manchineel - Slashdot User

Comment Common Assumptions (Score 1) 713

by manchineel on Sunday August 05, 2007 @11:17PM (#20126881) Attached to: The Fermi Paradox is Back

It seems like the common assumptions in the discussion are:

1) that technology will make everything possible given a long enough period of time.

2) Other species will develop the same technologies.

3) Other species will have the same desires as we do.

I see a lot of these assumptions should be looked at more closely.

For example, some of us aren't that confident in technology solving every issue. We are on a collision course right now with ourselves, in my opinion. If I were asked to assume that life would develop in a similar way as we did, then I would say that the reason we don't run into them, is that they don't survive long enough to get to other solar systems. I certainly hope that we don't make it.

I am reminded of the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi. When he was asked what he thought about 'Western Civilization' he said he thought it would be a good idea. I hope that contact doesn't happen in my lifetime at least. *shudder*

Submission + - Robot unravels mystery of walking (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by manchineel on Thursday July 12, 2007 @12:36PM

manchineel writes: Roboticists are using the lessons of a 1930s human physiologist to build the world's fastest walking robot.

Runbot is a self-learning, dynamic robot, which has been built around the theories of Nikolai Bernstein.

"Getting a robot to walk like a human requires a dynamic machine," said Professor Florentin Woergoetter.

Runbot is a small, biped robot which can move at speeds of more than three leg lengths per second, slightly slower than the fastest walking human.

Bernstein said that animal movement was not under the total control of the brain but rather, "local circuits" did most of the command and control work.

Potential Cure For Antibiotic Resistant Infections 127

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @05:58PM from the early-days-but-promising dept.

kpw10 writes to let us know about research to be published this week that offers hope in the battle against multi-drug-resistant bacteria. "Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered that two drugs used to treat bone loss in old folks can both kill and short-circuit the 'sex life' of antibiotic-resistant bacteria blamed for nearly 100,000 hospital deaths across the country each year."

Feed Macworld: News: Notes from DevCamp: Developers tackle iPhone apps (macworld.com)

From feed by macworldfeed on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @05:53PM

Developers gathered in San Francisco this weekend to share their iPhone knowledge, brainstorm about future ideas, eat a lot of pizza, and crank out Web-based applications for Apple's new mobile phone. Dori Smith was there and files this report.

Feed Engadget: FCC Chairman says 700 MHz spectrum must be open (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @05:52PM

Filed under: Wireless

In a move likely to have far reaching implications for both businesses and consumers alike, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has stated that whoever wins the forthcoming auction for the much-coveted 700 MHz spectrum must provide a "truly open broadband network." According to USA Today, Martin says that the only exceptions would be for "software that is illegal or could harm a network," leaving the network otherwise open for anyone to "use any wireless device and download any mobile broadband application, with no restrictions." The spectrum, being vacated by television broadcasters moving to digital TV, is expected to fetch some big bucks when it goes up on the auction block, with the FCC Chairman himself touting it as a "third pipe to the home." While Martin doesn't have any plans to extend the openness requirement to other parts of the wireless business, he does think this new move could pressure carriers to change their tactics, saying it "sends an important message."

[Via Phonescoop, photo courtesy of USA Today]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Submission + - Linux Gains Completely Fair Scheduler (kerneltrap.org)

Submitted by SchedFred on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @05:47PM

SchedFred writes: KernelTrap is reporting that Ingo Molnar's Completely Fair Scheduler, or CFS, was just merged into the Linux Kernel. The new CPU scheduler includes a pluggable framework that completely replaces Molnar's earlier O(1) scheduler, and is described to "model an 'ideal, precise multi-tasking CPU' on real hardware. CFS tries to run the task with the 'gravest need' for more CPU time. So CFS always tries to split up CPU time between runnable tasks as close to 'ideal multitasking hardware' as possible." The new CPU scheduler should improve the desktop Linux experience, and will be part of the upcoming 2.6.23 kernel.

Privacy and the "Nothing To Hide" Argument 728

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @05:09PM from the framing-the-debate dept.

privacyprof writes "One of the most common responses of those unconcerned about government surveillance or privacy invasions is 'I've got nothing to hide.' According to the 'nothing to hide' argument, there is no threat to privacy unless the government uncovers unlawful activity, in which case a person has no legitimate justification to claim that it remain private. The 'nothing to hide' argument is quite prevalent. Is there a way to respond to this argument that would really register with people in the general public? In a short essay, 'I've Got Nothing to Hide' and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy, Professor Daniel Solove takes on the 'nothing to hide' argument and exposes its faulty underpinnings." At the base of the fallacy, as Bruce Schneier has noted, is the "faulty premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong."

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