Pharyngula: “Playing God”:
"Playing God" is where you do absolutely nothing, take credit for other entities' work, and don't even exist — scientists don't aspire to such a useless status.
and
"Please, please stop quoting the pope. No one should care what the cranky, irrelevant figurehead for an obsolete superstitious dogma says about science—he's no more a knowledgeable authority on this matter than RuPaul, and it doesn't matter which of them has the more fabulous wardrobe. Seriously, he's nothing but a sour old man yelling at those damn kids to get off his lawn"
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense: Scientific American
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense: Scientific American: "5 Answers to Creationist Nonsense
Opponents of evolution want to make a place for creationism by tearing down real science, but their arguments don't hold up
By John Rennie"
Opponents of evolution want to make a place for creationism by tearing down real science, but their arguments don't hold up
By John Rennie"
IBM alliance will take the fight with Intel down to 32nm
IBM alliance will take the fight with Intel down to 32nm: "So IBM, Chartered, Samsung, Infineon, and Freescale will all be working together on the next-generation 32nm process, with IBM partner AMD also reaping the benefits through an existing deal. (Recall that 32nm is when IBM will introduce its 'airgap' technology.)"
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Secretly Monopolizing the CPU Without Superuser Privileges
Note here: http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~dants/papers/Cheat07Security.pdf the use nanosleep, which doesn't work out of box on windows. See next blog post..
Quantifying The Accuracy Of Sleep - The Code Project - System
Quantifying The Accuracy Of Sleep - The Code Project - System: "First, while Sleep(0) performed mostly as expected, there were two notable exceptions (described below). For the most part, Sleep(0) indeed relinquished the remainder of the thread's time slice to another thread. Where there were no other threads, Sleep(0) returned after an extremely short time interval, typically 10-15 microSeconds. Where there were other threads, Sleep(0) didn't return for a much longer period, typically around 100-150 milliseconds, reflecting the fact that Windows didn't give the thread a new time slice for a while. "
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Biometrics researchers report on facial recognition technology
Biometrics researchers report on facial recognition technology: "In the recently released NIST report, Bowyer, Flynn and other researchers report that face recognition technology has improved dramatically. False recognition rates produced by the best systems have dropped 90 percent over the last four years. They found that facial recognition technology can be better than human identification of faces, with accuracy rates near 99 percent.
"
"
Genes take charge, and diets fall by the wayside - International Herald Tribune
Genes take charge, and diets fall by the wayside - International Herald Tribune: "The implications were clear. There is a reason that fat people cannot stay thin after they diet and that thin people cannot stay fat when they force themselves to gain weight. The body's metabolism speeds up or slows down to keep weight within a narrow range. Gain weight and the metabolism can as much as double; lose weight and it can slow to half its original speed"
Windows Server Division WebLog
Link: Platform: resource management has always been part of operating systems, be it mainframe, UNIX and more recently x86-based operating systems. Today, vendors such as Sun, Novell and Red Hat incorporate virtualization into their x86 operating systems. Even a few weeks back we saw KVM added to the Linux kernel. Our desire is to bring hypervisor-based virtualization to Windows Server – and a wider range of customers - with Windows Server "Longhorn." We’re adding some innovative functions to Windows Server virtualization (aka, Viridian), like live migration, support for up to eight virtual processors, and hot add of resources such as disk, networking, memory and CPU, so customers have more flexible and dynamic deployment options for all their workloads.
Management: we want to make Windows the most manageable virtualization platform by enabling customers to manage both physical and virtual environments using the same tools, knowledge and skills. No other virtualization platform provider is delivering this. Today customers can use MOM and the management pack for Virtual Server. We’re extending the virtual infrastructure management capabilities with System Center Virtual Machine Manager, which will allow customers to increase physical server utilization, centralize management of virtual machine infrastructure and quickly provision new virtual machines. And it’s fully integrated with the System Center product family so customers can leverage existing skill sets.
Management: we want to make Windows the most manageable virtualization platform by enabling customers to manage both physical and virtual environments using the same tools, knowledge and skills. No other virtualization platform provider is delivering this. Today customers can use MOM and the management pack for Virtual Server. We’re extending the virtual infrastructure management capabilities with System Center Virtual Machine Manager, which will allow customers to increase physical server utilization, centralize management of virtual machine infrastructure and quickly provision new virtual machines. And it’s fully integrated with the System Center product family so customers can leverage existing skill sets.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Craig Van Hoy's Go Trek Team Of International Climbing Guides
Craig Van Hoy's Go Trek Team Of International Climbing Guides: "Kent Wagner
Kent grew up in New Hampshire and his love for the outdoors began early in life while hiking, climbing, skiing and running rivers in the northeast. After studying music in college he moved west in 1987 to pursue outdoor activities and photography. Kent is presently a senior guide for Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI) in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, and also guides for International Mountain Guides in Mexico and South America. He has guided more than 50 river trips through the Grand Canyon and leads backcountry skiers in the wilderness areas of Colorado, Utah and Arizona. His work in photography has been featured in numerous outdoor magazines and catalogs. He lives in Boulder, Colorado."
Kent grew up in New Hampshire and his love for the outdoors began early in life while hiking, climbing, skiing and running rivers in the northeast. After studying music in college he moved west in 1987 to pursue outdoor activities and photography. Kent is presently a senior guide for Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI) in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, and also guides for International Mountain Guides in Mexico and South America. He has guided more than 50 river trips through the Grand Canyon and leads backcountry skiers in the wilderness areas of Colorado, Utah and Arizona. His work in photography has been featured in numerous outdoor magazines and catalogs. He lives in Boulder, Colorado."
Miles from Nowhere
link: In the contiguous United States, the point that's furthest from any road is in coastal Louisiana, where swamps deter the construction of any type of road, even narrow dirt roads. The most remote landlocked spot is in the southeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park, 20 miles from the nearest road. "That shocks a lot of people," Watts says. "If they don't know the western part of the U.S. very well, they imagine that there are these vast areas where you can ride your horse for days."
IP
The purpose of property is to better manage the allocation of scarce resources. Since the resource is limited and not everyone can have it, property rights and property law make complete sense for a civilized society, allowing those with rights to the property to buy, sell and exchange their property. This allows for resources to be efficiently allocated through commerce and the laws of supply and demand. It's a sensible system for the best allocation of scarce resources. However, when it comes to infinite resources, there's simply no need to worry about efficient allocation -- since anyone can have a copy. The purpose of copyright (and of patent law), then, wasn't the same as the purpose of property law. It has nothing to do with more efficient allocation of scarce resources. Instead, it's a government-granted incentive -- a subsidy -- to encourage the creation of new works. In other words, it was a case where the government believed there was a market failure. That is, they believed that without this incentive, certain intellectual works wouldn't be created -- and the tradeoff between locking up that idea and creating more content was one that was worthwhile.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070521/015928.shtml
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070521/015928.shtml
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Traveler's Dilemma -- [ GAME THEORY ]: Scientific American
The Traveler's Dilemma -- [ GAME THEORY ]: Scientific American: "On the Nonexistence of a Rationality Definition for Extensive Games. Kaushik Basu in International Journal of Game Theory, Vol. 19, pages 33-44; 1990.
The Traveler's Dilemma: Paradoxes of Rationality in Game Theory. Kaushik Basu in American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 2, pages 391-395; May 1994.
Anomalous Behavior in a Traveler's Dilemma? C. Monica Capra et al. in American Economic Review, Vol. 89, No. 3, pages 678-690; June 1999.
The Logic of Backwards Inductions. G. Priest in Economics and Philosophy, Vol. 16, No. 2, pages 267-285; 2000.
Experts Playing the Traveler's Dilemma. Tilman Becker et al. Working Paper 252, Institute for Economics, Hohenheim University, 2005."
The Traveler's Dilemma: Paradoxes of Rationality in Game Theory. Kaushik Basu in American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 2, pages 391-395; May 1994.
Anomalous Behavior in a Traveler's Dilemma? C. Monica Capra et al. in American Economic Review, Vol. 89, No. 3, pages 678-690; June 1999.
The Logic of Backwards Inductions. G. Priest in Economics and Philosophy, Vol. 16, No. 2, pages 267-285; 2000.
Experts Playing the Traveler's Dilemma. Tilman Becker et al. Working Paper 252, Institute for Economics, Hohenheim University, 2005."
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Management Exam
Management Exam: "The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and will tell you whether you are qualified to be a professional manager."
Funny!
Funny!
Lauren Weinstein's Blog
Lauren Weinstein's Blog: "May 11, 2007
Remote Monitoring Capabilities in New Intel Chipsets
Greetings. I haven't seen much discussion regarding Intel's new 'Active Management Technology' being deployed as part of at least some new Intel CPU chipsets. Touted as a grand tool for remote maintenance, repair and monitoring -- including 'compliance with government regulations' -- a key feature is that it apparently works even when the associated notebook is powered off (however 'powered off' is being defined).
While these new capabilities are initially usually disabled, the scope of the possible back channels created by this technology and the possible opportunities for sophisticated abuse, appear significant enough to be worth serious debate.
I'd be interested in the readership's opinions regarding this.
You can read details at Intel's AMT page and from this Intel PDF document.
--Lauren--"
Remote Monitoring Capabilities in New Intel Chipsets
Greetings. I haven't seen much discussion regarding Intel's new 'Active Management Technology' being deployed as part of at least some new Intel CPU chipsets. Touted as a grand tool for remote maintenance, repair and monitoring -- including 'compliance with government regulations' -- a key feature is that it apparently works even when the associated notebook is powered off (however 'powered off' is being defined).
While these new capabilities are initially usually disabled, the scope of the possible back channels created by this technology and the possible opportunities for sophisticated abuse, appear significant enough to be worth serious debate.
I'd be interested in the readership's opinions regarding this.
You can read details at Intel's AMT page and from this Intel PDF document.
--Lauren--"
Friday, May 18, 2007
Shamiqa knows P4
p4 think itself very smart. but p4 not so smart as shamiqa. p4 think branch go false false false true true true. but branch go false true false false true true. p4 make bad guess. p4 get confuse then p4 go very slow. shamiqa want to make p4 no more guess but wait until know for sure.
branch prediction very bad idea unless code very simple. shamiqa no write simple code! you tell shamiqa how to make p4 no more guess when run shamiqa code, yes?
speculative execution even more worse idea unless code very simple. shamiqa no write simple code!! you tell shamiqa how to make p4 no more guess when run shamiqa code, yes?
out-of-order execution most worst idea of all unless code very simple. shamiqa no write simple code!!! you tell shamiqa how to make p4 no more guess when run shamiqa code, yes?
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Good SW optimization paper -- oldy on TPC-C from IBM
Sofware Optimization for OLTP Workloads
Steven Kunkel,
Bill Armstrong,
and Philip Vitale
IBM
Category Impact (%) Description
Software bottlenecks 30 Eliminating or reducing conflicts on software locks,
minimizing pathlength occurring while a critical lock
is held, and eliminating priority inversion situations
Task dispatches 25 Eliminating unnecessary task dispatches, reducing
dispatches by batching/deferring work, minimizing
dispatcher preemption, and optimizing handling of
lock conflicts
Snoop-hit-modifieds 25 Reducing snoop-hit-modifieds via processor-unique
fields, processor affinity support in the task
dispatcher, and optimal cache-line-based layout of
critical data structures
Pathlengths 10 Reducing the total number of instructions required to
perform critical paths in the operating system kernel
via code improvements and inlining techniques
Feedback-directed profiling 10 Compiler optimization that rearranges instructions in
a module to block the critical instructions together
into the minimum number of instruction cache lines
and converts branch direction to favor not-taken.8
Steven Kunkel,
Bill Armstrong,
and Philip Vitale
IBM
Category Impact (%) Description
Software bottlenecks 30 Eliminating or reducing conflicts on software locks,
minimizing pathlength occurring while a critical lock
is held, and eliminating priority inversion situations
Task dispatches 25 Eliminating unnecessary task dispatches, reducing
dispatches by batching/deferring work, minimizing
dispatcher preemption, and optimizing handling of
lock conflicts
Snoop-hit-modifieds 25 Reducing snoop-hit-modifieds via processor-unique
fields, processor affinity support in the task
dispatcher, and optimal cache-line-based layout of
critical data structures
Pathlengths 10 Reducing the total number of instructions required to
perform critical paths in the operating system kernel
via code improvements and inlining techniques
Feedback-directed profiling 10 Compiler optimization that rearranges instructions in
a module to block the critical instructions together
into the minimum number of instruction cache lines
and converts branch direction to favor not-taken.8
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The stone is cast | Salon.com
The stone is cast | Salon.com: "One never wants to speak ill of the dead, but in the case of Jerry Falwell, how can one not? Falwell will always be remembered for his '700 Club' comment in the wake of Sept. 11: 'I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.''"
Pharyngula: Jerry Falwell struck dead; not yet found worthy of resurrection
Pharyngula: Jerry Falwell struck dead; not yet found worthy of resurrection: "Jerry Falwell struck dead; not yet found worthy of resurrection"
Monday, May 14, 2007
SAP A1S
SAP still on track with A1S
A1S will target midmarket customers who seek an inexpensive, easy-to-deploy, low-risk suite of business applications including ERP (enterprise resource planning), CRM (customer relationship management) and SCM (supply chain management). The hosted application, to be available as a monthly subscription, will give smaller, cost-sensitive companies the flexibility to set up and test the software on their own before deciding to make a purchase, using a "try, run and adapt" model.
A1S will target midmarket customers who seek an inexpensive, easy-to-deploy, low-risk suite of business applications including ERP (enterprise resource planning), CRM (customer relationship management) and SCM (supply chain management). The hosted application, to be available as a monthly subscription, will give smaller, cost-sensitive companies the flexibility to set up and test the software on their own before deciding to make a purchase, using a "try, run and adapt" model.
The Hat problem
The hat problem goes like this:
Three players enter a room and a red or blue hat is placed on each person's head. The color of each hat is determined by a coin toss, with the outcome of one coin toss having no effect on the others. Each person can see the other players' hats but not his own.
No communication of any sort is allowed, except for an initial strategy session before the game begins. Once they have had a chance to look at the other hats, the players must simultaneously guess the color of their own hats or pass. The group shares a hypothetical $3 million prize if at least one player guesses correctly and no players guess incorrectly.
---
The first thing Dr. Berlekamp saw was that in the three-player case, it is possible for the group to win three- fourths of the time.
Three-fourths of the time, two of the players will have hats of the same color and the third player's hat will be the opposite color. The group can win every time this happens by using the following strategy: Once the game starts, each player looks at the other two players' hats. If the two hats are different colors, he passes. If they are the same color, the player guesses his own hat is the opposite color.
This way, every time the hat colors are distributed two and one, one player will guess correctly and the others will pass, and the group will win the game. When all the hats are the same color, however, all three players will guess incorrectly and the group will lose.
Three players enter a room and a red or blue hat is placed on each person's head. The color of each hat is determined by a coin toss, with the outcome of one coin toss having no effect on the others. Each person can see the other players' hats but not his own.
No communication of any sort is allowed, except for an initial strategy session before the game begins. Once they have had a chance to look at the other hats, the players must simultaneously guess the color of their own hats or pass. The group shares a hypothetical $3 million prize if at least one player guesses correctly and no players guess incorrectly.
---
The first thing Dr. Berlekamp saw was that in the three-player case, it is possible for the group to win three- fourths of the time.
Three-fourths of the time, two of the players will have hats of the same color and the third player's hat will be the opposite color. The group can win every time this happens by using the following strategy: Once the game starts, each player looks at the other two players' hats. If the two hats are different colors, he passes. If they are the same color, the player guesses his own hat is the opposite color.
This way, every time the hat colors are distributed two and one, one player will guess correctly and the others will pass, and the group will win the game. When all the hats are the same color, however, all three players will guess incorrectly and the group will lose.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Product List
Product List: "Choose an integrated solution. Get one-stop updates and support from Red Hat."
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Blogger for Stephen P Smith - powered by FeedBurner
Blogger for Stephen P Smith - powered by FeedBurner: "Blogger for Stephen P Smith
syndicated content powered by FeedBurnerBlogger for Stephen P Smith
syndicated content powered by FeedBurner"
syndicated content powered by FeedBurnerBlogger for Stephen P Smith
syndicated content powered by FeedBurner"
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
My Way News - Microsoft Signs Web Video Deals
My Way News - Microsoft Signs Web Video Deals: "Microsoft faces increasing competition in online video. MSN video is now the sixth-place video destination in the U.S., lagging YouTube and sites from Google, Time Warner Inc. (TWX)'s AOL, News Corp. (NWS)'s MySpace and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) In April, 11.5 million people visited MSN video, and spent an average of five and a half minutes on the site, compared with 45 million people who each spent nearly 41 minutes on YouTube, according to Nielsen/NetRatings."
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Friday, May 04, 2007
Left for Dead by Kevin O'Brien
Serial killer "rembrant" kills his victims after applying makeup. One turns up alive, or it seems she is a victim of the killer...but her husband and best friend and the rest of her island community are behaving strangely..
A little weak writing in places, well paced story, some good twists & turns..
A little weak writing in places, well paced story, some good twists & turns..
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Notes on Andrew Morton's "State of the Kernel" at Google | LinuxWorld Community
Notes on Andrew Morton's "State of the Kernel" at Google | LinuxWorld Community: "On instrumentation: 'I think this is a weak spot in the kernel'
'I don't think we expose enough stuff to sophisticated programmers to tell them what's going on in the kernel.'
Of the three big holes, this is probably the one with the most work going on. Morton listed quite a few high spots in instrumentation, including per-task I/O accounting and per-process memory footprint monitoring.
He also mentioned Matt Mackall's 'PSS' and 'USS' as a good step forward.
Currently IA-64 Linux has access to that platform's hardware performance counters via perfmon, and Morton says 'we'll get there eventually' for other platforms."
'I don't think we expose enough stuff to sophisticated programmers to tell them what's going on in the kernel.'
Of the three big holes, this is probably the one with the most work going on. Morton listed quite a few high spots in instrumentation, including per-task I/O accounting and per-process memory footprint monitoring.
He also mentioned Matt Mackall's 'PSS' and 'USS' as a good step forward.
Currently IA-64 Linux has access to that platform's hardware performance counters via perfmon, and Morton says 'we'll get there eventually' for other platforms."
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