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| Notice: GeekPress is back up and running, thanks to Paul! It's still a not-so-serious tech news blog, but the format is significantly looser. Diana, having given up programming for philosophy, has her own philosophical blog NoodleFood. More of her work can be found at DianaHsieh.com. |
| Investment Guide 2001 |
| 12:07:47 am mst / 12 January 2001 found by diana / filed in humor / source Me Head 38 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| Me Head offers their investment advice for 2001, including abacuses (due to the rising energy prices) and surf boards (due to global warming). |
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| Can anyone become a genius? |
| 3:43:58 am mst / 12 January 2001 found by paul / filed in science / source Economist 189 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| According to the article, Dr. Anders Ericsson at Florida State University believes that genius is much more acquired than innate, and that anyone should be able to achieve prodigy level performance in the field of their choice after 10 years of study. |
| Although it goes against my first intutions, the story of the three sister chess masters was intriguing. |
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| "Sleepyhead" gene discovered |
| 5:07:40 am mst / 12 January 2001 found by paul / filed in science / source BBC News 130 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| British scientists believe they have found a gene which explains why some people have a very difficult time getting up in the morning. At least for these people, they can blame their torpor on genetics, not laziness. |
| Diana must have three or four copies of this gene! |
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| The Feds'll Come A-Snoopin' |
| 8:47:49 am mst / 12 January 2001 found by paul / filed in legal / source Wired 47 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| Declan McCullagh describes the new Department of Justice guidelines on what sorts of searches and seizures are permitted in cases involving computers, PDA's, cell phones, etc. Basically, agents are given a tremendous amount of latitude. The full report is available here. |
| One of the more disturbing points was the expanded ability to conduct so-called "no knock" searches, in which gun-toting federal agents can break down the door of a private residence without prior warning. The justification given is that bad guys might have their computer systems configured so that they merely need to press a single key to erase potentially incriminating data. Given that "no knock" searches can lead to tragedies (especially in cases where the wrong residence is entered, and the innocent homeowner naturally assumes he is the victim of a criminal home invasion), I find the expanded authorization for this technique to be very troubling. |
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| The $500 million bet |
| 9:56:01 am mst / 12 January 2001 found by paul / filed in science / source UniSci 48 hits / 0 comments / 1 e-mail |
| Two scientists have bet $500 million on whether aging research will have reached the point that a human can live to 150 years. The bet will be decided in the year 2150, based on whether a person born in the year 2000 is still alive and mentally alert at that time. The money will come from a trust fund established by the two scientists (and their heirs) who are each required to kick in a certain amount of money each year. |
| If the winner doesn't have any heirs, the money will go the scientist's university. This might provide the respective schools with a powerful incentive to make sure that their scientist's family tree dies out!... |
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| Robosoldiers |
| 11:06:10 am mst / 12 January 2001 found by paul / filed in robotics / source BBC News 108 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| The US Department of Defense will begin aggressive research into powered exoskeletons for American foot soldiers. The objective of their "Human Performance Augmentation" program is to enable the soldiers to march faster and longer, carry heavier packs, and (my favorite) "leap extraordinary heights". |
| When will civilian models be available? |
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| Dilbert Newsletter 32.0 |
| 2:40:38 pm mst / 12 January 2001 found by diana / filed in humor / source Dilbert 277 hits / 0 comments / 0 e-mails |
| The latest Dilbert Newsletter is finally available on the Dilbert web site. |
| My favorite section is always "True Tales of Induhviduals." Where else can you find students who misspell their own names, a teenager who couldn't come to work because of a misplaced bra, and bosses who aren't rocket surgeons? |
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| Making antimatter |
| 11:19:36 pm mst / 12 January 2001 found by paul / filed in future / source Space.com 114 hits / 0 comments / 1 e-mail |
| A Chicago-area startup company (Technology Antimatter Production LLC) hopes to develop methods to create antimatter in quantities thousands of times greater than currently possible. |
| The company president (a former Fermilab physicist) does admit that there are still two big problems -- storage and use. I guess it'll be a little while before we see a working warp drive... |
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