There was a push by the EU to move control of the internet away from US hands a while ago. But out comes Condoleezza Rice swingin', bitch slapping the EU with a letter about internet governance and thus the control of the internet is still in US hands. And now, that letter she wrote has been published. As the article notes, it's pretty stern language for a diplomatic letter and was instrumental in defusing debates about inter-governmental control of the internet. The delegates from the EU were reported as being somewhat miffed to be handed such a slap and, on the other hand, glad that at least they walked away with a box of Rice a Roni, the San Francisco Treat. So thank the Lord and Condoleezza the internet is still in control by the Land of the Free. Amen.
Or wait. Is the Land of the Free, which houses ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ), without its own influences? It was proposed that a .xxx domain be made available for all sites providing pr0nography (euphemistically "adult content") and for a while, it seemed like it was going to happen. With all porn sites restricted to this domain, average users of the internet would much less likely run into a p0rn site accidentally (remember whitehouse.com anyone?) and could easily block out all the pr0n spam. Seems like a great idea right?
But then ICANN delayed the plans because the Bush administration opposed it. It's fine to be conservative and to want to protect your kids from the pervasive smut out there but isn't that what .xxx helps us do? How does an argument like "n0rp shouldn't have its own domain. That would be like glorifying it." make sense when faced with, oh I don't know, REALITY. So ICANN is in the land of the free but not free from crazy puritanical influences.
And apparently not free from pride either: ICANN again dropped the plan beginning of this December, supposedly because they didn't want to portray the addition of a .xxx domain as a flaw in the existing internet architecture, which would look bad in front of the EU who does want to get control away from the Americans.
Of course, relatively speaking, the US is a pretty darn good place of governance for a decentralized entity such as the internet and yet it is obviously not without its flaws. It's fine to get on the moral and philosophical high ground to berate others in order to maintain control (it's politics after all), but perhaps such criticism should be applied to ourselves at some point in the near future.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Friday, December 02, 2005
Wax Scottish
I've got a thing for Scotch. Not the Scotch, mind you, but their brews. Oh the heady aromas and complex taste of a good Scotch Whisky is, if not to die for, to spend lots of money for. It's not a taste for everyone but it certainly is one for me. Everything from the sweet smell wafting up from the fermented concotion, to the tingling sting in your nostrils when you take a deep sniff, to the unique flavors dancing on your tongue...it's enough to drive a man (who likes his scotch) to stupid grins.
And while Scotch Whisky may taste like Scottish Whiskey, some exploration will quickly reveal drastic differences in taste characteristics between the regions. Single Malt Scotch is separated into regions (similar to categorizing wine characteristics by regions) and each region of course has their own taste. I'm currently in love with Islay (pronounced eye-la) scotches, though can only recall the tastes of Laphroaig 10 yr. and Lagavulin 16yr.. Both highly recommended. Heavy peat bog smells and warm, savory smells and tastes. The other region I'm somewhat familiar with is Highland, which tends to be palatable to a broader audience because the flavors are usually less sharp and more smooth. Oban 14 yr., Glenlivet 18 yr., and Glenmorangie 12yr. all offer wonderful experiences. Don't know much about Speyside (have tried Balvenie Doublewood 12 yr. but can't comment on comparison to others) or Lowland yet but getting there.
So next time you have chance to try a scotch, get one of the better ones available, sit back, and really enjoy all that the glass has to offer from the color, to the smell, to the taste, and even beyond. A glass of scotch is a complex thing. Be creative and let it stimulate all your senses.
And while Scotch Whisky may taste like Scottish Whiskey, some exploration will quickly reveal drastic differences in taste characteristics between the regions. Single Malt Scotch is separated into regions (similar to categorizing wine characteristics by regions) and each region of course has their own taste. I'm currently in love with Islay (pronounced eye-la) scotches, though can only recall the tastes of Laphroaig 10 yr. and Lagavulin 16yr.. Both highly recommended. Heavy peat bog smells and warm, savory smells and tastes. The other region I'm somewhat familiar with is Highland, which tends to be palatable to a broader audience because the flavors are usually less sharp and more smooth. Oban 14 yr., Glenlivet 18 yr., and Glenmorangie 12yr. all offer wonderful experiences. Don't know much about Speyside (have tried Balvenie Doublewood 12 yr. but can't comment on comparison to others) or Lowland yet but getting there.
So next time you have chance to try a scotch, get one of the better ones available, sit back, and really enjoy all that the glass has to offer from the color, to the smell, to the taste, and even beyond. A glass of scotch is a complex thing. Be creative and let it stimulate all your senses.
Source of Ebola Found
Origins of Ebola Found!
Research traced the Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever, to fruit bats. Fruit bats! Apparently people in the region are used to catching fruit bats for food and this is how the first outbreaks probably came about. This isn't a cure by any means but it's a significant breakthrough nonetheless. Since Ebola can have a fatality rate as high as 90% and acts very quickly, it's a scary thing indeed. Symptoms are rather grotesque as well (at least I think so. Victims don't squirt blood or anything but something that kills you by inernal bleeding or necrosis of the organs is plenty scary, thank you). Outbreaks, if they happen, still need to be controlled and a cure would be ideal but with this new discovery, perhaps most outbreaks could be prevented.
Research traced the Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever, to fruit bats. Fruit bats! Apparently people in the region are used to catching fruit bats for food and this is how the first outbreaks probably came about. This isn't a cure by any means but it's a significant breakthrough nonetheless. Since Ebola can have a fatality rate as high as 90% and acts very quickly, it's a scary thing indeed. Symptoms are rather grotesque as well (at least I think so. Victims don't squirt blood or anything but something that kills you by inernal bleeding or necrosis of the organs is plenty scary, thank you). Outbreaks, if they happen, still need to be controlled and a cure would be ideal but with this new discovery, perhaps most outbreaks could be prevented.
Different Kinds of Pain
Article 2, Section 4, Paragraph 3, Sentence 5, Word 13, Syllable 1, Letter 2 of the Handbook for Men declares proudly "o". That's right. That "o" is part of a bigger word "good" which is in part of a larger concept: "Working out is good." Yes indeed, all men enjoy working out. We all secretly want to be buff enuff for...looking good naked. Because really guys, admit it, that's the main reason for working out isn't it.
Though of course, like any activity, shaping up the body comes with its own set of parameters and rules. The pithy "no pain no gain" rule is surprisingly true but like all overachieving adages, it misses out on the subtleties entirely and always raises a hand for every damn question the teacher asks! Teacher's pet. For one thing, there are different kinds of pain as there are different kinds of gain. Call me a masochist if you will but I like the pain associated with a good workout, whether through weight lifting or running, aerobic or anaerobic. But the pains differ.
Imagine you haven't worked out for a long time (not very hard for me) and decide to get back to the gym. You go through your by-now-abnormal weight lifting routine and feel good. Next day, you walk around with your arms practically akimbo because everything is sore. Now imagine that you played tennis for 2 hours after a similarly long period of inactivity. The next day, you are also sore, but in a different way than the weight-lifting sore. Each carries with it its own feeling and benefits. This isn't news to most of you, probably, but I'm sitting here relishing my own soreness and felt like talking about it and you can't stop me!
Though of course, like any activity, shaping up the body comes with its own set of parameters and rules. The pithy "no pain no gain" rule is surprisingly true but like all overachieving adages, it misses out on the subtleties entirely and always raises a hand for every damn question the teacher asks! Teacher's pet. For one thing, there are different kinds of pain as there are different kinds of gain. Call me a masochist if you will but I like the pain associated with a good workout, whether through weight lifting or running, aerobic or anaerobic. But the pains differ.
Imagine you haven't worked out for a long time (not very hard for me) and decide to get back to the gym. You go through your by-now-abnormal weight lifting routine and feel good. Next day, you walk around with your arms practically akimbo because everything is sore. Now imagine that you played tennis for 2 hours after a similarly long period of inactivity. The next day, you are also sore, but in a different way than the weight-lifting sore. Each carries with it its own feeling and benefits. This isn't news to most of you, probably, but I'm sitting here relishing my own soreness and felt like talking about it and you can't stop me!
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Theremini!
There are a lot of creative people out there. Case in point: Altoid's "Tin Million Uses" contest where contestants compete for the title of the most creative use of an Altoid's tin as something other than an Altoid's tin. The winner (Jon Lennon!) made a Theremin out of an Altoid. Well, close anyway.
Altoid's website is correct in saying that Lennon made a light-based theremin, an instrument whose pitch is determined by the amount of light it detects. News.com's article about Lennon's creation misses the crucial "light-based" modifier and instead asserts that a theremin is an instrument whose pitch is determined by light.
Oops.
Let's get a real theremin in here.
There we go. A theremin (wikiwiki!) is an instrument invented by Léon Theremin that accepts two types of inputs: the right hand (typically) controls the pitch by moving up or down and the left hand controls volume by moving closer and farther away from the second loopy antenna. It's not used very often and theremin masters are few (if any) and far in between. What Lennon has created, then, is an instrument that is somewhat like a theremin in that it is an electronic device that produces a pitch based on an external input. Then again, the same can be said of a turntable or an electronic keyboard. The similarities are easy to see but a light-based theremin is not equal to news.com's assertion that a theremin is an instrument that is based on light. Poor Leon isn't very famous anyway so the least we could do is to not reduce his instrument down to an Altoid tin and get its parameters wrong. Besides, his instrument had pitch and volume, with vibrato and tremolo possiblities using smaller finger gestures.
Yeah I'm a nitpicky music nerd and I'm bitching about news.com. Kudos to Lennon for winning the Tin Millions contest with a musical device though.
PS You know the original Star Trek theme? That's a theremin. (And Hellboy used it too!!!...???)
Altoid's website is correct in saying that Lennon made a light-based theremin, an instrument whose pitch is determined by the amount of light it detects. News.com's article about Lennon's creation misses the crucial "light-based" modifier and instead asserts that a theremin is an instrument whose pitch is determined by light.
Oops.
Let's get a real theremin in here.
There we go. A theremin (wikiwiki!) is an instrument invented by Léon Theremin that accepts two types of inputs: the right hand (typically) controls the pitch by moving up or down and the left hand controls volume by moving closer and farther away from the second loopy antenna. It's not used very often and theremin masters are few (if any) and far in between. What Lennon has created, then, is an instrument that is somewhat like a theremin in that it is an electronic device that produces a pitch based on an external input. Then again, the same can be said of a turntable or an electronic keyboard. The similarities are easy to see but a light-based theremin is not equal to news.com's assertion that a theremin is an instrument that is based on light. Poor Leon isn't very famous anyway so the least we could do is to not reduce his instrument down to an Altoid tin and get its parameters wrong. Besides, his instrument had pitch and volume, with vibrato and tremolo possiblities using smaller finger gestures.
Yeah I'm a nitpicky music nerd and I'm bitching about news.com. Kudos to Lennon for winning the Tin Millions contest with a musical device though.
PS You know the original Star Trek theme? That's a theremin. (And Hellboy used it too!!!...???)
Do you want a chipset with that?
I've been helping my friend B look for a good laptop replacement recently. B needs a thin-and-light laptop that has to be sturdy and includes a CD/DVD drive. As far as I'm concerned, a Thinkpad is still the best bet. They're a bit more expensive but I will gladly pay for the extra build quality. They look ugly, unfortunately, but they work well. On the Mac side an iBook is always good too but I don't have enough artsy fartsy snobbery to recommend a Mac (Kidding! Or am I?).
So I ask B what kind of general specifications she's looking for and like any normal consumer, and rightly so, she has no idea. She wonders if 512MB RAM is fast enough and which processor she should get. Isn't the Centrino a better processor than the Celeron? She'll need to do word processing and web surfing on the computer so she should get at least a Pentium M 2.0GHz right? Or is a Centrino better?
For those in the know, comparing Centrino to Celeron is like wondering which is better to sit on, a chair or a dining set. But B isn't really to blame for her confusion. Intel has pushed the "Centrino" label so much that it's a small miracle people haven't forgotten what a processor is entirely. The myriad labels and acronyms with which marketing departments rape the naive and unsuspecting minds of the average innocent consumer is frightening.
And it can't be helped. There is power in an identity, and power in a name. Exclusive brands and labels do exactly that, exclude, and by doing so create a sense of power for those who choose to put forth the effort (and often money) to be included. So what if you can't even find a place to see the Lamborghini Murcielago? Can you even spell Lamborghini? Can you even pronounce Murcielago? Correctly? Give us our 3,500% markup and then we'll talk.
So I ask B what kind of general specifications she's looking for and like any normal consumer, and rightly so, she has no idea. She wonders if 512MB RAM is fast enough and which processor she should get. Isn't the Centrino a better processor than the Celeron? She'll need to do word processing and web surfing on the computer so she should get at least a Pentium M 2.0GHz right? Or is a Centrino better?
For those in the know, comparing Centrino to Celeron is like wondering which is better to sit on, a chair or a dining set. But B isn't really to blame for her confusion. Intel has pushed the "Centrino" label so much that it's a small miracle people haven't forgotten what a processor is entirely. The myriad labels and acronyms with which marketing departments rape the naive and unsuspecting minds of the average innocent consumer is frightening.
And it can't be helped. There is power in an identity, and power in a name. Exclusive brands and labels do exactly that, exclude, and by doing so create a sense of power for those who choose to put forth the effort (and often money) to be included. So what if you can't even find a place to see the Lamborghini Murcielago? Can you even spell Lamborghini? Can you even pronounce Murcielago? Correctly? Give us our 3,500% markup and then we'll talk.
Addicted to Net
NYTimes reports on treating internet addiction.
I'm not denying that there can be such a thing as internet addiction. I mean, I have no problems not using the internet for an extended amount of time. The cold sweat, hot flashes, accelerated heart beat, and panic attacks I get when not on the internet are just coincidences, I assure you. Me? Depdendent? Never.
On the other hand, an addiction to the internet is similar to an addiction to martial arts, throwing cats, or singing about the color blue: it's behvioral. And as such, I would imagine that there are usually underlying reasons for the addiction whether it's a need for escapism or personal identity or whatever else. In short, treating internet addiction as a new entity per se seems a bit unnecessary to me. Is this "new" addiction any different than entertaining and escpaist vices that have come up in the past?
I'm not denying that there can be such a thing as internet addiction. I mean, I have no problems not using the internet for an extended amount of time. The cold sweat, hot flashes, accelerated heart beat, and panic attacks I get when not on the internet are just coincidences, I assure you. Me? Depdendent? Never.
On the other hand, an addiction to the internet is similar to an addiction to martial arts, throwing cats, or singing about the color blue: it's behvioral. And as such, I would imagine that there are usually underlying reasons for the addiction whether it's a need for escapism or personal identity or whatever else. In short, treating internet addiction as a new entity per se seems a bit unnecessary to me. Is this "new" addiction any different than entertaining and escpaist vices that have come up in the past?
"It's breaking new ground," Ms. Ewing said. "But an addiction is an addiction."
Now wait a second...if an addiction is an addiction, how is the internet addiction (which is just an addiction after all) breaking new ground? I agree with the latter part of Ms. Wing's assessment but I'm not sure about this ground-breaking business. At the very most, we're still on one plot of land and we're now digging over by the rhododendra instead of messing around with the shrubbery.
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