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 Sunday, August 25, 2002
SJ Mercury: Activists take on Hollywood cartel. Dan Gillmor. Now, people on another kind of network -- the Internet -- have found a way to challenge Coble. And Grubb, like others worried about industry's moves to control information flow, is learning quickly to take advantage of this new way of doing things. [Tomalak's Realm]
Once an adaptation has taken place that succeeds in the new environment, it can spread rapidly through the group. This is true whether you are talking about genes in a species or a cukture. The big difference is how fast it can happen in a culture. Human society is Lamarkian in nature. It does change by acquired characteristics. This means that when a tipping point is reached, things can move very fast. 2:05:08 PM 
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Beware of Wall Street's `new ways'. These are tough times on Wall Street, and don't let 'em tell you otherwise. [Business]
Their new ways are just like their old ways. They make money no matter what happens to you. There are many good stock advisors but, like any other professional, such as car mechanic, you have to be careful. 1:58:39 PM
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Documenting mistakes publicly [Seb's Open Research]
Looking at the print literature would have you believe that everyone succeeds everything on the first attempt. "Here's what we wanted to do, here's what we tried, and look, it worked." False starts and blind alleys are almost never documented. But they're there. Lots of them. If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
Now I guess the next question is, how many scientists are willing to admit to making mistakes? And among those, how many will go to to the lengths of conscientiously documenting them, in a public manner? I hope these brave souls are out there; but I know a lot of scientists who wouldn't for the life of them do it. This is an incursion into Science Taboo-land.
Actually this is bound to be a big issue in corporate knowledge management also. Documenting mistakes is obviously desirable from the point of view of the company, but it may not be perceived as such by individuals. [Mathemagenic]
BioMed Central has a new journal called Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine that may show us more of these false starts. Biological reserach may become more transparent. 1:50:05 PM
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Louis Uchitelle of the New York Times Also Worries About Deflation. Louis Uchitelle writes about the danger of deflation--and wonders why more people aren't worrying about it. I think the answer is that people are worrying about it. However, it's not yet a crisis, or even a clear and present danger. But it does seem to me that it could become a clear and present danger in a year, if things do not break favorably. Cost-Cutting Can Start a Ruinous Circle: ...Why isn't that danger uppermost in everyone's mind? Why are... [Semis-Daily Journal]
More really scary stuff from economists. One thought: many wrote that the bubble we just had was really a whole new world and not like anything we had every seen. It was the New Economy. Now come are saying that this period of time is like no other. Are we again falling into the tendency to believe that what we are living through is unique? Maybe it will be a normal recovery. But every month we do not see this is another indicating we ARE in a unique situation. SO, where do you invest in a deflationary environment? 12:41:05 AM
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I spent most of today working on a new Tara Sue website, one that will be easier for her to work on, and easier for us to help her with. As I was putting together the initial blogroll, I decided to link to Howard Coble, her opponent. I wondered how Tara would feel about it. I just walked her through the new site, and when I explained this part she literally shrieked with delight. In other words, there's an impedance match on values. Of course we point to our competitor. An informed reader would want to know about Coble. His site is part of the big picture. Gotta link to it. Makes sense, right? [Scripting News]
The web makes it really easy to find and support candidates that you really want to support, without having to be a big corporation or give a lot of money. It reveals the human behind the position, much like Wil Wheaton's web log reveals the man behind the actor. BS artists will not survive. Adaptive people will do extremely well. 12:34:54 AM
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HIV targets active genes in cells. HIV selectively inserts itself into active genes in the human genome, a finding that may help explain how HIV is able to reproduce itself so quickly inside cells. Understanding more about the genome targeting specificities of retroviruses may also have implications for developing safer and more effective gene therapies for treating genetic disorders. National Institutes of Health, James B. Pendleton Charitable Trust, Berger Foundation, Fritz B. Burns Foundation, Gertrude E. Skelly Foundation, Cornelia Mackey [EurekAlert - Biology]
I think this is another indicator that HIV is a recent virus that infects humans. It targets active genes so it can reproduce rapidly. It does this because its infection results in the death of the cell. If it does not reproduce quickly it will not survive. It targets the very genes that get turned on when it infects the cells. Most viruses become more benign as time goes on, because if they kill the organism too fast, they will also die. A good strategy is to cause only a slight reaction permitting their replication to continue under the radar of the immune system. This might be difficult for HIV, because if it targets the same genes that get turned on by its invasion of the cell, it has selective pressure to make sure those genes get turned on. This forms a cycle, meaning that its rapid replication requires these genes to be turned on, so it will always try to make sure that they are. If this is true, it may be hard to see HIV ever becoming a relatively benign virus. It may require the immune system surveillance to be turned on just so it can replicate properly. 12:22:30 AM
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Scientists confirm age of the oldest meteorite collision on Earth. A team of geologists has determined the age of the oldest known meteorite impact on Earth [^] a catastrophic event that generated massive shockwaves across the planet billions of years before a similar event helped wipe out the dinosaurs. National Science Foundation, NASA [EurekAlert - Biology]
Okay, there is still some controversy, but the idea that a meteorite hit a semi-solid Earth, causing the cracks that formed the tectonic plates, is intriguing. The movement of these plates is a primary driver in evolution, making sure that climates and environments change, that a tropical continent becomes the frozen world of the Antarctic. 12:15:09 AM
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Arbitron Study Shows "People Who Stream Each Week Buy Significantly More CDs. Arbitron Study Shows "People Who Stream Each Week Buy Significantly More CDs Than Most Americans According To Latest Arbitron/Edison Media Research Study"
[Editorial Note: I rarely post an entire press release, but this one is worth posting.]
Residential Broadband Adoption Doubles in 18 Months. 08.19.02
NEW YORK, August 19, 2002 - Weekly "Streamies" - people who have watched or listened to streaming media online in the past week - bought more than one and a half times the number of compact discs (CDs) in the past year than the average American, according to a new study by Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) and Edison Media Research.
The study, "Internet 9: The Media and Entertainment World of Online Consumers," found that weekly Streamies bought 21 CDs in the past year, compared to the average American, who bought 13 CDs.
"While some in the record industry have viewed streaming as a threat, this research indicates that Streamies are a very lucrative group of record buyers," said Bill Rose, vice president and general manager, Arbitron Webcast Services, Arbitron Inc.
The study also found that residential broadband adoption has doubled in just under 18 months. Those with a cable modem or DSL Internet connection at home jumped from 12 percent in January 2001 to 28 percent in July 2002.
These and other new findings from the study will be presented during a live webcast on Thursday, September 5 at 12:00 Noon EDT. Those interested in viewing the free webcast can register at www.arbitron.com or www.edisonresearch.com.
Other issues addressed in the study are:
- Consumer perceptions of radio, TV, newspapers and the Internet;
- Internet access and online buying trends;
- Streaming (audio and video) usage trends;
- Streaming subscription and advertising;
- Usage and perceptions of local media Web sites;
- Awareness and interest in satellite radio.
The findings reported here are based on a July 2002 survey consisting of 2,511 telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of Arbitron's Spring 2002 radio diary keepers. Since 1998, Arbitron and Edison Media Research have conducted nine groundbreaking studies of the Internet and streaming media, one every six months.
[Mary Wehmeier's Blog Du Jour]
So, if the industry converted everyone to an internet radio listener, what effect would that have on their profits? I leave the answer as an exercise to the reader. 12:01:50 AM
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