Technobriefs
Music: there was good news and bad news in the "RIAA v. Howell" case. U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake reversed his earlier ruling: Judge Says Music Sharing Doesn't Necessarily Equal Infringement, Judge rejects claim RIAA previously won and More on the RIAA's latest loss. OK so merely making files available to share, the default functionality of Kazaa, is not a crime. Thank goodness for a return to sanity. But the judge also ruled that the download of such files by the authorized minions of the RIAA proved infringement: Despite Blogosphere Reports, RIAA Retains Legal Muscle Under Howell Decision. So the RIAA is stealing from itself, with its own explicit authorization, and yet the lawsuit targets the Howells?! It could easily be the case that, absent the RIAA's own mischief, no one ever would have downloaded those songs from the Howell's PC. Another downside of DRM: say you sell "permanent" licenses to DRM-encumbered media files, does that imply a long term burden of support? What happens if you get bored with your broken business model?: Betrayed MSN Music Customers Deserve More from Microsoft.
Biotech: research and clinical use of genetic therapies have been hobbled by fears of abuse of genetic testing results, a positive step was taken in congress this week: House approves anti-genetic discrimination bill. Good news for staying ahead of future flu pandemics: Researchers Make Human Flu Antibodies at Record Speed. Perils of careless globalization and insufficient oversight: Heparin Contamination May Have Been Deliberate, F.D.A. Says.
Autism: a CNN producer's inside account of the life of a high functioning autistic: Asperger's: My life as an Earthbound alien. New research on the specific changes in brain structure caused by autism, conducted with the help of a post-mortem tissue bank: Face Processing Area of Brain Shows Anatomical Differences in Autism. This corroborates earlier fMRI studies of the fusiform gyrus in live subjects.
Fractal food: a few months back I ran across the book Making Mathematics with Needlework and got a copy for my geeky/crafty sister-in-law. One of my favorites was a crocheted shawl based on Sierpinski's triangle. I was reminded of that when I came across this recipe for Sierpinski Cookies based on the square Sierpinski carpet. That lead me looking for more and sure enough: triangular Fractal Cookies. That reminded me of seeing this a long time ago: Giant Fractal Pecan Pie, based on the Koch snowflake. It was inspired by a desire to control the ratio of pie area to crust length, so perhaps they should have tried the Hilbert curve instead. But for sheer self-similar beauty, it is hard to beat this classic natural edible fractal: the Romanesco broccoli.
Technobits: The Mac in the Gray Flannel Suit --- A Google Prototype for a Precision Image Search --- Daphne Koller receives the ACM-Infosys Award: Pursuing the Next Level of Artificial Intelligence --- from 1971's "Memristor—The Missing Circuit Element." to 2008's "The Missing Memristor Found": H.P. Reports Big Advance in Memory Chip Design --- Spam reaches 30-year anniversary --- GTA as a portrait of New York: A Strange City Called Home --- Timeline of the universe --- Geoengineered cooling of planet would have 'perilous effects' --- Orangutan goes fishing with sharpened stick --- British crossing guards get high-tech help: New cameras for lollipop patrols --- a tour de force, pure CSS illustration: CSS Homer, animated.
