Copyright Accord Would Make Millions More Books Available Online
NEW YORK, NY (October 28, 2008) – The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and Google today announced a groundbreaking settlement agreement on behalf of a broad class of authors and publishers worldwide that would expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of a number of major U.S. libraries participating in Google Book Search. The agreement, reached after two years of negotiations, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by book authors and the Authors Guild, as well as a separate lawsuit filed by five large publishers as representatives of the AAP’s membership. The class action is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The agreement promises to benefit readers and researchers, and enhance the ability of authors and publishers to distribute their content in digital form, by significantly expanding online access to works through Google Book Search, an ambitious effort to make millions of books searchable via the Web. The agreement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright owners, provides an efficient means for them to control how their intellectual property is accessed online and enables them to receive compensation for online access to their works.
Он в книге рекордов Гинеса, о нем написали в Wired, а Википедиа молчит ! Поразительно, на гугле на слова "remy bricka water walk" всего 73 ссылки. Хотя казалось бы.
The idea is that you could borrow skin cells from a living or deadperson to give your child a genetic leg up. The genetic makeup of such a child would be a mix of mother, father and Albert (or Uncle Al or any other skin cell donor). Comment from a blog reader: I would TOTALLY inject my children with some Einstein DNA - and Beethoven if they could find it, and maybe a bit of Clinton (Bill)since neither Einstein nor Beethoven were known for their socialabilities (or levels of sane-ness. The only real matter is price.
The Billy Letters - What better mentor for a 10-year-old than Charles Manson? Little Billy seeks life advice, and America's most notorious killers are happy to oblige
Smoking ban workaround catches on at bars across state - Having patrons become "actors" when entire bar is turned into a "stage" started as a one-night experiment 2 weeks ago, but now it's becoming a way around state law
Почтальон Печкин и еще кто-то (не помню имени) собираются на Луну. Приэтом говорят по английски. Остальные удивляются, мол, там нельзя жить ивсе такое. В общем в результате выясняется, что Печкин и Nзагипнотизированы. Им пришла посылка из Америки с кассетой, и онирешили, что Америка самая великая страна и американцы первыми осваиваликосмос, кроме этого, скоро все переедут жить на Луну и они решилиприкупить там участочек. Добрая тетя-ведущая объясняет всем, чтоэто страшная реклама, которая так загипнотизировала их, потом ихвернули в нормальное состояние ну и хэппи энд - Гагарин первый, Россия- великая.
Designing Cute Interactive Media - "Cuteness has an effective design philosophy that can be used in many areas to make emotionally engaging user interactive systems, as well as evaluate existing systems. Cuteness can also be included as an engineering design framework that can assist designers and engineers when creating engaging interactive systems that motivate the user in a happy, positive manner."
The Gestural Origin of Language - "The idea of embodiment effectively removes language from its pedestal as an encapsulated, symbol-manipulating system and returns it to the general provenance of human cognition and of biology. Language, then, is not special. Of course there is still the problem of explaining how gestures came to communicate abstract ideas or how syntax evolved."
Don't just stand there, think - "embodied cognition" - "we think not just with our brains, but with our bodies. A series of studies, the latest published in November, has shown that children can solve math problems better if they are told to use their hands while thinking. Another recent study suggested that stage actors remember their lines better when they are moving. And in one study published last year, subjects asked to move their eyes in a specific pattern while puzzling through a brainteaser were twice as likely to solve it."
Block all the russians ? - Mark Anderson, a well known smart man doing best on IT predictions reacts after his blog was compromised by russian hackers. "It wouldn’t be fair to the vast majority of Russians, who are innocent of this behavior. On the other hand, maybe their lack of concern is part of the problem.Block All the Russians?"
Researchers Create Robot Driven by Moth's Brain - "The robot’s motion is guided by a tiny electrode implanted in the moth’s brain, Higgins said, specifically to a single neuron that is responsible for keeping the moth’s vision steady during flight. The neuron transmits electrical signals which are then amplified in the robot's base and through a mathematical formula, a computer translates the signals into action, making the robot move. The moth is immobilize inside a plastic tube mounted atop the 6-inch-tall wheeled robot. To get the moth to imitate flight, Higgins and his team placed the moth in its apparatus on a circular platform surrounded by a 14-inch-high revolving wall painted with vertical stripes. The moth's neuron reacts to the movement of the stripes and the process begins."
Virtual Eve: first in human computer interaction - "Linked to a child via computer, the animated character or virtual tutor can tell if the child is frustrated, angry or confused by the on-screen teaching session and can adapt the tutoring session appropriately. The animated Eve (with a human-sounding voice) can ask questions, give feedback, discuss questions and solutions and show emotion. To develop the software for this system the Massey team observed children and their interactions with teachers and captured them on thousands of images.From these images of facial expression, gestures and body movements they developed programs that would capture and recognise facial expression, body movement, and (via a mouse) heart rate and skin resistance. The system uses a network of computer systems, mainly embedded devices, to detect student emotion and other significant bio-signals"
Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor - "Toshiba has developed a new class of micro size Nuclear Reactors that is designed to power individual apartment buildings or city blocks.[...]The 200 kilowatt Toshiba designed reactor is engineered to be fail-safe andtotally automatic and will not overheat. Unlike traditional nuclear reactors the new micro reactor uses no control rods to initiate thereaction. The new revolutionary technology uses reservoirs of liquidlithium-6, an isotope that is effective at absorbing neutrons. The Lithium-6 reservoirs are connected to a vertical tube that fits intothe reactor core. The whole whole process is self sustaining and can last for up to 40 years, producing electricity for only 5 cents per kilowatt hour, about half the cost of grid energy". Наконец то, заждались уже !
As if it’s any surprise: Protests from female soldiers have led to the Swedish military removing the penis of a heraldic lion depicted on the Nordic Battlegroup’s coat of arms. The armed forces agreed to emasculate the lion after a group of women from the rapid reaction force lodged a complaint to the European Court of Justice, Göteborgs-Posten reports. But although the army was eventually happy to make the changes in the interests of gender equality, the artist who designed the insignia was less than pleased. “A heraldic lion is a powerful and stately figure with its genitalia intact and I cannot approve an edited image,” Vladimir A Sagerlund from the National Archives told Göteborgs-Posten. Sagerlund blasted the army for making changes to the coat of arms without his permission. “The army lacks knowledge about heraldry. Once upon a time coats of arms containing lions without genitalia were given to those who betrayed the Crown,” said Sagerlund. But the castrated lion has already won the day and is now worn on the arms of all soldiers in the battle group’s Swedish battalions. “We were given the task of making sure the willy disappeared,” Christian Braunstein from the army’s ‘tradition commission’ told Göteborgs-Posten. “We were forced to cut the lion’s willy off with the aid of a computer,” he added.
First they came for the lions, gentlemen. Who do you think will be next?
Social Networking for Zebras - "put collars on 12 zebras in Kenya that use the Global PositioningSystem (GPS) to track their movements hourly throughout the day andnight. [...] because there are some questions biologists cannot even ask before we do the computational analysis"
Hospice Beats Hospital - "According to this paper (ungated here) from the March Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, choosing a hospice makes you live longer."
Тараканы приняли роботов в свой коллектив с правом решающего голоса - "Значение данной работы, конечно, не в том, что теперь можно при помощи роботов заманивать тараканов в ловушки (хотя, конечно, это тоже интересная мысль). Фактически, люди получают новый мощный инструмент воздействия на поведение больших групп животных. В заключительной части статьи авторы выражают надежду, что в недалеком будущем подобные методы можно будет применять и к позвоночным. При помощи программируемых роботов, внедряемых в коллективы животных, можно будет решать самые разные проблемы — от научных до экономических и природоохранных.". Да-да-да. я уже видел этих роботов !
An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything - "By analysing the most elegant and intricate pattern known to mathematics, Lisi has uncovered a relationship underlying all the universe's particles and forces, including gravity - or so he hopes"
Pot trade slows - " For years, backpacks crammed with cash have slipped north into Canada, followed closely by hockey bags packed with premium marijuana skating south into Montana.A favorable exchange rate (not long ago, one American dollar bought one and a half Canadian dollars) made the smuggling profitable, and thus popular.But last month, for the first time in more than 30 years, the two currencies were at par, matched in value, and Sunday a Canadian dollar bought $1.06 U.S. The financial tables have turned, and global economics have done what U.S. law enforcement could not: Capitalism has stopped the smugglers in their tracks."
Hanson on Robyn Dawes' book House of Cards - Apparently an intelligent sympathetic ear is mainly what you need if you feel a bit crazy. The book has much more worth pondering. But I fear many take the wrong lesson here, thinking they knew all along something as "unscientific" as psychotherapy couldn't work. In fact, few experts have faced such careful scrutiny of their effectiveness.
Do escaped transgenes persist in nature? - herbicide resistance genes from oil-seed rape (Canola) have crossed into a weedy relative, Brassica rapa and set up home there (they've been there for 6 years, apparently).
Why are so many top terrorists engineers? - "engineers alone are strongly over-represented among graduates in violent groups". What Makes a Terrorist - "poor economic conditions do not seem to motivate people to participate in hate crimes", "The evidence suggests that terrorists care about influencing political outcomes"
‘Acting White’ Is Old School - "Economist Roland Fryer has done research on “acting white,” i.e. the phenomenon by which black children who excel academically are stigmatized by their peers.Recently, he was in a New York City school and asked some of the seventh graders he was talking to whether they had ever heard the phrase “acting white.” The kids laughed at him and said, “Of course, but that’s old school. Now it’s called ‘acting Asian.’”
Make And Take Person To Person Loans With Prosper - via chuck - Person-to-person lending site Prosper.com lets you take and make loans to other average citizens. Prospective borrowers register and let Propser review their credit history. They can request from $1,000 to $25,000 in an unsecured loan and specify an upper limit of interest they're willing to pay.
'Aggressive but safe' SUV wins robotic street race - A sports utility vehicle with a mind of its own was declared the winner of DARPA's urban robot car raceon Sunday. It travelled autonomously through traffic for six hours and 60 miles around a ghost town in California, US, toscoop the prize.
Scientists Create New Life Form in Lab - "A scientist who built a synthetic chromosome from laboratory chemicalsis expected to announce the creation of a new species, the first newartificial life form on Earth"
The best blog-post on Bush - "t seems that George W. Bushis the Jesus Christ for our [American] times, taking all of our sins upon his shoulders.[...] George W. does not simply follow Jesus. He is Jesus. "
плацебо. "Few medical treatments help as many people as cheaply and as safely asmere sugar pills. To use such placebos most effectively, however,doctors must deceive patients as to the nature of their treatment.While placebo deception is surprisingly common, its legality has rarelybeen tested. In November 2006, the American Medical Association (“AMA”)adopted a new ethics provision categorically prohibiting doctors fromusing placebos deceptively. In so doing, the AMA shifted the legallandscape, making it almost certain that courts will decide that placebo deception violates informed consent requirements. I argue that the AMA's new policy is overbroad, insensitive to patientpreferences, and likely to have unforeseen consequences. Rather,deceptive placebos should be treated as scarce medical resources — usedsparingly but not categorically prohibited. While deception is often exploitative, therapeutic deception can benefit patients and should notbe prohibited by broad-brushed regulation absent stronger evidence tojustify a ban than we currently have."
Jeada - Мин Сахабын - Караоке(с русским подстрочником) - "Три года назад на родине российских алмазов, в краю с дикими морозами и непроходимыми дорогами, появился рэп. Родоначальником феномена стал тогда еще 16-летний парень — Гоша Васильев, более известный как Джида. И пока песни Джиды занимают ведущие места на радиостанциях Якутии, музыкальные журналисты ломают головы: что же это такое — этника, которая прошла своеобразную эволюцию, или что-то совершенно иное?...
Проблема национального самосознания якутского народа стоит сейчас очень остро. Услышав композиции модного музыкального течения на якутском языке, молодые якутяне были поражены как молнией. Неужели и так бывает? Да и кто мечет эти молнии — какой-то мальчик из деревни! Но так, что дух вон... Вот бы нашим модным молодежным движениям, кричащим на каждом углу о патриотизме, поучиться у Гоши Васильева. У него и продюсера нет, он даже обложки к своим альбомам сам рисует, он совсем один, но всего добился, потому что он — искренен. Если музыка от сердца — она и бьет в самое сердце"
Слова песни Джиды "Мин сахабын" (" Я якут") с переводом на русский.: ( Read more... )
Meritocracy won't happen: the problem's with the "ocracy" - "The case against meritocracy can be put psychologically: (a) The abolition of materialist-elitist values is a prerequisite for the abolition of inequality and privilege; (b) the persistence of materialist-elitist values is a prerequisite for class stratification based on wealth and status; (c) therefore, a class-stratified meritocracy is impossible"
See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign - Wikipedia Scanner -- the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith -- offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.
EU project builds artificial brain for robots - "The project will now implant the man-made cerebellum into a robot so as to make its movements and interaction with humans more natural."
God Before Food: Philosophy, Russian Style - " Each deportee could take two suitcases of clothes. No books, jewelry, or icons. Several thinkers used the weeks before shipping out to mourn their libraries. One picked mushrooms in the forest, a traditional Russian form of meditation, before turning himself in."
Is this the end of English literature? - "I have been racking my brains to find a single non-smoker among the great English poets or novelists of the 17th, 18th, 19th or 20th centuries. Possibly, Keats had to lay off the pipe tobacco a bit after he developed tuberculosis."
The controversial state of 'hands on' sex therapy - "Nevertheless, the use of surrogates in sex therapy has received very little attention from researchers, and is poorly regulated, meaning its not clear how effective involving a surrogate in therapy might be."
Life Swap: Switching genomes converts bacteria - scientists have managed to replace the entire genome of one kind of bacterium with the DNA of a related species. After the transplant, the recipient took on all the traits of the donor, effectively transforming into the donor's species.
Is the Out of Africa Theory Out? - An examination of over 5,000 teeth from early human ancestors shows that many of the first Europeans probably came from Asia
No cue cards, no teleprompters, and no second takes–legendary funnyman Sid Caesar pioneered live television sketch comedy with his 1950s sitcoms Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour. This classic sketch is “Argument to Beethoven’s 5th,” Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray play a married couple in a argument with pantomimed action and the dialogue is classic music.
Divorce rate: Is marriage strengthened by mutual faith in God? Are marriages weak without religion? The Barna Research Group conducted a poll of Americans in 1999 in an attempt to show that religious faith reduces the likelihood of divorce. The results shocked them: Atheists had the lowest average divorce rates (defined as the percentage of people who had been divorced at least once in their lives), at 21%. Christian divorce rates averaged about 24% (higher for “born-again” Christians, ie- fundamentalists, at 27%), and even higher for Jews, at 30%. They also collected racial and geographical data, which showed that the white Southern Baptist fundamentalists have no reason to crow about their “family values”. Not only did the Southern Bible Belt have the highest divorce rate in the country, but whites as a race are the most likely to split: 27%, as compared to 22% for blacks, 20% for Hispanics, and only 8% for Asians
Flexible Batteries That Never Need to Be Recharged -It's the first time that a device combining energy creation and storage shows [such] tremendous properties. Prototypes of the solar battery weigh as little as two grams and are less than one millimeter thick. "The device is meant to ensure that the battery is always charged with optimum voltage, independently of the light intensity seen by the solar cell"
Automated image labeling that actually works - The system calculates the probability that various objects or “classes” it has been trained to recognize are present – and labels the images accordingly. After labeling, images can be retrieved via keyword searches. Accuracy of the UCSD system has outpaced that of other content-based image labeling and retrieval systems in the literature. The SML system also splits up images based on content – the historically difficult task of image segmentation. For example, the system can separate a landscape photo into mountain, sky and lake regions. The system, of course, can only label images with visual concepts that it has been trained to recognize.
Superstimuli and the Collapse of Western Civilization - "If people have the right to be tempted - and that's what free will is all about - the market is going to respond by supplying as much temptation as can be sold. The incentive is to make your stimuli 5% more tempting than those of your current leading competitors. This continues well beyond the point where the stimuli become ancestrally anomalous superstimuli." ... ""In the end," Simon Funk wrote, "the human species was simply marketed out of existence.""
In 1932 Kleiber measured an array of animals ranging in size from rats to cattle and showed that metabolic rate was proportional to body mass raised to the power of 3/4 across the board. Recently two ecologists and a physicist created a theory that explains it: key was fractal geometry of resource-transport layer. The model was built on three assumptions: 1) The networks were constructed of tubes that branched in fractal-like patterns; 2) The networks minimized the amount of energy needed to transport materials through the system of tubes; and 3) The size of the terminal units at the ends of this system (i.e., capillaries) did not vary with overall body size. This theory can potentially unify all biology. Now, some further experiments show that some of theory's predictions were are not correct. Does that mean that theoty itself incorrect?
The Neurology Of Self-Awareness - "How does all this [mirror and other "social" neurons] lead to self awareness? I suggest that self awareness is simply using mirror neurons for "looking at myself as if someone else is look at me""
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dmierkin's journal
