tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post6537815786537991447..comments2024-03-28T13:08:04.959-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The Coming Transparent WorldDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29244156786112446772013-11-16T10:51:02.354-08:002013-11-16T10:51:02.354-08:00onwardonwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76544782639573645942013-11-16T09:11:44.516-08:002013-11-16T09:11:44.516-08:00News from the evil counterinsurgency:
http://www.i...News from the evil counterinsurgency:<br />http://www.ibtimes.com/wikipedia-paid-edits-companies-pay-top-dollar-firms-willing-fix-their-entries-1449172<br />Reputation sock puppets war on Wikipedia<br /><br />This may be a better story:<br />http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/wikipedia-sockpuppet-investigation-largest-network-history-wiki-pr/Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38201400651804117192013-11-16T08:58:36.137-08:002013-11-16T08:58:36.137-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8053150797431212442013-11-16T07:12:03.936-08:002013-11-16T07:12:03.936-08:00http://www.cnbc.com/id/101194379
Attempting to so...http://www.cnbc.com/id/101194379<br /><br />Attempting to solve the HFT "problem", kind of, by moving away from the decimalization of the 90's - making 5 cent or 25 cent increments instead on penny stocks.<br /><br />Liars - this is self-serving and works only for the Exchange. Institutional investors can't invest in penny stocks because the small market caps and low liquidity - the exact reason why HFT's avoid those stocks.Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09707861909013671695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51502216535932702102013-11-15T23:04:49.714-08:002013-11-15T23:04:49.714-08:00Larryhart, the gender question has to do with whet...Larryhart, the gender question has to do with whether a father benefits from creating more male sperm than female or a woman's womb encourages boys or girls. We start with the fact that sperm coming from meiosis of the father's own cells will start being equal in number. But nature shows many species can vary the output.<br /><br />Think. A female who bears a son who is certain to become a top alpha wins the jackpot by having the max grandchildren. But she also risks having a son who is among the 1/3 (or more) that in nature don't get to breed at all. Daughters will likely breed, whether they are superior or not. See how it averages out?<br /><br />Political parties? If the GOP were trying for the center, that'd be one thing. In fact, with Romney and McCain the GOP voters chose the most moderate candidate who was also a card carrying right winger. Ignore RINOs like Huntsman.<br /><br />That may not work anymore.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10786785622218236502013-11-15T17:59:16.135-08:002013-11-15T17:59:16.135-08:00Dr Brin,
Out of the blue, a scientific question a...Dr Brin,<br /><br />Out of the blue, a scientific question about politics occured to me this morning, and as I'm prevented from posting at work, I've been waiting all day to mention it.<br /><br />You've spoken before about the reasons in nature for there being near-equal numbers of men and women--I don't remember all the details, but it had to do with a self-correcting mechanism if one gender gets too far "ahead" in the race. Like if there are too many boys, more of them will die of hemophelia, or something of that sort. You know what I'm talking about, right?<br /><br />With that in mind, is there any basis for believing that the same thing applies to the two major political parties. It's been noted that elections are getting closer--that it's becoming more common for them to be decided by a small subset of swing voters tipping the balance between almost-evenly divided bases. Is this not just happenstance or a sign of the times? Is there some scientific reason that electorates would TEND toward 50/50 parity, in the same manner that the two genders tend toward 50/50 population splits?<br /><br />Like any good story, this might explain a lot.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8588778513973606262013-11-15T17:58:38.039-08:002013-11-15T17:58:38.039-08:00@DB, OK that answer about IGUS is fair. However, p...@DB, OK that answer about IGUS is fair. However, please could you address my first question about the specific benefits of the IGUS in regard to effects on the average citizen?Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74957063049138620572013-11-15T17:42:20.306-08:002013-11-15T17:42:20.306-08:00Alex T I never claimed that IGUS inspectors would ...Alex T I never claimed that IGUS inspectors would be totally incorruptible and independent. What I claim is that they can be made MORE incorruptible and independent.<br /><br />Our great trick has been to set up adversarial centers of power that inherently scrutinize or challenge each other. This is why the oligarchy is above all striving to discredit scientists, teachers, doctors and all the knowledge professions… and to capture some bureaucrats and discredit the rest of them.<br /><br />The minute we get IGUS I will agitate that IGUS inspectors be dogged by citizen grand juries… updated for the modern era.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75002039433363794372013-11-15T11:27:08.786-08:002013-11-15T11:27:08.786-08:00Can you concretize your suggestion of an IGUS in t...Can you concretize your suggestion of an IGUS in teh context of teh current NSA issue. DiFi wants to strengthen the NSA's legal access to information. What specifically would the IGUS do in terms of protecting the citizen against abuses of the use of that information?<br /><br />Also, I'm not buying that IGUS members are entirely neutral. We know that judges are not (yet they should be) and that the legal system works against those that most need its protection.<br /><br />Given that "everything leaks" what exactly is the criminal nature of hacking and if it stays illegal what should the penalties be? Should government authority have different rules than individuals? We can see how leakers like Snowden, and hackers like Hammond have been treated. Would this be different in your transparent world?<br /><br />Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51477838496661726772013-11-15T07:56:30.670-08:002013-11-15T07:56:30.670-08:00Demigods? Alvin Maker, arguably, the gatemages ser...Demigods? Alvin Maker, arguably, the gatemages series,by definition. Ender & Bean don't seem that far from known human abilities. I'd say the late Frank Herbert was nearly as guilty, the Atriedes were becoming more capable with each book had Mr. Herbert lived, we might have seen one in tights, bursting from a phone booth. The movie was fun, which was all I was looking for. BTW, Kiln People could be a lot of fun on screen, any hope of that?Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17148942880514165892013-11-14T21:54:09.313-08:002013-11-14T21:54:09.313-08:00The Adobe leak was so bad they earned their own XK...The Adobe leak was so bad they earned their own XKCD cartoon. 8)<br /><br />http://xkcd.com/1286/<br /><br />Since the primary threat most people face regarding passwords comes from the fact that they re-use them elsewhere, it is time to change them out everywhere. We have to assume a lot of people are going to loose control over apparently unrelated accounts shortly.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18042766942708886372013-11-14T20:06:52.393-08:002013-11-14T20:06:52.393-08:00Possibly a little late breaking and certainly a lo...Possibly a little late breaking and certainly a lot to digest but, no mention of the <a href="https://newmatilda.com/2013/11/14/tpp-serious-threat-australian-sovereignty" rel="nofollow">Trans-Pacific Partnership leak</a>?<br /><br />Given the rumblings that have been going on about this secret deal, it's really been a matter of when, rather than if, a whistleblower would drop a copy off.<br /><br />Patents on surgical procedures (Sweeney Todd owns the best cuts!), ISPs responsible for content (so the bank can sue the phone company the robbers communicated via?), copyright to extend to 'temporary copies' (such as the images you are seeing now)... hmm!<br /><br />This set of enlightened approaches overrides national sovereignty, mind.<br /><br />Wikileaks isn't just Julian Assange.<br /><br />Wot? No mention of the links to the feeds for the cameras on the decks of that barge yet? Go ogle!Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35071307778463219862013-11-14T19:35:28.025-08:002013-11-14T19:35:28.025-08:00TimH… fine. "Chosen ones" and demigods w...TimH… fine. "Chosen ones" and demigods were the focus of mythology in most societies and it looks like they are coming back. I will never go that way. Like Star Trek, I believe in the Merely Above Average person who made this enlightenment.<br /><br />But I accept that Card will sell more than I do. Demigod. Demogods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, demigods, and more….<br /><br /> demigods, David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74637204951936667282013-11-14T18:16:01.234-08:002013-11-14T18:16:01.234-08:00Saw Ender's Game also, thought it wasn't a...Saw Ender's Game also, thought it wasn't as bad as it might've been, major story elements survived. Will likely buy the DVD, so I can see it completely awake. While Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide might be interesting to watch, the Alvin Maker stories are the ones I'd like to see adapted for screen. The folks boycotting the film are missing out on a not too bad movie, and doing nearly nothing for LGBT.<br />And if "Hollywierd" is doing 80's stories, may we hope for an adaptation of Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild"?Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80440458526547189182013-11-14T17:35:22.377-08:002013-11-14T17:35:22.377-08:00Google’s mysterious floating barge on San Francisc...Google’s mysterious floating barge on San Francisco Bay will feature luxury showrooms and a party deck for the tech giant to market Google Glass and other gadgets to invitation-only clients, according to KPIX 5 in San Francisco.<br /><br />Aw now that makes me sad. I was hoping for something cooler. But it fits the aristocracy trend. Let us eat cake!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20071359291371196522013-11-14T11:19:44.724-08:002013-11-14T11:19:44.724-08:00The Adobe hack later turned out to be of 150 milli...The Adobe hack later turned out to be of 150 million user records!<br /><br />And their storage of the passwords was done in a truly horrible fashion...note quite "worst practices," which would have been storing cleartext passwords, but close. Then encrypted them all with the same key.david.j.mercerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09880170334406065655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91718811428985001342013-11-14T10:11:21.166-08:002013-11-14T10:11:21.166-08:00(long absence....Life happens you know)
As the po...(long absence....Life happens you know)<br /><br />As the political lamp is not lit I shall not comment on the evolution of the Affordable Care Act roll out. I do commend it as a subject well worth our individual attentions.<br /><br />I saw Ender's Game last week. Hmmmm.. <br /><br />I have purposely not gone back to that thread and so apologize for any repetition.<br /><br />It is a mediocre movie that makes some interesting points. <br /><br />"Bullying" is a current buzzword, much abused, but the concept is valid. How much does it shape the character of an individual, a group of individuals, a species?<br /><br />And I thought the writer's conceit that only a young mind could accomplish a genocide was of interest. Certainly the history of child soldiers since OSC wrote Ender's Game has showed that they are capable of a savagery that maybe Indiana Jones or Gandhi could not pull off...<br /><br />Many, many flaws not withstanding some elements of the work have held up well over thirty years, even improved. We now have compelling videogames that blur the lines between reality and fantasy. And it is not inconceivable in the era of Raptors and Predators that an interstellar armada might be controlled by the equivalent of some punk living in Harrison Ford's basement (hmmm, that advanced base planet pretty much WAS all basement).<br /><br />So a thought provoking movie, not one I will see repeatedly. And my opinion of the sequels to Enders Game are such that I hope they do not make any further adaptations. OSC did some of his better work early on....<br /><br />Ah, Hollywood. Probably the deal is already inked.<br /><br />I am looking forward, someday, to seeing Old Man's War come to the big screen. Anyone have any inside scoop there?<br /><br />TacitusTacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.com