocket part: It can either fly back to a recovery location with wings (as the shuttle did) or return under rocket power. Wings add structural weight but are reasonably reliable, while the rocket approach is versatile but adds weight because of the extra propellant that must be carried to fly back. Plus, there’s a risk of the rocket engines not restarting, or shutting down permanently.

Despite the dangers, Musk is clearly a fan of the rocket-powered approach. He told PM that SpaceX has come up with a solution to make both the lower and upper stages of the Falcon 9 reusable. (The Dragon capsule that will fly atop the rocket has already demonstrated that it can be recovered in the ocean after it splash-lands with a parachute, though SpaceX is building vertical-landing capability into that as well.)

The key, at least for the first stage, is the difference in speed. "It really comes down to what the staging Mach number would be," Musk says, referencing the speed the rocket would be traveling at separation. "For an expendable Falcon 9 rocket, that is around Mach 10. For a reusable Falcon 9, it is around Mach 6, depending on the mission." For the reusable version, the rocket must be traveling at a slower speed at separation because the burn must end early, preserving enough propellant to let the rocket fly back and land vertically. This also makes recovery easier because entry velocities are slower.

However, the slower speed also means that the upper stage of the Falcon rocket must supply more of the velocity needed to get to orbit, and that significantly reduces how much payload the rocket can lift into orbit. "The payload penalty for full and fast reusability versus an expendable version is roughly 40 percent," Musk says. "[But] propellant cost is less than 0.4 percent of the total flight cost. Even taking into account the payload reduction for reusability, the improvement is therefore theoretically over a hundred times."

A hundred times is an incredible gain. It would drop cost for Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket—a scaled-up version of the Falcon 9 that’s currently rated at $1000 per pound to orbit—to just $10. "That, however, requires a very high flight rate, just like aircraft," Musk says. "At a low flight rate, the improvement is still probably around 50 percent. For Falcon Heavy, that would mean a price per pound to orbit of less than $500." Falcon Heavy is particularly amenable to reuse of the first stage—the two outer cores in particular, because they separate at a much lower velocity than the center one, being dropped off early in the flight.

Large data requests with WCF

2012-02-08T16:59:00.002-05:00

Large requests to or from a WCF service can fail because of limitations set in the web.config of the service.

If you get either of the following errors:

An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
HTTP 400 error

when sending or receiving a large amount of data, but it works fine on smaller amounts of data try making these changes in the web.config:

xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <configuration>    <system.web>      <httpRuntime maxRequestLength="2147483647"/>    system.web>    <system.serviceModel>      <behaviors>        <serviceBehaviors>          <behavior>            <dataContractSerializer maxItemsInObjectGraph="2147483647"/>          behavior>        serviceBehaviors>      behaviors>      <bindings>        <basicHttpBinding>          <binding name="BasicHttpBinding_ServiceName"
          closeTimeout="00:10:00" openTimeout="00:10:00"
          receiveTimeout="00:10:00" sendTimeout="00:10:00"
          allowCookies="false" bypassProxyOnLocal="false"          hostNameComparisonMode="StrongWildcard"
          maxBufferSize="2147483647" maxBufferPoolSize="2147483647"          maxReceivedMessageSize="2147483647" messageEncoding="Text"
          textEncoding="utf-8" transferMode="Buffered"
          useDefaultWebProxy="true">            <readerQuotas maxDepth="32"
            maxStringContentLength="2147483647"
            maxArrayLength="2147483647"
            maxBytesPerRead="2147483647"            maxNameTableCharCount="16384" />           <security mode="None">             <transport clientCredentialType="None" proxyCredentialType="None" realm="" />              <message clientCredentialType="UserName" algorithmSuite="Default" />            security>          binding>       basicHttpBinding>     bindings>      <protocolMapping>        <add scheme="http" binding="basicHttpBinding"
        bindingConfiguration="BasicHttpBinding_ServiceName "/>      protocolMapping>   system.serviceModel> configuration>

The only criminal case ever tried in front of the US Supreme Court

2012-02-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

Fascinating and horrifying at the same time. [Link]

The case was United States v. Shipp. There were nine defendants, all charged with contempt of court—contempt of the Supreme Court, that is. The U.S. attorney general had filed the charges against them directly with the court, thus giving it original jurisdiction in the matter. The petition alleged that the defendants and other people engaged in actions “with the intent to show their contempt and disregard for the orders of this honorable court ... and for the purpose of preventing Ed Johnson from exercising and enjoying a right secured to him by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

It was a full-blown trial. There were special prosecutors, dozens of witnesses and a special master assigned to take the evidence. The trial record exceeded 2,200 pages. Each side was given a full day of oral argument before the justices.

Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller, who normally encouraged his colleagues to write the court’s opinions, decided that the importance of this case demanded that he take on the responsibility. Before reading the opinion that accompanied their verdict, Fuller—in his typically soft, almost inaudible voice —noted to a packed courtroom that the Supreme Court had entered new territory for which there was no precedent.

A hundred years later, United States v. Shipp has faded into the haze of precedent and history, but legal historians say its impact remains undiminished. Shipp has been cited as the genesis of federal habeas corpus actions in state criminal cases. The case also was a pivotal turning point in asserting the importance of the rule of law and the need for an independent judiciary.

“In countries all over the world, the United States is helping develop legal systems similar to ours,” says Thomas E. Baker, a constitutional law professor at the Florida International University College of Law in Miami. “But the one thing that has been most difficult to teach is respect for the law. We had to learn it the hard way. There is no better example, there is no clearer symbolic precedent of establishing and enforcing the rule of law than this case.”

But despite its legal importance, Shipp provided the climax to an amazing story involving a cast of memorable characters—perhaps most of all two unknown African-American lawyers who, because of their tenacity and bravery, changed the U.S. justice system. As a reward for their efforts, those two lawyers saw their client murdered, their practices destroyed, their families threatened and their homes burned to the ground. Fearing for their lives, they never returned to their hometown after attending the Supreme Court hearing in Washington, D.C., on that spring day in 1909.

Pacifism in Video Games

2012-02-07T08:55:00.003-05:00

Gamers seeking a challenge go non-violent because violence is too easy. There's a moral there somewhere. [Link]

Killing is easy in the moral vacuum of videogames. So when Daniel Mullins needed a challenge, he gave peace a chance.

Mr. Mullins, 19, is the creator of "Felix the Peaceful Monk"—his character in a videogame called "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." The game gives players wide latitude over their on-screen characters' appearance and actions. Felix, who is half man, half cat, has become a small-time Internet celebrity for his steadfast refusal to kill.

In videogame excerpts Mr. Mullins has posted on YouTube, Felix roams an icy fantasy world doing things like soothing angry wolves with magic. In one video, he explains how to turn away threatening skeletons, noting Felix won't even harm the undead. And when an assassin tried to gut Felix with a knife? While most players have swords and arrows for would-be hit men, Mr. Mullins hit his with a calm spell.

"Apparently someone wants me dead. But that doesn't mean [the assassin] deserves to die," Mr. Mullins explains.

Videogames have long been assailed for their violent themes and gruesome imagery. But a small slice of players has embraced a new strategy: not killing. They are imparting real-world morals on their virtual-world characters and completing entire games on a "pacifist run"—the term for beating a blood-and-guts adventure without drawing any blood.

The cool restraint of pacifism can bring bragging rights and even a taste of online fame. Videogame enthusiasts routinely post videos of their accomplishments on YouTube.

Kotaku, a videogame blog, has done posts on a handful of pacifists, including one who conquered the post-apocalyptic world of "Fallout: New Vegas" without taking a single virtual life. A number of violent videogames award virtual "trophies" to anyone who can complete the game without killing.

Stephen Totilo, Kotaku's editor in chief, says videogame pacifism isn't usually a moral decision but rather "an urge to break the rules"—and dial up the difficulty of the game. "One of the most interesting challenges is to get through the game without killing," he says.

I think the best part of today's more sophisticated games is the option to not kill. The idea that all problems do not have to have violent solutions is a good one.

Real Life 'At the Mountains of Madness'

2012-02-03T09:58:00.002-05:00

Russian scientists drilling into antarctic lake that has been untouched for 20 million years. Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong. They haven't been heard from in a week. This is the plot of a horror film. [Link]

The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet's surface. The lake hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.

Priscu said there was no way to get in touch with the team -- and the already cold weather is set to plunge, as Antarctica's summer season ends and winter sets in.

"Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station," he said. "I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week."

The team's disappearance could not come at a worse time: They are about 40 feet from their goal of reaching the body of water, Priscu explained, a goal that the team was unable to meet as they raced the coming winter exactly one year ago.

When the winter arrives in the next few weeks, the temperature can get twice as freezing. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -89.4 degrees Celsius (-129 degrees Fahrenheit).

If the team does reach the lake water, they will bring its water up through the hole and let it freeze there over the winter. The following year they will be able to start research on what they find, Priscu explained.

While there are only a few researchers actually working at the lake, scientists around the globe have been waiting with baited breath to see what the Russian's unearth this weekend.

"We are terribly interested in what they find," Alan Rodger, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, told FoxNews.com last year. "This is a lake that we don't think has been exposed for 15 million years. Therefore, if there is life there, we're going to have so many questions. How has it evolved over those years, how has it survived, what does it look like? Won't it be exciting to find something completely new on Planet Earth?"

Kim Jong Un Looking at Things

2012-02-02T11:02:00.001-05:00

Following in the footsteps of his father. [Link]

Like father, like son. Since the recent death of Kim Jong Il, North Korean state-run media has been releasing a series of images of the "Great Successor," Kim Jong Un, visiting schools, factories, and military facilities. These visits, which were frequently publicized by his father and his grandfather Kim Il Sung, are called "field guidance" trips -- opportunities for the supreme leader to give on-the-spot advice. For decades, the North Korean myth-making machine endowed Kim Jong Il with amazing wisdom, prowess, and intelligence, and it continues that tradition now with his son, touting him as a marksman, poet, economic genius, and wise military strategist. Little is actually known about Kim Jong Un. Even his age remains in doubt -- he may be 28, 29, or 30. Based on the state-released photos collected here, he is following closely in his father's footsteps, albeit with a touch more visible affection.

Before Watchmen

2012-02-01T11:06:00.000-05:00

Oh, this will not end well. [Link]

This summer, DC Entertainment will publish all-new stories expanding on the acclaimed WATCHMEN universe. As highly anticipated as they are controversial, the seven inter-connected prequel mini-series will build on the foundation of the original WATCHMEN, the bestselling graphic novel of all time. BEFORE WATCHMEN will be the collective banner for all seven titles, from DC Comics.

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

Stepping up to the challenge is a group of the comic book industry’s most iconoclastic writers and artists – including Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS), Lee Bermejo (JOKER), Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL), Darwyn Cooke (JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER), John Higgins (WATCHMEN), Adam Hughes (CATWOMAN), J.G. Jones (FINAL CRISIS), Andy Kubert (FLASHPOINT), Joe Kubert (SGT. ROCK), Jae Lee (BATMAN: JEKYLL AND HYDE), J. Michael Straczynski (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE) and Len Wein (SWAMP THING).

BEFORE WATCHMEN includes:

RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo

MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones

DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes

NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert

OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee

SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins. There will also be a single issue, BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a CRIMSON CORSAIR story by Wein and Higgins.

“The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire,” said Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN co-creator and original series artist.

“Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction,” said DiDio and Lee. “Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant.”

DC has the right to do this, but should they?

Reality Show Venn Diagram

2012-02-01T08:55:00.001-05:00

Wow. That is a lot of cake, swamp and wars in Alaska. [Link]

It's not your imagination — there really are that many reality shows about swamps, weddings, Louisiana, and cake. And here's visual proof: The following Venn diagram maps the overlapping relationships between reality shows. Included on this chart are only shows that aired in 2011, 2012, or are scheduled for or are in development for this season (and in a few rare instances, there are notes on reality-TV niches not yet filled). The reality-TV universe is even more repetitive and connected than you could have imagined.
Two small caveats: Wedding Cake Wars ended in 2009 but was too perfect a fit not to include, and Bear Swamp Recovery is not set in a swamp, it's merely named for one.

The ultimate show should be set in Alaska or Texas and involve pawning or repoing wedding cakes in the swamp.

Occupy Providence protests Catholic Schoolgirls by throwing condoms at them

2012-01-31T09:47:00.001-05:00

So does this mean the 1% are Catholic Schoolgirls? Catholic Schoolgirls are responsible for high student loans? Catholic Schoolgirls are greedy, fat-cat bankers? [Link]

Because nothing says speaking truth to power like standing up to little girls. Right?

From LifeSiteNews…

PROVIDENCE, RI, January 30, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street movement threw condoms on Catholic schoolgirls, refused to allow a Catholic priest to give a closing prayer, and shouted down a pro-life speaker at a Rhode Island right to life rally on Thursday, according to its organizer. The event marked the third time protesters associated with the movement have disrupted a pro-life meeting in a week.

About two-dozen members of Occupy Providence hiked from Burnside Park to the 39th Annual Pro-Life State House Rally organized by the Rhode Island State Right to Life Committee on Thursday.

Classy… BTW, Aren’t these folks always saying they’re all about free speech? How exactly does shouting other people down qualify as a defense of free speech?

UPDATE I: As Glenn Reynolds points out, if you threw bacon at Muslims you’d be a racist.

I am pro choice and I am appalled at this. The more the Occupy crowd hangs around, the more reprehensible they appear. I do not think they get that.

Time for an upgrade to Liberalism 5.0

2012-01-30T14:27:00.003-05:00

First step, figure out what it is. Long and thoughtful piece by Walter Russell Mead. [Link]

Now it has happened again. The success of our institutions and ideas has so changed the world that they don’t work any more. We cannot turn back the clock, nor should we try. America’s job is to boldly go where none have gone before, not to consume our energies in vain attempts to recreate the glories of an unattainable past. We need to do for our times and circumstances what other Americans have done before us: Recast classic Anglo-American liberal thought, still the cultural and moral foundation of American life and the source of the commonsense reasoning that guides most Americans as they evaluate policy ideas and party programs, in ways that address the challenges before us.

For those blue Democrats clinging to liberalism 4.1, this is a time of doom and gloom. For those red Republicans longing for a return to liberalism 3.0, it is a time of angry nostalgia: Ron Paul making a stump speech. This should be a time of adventure, innovation and creativity in the building of liberalism 5.0. America is ready for an upgrade to a new and higher level; indeed, we are overdue for a project that can capture the best energies of our rising generations, those who will lead the United States and the world to new and richer ways of living that will make the “advanced” societies of the 20th century look primitive, backward and unfulfilled.

We’ve wasted too many years arguing over how to retrieve the irretrievable; can we please now get on with the actual business of this great, liberal, unapologetically forward-looking nation?

Guilt by Association

2012-01-30T10:47:00.001-05:00

If you are a Republican and not a Democrat. A tale of two (former) staffers. [Link]

Last week two political operatives were arrested in separate incidents, one Democrat and one Republican. It certainly isn't news that political operatives sometimes break the law, but how the different incidents were reported is typical of how the Old Media establishment uses guilt by association to tar Republicans but rarely does the same thing to take swipes at Democrats.

The similarity in the two stories is that both of the accused are former staffers of high profile politicians. The Democrat was an Obama campaign staffer while the Republican was a staffer of the Republican Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. Neither currently works for those high profile pols, but only the Republican was linked to his former boss. The Democrat's link to Obama was mostly ignored by the media.

The Democrat:

So, how was Edwards' arrest reported? For one thing, it was hard to find Edwards' Democrat affiliation and his past role as a top Obama campaign staffer in stories of this incident.

KCCI TV Channel 8 (Des Moines) does not bother to note the perp's Democrat ties at all.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald and the Des Moines Register both published an AP report that simply calls Edwards a "Des Moines man accused of ID theft." Also no mention of his Democrat Party ties.

Finally, Eastern Iowa News blog reports Edwards Democrat ties only at the very end of its story.

It is interesting to note that the story of the criminal action by this former Obama staffer is not easy to find. Few Old Media outlets bothered to cover it.

The Republican:

So, how did the Old Media handle this tale of criminality? Unsurprisingly, Russell's ties to Walker and his party affiliation were either in the headline or the very first paragraph, if not both. And there were dozens of stories posted on this incident, too.

The New York Times slammed Walker with guilt by association in its headline and first paragraph.

Reuters did the same thing as the NYT.

The Associated Press follows suit by mentioning Walker in the headline and the first paragraph.

Green Bay’s NBC affiliate also features Walker in the headline, etc.

In a companion story, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also prominently features the perp’s party affiliation.

Politico pulls the same stunt as the others.

There are more stories than these few, of course. In fact, there are far more stories about this former Walker aide than there are about the Obama operative. Politico, for instance, never reported on the Democrat criminal. Apparently the news of the criminal actions of a former staffer for a mere governor is far bigger news than that of a former staffer of the President of the United States.

Lost in the computer

2012-01-27T16:45:00.000-05:00

Ghost in the machine. [Link]

Some time ago, the editors here at TNW put out a post that was a collation of our first computing experiences. Given the age range of our staff, it was quite the list. However, once the post was out, a piece of email landed in my inbox that contained stories that not only dealt with a reader’s first interactions with a computer, but also with some of the first computers.

He told me a number of vignettes that we’ll get to in a moment, but first, the story of a friend of the man who got lost inside a computer.

The story was mentioned only in passing during our first correspondence, but I was put in touch with the man in question, and his story is beyond hilarious. Think back to the 1950s, when computers were built of vacuum tubes, and you have the right time frame. This is his story, condensed slightly:

In 1950, I was 10 years old, visiting the Michigan State University campus. The computer was on the ground floor, turned off, with the door open. It was perhaps half the size of a gym, with many rows of cabinets taller than me. I wandered up and down the rows looking at the vacuum tubes until I got bored. By then I couldn’t see the door, and didn’t remember how to get back out. I was literally “lost in the computer”. So I continued wandering, eventually found the open door back out, and left.

Sending the Message

2012-01-27T11:19:00.002-05:00

Student suspended after taking photo of sleeping substitute teacher. Yes, phones are not allowed to be used in class but this seems more to be punishment for embarrassing the school then about using the phone in class. so the message is this: do not embarrass those in authority above you. [Link]

A school faculty member saw the photograph on a social media website and alerted the principal at Mustang Mid-High School, a Mustang School District spokeswoman said. School officials met Friday about the matter.

The photograph shows a closed-eyed man reclining behind a classroom desk. He was apparently substituting for a biology teacher at the school. It's not clear if the photograph was taken during class time.

Cellphones are allowed on school grounds, but cannot be used during class, school officials said.

“We understand the importance of having these devices,” Mustang School District spokeswoman Mary Leaver said. “But we have to maintain a learning environment.”

Family members of the suspended student confirmed the suspension, but declined comment.

Officials wouldn't disclose the names of students they think might be involved in taking the picture and posting it on the Internet. They declined to provide further information on the substitute teacher.

Leaver said administrators are investigating the actions of the substitute and would not comment further, calling it a personnel issue. Leaver said disciplinary action against students is at the discretion of the principal and not discussed publicly.

Mini protesters a big problem in Siberia

2012-01-27T10:47:00.001-05:00

Toys as protest. [Link]

Russian police don't take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they're 5cm high and made of plastic.

Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: "I'm for clean elections" and "A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin".

"Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events – using toys with placards at mini-protests," Andrei Mulintsev, the city's deputy police chief, said at a press conference this week, according to local media. "In our opinion, this is still an unsanctioned public event."

Activists set up the display after authorities repeatedly rejected their request to hold a sanctioned demonstration of the kind held in Moscow to protest disputed parliamentary elections results and Vladimir Putin's expected return to the presidency in a March vote.

Passersby admired the display with giggles, but police took it more seriously, examining its details and writing down each placard.

"The authorities' attempt to limit citizens' rights to express their position has become absurd," said Lyudmila Alexandrova, a 26-year-old graduate student and protest organiser. "We wanted to hyperbolise this attempt and show the absurdity and farce of officials' struggle with their own people."

Reasons for long term habitation of the Moon

2012-01-26T20:26:00.001-05:00

181 reasons from NASA. [Link PDF]

Create a strategy for permanently transferring government lunar assets, such as physical facilities, associated infrastructure, and the
related operational considerations (physical, logistical, legal transfer), to the private sector. As these assets are transferred, there will
need to be sufficient commercial or scientific reasons for living on Moon, such that it remains an attractive destination for private
firms to utilize the government assets and invest further.

Crazy Numbers

2012-01-25T15:59:00.002-05:00

Comparing Apple's quarterly numbers. [Link]

Simply looking over the numbers, it might be hard to wrap your head around what Apple just announced for their Q1 2012 results. A company this big is not supposed to be able to nearly double revenue year-to-year. Nor are they supposed to more than double profit. But Apple did both. The numbers are so big that they almost seem like they should be typos — especially coming after a quarter that was a “miss” (though we can now clearly see what a joke that “miss” was). So perhaps it’s best to point out some bigger numbers and to frame some of them in ways to make them easier to understand. That’s what all of Twitter seemed to be doing anyway during the earnings call this afternoon.

Apple’s profit of $13.1 billion was equal to theirrevenue in Q4 2010, as Jordan Golson notes. To be clear, that was just a year and a quarter ago. That’s how quickly Apple is growing.

Apple added $38 billion in cash to its reserves just in the past year alone, as Horace Dediu points out. They now have $97.6 billion in cash and equivalents. $64 billion of that is offshore, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer stated during the call — meaning, it would cost money (taxes) to bring it back into the U.S.

Apple’s cash hoard alone is worth more than all but 52 companies on Earth, as Dennis Bermannotes.

Apple earned more money last quarter than the entire company was worth (in terms of market cap) just eight years ago, as Mathew Ingram relays from Eddy Elfenbein.

Apple likely sold three times as many iPads as Amazon sold Kindle Fires. At twice the price. And at a profit, as Jon Fortt notes. When asked about the impact of the lower-cost tablets, Apple CEO Tim Cook specifically mentioned the Kindle Fire and noted that when looking over Apple’s numbers, they didn’t seem to see any impact (positive or negative) from the Kindle Fire being on the market.

Apple’s revenues, while massive, are nothing compared to a company like Walmart, which reported$109.5 billion in revenue last quarter. BUT that $109.5 billion only turned into $3.3 billion of actual income for the quarter. In other words, Walmart has more than double the revenues of Apple, but Apple has more than four times the profits of Walmart. That’s remarkable.

Apple’s profits place them on this exclusive list of the most profitable quarters among corporations. You’ll note that Apple is the only company on the list that’s not an oil and gas company. And they’re a “mere” $3.2 billion from the top spot.

Lowered Expectations

2012-01-20T14:41:00.001-05:00

Simply doing your job, and demanding that others do so as well is now heroic. [Link]

Italian social networks on the Internet are singing the praises of De Falco, who tirelessly coordinated the rescue effort.

The tragedy had made De Falco "burst into tears with anger," his commanding officer told the Rome-based daily La Repubblica.

"Yes, I’m crying," the port authority chief was quoted as saying. "But I don’t think I’m being weak. Compassion is not weakness."

His attitude is in stark contrast to that of the captain now being blamed for the disaster and whom Italian prosecutors are seeking to indict.

Unable to conceal his anger on the night of the accident, De Falco told Schettino: "Go aboard and tell me how many people are on board - whether there are women and children and people in need."

A volley of expletives and threats followed as the port authority chief tried to get the captain to follow his orders.

The Internet community began hailing De Falco as a hero even while he was still coordinating the rescue effort. Headlines appeared on Twitter such as, "De Falco for president" and "Santo subito" ("Saint now!"), to the amazement of his wife.

"People who simply live up to their everyday responsibilities are suddenly becoming idols, personalities and heroes in this country," she commented with some concern.

SOPA tone deafness by Democrats

2012-01-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

Chortle. Probably the only time I will ever link to Kos. [Link]

Look at who is dropping support for SOPA.

"I'm withdrawing my co-sponsorship for the Protect IP Act," said Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican.

Sen. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, "will be withdrawing his name as a co-sponsor" of Protect IP, a spokesman told CNET today. Fellow Protect IP co-sponsor Sen. James Risch, an Idaho Republican, said today that he wants "more time to re-examine the legislation before going to a vote" and has asked staff for a detailed briefing, a spokesman said.

And Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who has long been a close ally of Hollywood on copyright and is up for re-election this year, said on Twitter that "I will not only vote against moving the bill forward next week but also remove my co-sponsorship of the bill." [...]

Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican who is listed as a SOPA sponsor, "reserves judgment on the final bill," a spokesman told CNET today. "He's certainly not saying pass the bill as-is -- there are legitimate concerns in this bill." SOPA sponsor Tim Griffin, an Arkansas Republican, now says: "I will not support a bill unless my constituents are comfortable with it."

If you keep reading that story, the Democrats listed all remain adamant that they'll remain co-sponsors of the legislation but work to "fix it".

Bullshit.

It's been a while since we've seen Democrats this tone deaf, this oblivious to political reality.

You have an entire wired generation focused on this issue like a laser, fighting like hell to protect their online freedoms, and it's FUCKING REPUBLICANS who are playing the heroes by dropping support?

Achievement Unlocked!

2012-01-19T08:51:00.001-05:00

Video game style achievements for developers. [Link]

Visual Studio Achievements, a Visual Studio plug-in, enables developers to unlock badges and compete against one another for a place on a leader board based on the code they write, its level of sophistication, and the Visual Studio capabilities they use to do so. Developers finally have the ability to actually show their friends, colleagues, project managers, spouses and customers how good they are at what they do all day and sometimes into the night.

Visual Studio Achievements is both playful and pragmatic. Built on ideas from the developers themselves, it is intended to be a humorous community-building game as well as a path to the many, and, to some, unknown features offered in Visual Studio. This is one of several initiatives Microsoft is undertaking to recognize developers for their tireless and indispensable work.

The three dominant factors shaping development in the industry today are how developers build apps, how they make money, and how they uniquely solve hard problems with new scenarios. The development environments, as well as the tools, need to be geared around how to make it easier and more enjoyable for Microsoft developers to do these three things. When you add in the prediction that by 2015, more than 50 percent of organizations will gamify their innovation processes, Achievements is a small but important element in delivering on that commitment.

The Visual Studio Achievements plug-in analyzes a background thread each time code is compiled, as well as listens for particular events and actions from Visual Studio. When certain criteria or actions are detected, the plug-in triggers a pop-up alert and awards a new badge, which is then displayed on the public leaderboard and the developer’s Channel 9 profile.