Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Monday, April 7, 2003

Bioinformatics for Dummies -- Comment()
The book Bioinformatics for Dummies (by Claverie and Notredame) is a good introduction to bioinformatics for beginners. You do need some background in biochemistry and biology, and preferably some lab experience.

The book offers a lot of insight also for a mathematician (or a computer scientist), because the descriptions are arranged by topic, and most examples are complemented with short but clear explanations of the relevant biological applications of the method.

I did catch a few typos, and some computer details may be not absolutely true any more. In some places the phrase "very easy" was used too often, but this is forgivable. This book is a good read, and there is plenty of humor to keep you motivated.

-- Comment()
Secret blacklists in Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania has a law that gives the Pennsylvania Attorney General the power to order an ISP serving Pennsylvania citizens (read: any ISP anywhere) to block a site which the Pennsylvania Attorney General says serves child porn. There is no judicial review of the order, and as no ISP is likely to resist the order, the law results in unreviewed censorship of internet content. According to this report, the AG is now refusing to even reveal the list of sites his secret orders have blocked. [...] If the First Amendment means anything, it must mean that the government can't order the censoring of a publication without any judicial review at all. You might want to tell the Pennsylvania AG what you think. Here's a form." [Lessig Blog]

-- Comment()
Trial run points to Noam Chomsky on Iraq war: "This [war] should be seen as a trial run. Iraq is seen as an extremely easy and totally defenceless target. It is assumed, probably correctly, that the society will collapse, that the soldiers will go in and that the U.S. will be in control, and will establish the regime of its choice and military bases. They will then go on to the harder cases that will follow. The next case could be the Andean region, it could be Iran, it could be others. [...] The doctrine of preventive war is totally different; it holds that the United States - alone, since nobody else has this right - has the right to attack any country that it claims to be a potential challenge to it. So if the United States claims, on whatever grounds, that someone may sometime threaten it, then it can attack them." [via Heli's Heaven and Hell Radio > The Aardvark Speaks]

-- Comment()
Write for you: 'Elizabeth Hall Associates looks to be one of those promising startups that boldly tap into the steadily growing market of sleep-deprived, ambitious students. "We provide a totally secure and confidential customised writing service, copywriting and personal effectiveness skills building. [...] CUSTOMIZED ACADEMIC WORK CANNOT BE DETECTED BY NATIONAL PLAGIARISM DETECTION TOOLS. [...] THIS IS RISK FREE. THIS IS UNDETECTABLE CHEATING."' [Seb's Open Research]

-- Comment()
Worms Wreak Havoc on the Net in '03: "A rash of fast-spreading worms is being blamed for a more than ten-fold increase in the number of security events on the Internet in the first three months of this year. The number of confirmed attacks and incidents was also up 84 percent ..." [Google Technology News]

More about efficiency in the workplace -- Comment()
The posting Efficiency in the workplace was commented as follows: "What magazine? Since so many people in the circles I travel in confuse efficiency, effectiveness, and utilization, I'd be interested in your piece."

I'm a columnist for the Finnish professional IT magazine MikroPC, which has about 253,000 readers. So, the piece is in Finnish.

The keywords "efficiency, effectiveness, and utilization" are related to the ideas of the text. The central idea is based on a recent book about the home life of professionals in Finland. This book is a bit depressing to read. So, my column is based on the idea of applying the efficiency criteria of the workplace to the home and personal life. I hope this generates some discussion about the current way of living, at home, or at work.