Friday, June 30, 2006

Coming soon -- mind-reading computers

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/06/26/mind.reading.pcs.reut/index.html


LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A raised eyebrow, quizzical look or a nod of the head are just a few of the facial expressions computers could soon be using to read people's minds.

An "emotionally aware" computer being developed by British and American scientists will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analyzing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings.


Not quite mind reading , but still , pretty good. Can you control a mouse with that ?


He and his collaborators believe the mind-reading computer's applications could range from improving people's driving skills to helping companies tailor advertising to people's moods.


Stop !!!
You're going to read my mind and determine how best to SPAM me ??? This verges on mind control you understand. Subliminal Advertising has been illegal for a long time, but it seems we're now going for a new, high tech version of this.


"Our research could enable Web sites to tailor advertising or products to your mood," Robinson told Reuters. "For example, a Webcam linked with our software could process your image, encode the correct emotional state and transmit information to a Web site."


You're going to read my mind , and then tell any random business man or advertiser what I'm feeling, people notorious for breaking rules, and laws, in the persuite of profit ? This is what you plan on doing with your brand spanking new mind reading device ?

Hey ! The guy on channel four is thirsty ! Break out the beer ads ! Channel Six is hungry, break out the McDonalds High Transfat heart attack special ads, those things pay us the most ! Channel 7 the soon to be illegal viagra ads, we gotta move that stuff out before they discover it causes heart attacks and ban it ...

(edit)

Oh yeah , bandwidth issue !

you're going to take bandwidth from me , that I pay MY ISP for , so that you can read my mind and determine how best to spam me to death. You're going to make ME pay for your spam , in other words, AND you're going to make ME pay for YOUR breach of privacy.

Because Breach of Privacy is exactly what this is. No one in their right mind is going to let you read their mind for the soul purpose of spamming them more efficiently. The only way this works is if you trick them into agreeing to it or simply don't tell them you're doing it. No one agree's to get junk mail now adays, and certainly no one will agree to PAY to get more efficiently targetted with junk mail.

Guantanamo

Article

>>The court found that the trials — known as military commissions — for people
>>detained on suspicion of terrorist activity abroad do not conform to any act of Congress.

You know, I've always wondered about that. Those guys, these "enemey combatants" are out to tear down the US and destroy it. The us constitution is a document on how a group of people (known as us citizens) can live together. Since these people do not seek to partake of this agreement in the first place, indeed they seek to destroy it and all parties involved in it, why are they being treated as if they were members of the agreement in the first place ?

I mean , lets face it , the law of the land is for citizens of the land , not for forien soldiers intent on destroying / conquering the land and making up thier own completely different law of the land.

$750-million transit plan is on the rails

Article

>>Even a candidate who wants to unseat the mayor in this fall's municipal election now
>>admits that construction appears inevitable. Terry Kilrea had proposed delaying
>>council's final vote on the project, scheduled for July 12, until after the election.

Are you out of your mind ??? do you know what the commute is like from the outskirts of town to downtown ? And you wanna cancel the whole thing and start over ?

I'm definately voting against you next time !


>>Critics say they still don't know the project's true cost. They complain that it's going in

>>the wrong direction, because the city's real traffic problem exists on an east-west axis, >>not along the north-south route planned for the new rail line.



The true cost will be 2.4 times any honest estimate of course, I learned that in school.



It's only going in the wrong direction if you're heading down town. I'd be very happy to go to Billings Bridge instead of the Rideau Centre if there was a fast way there. I aint locked into a particular shopping center and neither, I suspect, is anyone else. Put a fast bus there from here and we'll go !



And the East-west axis is handled by the existing east-west transit way , which will eventually become light rail itself , though maybe not for 10 or 20 more years ...you already announced that many times.



There is a certain amount of push pull by business groups of course (faster transit to my area means more money for me ...time to get out the lobbiests) but cancelling the project is an outright act of corruption after all this money spent (those in charge of the Rideau Center would be very happy for that , I assume , since it means their customers are not siphoned off down the north/south axis of the city, you can bet they're spending money to try and cancel the project)



As for anyone drinking at the public trough , there is a very simple solution for that.



Jail.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Police make arrest in murder of street kid

He'll get off.

Article.



Ottawa police have laid charges in the stabbing death of a young street person earlier this week.

Ricky Roger Hankey, 35, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder.

The charge is related to the death of Steven Beriault, 21, who was stabbed early Wednesday in a fight in the pedestrian underpass at the corner of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive.



Why ?

Well, officer ! I was drunk , so I stopped by this underpass at 3am to take a piss, and then these 20 bums came out and started yelling at me ! It was self defence ! I swear ! There was a whole pack of them !

The Evilness of the Real Player

My brother wanted to d/l some songs to his PDA, but it needed some special software, a so Called real player.

Ok I download it from the internet , try it out. Wrong version. Need the special version that came with his pda.

Ok, uninstall, forget about it.
Every now and then on boot up, I get advertising. Buy this ! What a great deal !

It's not excessive ...but it's got the same kind of frame and color scheme as the real player. And there's no way to uninstall it. In other words, hostile software.

msconfig, find the culperate. Remove the check mark.
Nope, next reboot it gets put back ! Not allowed to uncheck that box !

Pencil and paper, write down the file name and location , hunt it down , erase it.

Nope ! Not allowed to erase it ! The file is in use !
Task manager, look through the processes, not the program names, the processes. Find one with the same name as the file. End task on it.
Then erase the file in quesiton.
she's gone.

Oh , and the windows fire wall sucks. Why ? Because I didn't get asked if I want this program to access the internet, it was given permission automatically to spam me.

now I gotta get a real fire wall on top of this nonsense.

(edit)
I checked the windows fire wall , the list of exceptions , programs that are permitted ? It's not on the list. but it was getting through anyways. Odd, internet explorer is not on the list either but it gets through ...

Can you say "You are no longer in control of the machine ? Bill Gates is running this ride so fasten your seat and have your credit card ready ?"

Definately need a new fire wall.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The Microsoft Treadmill

Article

Microsoft releases eight critical software patches to repair vulnerabilities

NEW YORK (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) released eight critical updates Tuesday to patch security holes in its Windows operating system, Internet Explorer browser, Windows Media Player and Office productivity software.

The critical patches - so called because they address problems deemed to pose the highest threat in Microsoft's security warning system - all are designed to prevent an attacker from taking control of another person's computer without that user's permission.


Hmmm...Security is Job One. How long ago was it bill gates said that ? 5 years ?
5 Years , and the Internet Explorer is full of holes. No, I take that back. It isn't full of holes , it has precisely ONE hole and one hole only , active - x components. A hole he patly refuses to close, and viciously defends with copy rights and legal action against anyone who dares infring on it.

Meanwhile I'm sitting her using firefox , and before that Opera , and havn't had a virus or paraiste in almost 3 years (or more) , while he's constantly patching and patching the internet explorer, but refusing to shut it's one and only hole because it's making him money.

One has to wonder how much money businesses over the years have spent on upgrades and anti-virus programs , and then cleaning up virus's and trojens those programs didn't catch , because he sings a good song and puts out a lot of really cool bafflegab that sounds impressive.

Meanwhile guys like me on the ground who know better, who spend our careers making this stuff work , get constantly overruled or told to be quiet by ignorant managers who'd rather read advertising pamphlets than talk to the mechanics who make things go.

*sigh*

It's a self inflicted pain these people are inflicting upon themselvs. They deserve it. I keep telling myself that.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Fragman Needle

I'm drunk ! I won't remember this !
yes I will !

Ok, I'm supposed to take a fragman needle every day, because I had a pulmonary embolism, (blood clot in the lungs ) and they dont' want a repeat.

Normally I take it in the belly. Off to the side. I jab it in , I yell a bit , it doesn't really hurt but hey , yelling kills the pain why take the chance yell anyways ?

Well, I'm drunk , not supposed to feel the pain. Supposed to rotate sites, dont' use the belly all the time it gets used up full of bruises etc ...

Jab it (in the leg, not the belly) in forget to yell...
does it hurt ? Hell yes it hurts, definately more than I usually feel it. take a deep breath and start yelling... can't yell that loud I'm drunk that makes me tired.

Press the injector in , lets get this over with quick...

Oh boy do I yell now , and no I'm not covering my pain , I'm yelling becauise I'm *IN* pain ! ow that sob hurts !

finish it out and toss it in the sharps container.

Ummm... ok.
Do needles when you're sobre not drunk. Sobre, you can start screaming before it goes in and you know exactly where it goes to hurt the least ... you're wife complains your screaming gives her a headache but you dont' actually feel any pain. Drunk ... ow ! Ow shit ! that hurt ! Fuck .... I aint screaming for the fun of it ! Ow ow ow !

By the way , in case you havn't guessed...

I hate fragman needles.
Actually ... maybe I hate all needles of any kind.
I really do.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

Article


KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.


"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said



You forget. God made the lions too, and watches over them as well, and sometimes throws them a free treat.

LOL !!!!