Still too busy, but did have a break to get some reading done. Final is tonight, streams crossed, or something.
Did Nazi Germany launch a man into space? Turns out, not so much. But in 1933, a lot of people thought they did. Of course, it may just be promotional gimmicks for Iron Sky. (Pointed to by Dan)
Wait, they're giving orangutans iPads to help them communicate? Didn't these people ever see Planet of the Apes? I would crack more jokes, but that would require excerpting the AP story, and they're cast-iron dicks about doing that. But I think it's funny that the younger ones like it, and the older orangs don't care for them new fangled computer thingies. It's like going to the zoo and watching the gorillas mime the humans watching them. Somehow I hear these elder orangs complaining about how all these young kids just sit around on their asses, when they were their age they used to go out into the world and do things. And I guess the iPads are too fragile for the apes to handle them directly (and they also have the problem of too big of fingers to hit the right key). Hey Apple, here's a reason why you need to use Gorilla Glass (I crack myself up, I do). (Grokked from Chia Lynn)
So, remember all the hype around "ZOMG, $5 gas! Obama's Fault!"? Have you noticed that in the wake of falling gas prices, you've been hearing crickets from the media about it? Yeah, seems that saying, "You know, we're going to look into all this speculation going on" pretty well let the air out of that bubble. But you're not hearing about that on the news, are you? Your liberal media at work. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
"Which federal program took in more than it spent last year, added $95 billion to its surplus and lifted 20 million Americans of all ages out of poverty? Why, Social Security, of course, which ended 2011 with a $2.7 trillion surplus." I'm beginning to think that not only should Politifact become front page news, but those "dose of reality" segments should make a comeback. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
… you may be a cyborg. A CNN article on the growing meme of using networked devices at extensions of "our brains." There's some stuff in there on brain anatomy. But they make the classic mistake of believing things in the world are all in your head. They also misunderstand just what the brain is, and what "storage" is (hint, many of those neurons in your brain are hardwired code or dedicated processing nodes which cannot be repurposed for storage… or, neuron =/ RAM). Also, anybody remember the digital divide? (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"As the clock ticks ever closer to the triggering of the sequestration time bomb — you know, the massive cuts to government spending that are set to take effect next January unless Congress moves to eliminate them — lawmakers are still forcing more cash on the Pentagon than it says it needs during this time of belt-tightening." Those wacky conservatives and their principled stances. Dear Congress, I work for a military contractor. We supply equipment that our warfighters need, right now, and we have the proven tech to supply it. And you're continual crap fest of budgeting has kept them from purchasing. Hell, we even continued development of a specific tech, without a contract, because we know you need it. Because we, as an organization, believe in supporting the troops and trying to make their service time just a little less hellish (so they can focus on the job that matters). Stop fucking around, okay?
New study on using radio waves (microwaves) to open calcium gates on cell membranes. Whoa. Okay, so first you need to install a new protein and iron-oxide-coated nanoparticles, but whoa. Calcium gates control a lot of things in the human body, from the axons of nerve cells to how and why your muscles contract. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
"'The legally mandated role of the government is to provide for the common defense, and… spend… whatever it takes to do that," says Larry Clinton of the Internet Security Alliance. 'If you're in a private organization, your legally mandated responsibility is to maximize shareholder value. You can't spend just anything on the cyberthreat… If the government was interested in paying the private sector to (increase their cyber security under the Lieberman-Collins' legislation), probably we would go a long way toward doing it… But the government so far, [with] the Lieberman-Collins bill, wants it all done for free.'" Fair enough, Mr. Clinton. Then you get to go in front of those investors to explain to them how you're lack of preparedness caused the deaths of however many people, the destruction of however much of company property, and the resulting lawsuits for corporate negligence that will bring that company down to a value of less than zero. A cyber attack is not an "act of God", which means those companies who don't do enough are liable for the damaged caused by their negligence. You explain to the shareholders why their stock is worthless because you were unwilling to secure your business against a recognized threat. CoB, Mr. Clinton, cost of business. Personally, what I think should happen, is the government should loosen your liability protections in the name of "reducing regulation" and increase the penalties for cyber slip-ups (say, $1000 to every person whom your corporation allow PII to be hacked, with an extra $500 in a fine to the government, to be tripled if you don't self report the incident, $12M for every death caused). That would be fair, wouldn't it?
Tweet of my heart:
@hellioncat: @raecarson That "dance like no-one's watching" line should be changed to "write like no-one's reviewing" for us poor scribes.
Double shot:
@gsp1984: These two pictures will be viewed/judged identically by our children and their children. http://twitter.com/gsp1984/status/…
Alligator Quotient: They're all snoozing. I can feel the inrush and carnivore stink of their breathing.
2 comments:
I'm sick and tired of all this "shareholder value" crap. There was a time when corporations paid at least lip service to the idea that corporations were citizens with public responsibilities that went hand-in-hand with the business of making a profit. It says a lot--and none of it good--that so many modern business leaders espouse philosophies that make the robber barons of a bygone age seem like moral paragons by comparison.
Eric, that's one of the many things I blame of the rise of the MBA, or "professional management." I've worked with too many MBAs (and PhDs of Business) to have much respect solely for the degree, and in fact, if you have an MBA when I met you, you're climbing out of a hole of respect. Sorry, just know way too many who never held a "real" job other than management. And that, I'll say with declarative fervor, is what the real problem is. (I could go on, but it would be a boring diatribe with way too much business speak)
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