And now we have reached the point where the science/engineering feedback loop has given engineers the tools and technologies to create the internet, the most recent of my four most important inventions in human history. And just as with the other three (spoken language, writing, movable type printing) it will cause a "knee" in human capabilities and behavior. And because of that, a true superhuman "intelligence" may appear during our lifetime.

But when it does, most of us won't even notice it, because it will be lost amidst the great sea of mediocrity and banality which will always dominate the internet and consume the vast majority of its bandwidth as long as humans exist. - Steven den Beste, Superhuman Intelligence

Disclaimer: I'm not really a fan of Crichton. He was a tolerably good science fiction writer, though not in danger of being called a "Grand Master", which may be why he mostly got out of it. His latest efforts aren't really science fiction so much as Hollywood "sci-fi", where you read a couple of newspaper reports on a new technology, read a couple of summarizations from wild-eyed advocates and equally wild-eyed naysayers, and start writing without particularly caring if you even stay true to those sources. No need for real science. (Contrast this to the Jurassic Park book, which had a reasonably coherent use of chaos theory, for instance.) I went into this speech expecting to dislike it.

I think Dean is doomed.

Why? Because he flared too soon.

The Internet may keep his core alive, but he'll need more then that to win the nomination, let alone the Presidency.

No political reason, just a structural one. His recent problems with things he said is, or perhaps more accurately, the recent reporting of bad things he's said, is just a sign that his star is setting. In other words, that's effect, not cause.

I GUESS IT'S NOT 1984 YET: The Second Circuit has ordered the release of Jose Padilla. Here's a link to the opinion, but I can't get it to open -- the server seems to be saturated at the moment. Judging by the Reuters story, the court put emphasis on Padilla's American citizenship, and on the fact that he was on American soil -- both appropriate considerations in my opinion.

via Instapundit

Ruh-roh, Raggy - it's getting *drafty* out there. I hadn't seen this before, but the "Universal National Service Act of 2003" (currently in the House and Senate) would require "that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service..." to provide for the common defense of Dubya's megalomaniacal mission, of course. [via rense][blackholebrain]

I thought this might be a sick joke but the link goes to "thomas.loc.gov", no crazy IE bug either, it's the real deal.

Slashdot - Microsoft on Tuesday won a patent for launching a certain kind of HTML application within Windows. The patent, "Method and apparatus for writing a Windows application in HTML" (Hypertext Markup Language), describes Microsoft's way of opening up HTML applications in a window free of navigation and other interface elements, known as "chrome," and browser security restrictions.'

Wow, I haven't written on a specific patent in a long time, because there's nothing much new to say. But this time there is: This is the first patent I've seen that isn't even in theory a patent on a new piece of technology, or even a new application of an old technique. It's a patent on not applying technology! It's a patent on not surrounding an HTML document with browser chrome and not forcing the embedded Javascript to be as secure as a browser normally does.

I tend to work on larger writing projects; deep down I don't believe that anybody cares to hear me say "[Link to something].... Hmmm...." on an hourly basis (w/ a tip o' the hat to Instapundit, who had two seperate "Hmm" messages on the front-page for me to choose). I think my next project is going to be "Critical Listening Fallacies"; these are the complement of the more traditional argument fallacies where the listener fails in their part of a debate. Much like my definition of dancing, a rhetorical argument fallacy where I had to make up the term because I don't know of anyone else talking about it, I'll have to make up names myself because as far as I can see, nobody's talking about these even though they happen all the time.

If you're all exposed to any kind of public music, you're probably already tired of Christmas music. After all, there are at best around 20 to 30 Christmas carols, and that's counting quite a few things like "Still, Still, Still", which I recognize but rarely hear in public. And it's the same 20 every year.

But if you can get past the repetitive nature of the melodies, I've been noticing how innovative Christmas songs get harmonically. After all, the song writers are as aware as we are, if not more so, of how repetitive the season gets.

iRights is dead.

The mission of this weblog since Jan. 2000 has been to track the development of rights on the Internet. I've been eclipsed in every significant way by people with more time and perhaps more importantly, more real domain knowlege. LawMeme, Groklaw, Privacy Digest, and many other sites are doing a better job then I can.

With the publication of my Communication Ethics essay, I no longer have very much significant to say in this domain, other then occasional references to the essay. To me, it's a sign of the maturity of the piece that I have felt no great desire to modify it, or encountered a situation that I find the ethics espoused in that essay, but it makes for a rather boring weblog.

I thought it would be interesting to summarize my experiences with Atkins to date, since I haven't posted on it for a while.

First, so far I've lost about 30 pounds, out of a projected 50 or so I want to lose. The reason I'm not there yet is that I have not been on it full time.

Some observations:

Falling Off the Diet

Once I'm on the diet, I tend to stay there unless something knocks me off. Once off, I find it moderately challenging to get back on, because it's easier to drag your feet then exert the will power.