| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (30968) | 8/16/2009 2:07:46 AM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | Mind Jogger: The Gaia Hypothesis
The Gaia hypothesis is an ecological hypothesis proposing that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere) are closely integrated to form a complex interacting system that maintains the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeostasis. Originally proposed by James Lovelock as the earth feedback hypothesis, it was named—at the suggestion of his neighbor William Golding—the Gaia Hypothesis, after the Greek supreme goddess of Earth. The hypothesis is frequently described as viewing the Earth as a single organism. Lovelock and other supporters of the idea now regard it as a scientific theory, not merely a hypothesis, since they believe it has passed predictive tests. [Continued]
From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org
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| From: Frank A. Coluccio | 8/16/2009 2:12:38 AM | | | | | | Secrets of the best enterprise Wi-Fi networks revealed
By John Cox , Network World , 08/12/2009
Wireless LAN leaders consistently enforce security policies, prioritize traffic.
networkworld.com
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I note a trend to drop the "WLAN" moniker in favor of WiFi in enterprise nets... not entirely, yet, but trending that way ...
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (30994) | 8/16/2009 8:52:12 AM | | From: Peter Ecclesine | | | | >>I was reminded by your message about how the regs seemingly (if not in fact) conspired with the incumbents, for all of the years you accounted for, to constrain alternative forms of wireless communications, conceding only in a scant few areas, albeit where monopolists already had a hand-up in the process, or in some very limited "pioneering" types of spectrum awards that were granted in support of multimedia distribution innovations. <<
You slip into LMDS slop, the spectrum involved determined the outcome.
ftth's post reminded me of Craig McCaw's Celluar, not attempts to do cellular without mobile spectrum.
The regulators are charged with creating something out of what is possible, and incumbents continually educate them on what is possible.
In 1997 the U-PCS (47 CFR 15.231) band was give the chance to become a wireless PBX, and the technology wasn't good enough for cordless phones, much less a wireless PBX.
In 2003 FCC OET thought ultrawideband could work with very low power per MHz, turns out they were off by ~6 dB, and lots of effort and money went down the gurgler.
Look back at "all" the "pioneering spectrum" awards, and price them by today's technology - Qualcomm's TV channel 55 seems to be the only "winner", and they had to spend another ~$800m to get a nationwide footprint.
petere |
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (30962) | 8/16/2009 11:53:07 AM | | From: saraw1 | | | | Frank,
Snark on!
I suspect that if this post receives no other comment, it's because those who want or wanted to apply for grants are afraid to chime in, for fear it this will harm their future chances. I know I am!
We silent types are grateful for your snarkitude. Hmmm. Maybe we could call it snarkitude by proxy. |
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (30438) | 8/16/2009 6:15:09 PM | | From: axial | | | | Boeing Halts Production of Flawed Dreamliner Part
-snip-
"Boeing confirmed Friday that in June it instructed an Italian company, Alenia Aeronautica, to stop making fuselage sections for the aircraft after small wrinkles were discovered in the carbon composite skin that covers them."
nytimes.com
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"At present, both Airbus and Boeing have suffered significant delays in production of their latest-generation aircraft. The truth appears to be that new materials (especially composite delamination), and man-machine interaction in unforeseen circumstances are yielding unpredictable results. The point: manufacturer difficulties, recent accidents and parallel research suggest we're at the leading, bleeding edge of aircraft technology - and may be making some mistakes - despite claims to the contrary."
Message 25753539
Jim |
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| From: axial | 8/16/2009 6:25:47 PM | | | | | | The problem:
The case against PACER: tearing down the courts' paywall
-snip-
"The importance of public access to the law
Public access to court records might seem like something only lawyers would care about, but James Grimmelmann, a professor at New York Law School, disagrees. "If there are secret laws, it's really hard to say that those are laws in any meaningful sense at all," Grimmelmann says. "There are lots of areas of law in which the statute is very short, but the case law is incredibly long and important." For example, the statutory definition of fair use is only about a paragraph long. To understand how the concept will be applied by the courts, you need to review the hundreds of judicial opinions that have defined its contours.
To ensure broad public access, the courts have long held that court records are not subject to copyright.
Grimmelmann also points out that public access to court records keeps courts honest. If court activities are secret, the public will have no way to verify that the court's procedures and decisions are fair and consistent with the law. Public access also promotes equality before the law by ensuring that those of limited means will not be disadvantaged by a lack of access to information.
To ensure broad public access, the courts have long held that court records are not subject to copyright. That means that once a user has obtained a court document, he is generally free to redistribute it without payment. But until the rise of the Internet, practical barriers limited the dissemination of legal records. Courts produce millions of pages of documents every year, and it would have been impractical to distribute paper copies of every document to public libraries. In principle, anyone could have physically driven down to a courthouse and asked to see copies of court records, but practically speaking only practicing lawyers and a handful of sophisticated journalists and academics knew how to navigate this system successfully.
Broader and more convenient access to court records allows greater public understanding and scrutiny of our legal system. As information technology makes broader availability economically feasible, public officials have an obligation to respond by using those technologies to expand public access."
arstechnica.com
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The solution, in part: a Firefox extension
Firefox extension liberates US court docs from paywall
-snip-
"As Lee explained in his previous article, the revenue generated by PACER's paywall far exceeds the amount of money needed to run the system. The operating costs could be further reduced through much-needed consolidation and other changes. The RECAP system is an important vehicle for encouraging open access and moving the system forward. It also reflects the growth of an emerging movement that seeks to boost government transparency through data availability.
A number of similar projects have popped up recently with the goal of making the inner workings of the government visible to regular citizens via the Internet. An example is OpenRegs.com, a website established in June by Mercatus Center researcher Jerry Brito and programmer Peter Snyder to help people navigate federal regulations. The government itself is also pushing a number of important data transparency projects, such as the new Data.gov website that was launched in may by Federal CIO Vivek Kundra to aggregate government data sets in machine-readable formats."
arstechnica.com
Jim |
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| From: Frank A. Coluccio | 8/16/2009 9:23:34 PM | | | | | | [RockMelt] Netscape Founder Backs New Browser
By MIGUEL HELFT | NY Times
Published: August 13, 2009
Snip: After its early success, Netscape was roundly defeated by Microsoft in the so-called browser wars of the 1990s that dominated the Web’s first chapter. Mr. Andreessen appears to want a rematch. Now a prominent Silicon Valley financier, Mr. Andreessen is backing a start-up called RockMelt, staffed with some of his close associates, that is building a new Internet browser, according to people with knowledge of his investment. [...]
nytimes.com
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| From: TimF | 8/16/2009 9:30:31 PM | | | | | | EFF Defends Wikipedian's Right to the Public Domain
Legal Analysis by Fred von Lohmann
As has been widely reported, the National Portrait Gallery of London (NPG) recently sent a legal threat to an American Wikipedian, Derrick Coetzee, over his posting approximately 3,000 photos of public domain paintings to Wikipedia. Because of the importance of this issue for the public domain and the Internet generally, EFF has taken Mr. Coetzee as a client.
Here's the issue at the heart of this dispute: does something have to be in the public domain in every country on the planet before it can be posted to the Internet anywhere?
According to NPG, Mr. Coetzee copied digital photos from NPG's website and uploaded them to Wikipedia (where they are still available). Everyone agrees that the photographs are of public domain paintings in NPG's collection (e.g., this portrait of William Blake painted in 1807). It's also clear under U.S. law that simple reproductions of public domain paintings are themselves not copyrightable, since they lack any "originality" beyond the "sweat of the brow" of the photographer. NPG's lawyers argue that the rule is different under UK copyright law (although there is reason to doubt that it's as clear as NPG suggests) and that Mr. Coetzee is therefore a copyright infringer. NPG also makes several other claims, including that Mr. Coetzee has violated their website's "browsewrap" terms of use, that he violated the NPG's database right by extracting the images from their website, and that he has circumvented a technological measure (apparently Zoomify, which is no longer used on NPG's website) in violation of the UK's version of the DMCA.
As we explained to NPG in a letter sent on July 20, it's quite clear under U.S. law that Mr. Coetzee did nothing wrong -- as far as U.S. law is concerned, the photos are not copyrightable, the NPG website's "browsewrap" contract is unenforceable, there is no "database right," and using Zoomify on public domain images doesn't get you a DMCA claim. It's also clear that everything he's alleged to have done took place on his computer and Wikipedia's computers, none of which are in the UK.
In the offline world, that would certainly be the end of the matter. If Mr. Coetzee had flown to London, purchased posters of the same paintings at the museum store, brought them home, and started making copies for his friends, it's clear he would be well within his rights in doing so.
Why should the answer be different simply because he posted the photos to Wikipedia? NPG seems to think that UK law should apply everywhere on the Internet. If that's right, then the same could be said for other, more restrictive copyright laws, as well (see, e.g., Mexico's copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years and France's copyright over fashion designs). That would leave the online world at the mercy of the worst that foreign copyright laws have to offer, an outcome no U.S. court has ever endorsed.
eff.org |
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| To: TimF who wrote (31005) | 8/16/2009 10:05:12 PM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | Good catch, Tim. Thanks.
I'd seen this article earlier (I sub to the EFF feed) and should note that some of the embedded stories behind links are also interesting, fwiw.
FAC
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