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 Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Sony's Copy Protection Obsession Rolls On?. Never one to let a little bad PR slow them down, Sony has apparently applied for a patent in Japan that would lock copies of software and media to a particular playback unit -- spurring rumors that the PS3 wouldn't be able to play used, rented or borrowed games. While PlayStation honcho Ken Kutaragi said at the beginning of the year Sony's stance on copy protection had held up innovation at the company, it's likely the movie and music units don't agree. DRM like this might be Hollywood's wet dream -- locking a copy of a movie, say, to one DVD player and one DVD player only -- but we hope Sony's not stupid enough to let its entertainment units be the tail that wags the dog to such an extreme. It would kill not just the rental and used game businesses, but also would destroy the "hey, you should borrow this game, it's really great" marketing that helps out game sales. Moves like this or not supporting backwards compatibility would pretty much kill any console.
[Techdirt]
Almost every personal electronic device is a Sony (TV, DVD player, Receiver, Camcorder, Playstation). If they do something as stupid as this, I will no longer buy any more Sony products. This has to be one of the stupidist ideas. So, we have to have a different CD to listen at home, in the car, on our Walkman. idiots. But after the fiasco of protected CDs, this seems par for the course. 6:37:46 PM 
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J. E. Hirsch
An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output
PNAS
published
November 7, 2005,
10.1073/pnas.0507655102
(
Physics
)
[Abstract]
[PDF]
[PNAS Early Edition]
The ENTIRE abstract:
I propose the index h, defined as the number of papers with citation number ≥h, as a useful index to characterize the scientific output of a researcher.
Okay, I expect the paper to be a little more than this but to quatify the research putput by saying that the number of citations should be greater than the number of papers does seem a little simplistic. 12:30:30 PM
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Hidenori Takagi, Takachika Hiroi, Lijun Yang, Yoshifumi Tada, Yoshikazu Yuki, Kaoru Takamura, Ryotaro Ishimitsu, Hideyuki Kawauchi, Hiroshi Kiyono, and Fumio Takaiwa
A rice-based edible vaccine expressing multiple T cell epitopes induces oral tolerance for inhibition of Th2-mediated IgE responses
PNAS
published
November 8, 2005,
10.1073/pnas.0503428102
(
Plant Biology
)
[Abstract]
[PDF]
[Supporting Information]
[PNAS Early Edition]
Getting rid of allergies by eating something and a nasal mist. Pretty interesting idea. 12:27:12 PM
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Changes to embryos can elicit change in adult fish. In a study illustrating the apparent linkages between the evolutionary development and embryonic development of species, researchers have uncovered the genetic elements that determine the structure and function of a simple biomechanical system, the lower jaw of the cichlid fish. In addition, they've shown that increasing expression of a particular gene in an embryo can lead to physical changes in the adult fish. [EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health]
Evo-devo is really so cool. Slight changes in gene expression result in larger changes in the adult, changing its feeding habits. Nice demonstration of how species could arise. 12:21:24 PM
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The compact between reporters and anonymous sources. Here's the test all reporters should use when deciding whether to protect an anonymous source: Transparency is the overarching issue. And confronting the problem of anonymous sources, because they are anything but transparent, is a key. While in Indochina during the Vietnam War, after endless off-the-record briefings where half-truths and lies were told, I came to a new view of government disinformation. And this is it: When reporters agree with government officials not to disclose their identity, both sides are making a compact. Reporters are agreeing not to reveal who the sources are or even what government or agency they work for. And the sources, in return, are agreeing to tell reporters, yes, the truth. What that meant to me was that if they told lies and I could demonstrate through solid reporting that they knew they had lied, then they had broken the compact and I was freed from my grant of confidentiality.
By kos . [Daily Kos]
Sounds right to me. An anonymous source that constantly lies is simply abusing the system. Liers should be outed. 11:43:23 AM
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Radio Host Arrested While On Air For Allegedly Poisoning His Wifeâo[oe]. In the spring of 2004, Julie Keown began suffering odd symptoms, including vomiting, nausea, slurred speech, and a rash on her leg. But doctors could not pinpoint the cause, and the following September, after her kidneys began failing, the 31-year-old registered nurse slipped into a coma at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and died.
Yesterday, after a 14-month investigation by Massachusetts detectives and the state Medical Examiner's Office, Keown's husband James was arrested at a Missouri radio station shortly after he had gone on the air with his political talk show. Police charged him with fatally poisoning his wife by pouring antifreeze in her Gatorade over several months. [The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]
Why you should never allow someone else to give you an alrady opened drink, at least on a regular basis. 11:39:12 AM
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